No one immediately noticed Rhonda's budding obsession with the crane game machine. Yet it was revealed in parts to her best friend Nadine over the course of the week. Rhonda was acting strange.
"So, so you wanna go over to the new Natural History Museum exhibit with me, Rhonda?" Nadine said taking an advertisement poster out of her locker to show Rhonda. "They focus on savanna grasslands, but according to these photographs, they might have a few examples of beetles and a cross-section of turf. I'd like to see those, then for you, maybe we can stop for a mocha latte in museum cafe?" Nadine bartered as she held up the poster. In it was a large picture of children hovering around a glass tank and pointing to it as if seeing its contents was much better than Christmas. Rhonda's warm smile immediately downturned into a crumpled frown.
"Er, no thanks Nadine!" Rhonda said pressing a textbook to her chest and hurrying away as if she had something to hide. Nadine stared at her retreating friend. She had really expected her best friend to say yes. At lunchtime, Rhonda pulled back her sandwich wrapper but Nadine didn't pull back hers. Instead she stared up into Rhonda's face with a slight frown.
"Rhonda? Are you angry with me?" Nadine ventured. Rhonda set down her milk carton.
"Oh, Nadine!" Rhonda said waving her perfectly-painted nails around. "It's not like that! No one really wants to see taxidermied examples of mammals except Stinky! Besides, I have something else to do!" Rhonda said averting her eyes and slurping down her milk to avoid further talking.
After school, everyone gathered together at the school entrance to leave for Gerald's Field. That is, of course, except, for Rhonda. Her friends waited for her in vain.
"Hey, there she is!" Stinky Peterson pointed. Eyes turned in her direction.
"Hey Rhonda? Stinky continued. "We are all going to Gerald's Field for some practice. Are you coming along?"
"Ah… er no, Stinky. Not today," Rhonda said in a high-pitched voice before scuttling off like a crab avoiding beachcombers. Arnold, holding one bat over his shoulder, stared up at Stinky with widened eyes.
"Well, what in the heck is up with her?" Stinky Peterson pondered out loud, baseball glove on hand.
Rhonda continued to sneak along the streets of Hillwood, all the way to the movie theatre. No one was on the sidewalk waiting in line to go the movies, but that seemed all the better to Rhonda as she, with a guilty glance over her shoulder, snuck into an alleyway. She pulled a huge piggy bank out of a handbag and smashed it apart with a loose board of wood. A live pig had been sniffing about the alleyway, and he ran away squealing in fear at Rhonda's assault on the ceramic pig. Scooping up its contents, Rhonda tossed the shards into a dumpster. She then rounded the corner of movie theatre and strode towards the crane game machine with purpose. She pressed her nose to the glass.
Yep, the pink-haired rock-band doll was still there. Rhonda admired it, almost drooling with greed and envy. Rhonda fervorously fed a handful of quarters into the crane game machine. Ten failed games later, Rhonda reached down into her pockets and turned them inside out in frustration. They were empty. A quavering-kneed Rhonda pointed a shaking finger at the crane game machine.
"An eternal curse on you, box of evil!" Rhonda ranted out before staggering away with sadness stenciled on her face.
Helga Pataki was reading a comic book in a hammock in her backyard when a very unexpected visitor popped over her shoulder, spoiling her light. Helga lay the comic book down so that it lay crumpled against her chest.
"What do you want, Rhondaloid?" Helga asked, her eyebrow folded upwards in annoyance. Rhonda was blotting out all her sun. Rhonda clasped her hands together with desperation.
"Say, Helga old buddy? My pal! There's something that I want… no need!" Rhonda spat out loud as she trembled. "Could you spare me some change until that is...I get my next week's allowance?"
"Is this about that crane game thing?" Helga predicted sagely.
"Well, yeah!" Rhonda coughed out. "So is it okay with you?" Helga shrugged.
"As long as you pay me back. With interest! Here you go. Have fun. Go knock yourself out!" Helga said holding up a ten dollar bill over her shoulder. As soon as Rhonda had yanked it out of her hand she went back to reading her comic book.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Rhonda shouted out. She stared down at the bill in her hand with glee. But Helga didn't even bother to answer. She continued to read her comic book.
Soon Rhonda was back at the crane game machine. She narrowed her eyes at the doll she wanted. It must have been her imagination, but the doll she wanted seemed to narrow its eyes back at her. Rhonda put her hands on the control lever of the machine.
