Another Zim Hanukkah
Chapter Four: Day Four - Strength
"Dib! Hurry up or you'll be late!"
"..."
"Don't make me come in there!"
"Ngh... do your worst..." the young boy answered tiredly.
"Suit yourself!" Gaz opened the door with a -BANG- and glanced around the room for something to attack Dib with. It was so spotless... save the tiny green sphere on the floor. With one strong whisk of her arm, she snatched the ball from the floor and slammed it between her brother's eyes.
"YEOW!!!"
Gaz chuckled to herself. "Bull's eye." Then she turned and left.
Dib rubbed the sore spot above his nose. "Great. Now my bruise has a bruise." Groaning, he rolled over...
And fell out of bed.
In severe pain, the young boy sl-o-o-owly stood up and made his way across the floor to his dresser. "As if my morning couldn't get any worse...."
-THUD-
Dib bit his lip to keep from swearing as he removed the drawer from his foot. "I just *had* to ask..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time Dib walked into skool that morning, he was 12 minutes late, and covered in scratch marks. But you really can't blame him. I mean, he had no way of knowing that the great squirrel rebellion was about to begin.
"DIB!" Ms. Bitters screeched at him when he walked in the door. "What did I tell you on Friday about the mutant fire hydrants? Don't you ever pay attention in my class?"
"Yes'm," he mumbled and walked to his seat, ignoring Zim, who for once wasn't mocking him.
And the skool day droned on until lunch, when Dib could stare into his lunch and occasionally take a bite or two... you know, where it didn't look poisoned. And when he wasn't staring at Zim.
Zim, however, was unusally quiet. All day long he kept staring at something in his hands. It was something small, and he kept it close to him, so Dib had a hard time seeing what it was. But whatever it was, if it could keep Zim's mind off of torturing the other brainless skool children, then the object in question must've held a very important significance.
But what could it be?
That was one question that Dib was determined to answer.
No matter what.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Afternoon recess came once again to the merry, stoopid kids of skool. The jungle gym was covered in young blobs of flesh, the swings occupied by mindless societal [is that even a word?] drones, and one by one even more drooling children lined up like the hypnotized servants of the world that they were.
[Wow, I have a lot of faith in America's youth, don't I?]
And yet amidst this wake of merryment and amusement, two children stood away from the rest. They were not controlled by the world around them, nor were they focused on things like 'fun' and 'laughter'. No, these two figures had more important things to focus on: Dib, who needed to know what wat enthralling Zim so much; and Zim, who was completely lost in whatever he held cupped in his leather-clad hands.
After staring and waiting for many minutes, Dib could take it no longer. He strode across the concrete playground and stood over Zim, blocking the sun. Of course, since Zim was sitting in the shade under a tree anyway, it didn't have as much of an affect.
Zim, who did a double-take at the imperial figure before him, let out a yelp of fear at the creature's height, but regained his composure when he realized it was only the Dib-human. "Oh, what do you want?" Zim asked defensively, holding the mystery object out of Dib's view.
Dib's demand was short and to the point. "I want to see what you have in your hand."
"No." the Irken answered in reply, glaring icily into the young human.
"Hand it over, Zim. NOW."
"I. said. no."
Dib's patience was beginning to grow thin. "Why won't you let me see it?"
Zim stood up and held the object behind his back. "It's mine. I can do what I want with it." And with that he left the shade of the tree and began to walk away.
"Can I at least see what it is?" Dib shouted to Zim's back.
Zim sighed. "If you must." And he held it in the air.
However, the angling of the sun caused the object to appear as nothing more than a glare. "What is it?"
"Can't you see?!"
"No, the sun is in the way..."
"Well too bad. Because I won't let you see it again."
"That's what YOU think."
Zim stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. "WHAT did you say?"
"You heard me."
"Is that a threat?"
"Take it any way you wish."
"I told you; you can't see it."
"Maybe not while standing *here*," Dib said, slowly advancing on Zim. "But I will... from HERE!" And with that he leapt forward and tackled the green boy to the ground.
Zim held steadfast to his treasure as he lay on his side, not letting Dib catch even a glimpse despite all he was kicked. Finally Zim rolled onto his back and thrust both his legs up, slamming Dib square in the stomach. Zim started to get up and run, but Dib used the last of his strength to rebound and tackle Zim from below, grabbing his ankles and causing Zim to trip.
