Hi, all! I'm back; I apologise for the delay- my laptop completely broke! I was able to write on my phone, but couldn't update.
Anyway, here is my latest story. I hope you enjoy reading!
North by North Tree-st
Chapter 1
The sun rose brightly, lighting up Ocean Avenue. The light shone in through the windows, and made brass house numbers sparkle. Birds sang, flying through the sky without a care in the world. Early morning walkers greeted one another with a smile. It was a perfect summer morning.
The peace was not felt all throughout the avenue, however, as an argument broke out in the Belcher household. Well, their version of an argument, which was more akin to a heated conversation.
"Aw, come on, Bobby; it'll be fun!" Linda pleaded over the breakfast table, causing the three children to groan simultaneously. "You'll enjoy it!"
"No, Lin," Bob sighed, putting down his coffee. "We can't afford to close -"
"Yes, we can," Louise piped up.
"- And it sounds terrible," he finished, and Linda gasped.
"It does not!" She sounded scandalised. She was holding the flyer for the 1st Annual Bog Harbour Community Barbecue in her hand, waving it with a sort of reverence. Bob shook his head slightly and returned to his newspaper.
"Father, a day in the sunshine, eating food, does not sound terrible!" said Gene, and Louise and Tina nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, we'd be away from here!" cried Louise, brandishing her fork, sending scrambled egg everywhere.
"But, a community barbecue? Really, Lin? It sounds absolutely awful."
"Why, Dad?" asked Tina.
"Because, Tina," Bob sighed, "it's stupid."
"Wow, great argument," Louise grinned.
"Well, why would anyone hold a community barbecue in the woods? That's, like, the worst place to have a barbecue. Why not right here? Plus, I hate it."
"Oh, Bobby, don't be such a grump. It's a barbecue, not a barbe-can't. We're going." Linda stood, still holding the flyer, and walked over to the counter. She grabbed the coffee pot, along with the orange juice, and brought them both back to the table.
"I don't want to."
"Come on, Bobby, it's just one day; only one day." Linda managed to jokingly pout at him while she refilled their coffee mugs, ignoring Louise's attempts to sneak some.
"But it's a Saturday, Lin; that's a big day for us. And it's this Saturday; it doesn't give anyone a lot of notice," Bob grunted from behind his paper.
"Four days notice is plenty, my love, so we're going."
"Hm, no, we're not," said Bob, and his family groaned. Bob grunted, slightly annoyed. He didn't know why they wanted to go to this stupid barbecue so badly; going would mean they would have to miss work. Besides, Saturdays were their best days, more or less; they still had a lunch lull, rather than a lunch rush, but they usually had a good five or six customers.
"Oh, come on!" Louise slammed her fists down on the table.
"No, Louise, we are not going into a forest for a barbecue; that's a nightmare waiting to happen."
"I think it'll be fun," said Tina.
"No, it won't," Bob retorted. "Fire and trees don't mix; they're not supposed to. It's going to be everyone bored waiting around for the food; eating badly cooked food, and making small talk with strangers." He looked over the edge of his paper, as the kids clamoured to be the first to have a refill of the juice; Louise kept sliding her sibling's glasses out of the way at the last second, causing Linda to keep spilling it everywhere. He gave a small sigh, not wanting to attempt to discipline her this early in the morning.
"It's not gonna be like that!" Linda cried. "Everyone gets to bring their own dish – you could make burgers, or we could bring dessert – there'll be games for the kids, and alcohol for the adults."
"Hm, still no, Lin."
"We are going, Bob; I'm not taking no for an answer." Linda laid down the flyer, and fixed Bob with what he referred to as her 'crazy eyes'. He sighed.
"Okay, fine, you guys can go; I'll stay here."
"We're all going!" Linda growled, and Gene leapt onto his chair, howling loudly.
"Gene. Why do you want to go so badly?"
"Because..." Linda whined, the crazy in her eyes dimming slightly. Only slightly. Once Gene's howling had stopped, she continued. "We never get to be involved in the community! It's a chance for us to meet new people, relax, and just have fun!"
"We're involved in the community, Lin; we're a restaurant," he said, and Louise laughed loudly.
