Fractured Stars
by Spruceton Spook
Part 5
The Hideaway
It was not even noon yet, and already the sweltering heat had made its presence in Pallet Town. The birds cheeped wearily, if at all, and the ground wavered drearily. Opening the front door was like opening an oven. Not a cloud dotted the deep blue sky, leaving plenty of room for the sun to cast its malicious rays.
It was hot. Unbearably hot.
"Assssssssssshhhh?! Where are we going?" Misty whined. She gruffly dragged herself behind Ash, who, despite the vicious heat, was already on his toes and walking briskly. Even Pikachu, who was usually lively and always up for any adventure Ash wanted to take, slumped dryly, his ears lowered.
Not answering, Ash just simply waved his hand to let her know that he heard her, but kept walking. He had a huge smile on his face as he gazed up at the rolling green mountains and down at the long grasses, which swayed calmly in the sweltering breeze. He had to admit that even he was a bit hot, but Ash didn't mind the heat. And nothing was going to stop him from enjoying his first full day back in Pallet Town.
"Ash!" Misty was not whining this time. She was downright screaming. Hating to be ignored, Ash's carefree little act was not pleasing her. It was stifling and she was not happy. Carrying a hot Togepi close to her wasn't entirely enjoyable. And being dragged out into the heat on what seemed like an endless march was even worse.
Grunting her displeasure through grounded teeth, she moved up alongside Brock. "Where is he taking us? And what kind of drugs is he on to be able to do anything in this heat?"
Brock shrugged. "I dunno. But it's better than being cramped up in the house all day."
"No, it's not," Misty replied. "The house is air-conditioned!"
Once again, her eyes narrowed and her mouth formed into a snarl. "Ash Ketchum! Tell us where we're going, now!" she demanded.
Ash flipped around and walked backwards, calmly smirking at his two, overheated friends. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw Misty's hotheaded expression.
"You'll see," was all he said, spinning back around.
Misty growled loudly. Ash heard this very well.
"I promise that it's cool there," Ash said. "We'll be out of the heat in no time."
"What are you talking about?" There came the whining again. Ash cringed, clenching his fists tightly to hold his remarks within him.
Suddenly, he left the road in which they were walking down, and began to thrash his way though the long, yellow grasses alongside. Misty and Brock looked at each other for a moment, then followed him. The long grass whipped at their legs, and Misty squirmed, wondering just how many bugs were crawling around in there.
"Ash! What is this? What did you get off the road for?"
Ash forced himself to face her again. His patience was growing thin. "Look, if you're going to be a bitch about this, why didn't you just stay home?"
Misty faltered for a moment at his tone, but quickly regained herself. "Because I have to make sure that you don't do anything stupid," she answered sharply, walking faster to come up beside him. "When you have a friend who'll do incredibly dumbass things to get a Pokémon, it gets you worried."
"Look! I know what I'm doing! And I don't need—" Suddenly, Ash's eyes rose surprisingly. A huge, crazy grin swept across his face. "Wait a second! You mean you care about me?"
"I—" Misty stopped and huffed, throwing a quick glance conveniently the other way. She found herself staring at an overly amused Brock, who flashed her his white teeth in a colossal smile.
"Aw, Misty! That's so wonderful of you!" Ash gushed, continuing with his taunting that always brought a satisfied smile to his face. "I'm soo happy to have such a caring friend like you! I'm so lucky!"
Misty's blood was boiling, and she was showing every sign of it in the look of death she cast on Ash. It was enough to make her derisive friend draw back and cringe.
"Uh…I mean, uh…" Ash struggled, Misty's glare beginning to positively frighten him. Nervously looking here and there, he almost felt like rejoicing when his destination loomed in the near distance. "Hey, look, we're here!"
Misty and Brock instantaneously looked ahead, cocking their heads curiously as their eyes caught a mess of trees and bushes. They all grew around each other, forming a secluded little clump of deep forest. A beaten, overgrown footpath led up to it, then vanished, almost as if the bramble swallowed it whole.
"Where's here?" Brock asked, following Ash as he edged closer to the woods by way of the path.
"Yeah?" Misty asked, her eyes darting around cautiously.
Ash beamed as memories flew to his head. He fondly sauntered up to the edge of the brush, reaching out his hand and grasping the leaves. He felt Pikachu hop up and clutch onto him, uttering a tiny, inquisitive "pika."
