II
Six years went happily by in the new family. Din and Link lovingly spent much time (actually all their time) with Amanda, playing with her, feeding her, singing her to sleep... Not that there weren't all the usual "toddler antics." Amanda liked to open the bottom cabinet in the kitchen and fling everything all over the place, then laugh hysterically. Or sometimes she would throw her food on the floor, scream "Hungwy, hungwy!" till she got more, then repeat the procedure.
But Link and Din knew this was all part of raising a child, and everyone thought Amanda was the most adorable girl to be born into Holodrum.
So, as I have said, six years have passed, and today is Amanda's first day of kindergarten. Din stood with her outside St. Sarashala Children's School, telling her how great it was going to be.
"...And there's building blocks, and a sand-table, and even musical instruments!" She was saying. "You'll have such a great time!"
Amanda pouted and wrapped herself around her mother's leg. "I don' wanna go."
"Awww, why not?"
Amanda squeezed Din's leg tighter. "I'm scawed."
Din smiled. "Oh sweetie, don't be afraid. It'll be fun, and I'll see you at 1:00, okay?"
Amanda reluctantly let go and trudged up into the school, but not without looking over her shoulder several times. Each time, Din smiled and waved to her daughter until she finally made it inside. Then she walked back towards home.
"Okay, lets start by telling each other our names!" Said Mrs. Buckbee, the teacher.
"My name is Clyde!" said the first boy.
"I'm Craig!"
"My name's Stan."
"And mine's Kyle."
"I am called Eric."
It continued around the circle on the rug until it reached Amanda, who sat with her arms crossed.
"And what's your name, honey?" Asked Mrs. B.
Amanda didn't answer.
"Come on, tell us your name. Don't be afraid!"
"Amanda." She grunted, never looking up.
"Nice to meet you, Amanda." Said Mrs. B. "Okay how would everyone like to hear a story?"
All the kids cried happily.
"I'll read to you the story of The Very Hungry Octorok! How would you like that?"
The same cry came from the kids.
"Okay, then! Here we go. Ahem..."
Mrs. B. started reading the story, and Amanda stood and walked to the corner of the rug and sat back down with her arms crossed again.
Mrs. B. looked up over her glasses. "That's fine, Amanda. We're going to miss you in the group, though."
"Don' care."
"Oh, okay, Miss Sourpuss... but please come back when you feel better!" She continued to read.
After a few minutes, a boy got up from the group and sat next to Amanda, who immediately relocated herself. But he followed her, and finally she gave up trying to avoid him.
"Hi. I'm Todd."
Amanda gave him the raspberry. Todd laughed.
"Ha ha ha! You're funny!"
Amanda stuck her tongue out, but that made Todd laugh harder.
"You're gonna make me pee in my pants!" Todd cried.
Amanda couldn't help but give a short laugh, then returned to her sour attitude.
"Why you so angry?" Todd asked. "My ma says it ain't no good being mad at people cause then they get mad at you and you lose friends."
"I don' care what your momma says."
"My pop also says that he got mad at a guy, then durin' the war with that General guy the guy died but my pop wasn't mad at him no more but he didn't have a chance to..."
"GO AWAY!" screamed Amanda, so loud that Todd jumped up and ran back to the group.
Mrs. Buckbee looked up sharply. "Amanda, I think you need a time-out."
"NO!"
"Then don't scream like that again please, or time-out is where you'll be."
Another girl giggled. "She screamed like my daddy."
Everyone laughed.
"YOU SHUT UP TOO!"
"That does it." Mrs. B. stood and took Amanda's hand and led her over to the corner. "Sit here until you can be calm."
The kids on the rug giggled quietly. Amanda sat in the corner, arms crossed again, muttering under her breath.
"Stupid school, stupid teacher, stupid stupid stupid..."
The Maku Tree moaned softly in his sleep.
A week of kindergarten went by, and the next Monday during "free time," Amanda was playing quietly with the stuffed animals when Todd sat down opposite her.
Amanda immediately looked away. "What do you want?"
"Nothin'. I just wanna play with Monty Mole." He took the small animal and started making it dance.
"But I was gonna play with him!" cried Amanda, and she yanked it from him.
