Disclaimer: "Little Orphan Annie" is Copyright © someone else. "Little Orphan Thanny" is Copyright © me. Music from "Little Orphan Annie" is Copyright © someone else. Music from "Little Orphan Annie" that I've rewritten is… plagiarized. o_O;

Notes: Than is fifteen. Chet and Jaon are eighteen. Kysha is a teenage billionaire who runs hundreds of Cheese Whiz factories. More strange and crazy things to come! And, by the way, Mr. Hannigan-Greene doesn't beat Than in this fic. Just works him half to death. *baps Mr. Hannigan* And Mr. Hannigan isn't really Mr. Greene's real name. It's just for this fic. Things will get rather weird towards the end, I'll tell you that right now…

*

Mr. Hannigan called from the front room, "Than, is the laundry ready?"

"Yes, sir," Than set about the task of dragging the bulky bag of clothes and sheets from the back room. The material caught on splinters and nails sticking up out of the floor boards, but not enough to tear the bag completely open, thankfully. He finally made it to the front door where Mr. Hannigan was waiting.

"It's about time," he grumbled and slung it effortlessly over his shoulder. "While I'm gone, make sure you do up those dirty dishes.

"Yes, sir."

"And clean the windows; I can't see a blessed thing out of 'em."

"That's because it's raining, sir."

"And don't forget to clean the litter boxes."

"We don't own any litter boxes, sir."

"Don't talk back to me!"

"Yes, sir."

"And when you take the trash out, don't lock yourself out of the house again."

"I'll try not to, sir."

"You'd better," he paused for a moment. "Or else I'll find more things for you to do later."

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Hannigan opened the door. "Good bye, Than."

"Good bye, sir." Than closed the door behind him and rolled his eyes with a sigh. The same conversation occurred every Wednesday when Mr. Hannigan took the laundry a few blocks away to the Laundromat. It was very mundane, but then again, what do you expect from a man who was satisfied to eat saltine crackers all the time?

Than got to work on his chores: the dishes, the windows, and finally, the garbage. He would've tried dragging the plastic bag across the floor, but he was more concerned with that bag tearing than he had been with the dirty laundry. If the plastic bag tore, he'd have to get another bag and scoop up all of the spilled trash. And soggy crackers aren't exactly the most delightful things to try to scoop up.

He carried the bag carefully out the front door, but before he could do anything to stop it, the door slammed shut behind him, locking him out. Than sighed heavily and stared up at the gray clouds, which promptly drenched him with rain water. "Why me? Just, why?" He groaned as he carried the bag of trash out to the side of the road. A car sped by through a puddle, splashing him with mud. Than's eyebrow began twitching as he made his way back up to the doorsteps. He tripped on a shoe lace, falling face flat on the concrete walkway.

"This… is not my life…" he lay there for a moment before dragging himself up to sit on one of the steps. He put his head in his hands and rubbed his face. He then commenced staring out at the street while the rain drops slid down his pale bangs. He began humming another tune, occasionally singing the words aloud.

The sun will come out, tomorrow,
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow,
There'll be sun.
Just thinking about tomorrow,
Clears away the cob webs and the sorrow,
'Til there's none.
When I'm stuck with a day, that's gray and lonely,
I just stick up my chin, and grin, and say, oh…

The sun will come out tomorrow,
So ya gotta hang on 'til tomorrow,
Come what may.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow,
You're always a day away.

The sun will come out tomorrow,
So ya gotta hang on 'til tomorrow,
Come what may.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow,
You're always a day away.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow,
You're always a day away.

He was so preoccupied with his song that he hadn't noticed that a car had pulled up in front of the house. He also didn't notice the man coming up the walk. Or the fact that the man was holding an umbrella over his head while he finished the song. When Than finally did notice all of this, he flushed crimson and glanced up at his only audience. "Uhm, hello."

The man smiled down at him. "Hi. That's a nice song you were singing."

"Uhh, thanks," Than looked away. He'd never been around people—especially strangers—much of his life, so he was naturally shy. Plus the fact that he'd been singing, which is something he rarely let anyone else hear.

"My name's Chet Jorch," the man introduced himself. "I'm looking for a Walter Hannigan. Is he here?"

Than glanced back up at him with a raised eyebrow, and spoke without thinking, "If he was here, do you really think I'd be out here, singing in the rain?"

Chet just chuckled. "No, I don't suppose you would," he grinned and offered him his hand. "You must be Nathaniel."

"Than. I'm called Than for short," he shook Chet's hand, then was surprised when he was lifted off of the step and placed in his feet.

"Then you're coming with me," Chet began walking towards the car.

Than blinked. Chet stopped and turned back around to face him. "What's wrong?"

Than just stared at him like he'd grown ten heads. Chet began laughing to himself and then slapped his forehead. "You don't know what in the world I'm doing here, do you?"

"Uhh, no."
Chet flashed him another grin. "I work for Kysha Iory-Warbucks, the billionaire. She's arranged to have an orphan stay with her for two weeks over Christmas. We've already arranged with the social services to have you come. Didn't Mr. Hannigan tell you?"

"Uhh, no."

"Well, then," Chet took several quick strides towards him and grabbed his wrist, leading him towards the car. "Let's go!"

Than climbed into the backseat, dumbfounded to say the least. It was the nicest car he'd ever been in—one of the few cars he'd ever been in, in fact. He never got to go anywhere. And besides the fact that he was in a nice car, he was also going to a billionaire's house for Christmas. Or, at least, that's what this Chet Jorch-person had said…

Chet climbed in next to him and signaled the driver to get going. Than glanced out the window, watching the old, grungy neighborhood pass by. What was he getting himself into now?

*

A/N: Another 1000 words! End of chapter! Hooray! ^_^

Next Chapter: Than gets to Kysha's mansion. Than meets Kysha. Kysha is ditzy. Than is… overwhelmed.