"I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED! Rhonda screamed as she played the machine. "I WILL GET WHAT I WANT!" A mother passing by on the sidewalk steered her young child far away from the crazed girl.
But it did not matter how much time or money Rhonda poured in the machine. The result was always the same. She lost. The machine swallowed her money down with a merry ching. With darkening circles below her eyes, Rhonda sank down to her knees.
"I… lost!" Rhonda voiced to herself in awestruck disbelief. The wind blew bits of litter down the street past her. Slowly, Rhonda got to her feet. Her hands in the pockets of her black capri's and her head lowered, she walked home.
But Rhonda did not walk home directly. Some measure of shame stung her, but the addiction was not quite kicked yet. She found herself standing on the sidewalk by Arnold's house. The Jolly Olly man was there selling the usual icecream and popsicles. Rhonda paused to look by the menu.
"Whaddya want?" the Jolly man asked, as unfriendly as ever. Rhonda's eyes flickered away then back.
"Uh, I don't have any money on me," Rhonda almost whispered with embarrassment.
"Don't have any money?" the ice cream seller sneered. "Then get out of here!" Following his angry shout, the man slammed the service window of his ice cream truck shut. With a bleak face, Rhonda walked slowly towards Helga's side to stand side by side with her. Helga's face was dripping wet with the popsicle she was eating. She wiped some of the stain off with the back of her sleeve.
"Huh? Oh, you again!" Helga said eyeing Rhonda. "What's the matter? Lost again? Back for more money, eh? Well, I'm sorry I'm going to cut you off!" Helga said with a cheerful, if slightly wicked-sounding glee. Rhonda's face took on an even paler shade.
"No, no!" Rhonda said waving a hand out in front of herself before jamming her hands into her pockets again. Hers was a deep and thoughtful look. Her introspections flickered across her face before she pulled herself out of some morass.
"I'm done with the crane game machine!" Rhonda declared firmly, finding some of her habitual strength. "It and I are over!" Ronda's said sweeping her hands to either side in a sweeping gesture. "It simply just was never meant to be!" Rhonda sniffed. Sticking her nose up in the air, Rhonda strode down the street, leaving all the kids enjoying their treats behind her.
Helga wandered home. She lobbed her popsicle sticks into the kitchen sink and ran her sticky fingers under the tap water of the sink. Turning her head, Helga saw no one around, so she walked into the living room, sat down on a chair and pulled her cellphone from her pocket. She speed dialed her best friend, Phoebe.
"Hello Phoebe?" Helga said scratching under her armpit before readjusting the cellphone nested against her cheek. Helga had one free hand to grab the television remote with. She pressed a button and the television screen came on with a rapid flick. Helga scrolled through the channels at a rapid pace, resting on none.
"Hello, Phoebe?" Helga said dropping the T.V. remote when her call was answered. A peaceful Helga curled her second arm behind her head as she lay back against the easy-chair.
"Hello Phoebe? What's up? Oh, nothing on my end except Rhonda keeps bugging me. She owes me money now, you know? Yeesh! I never thought I'd see Rhonda Lloyd suffering some pathetic addiction with a toy machine, of all things! Yeah, yeah, it's silly this obsession of hers," Helga nodded to Phoebe's barely audible voice. "Of course, who am I to judge!" said Helga lifting her eyes up as she came to significant revelation. She lay her hand against her chest. "I mean, I can't be too hard a judge on that one! I have my own addiction, too! But Rhonda really is wasting her time, though!"
What Helga failed to see was that her mother had been resting, slumped among the pillows of the couch. At Helga's words, Miriam Pataki got up off the couch must faster than anyone might have ever thought possible. She approached Helga from behind, then knelt so swiftly in front the girl that Helga dropped her phone.
"Helga? Hello?" came Phoebe's barely audible voice from inside the phone. Helga was unable to pick up the phone. Instead, she stared at her mother, astonished as the woman held both of her shoulders in her grip and peered into her face.
"Helga, honey!" Miriam pleaded with her daughter in near tears. "You mustn't let yourself have addictions! Please! I know… if you do the years will go by and when you wake up it will only to be to realize that you've missed out on everything important! Please, Helga! Don't do this to yourself!" An alarmed Helga grasped her mother's wrist to try to pry it off herself.
