Alanna stood, dumbstruck. Time seemed to freeze for a minute. Then, "AGHHHHHHHH!" Daine
screamed into Numair's ear. That made him cry. Like a chain reaction, everyone began sobbing.

"SHHHHH!" Alanna said. "Um, do you want a cookie?" All the tears stopped, eyes brightened.

"Cookie! I want CHOCOLATE!" Daine said.

"I want SUGAR!" George yelled.

"PICKLE!" screamed Cleon. "NO COOKIE! PICKLE!"

"I wanna eeaaattt!" Neal yelled. "I wanna eat...um...um....," his voice trailed off.

"You're a dummy," Kel said. "DUMB DUMB DUMMY!"

Tears welled up in Neal's eyes. Then he bit Kel. "Yummmm," he said, as Kel ran, crying to Alanna.

Alanna used her Gift to soothe Kel's pain and went to deal with Neal. "Neal, we DO NOT bite," she had
started when -CRASH! Numair knocked over a vase. He smiled. "BOOM BOOM!" He ran over to another
vase. "BOOM BOOM!" he said, reaching out to push it over, but Alanna grabbed his hand.

She was picking up glass when Daine kicked her. "I wanna cookie," she said meekly when Alanna shot
her an angry glare. "ME TOO!" George yelled. "COOOKIE!"

Alanna raced into the kitchen. She grabbed a pickle for Cleon, but couldn't find any cookies. She ran back.
George and Daine looked at her, eyes wide, Cleon happily sucked his pickle, Kel was still whimpering,
Numair was headed for another vase, muttering, "CRASH BASH SMASH!" while Neal was slowly
sneaking up behind Kel, teeth bared.

"How about a story?" Alanna asked. The children ran over to a couch and sat down, like little angels.
As if. Alanna cleared her throat. "Once upon a time, there was a princess," she began.

Neal bit Kel again. "The princess got married and had six bad children. One was a biter."

Kel screeched and smacked him. "One was rather...loud and pushy."

Daine poked Numair roughly in the stomach and giggled. "One was a mean little flirt."

George was picking his nose. "One was a bit...nasty."

Cleon was loudly slurping his pickle, singing, "Oh, pickle! You taste pickle-y!" over and over. "One
was annoying," Alanna continued.

Numair ripped a pillow open. "One was a home wrecker," Alanna said through gritted teeth. "So the
princess committed suicide and the bad children were riddled with guilt. The end," she finished, just
as Kel and Cleon got into a mad fight over the pickle, and Daine poked Numair in the eye for kissing
George.

"Marvelous," Alanna said, dryly.