Gerald Field
I don't own HA!
Arnold entered the school the next day, feeling very glad and at ease since they had saved Big Pete, the tree. He had already heard a few kids talking about it and it made him smile. He loved feeling accomplishment at something, that he had actually helped make the world a- slightly- better place. As soon as he walked into the classroom, however, his good mood dissipated slightly at the look on Helga's face. She looked forlorn and out of place, which was totally unusual for her. Mr. Simmons wasn't there yet so Arnold sat down and turned back to look at Helga. "Are you ok?" he whispered.
She nodded lamely and then glared at him. "I'm just FINE, Football Head. GO on."
"Whatever you say," he answered as usual and faced the front as Mr. Simmons entered the room.
"Hello, my special class!"
Silence reigned over the room.
After a dragging schoolday, Helga just wanted to go to her room and relax, all alone in her little world. No one would let it happen though. When she left the school, Harold yelled at her.
"Look, it's Helgaaaaaaa! Hey, Helgaaaaaaaa, we need a shortstop."
"Oh, put a sock in it, Pink boy! I'm going home!"
When she entered her home, Big Bob yelled at her. "Olga! There you are! Your mom fell asleep again so it's up to you and me to go grocery shopping!"
"Listen, BOB, I'm not going grocery shopping. I am going to my room and never coming out!"
"You listen to me, Little lady, I will not be disrespected by my seven year old daughter!"
"I'm nine, Bob, nine!"
"Yeah, well, whatever. Listen, I need a good meal in my belly if I'm going to finalize the plan to buy the deed to that vacant lot and make it into a beeper emperium!"
Helga's eyes widened. "Da-a-ad!"
"We discussed this yesterday, I AM going through with it."
"Oh..." Groaning silently, she walked up the stairs to her room and sprawled out on the bed, trying to think a way out of this one. "I can't let it happen, not after actually helping to clean it up...."
* * *
That night, Helga snuck out of her house and started tiptoeing around Gerald field, looking it over and trying to think of a solution. "Ok, Helga, Ol' girl, you can think of something." She paced around the cold green grass and didn't even notice when her shoes started feeling very damp. "Ok, so... What is this deed about?... It's for this, obviously... Hmmmmm. Ok, so if I decided to search for something that made this deed..." Her eyes lit up. "I know! Man, why didn't I think of it before?!"
* * *
The next day, Helga leapt out of her bed, kicking the sheets totally off of the mattress and to the floor, feeling the most energized she had felt in a long time. It was a Saturday, which gave her all day to finalize something of her own. Grinning, she ran downstairs and noticed that Bob was gone all ready but she couldn't worry about that and ran outside, running from the part of town that had the shops and boarding houses and general homes to the more glamerous part of town, where a great many of kids who didn't go to PS 118 lived. The only reason the person Helga sought after went to PS 118 was because her parents wanted her around some "normal" kids. As she ran to one of these mansions, she was met by a butler.
"May I help you?" he asked, brushing his fingers through his short blonde hair.
"Hmm, I suppose," Helga answered, mimicking his French accent. "Is Ms. Rhonda here?"
"Why, yes, she is. She is in her sleeping room," he responded.
The blonde followed his motion up the stairs and rolled her eyes, muttering, "Sleeping room?" It wasn't too hard to find Rhonda's room. It was the only one with the door closed and light pop music coming from behind the said door. "Rhonda-loid?" Helga barged in, looking around.
"What are you doing in here?" the astonished black-haired girl demanded, stepping out of her walk-in closet.
"I just wanted to place a business proposition with you."
"Business... proposition?"
* * *
Bob sat in a comfortable chair, twiddling his thumbs and mumbling to himself as he waited for Mr. Jones the Third, who had numerous deeds, including the one to the empty lot, in his possession. "Tea cozies... The whole lot of them..."
"Ah, Mr. Pataki! Hello. I'm honored to finally meet you!" A short, thin man walked in, holding his hand out to Bob.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's get to business, ok?"
"Why, yes, sir, sir!" He sat down behind the desk and pulled out folders from his desk, searching through them.
'Geez,' Bob thought, staring at the balding, cross-eyed man in front of him. 'Oh, well, at least I still have my looks.'
Finally he located the correct file and stared at it for a minute. "Ok, so you want to buy the deed to the field on..."
Bob glanced at his watch as the man rambled on and on. "Yeah, that's right, I want to make a beeper store on that land!"
"Oh, really, sir? Well, I must say, your beepers are just delightful!" As if on cue, the man's beeper went off and he had to excuse himself to go answer it.
"Oh, criminey," Bob huffed.
* * *
"So you see what I want, Princess?"
"Well, yes, Helga, I do, but I don't see why I would want it."
