Chapter Fifteen
(Hey, y'all. I'm back from the athletics trip. I'm really sorry that I couldn't get this story done on October 31st. Due to school, athletics, staying up really late and falling asleep while writing the chapters, this story will still be titled The Birchwood Twin(s): Halloween Special but add in a "Late" with a parenthesis after 'Twin(s)'.
Depending on you, fans, reviewers, guests, and readers, I might write a Thanksgiving special of The Birchwood Twin(s) but if you have any ideas or suggestions, just PM me or type in your ideas in the comments section and I could think of something. Make sure that the ideas are rated G, PG, or PG-13 and no rated R or anything higher than that.
I'll probably begin on adding cameos in my stories for now on…maybe.
Good news for you, the readers!
Coming up next in The Birchwood Twin(s) series:
The Birchwood Twins, the Toon Patrol, other Disney characters and a couple of characters from Dr. Seuss's stories star together in one of history's most famous films, The Wizard of Oz. Beatrice begins another new adventure that tries to teach her a powerful lesson that the world needs to know. This is sort of a story in the 'cross-over' section of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and it is actually my first cross-over. I'm going to give the new story a shot and it's also a semi-Thanksgiving special.
That's all I wanted to say.
-imaginarytoon1)
Beatrice:
I waited until the campfire completely died down, which took a little while longer than I expected. The smell made my eyes droop and I nearly fell asleep. Right now, it's almost completely dark. The moon was full and it was pretty bright but not bright enough for me to see the ground below me.
Without the flashlight, I can't go down or leap on to the thick branch in front of me. If I immediately start looking for another place to hide, then I won't know what's going to come after me or where the weasels will pop out and take me back to the house of William T. Gallagher. I even wish that my vision won't be so blurry when I'm looking at something that's far away. That's a sign that I'm nearsighted and I need glasses and I don't know how I will remain a tomboy if I get glasses.
Anyway, I decided to climb up to the top of the tree and take a look around of the surroundings of the environment. But right now, I can't do that because my left foot has fallen asleep and I don't want to fall.
I started to swing my left foot and started to spin it around a little. The numbness goes away but the tingling comes back and I feel like I just got bit by a bunch of fire ants. Gently, I lifted up my foot and I started to smack the sole of my shoe, causing the tingling feeling to go away.
Carefully, I stood on the branch and began to climb up to the top. The moon looks like it's coming closer and closer as I climb up. As I continued to climb, the tree starts to go from very thick to slightly skinny.
I made it to the top of the tree and I got a very good view of everything that was below me despite of the far-away things looking like blurs. On my left, I saw smoke sprouting out of one area of the woods and I knew that it was Gallagher's house. When I looked at the area on the edge of the woods, I saw a bunch of suburban houses with a lot of lights shining through the windows. I looked up to the sky and the full moon looked beautiful. Even the evening star was present. On my right, I saw a huge rocky hillside that almost looked like it was a chunk of the Grand Canyon. That looks like a good hiding place and that's where I am going to a loop-de-loop on the weasels and look for that tennis ball.
I carefully began to climb back down to the branch and I stood on it as I made it back.
"Good evenin', chere. Nice night, innit?" A voice with a strong Louisianan accent asked me.
I looked around and on my right, I saw a bright, round, yellow light.
It's just a firefly. I thought. Fireflies don't talk.
But then I realized that I was talking to a toon firefly and he looked very familiar.
"Actually, I was just looking at my surroundings…uh, what's-?" I began.
" 'Bout time I introduce myself." The firefly said with a big smile. "My name RAYMOND…" He flies in front of me and with a trail of light, he writes his name. "…but everybody call me 'Ray'." The last four letters of the name dissolved before my eyes and 'Ray' remains. "So why you up in this tree, chere?"
"Well, Ray, it's kind of a long story." I said.
"I don't mind long stories."
"It kind of begins like this: I am a part of this challenge and I was told to hit a tennis ball in the woods and go out and look for it. Everything began to stop working out smoothly because I'm constantly trying to not get caught by these weasels, who are one of the main reasons why I'm stuck on this branch. Right now, I'm about to leap on to that branch that's in front of me and get away from the weasels-"
"But the problem is that you can't see what's in front of you." Ray finished.
"Yes, exactly."
"Don't worry, chere. Evangeline and I will help you see."
Now I knew who he was! I saw him in a movie a couple of years ago! But I continued to act like I don't know Ray.
"Who's Evangeline, Ray?" I asked.
Ray gasped in joy and he flew up to the sky.
