It didn't take long for Henry and Stanley to find the newspaper and check out the job ads.
"Looky here, Stanley" said Henry "Here's an ad for jobs over at the local auto shop where Tinker works. Maybe we could work there"
"Probably" said Stanley "Too bad we don't have a background or skills"
"Well, at least we can learn on the trade while being at the job." Henry shrugged as they walked.
The boys then walked over the auto shop to go apply. They went to the front desk and saw Tinker.
"Howdy fellas" he said as he saw them "How's it going?"
"Hi Tinker, we came to apply for a job here" said Henry "Do you guys have any job openings for us?"
"I'll have to check with my pa" said Tinker.
"Okay, then." Stanley said as Tinker went to the back.
After a few minutes of waiting, Tinker came back with some news.
"Good news fellas" he said "We are in need of some new janitors and it just so happens that you two are perfectly qualified"
"Janitors?" asked the boys.
"Yep" Tinker nodded "All this grease and oil sure leaves us quite a mess on the floors, and we could use someone to clean them up and who better to do it then two guys with no background or skills?"
"Well...uh..." Henry began, only for Tinker to cut him off.
"That's right" Tinker said "It's a very easy job to do."
Stanley began "Umm..."
"When can you start?" Tinker cut them off "Why right about now. The broom closet is right down the hall"
The boys sighed and went to get started on their new and essentially, unfortunate jobs.
"Well, Stanley." Henry remarked as he started moping the floor. "Here's another nice mess we've gotten ourselves into."
"Yeah, we're in such a jam now" Stanley deadpanned "All because I wanted to clone our mother who walked out on us"
"Oh well, I don't think we've got another choice." Henry said.
"Especially since we also have to make dinner for all eight of our new brothers and sisters now that pop's working real late" Stanley added.
Tinker then arrived with some sort of cloth covered in grease.
"Howdy boys" he said "How you doing?"
"Just fine, Tinker" Henry sighed "I'm sure not missing a lot of spots"
"That's good to know" said Tinker "Because we got a real doozy of a car to repair later, so expect to have your work cut out for ya when we begin"
"That's more than I wanted to know" Henry deadpanned.
"Anyways, have fun." Tinker said after handing the cloths to the brothers.
"Awww" they groaned.
The boys continued cleaning the floors and putting up warning signs.
"This is the worst job in the world!" Henry exclaimed "I'm sure Suzie and the others are having a better time than us at home!"
"I sure hope so." Stanley deadpanned.
After hours of working, it was finally closing time. The time whistle then blew to let the employees knew.
"Well boys, y'all just completed your first day at work" said Tinker "Congratulations"
"Oh thank God" Henry sighed.
"I never thought I'd make it." Stanley agreed.
"And to think, we have to do this until Mimi and Scooter start puberty" Henry remarked.
"Or at least until Susie, Alan, Tom and Anne learn to read" Stanley added.
"Boy, did we ever get ourselves into this nice mess!" Henry sighed.
"Come on bro, let's get outta here" said Stanley "I think everyone must be getting worried about us"
"Right behind ya" Henry said as he and Stanley headed home.
The two brothers made it back to their house, hoping to come home to their calm and mellow siblings, but of course, Susie and the others had problems of their own. Peter Potamus' Playhouse was still playing on TV, forcing the older kids to endure hours of annoying kiddie songs, so Mimi and Scooter wouldn't throw anymore equally irritating tantrums.
"Ugh..." Tom groaned as he covered his ears. "I'm not sure if I can put up with this awful music any longer."
"Sorry Tom, I can't hear you" said Alan "I'm trying not to put up with this awful music anymore!"
Just then, Henry and Stanley came inside the house.
"More Peter Potamus?!" shouted Henry "But how? It's almost nighttime!"
"It's a weekend marathon" Anne said as she tried to cover her ears with her hat "It ends Monday at midnight!"
"Oh come on, one's got time for that!" Stanley shouted as he tried to cover his ears.