The mystery object flew out of Zim's grasp and floated gently to the ground. Zim gasped in horror while Dib stared in wonder. "It's... a picture." Dib realized.
Indeed it was, a regular human photograph. But it landed white-side up, so it was obviously the image on the other side that had the Irken in wonder. Dib reached for it, but Zim was too fast and was able to pick it up before the human could reach it. "Take that!" he taunted.
But Dib refused to take it. He rose to his feet and drove his head into Zim's abdomen, sending the Irken reeling back and letting the picture fall free again. Dib fell on his back, but the photo was floating towatds him... right overhead... he cloud almost reach it...
when yet another hand stole it away from him. The hand of a human. The hand... of Ms. Bitters.
"That will be more than enough out of you for today, Dib!" she scolded. "I've had enough of your antics. You'll be put in detention for fighting."
Dib's eyes grew to the size of apples. "D-d-detention!?"
Ignoring him, Ms. Bitters put the picture in her dress pocket. "I'll be confiscating this."
"Actually, Ms. Bitters..." Zim spoke up, "That photo belongs to me."
"Oh, does it?" She took it out of her pocket, glanced at it briefly, and then handed it to Zim. "Don't know why you would keep such a thing, but what can you expect from kids today?" She put her glance back to Dib. "I'll see YOU after skool, young man."
From behind the safety of the stern skool teacher, Zim gave Dib a nice, wet raspberry and then ran back into the skool.
Dib just sighed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At three o'clock Monday afternoon, 246 skoolchildren [I don't know if that's the real number of kids. I'm just guessing.] made their way down the front steps to their buses, parents, and other vasious transporations of getting home.
One stayed behind.
Dib stared at the floor while his teacher gave him his assignment. "You are to stare at this piece of cinder block and count how many pores you see. I have to take a phone call, so you'd better have that done before I get back." She tossed the newspaper at him. "If you finish early, you can read about the cruel realities of life. Any questions?"
"Yes. What time---"
"Well TOO BAD!" She slithered towards the door. "Just for the record, you can leave at 5."
"f-f-five...? Dib's voice cracked. He dug through the paper and saw the sun was setting at 4:23. "ACK! No, I can't stay until five! I'll miss the candlelighting! MS. BITTERS!!!"
But the teacher was well out of earshot.
Dib cursed to himself and decided to just count the pores. Maybe if he finished it fast enough, he'd get out early.
However, after about 10 minutes of trying to stare at the wall, Dib felt his eyes begin to hurt. "Man, staring at the wall is easier when you're not focusing on it..." he took off his glasses and rubbed his sore temple. Maybe if I just estimate..."
Thinking quickly, Dib counted along the side of the cinder block (24) and across it (55). Multiplying the number of holes together, the block would contain, roughly, 1320 pores. Recording the answer on a sticky-note, he explained to Ms. Bitters that there was a family emergency and he had to get home as soon as possible. Slapping the nore square in the center of his desk, Dib jumped on the counter near the window and puches his way out, tumbling to the ground.
Standing up (and rubbing his sore hiney), Dib ran, far and fast, away from skool to home, trying his best not to imagine what Ms. Bitters might do to him tomorrow morning.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back in the classroom, a snake-like black figure with grey hair slank her way back through the door. The Dib beast was nowhere to be seen. Looking at her desk, Ms. Bitters read aloud the note her problem student had left for her:
"Dear Ms. Bitters,
Sorry about leaving, but there was a family emergency.
See you in class tomorrow.
-Dib"
"Heh. So Dib thinks he can escape the normal reins of society by escaping detention through the window, does he?" Something that almost was a smile came on the teacher's aged face. "About time that kid did something right."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Dib! Where in the world have you been? It's almost 4 o'clock!"
"S-sorry... Gaz..." Dib panted in the doorway to his house, "Bitters tried to lock me in detention."
"And it took you THIS long to get out?"
He gave her a look. "Well, yeah!"
Gaz shook her head. "Whatever. Here," and she tossed him his yarmulke.
"What? Now?"
"Well, soon."
"Gaz, the sun won't set for another twenty minutes."
"So?"
" 'So'?! So we have to stick to tradition!! The candles are to be lit at sunset. No sooner, no later."
