"Whew!"
The lanky young woman, garbed appropriately in a pair of shorts, T-shirt, and running shoes, gasped as she jogged into the front yard of the large mansion that loomed over the rest of the neighborhood. After finally grounding to a halt, the redhead paused for a few moments to catch her breath, wiped the sweat from her brow, and then started to do a few quick stretches lest she accidentally pulled a muscle.
"Hello, dear!" a tiny old woman greeted from beneath the massive sun hat that nearly dwarfed her as she kneeled in the middle of one of the flowerbeds.
"Hey, Grandma!" Frances "Frankie" Foster replied with a grin as she jogged over. "How're you?"
"Oh fine, just taking care of some pesky weeds in here." Madame Foster answered. "How'd the run go?"
"Pretty good." Her granddaughter said as she promptly resumed her stretching.
"I'll say; seems like you're spending more time jogging around the neighborhood every week." Remarked the old woman as she broke out into a smile.
"Well, it's kinda relaxing to be honest." Frankie explained. "Plus, it's pretty good exercise…or at least I like it better than then exercise I get here."
"Think you'll be ready when the next Olympics roll around, little Miss Star Athlete?" Madame Foster teased as she dug up yet another weed and added it to the growing pile by her side.
Frankie rolled her eyes. "I said I like doing it, I didn't say I plan on going pro. Though…"
After a pause, she confessed, "I haven't made up my mind yet, but…well, I've been thinking about doing the local annual Fun-Run later this month, but…"
"Oh, the one sponsored by St. Mary's Parish? Oh, that sound's exciting! So, what's stopping you, then? Just a nice little race, and it's only ten dollars to sign up for-"
"No, it's no that." Frankie clarified. "You need to run about ten miles for that race, and…well, I dunno, I only run two or three times a week, usually, and I do about…I dunno, five miles tops, sometimes…"
"Oh, c'mon, dearie." Madame Foster encouraged warmly as she put down her trowel. "Surely you can handle a couple extra miles."
"Maybe…but it's not like this is super important to me or anything." The young woman reminded. "All I said was that I was thinking of doing it, and-"
"Well, I wouldn't doubt if you had it in you." Her grandmother continued to generously heap on the encouragement.
"Thanks, Grandma, but-"
"How about this?" Madame Foster suddenly offered. "How about I help you try and get into a little bit of better shape, and then in a week or two, we'll see if you're up for that ten-miler. Hmmm?"
"Some help?" Frankie mulled over the proposition for a moment. "I…hmmm…I guess I really don't have anything to lose…sure, why not?"
"That's the spirit!" Madame Foster laughed. "Now, how about you head on inside, get yourself cleaned up, and maybe we'll talk this over later at dinner, okay?"
"Okay!" the young woman trotted up the porch stairs. Thanks, Grandma!"
"Oh, anytime, dearie…" the old woman chuckled. "Anytime.."
Pweeeeeerrrrrr!
In an instant the shrill clamor had roused the slumbering caretaker out of a deep sleep. Startled out of her wits for the ear-piercing racket and not having a clue what was going on, Frankie flailed about in a total panic for a few moments.
"AUGH!"
THUD.
With a wail the caretaker tumbled out of her bed and onto the floor. As she lay there in an utter daze and hopelessly tangled in her bed sheets, Frankie hastily tried to recollect herself. Unfortunately, just a moment later her eardrums yet again found themselves assaulted by an unbearable, high-pitched clamor as someone blew a whistle only inches away from her face.
Pweeeeeerrrrrr!
"Rise and shine, dearie!" Madame Foster enthusiastically greeted her horrifically confused granddaughter with a warm grin. Frankie just stared back blankly, wide-eyed in disbelief.
"…Huh? Grandma, what are you-"
Pweeeeeerrrrrr!
The elderly woman gave her whistle another sharp blast, to which the redhead winced involuntarily.
"C'mon, don't want the day to slip away from us, do we? Do you want to get in shape, or not?"
