Home Alone
Ages, from youngest to oldest: Michelle 8, Peter 11, Michael 13, Christina 15, Zack 16, Cody 17, Heather 18
Things were crazy in the Richards household. It was a Friday night, and the kids were off school for Christmas break. Not only that, but they were due to leave for Hawaii the next morning for their Christmas vacation. To celebrate, their mother had ordered pizza for them to eat for dinner.
"I wonder if the palm trees in Hawaii are going to be decorated for Christmas." Said Michelle, who was playing a game on the Nintendo Switch with her brother Peter.
"I guess we'll know when we get there." Said Peter. Their mother came into the room a few minutes later.
"Are you two packed?" she asked.
"Yes." They both said.
"I hope so, because we have to be up early tomorrow morning and I want to make sure we don't forget anything." Said Mom. Meanwhile, in Zack and Cody's room, the two teen boys were trying to get their own suitcases packed.
"How many socks should we bring?" asked Zack.
"I have no idea." Said Cody. "I mean, we're going to be in Hawaii until the day after New Year's, so we should bring enough clothes to cover us for what would likely be a week and a half of vacation."
"Good point." Said Zack. They put several shirts, pants, and pairs of underwear and socks in their suitcases, zipped them up and put them in the corner of the room.
"All done." Said Zack. The boys high fived each other, and a few minutes later, the doorbell rang.
"I bet that's our pizza." Said Mom. She opened the door, and it was indeed the pizza delivery boy. However, it was a different delivery person than who they usually got.
"Where's the other guy?" asked Mom.
"He got sick with the flu, so I'm filling in for him until he gets better." Said the delivery boy.
"I see." Said Mom. She handed over the money for the pizza and called out to the kids. "Pizza's here!" Everyone came running into the kitchen at once, except Heather since she was on a phone call, and grabbed some pizza and pop. Now Michelle was very picky about which toppings she liked and didn't like. She didn't like peppers, mushrooms or olives, but liked pepperoni. Thankfully, there were some slices of pepperoni that were reserved just for her. She was about to grab one when Michael took it and held it just out of reach.
"Hey!" cried Michelle. "That's my pizza! You can't have that!"
"You should've gotten it faster, nerd brain." Said Michael.
"Hey, you know you're not supposed to call Michelle names." Said Heather, who had only just walked into the room.
"I don't care." Said Michael. "I'm a teenager now, so I can do whatever I want."
"No, you can't." said Heather. "And if you even think of picking on her again, I'm telling Mom." However, Michael didn't quite get the memo and took the only pepperoni slice that was left. All that remained were pieces with mushrooms, ones with olives and ones with peppers. This made Michelle furious, and she charged after Michael.
"Give my pizza back!" she yelled and tackled him to the ground. In the process, she knocked over the large pop bottle and the liquid spilled onto the floor. Mom was horrified and broke up the fight before any more damage could be done.
"What in the world is the matter with you two?" she demanded. "It seems like every Christmas, you two are always at each other's throats."
"He started it!" exclaimed Michelle, referring to Michael. "He knows I hate toppings that aren't pepperoni." Christina was wiping some of the spilled pop off her pants and then looked at her angrily.
"Just look at what you did." She said sternly. Everyone else angrily glared at her, as they were upset that the dinner had been ruined. Everyone, that is, except for Heather. Mom pointed at Michelle, and then pointed out of the kitchen.
"Go to your room right now." She said.
"Why?" she asked angrily.
"Michelle, you're such a pain." Said peter.
"I am not!" she said.
"That's enough!" yelled Mom. She grabbed Michelle's hand and started leading her away.
"There are seven kids who live in this house, including yourself, and you're the only one who has to cause trouble." Said Mom.
"I'm the only one who gets treated like absolute crap." Said Michelle.
"That's not true." Said Mom. "Everyone gets treated equally, including yourself. Now get upstairs."
"I'm already upstairs." Said Michelle.
"No you're not." Said Mom and pointed up to the attic.
"I can't go up there." Said Michelle. "It's scary and there's barely any light."
"Well you're going up there whether you like it or not." Said Mom. "I don't want to see you out of that room for the rest of the night."
"I don't want to see either of you guys, except Heather, for the rest of my life!" cried Michelle.
"You better not mean that." Said Mom. "If you were to wake up tomorrow and didn't have a family, wouldn't that make you feel just the least bit terrible?" Michelle slowly nodded her head.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"It's too late for apologies." Said Mom and pointed again to the attic. Michelle slowly climbed up the attic stairs, flopped onto the bed and started sobbing.
'It's not fair." She cried. "Michael always gets away with everything and I get blamed, as usual. I wish this family didn't exist." A few minutes later, however, Heather came up into the attic.
"What's wrong, squirt?" she asked.
"Being unfairly punished again, that's what's wrong." Said Michelle. Heather went over to the bed and sat down.
"I know the pizza incident wasn't your fault." She said. "I saw what happened."
"Michael started the whole thing by stealing the slices that were specifically for me." Said Michelle. "He should know that I don't like those other toppings."
"I know you don't like peppers and olives and mushrooms on the pizza." Said heather. "He needs to learn to respect that."