Ash turned back to Misty and Brock, who were stopped about a foot or two behind him. He gave them an enticing smile. "C'mon," he called, beckoning them over with a wave of his hand.
"Why'd you take us to the woods?" Misty asked.
Ash smiled even broader. "It's not just the woods. Come on, come in, will ya?"
Turned back to the woods, Ash pulled the branches away and let himself in. Shrugging and figuring there was nothing better to do, Misty and Brock followed.
Well, Ash certainly wasn't lying when he'd said it was going to be cool. Misty and Brock sighed in relief as the air temperature dropped a few pleasant degrees upon entering the woods. The tall trees completely blocked the sun's heat, and even a cool breeze swept through the leaves. Almost immediately, the gentle trickling of a stream could be heard.
Ash walked a bit into the woods, then stopped. Brock almost collided into Misty when she halted abruptly behind Ash.
Ash turned around. "I used to come here as a kid," he said happily, reaching up to wipe some sweat off his brow. "Cool, huh?"
Misty gave him a face. "Ash, it's just the woods," she said, shrugging. "What's so cool about them? We've been in them a million times. We practically live in them."
Ash's face fell, and his eyes drooped. "It's not just the woods," he mumbled in reply. "It's my secret hideaway. This was my old stomping ground a few years back."
Misty simply nodded, now understanding (somewhat) his attraction towards the place. As Ash turned his attention back to exploring his old hangout, Misty walked deeper into the area, watching her footing the entire way. Which was fine, of course, until she felt herself suddenly sinking.
"Ahhh!" she yelped, hopping out of the sticky substance her feet had unfortunately found. She lifted her foot in front of her to reveal a huge chunk of moist mud clinging to her sneaker.
Ash chuckled. "You have to watch where you walk, though. See there?" He pointed past where Misty was standing. "There's a stream over there. Makes the ground really muddy and stuff."
Misty scowled in disgust as she scraped her foot along a fallen log to get the mud off. "Man, you pick the loveliest places to hang out," she commented with a laugh. "But I guess boys will be boys."
Ash grinned. This was great. It was the first time he was in his old woods since leaving on a Pokémon journey. Occasionally, as Misty had mentioned, when they were in the woods, Ash thought of his old hideaway. He spent many summer days here, hanging with a couple of boys from around the neighborhood, or sometimes coming by himself when he had nothing better to do. Recollections of building forts and searching for small Pokémon flooded his memory. It was only that morning that Ash had decided to show his secret area to Misty and Brock, when he was trying to think of something new for them to do.
"Hey," he said to no one in particular. All of a sudden, he started out towards a section of thick bushes.
"What?" Brock asked. He was just standing contentedly, enjoying the escape from the heat at his own leisure.
"Where are you going now?" Misty asked agitatedly, watching as Ash lifted his legs precariously through the brush.
"There used to be this little area over here," Ash responded, not turning around or even stopping. "It was just this little, I dunno, grassy spot surrounded by trees. It was by the stream and all, and I used to sit in there. I wonder if it's still here?"
"Ash, there's no way to get there," Brock pointed out, gesturing to the trees and bushes, which Ash noticed had doubled in number since the last time he'd seen them. This didn't entirely dissuade him, however.
"Yes, there is," he replied, hesitating to find little slips of space to push through. "You just have to find the right places to go."
Misty and Brock watched Ash disappear deeper and deeper into the green. He reached his hands up to push the low branches out of his way. Pikachu struggled a bit as they swung back, ducking his head to avoid being knocked right off his trainer's shoulder. The small path that Ash had remembered taking was completely gone now—overgrown. He figured no had been done there in quite a while…or even since he himself had visited it.
Unfortunately, most of the overgrown shrubbery happened to consist of thorn bushes.
"Ow!" Ash cried as one of the thorn branches painfully caught his arm.
"What did you do?" Misty asked.
Ash cringed as he pried the thorns away from him with the tips of his fingers. He was careful not to prick himself any more than necessary.
"Thorns," he finally answered when he was clear of the deadly needles. He looked up at Pikachu. "You have thorn problems, too?"
"Pika pika," Pikachu replied, shaking his head. He was smiling slightly, which simply told Ash that he was escaping the thorns as easily as Ash was getting them. Ash nodded, figuring that.
Ash paused, finding himself dead-center in the thicket, thorns before him, thorns behind him, thorns at either side of him. The ground was soft and a little moist, squishing quietly beneath his feet. He realized then the pickle he was in. It was either go the whole rest of the way and get pricked to death, or return back to the open…and get pricked to death. Ash sighed, looking around for a different alternative, another route.
