Lord of the Thing
Nobody quite knows what it is...

Chapter 9

When Good Friends Go Bad

Zoe was busy down in the kitchen. As you can probably guess, Afrodo kept popping up in her mind. Who else? "That stinkin' Mary and Poppins," she mumbled to herself. "I'll get them next time..." She took as long as she could getting the rice ready to avoid having to come face-to-face with the "brats." "Next time..." she continued.
"Next time" came sooner than she thought. At that moment, Mary and Poppins came thumping down the stairs, chanting "WE WANT FOOD! WE WANT FOOD!"
"Hold on a second" the frazzled Zoe cried. "It's coming! I bet you woke up the whole house with your stinkin' screaming."
"The whole house is already awake," replied Poppins. "I think I woke them up with my llama dream."
"Great," replied Zoe. (sarcastically, of course) Her thoughts suddenly drifted back to Afrodo. "Hey, guys?" she asked the hobbits. "Could you do me a favor?"
"Sure thing!" they replied in unison.
"Uh, you know that little thing we were talking about upstairs?"
"Yeah..." Poppins started to become suspicious.
"Would you mind not mentioning it to anyone?"
"Why not?" asked Mary.
"Why do you think not? Do you thing I want the whole Entourage to know?"
"Yeah..." Poppins still wasn't convinced.
"NO! I DON'T! If I wanted them to know, I would have told them already."
"Good point." they replied.
"You're darn right it is. Anyway, I think it's only going to be temporary."
"Poo! I was hoping that Afrodo would have a kid! Then I could be its godfather..."
"You have one sick mind, Mary."
"I know I do."
Zoe finished preparing the rice. "Why don't you guys grab some soy sauce, and I'll meet you upstairs?" she asked. Maybe looking for soy sauce would keep them out of trouble. Then again it might just cause more. She was willing to take the chance. She didn't know about those times that they had nearly set Sloppy Joe's on fire. "It's in the cabinet over the stove." She headed up the stairs to the bedroom.
When she arrived, some of the Entourage was sitting on their bunks. Others were still lying down. Eggymess was stretching, Airhorn was yawning, and Dimli was picking junk out from between his toes. Dandruff was combing his beard. Bore Me was looking out the window at Orli, who was exploring the thicket behind the building. His mane was filled with thorns. Spam was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling as if it were about to come to life. Apparently he thought that it had, because he was talking to it.
"Hello ceiling," he said. "So, how are things with you? Zoe's hot, isn't she?" Apparently he had no idea that Zoe had walked into the room, either.
Afrodo was sitting on his cot, adjusting his hat. It looked great on him. (of course, what wouldn't?) Zoe walked up to him.
"So how was you sleep?" she asked.
He looked up at her. "Actually, it was very nice, considering I slept on a cot and all. That's why I don't go camping at a lodge or anywhere too often. As a matter of fact, I had a dream...but I'm not quite sure what it was about...I think it might have been about you."
Zoe was "touched." (lol Lila) "Wow," she said. "That's nice..."
"I don't remember exactly what it was about, but I remember that it was nice." He looked into Zoe's bluish/greenish/brownish/grayish eyes. They're beautiful... he thought to himself. Maybe I should get to know her a little better...we could be good friends... His daydream was interrupted by the smell of soy sauce. Mary and Poppins had arrived, and were attempting to pour soy sauce on each other.
"I knew I couldn't trust you!" Zoe cried. "Give me the soy sauce..." She continued to run after them. "I'll be right back," she called to Afrodo.
"Take your time," he replied dreamily. No! Don't get yourself caught up in this! He said to himself. Remember the last time you fell in love? To tell the truth, he didn't want to remember the last time he fell in love. It wasn't exactly a painless experience.
Spam came up to Afrodo. They looked at each other.
"Isn't Zoe hot?" they said to each other in unison.
"WHAT?!" cried Afrodo.
"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!" yelled Spam.
They each pulled out their toothbrushes (it was the only weapony- thing they had on hand) and pointed them at the other.
"I swear, if you go near her..." started Afrodo in a threatening voice.
"Don't worry," stated Spam in a tone just as threatening as Afrodo's, "I'll go closer than near."
"I don't believe it," mumbled Afrodo. "After all these years that we were friends..."
"It's funny what love can do to you, isn't it?" replied Spam.