Disclaimer: I do not own The Mr. Men Show or any of its characters. But I do own a few characters in this story and the idea that Mr. Grumpy has a brother and a niece.
"Thanks again for babysitting, little brother." A Mr. Man, who looked a lot like Mr. Grumpy, stood in front of him right now with an expressionless look on his face, and he spoke in a monotone voice. Instead of blue, like his brother, this Mr. Man was a dark red color and his dull eyes made it seem like he was permanently bored. He blinked a few times, staring at Mr. Grumpy as the younger sibling let out a heavy sigh.
"I don't see why I have to watch her," the blue Mr. Man complained and not for the first time. Ever since his brother asked him to do this favor, he's been trying to get out of it. "She's ten," he continued. "Can't she stay home by herself?"
The red rectangle shook his head. "Nah-ha," he replied. "I'm going away for a whole week. She can't stay home alone for that long. Besides," he added, trying to put on a cheerful smile, but it seemed like all his expressions were emotionless. "She's never met her uncle before."
Mr. Grumpy sighed again. "Why can't she visit another relative?" he questioned in an annoyed tone. "I don't want a little kid running around. I just cleaned my house."
"She won't make a mess; I promise."
"Fine. But you owe me big time, Mr. Apathy." Finally, Mr. Grumpy gave in. He let out a groan and then asked," Where is she?"
As if his brother's words surprised him, Mr. Apathy turned around but there was no sign of his daughter. "Dunno," he replied, glancing at Mr. Grumpy. "She was just here. Miss. Aloof?" he called out. "Miss. Aloof, where are you?"
The young Little Miss sat on the other side of her father's car, listening as the grownups called her name over and over again like they expected her to come out of hiding. But she stayed where she was, hoping they wouldn't find her. If she could, she'd turn invisible and walk right past them so she didn't have to stay with her uncle.
Little Miss Aloof was the same color and shape as her father, just a lot smaller and she had short, black hair. Unlike Mr. Apathy, it was easy to tell what she was feeling by the deep frown on her face as she stared down at her sneakers.
I didn't want to come here, she thought, sighing to herself. More than anything, she wanted to be back in her room, listening to music and letting it take her away to someplace where it would just be her, nobody there to tease her or shun her out. She would be happy in her own little world.
But Mr. Apathy had taken her MP3 Player away, insisting that it would do her some good to get out and talk to people. Little Miss Aloof knew he loved her and was doing everything he could for her— she imagined it wasn't easy being a single parent. But couldn't he see that nobody wanted to be her friend? The other kids were mean to her, either making fun of her for one reason or another, or simply pretending she wasn't there. Even some of the adults didn't like her. She wished her dad would stop forcing her to interact with others because it only ended with her getting hurt.
Suddenly her vision became blurry, and when she blinked again, tears started falling from her eyes, rolling down her face. She pulled her legs closer to her and buried her head in her knees. She just wanted to be alone, but her father didn't seem to understand that, and if her own family didn't understand her, then who would?
Farther down the road, a couple of Mr. Men were walking along the sidewalk, glancing around curiously. But the streets were empty; there was no sign of any of their friends.
"Where is everyone?" The light green Mr. Man finally spoke up, and he looked down at his little buddy, confusion in his eyes.
His smaller friend shrugged. "Perhaps they are all busy?" he guessed, but he was just as baffled as the other Mr. Man. Usually the streets were full of people.
Mr. Nosy opened his mouth to respond to his friend, but before he could get a word out, something caught his attention, and he came to a halt. At first Mr. Small kept going; then he realized that the light green Mr. Man wasn't beside him anymore.
Returning to him, Mr. Small blinked up at his best friend. "What's wrong?" he asked, not understanding why he had stopped.
"It looks like Mr. Grumpy has company," Mr. Nosy replied, and he pointed to something behind Mr. Small, who turned around to see what he was talking about. He was surprised to find himself looking at a green and brown station wagon parked in front of Mr. Grumpy's house.
"That's odd," the small Mr. Man murmured. "I don't remember ever seeing that car before."
"Me neither." Suddenly Mr. Nosy's eyes lit up as he suggested," Why don't we go see who it is?"
Mr. Small smiled. After spending most of the morning bored, they finally found something interesting to do. "Great idea, Nose!" he praised his friend, who grinned down at him.
The two started heading to Mr. Grumpy's house, only to pause when they noticed a young Little Miss sitting alone by the car. They shared a confused look, both wondering who she was. Then they turned back to look at her again, seeing that she now had her face buried in her legs and her whole body was trembling. Was she crying?
"I wonder what's wrong with her?" Mr. Nosy murmured curiously, and he followed his best friend over to her after Mr. Small said that they should go check on her.
Shadows fell on Little Miss Aloof, and she froze, her heart beating faster with fear. She wasn't sure what to do at first, but finally she was able to glance up to see two strangers standing over her, one big and light green, and the other one smaller and orange. They were smiling down at her.
Startled by their sudden appearance, the young Little Miss screamed and jumped to her feet.
They both took a step back, looking anxious.
The small one opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could, Little Miss Aloof's father and uncle came running around the car.
Wanting to get away from the unknown Mr. Men, she ran to Mr. Apathy and hid behind him. Her father placed a hand on her head in an assuring way before looking back at the strangers. "Who are you?" he demanded in that same dull voice he always spoke in.
It was Mr. Grumpy who answered. "Nobody important," he muttered. He turned to the newcomers. "Mr. Nosy, Mr. Small, this is my brother, Mr. Apathy." Then he gestured to the kid. "And that's my niece," he added, sounding like he had to force himself to admit that.
The best friends shared a surprised look before turning back to Mr. Grumpy. "You never told us that you had a brother," Mr. Nosy remarked, his eyes huge.