He felt a small sting on his arm, and he glanced down. He rolled his eyes as he saw little dots of blood forming.
"Aw, man!" he groaned.
"You're bleeding, aren't you?" he heard Brock ask behind him.
"No!" Ash shot back, wiping the negligible amount of blood off his arm. "I mean—yeah, but it's nothing."
"Why don't you come back?" Misty encouraged.
Ash pursed his lips. He wanted to go back, but as he looked sadly over in the direction of where his favorite little spot used to be, the curiosity to see over there increased. Plus, Ash was never one to start something without finishing it. All he needed was to go a little further, sit in his space one last time for old time's sake, then move on.
Almost as if his mind made itself up, Ash started out towards the area again. His friends sighed considerably behind him, the smiles coming to their faces without restraint. Witnessing Ash attempt new, ridiculous things was always a treat. And whenever he engaged on one of these farcical excursions, they could always seem to predict the outcome. Their friend's curiosity and hankering to see what he could do next always proved entertaining.
"He's pathetic," Misty sighed.
"Uh-huh," Brock nodded casually.
Ash fought his way through countless more thorn bushes, his bare arms and legs scraping painfully. He yelped softly every now and then when the thorns pricked particularly hard, drawing more blood and more head-shakes from his friends who had intelligently stayed behind. Pikachu was enjoying this as well, snickering lightly every time Ash whimpered from one of the pricks. By this time, Ash was angry enough to not even pay much attention to them, as finding the spot became his ultimate goal. There was no turning back now. If he was going to go through this much self-inflicting torture, he may as well make something out of it.
It was difficult to even locate the spot when Ash thought he was near it. The stream was nearby, which meant that the spot had to be somewhere. Where, though, was the question.
"Hmmm," Ash thought out loud, placing his hands on his hips as he surveyed the area.
"Pika," Pikachu commented, also desperately trying to find a somewhat open piece of land. Looking down at the mean little plants below, the Pokémon shivered, just hoping that Ash would find his area and get out of there before one little mishap would send his tiny yellow body plummeting into the teeny spikes.
"I thought it was here," Ash mumbled to Pikachu, moaning considerably. "Crap. I beat myself up coming here for nothing."
"Chhhuuu," Pikachu sympathized, patting Ash's shoulder.
"Ash! Are you still in there?" Misty called out to him. She could barely see him through the trees, catching a piece of his red shirt every now and then. "Did you find your spot?"
"No!" Ash answered glumly and annoyingly. "It's too freakin' overgrown!"
"Then come back then," Brock said.
Ash gave in, and turned back. Facing the same difficult path that he'd taken there, the thorns seemed to be more intimidating this time. Ash winced as he imagined going through them again, wondering if he really could take any more of the stinging. He glanced down at his scraped up arms and legs, and bit his lip.
"Guys, I can't!" he said. "I don't want to go through these thorns again!"
A silence.
"You shouldn't have gone in there in the first place!" Brock replied, his voice sounding a bit amused.
Ash figured that moment of silence was just the time slot for his friends' chortling. He couldn't blame them, though. This was a stupid idea from the beginning.
Ash frowned. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know! Like, how I can get out of here some other way."
Now the laughter could be heard. "Ash, we didn't help you get into this situation, so we don't have to help you get out of it!" Misty chuckled.
"You tell him, Misty!" Brock bumbled.
Huffing, Ash crossed his arms in front of him. So his friends weren't going to help. No big deal. If he had to do this on his own, he would. Nothing could be worse than thorn bushes, so he decided that taking a route that was thorn-free was the route for him. Now all he had to do was find one…
Going back the way he came completely out of the question for sure, Ash headed in the direction he originally was. The thorns were diminishing quickly, and he grinned happily to himself. He'd just simply make a huge loop, eventually returning back to Misty and Brock.
The thorn bushes were indeed gone, thank goodness, but the bushes themselves began to get thicker. It was more of a struggle for Ash as he slid his way between them, feeling them tug at his clothes occasionally. He just prayed that nothing would get ripped.
"I'm such an idiot," Ash mumbled, chuckling in a way of berating himself. It was kind of funny, actually. He didn't Misty and Brock for finding this comical.