"I-"
"C'mon, c'mon! Let's go! Let's go! Time to get dressed and out the door! C'mon, Frankie dear!" Madame Foster urged all too cheerily as she prodded her grandchild sharply with her cane.
"Ow! Ow! Grandma, quit it! Ow! Okay, I'm getting-ow! Hey, I said that I was-ow! I only-ow! Okay, I'm getting up! Hold on! Just lay off for a second!"
In literally just a matter of minutes, to the resident caretaker's own genuine surprise, she found herself standing out upon the front lawn and changed into some shorts, a T-shirt, and her running shoes. As ready as she looked however, Frankie hardly felt prepared for whatever her grandmother had in mind at all, neither physically nor mentally. She wasn't exactly sure what God-forsaken hour she had been brutally awoken at, but if the fact that the sun was only beginning to rise was any indicator, it was far too early.
As her eyelids drooped dangerously low, all she could think about was how wonderful it would be to back in bed and lying snuggled under her covers. All the while her grandmother, dressed in grey sweats, hobbled about back and forth like a wizened drill sergeant.
"Nothing like starting anything at the crack of dawn to help one feel alive, nosiree!" Madame Foster stated joyously. Frankie just groaned as she failed to stifle a gaping yawn.
"Do we have to do it this early?" she whined shamelessly. "I usually go for a run in the afternoon, not-"
"You bet your sweet patootie we have to do it this early! You can't get in top physical condition lazing around like a fat old slug, can you?" the old woman chuckled. "Of course not! What you have to do is seize the day by the throat, and throttle the daylights out of it until it's begging for mercy!"
"Excuse me?" Frankie grunted at the overly graphic metaphor. Her grandparent just grinned sweetly.
"You wanted me to help you get ready for that race, don't you?" she asked.
"I…I didn't think that I'd get my own personal trainer." The bewildered young woman confessed between yawns. "I just thought I'd get some tips for how to-"
"Well, I can either tell you to stay hydrated and always look both ways before running across a street, or I can really help get you into peak condition for-"
"But-"
"Has a Foster even gotten anywhere by asking a load of silly questions? Nope, and neither are you! Time to stop lollygagging around and get in shape!"
"But Grandma," her still dozy grandchild whined piteously. "I don't want to-"
"Now, drop down and give me thirty!" Madame Foster barked, earning her a blank stare.
"Huh? But -"
"I said drop down!" the old woman suddenly distorted her expression into a hideous snarl for the briefest of moments, as that was all that was necessary. Frightened into action, Frankie immediately hit the ground and furiously began doing push-ups, making sure to count each and every one.
"One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…ten…eleven…twelve…thirteen…fourteen…fifteen…sixteen…seventeen…eighteen…nineteen…"
Before she reached twenty though, it was about then that the young woman seemed to fully wake up and thus actually become aware of what she was doing. Abruptly she paused, thought hard about her predicament for a moment, then immediately started clambering back to her feet.
"Grandma, what the heck is going on? This is only for a fun-run, it's not like I'm training for the Olympics or…wait, huh?"
To her astonishment, her grandmother had appeared to vanish completely into thin air, leaving her all alone on the front lawn. Thoroughly befuddled, the redhead started looking around for any sign of the old woman. "Grandma? Grandma where'd you-"
"Get ready, dearie!" a familiar voice suddenly cried out excitedly from behind, followed by what sounded like a muffled motorcycle. Frankie whirled about just in time to spot Madame Foster barreling down upon her atop a Segway scooter
"Huh? Hey, what are you-OW!"
Without warning, the old woman sped up the odd, two-wheeled contraption and bumped it right into her unsuspecting granddaughter, who immediately stumbled back a few paces with a yelp of pain.
"GRANDMA!" Frankie shrieked in disbelief as she hobbled to safety. "What was that all a-"
"Here I come again, dearie!" Madame Foster warned enthusiastically as she backed up a little and then went full speed ahead once more. "Get ready!"