"HEY!" Todd immediately tried again to get it back, but Amanda held fast onto it, and for several minutes they had a tug-of-war of sorts.
"LET GO, LET GO, LET GO!!!" Screamed Amanda.
Mrs. B. walked over. "Young lady, do you remember what happened when you last raised your voice?"
Amanda looked down. "Yes, Mrs. B."
"I do not wish to give you another time-out, but if you continue to scream you leave me no choice. Now you play nice with Todd."
While Mrs. B. was talking, Todd quietly tried to grab the doll, but Amanda spotted him and shouted, "NO, TODD!" and she slapped his wrist.
"AMANDA!" gasped Miss B. "We absolutely DO NOT allow hitting here!" She seized Amanda's hand and led her to the office. "I'll be in touch with your parents."
"No! Don't!"
"I'm sorry, I have no choice."
"I hate you." Growled Amanda.
The Maku Tree is moaning in his sleep.
3 months passed, and though the time outs and conferences lessened, they didn't stop completely. Link and Din were often forced to give Amanda consequences, such as no ice cream at night or early bedtime, but they knew that it was all part of a child going through school. (Ask this author right here. ^_~) Now we see Amanda at the sand table when once again Todd joins her.
"Can I use that funnel?" he asked.
"Fine." She said, and she passed it to him.
"I told my gramma that you keep getting mad at me, and she says maybe I should ask instead of just grabbin', so I guess it worked."
"Hmmph."
They resumed playing with the sand toys in silence, until Amanda became curious about something. Without warning, she gave Todd the raspberry, and he burst out laughing. Amanda was pleased she could get the same reaction from him.
"Why did you do that? I didn't do nuthin..."
She stuck her tongue out again, and he laughed hysterically.
"You're cool, Amanda."
She smiled for a moment, caught herself, and immediatley went back to her usual attitude. Todd seemed puzzled, but went back to playing with the funnell.
That night at home, Din came to Amanda's room and said, "Sweetie, can you come to the living room for a sec?"
She immediately responded, "What did I do?"
"Nothing! Your father and I just want to talk to you for a minute."
Against her will Amanda followed her mother down to the living room. "Am I in trouble?" She asked nervously.
"No, honey." Said Din.
"Actually, we want to tell you how proud we are of you." Added Link.
"What?" said Amanda, puzzled.
"Well, it's been over 4 weeks since Mrs. B. has told us you've done any bad behavior, and we think that's outstanding." Link continued.
Amanda smiled.
"So to congratulate you, we got you something."
Amanda jumped up and down. "What is it? What is it? WHAT IS IT?"
Din laughed. "Whoa, settle down, dear. Here." She handed Amanda a big picture book. "It's about a little girl just like you who learns she has magic powers."
"Ooooohhh boy oh boy!"
"Come on, I'll read it to you now." Said Link. "Come sit with me."
Amanda wasted no time crawling onto her father's knee. "Read it!!!"
"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Kate." Link began. "One day, Kate pointed her finger at a tree and it exploded."
"WOW!" Cried Amanda. "This is so COOL!"
"Kate was afraid, because she saw what she could do." Link continued.
"Why would she be afraid? I'd LOVE to be able to go around zapping things!"
Din answered. "Because, sweetie, you can't just 'go around zapping things' because then people are going to be afraid of you, and you'll become a really mean person."
"Ohhhhh! Keep reading, daddy!"
Link smiled and continued. "Kate told her mother what happened. 'You have magic powers.' Said her mother. 'But you must only use them for good things. If you use them for bad things, there will be lots of trouble.'"
"Hey that's just like what mommy said just now!" Exclaimed Amanda.
"That's right." Said Link. "Do you know why?"
"Cause mommy wrote the book?"
Link and Din both laughed.
"No, because it's true, sweetheart." Said Din.
"Ohhhh."
Link continued reading. "One day when Kate had grown up, she became unhappy with her family and friends, so she ran away."
"She's a bad girl." Said Amanda.
"Kate decided to use her powers to make people suffer, and she became very powerful. Nobody was able to stop her. And then one day a great hero came..."
"What was his name?" Amanda cut in.
"His name was Johnny, and he knew how to stop Kate."
"How, how, how???"
"He..."
"Dear..." Din said to Link, "It's Amanda's bedtime. You'll have to finish the story another time."