Suddenly, just as it seemed he was progressing, the ground gave in considerably under his feet. Ash yapped as he felt his feet sink tremendously into the ground, accompanied by a loud squiiiiirrrt. Dreading to even look down, Ash threw a mere glance to discover the obvious. His feet were buried ankle-deep in a patch of rich, watery mud.
"Ewwwww," he moaned as he skirmished to pry his one foot out of the mud. It came up abruptly with another squirt with one good tug, sending Ash staggering backwards as his one free foot and one trapped foot clashed with each other. He caught his balance right away and stood still for a moment to ensure stability.
After gaining his footing, he yanked his other foot free of the mud. He stuck his tongue out as he looked at his shoes in repugnance. They were coated entirely in the sticky substance, and his once white socks were now a dark, mushy brown.
"Oh, God! That's gross!" he exclaimed at a near shout.
"Should I even bother asking?" he heard Misty laugh.
"I just sank in quicksand or something," Ash replied. He took a few steps backwards and cringed as his shoes squished at every step. He could feel the water sloshing inside his shoe. It felt horrible.
"Piiikkaachu!!!" Pikachu laughed heartily.
Ash scowled. "Oh, you think this is funny, huh?"
"Chu, pikachu!" the Pokémon laughed even harder.
Ash was just about to threaten Pikachu that he'd make him get off and walk the rest of the way, but he hindered. The situation was no doubt funny, but he was too much of a mess to laugh at it. He probably would later, when his shoes were off his feet and his legs weren't smarting and bleeding all over the place. Right now all he wanted to do was get out of this God-forsaken forest.
Examining the few feet ahead of him, Ash moaned as all he spotted was mud, mud, and more mud. And then the source of the problem. About five feet before them ran the little stream. It was only a sliver of a thing, a minor tributary to the larger river running through Pallet Town. But it was still a good five feet wide, forming a quaint pond. Of course, conveniently in that section.
"Shoot, a dead end," Ash said, agitatedly blowing his bangs out of his face. They didn't move much due to the perspiration on his forehead sucking at them.
"Pi," Pikachu agreed. He was no longer laughing.
"Ash, where are you?" Brock this time. "Are you alive in there or what?"
"Yeah, I'm okay," Ash answered. "Just a little stuck I guess. The river's right here!"
"So jump over it!" Misty suggested.
"I can't!" Ash whined. "It's too wide across. And if I go any farther, I'm gonna sink into the mud!"
"Ash, why are you such a moron?" Misty asked, almost comfortably. Even though Ash couldn't see her, he knew she must have had this look of pure enjoyment on her face. "We warned you not to go in there!"
Ash ground his teeth. "Well then, I guess I am a moron. There, ya happy? Now, will you please help me out of here? It's so disgusting, it's not even funny."
Misty laughed. "Oh, it's funny all right!" she begged to differ.
Ash rolled his eyes as she continued. He could even hear Togepi squealing at his expense. He looked down depressively at the mud in front of him. Then, glancing off to the side, he noticed a rotting log. His eyes widening, he reached down and grasped the log. It fought against him, but he tugged and it came up.
"Hmmmm," he wondered. Without a second thought, he tossed the log into the muddy section. A bit of the sludge slopped up as the log splashed into it, but it stuck there. Ash smiled humbly.
"This might work out, Pikachu," Ash said.
Pikachu gripped onto Ash's head as Ash took the first cautious step onto the log. He jumped back immediately after his weight caused the log to sink deeper, then completely underneath the mud.
"Yahhhhh!" he screamed as he leapt back away from the mud's harm.
Laughter arose loudly. It seemed that Misty and Brock erupted into it every time he uttered a sound of displeasure. Good for them. Ash just grimaced.
"So much for that."
"Chuu."
Once again, Ash looked back at the jungle of thorns he'd come through. He didn't want to go through that again. He was sure of that. But at that point, he didn't know if he had much of a selection. It was either slop through the imperious mud or thrash himself to death through thorn bushes. It was a grand decision, it was. But he knew he needed to choose one over the other, and he sighed.
Clenching his teeth shut with such force that his face turned red, Ash bravely stepped out into the mud. He whimpered softly as the wet, messy gush seeped into his sneakers and up his leg. One step was a chore, pulling himself out then sinking in again.
"Ugh! Gross! Gross! Gross!" he cried, hoping it would somehow take away the turmoil of the unpleasant trek.