"There she is! The sweetest firefly who is glowing right up there in front of you." Ray said.
I looked at the evening star.
"Is that her right there?" I asked and pointed at the evening star.
"Uh huh. We're gonna give you hand, chere!" Ray said and turned to the evening star…er, Evangeline. "Darlin', let's help this girl right here-uh!"
"How are you going to-?"
Then, all of the sudden, Evangeline…dropped herself from the sky and transformed into one of those old-fashioned hanging oil lanterns with a bright, white light. Evangeline floats in front of me and I looked at her with amazement.
"Wow." I whispered.
"Now, where do you have to go, chere?" Ray asked.
"That rocky hillside…over there underneath the moon."
"Follow Evangeline and she'll show you the way!"
The light was so bright that it looked like day time in the woods. As soon as Evangeline floated towards the branch that I needed to leap on, I went right on ahead and jumped towards the branch like a frog hopping from one lily pad to another. While I leaped and climbed on other thick branches, Ray followed me and Evangeline. I have a feeling that my plan was going to work out fine.
"Hey, chere! What does a tennis ball look like?" Ray asked me as I climbed on another branch.
"It's small, round, and is bright green in color. It also has…'Wilson' written on the ball in black." I replied. "It's like a rock but really, really light and really, really, really round."
"I'm going to go look for that ball while Evangeline lead you to safety!"
"And while you're looking for the tennis ball, Ray, watch out for the weasels and don't let them take the tennis ball!"
"Got it!"
Ray flew away and disappeared into the woods. I hope that the weasels don't catch him. I don't want to lose my new ally.
Evangeline led me to the ground and I carefully climbed down one of the trees that leaped on to.
"Evangeline, make sure that you're not too bright. I don't want the weasels to see me." I said as my feet touched the ground.
Evangeline turned down her light a little bit.
"Thanks." I said.
Then I followed Evangeline to the hill. I know that we're getting really close to it because I notice that my footsteps were slowly not sounding like they're stepping on leaves. I heard small shuffling noises as I walked.
I even noticed that I was walking uphill and I carefully climbed up the slippery slopes of the hill.
Eventually, things began to change. Night time was about to turn into dusk, slopes transformed into a trail, and Evangeline transforms back in to a star and goes back up to the sky.
"Thanks, Evangeline." I said.
Then, Ray whistled to get my attention. I turned to him and I saw that he found the tennis ball! Man, that was really fast.
"Is this it, chere?" Ray asked.
"This is it, Ray!" I replied.
He tossed the tennis ball to me and I caught it.
"Thanks, Ray!" I said.
"You're welcome!"
This is it! I'm going to pass the challenge!
"In case if you need me, whistle, chere!" Ray exclaimed to me.
I gave Ray a quick demonstration of my whistle and asked, "Like that?"
"Yeah, like that!" He replied and as he began to fly away, Ray said, "Evangeline and I would watchin' and listenin'!"
"I'll keep that in mind!" I replied.
Now that there was a little bit lighter in the dusk hour, I can kind of see more of my new surroundings. The big rocks that make the trail look like the Grand Canyon were a rust-like color and the chipped bits and whole shapes of rocks were a lighter brown in color. Even the dirt had the big rocks' rust-like color. Dried bushes, green cacti, and prairie grass were the plants of the rocky hillside. The view of the woods, from where I'm standing, made me feel and act like I was an ant crawling through a shag carpet.
I walked through the trail without ever thinking about where I'm heading off to. There were many left and right turns and a few ups and downs. I felt like I was walking around in circles.
After an approximate thirty minutes felt like eternity, I found a mud pit that had the same color as the sand and the big rocks and a dried, dead bush with long roots was lying right beside it.
The mud pit and the bush just gave an idea that could make the Toon Patrol lose track of me.
If I was going to pass the Toon Patrol, then I would have to think like a hunter, a chameleon, and Peeta Mellark. I thought. When a hunter becomes the predator, he follows his prey with quick and quiet feet. If a chameleon and Peeta wanted to slip away or hide, like prey, they have the ability to blend in to their surroundings. Peeta, however, isn't a giant lizard with big eyes so he uses his artistic abilities and natural things in the woods to help him hide. Even though I have the tennis ball, I think that it'll be better to meet the Toon Patrol at Gallagher's house.
I began to work on my plan.
Before I stepped into the mud, I grabbed a big stick from beside the dead bush and started to stick it into the mud pit. I'm only doing that so that I won't have to interact with a rattlesnake (because rattlesnakes are really testy when it comes across their predators. Despite of me not being afraid of snakes, I still have to be careful when I'm around them.).