"Serving Teddy a burger every day doesn't count as being involved in the community!" she cried, shaking her head.
"Where is it being held?" Tina leaned toward the flyer, and Linda grabbed it.
"It's at Darn Rootin' National Park," she read aloud. "Huh, not even Meshugaas State Park."
"Ugh, isn't that park even further away?" Bob groaned, wanting to bury his head in his hand. "That's another reason to not go; it's, like, two hours away."
"Yeah! I've seen pictures; it's so pretty, and there's trails, and a park, and a huge forest, and everything! We'll all have a great time! So," she fixed her husband with another steely glare, and he groaned again. It already sounded terrible. "We are all going; end of story. I'm not takin' no for an answer."
"All right, fine," Bob sighed, having no other option. "I guess we just won't make any money that day. A Saturday. Our busiest day. We'll just be broke-er; that's fine."
"All right!" Linda whooped, and the kids cheered.
"How long until we get there? We're already in the woods," asked Tina, as they drove down the gravel road, watching as the trees got thicker and thicker.
"Not long now," Linda told her, "there's like this grassy area where it's being held; there should be some signs coming soon."
"It better be soon; I don't know how much longer I can wait until I sneak into the trunk and eat the guacamole," said Gene.
"It won't be long," Bob reiterated. "And, Gene, don't eat the guacamole; it's for the stupid barbecue."
"But it's calling me! It's scared and all alone back there, and needs to be comforted!"
"Don't touch it, Gene; it's for all of our new friends," said Linda. "And it is not a stupid barbecue, Bob!"
"Okay. I mean, it is, but okay."
"Shut up!" Louise barked. "We're here, and that means we can finally get out of the car!" She clambered over Tina and flung the door open, jumping out. It appeared to be an attempt at a parking lot; it was basically a large, square patch of concrete, with faded white lines painted on the ground.
"Not so fast, Miss Missy!" Linda called out the window. "We all got stuff to carry!"
"Oh, come on! This is a community barbecue; you can't make us do slave labour!" Louise folded her arms as her siblings climbed out, all of them gratefully stretching after the long drive.
"Here you go," Linda only pushed a large bowl of potato chips into Louise's arms, and she struggled briefly, before glaring at her mother.
"You're a sick woman, Linda Belcher."
"Just hold on tight to 'em, sweetie," Linda replied cheerfully, handing an equally large platter of corn on the cobs to Tina, who took it with no complaints. "Ooh, it looks like we got here in good time!"
"Don't you think you've gone a little overboard, Lin?" Bob asked, pulling the bowl of home-made guacamole out, and passing it to Gene. "It's not like you're hosting." He didn't see why they had to bring all this food, food that she'd made (and made him help her). Linda had dragged him out of bed early that morning, insisting that everything be ready with plenty of time to spare.
And the beer; she'd made him go out and buy several cases of beer! To top it off, he likely wouldn't get to drink any, so that was more money down the drain.
"There's gonna be lots of people here, Bobby, and we don't wanna run out of food," she said, as she grabbed a huge bowl of potato salad, Bob grabbed the beers, and they all started to walk. After quickly glancing up at her parents, Louise wrangled one arm up and popped a chip into her mouth.
Soon enough, they reached a lovely, grassy clearing, surrounded by trees. On one side were three large grills, several coolers, and a long table loaded down with plates, cups, napkins, and cutlery. Another equally long table was reserved for the guests' offerings, and already had several platters of nachos, peanuts, cakes, cookies, rice, salad, ribs, chicken, amongst many others.
On the opposite side, was a large playground. Encased in a low, wooden log fence were swings, slides, an enormous sandpit, and several rope obstacle courses. All of the equipment was made of wood, and blended in perfectly with the environment.
Throughout the green were half a dozen picnic tables, some of which were in the shade of the tall oak trees, while others soaked up the sunshine. There were already a fair few adults mingling about, chatting to their friends, some of them clutching drinks, while others sat and observed.
In between two of the biggest oak trees, was a white banner, which had the words "Welcome! 1st Annual Community Barbecue" painted neatly on it. Flanking the tree were two tall speakers.
"Hey!"