"NOOOOO! I wanna hear it NOW!" whined Amanda.
"Sorry, Amanda, but it's time for bed." Link shut the book and lifted her onto his shoulders and started to walk to her room.
"NO NO NO NO NO NO! NOW NOW NOW!"
"Shhh... tomorrow, sweetheart, I promise."
Link tucked Amanda into her bed and kissed her forehead. "See you in the morning." But Amanda continued bawling at the top of her lungs.
The Maku Tree moans in his sleep.
A week later, Amanda found herself back at the sand table with Todd, who was wearing a bitter expression, contrary to his usually chipper nature.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I hate everyone!" he declared without hesitation.
"Why?"
"Don't talk to me!"
Amanda was quiet for a moment, then gave him the raspberry again. His frown slipped a bit before he burst out laughing once again.
"Amanda you are so funny!"
"Nyah!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
He laughed again and hugged her.
"EWWWWWW! GET OFF ME!" she squealed, prying herself from his grip. "I'VE GOT BOY GERMS NOW!"
"Will you be my friend Amanda?" Todd asked.
"Sure."
"Yay!!"
"If you can catch me!" She bolted away from the sand table. He ran after her, laughing.
Screaming, the Maku Tree burst from his slumbers.
"What's the matter with you?" Asked the female tree. "You've been groaning in your sleep for almost a year, and now you've screamed yourself awake."
The Maku Tree frowned. "I'm sorry... but the evil presence we detected has been growing stronger during this time."
"Well we did figure out it would continue to do so until it's arrival." The female tree pointed out.
"Yes, but it is growing more rapidly than we originally projected. Especially in the last few months. And it just now grew in such a leap that it frightened me to death."
The female tree smiled. "You're just overworking yourself. We have nothing to worry about for 13 more years or more. Go back to sleep."
"Easier said than done." Her mate whispered. "I fear the worst for this world." He closed his eyes, but it was some time before he fell asleep. And he began moaning again.
To be continued...
The Fruits of Love is written by Spoonie Luv from Up Above
(a.k.a. The fanfic author formerly known as Twoie)
Six years went happily by in the new family. Din and Link lovingly spent much time (actually all their time) with Amanda, playing with her, feeding her, singing her to sleep... Not that there weren't all the usual "toddler antics." Amanda liked to open the bottom cabinet in the kitchen and fling everything all over the place, then laugh hysterically. Or sometimes she would throw her food on the floor, scream "Hungwy, hungwy!" till she got more, then repeat the procedure.
But Link and Din knew this was all part of raising a child, and everyone thought Amanda was the most adorable girl to be born into Holodrum.
So, as I have said, six years have passed, and today is Amanda's first day of kindergarten. Din stood with her outside St. Sarashala Children's School, telling her how great it was going to be.
"...And there's building blocks, and a sand-table, and even musical instruments!" She was saying. "You'll have such a great time!"
Amanda pouted and wrapped herself around her mother's leg. "I don' wanna go."
"Awww, why not?"
Amanda squeezed Din's leg tighter. "I'm scawed."
Din smiled. "Oh sweetie, don't be afraid. It'll be fun, and I'll see you at 1:00, okay?"
Amanda reluctantly let go and trudged up into the school, but not without looking over her shoulder several times. Each time, Din smiled and waved to her daughter until she finally made it inside. Then she walked back towards home.
"Okay, lets start by telling each other our names!" Said Mrs. Buckbee, the teacher.
"My name is Clyde!" said the first boy.
"I'm Craig!"
"My name's Stan."
"And mine's Kyle."
"I am called Eric."
It continued around the circle on the rug until it reached Amanda, who sat with her arms crossed.
"And what's your name, honey?" Asked Mrs. B.
Amanda didn't answer.
"Come on, tell us your name. Don't be afraid!"
"Amanda." She grunted, never looking up.
"Nice to meet you, Amanda." Said Mrs. B. "Okay how would everyone like to hear a story?"
All the kids cried happily.
"I'll read to you the story of The Very Hungry Octorok! How would you like that?"
The same cry came from the kids.
"Okay, then! Here we go. Ahem..."
Mrs. B. started reading the story, and Amanda stood and walked to the corner of the rug and sat back down with her arms crossed again.