"Ah, it's a misunderstanding! Helga declared loudly. "I just happen to be the crazed fangirl of some rap singer or something! That's all I meant! Don't worry, Mom, I promise! I would never do something like that to you!" Helga declared, her voice starting out strong but ending almost choking with tears. Helga's mother wrapped her arms around her daughter's middle and snuggled her head against her pink dress. Continuing to be amazed, Helga stroked her mother's hair softly like one might a pet's.
"Shh, Mom!" Helga whispered out as loudly as she could as her face crumbled slightly before she forced a fake grin back on her face. "It's okay! It's all okay!" As awkward and perplexing as it was, Helga forced herself to hug the woman back.
Eugene was having troubles of his own. Or maybe he wasn't having troubles enough. Nothing horrible had happened to him lately, but the boy wasn't having a lot of fun, either. On a sunny non-school day soon after, Eugene walked down the sidewalk beside Providence. He spotted Arnold and other kids like Rhonda, Brain, and Stinky playing football in the park. Arnold grinned and Gerald came from either side to tackle Peapod Kid to the ground to get the football he was carrying. Helga blew a whistle from the sidelines and all the kids got up to brush the dust off their clothing. Eugene looked at the game with longing.
"Um, Providence?" Eugene said. "How do you feel about rollerblading?"
"Too dangerous!" Providence shook her head.
"Riding bikes?"
"Too high off the ground! I'm afraid of heights!" Providence said fluttering a hand in front of herself as if to wave the fearful idea away.
"Playing checkers?" Eugene suggested with anticipation.
"Boring!"
"Bowling?" asked Eugene.
"I might get struck by the bowling ball machine!" Providence blurted out. "You know, that dispenser that can hit you will a bowling ball if you're not careful enough to keep your head away from where the ball comes up!"
"Er, right! I know all about that!" Eugene chirped, pretending to be happy. He rubbed his forehead once at a painful memory.
The two kids continued down the street. Providence greeted her mother, the she and Eugene entered her rowhome, much like once Lila and her father lived in. They had boxwoods planted in pots by the entrance to their stoop.
Eugene sat down on the living room carpet and picked up a comic book to read. But after some time, he put it down. Instead, Eugene watched the grandfather clock in Providence's living room tick. Eugene swayed back and forth like the pendulum which swung back and forth as time advanced. Then Providence spoke to Eugene.
"Do you wanna play another video game, Eugene?" Providence asked as held up a controller. She was wearing a T-shirt decorated with a pirate-gamer theme.
"Er, no!" said Eugene glancing down at a pile of comics. "I've reread all my comics, too! So I guess I'll go home for this afternoon! See you around, Providence!"
"Okay!" the girl sang. She saw her new friend to the door with a smile.
Eugene was feeling conflicted. So he headed over to Slaussen's Ice Cream Shop and sat down at the counter, hunched over an ice cream soda and a bendy straw. But Eugene turned at a familiar voice.
"Something wrong, Eugene?" Arnold inquired from the far end of the bar counter. Arnold had his foot up on the rungs of the stool since he was still a bit short, after-all. But he supported some of his weight on the counter with one arm. Arnold straightened up to direction his attention to Eugene, his own malted milkshake forgotten.
"Three maraschino cherries for my friend here!" said Arnold holding up three fingers for the shop's attendant to see. Wyatt the icecream man slid a small bowl with extra dessert topping towards Eugene. Eugene plucked the cherries up and put them on the top of his shake.
"Thanks, Arnold!" the boy beamed. "Boy, am I glad to see you! Huh!"
"Hm. What's happened to you, Eugene?" Arnold prompted. Eugene grimaced.
"Well, the thing is Arnold, is I've been having REALLY ordinary luck. And it's been great! I mean, who wouldn't be thrilled not to go the emergency room more than once a month?! I mean, comm'on! I know every hospital nurse by name in Hillwood, every single one! And while they're nice people, I've kind of been glad not to suffer contusions and concussions for a change. But if I'm really honest, I've been hanging around with Providence not so much because she's a great person, which she is, but because I'd hoped a bit of her good luck would rub off on me. And now that it has, I've realized that I've been missing out on something all this time."
"And what's that?" Arnold blinked, one hand wrapped round his milkshake cup. Eugene got manfully to his feet, socks with sandals and all.
"The adventure, Arnold!" Eugene declared with his most serious expression. With fists knotted at his waist, Eugene puffed his chest out and stared off into an imaginary horizon. "Somewhere out there is challenge I've yet to meet! A brand new day! And I've been hiding away in a place where I might not see it! I figure, I've got to get out in the world and face the world head on!" Eugene said pluckily, swinging a fist, "even if it means I might break a few dozen more bones."
