Ptwista: Hi! Sorry, I kept you waiting! New chapter up!
Up in Sportacus's air ship, the hero was going his usual exercise. He did a handstand, push-ups, cartwheels, and then stood straight up. He smiled, but then he heard his crystal beep.
"Someone's in trouble," said the hero. He did his special move, flipped four times and cried, "Door!" The door hissed as it opened. He walked on it on his hands, took out his telescope and he started searching.
On the ground, Stephanie was sitting in her backyard with a pale pink shawl over her. Even though the sun had peaked a little through the clouds, she still needed it to keep herself warm. She sat Indian-style with a book slightly bigger than her diary. It was white with a small pink ribbon sticking out of one of its pages. It had a large circle on the cover with a thick outline, half-pink half-yellow with peach triangles sticking out from it. It also had little yellow flower and little pink hearts printed on it. Inside the circle, large, glittering, cursive, pink and yellow letters read: "Pink Sunlight".
Stephanie opened the album. She stared hard at the first picture. It had her as a three year old child with a teenage girl. Little Stephanie had a on a white formal dress, with white ribbon holding her two pink pigtails. There was a pink beaded snowflake on her chest and she had on white Mary Janes (for anyone who doesn't know, Mary Janes are like strap-on school shoes). She looked like she was in the middle of a laugh and her eyes were tightly closed. She was sitting in the teenager's lap. The teenage girl had bright yellow hair and in the picture it was let down and curly. She had brown skin and deep brown eyes. She was wearing a gold-yellow dress and gold star-shaped earrings. There were small gold ribbons on two strands of her hair on either sides of her head and she had glitter on her cheeks and on the tops of her eyelids. Her chin and most of her right cheek rested on little Stephanie's head and she hugged her gently. Her smile was sweet and eyes were warm.
"Our favorite Christmas picture," whispered Stephanie happily.
The album was filled with pictures of her and the girl. Even ones from when Stephanie was a baby were inside.
"I really miss you," said Stephanie in a sad whisper. The fact is because she missed her so much that she had to see the album again. She felt bad about lying to her uncle, but she was afraid if she saw her with the pictures, that she didn't like staying with him. Because she did but...her old friend...her old home...She was crying to the moon.
Meanwhile, the kids were on a frantic search for Stephanie. Sportacus noticed and cried, "Ladder!" The ladder clanked down to the ground. Sportacus climbed down it and jumped to the ground. He headed for the kids.
"Guys!" he yelled. They all gave him overlapping greetings. "What are you doing?"
"We're looking for Stephanie!" said Ziggy.
Stingy was searching with a magnifying glass.
"Stingy, can I borrow that for a sec?" asked Trixie. Stingy replied, "Well, I would let you borrow it, but it's miiiine. (I apologize to Stingy fans out there in advance; this will probably be his only line in the story. It is kinda short. )"
Trixie rolled her eyes and said, "Why do I even bother?" under her breath.
"Stephanie's fine," said Sportacus.
'Yeah, she is," thought Pixel (I couldn't resist putting that in. hee hee :)
"She's still home, in her backyard."
"Oh, well, let's go get her!" said Stingy (another line!).
"Yeah!" shouted the kids.
"Follow me!" shouted Sportacus. He did his move, the kids followed, and headed for Stephanie's house.
Stephanie was still looking at the pictures in the album. She was about to find a picture she really liked but she heard someone behind her say, "Excuse me, little girl." She turned. It was a nun.
"Is there something the matter?" It was Sister Rottina, really Robbie Rotten in disguise using a high-pitched voice.
"Uh..." said Stephanie. She slammed the album shut. "No...I'm okay."
"Ohhhh... Dear child. You look sick. You should go to bed."
"No, really, I'm okay."
"Stephanie!" yelled Sportacus. He jumped into the yard and the kids followed.
"There you are!" said Trixie.
"Come on, let's go play!" yelled Ziggy.
Stephanie headed toward them but "Sister Rottina" grabbed her by the shoulders and said, "She's sick," through gritted teeth, "and she's going to bed!"
"Wait," said Stephanie, shaking out of the nun's grasp. "I sorta have a confession to make." She took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm not really sick." All the kids gasped and Sister was quick to react, "The poor thing, she's delusional. Let's get you to bed." "She" grabbed her by the shoulders but Stephanie fought back. She thrashed and swung her arms, dropping the album in process, while the kids cheered her on. Sister grunted trying to get control but couldn't. Stephanie knocked her hat off and Ziggy yelled, "Hey, that's not a nun! It's Robbie!"
"Robbie Rotten!" yelled Pixel.
Despite being unmasked, Robbie still struggled to get Stephanie inside. "Get off!" yelled Stephanie and she managed to push him off her. He fell to the ground, sputtered and muttered angrily as he walked back home.
Stephanie looked back to the kids. They looked very confused and disappointed. Sportacus was the first to speak, "Why would you lie about being sick, Stephanie?" The kids murmured agreements.
"Well..." said Stephanie, "I-I-I...don't...well, uh, um—"
"Is there something you want to tell us?"
"Yes. But..." her voice faded.
"Okay, Stephanie," he shooed the kids away, "Just know, you can tell us anything." He left and Stephanie stood alone.
That night as she was heading to bed she took the album and put it on her nightstand. She turned off all her lights, including her nightlight and climbed into bed. She felt strange. She knew that she could tell her friends anything but...she needed time to get her story together. She'd tell them about her friend one day.
'Just not now,' that was Stephanie's last thought before she fell into an uneasy sleep.
TBC...
Ptwista: I'll write a sequel to this that'll explain more. But for now, Read and Review! Be nice...it's my first fic.