After a thorough stir and a few more poking rounds, I figured that I should be good to go. I took my survival knife out of my pocket and set it close to the bush, along with the tennis ball. I slipped the duct tape off my arm and placed it right next to the knife.
I was actually looking forward to rolling around in that mud pit since I had an idea. I haven't rolled around in mud in a really long time. The last time I rolled around in the mud was when my dad took me and Tommy to the deepest part of the woods, not where Gallagher lived, and rolled around in the mud to prevent mosquitos and sunburns. At first, I wasn't sure if rolling around in the mud would help people (because I think that it only worked for pigs and even as a little kid, I thought too much) but I enjoyed it. Ever since then, I enjoyed mud.
Anyway, I carefully but quickly stepped in the mud. The coolness from the mud made goose bumps run up to my spine. Immediately, I dove in to the mud. It felt good on my face and on my body. I mean, this may sound really unusual but I feel really refreshed after dunking myself in the mud.
But sadly, I can't get too comfortable and I need to stick with my plan. I rolled around in the mud at least four more times to make sure that I'm almost completely covered with mud. Then, I got out of the mud pit.
I placed my left arm on a big rock that was on the left side of the bush. The mud was the right color of the rock but my mud-covered arm had the wrong texture.
With the help of the sand, I rolled around the dirt a couple of times and covered my face with dried grass.
I dug a small, wide, and deep hole that can hold a can of soda. I grabbed my survival knife and began to cut off the excess amount of roots of the bush. Thinking that the roots would be useful, I put them in a pile.
I put my dust-and-mud-covered arm on the rock.
"Yes, that's perfect!" I whispered. "But what should I do with the roots?"
I heard a rock fall down and a branch snapping.
"I say that we should go *cough, cough!* this way!" Wheezy exclaimed.
Thinking quickly, I put the bottom of the bush in the hole and filled it up with dirt. I threw the roots in the mud pit and I lied down in front of the bush…not before concealing the knife into the dirt and hid the roll of tape in my shirt, along with the tennis ball. I took a couple of deep breaths and lied still.
The Toon Patrol entered my hiding place and they don't see me. Smarty looked really angry and Greasy looked kind of calm.
"Where could Birchwood be?!" Smarty exclaimed. "She managed to get off the tree branch and 'clipped' away without us noticing! How long is she going to keep this up?"
"I don't know, Boss." Greasy said. "Maybe she's too good."
"I have to agree with Greasy on this one." Slimy said.
"But Birchwood's a human girl! Human girls can't think like Toons!" Smarty yelled and he sat down. He was really close to the edge of the trail (where there's nothing but big rocks and grass running downhill. It looked like a good place for a rockslide to take place) and the other weasels sat down beside him, lining up as they sat down. Greasy, along with Stupid, Slimy, and Psycho, sat on Smarty's left side while Wheezy and Flasher sat on the right.
"Boss, listen." Flasher said. "There are some humans who think like Toons and Birchwood isn't the only one."
Smarty looked at Flasher and took the time to think over on what he said.
"You're right, Flasher." Smarty said. "I should've remembered that. We should even remember that some Toons think like humans."
"Yeah, you're right." The other weasels agreed.
"And Greasy?"
"Si, Boss?" Greasy asked.
"I want you to be 'prayerful' on what you're saying in front of Birchwood." Smarty said.
"What do you mean by that? I didn't say any swear words."
"That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying that if you say what you found in Birchwood's mind, then she'll start getting ideas and take 'cavantage' of them. If Birchwood thought of…for 'es-capel'…a thunderstorm…"
All of the sudden, a rumbling noise is heard and I hear thunder.
"…then Birchwood would continue to think of more ideas that'll 'pre-bendt' us from making her SLEEPWALK to Toon Town."
Sleepwalk? I thought.
"Uh, Boss? How does the plan work again?" Stupid asked.
"Wheezy'll explain it to you." Smarty said after exclaiming in frustration.
"Remember after we *cough, cough, cough!* got out of jail and bought two amulets from the Evil Queen, the scary old lady from Snow White, and looked all over Los Angeles for Birchwood *cough, cough!* and her brother?" Wheezy asked.
"Duh, I guess." Stupid said. "But what are the amulets for again?"