"Oh, pshaw! Think. In a few years, you just might graduate from high school and then college. Then you'll need something to have to fall back on. I don't see you getting a job, so... You could take this deed and make a boutique or something to operate!"
Rhonda thought for a minute as Helga stared at her, anxiously and silently willing her to go along with it. "Hmmmm. It does sound tempting...."
"Well, then, what're we waiting for?!"
"I better discuss it with Daddy..."
"Oh, criminey!" Helga groaned, following Rhonda as she walked downstairs.
* * *
"Oh, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, sir, but my wife's mother just..."
"Yeah, whatever! Can we please just do this so that I don't have to worry about it anymore? I need a place for my beeper emperium!"
"Oh, yes, sir! Right away, sir!" As he pulled the deed out again and showed it to Bob, he started motioning to things that required attention. Fifteen minutes passed and Bob was getting sick of this although he knew it was standard precedure. "Ok, sir, just sign here," he pointed with his pen to one of the lines on the final page, "and here," pointing to the third page, "and here," on the first page.
"Finally!" Bob grumbled, pulling his special purple pen out and signing the first page with rapid, impatient strokes. He did the third page much the same and was starting to move to the fifth when suddenly the door was thrown open and Rhonda Wellington Lloyd of all people was standing there!
"Wait! I want to buy the deed!" she cried, rushing over to Bob and abruptly pulling the deed from him.
"Oh, but Miss, Mr. Pataki here already has..." Mr. Jones started, wavering.
"I'll give you five thousand dollars for it!" she gasped, giving almost two times Bob's payment.
"What?!" Bob and Mr. Jones gasped.
"You heard me. I have to have it!"
Mr. Jones thought this over until Bob spoke up, "I'll give six thousand!"
"Seven!"
"Eight point five!"
"Nine!"
"Nine point five!"
"Ten!"
"Uh.... Ok, you can have it," Bob grumblingly conceded.
"Oh, good," Rhonda watched as Mr. Jones looked at them confusedly.
"Who is buying... the deed?"
"Me," Rhonda grinned. "Her," Bob answered at the same time, before standing up and stomping out of the building.
Helga watched from across the street as Bob stomped out of the building and then she jumped for joy. "It worked! Oh, I have saved my love's field! It may be named after Gerald's, but it'll always be Arnold's! Or at least until Rhonda makes it a boutique or something...." She happily skipped home.
I don't own HA!
Arnold entered the school the next day, feeling very glad and at ease since they had saved Big Pete, the tree. He had already heard a few kids talking about it and it made him smile. He loved feeling accomplishment at something, that he had actually helped make the world a- slightly- better place. As soon as he walked into the classroom, however, his good mood dissipated slightly at the look on Helga's face. She looked forlorn and out of place, which was totally unusual for her. Mr. Simmons wasn't there yet so Arnold sat down and turned back to look at Helga. "Are you ok?" he whispered.
She nodded lamely and then glared at him. "I'm just FINE, Football Head. GO on."
"Whatever you say," he answered as usual and faced the front as Mr. Simmons entered the room.
"Hello, my special class!"
Silence reigned over the room.
After a dragging schoolday, Helga just wanted to go to her room and relax, all alone in her little world. No one would let it happen though. When she left the school, Harold yelled at her.
"Look, it's Helgaaaaaaa! Hey, Helgaaaaaaaa, we need a shortstop."
"Oh, put a sock in it, Pink boy! I'm going home!"
When she entered her home, Big Bob yelled at her. "Olga! There you are! Your mom fell asleep again so it's up to you and me to go grocery shopping!"
"Listen, BOB, I'm not going grocery shopping. I am going to my room and never coming out!"
"You listen to me, Little lady, I will not be disrespected by my seven year old daughter!"
"I'm nine, Bob, nine!"
"Yeah, well, whatever. Listen, I need a good meal in my belly if I'm going to finalize the plan to buy the deed to that vacant lot and make it into a beeper emperium!"
Helga's eyes widened. "Da-a-ad!"
"We discussed this yesterday, I AM going through with it."
"Oh..." Groaning silently, she walked up the stairs to her room and sprawled out on the bed, trying to think a way out of this one. "I can't let it happen, not after actually helping to clean it up...."
* * *
That night, Helga snuck out of her house and started tiptoeing around Gerald field, looking it over and trying to think of a solution. "Ok, Helga, Ol' girl, you can think of something." She paced around the cold green grass and didn't even notice when her shoes started feeling very damp. "Ok, so... What is this deed about?... It's for this, obviously... Hmmmmm. Ok, so if I decided to search for something that made this deed..." Her eyes lit up. "I know! Man, why didn't I think of it before?!"