"Wait, are you going to-OW!" the young woman cried out and leapt away once more. "Quit it! What're you-"
"Oooh, you'll have to be much quicker than that!" Madame Foster laughed as she backed up a little again, as if it was all just one big twisted game. "You ready?"
"What? No, I'm not-OW! OW! Grandma, st-OW! I'm not a bumper car-OW! Knock it-OW! OW!"
As she kept reversing and bumming her personal transportation device into the caretaker over and over, the elderly little woman cried out, "C'mon dear, only one way to get out of this! Let's go! Let's go! Move those crazy legs! C'mon, let's go!"
Frankie needed no second bidding, and in a heartbeat she was off like a shot. To her panic though, the nightmare was far from over, for no sooner had she sprinted off, her grandmother immediately followed in hot pursuit.
"That's it, Frankie!" Madame Foster encouraged warmly as the two zipped down the front walk, out the main gates and along the sidewalk. "Nice deep breaths! Pump those arms a little harder! C'mon, c'mon!"
"Are you crazy?" Frankie screamed as she ran for her life, managing to keep a precious several-foot lead ahead of her trainer. "Grandma, stop! Stop! STOP! Grandmaaaaaa!"
"What the…?" Mac couldn't help but exclaim in puzzlement as he and his pigtailed friend trotted up the walkway and onto the front porch of the towering Victorian mansion, only to run smack into a bewildering spectacle.
"H-hey, guys…" Frankie managed to murmur with a weak excuse for a smile as she lay propped up against the house in the shade, with her face as red as a beet, her hair askew, and her entire body practically drenched. Once one took all this into consideration, plus the bags of ice lying atop her knees, to say it didn't take long for the children to figure out something was amiss.
"Holy moley baloney Frankie, what in the whole wide entire world happened to you?" Goo asked as she scampered over to the exhausted young woman's side. "Look at you! You're all like, wet, and warm and scarlet and stuff! I mean, seriously! Didn't anyone teach you to take off all your clothes before you jumped into a hot bath? And just what the heck was the temperature of that water, super-mega-ultra-scalding? Look, you burned your knees and everything-"
"Uh, Goo?" Mac tried to interrupt her river of chatter. "I don't think Frankie was in the-"
"Hot bath, hot shower, it doesn't matter!" the little girl jabbered as she squatted down and felt the sleeve of the young woman's shirt. "I just don't get it! Why didn't you take off your-"
"I just finished my work-out for the day." The redhead explained bluntly. As soon as the child realized that the redhead was coated in a layer of warm sweat, immediately she tore her hands away with a shrill squeal of disgust.
"Ewwww! Gross! That's gross! So gross!" Goo gagged as she leapt back a foot or so, just as a gangly crimson figment suddenly emerged from the house with a water bottle in hand.
"Sorry it took me so long! I'm sorry!" Wilt apologized, as expected. With only a nod of gratitude, Frankie took the bottle and almost emptied the entire thing in just a few gulps, leaving just a little bit to dump over her face to try and cool down.
"Frankie, what'd you do?" Mac demanded as he concernedly checked her over. "You're never like this after you go for a run!"
"But see…well, usually, she doesn't have Madame Foster helping her." Wilt explained with a grimace.
"Wait, what?" the boy asked as he looked to his guardian for clarification.
Instead of any answers though, Frankie just stared at him like a sick dog and groaned, "Somebody....please kill me...."
"You want what?" Goo yelped incredulously as her almond-brown eyes bugged to the size of saucers in disbelief at what she was hearing.
"I'm sorry, she doesn't mean it!" Wilt quickly sputtered. "She's said it a couple times already to some others, she's just really tired, that's all-"
"Oh, no way am I doing it for dramatic effect!" the bone-weary redhead moaned. "Anything would be better than another stupid Segway-workout!"
"Segway-what now?" Mac inquired curiously before his guardian yanked him close and continued ranting.
"You think she'd be satisfied chasing me down like some wild animal just once today, but no-ooo! Twice more today, pal, twice more she's made me drop everything, get changed just so she could trail me for two or three miles! I don't care if it keeps me on my toes or not like she said, it's absolutely crazy if you ask me! It's just insane!"