Gaz groaned. "Oh, fine." She set down the lighter.
Dib put his yarmulke away. "It's nice to see you having an interest Gaz, but... you should really show a little more respect for this."
"And why should I?"
"Because it's your upbringing and you should accept it!"
"A lot of good my upbringing has done for me! My father ignores me, my mother is dead, and my brother is a big-headed freak of nature!"
"And how do you think *I* feel about having an anti-social brat for a little sister!?"
Gaz sent her brother a death glare. "I'm not anti-social; I just don't like you."
Dib bit his lip to keep from cursing Gaz out. "The feeling is quite mutual."
"Fine!" Gaz stormed over to the couch, plopped herself down, and sulked.
"Fine!!" Dib screamed back, storming up to his room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This was a mistake. It was such a mistake."
Dib shoved his head into his pillow, weeping softly. "I should've known I couldn't do anything right. I'm not Mom, and I know it, but yet I still try to be her, to act like she's here." He rubbed his teary eyes with his jacket sleeve and glanced at the clock.
Candle time.
Sighing, he forced himself to rise and walk downstairs, but not before grabbing Gaz's next present. Whether or not he was mad, he still had to carry on the ceremony, and he was going to try to make it as pleasant as possible... if it was still possible to make it pleasant at this point.
Gaz, fortunately, went along with the ceremony, but lacked the enthusiasm she seemed to have had a few moments before. Dib said the blessings with just a hint of melancholy, though he tried his best to keep it out.
When Dib handed her the box, she threw a small box of her own at him, grabbed hers, and ran into her room. Not daring to be outdone, Dib ran into his room, and made a point by slamming the door.
"I certainly hope she's enjoying her present..." Dib muttered, envisioning the black rose ring he had gotten to match the necklace she had recieved the night before. Then he looked at his own present. "I know it's tradition to exchange gifts... but does that apply to opening them, too?" Shrugging, he unwrapped the small box and lifted the lid.
"Why that little...?!" (It's the thought that counts, it's the thought that counts...) Dib kept repeating in his mind. With a flourish, he dumped the pocket lint into the trash and put the box side for future use.
Chapter Four: Day Four - Strength
"Dib! Hurry up or you'll be late!"
"..."
"Don't make me come in there!"
"Ngh... do your worst..." the young boy answered tiredly.
"Suit yourself!" Gaz opened the door with a -BANG- and glanced around the room for something to attack Dib with. It was so spotless... save the tiny green sphere on the floor. With one strong whisk of her arm, she snatched the ball from the floor and slammed it between her brother's eyes.
"YEOW!!!"
Gaz chuckled to herself. "Bull's eye." Then she turned and left.
Dib rubbed the sore spot above his nose. "Great. Now my bruise has a bruise." Groaning, he rolled over...
And fell out of bed.
In severe pain, the young boy sl-o-o-owly stood up and made his way across the floor to his dresser. "As if my morning couldn't get any worse...."
-THUD-
Dib bit his lip to keep from swearing as he removed the drawer from his foot. "I just *had* to ask..."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By the time Dib walked into skool that morning, he was 12 minutes late, and covered in scratch marks. But you really can't blame him. I mean, he had no way of knowing that the great squirrel rebellion was about to begin.
"DIB!" Ms. Bitters screeched at him when he walked in the door. "What did I tell you on Friday about the mutant fire hydrants? Don't you ever pay attention in my class?"
"Yes'm," he mumbled and walked to his seat, ignoring Zim, who for once wasn't mocking him.
And the skool day droned on until lunch, when Dib could stare into his lunch and occasionally take a bite or two... you know, where it didn't look poisoned. And when he wasn't staring at Zim.
Zim, however, was unusally quiet. All day long he kept staring at something in his hands. It was something small, and he kept it close to him, so Dib had a hard time seeing what it was. But whatever it was, if it could keep Zim's mind off of torturing the other brainless skool children, then the object in question must've held a very important significance.
But what could it be?
That was one question that Dib was determined to answer.
No matter what.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Afternoon recess came once again to the merry, stoopid kids of skool. The jungle gym was covered in young blobs of flesh, the swings occupied by mindless societal [is that even a word?] drones, and one by one even more drooling children lined up like the hypnotized servants of the world that they were.