"I don't even know if I can survive the whole weekend without going crazy from that awful show" Henry deadpanned.
"And with the kids enjoying that stupid show, I don't think we'll be able to make dinner!" added Stanley.
"Well you'd better think of something, because I really want something to eat!" Alan exclaimed.
"I suppose we can eat out." Henry suggested.
"Hopefully, we have enough money for ten stomachs" Stanley said "Come on, let's go before another episode begins!"
Everyone else nodded as they got up and followed the brothers out of the living room.
Stanley then quickly went back into the house, picked up Mimi and Scooter and went back to the rest of his brothers and sisters.
The kids then arrived at a pizza place, where they ordered a large pepperoni pizza, since they really didn't have enough money for all ten of them.
"Boy" Stanley remarked "It's good to be out of the house and away from that awful show"
"And once everyone is done eating, they'll be so tired and sleepy that we won't have to worry about the show" added Henry.
"I hope so" Stanley said.
As soon as the kids all finished eating, they went back home.
"Okay everyone" Henry said as they all got inside "Time to go to bed, so go downstairs and put on your PJs"
"And no television" Stanley added as he pulled the plug to the television. "Cable's expansive, and if we watch too much television, Pop's going to cut cable."
"Awwww..." the others whined.
"No fair!" Mimi pouted.
"Sorry" Stanley said "Pop isn't going to like it if you guys stayed up late watching TV."
"Now let's get moving" Henry added with his hands folded together.
"Fine" they sighed.
Susie and the other siblings headed downstairs to the basement to get ready for bed.
Soon, everyone was in bed sleeping.
"You know Stanley, giving up college and working in a mechanic's shop just to take care of our eight brothers and sisters sure is difficult" Henry remarked.
"Yeah" Stanley agreed "And to think, we have to get up early tomorrow morning and do it all again for nine whole hours"
"Boy, we sure have gotten ourselves into some nice mess." Henry remarked.
"No need to quote Laurel and Hardy, bro." Stanley deadpanned. "I hear your thoughts, loud and clear."
"Anyways, since we haven't gotten a chance to read the rest of the newspaper, let's finish that." Henry said as he pointed at the newspaper on the coffee table.
"Sure thing." Stanley nodded as they went to take a seat on the sofa and shared the newspaper.
While Henry was reading the sports section, Stanley was reading the main pages.
The front line of the paper read: "TERROR IN PASTAVAZOOLASTAN"
"Wham bam, look at this Henry!" he exclaimed "Apparently, there's some trouble going on in Pastavazoolastan right now!"
Henry grabbed the paper "What? Let me see that!"
Scanning the news article, the brothers read how bombs recently went off in the Middle Eastern country in question and the severe damage that resulted in the terror attacks.
"This is getting pretty weird, Stanley" said Henry "Just a couple of weeks ago, we got eight younger brothers and sisters and now, five kids from Crystal Cove are missing, Dr. Quest somehow lost two of his inventions and now, nearly a whole country has been bombed"
"Yeah, this is pretty scary" Stanley gulped "It's a good thing the others don't know how to read. Otherwise, they'd be pretty scared of the outside world"
"Yeah." Henry agreed. "It's a weird world out there."
"Yeah, and somehow, I think the world is about to get even more weird" Stanley remarked.
"I can't argue with that." Henry said. "Not to mention that in the past, there has been news articles about a group of kids with a ghost, another group with a talking dog and one other group with two hairy cavemen who could fly in the mainland cities."
"Ghosts, cavemen and talking dogs? Now that's just plain ridiculous" Stanley said as he rolled his eyes.
"You heard me, bro" Henry said "Like I said, it's a weird world out there."
"Hopefully, nothing weird will happen to us for a while" Stanley stretched his arms.
"Night Stan" said Henry.
"Night bro" Stanley said as he went to bed.
The lights then went out.
Author's Note:
Looks like Henry and Stanley are up to date on the strange happenings that have been going on in the Fantastic World lately. They may think that bizarre things are over for them now, but wait until the next chapter.