"Fireside Diaries"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
Last week, there was a cliffhanger involving Isabella. Is she okay? Well, prepare to find out in the second half of this two-parter!
Like the previous entry, the idea for this one also comes courtesy of PFStories17.
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney.
Prerequisite (i.e. read that first before reading this):
- Entry #507 ("Fireside Diaries," Episode 407)
Entry #508 - Written by Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, troop leader
It's great for a troop leader to get to know your fellow members' mothers...
"You're very lucky it wasn't much worse," Dr. Hirano said, as she finished making some notes on a clipboard.
Pan over to Isabella, who was lying in a hospital bed with a cast on her left leg that went all the way up to just below her knee. That leg was also elevated, in order to prevent her from putting any weight on it.
...just not in this way. And not as often as I do.
"If you need anything, Isabella, you know how to reach me."
With that, Dr. Hirano left the room. A few seconds later, Adyson entered, and she had a concerned look on her face.
"Ginger told me the prognosis this morning," Adyson said as she pulled up a chair next to the bed so the two girls could talk. "You're gonna be on crutches for at least a month, girl!"
"I know," Isabella said, with a wry smile. "And all just because I wanted some silly autograph."
"Well, to be fair... it WAS Ariel Winter."
"Yeah. It was worth it."
Isabella pointed to a signed 8-by-10 glossy photo of the actress propped up against a flower vase on the nightstand next to her.
"But, Isabella... what are we gonna do about the troop? You can't lead in your condition!"
And that's when it came to me. The one way the troop could continue going about its daily activities without me...
-
Entry #508 [FSD408] - New Leader? (07.29.13)
-
The next day after school, the members of Troop 46231, minus Isabella, met at their secret clubhouse in the woods. The girls had been talking about what would happen to the troop with their great leader out of commission for a few weeks.
A troop is nothing without a competent leader to guide them. Thus, there was only one way to proceed...
Adyson banged a stick against the pot-bellied stove, which was the signal for everyone to be quiet. Once they had done so, she looked down at the open Fireside Girls' Handbook she was holding in her hands, which was open to a certain bylaw that she was intending to invoke.
"I have called this emergency meeting to discuss the next course of action for our troop after the horrible, terrible, gut-wrenching accident that has befallen our fearless leader!"
"Adyson!" Holly exclaimed. "You're making it sound like she passed away!"
"Well, she might as well have! She's gonna be out of action for several weeks! Therefore, with her permission, I'm invoking Article 2, Section Beta, Footnote 1."
Everyone gasped in shock.
"But we've never had to invoke THAT bylaw in this troop's history," Milly exclaimed. "Like, ever!"
"Wait!" cut in Katie. "What's Article 2, Section Beta, Footnote 1?"
"You don't know what it is! Why did you gasp then?"
"'Cause everyone else was doin' it!"
"This is no time to be cute," Adyson said to her. "Article 2, Section Beta, Footnote 1 states that in the instance that the troop leader cannot fulfill her duties due to injury, regardless of whether it occurred during a Fireside-sponsored activity or not, a temporary leader may take her place for a period totaling no more than 60 days, with the injured party's approval."
"So the question is," muttered Ginger, while giving Adyson the 'evil eye,' "whom do we appoint as the temporary troop leader in Isabella's absence?"
"As second-in-command, I, Adyson Sweetwater, nominate myself!"
"You're second-in-command?" queried Gretchen, a bit confused. "I always thought I was. And, not for nothing, but since me and the Chief are so close, perhaps, well, maybe... I nominate myself?"
Ginger scoffed. "If anyone's gonna be temporary leader, it's gonna be me. Isabella aside, I've gotten as many patches as the rest of you COMBINED the last three months."
Milly raised her hand so she could be allowed to interject. "May I remind you all that I still, to this day, have one more 'Help Thy Neighbor' Patch than everyone else? You know, 'cause I went back that one day after everybody went..."
"WE KNOW!" the others screeched at her.
"Hold on!" Holly exclaimed, motioning for Adyson to hand her the book.
Adyson complied, passing it to Holly. The pigtailed girl read Footnote 2 of Article 2, Section Beta out loud.
"'In the event that the leader has allowed the members of her troop to decide amongst themselves whom shall take up the temporary leadership position, those members must present at least one candidate with majority approval of her fellow girls for nomination.'"
"So?" queried Katie, unsure of what that meant.
"Let's put it this way... ahem... raise your hand if you're interested in becoming temporary troop leader."
Everyone in the room did, including Holly herself.
"Well, there goes any shot at getting a majority. Everyone's only going to vote for themselves."