As the Belchers' placed their food on the table, they were greeted enthusiastically by a couple who were much younger than them. They were both dressed neatly, with well-fitting clothes, and were beaming. They reminded Bob a bit of Connor and Farrah, the couple whose wedding they had catered. "It's great to see you!" the man grinned, as though they were old friends. He was quite tall, with work-roughened hands and a chin dimple, and had his light hair gelled up in a sort of quiff. "I'm Mason, and this is my fiancee, Harper." Harper, bright-eyed and youthful, stepped forward, her ponytail swinging.
"Hi!" she chirped, with a gap-toothed grin that made her look even more youthful. "It's so great you guys could come! I've been looking forward to this ever since we planned it!"
"Oh, we wouldn't have missed it!" Linda grinned, already taken with the couple. "You planned all this? I love it so much already!"
"Aw, you're too kind!" Harper ducked her head modestly.
"No, no, this is gonna be great. I'm Linda, this is my husband, Bob, and these are our kids; Tina, Louise, and Gene," Linda pointed them out.
"Hey, kids," Mason grinned, but they were already running over to the playground.
"I'm sorry about that," Linda said.
"Don't worry about it; they don't wanna talk to the boring grown-ups," said Mason. "Anyway, looks like you brought a lot of great stuff here."
"Yeah," Harper agreed. "That potato salad looks delicious."
"Thanks," said Bob. "We made it, from scratch."
"Did you?" Mason looked impressed, and Bob felt just a tiny bit smug about that.
"Yeah; I own a restaurant."
"You do?" Now Harper looked impressed, and Bob felt even more smug. "What do you make?"
"Uh, burgers."
"Wow!" They turned to one another, and Bob didn't think he'd ever seen such a gung-ho couple. "It's like fate brought you to our barbecue. Did you wanna help with the burgers?"
"Uh, yeah, I might." Truthfully, Bob was desperate to get behind the grill and show them how it was done, but he wanted to have a few drinks. Maybe more than a few. "I'll probably do a couple when you start, just to help you get started."
"Great!"
"Free! We're free!" Louise cried, leaping over the fence, and diving onto the circle swing.
"Mm. Hello sand, meet Gene," Gene stood on the fence, before turning around, and falling back into the sand. "Oh, this is good!" he cried. "Look, I'm making a sand angel!"
"I've never seen a playground made out of trees before," Tina climbed carefully over the knee-high fence, somehow still managing to stumble.
"This is great!" Louise lay back and stared up at the sky as she swung.
"This could be a pretty fun day," said Tina, as she looked around.
"I may stay here forever," Gene declared, sand covering all but his head. "Look at me, I'm Sandra Gene!" he sang, closing his eyes in bliss.
"That means more food for us," Louise quipped, grabbing the ropes, and balancing on the edge of the swing, jumping off when it had slowed. "We'll get first dibs!"
"I resent that," Gene, too content to move, only opened his eyes.
More and more families began to gather, and Mason and Harper greeted them all just as enthusiastically as they had to Bob and Linda.
The Belcher parents were stood off to the side of the buffet table, both of them with a drink in their hand. The speakers were blaring out loud pop music, and Linda was bouncing enthusiastically.
"Hi!" Linda greeted Teddy as though she hadn't seen him in ten years.
"Hi, Linda! Hey, Bobby!" Teddy had brought a twelve-pack of beer, which he placed on the table. "This is gonna be great! I love things like this."
"It's gonna be terrible," Bob moaned, taking another gulp of his beer.
"Oh, it is not!" Linda snapped, looking around at the already packed area. She appeared to have taken it upon herself to be co-host of this whole thing. It was just the natural hostess inside of her. "We're gonna have fun. Hi!" she approached Regular-sized Rudy's dad, and smiled politely at Tammy's parents. Jocelyn's mum wasn't too bad, but anyone who was friends with Tammy's mother and father wasn't someone she cared to be best pals with. "Oh, Rudy? Louise, Gene, and Tina are in the playground over there," she bent down and pointed. "They'll be glad to see you."
"Okay, thanks," Rudy smiled at her, and went over to the little park.
"Vanessa, Bill," she smiled politely at Tammy's parents, who smiled stiffly back. Bill was holding a small plate of grilled lobster tails, while Vanessa carried nothing except for her phone.
