"We wanna play!"
Iago rolled his eyes.
"We're not playing. We're going to go inside and take a nap. Everybody!"
"But we don't want to take a nap."
"It's naptime! Now! Or else! I'm in charge around here."
"I want to play hide and seek."
"We're not playing. We're napping. Today, tomorrow, morning, evening. Now let's get to it!"
"I don't want to nap."
"Well, you gotta, cause I'm in charge."
The kids pouted. Iago wasn't moved by it. Abu looked sadly at Iago.
"Oh, all right, only a couple of minutes."
"YAY!"
"Not so loud!"
"We'll hide, you count, Iago."
"Wha-but..."
The kids had already taken off and started to hide.
"Oh, fine. 1, 2, 3..."
Iago started counting.
"Ready or not, here I come."he said, as he flew in search of everyone.
For the next hour and a half, he didn't find anyone.
"That's funny. All right, now I give up! Kids? Kids!"
Iago looked around.
"Kids!"
He realized now that the children had only used that as an excuse to get away from him.
"AAAHHH! If I don't get those kids back I'll be in big trouble!"he said to himself. "And so would the town!"
Iago immediately looked around their favorite hiding areas and every room he could think of, but no sign. He flew out to the balcony.
"Just my luck! Those kids! They'll regret it!"
He flew over the Palace wall, and over the marketplace, looking for them, asking people if they'd seen them, and calling their names. He decided not to say anything to the guards. If they found out the kids were missing, and he was in charge, he'd be dead meat even by the time Aladdin and Jasmine were back.
"Those kids!"
He tried to think of any place where they might go.
Abdullah took the apple from the vendor.
"You look like such a nice boy."he said, smiling.
Abdullah smiled.
"And take one for your brothers and sisters each."
"Aahh!"
Iago spotted them.
"Abu wants one, too."Abdullah was saying.
"Abu wants to go back to the Palace!"Iago interrupted him.
"He found us!"
The kids then raced away from him.
"Hey, come back here, you brats!"
Iago took off after them, and chased them almost halfway across the city, until he couldn't fly any longer.
"Whew!"he said, as he landed.
"Iago, I'm cold."said Layla.
"Me, too."
"There you are! Well, I'm glad! If you'd have taken your nap like a good girl, you wouldn't be cold, would you?"
Layla started to cry.
"Oh, don't cry! I can't stand it! It's annoying."
"Iago says I'm annoying!"
"Look, let's just go back to the Palace already. I'm hungry! And tomorrow, no one's going to leave their room! That's final!"he said, as he settled on Babkak's shoulder.
"But I wanted to..."
"No buts, no buts."interrupted Iago. "You kids are just too much trouble, no wonder the Kid and the Princess needed the break."
"Mommy and Daddy are broken?"asked Layla, thinking about one of her dolls.
"No, though how they've managed to keep themselves together all this time with all of you, I don't know."
"But you said you knew everything!"
"Well, I lied."
"Genie says it's bad to lie! You need a time out!"
"I'm in charge. Whoever's in charge doesn't get time outs!"snapped Iago.
"Can I be in charge?"
"No. The Kid, the Genie and the Princess left me in charge, so I'm in charge, so there!"
"You're mean."
Iago felt so relieved when they were finally inside the Palace, and the kids went to sleep.
"At least tomorrow they'll have to stay put, now that they're grounded."
But will they? Stay tuned.