8 Feb 2022

5:32 pm

Hi guys, it's me Jesse and I am going to tell you about the crazy things that have been happening recently. Well to put it simply, Carleigh has been very, very bad, worse than you could even imagine! So, if you are new here, I am the leader of The Order of the Stone and have been on many adventures in the past but in the last four or five years I have settled down and now me and my wife Petra have seven kids and an adorable puppy named Cuddles. My kids are Foe my six-month-old son, Jackson my three-year-old son, Riley my four-year-old daughter, Carleigh my four-year-old daughter, Leslie my seven-year-old daughter, Addison my eight-year-old son and Alex my ten-year-old daughter. Anyway, let's get back to the story now.

It all started because of an argument over a drawing that Carleigh had made on the drawing pad in the play room. It showed some peculiar green circles. "It's cheese," said Carleigh crouching over the drawing pad. Her sister Riley leaned in to get a closer look. "It looks like pepperoni," she said. "No cheese," Carleigh objected. "Pepperoni." "Cheese." "Pepperoni." That's when I walked in. "Kids, kids. What's the matter?" I asked. "Dad this looks like cheese, doesn't it?" Carleigh asked. I peered doubtfully at the green squiggles on the drawing pad. "It looks more like cucumber," I said. "No, it is peperoni," Riley contradicted. "But it's green!" Carleigh told her. "Yeah, something painted it." "What! Someone painted the peperoni?" "Yes." I smiled and left. Meanwhile all that talk about painting things must have gotten to Carleigh's head because she quickly ran downstairs and came back a few minutes later holding a paintbrush in each hand. "What are you doing?" Riley asked her. She was still kneeling on the floor in the play room playing around with the drawing pad. "I am gonna paint you," Carleigh said a cheeky grin on her face. "Ok!" Riley readily agreed, then stopped. "But what will Mum and Dad think?" "They will love it," Carleigh said though she didn't think that. She thought that they would probably be very angry but the notion of being messy and painting with bright colours was too good to worry about that now. "Come on," she said waving the paintbrush at her. Riley thought about it for another second. If Mum and Dad caught her, she would probably get grounded and not be allowed in the pool which made her decision clear. "No. I can't." Carleigh looked disappointed. "Then who will I paint?" "I, Me! Pick me. I love paint. want to paint myself!" Jackson ran up to her excitedly. "Ok," Carleigh said but then she thought about it. What if her sister was right? A tiny niggle of doubt made her reconsider. "Actually, I don't really want to do it anymore," she said to Jackson. He was really upset by this. "But … then I won't play with you ever again," he said with a pleading expression on his face rather than angry. "Ok," Carleigh hated to see her little brother so upset so she agreed; besides, despite the worrying thought about her parents finding out Carleigh was as eager as he was to paint herself like a smurf or a colourful emoji. Immediately Jackson ran down the stairs, grabbed a big bucket from the shed and ran into the art room. Then he poured every can of orange paint he could find into the bucket. Soon it was full and he dove right in as if he was jumping into a big swimming pool. Carleigh came down the stairs with rainbow paint all over her face and hands and stood watching him. A few seconds later I walked in. "Guy … what the freak? Jackson! What are you doing?" Carleigh had run off to clean herself up as soon as I walked into the art room. I stared at my three -year-old. He was standing in the bucket of bright orange paint, covered in it from head to toe. "Petra!" I yelled, "you'd better come and see what Jackson has done." Petra could tell from the tone of my voice that something was up. "What is it?" "You should see for yourself." "Ok I'm coming!" "No, don't come!" Jackson shouted, "please don't come." He jumped out of the bucket and ran out of the room leaving a trail of orange footprints behind him. I ran after him. He dashed up the stairs, staining the expensive carpet, and right into the pool room. As I followed, I was horrified. "Please don't tell me," I muttered under my breath. I opened the door to the pool room and stared. Jackson had jumped into the pool with all of his clothes still on. He had stained the water orange. My mouth was hanging wide open. "JACKSON!" I yelled, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" "PETRA GET UP HERE NOW!" Jackson glanced up and saw how angry I was. My face had turned red and he swore he could see steam coming out of my ears. Terrified of the scale of trouble he was in he sprang out of the pool, squeezed the water out of his shorts and yellow t-shirt and streaked passed me. Petra raced up the stairs and gaped at the pool. "What in the world happened here?" she asked. I quickly told her as she started mopping up Jackson's orangey footprints. "Well, I suppose you'll have to clean the pool again," she said turning to me when she was done, "just like when the kids filled it with cement a few weeks ago." I nodded and we decide to find Jackson and give him a severe telling off but we couldn't find him anywhere. Before putting her to bed, Petra and I asked Carleigh about the paint situation since Petra had said that she had seen her hanging around the art room. "Well, I wanted to paint Riley but she said that she didn't want me to and then Jackson said that he wanted to paint himself but I told him not to do it. I saw him getting the bucket but I thought that he was allowed." I nodded. "Thanks for telling us darling," Petra said and took