Okay, flashback episode time, this time it's going to be 'Stoop Kid'! Why am I making this a flashback episode? Well, you'll see as the story goes on! Anyway, enjoy!
Inside Arnold's room, as we waited for the storm to pass over, I was brushing out my hair a bit as Phoebe was digging around some old newspapers to read. Gerald, Arnold, Nadine and I watched.
"I can't believe that school is over, and you're still wanting to do homework." I noted.
"This isn't homework. It's more of a scrapbook of memories I'm doing." Phoebe said. "I'm looking through these old articles to see if there's any pictures of us around so I can put in!"
"Don't your parents like, have newspapers at home? I'm pretty sure a picture of you and Arnold at the spelling bee would have been on a newspaper at least a couple of weeks ago." Nadine said.
"We recycle newspapers. But I did get that picture for the scrapbook." Phoebe said. "No, I meant other memories for the scrapbook, things we may have been involved in for the last couple of years. Things we believed in, things we helped out in."
"That's a good idea." Arnold said. "We can collect all the memories of PS 118's students and put them in this scrapbook. Then, if it comes time to enter it in something, we can show off all the memories!"
"Thank you." Phoebe smiled.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Gerald said as he pulled out a box. "Let's sort out some articles!"
I smiled as me and Nadine pulled out a box and started looking through articles. Man, there seemed to be a lot of articles from past years... a few I recognized, some I didn't. As I pulled out a few articles, I couldn't help but notice that Olga was in a few of these articles, and who could blame her? She was basically a famous girl, one of the Patakis. She becomes famous, Mr. Pataki becomes famous. If the people in these articles knew how Olga's family life actually was...
"Hey, remember this?" Gerald said, pointing towards an old newspaper he pulled out. We gathered around as we saw the headline.
"STOOP KID'S AFRAID TO LEAVE HIS STOOP!"
"Oh yeah, I remember Stoop Kid." Nadine smiled.
"I remember I believed those stupid rumors about him, actually killing a kid who looked at his stoop, which now that I think about it, is so sadistic!" I sighed. "I mean, what was I thinking? Stoop Kid may have looked tough, but after seeing all that, he actually wouldn't go through with the killing. What was my sadistic mind thinking?"
"Who?" Phoebe asked.
We all gasped as we turned towards Phoebe, as Gerald said, "You've never heard the legend of Stoop Kid?"
"Where have you been last year? It's been like, all over the news that month!" I pointed out.
"I was on a three-week vacation with my parents that month." Phoebe said. "In my old birth home in Kentucky. Remember, I told you about that."
"Oh, right." I said. "You said it almost felt green and a little lonely at times."
"Yeah." Phoebe said. "So, what's this story on Stoop Kid? And why is he named Stoop Kid? Seriously, I hear the name, and it just makes me think of something different."
We all turned towards Gerald as he coughed. "The Legend of Stoop Kid."
We sat around as we listened to the story. "In the beginning, like so many of us, Stoop Kid was just a baby. A baby left mysteriously of the stoop of an abandoned building. Some say he was abandoned there, others say he was dropped from the sky by aliens. Still, others say he grew from a seed lodged between the cracks of the sidewalk. But whatever the reason, the seed or the aliens, that tiny Stoop Kid was left to raise himself on the stoop which he was fated to call his home."
"Excuse me, may I say something?" Phoebe said, interrupting the story. "First of all, WHAT KIND OF NEGLECTFUL PARENTS WOULD JUST LEAVE A CHILD ON THE STEPS OF AN ABANDONED BUILDING? If they didn't have the ability to raise their child, fine. But at least leave the baby somewhere where there's, oh, I don't know, a lot of people! Why leave a child in front of an abandoned building, where it would most likely be left to die? Second of all, how would Stoop Kid raise himself as a baby? As I pointed out, it would die! Somebody had to have taken care of him! I would understand, if say, he ran away from home at a young age or his parents couldn't raise him in his younger years, and he hid out in this stoop, but seriously? Third, aliens do not exist as far as science can prove, and fourth, seeds on the ground do not make children! It doesn't work like that!"
We all just stared at Phoebe as she took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm done."