With this, she banged the back of her head against the house and gazed heavenwards. "Oh, someone just please put me out of my misery now."
"Madame Foster's been chasing you around and around?" Goo cried. "You mean, like a lion running after an antelope or a jaguar chasing a tapir or a wolf running after a-"
"All in the name of getting in shape." Frankie groaned unhappily. "Oh God, I never should've shown any interest stupid race, I should've never-"
"The one you were talking about yesterday? Well, then tell her you want ou.!" Mac advised.
"Already plan on it." She replied. "Believe me, if you think I'm going through anything like this again, you have to be-"
"Okay, Frankie! I think this'll do just the trick!" a small azure blob announced as he suddenly plodded out onto the porch and abruptly interrupted the conversation.
"Huh?" Frankie grunted as she turned her head. "Wait, what're you-AUGH!"
A hoarse scream erupted from her throat once she saw the little figment heft a croquet mallet high and swing with everything he had. Luckily for her she wasn't the only one who noticed this, and after grabbing hold of her shoulders, Mac managed to barely pull her out of harm's way. As the mallet only hit air, Goo hastily nabbed hold of it and pulled it out of the blob's grasp, effectively disarming him before Wilt hefted him high off the ground.
"BLOO!" Frankie shrieked angrily as Mac propped her up against the house once more. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
Despite everyone's plain dismay, the imaginary friend just stared at them incredulously before tossing his blobby stubs up in the air with a sigh of exasperation. "All you do is yell at me for not listening to you, and the one time I do as you ask, you still yell at me? Jeez, there's no pleasing you …"
"Hmmm…how strange…" The old woman mused aloud as she wrestled with her grandchild's bedroom door.
For starters, she had arisen early that morning and hobbled down a floor or two to find Frankie's door locked shut, a rarity in of itself. What was at least three times as puzzling though was that try as she might with her own private set of house keys, the door remained just as obstinately closed as before, no mater how many times she swore that she had manually unlocked it.
"Huh…" Madame Foster murmured as she turned the key again and tried to turn the knob, only to find that the door wouldn't budge open one bit. "Why on earth-"
"Don't even think about it!" a defiant cry rang out from inside the room, to the elderly woman's total surprise.
"Frankie?" Madame Foster asked as she pushed upon the door. "Frankie, wait…dearie, I think something's wrong with your lock-"
"Nothing's wrong with it, I'm holding it shut!" Frankie snarled, befuddling her grandmother even further.
"What?" she inquired gently. "Dear, why in the world are you-"
"If you think you're going to force me out of bed at the crack of dawn just to try and run me over, then forget it! My legs still feel like jelly from yesterday! I don't care what you say, I'm not going through another death-workout for a stupid ten-mile race, all right? It's a fun-run, not the Olympics! I'm not going through with this again, Grandma! I'm not! I'm not! I'm not!"
"…You mean you're still worn-out from yesterday?" Madame Foster asked a few moments later.
"Yes!!" her granddaughter barked. "After what you put me through, I-"
"Dearie, if you're still beat, then of course we can take a break from today!" the old woman immediately conceded without any fuss. For a moment or two, all she heard was dead silence from the other side of the door.
"…We can?" Frankie asked warily, unable to believe she had achieved victory so quickly.
"Well, sure!" Madame Foster confirmed sweetly. "I mean, I already guessed you might still be pooped. If you want today off from training, then that's just fine! Besides, that's not what I came down here for."
At this point, Frankie actually cracked her door open and cautiously peered out. "….It's not?"
"We still need to take the bus in to the mechanic's for a tune-up, right?" her grandmother inquired.
"Oh…oh, yeah…" Frankie affirmed. "We are supposed to do that today, aren't we?"
"That's what my calendar says! So we'll take it in right after breakfast?"