"If he would just treat me better, then that whole incident wouldn't have happened." Said Michelle. "I don't think he likes me at all."
"That's not true at all, Michelle." Said Heather. "He likes you a lot. In fact, I'll even tell you a little something. When you were born, I had a feeling that Michael and some of the other kids in this family were going to treat you poorly, and I wasn't going to stand for that. That's why I took a vow to always support you no matter what."
"So you're not mad at me about the pizza thing?" Michelle wondered.
"Of course not." Said Heather. "That reminds me, did you even get to have any of the pizza at all?"
"No." said Michelle.
"I think I can fix that." Said Heather. She pulled her phone out of her pant pocket and tried to dial, but the call didn't go through.
"I forgot that there's no service in the attic." She said. "Come on, let's go into my room." The two of them left the attic and went into Heather's room. They sat down on the bed, and Heather placed the call.
"I'd like to place an order." She said. "Yes, I know we already ordered tonight, but some of us didn't get to eat. I'd like just one pizza with pepperoni please." Michelle whispered something into Heather's ear, causing the order to be modified a bit.
"Make that a pizza with pepperoni and bacon." Said Heather. "Oh, and two cans of Diet Coke please. Yes, that's all. Perfect, thank you." Heather hung up the call and turned to Michelle.
"It'll be here in about thirty minutes." Said Heather. "And you know what, you're not the only one that didn't have any pizza. I didn't have any either. That incident made me lose my appetite for a bit, but I think I got it back."
"That's good, I guess." Said Michelle.
"Hey, I have an idea." Said Heather. "You can stay with me in my room tonight. We'll have a quiet evening together, just the two of us."
"You'll really let me do that?" asked Michelle.
"Of course." Said Heather. "The other kids probably wouldn't have let you do that, but my door is always open for you."
"Thanks, Heather. You're the best sister ever." Said Michelle. Just then, Mom came into the room.
"Quick heads up, we have to be up at six thirty tomorrow so that we can get our flight." She said.
"Understood, Mom." Said Heather.
"Perfect." Said Mom. She was about to leave the room when she turned to look at Michelle. "I thought I told you that you're to be in the attic. Get back in there right now." Michelle sighed angrily, but Heather put up a hand to stop her.
"I've got this." She said. "I told Michelle that she could stay in here with me tonight." Mom sighed but relented.
"Fine, but remember that she's being punished, which means she's not to leave your room." Said Mom.
"But what about my pajamas?" asked Michelle.
"I'll get them for you." Said Mom. She headed into the attic, got the pajamas and went back into Heather's room.
"Here you go." She said. "Remember that she stays here, and you both have to go to bed early tonight."
"Got it." Said Heather. Mom closed the door, and the two girls were alone.
"What should we do until the pizza gets here?" asked Heather.
"We could watch some TV on your big screen." Suggested Michelle.
"Not a bad idea." Said heather. "What do you want to watch?"
"It doesn't matter." Said Michelle. Heather turned on her TV and found a channel that was about to start playing A Christmas Story.
"Now this is a classic." Said Heather. "Have you seen this movie before?"
"That would be a negative." Said Michelle.
"You're in for a real treat, then." Said Heather. The opening notes of the film then started to play.
"Here we go." Said Heather. Michelle watched with high interest. The whole point of the film was that its' lead character was trying to ask for a gun for Christmas, only to be denied at every turn.
"What does that mean when his mom says, 'You'll shoot your eye out'?" asked Michelle.
"It means that she doesn't think getting her kid a gun for Christmas is a good idea." Said Heather.
"Well, maybe he could ask for an iPad or a Nintendo Switch or something like that." Said Michelle.
"This movie takes place in the 1940s." said Heather. "They didn't have any of those things back then."
"What about a TV?" suggested Michelle.
"TV was only just starting out." Said Heather. They continued to watch, and thirty minutes later, a knock was heard on the door.
"That's our pizza." Said Heather. "I'll get it, you stay put." Heather went to open the front door and found the manager of the pizza place standing there.
"Even the big boss has to make a delivery once in a while." He said. Heather paid for the food and drinks with her debit card and took them back up to her room.
"Food's here." She said to Michelle. They both took a couple of slices to start with and ate in peace.
"I thought you didn't like non pepperoni toppings." Said Heather. "Last I checked, bacon was a non pepperoni topping."
"I figured it was time to come out of the shell a bit and be less picky." Said Michelle.
"So you like bacon now." Said Heather.
"That's right." Said Michelle.
"Good girl." Said Heather. "It's great to see you trying some new things." They finished their slices, and they slowly sipped their pop.
"Here's to a great Christmas trip." Said Michelle.
"We can only hope." Said Heather. They finished watching the movie, and then Michelle let out a yawn.
"I'm feeling a bit tired." She said.
"Well, Mom did say that we have to be up early." Said Heather. "I think going to bed in a good idea." Both girls got into their pajamas and fell fast asleep. Over the course of the night, however, some high winds knocked down a few hydro wires, which caused the power to go out. When everyone was starting to wake up the next morning, it was because of the airport shuttle van driver making loud knocks on their door. Mom looked over at the clock, and a look of horror crept over her.