[Wow, I have a lot of faith in America's youth, don't I?]
And yet amidst this wake of merryment and amusement, two children stood away from the rest. They were not controlled by the world around them, nor were they focused on things like 'fun' and 'laughter'. No, these two figures had more important things to focus on: Dib, who needed to know what wat enthralling Zim so much; and Zim, who was completely lost in whatever he held cupped in his leather-clad hands.
After staring and waiting for many minutes, Dib could take it no longer. He strode across the concrete playground and stood over Zim, blocking the sun. Of course, since Zim was sitting in the shade under a tree anyway, it didn't have as much of an affect.
Zim, who did a double-take at the imperial figure before him, let out a yelp of fear at the creature's height, but regained his composure when he realized it was only the Dib-human. "Oh, what do you want?" Zim asked defensively, holding the mystery object out of Dib's view.
Dib's demand was short and to the point. "I want to see what you have in your hand."
"No." the Irken answered in reply, glaring icily into the young human.
"Hand it over, Zim. NOW."
"I. said. no."
Dib's patience was beginning to grow thin. "Why won't you let me see it?"
Zim stood up and held the object behind his back. "It's mine. I can do what I want with it." And with that he left the shade of the tree and began to walk away.
"Can I at least see what it is?" Dib shouted to Zim's back.
Zim sighed. "If you must." And he held it in the air.
However, the angling of the sun caused the object to appear as nothing more than a glare. "What is it?"
"Can't you see?!"
"No, the sun is in the way..."
"Well too bad. Because I won't let you see it again."
"That's what YOU think."
Zim stopped dead in his tracks and turned around. "WHAT did you say?"
"You heard me."
"Is that a threat?"
"Take it any way you wish."
"I told you; you can't see it."
"Maybe not while standing *here*," Dib said, slowly advancing on Zim. "But I will... from HERE!" And with that he leapt forward and tackled the green boy to the ground.
Zim held steadfast to his treasure as he lay on his side, not letting Dib catch even a glimpse despite all he was kicked. Finally Zim rolled onto his back and thrust both his legs up, slamming Dib square in the stomach. Zim started to get up and run, but Dib used the last of his strength to rebound and tackle Zim from below, grabbing his ankles and causing Zim to trip.
The mystery object flew out of Zim's grasp and floated gently to the ground. Zim gasped in horror while Dib stared in wonder. "It's... a picture." Dib realized.
Indeed it was, a regular human photograph. But it landed white-side up, so it was obviously the image on the other side that had the Irken in wonder. Dib reached for it, but Zim was too fast and was able to pick it up before the human could reach it. "Take that!" he taunted.
But Dib refused to take it. He rose to his feet and drove his head into Zim's abdomen, sending the Irken reeling back and letting the picture fall free again. Dib fell on his back, but the photo was floating towatds him... right overhead... he cloud almost reach it...
when yet another hand stole it away from him. The hand of a human. The hand... of Ms. Bitters.
"That will be more than enough out of you for today, Dib!" she scolded. "I've had enough of your antics. You'll be put in detention for fighting."
Dib's eyes grew to the size of apples. "D-d-detention!?"
Ignoring him, Ms. Bitters put the picture in her dress pocket. "I'll be confiscating this."
"Actually, Ms. Bitters..." Zim spoke up, "That photo belongs to me."
"Oh, does it?" She took it out of her pocket, glanced at it briefly, and then handed it to Zim. "Don't know why you would keep such a thing, but what can you expect from kids today?" She put her glance back to Dib. "I'll see YOU after skool, young man."
From behind the safety of the stern skool teacher, Zim gave Dib a nice, wet raspberry and then ran back into the skool.
Dib just sighed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At three o'clock Monday afternoon, 246 skoolchildren [I don't know if that's the real number of kids. I'm just guessing.] made their way down the front steps to their buses, parents, and other vasious transporations of getting home.
One stayed behind.
Dib stared at the floor while his teacher gave him his assignment. "You are to stare at this piece of cinder block and count how many pores you see. I have to take a phone call, so you'd better have that done before I get back." She tossed the newspaper at him. "If you finish early, you can read about the cruel realities of life. Any questions?"
"Yes. What time---"
"Well TOO BAD!" She slithered towards the door. "Just for the record, you can leave at 5."