Gretchen spoke up, as an idea had popped into her head.
"What if each of us comes up with a way to demonstrate why we'd be a good temporary leader?"
"That's a good idea, Gretchen," Adyson said in agreement. "Better than speeches and debates. Had enough of those back during the campaign."
"Wait!" objected Ginger. "Why does everything have to be a competition? Isn't a competition WHY we're in this mess in the first place?"
"You rather we just draw straws?" Holly cut in. "Thanks, but no thanks!"
"No!" Katie barked, siding with Holly. "Every time we draw straws, I always get the short end! Do you know who's had to take patch inventory in the storeroom every week for the past seven weeks? ME! And it takes hours! HOURS!"
"So competition it is," Gretchen declared. "We'll do it all Friday afternoon after school. Four days is enough time for everyone to come up with something, right?"
The others nodded.
"Alright then. Good luck, everyone!"
Being troop leader, even on a temporary basis, is every Fireside Girl's dream. And I was pretty sure all the girls were spending every free minute of their time that week coming up with something good...
Immediately after the meeting, Katie was seen breaking her piggy bank and using the money in it to buy mechanical parts for her plan. On Tuesday, Gretchen was seen chatting with Isabella on the phone, trying to farm for ideas. On Wednesday, Adyson was seen working her political connections to work out a deal with a local grocer. On Thursday, Holly and Ginger spent all afternoon in the school library, attempting to come up with something.
And on Friday after school, all the girls were seen heading downtown. All except for one...
In front of the lodge...
"Anybody seen Milly?"
Katie was asking the others where her best friend was. But she was the only member of the troop not present.
"Her loss," stated Ginger, relieved to have one less rival in her way.
Suddenly, the door to the lodge opened, and Isabella came out. Walking with crutches, she slowly made her way down the steps and to the girls, who were all by the flagpole.
"Okay, girls! Draw for order?"
Isabella pulled out a bunch of straws. Katie groaned.
"I told you... I ALWAYS DRAW THE SHORT STRAW!"
Isabella coughed. "Katie... whenever you're ready, please."
Katie nodded and got on with it. She pulled out a whistle and blew it. The girls spun around and saw about half a dozen cats walk towards them.
"Come on, cats! Follow Katie!"
They slowly made their way over, and by slowly, well...
As you know, we have a Senior-Service Patch which we give to a Fireside Girl who helps a certain number of senior citizens cross a busy intersection in a day. So Katie's idea is to do the same. But instead of using elderly people, she's using... elderly cats.
After a couple minutes of waiting - and some yawns of boredom from the other girls - the cats finally got to the street corner. And just as they did, the crosswalk signal turned in their favor. Katie led them across the intersection, holding up a stop sign to get drivers coming through to notice them.
I get Katie's idea... if she can lead elderly cats safely across one of the busiest intersections in downtown Danville, then surely she can lead the Fireside Girls through any danger that might come their way.
The blonde girl skipped merrily all the way to the other side.
"Here we are! All safe and sound!"
She looked down, expecting all the cats to be at her feet. But when they were not, she turned back to the crosswalk... and saw that they were all only about halfway across. And the crossing signal had already changed to a solid 'do not walk' one.
Unfortunately...
"Cats! Hurry up, hurry up!"
Believing they were incapable of going any faster, Katie was about to run back into the crosswalk to retrieve them. Then, out of nowhere, someone driving a sportscar sped through the intersection. He was going so fast that he did not notice the cats, and just went through them.
"KATIE!" yelled Isabella, in shock.
Gretchen fainted immediately, only kept from hitting the ground by Adyson and Ginger, who caught her. Holly joined Isabella in staring at Katie in disbelief.
"RELAX!" Katie shouted from the other side of the street. "THEY'RE ALL ANIMATRONIC!"
As if on cue, one of the cats, or what was left of it, landed on the sidewalk next to the others. They could easily see what was left of the mechanical creature.
"Remind me never to put my life in her hands," Holly told Isabella.
Isabella nodded in agreement.
...I don't think Katie's ready to be a leader. Temporary or otherwise.
Perhaps Holly's a better choice?
The girls were out in the open, all watching as Holly instructed a group of small kids how to build a sturdy raft.
"And you always want to make sure you double knot EVERYTHING," she told them.
Her idea? To guide youngsters through a difficult task that required a lot of hard work, showing that she could be an effective leader in a time-consuming task.
Holly's charges constructed the raft exactly as they were told, and once they were done, they all climbed aboard. Holly pushed the raft into the river, and it floated as intended.