"We slept in!" she cried. As a result, everyone had to rush around to get into the van. Meanwhile, a nine year old boy from across the street came onto the driveway and started a conversation with the driver.
"I'm Dennis. I live right down there." He said, pointing to his house.
"You coming to Hawaii?" asked the driver.
"No. My family only goes away during the summer. During Christmas, my dad has to work extra." Said Dennis. As he and the driver continued talking, they saw the Richards clan come out of their house.
"There is no way we're going to make it. The plane leaves in fifty minutes." Said Mom.
"Be positive, Mom." Said Michael.
"You be positive. I'm being realistic." Said Mom. "Christina, count heads. Make sure we're all present and accounted for." As Christina was counting, Michael spat out random numbers that had nothing to do with anything.
"Michael, please don't be an idiot right now. This isn't the time for that." Said Christina. Flustered, she started over, but accidentally counted Dennis. She didn't let that deter her, however, and gave the thumbs up to Mom when she had finished.
"All good." Said Christina.
"Excellent." Said Mom.
"Have a good trip, guys." Said Dennis and went back to his house. The van took off for the airport, and upon arriving there, everyone made a mad dash for the gate. They spotted their plane and got to the gate right as an attendant was about to close it.
"We didn't miss the flight?" Mom wondered.
"You just made it." Said the attendant. "This is a full flight, so take whatever's available."
"Thank you!" cried the kids, and they ran onto the plane. Christina and Mom were the only ones together, while everyone else was split up.
"I can't believe we made it." Said Christina.
"Wild, isn't it?" asked Mom. "I just hope we didn't forget anything." At home, Michelle and Heather were finally starting to wake up, although their hair was in a messy state. Michelle went into the hall and started calling out names.
"Mom! Michael! Zack!" cried Michelle, but nobody answered. She called out the names of the rest of her family members, only to get no response.
"Is this a joke?" she called out. "If this is a joke, it's not funny." She said. Heather came out into the hall.
"Michelle, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Everyone's gone." Said Michelle.
"Not everybody." Said Heather. "I'm still here."
"I'm grateful for that." Said Michelle. Just then, it dawned on her. "Wait a minute. Weren't we supposed to fly out to Hawaii today?"
"You're absolutely right, Michelle." Said Heather. They both ran outside and found the family van still parked in the garage.
"The van's still here. They couldn't have gone to the airport." Said Michelle.
"I think they did." Said Heather. "And it looks like they took a shuttle van to get there." They headed back inside, and Heather took out her phone so she could call Mom to let her know what had happened. However, there was no answer. Instead, the call was dropped immediately.
"Phone service is probably still out from the wind storm that we had last night." Said Heather, and she hung up. Michelle sat at the table looking glum, but then she remembered all the things that had been said to her the previous evening and let out a grin.
"I made my family disappear." She said.
"Well, since it looks like it's going to be just the two of us for a little while, what would you like for breakfast?" asked Heather.
"Do we have any of our private pizza left over from last night?" asked Michelle.
"I think so." Said Heather. She ran up to her room, grabbed the pizza box that was on the floor beside the bed and brought it back down.
"There's four pieces left in here." Said Heather. They took the box into the living room and turned on the TV so they could watch something while they ate. One station was playing the cartoon version of the Grinch.
"There we go." Said Heather. "You like the Grinch, I think."
"I sure do." Said Michelle.
"Then this is a perfect way to spend the morning." Said Heather. They both watched the cartoon and laughed at the funny bits, but they were careful not to choke on their pizza. Right after the cartoon, a very serious news bulletin came on.
"Two men are wanted for a series of Christmas robberies that have been taking place over the last few nights." Said the newscaster. "They call themselves the Santa Bandits because while they look like Santa, they take instead of give. These two individuals are considered to be dangerous, so if you see them, take extreme caution." The smile on one of the men in the picture scared Michelle a lot.
"Mom!" she cried out. Back on the plane, Mom was relaxing with a book, while Christina was running over the things that had been taken care off prior to leaving home.
"The coffee pot's turned off, right?" asked Mom.
"I turned it off before I went to bed last night." Said Christina.
"Good. How about the computers at home?" asked Mom.
"Turned those off too." Said Christina.
"Did we close the garage?" asked Mom. Christina shook her head.
"That's it. We forgot to close the garage, that's it." Said Christina. Mom sighed and shook her head.
"No, that's not it." She said.
"What do you mean?" asked Christina. "What else did we forget?" Mom didn't answer right away, but then she suddenly shot up forward in her seat.
"Michelle! Heather!" She cried.
"Michelle must be really scared." Said Christina.
"Probably, but as long as Heather's with her, that makes things a bit easier." Said Mom. "Still, I can't believe we forgot them. I'm such a terrible parent."
"No you're not." Said Christina. "We had to rush this morning, and I guess we forgot to check on the two of them to make sure they were up."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Said Mom. At home, Heather was calmly soothing Michelle.
"Those two guys they showed are pretty scary, aren't they?" asked Heather. Michelle nodded, and heather wiped the tears away with a tissue.