Gerald shook his head as he continued the story. "Anyway, as he grew up, he came to know and love the stoop as his only family. But there's a dark side. Embittered by the love and normal boyhood that were stolen from him, Stoop Kid became meaner and meaner by the day. He began to lash out at the people that passed around him, taking out upon them, the anger of a young, loveless child. He became so protective of it, that whom so ever looked at it, would face the wrath of the Stoop Kid. His accusatory barbs and yea, even physical violence. The End."
As me, Nadine and Arnold clapped, Phoebe just glared. "Okay, more rant. First of all, how do you know he wasn't just a regular kid who was neglected by his parents in a different neighborhood, ran away from home and hid out in this abandoned apartment, and yes, I'm saying 'Apartment', because 'Stoop' sounds weird coming out of my mouth! Second of all, don't you think he would have been just a loner? And third, why are there newspapers about this kid that was afraid to leave that apartment building!"
"Well, because one day, all of us kids were playing football and the football landed on the steps of Stoop Kid's stoop." Arnold explained. "That's how I first learned the story. I thought about asking for the football back, but he looked threatening from the outside."
"You wouldn't believe Arnold's pertinence, either." I explained to Phoebe. "He pretty much kept an eye on that stoop for two days, wondering if he really could leave the stoop. After a while, he just decided to go for it, grab the football, to coax him to get off the stoop... that's when we all learned that Stoop Kid was afraid to leave his stoop."
"It pretty much became a chant which we joined along with." Nadine said. "Me and Rhonda stopped before we began to realize that..."
"Stoop sounds like another word?" Phoebe smirked.
"Yeah, you know, now that I think about it, Stoop DOES sound weird coming out of our mouths." I said.
"It left Stoop Kid humiliated, and I felt bad, so I decided to build up his confidence, by making him at least take a step out of the stoop." Arnold said.
"You're a bold kid, Arnold." Gerald said.
"Well, I just couldn't leave him to be depressed and lonely. So I gave him a few more confidence points, helped him out of his stoop. It was a huge moment for him... and for everyone who cheered. After that, nobody made fun of Stoop Kid being afraid to leave his stoop." Arnold said.
"Where is he now?" Phoebe asked.
"Oh, he still lives at the stoop, but it's more of a brand new apartment for tenants." Arnold said. "About a month after the whole leaving his stoop thing, he needed my help again because he would have been evicted since his stoop would turn into a hotel. So I decided to help him be a little more polite and courteous to other people."
"Did it work?" Phoebe asked.
"...to an extent, yes." Arnold said, while using his hand to do a so-so motion. "Stoop Kid got to keep his stoop, but he's now working as a doorman for the stoop. He chases off salesmen and only lets in those that are looking for apartments or living in apartments. Stoop Kid always said that the pay is good, though."
"Wow." I said in surprise. "So, he's starting to get a little friendly. Mean, but friendly."
"He still hasn't QUITE opened up to people, but he's trying." Arnold said. "You know, me helping Stoop Kid out would be good for the scrapbook!"
Arnold dug around for the article and smiled. "There it is."
We smiled as we kept looking for articles. It was still pretty fun to do, and even if we didn't find enough things for the scrapbook, we would still continue to collect things.
As I was at home later that night, getting ready for bed, I was thinking back to Stoop Kid's story, and then to Olga's story. I was starting to believe Phoebe's small rants about Stoop Kid, maybe he was neglected by his parents, like Olga was at her young age, but the difference between him and Olga were that while Stoop Kid didn't want to help with the stress of his family, Olga grew up to do something that impressed her parents, whilst wanting to help them out with their problems. I wondered what it would have been like if Olga and Stoop Kid switched places. Would Olga have been bitter?
Nah, it's not like Olga. She's nice and helpful, and while she didn't want her parents to break, she knew that the marriage wasn't doing good. She'd still help, no matter what. As for Stoop Kid? Who knows? Maybe at one point, he did remember his parents, but as he grew up, he slowly forgot about them. Maybe his home life was just as bad as Olga's.
I don't know why I started comparing Stoop Kid to Olga at this hour, but I decided not to let it worry me. I decided to just get some sleep for tonight.
I closed my eyes, relaxing in the comfort of my mattress.
There's the thirty-seventh episode! How do you like it? By the way, if you're wondering about the 'Stoop Kid works as a doorman to his stoop' thing, that's a reference to a Hey Arnold comic that may have ran on Nick Magazine. Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks! And don't forget to add to the TVTropes page, folks!