Euch, writer's block is so icky. I wish there were mini construction workers that kept the mind in place and they could remove annoying writer's block. You would be able to hear everything they are doing while they're working. That would be the neatest thing. :3

Regards, Noodle

Stephanie's day began with a puppet she found under her bed. It was a dino puppet with Sharpie eyes, felt teeth, yellow felt spikes along its back and was made out of a green sock. When she had found it the sock was coated in dust and a cobweb or two.

She dusted it off and put it on her hand.

"Awesome!"

That morning, when Artemis was sitting at the kitchen counter, thinking about whatever he thinks about in the morning, a sock puppet raised its head above the counter surface. He looked at it and raised an eyebrow. "Stephanie?" he asked.

"Possibly," the puppet replied without its mouth moving.

"Where did you get that puppet?"

"What puppet?"

"The puppet on your hand."

The dino puppet shifted a little. "I don't have any hands."

First a pause, then Artemis sighed. "Really, Stephanie, where did you find the puppet?"

"I don't like your tone," the dino puppet responded. "You're implying something, aren't you?"

"…What?"

"You think I'm fat? No, you think Stephanie is fat! Oooh, I'm going to t-e-e-e-ll." The puppet started "walking" down the edge of the counter.

"Oh, no you don't!" Artemis swiped the puppet off of Stephanie's hand.

"Ah, I'm nude!" Stephanie's hand exclaimed. Her hand ducked down behind the counter. "My, oh my, I am so embarrassed. Have you no shame, boy!"

Artemis walked to the other side of the counter and found Stephanie having a silent giggle fit. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Stephanie stopped and looked up at him. She said nothing, but started up a hysterical laugh. All of this was absolutely hilarious to her. Artemis wondered about her mental stability.

Standing up, Stephanie giggled, "That puppet is oodles of fun!" She took the puppet and put it back on her hand. "I found it under my bed. Who would stuff such a cool dino puppet under a bed?"

Artemis thought about it…

A five-year-old Artemis went flying down a corridor, screaming, a puppet in hand. He entered a random guest room and crammed the puppet under the bed. Little Artemis junior hoped that the scary dinosaur play thing would never see the light of day again.

"I honestly have no idea," Artemis lied.

"Hm, well," Stephanie thought aloud, "maybe we could freak Shawn out with it."

Both of them got an evil grin on their faces, Artemis using his vampire smile. They rushed out of the kitchen to plan and prepare.

A puppet peeked over the edge of Shawn's bed with its inky eyes. Then it slowly rose until the wearer's skin was just about to go over the edge of the sheets.

"Shawn," it whispered without moving its lips. "Sha-a-a-wn."

Shawn slept.

The dino leaned over the sleeping boy a little. "Sha-a-a-a-a-wn."

Nothing.

The dino puppet whapped Shawn in the face. "SHAWN!"

Shawn yelped and sat up rigid, rubbing his nose. "What!"

"Hello," the puppet said.

Shawn rubbed his eyes. "Is that you, Stephanie?"

"Um, no."

"Oh, okay," Shawn said. Artemis snickered from under the bed and Stephanie had to elbow him.

"I am Bruno, the all-knowing sock dino," said Bruno, the all-knowing sock dino. "I can tell you anything and maybe even grant you a wish, if I feel like it. Which I don't."

"Cool!"

"Yep, it sure is. So ask me anything."

"Do you know the meaning of life?"

"Err, no."

"How about how the universe was made?"

"Nope, sorry." Bruno shook his head.

"Well, do you know if Stephanie would ever like me?"

"Yes."

"You mean she would?" Shawn got excited.

"I mean I can answer that question and the answer is-"

Artemis interrupted Stephanie really quietly. "Say you would."

Stephanie gave him a look. "Why?"

"If you say yes, he'll act like he's the smoothest little boy that walks the face of the Earth around you. You can then act like he's nothing special and we can then tell him that Bruno's a fake," Artemis explained quickly.

"Ahhh, I see."

Bruno spoke again. "Yes. Yes she would. I think she likes you right now, even."

Shawn gasped. "Really!"

"Yeah!" Bruno wildly nodded.

Shawn turned his back and started to babble to himself about something. Bruno quickly ducked under the bed.

When the boy turned back around, the dino wasn't there. "Hello?

"Where'd he go?"

Stephanie was walking down the hall when Shawn found her and started to be a big flirt.

"Hey there," he said in a "cool" tone. He was wearing a flannel shirt unbuttoned over a messy undershirt. Sunglasses were over his eyes and his hair was styled with so much gel it wasn't even funny. His pants were undesirably baggy.

Stephanie looked down at his and raised an eyebrow. "Yes? What do you want?"

"I only want to talk to you," Shawn replied in the same tone. He tried to lean against the wall, but nearly fell in the attempt. Stephanie desperately wanted to laugh her head off.

"Really, who put you up to this, Shawn? Was it Juliet?" Stephanie's eyes searched the halls for giggling onlookers.

"Nope, it's just me myself and I." Shawn gave her a smile that ruined the whole "cool" look.