"I don't want anything happening to this house, or us." Said Michelle.
"As long as I'm here to protect you, that will never happen." Said Heather.
"I guess that makes me feel a little better." Said Michelle.
"I think I know what'll make you feel a lot better." Said Heather. "How about we play a game together on the Nintendo Switch. Would you like that?" Michelle nodded her head.
"Okay, but I think we should get dressed first." Said Heather. Michelle agreed, and they went up to Heather's room. Michelle changed into a red and green sweater with Merry Christmas written on it, dark blue jeans, red and green socks, and her pink running shoes that she had gotten for Christmas last year. Heather changed into a pink sweater, red leggings and bright blue boots. They combed their hair and headed back to the living room.
"What should we play?" asked Michelle.
"Well, Mom doesn't like you playing anything with a lot of violence in it, so those types of games are out." Said Heather. "However, we can play a game of Mario Party."
"Okay." Said Michelle. Heather loaded up Mario Party Superstars, and they got started. The game got intense in some parts, but an hour and a half later, Heather prevailed as the winner.
"Good game, sis." Said Michelle.
"You too, Michelle." Said Heather, and they high fived each other. Then they turned off the console and went outside to build some snowmen.
"I'm going to call the little one Frosty." Said Michelle.
"Why would you call him that?" asked Heather.
"So that he has the name as the one from the song and TV special." Said Michelle. Heather let out a chuckle.
"You, little sis, have been watching way too many Christmas movies." She said. "I think we should give him a different name." They thought for a bit before deciding to name it Paul. Heather named her snowman Leo, and the two of them admired their work.
"I think we did a good job." Said Michelle.
"I think so too." Said Heather. Just then, she let out a sigh.
"What is it?" asked Michelle.
"I just hope everyone else is doing okay." Said Heather. On the plane, a flight attendant was speaking with Mom.
"The pilot's doing all he can, but your phone lines back home still haven't been restored." Said the attendant. "I would suggest waiting until we land before you try again."
"I will." Said Mom. The attendant walked away, and Mom sighed.
"I still can't believe we left them behind." She said.
"Mom, just get over it." Said Christina. "There's nothing more we can do about it on the plane. We'll just have to wait until we land in Hawaii."
"All right, but the moment we land, I'm finding a phone so I can call them and make sure that they're okay." Said Mom. Back home, Michelle and Heather were still staring at their snowmen.
"I think they need something to keep them warm." Said Michelle. "Like maybe our scarves."
"I don't think so." Said Heather. "We need these to keep ourselves warm in this cold weather. Besides, I think they look just fine." They went inside the house, took out their hats, coats and scarves and set themselves back up in the living room. they spent the rest of the morning and the first bit of the afternoon watching Christmas related programming on the TV. The two of them fell asleep in the middle of watching and decided to have a nap right there and then. Forty more minutes passed before they were woken up by the sound of tapping on the window.
"What's that?" wondered Michelle. "That can't be Santa, can it?"
"I don't think so. It's not Christmas Eve yet." Said Heather. "And anyway, I don't think Santa would be here randomly during the day when he usually does all of his stuff at night." They got up from the couch and slowly headed to the window. Once they got a bit closer, Michelle got creeped out by the smile on one of them and jumped backwards.
"Heather, I think it's those guys from the news report." Said Michelle.
"I think you're right." Said Heather. She quickly closed the curtains and took Michelle into her room so that they could hide there.
"I thought you said that this house would be empty for the holidays." Said one of the men.
"I thought so too." Said his partner. "I didn't think there would be two kids here."
"What should we do, then?" asked the first man.
"We wait until nighttime and come back then." Said the partner. "Maybe the house will be empty then." They got back into their truck and drove away.
"Are they gone?" asked Michelle slowly.
"I think so." Said Heather. She went back to the window they had been out and saw nothing outside. She then went back into her room.
"All clear, Michelle. They've left." Said Heather.
"Thank goodness." Said Michelle. "I don't want any of those guys kidnapping us or something."
"Neither do I." said Heather. A few hours later, the rest of the family finally landed in Hawaii. Once they got off the plane, Mom looked everywhere for a phone, but they were all being used.
"That's no good." She said. Then she went to the customer service desk.
"This is an emergency." She said. "My youngest daughter got left behind home alone by mistake along with my oldest daughter and I need to get on a flight back to Toronto right away." The agent looked up the information on her computer, and then shook her head.
"I'm sorry, miss, but all flights are booked until after Christmas." She said.
"You mean there's nothing available?" asked Mom.
"I'm afraid not. London, Miami, Paris. You name the city, we don't have it." Said the agent. Michael went up to Mom.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"There's no flights back home." Said Mom. "What about private flights just for families?"
"I'm sorry, but we don't do that either." Said the agent. "I'll tell you what, though. If you want, you can stay at the airport, and I can put you on standby. There's a chance that a seat or two could open, but at this time of the year, I highly doubt that."
"Thanks, but I'd rather we just get to our hotel." Said Mom.
"Then I'll need your contact information so that I can phone you in case something does happen." Said the agent. They exchanged numbers and headed to the shuttle bus that would take them to their hotel. At home, Heather and Michelle were trying to figure out their dinner.