Mr. Small was about to agree, but suddenly the events of last Christmas flashed in his mind. He remembered how Mr. Grumpy had been really down and they tried to do everything they could to cheer him up, eventually convincing him to join the party at Mr. Happy's house. He thought back to the picture the grumpy Mr. Man had been looking at, recalling seeing a kid who looked a lot like the red Mr. Man who stood beside Mr. Grumpy right now.
So that was his brother, the small man realized. At the time he wasn't sure, and since they had been on the subject of Mr. Grumpy's mother, he didn't want to question him about any other family members.
Mr. Small's gaze switched to the Little Miss, noticing that she was staring at the ground and shifting her feet like she was uncomfortable. He walked over to her and offered her a smile.
Little Miss Aloof blinked at him, still not sure what to make of him, but it was clear that he was trying to be friendly. "What's your name?" the small Mr. Man asked her.
Instead of answering, the young Little Miss threw her father's arm around her and buried her face in his side so she didn't have to make eye contact with anyone.
"Come on, Miss. Aloof," her father said as he pushed her toward Mr. Small. "You need to learn how to talk to people."
But I don't want to talk to them! Little Miss Aloof thought, just barely stopping herself from saying that out loud. Despite how everyone else treated her, she didn't like being rude and mean to others if she could help it. "H-Hey," she stammered, shifting her eyes sideways so she wasn't looking at the small Mr. Man. "I'm Miss. Aloof."
"It's nice to meet you." The friendly tone in his voice made Little Miss Aloof turn back to him. His eyes were kind and there was a smile on his face as he tipped his hat to her in a welcoming way. He still had patience with her even after she had screamed when they just showed up out of nowhere and even though she refused to talk to him until her dad made her.
She was used to being treated differently. Whenever she tried to make friends with other kids because Mr. Apathy told her to, they usually got annoyed with her when they found out that she didn't talk much and that people made her really nervous. But this Mr. Man wasn't like all the rest, she realized. For the first time in her whole life she felt comfortable around someone other than her father.
Little Miss Aloof was knocked out of her thoughts when Mr. Apathy suddenly announced," Well, I should be going. I have a long trip ahead of me," he added, and then he turned to his brother. "I'll be back in a week."
Mr. Grumpy sighed but nodded. He watched as Mr. Apathy walked to the driver side of his car.
For a terrifying moment Little Miss Aloof realized that he was leaving her here with people she didn't know, and considered running after him and begging him to take her with him. But then she became aware of the small Mr. Man beside her, and she remembered how friendly he had been. Suddenly she didn't mind staying here if it meant she could spend more time with him.
"So, she's staying with you?" Mr. Nosy asked, turning to Mr. Grumpy when the station wagon drove out of sight down the road.
Mr. Grumpy crossed his arms. "Yeah, I guess," he muttered, not sounding thrilled about that one bit.
But Mr. Small obviously felt differently than the grumpy Mr. Man. He had a huge grin on his face as he declared," That sounds fun!"
He's so cheerful, Little Miss Aloof thought as she smiled for the first time since her father told her that she was going to stay with her uncle. She was used to being around Mr. Apathy who seemed expressionless and the kids who bullied and teased her. It was refreshing to see someone happy and friendly for a change.
I guess not everyone's so bad, she told herself.
As his niece thought about the small Mr. Man and how nice he was, an idea suddenly struck Mr. Grumpy as he stared at the best friends in front of him. "Can you do me a favor?" he asked them, forcing a smile so they didn't suspect that he was up to anything.
"Sure," Mr. Small responded while Mr. Nosy inquired," What kind of favor?"
Little Miss Aloof heard what her uncle said, and she blinked up at him, wondering what he was about to ask these Mr. Men.
Pushing the young Little Miss toward the friends, he suggested," Why don't you two show her around town?" When they looked confused, he added," I would do it, but unfortunately, my home is a mess right now and it's going to take all day to clean it. I don't want her to be bored while I'm doing that."
Didn't you tell my dad that you just cleaned? Little Miss Aloof questioned in her head, remembering what she had overheard the grownups saying. Then she realized what was really going on. He's trying to get rid of me. My own family doesn't even like me...
First Mr. Apathy leaves her here with her uncle even after she begged him not to, and now Mr. Grumpy was handing her over to a couple of Mr. Men she didn't know.
"We'd be honored to be her tour guides," Mr. Small responded to Mr. Grumpy, and he smiled up at Little Miss Aloof as he tipped his hat to her again.
The Little Miss wasn't sure what to feel. It seemed like complete strangers were more welcoming than her own family. So why should she try to fight to stay somewhere she was clearly not wanted? Without another glance in her uncle's direction, she started walking away.
Mr. Nosy and Mr. Small shared a quick look before turning to Mr. Grumpy, but when he didn't say anything, they decided to just follow the young Little Miss.
The blue Mr. Man stared after his niece, briefly wondering if he did the right thing. But he didn't worry about it too much. He knew she would be safe with the best friends, so he just shrugged and went back into his house to watch his fishing show.
When the Mr. Men caught up to Little Miss Aloof, they walked on either side of her. "You're going to love it here," Mr. Nosy told her, excitement in his voice.
Mr. Small nodded in agreement. "Dillydale is a wonderful place," he insisted. "There's tons of things to see, and everyone is so nice. And there's even—"
His voice faded to the back of Little Miss Aloof's mind. Once again, she wished that she was home, alone in her room, listening to music. The joy of meeting someone nice for a change went away when her uncle pawned her off like she was an unwanted object.
With a soft sigh, she continued to follow the friends, just barely noticing that now they were talking to each other as the Little Miss tagged along behind.
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