Stephanie chuckled. "Nice try," she commented. Then she restarted her travels down the hall once more.

Shawn looked at her back, rather astonished. He whispered to himself, "Why, Bruno? Why must you lie to me?"

"Ah ha, Bruno," Stephanie muttered to the sock puppet on her hand. "I bet you can somehow control the minds of the dim witted. Not just small children with no common sense, either."

Artemis came into the room, which was Stephanie's (A/N: I never seem to want to mention where they are.) "Are you still talking to that puppet? It's getting quite annoying."

"Says you." She took the puppet off of her hand.

"Yes, and what I say goes," Artemis said, sitting beside the puppet-obsessed girl. "Now put that thing away."

"You seem to have a problem with it," Stephanie said, stuffing the dino puppet in her pocket. "Do you?"

Artemis looked at her, trying to feign surprise. "Why, of course not! What would give you that impression?"

'Well," she started, "it seems like whenever I have the puppet out, you ask where I got it, or try to avoid it all together. Your behavior is strange to me."

"Maybe it's because that thing is so hideous," Artemis commented quickly, trying to evade the subject, just as Stephanie said he tried to do.

Stephanie psh-ed. "No it isn't. There you go again, struggling to switch the subject. Something's up, what is it?"

Sighing, Artemis mumbled extremely quietly, "I'm afraid of it."

"What?"

"I am afraid of it." Artemis was only slightly louder this time.

"Sorry, I couldn't catch-"

"I'm afraid of the stupid puppet!" Artemis screamed.

Stephanie blinked, a bit frazzled by Artemis' outburst. "Okay. We're getting somewhere." But before Stephanie could ask why-

"Oh, how that idiotic child's toy taunted me as a small boy." Artemis clenched his fists. "It's ridiculous, felt, toothy smile, and its eyes, look at them. They're too far apart from each other for comfort."

"…Artemis?"

"Yes?"

"You're a freak and I can't help you. So I'll put the puppet away, but only because it's you."

Artemis flung his arms around his friend. "Thank you!"

Just then Shawn walked past the open doorway, saw Artemis embracing Stephanie, and, in an eerie silence, left. Three seconds later they could hear:

"Bruno DID lie!"

Stephanie was dreaming again. She sat in a field of tall grass in every direction, the wind blowing it sideways. This caused it to look like waves of green would come at her, but always somehow miss.

"You'll remember me, as the west wind moves upon the fields of barley…"

Stephanie could hear this from far off and wondered why she wasn't in barley instead. It would've made sense but it didn't. She resolved to just roll with it.

She was looking down at the grass in front of her, fiddling with it, when she saw two pairs of bare feet. When she looked up she saw Artemis. Not the fake one we call Ben, for he had no blonde streaking his bangs. His gaze was soft, content.

"I love you, you know I do. Don't you know?" he said softly.

"I know," Stephanie whispered back. Artemis held out a hand to help her up, and she tried to take it, but Stephanie ended up on her hands and knees grabbing nothing in one hand. Artemis had disappeared into a wisp of smoke somehow.

"You must know now how it feels to love something you obviously can't have," a voice said from behind her. It was Ben's.

Stephanie stood up and turned around. "Actually, no, I don't."

"Oh? Why would that be?"

"Because of the fact that people can't dissolve into smoke after a mere touch of other skin, I'm guessing this is a dream." Stephanie loved using logic like that, it was so much fun. "So, this being a dream, I know that Artemis is not gone from me, but back in reality doing whatever he pleases to do."

Ben shook his head and smiled. "You're such a smart girl. I'm afraid, however (Well not really, but I must say it for your sake), that this must become a reality. It's fate, and fate is one of the strongest forces out there."

Stephanie smirked. "No, this is just what you want it to be. If all goes right, for me of course, then fate will rear its ugly head in your direction, your plan will fail and I will get my way. Like you said, fate is one of the strongest forces out there."

Ben clicked his tongue in an annoyed fashion. "Must you ruin my fun?"

"Yes."

"Very well, then."

Ben snapped his fingers, and somewhere in the real world a girl woke up, having no memory of the dream.

Stephanie caught Artemis typing something on his computer the next morning. "Artemis?"

"Yes?" He did not take his eyes off of the screen.

"Do you ever forget what you dream, right after you dream it?"

"Never, why do you ask?"

"I forgot the dream I had last night. I know I had a dream, and I think it was real important, but I just can't remember. When I get close to recalling it my leads disappear right out of my head." Stephanie's mind gave a wave of remembrance at the word "disappear".

"It mustn't have been that important if you have forgotten it," Artemis resolved, still typing.

Stephanie sighed. "Alright, then." She left, more and more questions popping up in her head that weren't to be asked.

I only have one thing to say:

I LIKE "LORD OF THE FLIES". DDDD:

Regards, Noodle

Firstly, I would like to say that I, as well, hate "Lord of the Flies". Second, I only edited this chapter, Noodle wrote all of it. Yes. I know that I have been a bad author, and I haven't written as much as Noodle. But I will!

In the next chapter.

-Frogerita