"What do we have that you could make?" asked Michelle.
"All we have are some frozen dinners." Said Heather. "I know it's not very much, but it'll have to do." She heated them up in the microwave, and then they sat down to eat their dinner.
"Well, we made it through the day without anything bad happening to us." Said Michelle. "I just hope it stays that way."
"So do I." said Heather. Later that night, after watching some more TV and racing around on Mario Kart, they both headed up to bed. Right after the girls fell asleep, the two men from earlier came back.
"Okay, time to get to work." Said the first man. They were about to knock on the door when the second guy stopped him.
"Wait a second." He said. "What if we knock, and those two girls answer?"
"I didn't think of that." Said the first man. "Plus, this house is supposed to be completely empty."
"We'll come back tomorrow. Maybe they won't be here." Said the second guy, and they left. The next morning, after the girls had eaten breakfast, Michelle was rummaging around in the bathroom for her toothbrush but couldn't find it.
"It has to be here somewhere." She said. Heather had been about to get dressed, but the commotion that was going on made her bolt out of her room and into the bathroom.
"What's wrong now?" she asked.
"I can't find my toothbrush." Said Michelle. "I bet Michael hid it somewhere on me."
"That definitely wasn't very nice." Said Heather. "How about this. We'll go to the drug store and get you a new toothbrush. We'll also go to the mall since I have some Christmas shopping that I need to do."
"Sounds good to me." Said Michelle. Both of them got dressed into matching green sweaters, grey pants and red boots, got their coats on and got into the van.
"Who do you have to buy a present for?" Michelle wondered as they drove down the street.
"I can't tell you that." Said Heather. "Otherwise, the surprise would be ruined." They listened to Christmas music as they drove, and forty minutes later, they pulled up at the mall. The moment they got inside, they were greeted by a huge mass of customers.
"My goodness, look at this crowd." Said Heather.
"Are they all doing last minute Christmas shopping?" asked Michelle.
"Probably." Said Heather. "Come on, stick with me so that we don't get split up." She grabbed Michelle's hand and led her through the wave of mall traffic as fast as the crowd would allow. They got to a GameStop but found a line outside the store.
"Look at all these people." Said Michelle.
"I just hope I can get what I want." Said Heather. Heather stayed calm, but Michelle kept tapping her feet impatiently while in the line.
"Please don't do that." Said Heather. "Besides, we're not in a hurry and we only have the drug store to go to once we're done here." Slowly, but surely, the line got smaller, and once the two of them finally got to the front of the line, Heather sent Michelle over to a nearby bench.
"You wait over there while I get your present." Heather said. Michelle sat down on the bench and looked over the crowd.
"This is definitely the busiest I've ever seen it in here." She said. She hoped Heather would be done in the store quickly, but that wasn't the case. The clerk was talking to her about some recommended titles that had released within the past year.
"I hope she picks something good." Said Michelle. Heather spent a good twenty minutes in the store before finally coming out.
"Sorry I took so long, Michelle." She said.
"That's okay." Said Michelle. "What did you get in there?"
"I can't answer that right now." Said Heather. "You'll just have to wait until Christmas morning."
"How long is that?" asked Michelle.
"Let's see. Tomorrow's Sunday, which is also Christmas Eve. That means you have to wait until Monday to see what I got in there. Plus, I have to wrap these when we get home." Said Heather. They visited several more stores getting gifts for the rest of the family members, and once they were finally finished, Michelle's stomach growled.
"I'm getting kind of hungry, Heather." She said. "I think it's time we had some lunch."
"I think so too." Said Heather. The food court had several good places, including a Wendy's and a McDonald's.
"What do you want to do for our lunch, Michelle?" asked Heather.
"I think I want McDonald's." said Michelle.
"Good choice." Said Heather. She got a Big Mac, regular fries and a diet Coke for herself and got a regular cheeseburger, fries and diet Coke for Michelle.
"This is another reason I like you a lot." Michelle said. "Mom and Dad never bring me or anyone else to these fast food places themselves. Something about us wanting to stay healthy."
"This is why you have me." Said heather. "Whenever Mom and Dad say no is where I say yes. I guess you can think of me as a super sister."
"I never looked at it that way before." Said Michelle. They happily ate their meal and headed back out to the van.
"All that's left is the drug store to get you a new toothbrush." Said Heather. The traffic had gotten heavier while the two of them were in the mall, so it took longer than usual to get to where they were going. They finally pulled up to a drug store that was ten minutes away from the house.
"What kind of toothbrush do you want to get?" asked Heather.
"I'm not sure." Said Michelle. She looked them all over before deciding on a brush that had a red handle with green stripes.
"Now that is perfect for this time of the year." Said Heather.
"Are you saying that because of red and green being Christmas colors?" asked Michelle. Heather nodded her head.
"Well, you're right about that, but there's actually another reason I picked this one." Said Michelle.
"What's that?" asked Heather.
"I picked it because of red and green being the respective colors for Mario and Luigi." Said Michelle.