"YES! Good job, guys!"
The kids cheered with glee, while the girls, looking on from afar, had impressed smiles on her face. But things turned disastrous when the current caught a hold of the raft and started pulling it and its riders downstream.
"Help!" the kids shouted, panicked. "HELP!"
Holly started running down the shoreline, hoping to find a place to get to them.
I think Holly should've taught them something else, though...
"Paddle to me, guys!" she shouted at them. "Paddle!"
"Paddle? What's that?"
Before they knew it, though, the raft and all its occupants crashed into a giant rock. The raft broke apart on impact, and strangely, so did those on board. Gretchen, having just fully recovered from fainting the first time, did so once more. And again, Adyson and Ginger caught her.
"That's the last time I use robot kids," mumbled Holly, after seeing a disembodied animatronic head land in front of her feet.
Above her, Isabella was shaking her head in dismay. As for Katie?
"Remind me never to put my life in her hands."
Isabella gave Katie a 'Really?' look.
Well, Holly needs a little more 'Foreseeing Perilous Events' training.
I just hope Adyson doesn't think third time's the charm with animatronics...
The gang was now in a grocery store. Gretchen, a little weary, slowly reached out to a little boy, trying to gently poke him in the cheek to see if he was real.
"AAH!" he screamed upon feeling Gretchen's finger against his cheek. "I GOT COOTIES!"
He then ran out of the store. Adyson frowned, having lost one of her five volunteers.
"Now that Gretch has proven my choice to use LIVING volunteers, allow me to show you a true demonstration of leadership!"
The girls and Adyson's group of kid volunteers watched as the brunette reached into a cart filled to the top with cans and cans of vegetables. Two at a time, she started stacking them onto a display platform. After a couple minutes, all were amazed as a grand pyramid developed before them. When all was said and done and Adyson dropped down from the top after placing the last can, the structure was more than two-and-a-half times her size.
"Cool!" all of the kids shouted with appreciation.
Adyson's idea was to lead by example. And after that display, the kids were sure to be inspired!
Sure enough, the other kids reached into a basket that was also filled with cans. They used those to build their own pyramids, only a whole lot smaller.
"I admit... that's impressive," stated Ginger, admiring Adyson's work.
"Looks like we've got a viable candidate," Isabella declared. "Good job, Addy!"
"Thanks!" Adyson replied in gratitude.
But the key is to make sure inspiration doesn't run wild...
Suddenly, Adyson felt a vibration from her pocket. She pulled out her phone and saw that she had gotten a text message from her parents.
"'Buy peas.' Sure!"
She pulled a can from her pyramid without thinking. At first, nothing happened as she put her phone away. It was not until she had realized what she had done that the structure completely collapsed, burying her alive and causing her friends to wince at the sight.
"Accident-prone Addy strikes again," stated Holly, bluntly.
"I'll go get the first aid kit," declared Katie, walking off.
Meanwhile, the kids were laughing at Adyson's act so much that they decided to try it themselves. They swatted, kicked, and dived into their pyramids, which, thankfully, were so small that their risk of getting injured from doing so was pretty much zero.
...especially around impressionable kids.
Seconds later, Adyson emerged from the pile of cans. She spat out one can, which had ended up in her mouth, and then she gasped for air. Once she had composed herself, she turned to Isabella with a sheepish grin on her face.
"So... any chance you can ignore that little accident?"
Isabella responded by shaking her head.
Sorry, Adyson. That's all on you.
A little while later, they were back at the lodge. Everyone was gathered around the desk Isabella was using. She was not sitting there at the moment, though. Gretchen was. And she had a whole bin full of papers two feet tall in front of her.
Gretchen's proof of leadership was simple... and a necessity...
Gretchen started working her way through the stack at a feverish pace. She read, signed, stamped, and placed each paper in the 'Done' box, all in less than a second. The others did not dare reach in, fearing they might lose a limb if they tried to help.
She got through the entire pile in just a tick over four minutes.
"Nice," complimented Holly.
"Nothing less than perfection from Gretchen," said Isabella with a smile.
Gretchen blushed. "Aw, it's nothin', Chief!"
I've never seen anyone get through a week's worth of Fireside Girls' paperwork that fast. Well, except for me, of course. But Gretchen's a pretty close second...
"Not to be a Debbie Downer," prefaced Ginger, "but..."
Ginger lifted up the box to eye level so that Gretchen could see the label on it.
"This is the 'Do Soon' box. Which is all well and good, but..."