"Oh, my God, this should be fun, right?" asked Tara, Jocelyn's mother, still looking and sounding the spitting image of her daughter. She hadn't brought anything with them, reasoning that there was going to be plenty of food there already.
Jocelyn and Tammy, already bored, were tapping away on their phones, texting each other, even though they were standing side by side.
"Girls?" said Linda, but neither teen looked up, "your friends are over there, if you wanna see them."
"No, thanks," was all Tammy said, not even looking up from her phone and pursing her lips, and Linda raised an eyebrow.
"Well, we hope you enjoy yourselves," said Mason and Harper, taking the platters and placing them on the table. "Please, help yourselves to drinks, and have fun!"
At the prospect of alcohol, the Larsens, along with Tara, grabbed a cup, and moved toward the picnic tables. Tammy and Jocelyn slunk off to another table, the both of them looking bored.
"Oh, my God," Bob muttered under his breath, turning to Linda. "Why did you make me come here? It's gonna be terrible."
"Oh, look at me, I'm Bob, I hate having fun and not being able to cook my hoity-toity foods, nyah nyah, nyah! Ah, zoom!"
"Oh, my God," Bob closed his eyes, and turned to see Jimmy Pesto, along with Jimmy Jr., Andy, Ollie, and Trev. All of them were carrying stacks upon stacks of his terrible pizza. "What are you doing here, Jimmy?"
"Uh, it says community barbecue, Bob. Surprised you're here, actually; when was the last time you took part in the community?"
"When we did the Bog to Beach parade!" Linda jumped in.
"Yeah, and we beat you!" Bob's eyes glinted.
"Yeah, coming in last place is a real achievement, Bob!" Jimmy smirked. "But I guess that's usual for you, huh?"
"Right, that's it!" Bob made toward Jimmy, but Linda grabbed him at the same time that Harper and Mason came over.
"Hi!" Mason wrung Jimmy's free hand, and the faux Italian looked taken aback. "Nice to meet you; I'm Mason. Me and my fiancee Harper organised this little shindig."
"Uh, hi," Jimmy looked just as confused at the younger man's exuberance as Bob had. "We brought pizza."
"Yes, I can see," smiled Harper. "Unusual choice for a barbecue, but, hey, being unique isn't bad, right?"
"Right," Jimmy smirked at Bob once again, who growled, and was led away by Linda.
"Don't let stupid Pesto ruin the day, Bob," she told him, as they stood near the picnic tables.
"Stupid Pesto; you got that right. The day was already ruined, Lin, by coming here. It's stupid."
"Bobby, stop being so grouchy," she said sternly. "It's a beautiful, sunny day, we get to eat food that we didn't have to cook, and we get to make new friends. Apart from Pesto, what have you got to hate about this day?"
"Lin, we had to close the restaurant for this," he sighed.
"Is that it? Bobby, we're makin' family memories!" She tugged on his arm. "The kids won't remember working there day after day, but they'll remember this. They'll remember the fun day out they had with their mommy and daddy. Isn't that what counts?"
"You're right," Bob realised. "I mean, I hate it here, but they'll love it, and they're gonna have fun."
"That's the spirit!" Linda grinned. "Now, you just gotta learn to have fun, all right? Let's get some drinks down you; I saw some Schnapps over there." Now that Jimmy had moved away, Linda dragged Bob back over to the buffet and grabbed a bottle and two cups. Her grin grew wider as she filled the cups up. "Here you go; down it," she handed one cup to Bob, downing her own drink. When he'd finished, she refilled them both.
"Oh, that's good," said Bob, as an upbeat pop song began to play.
"Ooh! Let's dance!"
"No, Lin." But Linda then refilled his cup once more.
"How many drinks do you need before you'll dance with me?"
"Not enough in the world, Lin," said Bob firmly, steadily ignoring Jimmy who was pulling faces at him.
Jimmy Jr., accompanied by Zeke at this point in time, went over to the playground
"Hey, guys," he lisped, standing up on the little wooden fence. Andy and Ollie squealed with excitement, and ran toward the slide, which was accessible only by either a rope ladder, or a knotted rope.