"f-f-five...? Dib's voice cracked. He dug through the paper and saw the sun was setting at 4:23. "ACK! No, I can't stay until five! I'll miss the candlelighting! MS. BITTERS!!!"
But the teacher was well out of earshot.
Dib cursed to himself and decided to just count the pores. Maybe if he finished it fast enough, he'd get out early.
However, after about 10 minutes of trying to stare at the wall, Dib felt his eyes begin to hurt. "Man, staring at the wall is easier when you're not focusing on it..." he took off his glasses and rubbed his sore temple. Maybe if I just estimate..."
Thinking quickly, Dib counted along the side of the cinder block (24) and across it (55). Multiplying the number of holes together, the block would contain, roughly, 1320 pores. Recording the answer on a sticky-note, he explained to Ms. Bitters that there was a family emergency and he had to get home as soon as possible. Slapping the nore square in the center of his desk, Dib jumped on the counter near the window and puches his way out, tumbling to the ground.
Standing up (and rubbing his sore hiney), Dib ran, far and fast, away from skool to home, trying his best not to imagine what Ms. Bitters might do to him tomorrow morning.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back in the classroom, a snake-like black figure with grey hair slank her way back through the door. The Dib beast was nowhere to be seen. Looking at her desk, Ms. Bitters read aloud the note her problem student had left for her:
"Dear Ms. Bitters,
Sorry about leaving, but there was a family emergency.
See you in class tomorrow.
-Dib"
"Heh. So Dib thinks he can escape the normal reins of society by escaping detention through the window, does he?" Something that almost was a smile came on the teacher's aged face. "About time that kid did something right."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Dib! Where in the world have you been? It's almost 4 o'clock!"
"S-sorry... Gaz..." Dib panted in the doorway to his house, "Bitters tried to lock me in detention."
"And it took you THIS long to get out?"
He gave her a look. "Well, yeah!"
Gaz shook her head. "Whatever. Here," and she tossed him his yarmulke.
"What? Now?"
"Well, soon."
"Gaz, the sun won't set for another twenty minutes."
"So?"
" 'So'?! So we have to stick to tradition!! The candles are to be lit at sunset. No sooner, no later."
Gaz groaned. "Oh, fine." She set down the lighter.
Dib put his yarmulke away. "It's nice to see you having an interest Gaz, but... you should really show a little more respect for this."
"And why should I?"
"Because it's your upbringing and you should accept it!"
"A lot of good my upbringing has done for me! My father ignores me, my mother is dead, and my brother is a big-headed freak of nature!"
"And how do you think *I* feel about having an anti-social brat for a little sister!?"
Gaz sent her brother a death glare. "I'm not anti-social; I just don't like you."
Dib bit his lip to keep from cursing Gaz out. "The feeling is quite mutual."
"Fine!" Gaz stormed over to the couch, plopped herself down, and sulked.
"Fine!!" Dib screamed back, storming up to his room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"This was a mistake. It was such a mistake."
Dib shoved his head into his pillow, weeping softly. "I should've known I couldn't do anything right. I'm not Mom, and I know it, but yet I still try to be her, to act like she's here." He rubbed his teary eyes with his jacket sleeve and glanced at the clock.
Candle time.
Sighing, he forced himself to rise and walk downstairs, but not before grabbing Gaz's next present. Whether or not he was mad, he still had to carry on the ceremony, and he was going to try to make it as pleasant as possible... if it was still possible to make it pleasant at this point.
Gaz, fortunately, went along with the ceremony, but lacked the enthusiasm she seemed to have had a few moments before. Dib said the blessings with just a hint of melancholy, though he tried his best to keep it out.
When Dib handed her the box, she threw a small box of her own at him, grabbed hers, and ran into her room. Not daring to be outdone, Dib ran into his room, and made a point by slamming the door.
"I certainly hope she's enjoying her present..." Dib muttered, envisioning the black rose ring he had gotten to match the necklace she had recieved the night before. Then he looked at his own present. "I know it's tradition to exchange gifts... but does that apply to opening them, too?" Shrugging, he unwrapped the small box and lifted the lid.
"Why that little...?!" (It's the thought that counts, it's the thought that counts...) Dib kept repeating in his mind. With a flourish, he dumped the pocket lint into the trash and put the box side for future use.