She pointed to a table off to the side, where five 'Do Now' boxes were resting on, each with a stack as high as the one Gretchen had just gone through.
"...you should've done all those instead."
A cuckoo clock above the desk started sounding off to indicate it was five o'clock.
"Three-quarters of those had to be mailed today," Isabella stated aloud. "Sorry, Gretchen, but I'm afraid this won't do."
Gretchen had only one excuse for her blunder.
"I need to get my eyes checked."
Well, Gretchen, you still get an A for effort.
With Milly off who knows where, that only left Ginger in the race to impress me...
The troop was hiding behind some topiaries lining the sidewalk near a restaurant about five blocks south of the lodge. And they all appeared to be spying on someone. Ginger especially, as she was using a pair of binoculars to spy on her target.
"Uh, Ginger?" Isabella queried while hunched down next to her. "What are we doing here?"
"I'm doing what you do best, Chief! Keeping an eye on the man I love!"
Isabella was confused, especially when she followed Ginger's line of sight and saw that the boy that Ginger was spying on was a teenager.
"You? Like him?"
Ginger shrugged. "Not really. But my sister's gone out with him a couple times, so by some measure this counts, right?"
"Uh..."
"You know I can't spy on you-know-who anymore, so I'm doing the next best thing."
Ginger resumed her spying, only to look just in time to see the dark-skinned boy hop into a car with a friend and drive off.
"Drat!" she exclaimed, snapping her fingers.
I'm sure this is, like, the tenth time I've said this. But... Ginger worries me sometimes.
"There you are!" someone shouted from behind them.
Everyone turned around and saw Milly standing there. She had a smile on her face and a filled-out Patch Request form in hand.
"Where have you been?" Katie asked. "You missed all the fun!"
Milly let the form speak for her, as she handed it to Isabella. She took a few seconds to read it... and then she frowned after doing so.
"You went over to Phineas and Ferb's house?"
Milly nodded. "Yep! I figured that if I go there and get another Help Thy Neighbor Patch, then that means I'd have two more of those than everyone else! See? I'm taking initiative, just like a leader would!"
She's not wrong. But... she's not right either.
"You girls don't like making things easy, do you?"
After telling them I'd like to sleep on it before making a decision, it was no surprise that everyone was at the lodge bright and early the next morning for our normal weekly meeting. Not that it was going to be anything but normal.
Isabella hobbled up to the podium to begin the meeting and saw all of the girls grinning in anticipation at her announcement.
"Well, let's just get right to it. First order of business... appointing my temporary replacement."
I had planned to not build up suspense. I wanted to just come out and say the name.
"WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE THERE, FIRESIDER GIRL!" Candace barked, slamming the doors open and marching right to the podium.
So much for that plan.
"As the eldest member of this troop, I ask, no, I DEMAND that you make me your new leader!"
"One, I'm surprised you even remembered you were a Fireside Girl. Two, you do realize this is only temporary, until I'm able to resume my duties as normal, right?"
"I dunno," Candace said, eyeing Isabella's cast. "That looks more than a temporary setback."
"Well..."
"And you do remember who holds the record for most patches earned in one day. Right?"
"Don't remind me," grumbled Adyson.
"And I saw all your friends here try to prove they're 'leadership material,' but, pfft, come on! Really? You're going to entrust the future of this troop to one of them?"
Isabella looked annoyed. "Were you spying on us? And how did you find out?"
"In her defense," interjected Ginger, "she IS best friends with my sister, and we have our no-secrets sibling talk on Thursdays! It was gonna get out, people!"
Isabella closed her eyes and thought for a minute.
The troop needed a leader. And considering all of the facts and what had happened in the last 24 hours, there was only one decision I could make.
"My mind's made up. Congratulations... you're now the temporary leader of Fireside Girls Troop 46231!"
Isabella picked up the spare Troop Leader Patch she had placed on the podium, and handed it to her temporary replacement.
Candace Flynn.
End Entry
Author's Notes:
Bet you didn't see that coming did you? It'll be interesting to see how the troop fares with the new girl in charge! Will it be business as usual, or complete and utter chaos surrounding the busting of Phineas and Ferb? Stay tuned to find out!
Also, thanks again to PFStories17, who came up with the idea of Isabella getting injured and having to appoint a temporary replacement. That plot point sets in motion the rest of this season's events... and, trust me, there's some big ones still to come!
Next Week: There may be a new leader of Troop 46231, but she quickly learns about all the duties and responsibilities that come with it. And even worse, she finds it keeps her from spending time with her boyfriend! See if she can deal with it in the next episode of the "Fireside Diaries!"