"Hey, Jimmy Jr.," Tina smiled, coming over to stand next to him. "Zeke."
Jimmy Jr. didn't answer her, and merely struck a pose, before attempting to moonwalk along the fence.
"Jay-Ju's in a right dancin' mood today," Zeke grinned, as he climbed up on the fence. "My boy's like Gene Kelly!" Tina groaned as Zeke observed the playground. "'Sup, y'all? Hey, this is a mighty fine lookin' park," he smiled at the twins, who were attempting the climb the length of rope at the same time. "Now, come here, Jay-Ju; I'm gon' getcha!" He leapt onto Jimmy Jr., and the two of them toppled off the fence. There was a lot of head butting.
Tina groaned again. Couldn't she, just for once, spend some time with Jimmy Jr. without Zeke hanging around, and stealing her sometimes-boyfriend's attention? That was literally all she wanted. (Well, that and a horse.)
Gene was still buried in the sand, and Louise was showing Rudy a bug she'd found, trying to persuade him to hold it.
"Stop it, Zeke!" Jimmy Jr. cried as he was once again body slammed into the ground. "Ah!"
"You got it, Jay-Ju," Zeke stood, and helped his friend to his feet. "Hey, how long until we eat? I'm starvin'."
"They said it would be around an hour," said Rudy. "Said something about waiting for everyone to arrive and get settled."
"So, we have to wait here for a whole hour?" Louise looked disgusted. "That's boring; I'm gonna go explore."
"Explore what?" Tina asked, as Louise went over to the fence.
"The forest, T," there was a slight hint of exasperation in her voice. "It'll be more interesting than waiting around here."
"I'm not so sure you should go," said Tina, watching Louise climb back over the fence.
"I'm not going far."
"Yeah, but, it's a forest."
"You're a Thundergirl, aren't you, Tina? This should be a walk in the park for you. Well, anyone who wants to can come," Louise shrugged and turned. Tina and Gene waited all of one second before following her.
"Wait for me!" Rudy pumped his inhaler, before carefully climbing the fence. "I wanna explore, too!"
"Us, too!" cried the twins, tearing after the Belchers.
"What you say? Ya up for it, Jay-Ju?" Zeke bounced on the balls of his feet, his gaze flicking between his friend and the retreating kids. "Could be fun."
"Sure – I mean, yeah, let's go!"
The kids made their way across the green, the occupied and some slightly intoxicated adults barely sparing them a passing glance. Linda, however, saw them.
"Kids," she called, her drink sloshing. "Don't go too far, and be back soon, okay?"
"We will!" Tina called over her shoulder. "Come back soon, I mean, not we will.. go far..." Her mother was drinking again, and so Tina followed the rest of the group.
The kids walked past the buffet table and stepped off the grass and onto the leaves and mud.
"Wow, this is so cool!" Louise's eyes widened as she looked around at the thick, dense trees and bushes, and they began to walk forward.
The overhanging branches made the place seem darker, and the dark green undergrowth rustled with a gentle breeze. It had a little bit of a creepy feel to it. Here and there were dozens of moss-covered rocks that blended so well with the bushes that they were practically invisible, and there were broken branches strewn about. The faint sound of trickling water could be heard over the birds singing. "This is awesome!" Louise picked up a branch and snapped it in half, before tossing them both in opposite directions. She breathed in the smell of damp moss, of leaves, flowers, pine needles. This place smelled far more "woodsier" than Meshugaas State Park, and best of all, they didn't have to do any stupid camping! Even better, there were no boring grown-ups, so they could do whatever they liked! They might even find a dead body, or even a secret, underground bunker with lost military weapons. That would be cool. No one ever went into the woods; they were far too boring, so it was the perfect place to hide all the top secret stuff. "Hey, Rudy, bet you can't climb this tree!" She ran over to a huge, old oak, its gnarled roots lifting out of the ground.
"I wouldn't even wanna try," he admitted, watching as she placed her foot in a groove, and pulled herself up a little bit. The tree was at least three times as wide as any other tree around them; there was no way he would be able to climb that.
"Wow, you can't even see the barbecue!" she called.