"Ah, in honor of the popular video game characters that you like so much." Said Heather. "Good thinking, sis." They went to the counter so that they could pay for the toothbrush. Michelle had brought some of her allowance money with her, and was about to pull it out of her pocket to pay for the toothbrush when the door swung open and in walked the two men that had tried breaking into their house already. They were both still dressed in their Santa outfits and this made Michelle a bit nervous.
"Heather, why are these two guys here?" she asked.
"They must've followed us." Said Heather.
"Good guess, pretty lady." Said one of them.
"You're not wrong about the pretty part. Thanks for the compliment." Said Heather.
"You're welcome." Said the other man.
"Heather, we're not supposed to be engaging with these guys." Said Michelle. "They're dangerous criminals. We need to get out of here!" She quickly slammed her money onto the counter.
"Keep the change." Said Michelle. The two of them quickly ran out of the store, into the van and headed home. They breathed a sigh of relief when they got inside and found nobody else following them.
"That was a close call." Said Michelle. "I was sure that one of them was going to kidnap us or something."
"Michelle, as long as I'm here with you by your side, that won't happen." Said Heather. "Besides, I think Mom would freak is something like that did happen but I promise that it won't. Now, I have to go upstairs and wrap all these presents that I bought when we were at the mall."
"Can I help you?" asked Michelle.
"No, because then you'd see your present, which I don't want you looking at until Monday morning." Said Heather. "Go play a game on the Switch or something."
"What about dinner tonight?" asked Michelle.
"I'm honestly kind of full from our McDonald's lunch, so we'll skip dinner tonight." Said Heather. "We don't even have much left here anyway so I think a grocery shopping trip is in order tomorrow." She took the shopping bags from the mall upstairs and Michelle started up some Super Mario Wonder. The two men in the Santa suits laid low until that night, when they returned to the house. However, they found the place in full swing and the beat of Jingle Bell Rock playing on the radio.
"How in the world is there a party going on in there?" asked the lead man.
"I have no idea." His partner said. "I thought for sure the house would be empty by tonight."
"And this is why you don't make assumptions." Said the first guy. "Let's go. We'll try again tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, though." Said the second person.
"I don't care." Said the first guy. "We still have a job to do, and we'll get paid well if we can pull it off, but if we don't complete it by nightfall tomorrow, the whole operation will be a failure." They drove away, with the girls being completely oblivious the whole time since they were busy operating the cardboard cut-outs that they had pulled out to distract the crooks.
"Another successful diversion." Said Michelle. Both girls went to bed feeling quite pleased, and when they woke up the next morning, they were feeling even more happy.
"I bet you're excited about tomorrow." Said Heather.
"Of course." Said Michelle. "Tomorrow's Christmas Day, my favorite day of the year."
"I thought your birthday was your favorite day of the year." Said Heather.
"There's no rule that says I can't have two favorite days of the year." Said Michelle.
"I guess you bring up a good point there." Said Heather. "Anyway, we better get a move on if we're going to get groceries. All the stores close early today."
"How early?" Michelle wondered.
"About two o'clock." Said Heather. "Plus, the stores are likely to be crowded again."
"Shouldn't we make a list first so that we know exactly what we need?" asked Michelle.
"Good thinking." Said Heather. She took a small piece of notebook paper and a pencil from the counter and opened the fridge so she could see exactly what was needed.
"We definitely need eggs and milk." Said Heather. "There's no cold cuts or bread left, so we definitely need those."
"Don't forget cereal for me." Said Michelle.
"Don't worry, I won't forget." Assured Heather. "Do me a favor, Michelle. Check the laundry room to see if we have any detergent."
"Okay." Said Michelle. She ran off to check, and as she was doing that, Heather added soda pop to the list since the bottle of it that we had been using the other night had gotten spilled all over the kitchen floor. Thankfully, Mom had cleaned it up before her and the rest of the kids had left. Heather also decided to put ice cream, cookies and frozen pizzas on the list since Michelle liked those a lot. She looked over everything and was about to declare the list complete when Michelle came back into the kitchen.
"We're out of detergent." She announced. Heather quickly added detergent to the list and put it on the counter.
"I think that's everything then." Said Heather. "Now, it would be pretty ridiculous if we showed up at the store in our pajamas." The two of them went up to Heather's room to change, and since it was Christmas Eve, they decided to dress up nicely. Heather wore a bright green Christmas sweater that had lots of bright trees on it, a red skirt and tall black boots. Michelle put on a bright red dress with puff sleeves, a white Peter Pan collar around the neck, her white silk tights and her black Mary Jane dress shoes. The skirt of her dress went down to just below her knees and had colorful candy canes on it. She buckled up the straps on her shoes, pulled her hair into a ponytail and looked herself over in the mirror.
"I think we look good, don't we, Heather?" asked Michelle.
"I think we look very good." Said Heather, and she pulled her own hair into a ponytail. "Also, I would recommend putting a sweater over that since it's cold out." Michelle put a bright green sweater over top of her dress, but this one said Happy Holidays and didn't have any Christmas trees on it.
"Well, at least the color matches." Said Heather. "Come on, sis." Heather grabbed the list, and the two of them put their jackets on, zipped them up and started making their way to the grocery store.