"Uh…sure…" the dumbfounded caretaker replied. "Yeah…and…you think maybe later on today, we can…um…y'know, talk about my…uh…my 'training' for…"
"Not a problem at all, dearie! Not a problem!" Madame Foster said cheerily with a fat grin before hobbling off and leaving her stunned grandchild behind. "See you downstairs!"
"Um…" Frankie mumbled, still trying to fathom how fantastically easy that had been. "Yeah…you too, Grandma…"
"…Oh c'mon, what was I supposed to do?" the azure figment whined to the redhead as she removed a bundle of sheets from one of the many dryers that lined the walls of the laundry room.
Frankie rolled her eyes. "Maybe not try and club me?"
"Hey, you said straight to my face when I found you lying outside, 'Put me out of my misery.' Don't deny it!" Bloo accused stubbornly.
"I was just tired and being overdramatic! I wasn't asking you to actually murder me!" she snapped. "Don't you ever think these things over?"
"Well, duh! Of course I knew that! I was only going to knock you out cold! Y'know, so you wouldn't have to deal with how miserable you were-"
"Why would I actually be serious about that?" Frankie replied as she hefted a loaded laundry basket.
"I just thought that-"
"No, Bloo." She said flatly.
"But I-"
"I said no." she gladly repeated as she trotted out into the hall. Thoroughly frustrated, Bloo groaned and went his separate way, unable to take it anymore.
"Gah! You and your stupid mixed messages…." He mumbled sourly as he sauntered off, leaving the resident caretaker alone to tend to her daily duties without any distractions.
...For a grand total of ten seconds.
"What the…" Frankie murmured curiously to herself as she dug her cell phone from her sweater pocket and answered. "Hello?"
Immediately she heard someone gasping for breath through the receiver, followed by a hoarse, but still extraordinarily familiar voice. "Frankie?"
"Grandma?" Frankie replied curiously.
"Dear, quick! You need to-"
"Whoa, whoa! Grandma, what's wrong? I thought that you were out running errands right now-"
"I was, I was! It's just…I was passing by it, and…Frankie, please, you need to get here quick, I don't know-"
"Huh? Get where? Grandma, the bus is still at the shop right now, how can I-"
"The school, Frankie! The elementary school!" came one more cry, and with that her grandmother abruptly hung up.
"G-Grandma?" Frankie whispered anxiously as she tried to absorb Madame Foster's muddled, cryptic message. What was going on? Why on earth would she need to get to the school as soon as possible? Why did it concern her at all? It wasn't like-
"MAC!" the young woman let out a shrill yelp that echoed all the way to the heavens once her answer hit her like a ton of bricks. In less than a heartbeat, total panic had ensnarled her tightly in its foul clutches, and her maternal instincts were activated. Immediately she let go of both the laundry basket and her phone and bolted off towards the nearest staircase, moving as fast as her legs could possibly carry her.
"Miss Frances?" a well-attired imaginary rabbit inquired worriedly as she passed him by downstairs into the foyer. "Goodness child, where do you need to be off to in such a haste-"
"No time!" Frankie gasped as she forcibly pushed him aside, nearly bowling Mr. Herriman over. After flailing about wildly for a moment or two, he managed to grasp onto the banister just before he almost tumbled head over heels down the staircase. Before he could rebuke her though, the resident caretaker had long since made it to the main floor and dashed outside.
She knew far too well she had no automobile to transport her. Never mind, she hastily concluded as she flew down the front walk and out the main gates, for she'd simply make due with what she had. The young woman couldn't waste so much as a precious moment searching for any alternatives, her charge could very well be in danger and she had to get there, now.
Unsurprisingly, her muscles all quickly began to ache in protest over the punishment she began to put them through, especially her unbearably sore leg muscles and knees that felt like they wanted to give out at any moment after what they endured the day before. Despite her agony, the panicked young woman raced on, desperate to get to the school as quick as her endurance allowed her to.