"These amulets are used to enter a person's mind and see what they're thinking and dreaming." Flasher said. "Boss told me and Slimy that the amulets allow us to look through a person's memories, control their dreams and even have them under our control. So Boss decided to take advantage of the power of the amulets and even tore out a page from the Evil Queen's spell book. He found a spell, a TELEPORTATION spell, which allows him and even a group of friends to move to another place without having to walk or drive."
Okay, this is getting interesting. I thought. They bought two magical amulets and a teleportation spell. The amulets give the owner the power to enter someone's mind.
"And Stupid," Greasy said, "the plan was to go inside of muchacha's mind and make her think that everything is all a dream right now but we're really making her sleepwalk to Toon Town."
"As long as Birchwood thinks that everything that's happening right now is a part of real life, then we'll have her and her brother in Toon Town in no time. Well, we'll bring in Birchwood first and then, we'll bring in her brother." Wheezy said. "And when we do, we'll show them the pain and torture that we had to face in jail and when we tried to cope with the death of Doom."
The Toon Patrol is making me sleepwalk to Toon Town and they want me to feel their pain. I thought.
"Birchwood's cousin isn't really kidnapped." Smarty said.
What?! I thought.
"Yeah, Stupid. We just made a clone of Birchwood's cousin so that she has something to forward to for some time." Wheezy said.
After all this time, I've been worried about a Lexi duplicate. I thought. Who cares about that? She's still my cousin!
While I watched the Toon Patrol carefully, I slowly began to get back on my feet. I picked up the knife, roll of duct tape, and tennis ball and stood still for a moment. Not a single weasel turned their head towards me.
Quickly, Beatrice! I thought. Run and hide!
After one last quick glance at the weasels, I threw the roll of duct tape on Smarty's right side to create a distraction. All weasels looked to their right and I took off running.
….
Greasy:
I turned my head to my right and I saw a round black thing roll down the hill. Then, I heard another noise, like someone was running. I looked to my left and it was…muchacha! She was completely covered with mud and grass and I don't know why she's covered in those things.
I guess I should've kept my mouth shut when Boss heard me whisper "MUCHACHA" because he spotted her, too.
Right now, muchacha is running down the hill with her careful and quick feet. Then after running down a few feet, she tripped and rolled down the hill. I was so worried that she was going to hurt herself.
"Greasy, give me the binoculars!" Boss exclaimed.
I reached into my coat and handed Boss my only pair of binoculars.
"Birchwood's still falling…still falling….and now…she's at the bottom of the hill and is…beginning to run in the 'hoods'." Boss said.
Oh, thank goodness! I thought.
"She's not going to make out of the 'hoods'." Boss chuckled.
I turned to him.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
…
Beatrice:
All of the sudden, something wraps around my left ankle and everything was upside down. The tennis ball drops out of my hand but the survival knife remains in my pocket.
I looked at my ankle and I found a rope around it. Smarty must've set a trap so that he would take me back to Gallagher's house without the tennis ball in my pocket.
After realizing that, I thought that I heard Smarty laughing in his own victory. But realizing that I still have my knife, I quickly began to cut the rope. While cutting it, I grabbed on to the rope with my free hand so that I won't hurt myself from falling from a five-foot drop.
Then, I heard the rope snap and the lower half of my body is back to where it originally was before getting hung up by a rope. I released the rope and landed on my feet.
I grabbed the tennis ball from the ground and began to climb on to a nearby tree.
….
Greasy:
Muchacha just keeps getting better and better every time she gets in to a dangerous situation.
She really needs to stop putting herself in a situation that could get her injured or killed. Muchacha means a lot to me and I don't want anything bad happening to her.
I looked at Boss and he nearly slammed my binoculars on the ground. Then, he stopped and looked at Wheezy.
"Do you still have your gun, Wheezy?" Boss asked.
Wheezy grabbed his gun out of thin air and aimed it at the top of the trees.
…..
Beatrice:
I thought that I was going to get killed when I heard Wheezy firing his tommy gun. As I continued to climb up, I watched Wheezy aim his gun at the rocks below him and the other weasels.
All of the sudden, the gunfire stops and all is silent.
I wondered what the Toon Patrol is thinking about right now.
I heard the leaves rustling and I felt the tree shaking. I looked down at the ground and I barely saw the things on the ground…shaking and bouncing up and down a little bit. I looked back at the rocky hillside and big rocks were rolling down the hill, creating both a rock and land slide.
Immediately, I leaped off the tree and began to run, avoiding rocks as the fly over my head and trees that fall down like a disease hit them and they all fall down like a line of dominos.