"Uh, I'm not exactly sure I know what you mean Eugene," said Arnold rolling his eyes to the side in his awkwardness. "But if you're looking for a challenge you can always come to Gerald's Field and play ball with us. We've missed having you field for us! Are you doing something Friday afternoon?"
"I'll be there!" Eugene chirped. "It's time I stepped out of my fear and faced the world again!"
"Right," said Arnold between hooded eyelids. "Oh, that's right!" the boy started. Arnold checked his watch. "I was about to meet Gerald at the movie threatre! Do you want to come along?"
"Sure thing, pal of mine!" Eugene grinned. The red-haired boy broke out into a humming song of joy as Arnold left a tip for his milkshake. The two headed out the restaurant's glass door.
Rhonda Lloyd was not at the icecream shop at the moment. With her hurt pride and emptied pockets, Rhonda was regrouping at home. Setting down one of her fashion magazines, a frowning Rhonda flopped down onto her lavish pink down comforter underneath a canopy of matching silk. There was no better place to sulk than her own room.
"Why, why, why?" Rhonda wailed to herself as she bashed her pillows with her flailing fists. She kicked out her feet, too. The continued rant caught one of her parent's attention eventually.
"Rhonda, dear," said her father peeking in the door. "I was reading my newspaper and I thought I heard something. Are you alright, dumpling?"
"Well, no Daddy!" said Rhonda sitting up. "Today's been a horrible day! There's something that I want but I can't buy it! It's something to win! And I can't win! Not ever, it's not fair! Why is the world so mean to me, Daddy?" Rhonda complained.
"Hm? Something you can't buy or win?" Rhonda's father mulled over the thought. "I know it's not easy for you to believe this dumpling, but it's okay. These are simply things grown-ups have to deal with," Rhonda's father explained. He lay a hand consolingly upon his daughter's back. "No one can ever get everything they want. Not even a rich person. That's the way the world works. There are limitations, darling. Perhaps you could call it fate?"
"Hm? Yes, alright Daddy." Rhonda bowed her head as she conceded, perhaps to this very fate her father was talking about.
"But that doesn't mean you have to be happy about it, sweetheart!" Rhonda's father explained as he paused at the door to her room. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you!"
"Oh, thank you Daddy!" Rhonda smiled weakly. She kicked her feet against the sides of her bed as sign of her current awkwardness and shame. "You're the best Daddy in the world!"
"I try to be, Rhonda!" Mr. Lloyd said before gently shutting the door to his daughter's room.
Arnold and Eugene, meanwhile made their way to the movie theatre. Miraculously, no accidents occurred to either of them on the way. "Eugene?" Gerald greeted the boy with real astonishment outside the ticket booth to the movie theatre. "I never thought I'd see you where the sun shines again! I'd heard you've become sort of a shut-in."
"I know, right!" said Eugene shrugging. "I was considering taking up an indoor sort of hobby, like collecting stamps or illustration using oil-crayons. But I haven't gotten that far. I miss sports! The action and crowds! Oh, and especially tap-dancing!" said Eugene. The boy broke out into a little soft-shoe to demonstrate.
"Uh-huh," Gerald nodded. "Well, maybe you and your new friend can meet each other halfway by hanging out at the library or something," Gerald observed sagely.
"Well, maybe," said Eugene thinking. "But for right now, Gerald, I feel like doing something fun and adventurous. I've been thinking about it a lot and I've decided. It's no pain- no gain!" Eugene pulled a few quarters out of his rear pocket.
"So what now?" Gerald observed, wondering.
"Well, I'm was thinking that I'm up for rousing carnival game!" said Eugene with a broad smile. He approached the crane game machine.
"I dunno if you should play that thing," Gerald pointed a finger at the machine as he squinted at in disgust. "All everybody does is lose their quarters. I've tried it myself and got beat! There may just be no winning."
"Oh nonsense!" said Eugene stretching. He swayed back and forth, then began to do pushups.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Gerald asked him, very confused.
"Just warming up!" Eugene chirped. "I'm going to give it my all!" The boy grabbed hold of the control stick.
The machine lit up with brilliant lights of pulsing red and blue when Eugene inserted the quarters. A simple, plucky, rapid tune played from a sound speaker hidden somewhere on the crane game machine. Eugene levered the crane over then down, the hook arm outstretched. Their attention caught, Gerald and Arnold leaned far forward to get the best look they could of the crane. Eugene succeeded in picking up a toy and dropping it down the exit chute.