Thus, onwards she dashed, never slacking her pace for a second, with her breaths coming in short, ragged gasps and her arms pumping so furiously they became green-sleeved blurs. By the time the redbrick elementary school appeared in the distance, sweat was gushing from her pores, her lungs burned, and she was practically numb from the hips down. Nevertheless, she actually managed to pick up her pace at this point and threw every ounce of energy she had into this final sprint, and she hurled herself towards her destination, to find…
"Huh?"
Mere words were useless in attempting to depict Frankie's astonishment as she stumbled to a halt only to find that everything appear to be perfectly all right, unless one actually considered schoolchildren at recess a catastrophe. Besides that, there was literally nothing at all to be alarmed about, and Frankie just stood there, gawking blankly while gasping for breath.
"Time!" a familiar voice suddenly cried out. Still reeling from her immense shock, the redhead turned around and immediately laid eyes upon the little old woman standing outside her sleek Pontiac Firebird, with a stopwatch in one hand and a smile spreading across the width of her face.
"G-G-G…G-Grandma?" the flummoxed girl wheezed as her grandmother hobbled over to give her a congratulatory pat on the hand.
"My word, dearie, that was fantastic!" Madame Foster whooped. "You were here practically no time at all! Wonderful job! Just wonderful!"
"Wha?" Frankie grunted. "Wait…you mean…there wasn't any…th-then why…did…"
She remained confused beyond belief for but a moment before comprehension hit. "Wait…wait, w-was…was this all…all j-just…just for…"
Her grandparent just nodded warmly with a toothy smile. Stunned, Frankie glanced back towards the school, as if to make sure no disaster had occurred. Sure enough, all the schoolchildren playing outside looked as safe and happy as could be, with the exception of one puzzled little boy perched atop the monkey bars.
"Frankie?" Mac involuntarily shouted in disbelief, as the little girl by his side started waving furiously.
"Hiiiiiiiii, Frankie!" Goo greeted excitedly before the two clambered off and rushed over.
"Frankie, what's wrong?" Mac asked worriedly as he skidded to a halt. "What're you doing here? Is everything all right?"
"Uh…is…is everything all right here?" the redhead asked out of the feeble hope that her grandmother did not just trick her into an intense workout.
"Yeah, course everything's fine over here! Fine, just fine! Right as rain!" Goo answered. "But what's the matter with you? Why are you all damp and…oh, ewwwwww, you weren't running around again like a loony, weren't you? Weren't you totally super upset because that's all you did yesterday? Huh?"
"I…I…" the utterly thunderstruck and thoroughly exhausted caretaker could only stammer. "I…I thought that-"
"Hey! Hey!" They were all suddenly interrupted as a teacher started shouting sternly whilst she made a hasty beeline towards them all from the playground. "Just what do you two think you're doing over here? You're not supposed to talk to strangers-"
"Wait! But she's not a stranger!" Mac protested.
"Yeah! Uh-huh!" Goo chimed on. "She's not! She's not!"
"Well if that's true, then who is this? If you two are fibbing, then I- oh!" the teacher gasped once she got a good look at the redhead, allowing for recognition to dawn quickly. "Oh, I'm sorry! You're…Miss Foster, right? Yes, yes, I remember, we met at parent-teacher conferences last month, didn't we?"
"Uh…" Frankie could only murmur before the other woman went on.
"What are you doing here? Is everything all right? Did…." Suddenly, her pale blue eyes began sparkling with excitement as she broke out into a hopeful smile. "Oh! Oh, did Mac call you to come in and speak to the class?"
"Call me for what now?" the redhead inquired dumbly with a blank stare.
"So can you do it?" the teacher begged as she clasped her hands tightly. "Please, I really don't know if we could get anyone else for Career Day on such short notice! One of the other parents literally bailed out on us just an hour ago, see and I…well, it wouldn't be that hard, all you need to do is tell the children what you do and then let them ask some questions. Really, it's no difficulty at all, and you don't even need to wait very long, because we're going to hold it right after recess is over. Could you?"