I guess Smarty is trying to prevent me from going to Gallagher's house. He probably told Wheezy to shoot at the rocks to create a rockslide and not go easy on the game for me.
My right foot gets caught into something and I tripped. I quickly get back on my feet and try to find my way back to the river.
I know it's around here somewhere! I know that I'm getting close to it! I thought.
Then, I stopped a pile of chopped up piano bits. I knew that I'm almost to the house. All I need to do is cross the river, wash off the mud and grass, and stop at the Smarty from trying to chase me. But I need to catch my breath first.
As I took several deep breaths, the rockslide stops and I heard the Toon Patrol coming towards me. I jumped into the river and began to swim upstream.
The current was running harder and harder and the mud slowly washes away and the grass comes off of my face. I swam with all my might, even with the current trying to push me back.
I dove under the water after I heard the Toon Patrol coming. Their colorful shapes act like a Jell-O and the outline wiggle like worms. While still trying to swim upstream, I watch Smarty walk over to the edge and stick his finger in the water. Just as he was about to take his finger out, I thought I saw his finger sparkle like blue glitter.
After coming up the surface for air, I saw one part of the water getting…frozen! I went back into the water and tried to swim upstream. Then, I noticed that the bottom of the river was going down in to the ground, making it deeper and deeper.
I dropped my tennis ball and it floats up. I grabbed on to it and the freezing surface of the water was getting thicker and thicker. I looked like I was in one of those instant-freeze water bottles (when you store a bottle of water in a room with a low temperature and after shaking it up, the water begins to freeze.) because the river is magically freezing up.
I hit my hand on the ice and it didn't make a crack. I hit it again but still no crack or dent. I was under thick ice and I really need to be breathe but I can't. I'm stuck at the bottom. My lungs felt like they wanted to explode but I can't get to the surface and take a deep breath. Still, I got to try to make an opening so that I can stick my hand out and breathe. I began to hit the ice with the last bit of strength that I have.
Finally, after several rounds of banging on the ice, my whole body went numb and I exhaled, letting out the last bit of air that I had in my lungs. My world went black as I floated in the water.
…
Greasy:
"We got her! We got her!" Boss exclaimed and danced all around.
I watched in horror as muchacha struggled to get out of the water and didn't come up to breathe. This can't happen! She needs to be alive!
"Boss, should we get the muchacha out of the water?" I asked.
"If you want to get her out, then it's your job to get Birchwood out." Smarty said.
Then, all of the other weasels, except Psycho, left the area and headed towards the house.
"C'mon, Psycho! We don't have a lot of time! We have to get the muchacha out of the water!" I exclaimed.
"Help PRETTY GIRLY! HELP PRETTY GIRLY!" Psycho exclaimed with worry.
With a rock, I threw it down on the frozen river. Immediately, it cracked open and I saw muchacha floating in the water with her eyes closed and didn't look like she was breathing.
I took off my green coat and ran down to the river. I grabbed ahold of muchacha's arm and pulled her out of the water. While I listened for any signs of breathing, Psycho brought my coat over to me and I wrapped the muchacha with it.
"Is she dead?" Psycho asked.
"No, she won't be." I replied.
I checked for any signs of breathing one last time and I opened muchacha's mouth and I held her nose shut.
….
Beatrice:
As I hear Diem Ex Dei playing in my head, I find myself on a dried beach. No ocean in sight, obviously. The clouds were dark with orange and purple. I looked at them and wondered what's going on.
The Earth began to shake violently, as if there were an earthquake. Rocks were falling off a cliff and landed on the sand.
I looked to my right and to my horror; a mega-tsunami was heading in my directions. I was so frightened that I couldn't move. I'm frozen.
Then, someone pulls my hand.
I looked to my left and I saw Roger Rabbit and Tommy. Roger began to lead me and Tommy to the cliff so that we can get to safety. I immediately agreed to the idea of following them and I began to run.
All of the sudden, a loud screeching sound is heard as the mega-tsunami came closer and closer to me, Roger, and Tommy. I looked to the sky and I saw a giant bird with Judge Doom's head. I tried to run as fast I can but the Judge Doom Bird grabbed ahold of me and carried me away from Roger and Tommy.
The Judge Doom Bird, with lightning speed, flew over the mega-tsunami and I heard thunder rumbling in the sky.
Then, I saw lightning flashing in the sky. One of the lightning bolts struck me on my back and I am dropped in to the ocean. I was shocked one last time, with my life flashing before my eyes, and I landed in the ocean.
As everything was fading to darkness, I float around in the water without having the idea to swim out of the water.