This was just a signal for Misty and Brock to engage in another fit of unstoppable, stomach-heaving laughter. Little did Ash know, they could see his struggle through the trees—every step of it. Misty had to even reach up to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"Oh, Ash!" she managed to say between her laughs. "You are something, you know that?"
Brock clutched his stomach and doubled over with laughter.
"I'm glad you guys are making such a field-day of this!" Ash roared, looking down at his mud-covered shoes at each step he took. He shivered each time. "This is the most gruesome thing in the world!"
"That's why it's funny!" Brock explained.
Ash growled, and his feet sank deep when he reached the stream. Well, he was dirty anyway, so with a momentary pause, Ash sloshed across the stream. At this point, Misty and Brock had come over from where they were to greet Ash at his arrival point. Ash looked up to see them standing a few feet away from him as he dragged himself through the frigid, muddy water.
"Har har," Ash mumbled despondently when he caught sight of his red-faced friends.
He was halfway through the stream when he noticed yet another log lying beside the stream. In a foolhardy attempt to escape the stream a few seconds sooner, Ash hopped over to the log…only for his wet, turbid feet to slip on it, pitching him backwards. He cried out in shock as he landed in the water, sending his poor Pikachu desperately for safety. He found it, clinging onto a few overhanging branches.
Misty and Brock almost fell over when they saw Ash plunge into the water. They were in tears now as they laughed, trying desperately to stifle the exhausting action. It was too damn hot to laugh, but it was futile. The expression on the poor boy's face was priceless as it was.
Ash grumbled as he found his feet. He stood in the center of the stream for a moment, his arms extended as the dirty water dripped from him. His shorts and back were completely soaked now, not to mention, of course, his shoes. His mouth was agape in a state of disbelief. He looked up at his highly amused friends with a look of such displeasure that it made Misty's laughs hesitate a bit.
"Aww, Ash," she sighed, shaking her head and giving him an easy face. "C'mon now." She protracted her hands out to him. He reached out for them and allowed her to pull him from the muddy bank. Misty could do nothing else but frown as his slippery, filthy hands clamped onto hers.
Ash didn't say a word as he walked away from the stream, looking down at his shoes and pants. They were wet and mud clung to them like leaches. His friends' laughing had subsided to giggles now, and even he himself couldn't help the defeated smile that crept to his lips.
"My mother is going to have a fit," Ash groaned, flinging the mud off his shoes with violent twitches of his toes. Taking one good look at them, Ash realized then and there that they were ruined.
"You mean a laughing fit?" Misty giggled. "You bet!"
"Come on, let's get you home and cleaned up," Brock said, and Ash immediately started out of the woods.
"So much for my old stomping ground," Ash lamented. "I never knew the past could be so cruel."
The walk home was not very gratifying for Ash. As Misty and Brock walked side by side, he sloshed behind them, twitching each and every time he felt the warm puddles that had gathered in his sneakers seep through his toes. The fine, trickling streams of the grimy water slipping down the crease of his back and his wet underwear adhering to him felt discreetly wonderful. It was cooling him down, at least, if he had to find the one bright aspect about the mucky situation. Frequently, his amused friends would throw a glance behind them and giggle. Despite how easily he could have been in a bad mood, Ash would just stick his tongue out at them and laugh.
Delia was out in her garden when they arrived, watering her drooping plants with a light mist from the hose. The gentle spray looked so inviting to the sweaty kids. Well, maybe not all of them.
Misty and Brock bit their lips to keep from laughing as they entered the yard, Ash limping slowly and despondently behind. The sloshing of his shoes made Delia's head rise, and she turned around. When her eyes searched past the grinning Misty and Brock to find Ash standing there like a stone, his legs coated almost entirely in mud, the hose stopped. For a moment, she just examined Ash unemotionally, cocking one eyebrow slightly.
And suddenly, a snicker escaped her throat. Her hand immediately flew up to her mouth to smother it, and although it did, her huge smile shone right through. Finally, with the way her son was giving her the "yeah-I-know" nod, she lowered her hand and let her laughter free.
"What happened to you?" she asked. She gasped even more when Ash turned around to reveal his drenched back, caked with a thick, heavy layer of black mud.
Ash cringed sheepishly. "Uh…I feel in a puddle?"
Delia's laughing stopped abruptly and she gave him an incredulous face. "You fell in a puddle? Where did you find a puddle in this heat?"
"Well, maybe it was the river…but what's the difference?" Ash pouted, pounding the air with his balled fists. "Mom, I feel so gross!"