* * *
The next day, Helga leapt out of her bed, kicking the sheets totally off of the mattress and to the floor, feeling the most energized she had felt in a long time. It was a Saturday, which gave her all day to finalize something of her own. Grinning, she ran downstairs and noticed that Bob was gone all ready but she couldn't worry about that and ran outside, running from the part of town that had the shops and boarding houses and general homes to the more glamerous part of town, where a great many of kids who didn't go to PS 118 lived. The only reason the person Helga sought after went to PS 118 was because her parents wanted her around some "normal" kids. As she ran to one of these mansions, she was met by a butler.
"May I help you?" he asked, brushing his fingers through his short blonde hair.
"Hmm, I suppose," Helga answered, mimicking his French accent. "Is Ms. Rhonda here?"
"Why, yes, she is. She is in her sleeping room," he responded.
The blonde followed his motion up the stairs and rolled her eyes, muttering, "Sleeping room?" It wasn't too hard to find Rhonda's room. It was the only one with the door closed and light pop music coming from behind the said door. "Rhonda-loid?" Helga barged in, looking around.
"What are you doing in here?" the astonished black-haired girl demanded, stepping out of her walk-in closet.
"I just wanted to place a business proposition with you."
"Business... proposition?"
* * *
Bob sat in a comfortable chair, twiddling his thumbs and mumbling to himself as he waited for Mr. Jones the Third, who had numerous deeds, including the one to the empty lot, in his possession. "Tea cozies... The whole lot of them..."
"Ah, Mr. Pataki! Hello. I'm honored to finally meet you!" A short, thin man walked in, holding his hand out to Bob.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's get to business, ok?"
"Why, yes, sir, sir!" He sat down behind the desk and pulled out folders from his desk, searching through them.
'Geez,' Bob thought, staring at the balding, cross-eyed man in front of him. 'Oh, well, at least I still have my looks.'
Finally he located the correct file and stared at it for a minute. "Ok, so you want to buy the deed to the field on..."
Bob glanced at his watch as the man rambled on and on. "Yeah, that's right, I want to make a beeper store on that land!"
"Oh, really, sir? Well, I must say, your beepers are just delightful!" As if on cue, the man's beeper went off and he had to excuse himself to go answer it.
"Oh, criminey," Bob huffed.
* * *
"So you see what I want, Princess?"
"Well, yes, Helga, I do, but I don't see why I would want it."
"Oh, pshaw! Think. In a few years, you just might graduate from high school and then college. Then you'll need something to have to fall back on. I don't see you getting a job, so... You could take this deed and make a boutique or something to operate!"
Rhonda thought for a minute as Helga stared at her, anxiously and silently willing her to go along with it. "Hmmmm. It does sound tempting...."
"Well, then, what're we waiting for?!"
"I better discuss it with Daddy..."
"Oh, criminey!" Helga groaned, following Rhonda as she walked downstairs.
* * *
"Oh, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, sir, but my wife's mother just..."
"Yeah, whatever! Can we please just do this so that I don't have to worry about it anymore? I need a place for my beeper emperium!"
"Oh, yes, sir! Right away, sir!" As he pulled the deed out again and showed it to Bob, he started motioning to things that required attention. Fifteen minutes passed and Bob was getting sick of this although he knew it was standard precedure. "Ok, sir, just sign here," he pointed with his pen to one of the lines on the final page, "and here," pointing to the third page, "and here," on the first page.
"Finally!" Bob grumbled, pulling his special purple pen out and signing the first page with rapid, impatient strokes. He did the third page much the same and was starting to move to the fifth when suddenly the door was thrown open and Rhonda Wellington Lloyd of all people was standing there!
"Wait! I want to buy the deed!" she cried, rushing over to Bob and abruptly pulling the deed from him.
"Oh, but Miss, Mr. Pataki here already has..." Mr. Jones started, wavering.
"I'll give you five thousand dollars for it!" she gasped, giving almost two times Bob's payment.
"What?!" Bob and Mr. Jones gasped.
"You heard me. I have to have it!"
Mr. Jones thought this over until Bob spoke up, "I'll give six thousand!"
"Seven!"
"Eight point five!"
"Nine!"
"Nine point five!"
"Ten!"
"Uh.... Ok, you can have it," Bob grumblingly conceded.
"Oh, good," Rhonda watched as Mr. Jones looked at them confusedly.
"Who is buying... the deed?"
"Me," Rhonda grinned. "Her," Bob answered at the same time, before standing up and stomping out of the building.
Helga watched from across the street as Bob stomped out of the building and then she jumped for joy. "It worked! Oh, I have saved my love's field! It may be named after Gerald's, but it'll always be Arnold's! Or at least until Rhonda makes it a boutique or something...." She happily skipped home.