"Why aren't we driving to the store?" asked Michelle.
"Because it's not too far from here." Answered Heather. She was right, as they arrived at the store after walking for only ten minutes. Heather was also right about the store being crowded inside.
"This has got to be the busiest day of the year for grocery shopping." Said Michelle.
"That would apply to any store for today." Said Heather, and she handed Michelle their list. "Now, I think it's time you learned how to shop for the groceries, so I want you to be the one to put our items into the shopping cart."
"That's fair, about how are we going to pay for these?" asked Michelle. "I don't have any money on me."
"I have money as well as my debit card, so I'll pay for them." Said Heather. "I'm also going to stay beside you the whole time so that we don't get split up." They carefully navigated the store looking for the items they needed, but with the large crowd, it took longer than it normally did. After about fifty minutes of going around, they finished up and headed to the check out. The cashier rang up the items one at a time and then gave the total.
"$82.35 please." She said.
"That's a lot for ten items." Said Michelle.
"Funny how inflation works, isn't it." Said the cashier. Heather paid for the groceries with her debit card.
"Thanks for shopping with us, and Merry Christmas." Said the cashier. The girls wished her Merry Christmas back and made their way back home.
"Well, we survived that zoo of last minute shoppers." Said Michelle. Heather let out a chuckle.
"That's putting things politely." She said. They were almost back home, when they almost got run over by a truck.
"Hey, watch where you're going, you idiots!" cried Heather.
"So sorry, miss." Said the driver. The light turned green, and the truck went on its' way.
"Heather, those weren't ordinary people in the truck." Said Michelle. "Those were the bad guys."
"You're right." Said Heather. "I just hope they don't come after us."
"I hope not either." Said Michelle. They carefully walked the rest of the way back to the house and put the groceries away.
"If those guys come back, we'll be ready to take them down for good." Said Michelle.
"I certainly hope so." Said Heather. They made sandwiches for themselves at lunchtime and then settled down to watch more Christmas programs on the TV. After another hour had passed, there was another knock on the door.
"I hope it's not those two burglars again." Said Michelle.
"We won't know unless we answer the door." Said heather. They slowly made their way to the door, and when they opened it, they found that it was indeed the two burglars. Michelle gasped a bit, but what one of them said next was something unexpected.
"Good afternoon, young ladies." One of them said. "I hate barging in on you like this, but there's been an emergency at the North Pole."
"What kind of emergency?" asked Heather.
"Santa has a broken arm and can't deliver any presents tonight." Said the second man. "He specifically asked for the younger one here to take his place."
"Why would Santa ask this on short notice like this, especially on Christmas Eve on all days?" wondered Michelle.
"Beats me, Michele." Said Heather. "Listen, she's a little young to go all the way up there by herself. Would it be okay if I went with her?"
"Sorry, but Santa asked specifically for her." Said the first man.
"Well then, at least let me see her leave so that I know she'll be safe." Said Heather.
"Very well." Said the first man. Heather stood and watched as the two men led Michelle toward their truck. Michelle was smiling at first since she was excited about a once in a lifetime opportunity, but once the got to the truck, she was suddenly forced inside.
"Hey!" cried Michelle. She tried to open the door, but the men had locked it once they had closed it.
"Michelle!" cried Heather. She ran toward the truck, but right when she got close, it took off.
"Mom's not going to be happy about this." Said Heather. "I'm supposed to protect Michelle, and instead, she gets kidnapped on Christmas Eve. I knew something was fishy when they mentioned something about Santa's supposed injury." She immediately ran to their neighbor's house next door and rang the bell.
"Please, let somebody be home." She said. Thankfully, a kind middle aged woman in her early sixties opened the door.
"Oh hello, heather." She said. "I thought you and your sister were supposed to be in Hawaii with your family."
"We were, but a mishap happened, and my sister and I got left home alone by mistake." Said heather.
"I see." Said the lady. "Please, come in. I wouldn't want you getting sick from being out in the cold too long." Heather thanked her and followed her into the kitchen.
"Some of the time we've been home, two burglars have been after us, but Michelle and I have been able to fool us every time and put a stop to what they've been trying." Said heather.
"Good for you, dear." Said the lady.
"However, those same two men kidnapped Michelle just now, and I have no clue what they might do to her. She's probably scared."
"I can imagine so." Said the lady. "I hope you were able to stop them."
"I tried to, but they drove off before I could do anything." Said Heather. "Fortunately, I got the license plate number of the truck." She took her phone out and showed the lady the photo she had taken right as the truck had started driving off.
"Good for you, dear." Said the lady. "That'll make things much easier for the police." She dialed the emergency number but was greeted by a voicemail.
"All officers are currently busy." Said the recording. "Please leave a message or try your call again later." The lady hung up the phone.
"The police are all busy." She said sadly.
"What do we do now?" asked Heather.
"I have another idea." Said the lady, and she pulled out her GPS tracker.
"My husband got me this for Christmas last year. Figured I could use it since I kept getting lost on the road half the time." Said the lady.
"I imagine that it must be very helpful." Said Heather.