Delia snickered. "I can imagine. How'd you fall into the river?"
"Never mind," Ash mumbled. He sighed dramatically and turned to the house. "I'm going in to get cleaned up."
He started for his front door, but didn't get too far.
"Hey!" Delia shouted distressfully, letting loose a sharp squirt from the hose directly at Ash.
Ash shrieked and jumped a few feet forward as the blast of cold water hit his back. It was enough to make his heart skip a beat. He flipped around and stared at his mother with wide, shocked eyes.
"What was that for?" he asked, his voice high and squeaky. Even though it was hot out, the cold hose water was quite a blow.
Delia sneered at him, but in a harmless manner. She had the hose poised in her hand like a pistol. "You aren't going into the house that way! Are you crazy?"
"Sorry," Ash barked at her. He felt so awful at this point that he hadn't even given a second thought to just trudging into the house. "You didn't need to squirt me."
Delia rolled her eyes. "Take those shoes off. That's first of all."
Misty and Brock silently watched Ash dislodge each of his shoes with the heel of the opposite foot. He stumbled a little as he did this, making them bite their tongues to hold their laughter in. When both the shoes were free of his feet, he carelessly tossed them off—right into his mother's flowerbed.
"Ash Ketchum!" That just earned him another squirt from the hose, this one lasting a bit longer. Ash's yelp was even more piercing, trying to block the lethal flow with his hands.
"Go get those right this instant!" Delia ordered, narrowing her eyes at him. "What did you think this is?"
"Quit squirting me!" was all Ash responded, nevertheless dragging himself hurriedly and begrudgingly over the garden to retrieve his sneakers. "I'll get them!"
He swiped his shoes out of the flowers with the tips of his thumbs and index-fingers, as it was completely revolting to even touch them. The aghast expression on his face showed just that.
"Just drop them there," Delia said, pointing to the ground with the hose. Ash let them plop to the ground, one of them rolling over practically sickly. As soon as they hit the ground, he quickly brushed his hands off on his clothes, the appalled look on his face slightly diminishing.
They all found themselves staring at the sneakers then, as if it were fresh roadkill. Delia tsk-tsked and shook her head.
"Looks like it's it for those shoes," she sighed. She gave Ash a nudge, who was stooping down to pull his soggy socks off. "We'd better go out sometime soon to get you some new shoes."
Ash's jaw dropped to the ground. "But Mom, I love those shoes! I don't want new ones!"
Delia scrunched up her face in confusion and shrugged. "Ash, look at them. They're falling apart! And you must be growing out of them, you have to be!"
"They shape my feet perfectly," Ash mumbled, giving the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could produce. He did love those shoes. They had gone with him every step of his Pokémon journeys, and he wasn't about ready to just toss them in the trash.
"I don't care!" his mother protested. "I'm not letting you a foot out of this house with those monstrosities! You're getting new ones."
Ash couldn't relent, though. "But those shoes are special! You can only get them in Pallet Town!"
"Well then, we'll get you another pair of shoes that you can only get in Pallet Town!" his mom grumbled, suddenly wondering why that made any difference whatsoever. "What's the big deal?"
Ash huffed and stared down at his beaten, defeated shoes. They did look pretty crummy, he had to admit. And walking through his swampy stomping ground appeared to have been the last straw. But he couldn't help feeling sad…saying good-bye to those shoes was like saying good-bye to an old, dear friend.
"Go inside now and get washed," Delia instructed, patting his back lightly. She grimaced at the touch of her sticky son. "But watch out that you don't drip anywhere! Go straight to the bathroom, understand?"
"All right," Ash answered, throwing one last glance at his shoes, then sulking toward the house. Misty and Brock plopped on the grass to wait for him.
"And please, Ash, please try to not be so clumsy from now on," his mother begged him with a small grin, bringing closure to the incident.
"How can I when my mother is just as clumsy?" Ash retorted.
The hose water pummeled the poor boy once again.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Spook looks at all her readers' confused faces and sweatdrops Okay, I know it may seem like this part of the story made no sense, but it will be very important at the end. I hope you had fun with it, though, considering it's based on an actual event. This part is dedicated to SaltNPepper, for without them, including that crazy Christine (special thanks goes out to you, Kad!), this wouldn't have been. And thus, I would have been further confused on how to end this . . . but that's the future. Anyways, thanks for reading, and be very prepared for this story to explode really soon . . . really, really soon . . . Bye!