"And the music's pretty faint, as well," Tina observed, trying to remember which way they had came, so they would know which direction to head back in.
They continued to walk through the forest, sometimes knee-deep in the underbrush
"This is pretty cool," admitted Jimmy Jr., looking at the rays of light that shone through the thick tree trunks.
"Yeah," Tina sidled closer to him. "It's kinda.. romantic, don't you think?"
"Huh?" he turned around and spotted her. "Oh, sorry, Tina, I was talking to Zeke."
"But, Jimmy Jr., don't you think it's romantic?" She tried to put her hand in his.
"I suppose," he frowned, heading forward, leaving Zeke and Tina alone.
"I think it's a nice lookin' place, T-Bird," he said, but Tina was looking longingly at Jimmy Jr.
"Yeah," she sighed. Maybe if she could get him alone? Somewhere quiet, and secluded, the two of them sitting pretty under a beautiful weeping willow. Jimmy Jr. would reach for her hand, and then her lips, and she would reach for his butt...
Tina shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and continued walking through the forest.
Louise had an armful of stones, and was throwing them at every tree she passed, while Andy and Ollie were crawling, their noses inches from the ground, looking for bugs.
"Hey, guys, check this out!" came Gene's voice from somewhere in front of them, and the group ran towards it, leaping over logs, shoving branches out of the way, before they found him.
"Whoa," said Rudy, needing another pump, as the kids stared. Gene was standing on the edge of a very deep ravine, with a hiking trail at the bottom.
The kids got closer, peering over the edge, gazing at the rocky walls, the hard, stony path.
"I've never seen one of these with no water at the bottom," Rudy said.
"Look, there's a hill over here," said Tina, walking way, way over to the left. "It looks like we could just climb down; the forest is down there, too."
"Why climb when we could walk over this log?!" Gene yelled, running over to the far right, where a very long and wide tree trunk lay in front of them, extending over the edge of the ravine to the other side. "It's as if God intended for us to do this."
"Uh, I'm not so sure," said Tina. "Maybe we should start heading back."
"Don't be such a square," Louise placed a foot on the log, and pushed down. It didn't move. "See? Solid as a rock."
"You mean, solid as a log," said Gene.
"After you," Louise grinned and held out her arm to Tina, who groaned.
"Sheesh, come on, Tina, it's just a log." Jimmy Jr. threw her a withering glance and stepped onto the trunk. Holding his arms out, he shuffled along it. "Are you guys coming or not?" he called.
Before she could change her mind, Tina stepped onto the log, not daring to look down, and Gene followed her.
"Go on," Zeke ushered the twins, Louise, and Rudy, before he brought up the rear. Best to have the kids in the middle; then they were surrounded by adults. Well, older kids, but they were technically the adults of the group.
"This is kinda cool," said Rudy, chancing a quick glance down. "But I didn't realise how high up we were. Or how long this log is." They were all more than halfway across, with several feet of empty tree trunk on either side of them. It was wide enough that they weren't worried about slipping and falling off, but at their age, most of them didn't register that risk.
"It is nice," Tina shuffled closer to Jimmy Jr., who then moved forwards, as well.
"I just can't believe we're actually crossing a log, like in the movies," said Gene.
"Yeah, when they made the movie of my life, I'll tell them to keep this part in," called Louise.
"Yeah, it makes me wanna dance, just like in the movies," said Jimmy Jr. "If this were a movie, this would be the perfect part for a dance. The main character's feeling lonely, and he comes across this log, and dances his feelings."
"That sounds like a great movie, Jay-Ju – whoa! What you doin'?" Zeke flung out his arms as Jimmy Jr. struck a pose, and the log shifted. They all immediately grabbed on to one another, but Jimmy Jr. was lost in his fantasy, and again moved out of Tina's grip.
"Keep walking!" Louise snapped. "Junior, keep walking!"
Jimmy Jr. appeared to not hear her, and leapt into the air, striking another pose, and the log shifted again.
Trying not to panic, the kids began to shuffle as quickly as they could, keeping hold of each other, doing their best to remain calm. They had almost made it to the other side, when the log slipped off the ground completely, and the eight of them fell down into the ravine.
There came many voices as they fell through the air. "AAAAHHHH -!"