Mrs. B. looked up over her glasses. "That's fine, Amanda. We're going to miss you in the group, though."
"Don' care."
"Oh, okay, Miss Sourpuss... but please come back when you feel better!" She continued to read.
After a few minutes, a boy got up from the group and sat next to Amanda, who immediately relocated herself. But he followed her, and finally she gave up trying to avoid him.
"Hi. I'm Todd."
Amanda gave him the raspberry. Todd laughed.
"Ha ha ha! You're funny!"
Amanda stuck her tongue out, but that made Todd laugh harder.
"You're gonna make me pee in my pants!" Todd cried.
Amanda couldn't help but give a short laugh, then returned to her sour attitude.
"Why you so angry?" Todd asked. "My ma says it ain't no good being mad at people cause then they get mad at you and you lose friends."
"I don' care what your momma says."
"My pop also says that he got mad at a guy, then durin' the war with that General guy the guy died but my pop wasn't mad at him no more but he didn't have a chance to..."
"GO AWAY!" screamed Amanda, so loud that Todd jumped up and ran back to the group.
Mrs. Buckbee looked up sharply. "Amanda, I think you need a time-out."
"NO!"
"Then don't scream like that again please, or time-out is where you'll be."
Another girl giggled. "She screamed like my daddy."
Everyone laughed.
"YOU SHUT UP TOO!"
"That does it." Mrs. B. stood and took Amanda's hand and led her over to the corner. "Sit here until you can be calm."
The kids on the rug giggled quietly. Amanda sat in the corner, arms crossed again, muttering under her breath.
"Stupid school, stupid teacher, stupid stupid stupid..."
The Maku Tree moaned softly in his sleep.
A week of kindergarten went by, and the next Monday during "free time," Amanda was playing quietly with the stuffed animals when Todd sat down opposite her.
Amanda immediately looked away. "What do you want?"
"Nothin'. I just wanna play with Monty Mole." He took the small animal and started making it dance.
"But I was gonna play with him!" cried Amanda, and she yanked it from him.
"HEY!" Todd immediately tried again to get it back, but Amanda held fast onto it, and for several minutes they had a tug-of-war of sorts.
"LET GO, LET GO, LET GO!!!" Screamed Amanda.
Mrs. B. walked over. "Young lady, do you remember what happened when you last raised your voice?"
Amanda looked down. "Yes, Mrs. B."
"I do not wish to give you another time-out, but if you continue to scream you leave me no choice. Now you play nice with Todd."
While Mrs. B. was talking, Todd quietly tried to grab the doll, but Amanda spotted him and shouted, "NO, TODD!" and she slapped his wrist.
"AMANDA!" gasped Miss B. "We absolutely DO NOT allow hitting here!" She seized Amanda's hand and led her to the office. "I'll be in touch with your parents."
"No! Don't!"
"I'm sorry, I have no choice."
"I hate you." Growled Amanda.
The Maku Tree is moaning in his sleep.
3 months passed, and though the time outs and conferences lessened, they didn't stop completely. Link and Din were often forced to give Amanda consequences, such as no ice cream at night or early bedtime, but they knew that it was all part of a child going through school. (Ask this author right here. ^_~) Now we see Amanda at the sand table when once again Todd joins her.
"Can I use that funnel?" he asked.
"Fine." She said, and she passed it to him.
"I told my gramma that you keep getting mad at me, and she says maybe I should ask instead of just grabbin', so I guess it worked."
"Hmmph."
They resumed playing with the sand toys in silence, until Amanda became curious about something. Without warning, she gave Todd the raspberry, and he burst out laughing. Amanda was pleased she could get the same reaction from him.
"Why did you do that? I didn't do nuthin..."
She stuck her tongue out again, and he laughed hysterically.
"You're cool, Amanda."
She smiled for a moment, caught herself, and immediatley went back to her usual attitude. Todd seemed puzzled, but went back to playing with the funnell.
That night at home, Din came to Amanda's room and said, "Sweetie, can you come to the living room for a sec?"
She immediately responded, "What did I do?"
"Nothing! Your father and I just want to talk to you for a minute."
Against her will Amanda followed her mother down to the living room. "Am I in trouble?" She asked nervously.