"Well done, Eugene!" Arnold praised his friend. But Eugene wasn't finished yet. His tongue sticking out at the side of his mouth, Eugene concentrated fiercely on maneuvering the crane game's joystick. In blindingly rapid succession, Eugene picked up and dropped a number of toys into the chute. Kids of all ages gathered around to watch in awe. Eugene plucked up every one of the toys in the crane game machine, including the pink-haired Mary Stue doll which Rhonda wanted so much.
"Wow, Eugene!" Arnold gaped as the machine sputtered into quiet at last. The prize tank was empty and Eugene had left the controls. "That was incredible!"
"Thanks, Arnold!" said Eugene. He reached into the toy machine to shovel out toys. There were too many for Eugene to hold in his arms all at once, so the boy dropped a number of them on the floor. Eugene grasped a sea turtle shaped lunchbox by one hand and held it up in front of Arnold for the boy to take.
"Here you go Arnold!" Eugene grinned. "For you!"
"A turtle-shaped lunchbox?" Arnold smiled as he took the box to hold it in his hand. "Thank you Eugene! This is so great! Thank you very much, Eugene."
"Aw, you're so welcome Arnold," Eugene said. "You're a good friend! But well, gee, I have so many toys here, do you want another one? Do you want a toy, Gerald?"
"I figure I'll take one," said Stinky who had become part of the spectator crowd.
"Me too, me too!" Sid hopped up and down on both feet with his fists clenched.
Swiftly, kids all pressed around Eugene accepting toys from red-haired boy. Arnold looked inside his lunchbox then shut it. Then his eye rounded as something came to mind.
"Oh, Eugene! Do you think you could save the pink-haired doll for Rhonda? She really wants it."
"Uh-oh," said Eugene looking down at his now dwindled pile of toys. "I just gave that toy away! See?" Eugene pointed to a little girl about first-grade age. She was holding her mother's hand and snuggling the Mary Stue doll to her cheek.
"I just can't believe it!" the voice of Rhonda Lloyd came from behind Eugene and Arnold. They pivoted around to see the aghast girl standing on the sidewalk. "The Mary Stue doll! NOOOO!" Rhonda clutched her face in horror.
"Oh, I'm sorry Rhonda!" Eugene said genuinely. He held up a small, oddly-shaped doll. Would you like a Frenchamin Potato instead?" Rhonda accepted the toy with a miserable pout. She stared at it for half a moment, then sprinted towards the younger girl.
"Come on, kid, trade with me, please? Please?!" Rhonda begged. But the little girl just stuck her tongue out to give Rhonda the raspberry instead. She kicked Rhonda in the shins before her mother pulled her away.
"Uh, noooo!" Rhonda sobbed out loud for everyone to hear. "Why does everything happen to me?!" Eugene and Arnold at looked at one another. Rhonda was making a pathetic scene again, and it was making them feel guilty.
"Wow, gee, I'm really sorry Rhonda!" Eugene commented. "But if I ever find another doll like that, I'll give it to you, I promise!"
"Well, okay," Rhonda sniffed. She recovered surprisingly quickly. "But it'd better be a good one and it'd better be pink! Or purple. But none of the yellow ones. They were the most undesirable of the collection," Rhonda rambled on. But the boys of the crowd quickly ignored Rhonda's chatter.
"I'll say one thing, Eugene!" Gerald complimented the red-head with a smile. "You are king of the crane game machine! That show you just gave us was incredible. How did you do it? I'm topscorer at the video game arcade, and I still can't win prizes like you just did."
"Oh, I just have the knack for odd things like this!" said Eugene. "Plus, I've played a whole lot! All of that training and lost quarters was bound to count for something sometime! Besides, maybe my friend Providence's luck is wearing off on me!" Eugene cheered before without warning the crane game machine tipped to flatten Eugene beneath it. There was a dull "ow," and a pair of hands sticking out where Eugene had been.
"Or maybe not," said Gerald crouching to slid his hands beneath the toppled machine. Arnold took place at the other side of the machine and helped Gerald heave the machine upright again so that Eugene would be freed.
"Come on Eugene," said Arnold with a smile as he carried his new lunchbox with one hand. He rested the other behind Eugene's back.
"Let's get you to a chair in one piece. If that's possible." Gerald and Arnold both supported a dizzy Eugene so that the three could walk into the lobby of the movie theatre. The end.