"WHOO!" Bob cheered over the music, raising his fourth or fifth glass of Schnapps. He wrapped his arms around Linda, the both of them dancing, a mixture of blissful and giddy. He was glad they came. He was more than likely spilling the drink down her back, but she didn't seem to mind, therefore neither did he. "This is great!" he whisper-shouted. "I'm glad we came."
It did feel good to be there. It was.. fun. The more time he spent there, the more he enjoyed it. He was out in the wilderness, technically, and there was alcohol, free food, and his family was there. Okay, he wished he was cooking; he'd show them how to cook burgers properly, and everyone would taste his food, and they'd love it, and they'd applaud, and -
"Aw, me too, Bobby," Linda's voice broke him from his thought as she pressed her forehead to his, smiling. "So, now we know; five glasses of Schnapps, and you become fun. I'll keep that in mind." Bob, too tipsy to argue, continued to dance. He caught sight of Pesto, sitting with Trev, and glaring at him. Bob stuck his tongue out. Childish? Perhaps, but it felt good, and Bob did it again.
"Got a problem, buddy?" Bob blinked; how did Pesto get so close, so quickly?
"Don't have a problem," he shrugged. "Just dancin'; do you have a problem with that?"
"Just dancin', nyah, nyah, nyah!" Jimmy mocked. "Why don't ya grow up, Bob!"
"Why don't you grow up, Jimmy?" Bob pointed over Linda's shoulder, his finger inches from Pesto's nose.
"Enough, you two," Linda, though a little tipsy, was still coherent enough to put a stop to their little spat. "Come on, Bobby, let's dance over here."
"You're right. I'm going to have fun," Bob stuck his tongue out at Jimmy once more, before he and Linda danced away.
"Can you believe that jerk?" Jimmy turned to Trev. "'I'm gonna have fun now, Jimmy!"
"Haha, good one!" Trev faithfully slapped him a high five, and Jimmy shot Bob another glare. The nerve of that moustachioed man having fun, drinking, dancing, with his stupid moustache. Jimmy was capable of having fun; of course he was, he just didn't feel like it, that was all.
"OOF!"
After bumping, sliding, and rolling down an extremely inconveniently placed hill (which just had to be littered with rocks), the kids came to an abrupt, sore stop on the muddy ground.
Tina, groaning as she got to her hands and knees, looked around. This part of the forest was even denser, if that was possible, and the many thick trees made it look darker. Logs and sticks littered the ground, and waist-high bushes contributed to the closed-in feeling.
"Is everyone all right?" she asked, standing up, and wiping mud from her face. She rubbed her left shoulder, and tried to get her breath back; the landing had knocked the wind out of her, as it had all of them.
"I'm definitely gonna be bruised all over tomorrow," Gene rolled over onto his back.
"We're fine," said Louise, one handedly brushing mud off her dress, ignoring the searing pain in her right shoulder.
"Are we sure? Is everyone okay?" Tina's Thundergirl training was kicking in; good job she knew that manual off by heart.
"I'm okay. Boy, am I glad I was holding on to this," Rudy raised the inhaler he was still gripping on to. He quickly checked himself over, wincing when he touched his busted lip. His palms and elbows were a little beat up, but nothing that would hinder him. He hoped.
"My arm!" Gene sat up to reveal a nasty graze spanning the length of his left forearm, and he hissed in pain. "It hurts! And I hit my elbow; my funny bone! I can no longer laugh; just call me the Terminator!"
"I hit my head!" said Ollie, pointing to a faint bruise on his temple.
"Wait, wait," Andy lay back down, and a loud clunk was heard as he whacked his head onto the ground. "I hit my head, too!" he declared.
"Oh, I think my knees are broken," groaned Jimmy Jr.
"Okay; let me look at you all," Tina went over to Gene, and bent down next to him. The wound was rather red, but superficial. "You'll be fine," she assured him, gently brushing the dirt away. "Just try to keep it clean."
"No problem; they don't call me Clean Gene for nothing!"
"But how does your elbow feel?"
"Like it's being squeezed. My wrist hurts too," Gene revealed, holding up his arm so Tina could inspect it. He'd tried breaking his fall, but it seemed his wrist had other ideas.