Utterly wiped out form her mad dash, it took Frankie several moments to understand the request. "Um…I…well, I…see, I didn't come over to…I-I'm only here because-"
"Well of course she can!" Madame Foster eagerly volunteered her granddaughter. "After what I've seen her do, it's nothing that she can't take care of. Isn't that right, dearie?"
"Er…" Frankie grunted. As soon as she suddenly became aware of the fact that her aching legs felt like two slabs of dead meat attached to her body, she grimaced and mumbled, "Well…seeing as I'm probably not going anywhere anytime soon…"
"…I would have to say that went along quite nicely. Don't you think dear?" Madame Foster asked as the little group exited outside in the wake of the massive stampede of children that had fled out the doors just moments after the chime of the school bell had signaled the end of the day.
Even though Frankie was limping along with Mac and Goo at each side helping to support her, she nevertheless wore a massive genuine grin of pure glee.
"Who would've thought I would be the most popular one there today?" She chuckled incredulously.
"Duh!" Goo chirped. "Course you were! You get to hang out with imaginary friends all day long and stuff, not many people get to do that at all!"
"Well…it's sorta just maid's work, to be honest…" the caretaker objected humbly, though she couldn't help remark with a snicker, "Ha! The kids all made me talk longer than the business executive or the mom who worked at the mayor's office. Oh man, I don't believe it…"
"You do a lot everyday…and not just maid's work." Mac complimented sincerely, earning him an affectionate pat on the head.
"Thanks, pal."
"I guess that just about does it." Madame Foster chortled. "It took quite a bit of work, and little luck, but we saved Career Day! Wonderful work, everyone! Now, how about we all head home?"
With this she hobbled off, but she only made it about several steps before she realized she was walking alone. Confused, she whirled back around to spot her granddaughter frozen in place, gawking at her bewilderedly.
"…Grandma…what the heck are you talking about?" Frankie demanded flatly. The old woman just gazed back, looked genuinely puzzled.
"Huh? What do you mean? It just saying how we all pulled together in the end and managed to save Career Day here at the school from-"
"No! No, Grandma! Nuh-uh!" her grandchild reminded. "No, we were only here because you had me race all the way from the house just to help get me prepared for that stupid race next week."
"…The what next week?" Madame Foster asked innocently with an expression of total incomprehension. Frankie's jaw quickly went slack, and her emerald eyes bulged almost out of her skull in enormous disbelief.
"…Oh… my God…you…y-you actually…you completely forgot all about all of that, didn't you?" she stammered incredulously.
"What'd I forget about, dearie?" the puzzled old woman asked politely once more, to Frankie's skyrocketing dismay.
"Y-you did, didn't you?" she accused. "Didn't you? Oh, please, tell me you're joking! Please, Grandma! Y-you can't be serious! You can't!"
"Dearie, forget about wh-"
"The Annual Fun-Run? Sports whistles? Segways? Chasing me? You just admitted to me an hour earlier that you fooled me into a workout! Does any of this mean anything to you?" Frankie demanded as she waved her arms frantically. "Does it?"
"…What on earth is this all about again?" Madame Foster just replied, looking as genuinely bewildered as could be.
As stared blankly, for a few moments Frankie felt the strong urge to throw back her head and screech at the top of her lungs out of frustration with her nightmarishly eccentric grandmother. Fortunately though, she just barely managed to fight off the impulse, and with a dejected sigh, she let her head sag as she grumbled, "Just…just go get the car, Grandma."
"Dearie, I don't understand all this talk about whistles and-"
"Get the car, Grandma!" Frankie glared daggers and snarled in her barely-restrained ire.
"Fine, I'm going! I'm going! Honest, no need to work yourself into such a fuss." Madame Foster scolded lightly before trotting off, leaving the others behind to stew in their confusion over what just what happened.
"…Guys?" the redhead suddenly asked the children by her sides.
"Yeah?" Mac answered as he watched Madame Foster warily.
"Uh-huh?" replied Goo as she consolidated her hold on the wobbly young woman.
Grimacing worriedly, Frankie begged, "Please pray that I won't be like that in sixty years…"
The End