"No, honey." Said Din.
"Actually, we want to tell you how proud we are of you." Added Link.
"What?" said Amanda, puzzled.
"Well, it's been over 4 weeks since Mrs. B. has told us you've done any bad behavior, and we think that's outstanding." Link continued.
Amanda smiled.
"So to congratulate you, we got you something."
Amanda jumped up and down. "What is it? What is it? WHAT IS IT?"
Din laughed. "Whoa, settle down, dear. Here." She handed Amanda a big picture book. "It's about a little girl just like you who learns she has magic powers."
"Ooooohhh boy oh boy!"
"Come on, I'll read it to you now." Said Link. "Come sit with me."
Amanda wasted no time crawling onto her father's knee. "Read it!!!"
"Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Kate." Link began. "One day, Kate pointed her finger at a tree and it exploded."
"WOW!" Cried Amanda. "This is so COOL!"
"Kate was afraid, because she saw what she could do." Link continued.
"Why would she be afraid? I'd LOVE to be able to go around zapping things!"
Din answered. "Because, sweetie, you can't just 'go around zapping things' because then people are going to be afraid of you, and you'll become a really mean person."
"Ohhhhh! Keep reading, daddy!"
Link smiled and continued. "Kate told her mother what happened. 'You have magic powers.' Said her mother. 'But you must only use them for good things. If you use them for bad things, there will be lots of trouble.'"
"Hey that's just like what mommy said just now!" Exclaimed Amanda.
"That's right." Said Link. "Do you know why?"
"Cause mommy wrote the book?"
Link and Din both laughed.
"No, because it's true, sweetheart." Said Din.
"Ohhhh."
Link continued reading. "One day when Kate had grown up, she became unhappy with her family and friends, so she ran away."
"She's a bad girl." Said Amanda.
"Kate decided to use her powers to make people suffer, and she became very powerful. Nobody was able to stop her. And then one day a great hero came..."
"What was his name?" Amanda cut in.
"His name was Johnny, and he knew how to stop Kate."
"How, how, how???"
"He..."
"Dear..." Din said to Link, "It's Amanda's bedtime. You'll have to finish the story another time."
"NOOOOO! I wanna hear it NOW!" whined Amanda.
"Sorry, Amanda, but it's time for bed." Link shut the book and lifted her onto his shoulders and started to walk to her room.
"NO NO NO NO NO NO! NOW NOW NOW!"
"Shhh... tomorrow, sweetheart, I promise."
Link tucked Amanda into her bed and kissed her forehead. "See you in the morning." But Amanda continued bawling at the top of her lungs.
The Maku Tree moans in his sleep.
A week later, Amanda found herself back at the sand table with Todd, who was wearing a bitter expression, contrary to his usually chipper nature.
"What's wrong with you?"
"I hate everyone!" he declared without hesitation.
"Why?"
"Don't talk to me!"
Amanda was quiet for a moment, then gave him the raspberry again. His frown slipped a bit before he burst out laughing once again.
"Amanda you are so funny!"
"Nyah!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
He laughed again and hugged her.
"EWWWWWW! GET OFF ME!" she squealed, prying herself from his grip. "I'VE GOT BOY GERMS NOW!"
"Will you be my friend Amanda?" Todd asked.
"Sure."
"Yay!!"
"If you can catch me!" She bolted away from the sand table. He ran after her, laughing.
Screaming, the Maku Tree burst from his slumbers.
"What's the matter with you?" Asked the female tree. "You've been groaning in your sleep for almost a year, and now you've screamed yourself awake."
The Maku Tree frowned. "I'm sorry... but the evil presence we detected has been growing stronger during this time."
"Well we did figure out it would continue to do so until it's arrival." The female tree pointed out.
"Yes, but it is growing more rapidly than we originally projected. Especially in the last few months. And it just now grew in such a leap that it frightened me to death."
The female tree smiled. "You're just overworking yourself. We have nothing to worry about for 13 more years or more. Go back to sleep."
"Easier said than done." Her mate whispered. "I fear the worst for this world." He closed his eyes, but it was some time before he fell asleep. And he began moaning again.
To be continued...
The Fruits of Love is written by Spoonie Luv from Up Above
(a.k.a. The fanfic author formerly known as Twoie)