Admittedly, Tina wasn't too good with identifying strains, sprains or breaks, so she didn't know how badly Gene was hurt. He was able to stretch and bend his arm, albeit with minor pain, so she assumed it wasn't too bad.
Jimmy Jr's jeans now had holes in the knees, and they were scraped and bleeding, and the twins did not appear to have a concussion, even though Tina wasn't too sure what the signs were. Andy and Ollie were alert, talking, and in sync, so they were probably fine.
It appeared that only Zeke, the twins, and Louise were uninjured, excluding minor bruising here and there. (Although, Louise refused point-blank to let Tina near her, and claimed to be fine. What else could Tina do but take her sister's word for it?)
"Well, if no one's hurt badly, then we all need to decide what to do," said Tina.
"What do you mean?" Louise stopped scraping the mud from her hands and looked up.
"Well, we don't know where we are, so what are we gonna do? I can't even hear the music playing any more," she realised.
"I'm sure we ain't that far away," Zeke reassured her. "When the grown-ups realise we ain't there, they'll come lookin'."
"Yeah, but there's tonnes of places we could have gone!" said Jimmy Jr. "They might not find us for hours!"
"How will we find our way back?" asked Andy.
"Simple; we find the log, and climb back up," said Louise, in a tone that suggested it was the most obvious choice.
"But where is the log?" Tina looked around, only seeing trees, trees, and more trees. There wasn't even a trail.
"Wait!" Zeke cried, and they all looked over at him. "Jay-Ju, you can call for help; ya got a cell phone!"
"You're right!" Jimmy Jr., exuberant at this nightmare being over, reached into his pocket, grinning widely, but his face soon fell. He quickly searched his other pockets. "It's not here!" he cried.
"Well, let's look for it," said Tina, and the group spread out and began searching. Andy and Ollie dropped to their knees, and began feeling their way through the mud. They looked in and under bushes, they parted the grass, they sifted through the leaves, without any luck.
Even though they searched the area thoroughly, they could not find the phone.
"Alright, soup's on!" Mason called, clapping his hands, both he and Harper behind the grill.
"Food? Oh, good, I'm starving," Linda let go of Bob, and they moved closer to the grill. "Kids!" Linda faced the deep woods. "Kids, food's ready, come on!" There was no thundering footfalls, no excited shrieking. Nothing. "Kids!" Linda repeated, marching over to the edge of the green, where the grassy ground turned to leaves. She couldn't see nor hear them. "Kids, dinner time!" she called again. She sensed Bob coming up beside her, as well as a few other adults. "Where are they?" she wondered aloud, stepping forward again. "Bobby, I'm getting worried."
"I'm sure they're fine, Lin," he said, though his expression revealed that he was just as worried as her. It wasn't like Gene to skip a meal; he had a kind of sixth sense when it came the time for food to be served.
"Hey, what's going on?" said Harper, moving out from behind the grill.
"We keep calling the kids, but they're not coming," said Linda.
"I'm sure they're just playing," she said kindly. "Children!" she called, her voice echoing. "Food time!"
"They would hear us, right, Bobby?"
"Yeah, unless they went really far in."
"You think they have?" asked Harper, as Rudy's dad stepped further into the forest.
"Hey, what's the matter, Bob? Your kids too embarrassed to be seen with you?" Bob closed his eyes as Jimmy's voice echoed through the green. But before he could say anything, Linda turned around.
"We can't find our kids!" she snapped, "and your kids went with them, didn't ya know?" The smile dropped from Jimmy's face.
"They did?" He stood, and walked over to the Belchers'. "Where are they?"
"We don't know," said Bob.
"Let's all try calling at the same time," Mason suggested. "Maybe they just can't hear us. On the count of three, we'll yell 'kids' as loud as we can, okay? Ready? One, two, three..."
In unison, the adults cupped their mouths with their hands, and screamed "KIDS!"
Several indignant birds screeched and flew away in protest, but that was their only response.
"Oh, my God, they're lost!" Linda cried, clutching her face.
~ X ~
Done! What did you think? I tried very hard to make it feel like a real episode, so that's why I kept switching between the kids and their parents.