her off to bed. Petra and I checked all of the rooms in the big house, with the older kids help, for any sign of Jackson but he seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Then, finally at ten o'clock that night, I found him hiding in the little cupboard under Addison's desk wrapped in his blue duvet fast asleep. By this point Petra and I had been to worried to scold him and I just tucked him into bed. The next morning, when Jackson came downstairs, Petra asked him if what Carleigh had said was true. "No, it's not," he said, "she didn't try to stop me. She painted herself as well and she just stood there and watched and anyway, I only did it because she said that it was ok and you told me that the older people were always right." "OK thanks for telling me," Petra said ruffling his hair before sending him off to eat breakfast. When Carleigh, Riley and Jackson came home from preschool Petra and I sat Carleigh down and asked her to tell us the truth. She was very stubborn and kept trying to run away but eventually she told us that Jackson had told us the truth this morning. "So do you admit that you lied?" I asked her sternly. She nodded. "Ok. Please don't lie again because if you had been honest with us in the first place then you could have had your phone time today but …" Carleigh's face fell and she stomped away. A few hours later she was getting very bored. By this time Alex, Addison and Leslie were home from school and Carleigh had somehow gotten her hands on Petra's phone but since it was locked with a passcode, she couldn't play any games on it. "Hey, Alex. What is Mum's passcode for her phone?" Alex glanced up from her iPad. "Why?" "Just because." Because Alex had not been home when Petra told Carleigh that she wasn't allowed on the phone, Alex gave the passcode to Carleigh. "It's 314258," she said. Carleigh smiled as she unlocked the phone and started playing her favourite videogame. About an hour later Petra noticed her phone's disappearance. "Jesse, have you seen my phone?" "No, I haven't seen it," I answered from where I was filling up the dishwasher. Then Petra found Carleigh curled up on her bed watching YouTube. "Kids, who gave Carleigh my passcode?" Alex raised her hand. "I did. I thought she was allowed, I'm sorry." "It's ok Alex, you didn't know that she was in trouble," Petra told her. "As for you young lady," she turned angrily to Carleigh, "you will have to stay in your room and don't come out until I say you can." Carleigh trailed to the bedroom she shared with Riley and sat on her bed. After a few minutes she was getting restless so when Riley came into the room to get her Lego box, she jumped at the chance to talk to someone. "Can you stay and talk to me?" she asked plaintively. Riley looked at her uncertainly. "Mum said I should not talk to you because you are having a punishment." "Well, it's over now," Carleigh lied, "please?" Riley shook her head. "I don't want to also be in trouble," she said. "Fine then can you ask Alex to talk to me?" Riley ran out of her bedroom and found Alex sitting on the couch surrounded by books. "Carleigh wants you to talk to her," she said. "Well tell her I can't," Alex said, "I have homework to do." After relaying this information to Carleigh, she was told by her to ask Leslie instead. "I can't. My timer's almost done and I have to finish my house in Minecraft. Tell her maybe later." Carleigh was quite annoyed after hearing this news. "Ask Addison," she said but Addison was also busy. "Fine then. Tell Jackson." But Jackson was most reluctant of all. "I don't want to talk to her ever again. She got me in big trouble and now I can't go outside and play with my friends for a long time." Carleigh was very cross when Riley told her this. She picked up a book and flung it across the room catching Riley on the arm. "Ouch, I'm gonna tell!" she yelled. "No," Carleigh stood up quickly and blocked her sister's path to the door, "if you tell I am going to call The Admin." "No, you won't," Riley pushed passed her but stopped in the doorway. To her horror Carleigh pulled my phone out from under her pillow and dialled a phone number. Riley heard it ringing on the other end. "Are you actually calling him?" she asked starting to panic. Just then the phone was answered. "Hello, who is this? Do I know you? I feel like I recognise this phone number," the last part was said under the person's breath but Riley could still detect a strong British accent. She ran out of the room and fled down the stairs. She crashed right into me while I was walking to the kitchen with a hot cup of tea in my hand. "Hey," I said as the hot liquid spilled down my wrist but then I noticed the terror on her face. "What's the matter?" "Carleigh got mad at me because no one wanted to talk with her and she hit me with a book but when I said that I would tell she said that if I did that, she would call The Admin, and she actually did it! She is on the phone with him right now!" she screamed with tears pouring down her face. I marched straight up the stairs leaving a shocked Petra to calm her down. I found Carleigh talking in a hushed whisper into the phone but she had it on speaker and I immediately recognised Romeo's voice when he next spoke. Silently I grabbed the phone off Carleigh. "Sorry, this was a mistake," I said and hung up. Then I shouted at Carleigh like never before. Petra came to join me. "How dare you call the worst villain ever on your sister? You should be very, very ashamed of yourself stay in this room for the rest of the day and you won't be going to preschool and seeing your friends tomorrow." Carleigh burst into tears. "But …" "No buts," Petra snapped and stormed out of the room. I followed.