"It's quite helpful." Said the lady. She tried putting several addresses into the tracker, but none of them were what they were looking for.
"This is getting us nowhere." Said the lady. "And we've been at this for at least forty minutes already."
"Wait a minute, I think I might have an idea where she might've been taken." Said heather. "From what I remember seeing in movies, kidnappers usually tend to take their hostages to giant warehouses that don't really serve much purpose."
"Very good thinking, Heather." Said the lady. "Let's see if we can find one in the tracker." They spent the next thirty minutes, and kept coming up empty, until they found one warehouse that was just outside of town.
"That has to be it." Said Heather.
"Let me try putting some other ones in first just to be sure." Said the lady. However, another ten minutes of searching yielded no results.
"I think you're right, Heather." Said the lady. She tried calling the police again, and this time, she was successful in getting an officer. The lady explained the situation, gave them the address she had figured out and hung up the phone.
"The police are heading there now." Said the lady.
"Let's go get my sister back." Said Heather. The two of them got into the woman's car and took off.
"I hope the police appreciate the work we did." Said heather.
"They should." Said the lady. "After all, I use to work for the police."
"I didn't know that." Said Heather.
"I worked for them for about forty years, so since before you were born." Said the lady. "I retired a couple of years ago, and I've been quite happy since."
"You must've handled quite a lot of cases." Said Heather. "Did any of them involve child kidnappings?"
"Some of them did, but thankfully, those kids were found safe and sound every time." Said the lady. "I'm certain that your sister will also be found safe since we acted very quickly."
"I really hope those men haven't done any harm to her." Said Heather.
"I hope not either." Said the lady. "By the way, what were those two men wearing when they took your sister away?"
"They were dressed like Santa." Said Heather.
"Very odd for Santa to be wandering around in broad daylight." Said the lady.
"That's the same suspicion I had." Said Heather. The two men were keeping a close eye on Michelle in the warehouse that she had been taken to.
"You crooks better let me go right now!" she demanded.
"Not a chance." One of them said.
"What do we do with the kid?" asked the first man.
"We're going to use her to help us steal presents from every kid in the city." Said the second crook. Michelle gasped, as she didn't like the idea of being turned into a thief.
"You can't do that. I'm a good kid that never steals." She said.
"Shut up!" yelled both men at once. They continued talking, but they whispered so that the rest of the conversation couldn't be heard. Michelle tried to free herself from the rope that was keeping her tied to the chair she was sitting in, but the squirming around did no good as the ropes were tied tight.
"Can you loosen the ropes a little?" she asked.
"No." said the first man. They continued their talking elsewhere, and Michelle let out a sigh.
"Heather, I hope you can come and save me." She said. An hour later, the two men had finished their conversation.
"All right kid, let's go." Said the first man. He was about to untie Michelle when they heard sirens approaching.
"Uh oh." Said the second man. Next thing they knew, two officers burst into the room.
"Come out with your hands up!" one of them yelled. The next person to step forward was Heather, which put a big smile on Michelle's face.
"Michelle!" cried Heather. She ran over to the chair and started to untie her.
"I thought I'd never see you again." Said Michelle.
"I was thinking the same thing." Said Heather.
"How did you know I was here?" asked Michelle.
"Let's just say that I had some help from a retired officer." Said Heather, and the lady stepped forward.
"Michelle, I'm so glad to see that you're all right." She said.
"I'm just glad it didn't get any worse." Said Michelle.
"All right boys, let's go." Said the second police officer. They led the men away into the police car and drove off, and heather finished untying Michelle. The two girls then embraced in a reunion hug.
"Come on girls, let's get you both home." Said the lady. The three of them got into her car and headed back to her house. When they got there, the lady invited both of them in.
"Thanks again for saving me." Said Michelle.
"It was no trouble at all, dear." Said the lady. "I have an idea. My husband's away this whole week, and I don't have anyone to spend Christmas Eve with. Why don't you both have dinner with me tonight?"
"I'd like that." Said Heather.
"So would I." said Michelle. The three of them went into the kitchen where the lady started prepping dinner.
"I'm afraid I don't have any turkey, but I do have some salmon and pasta that I can make." She said.
"That's fine." Said Michelle. It took a while for dinner to be ready, but once seven o'clock came, they finally sat down to eat. The girls smiled after taking the first bite.
"This is probably the best meal you've ever made for us." Said Michelle.
"I'm glad you both like it." Said the lady. Once dinner had finished, the lady went over to her tree and handed over two envelopes.
"I wasn't expecting to give these to you until after you came back, but I guess this is a good time since you're both here." She said. She gave a green envelope to Michelle and a red one to Heather. Heather opened hers first and found one hundred and fifty dollars inside her card.
"Thank you so much." Said Heather.
"You're welcome." Said the lady. "And now Michelle, it's your turn." Michelle opened up her envelope and card, and found two hundred and fifty dollars in hers.
"Woah, this is a lot of money." She said.
"Feel free to spend it on whatever you like." Said the lady.
"Thanks a lot!" cried Michelle.
"You're welcome, dears." Said the lady. "You know, It's a Wonderful Life is playing on TV tonight, and if you both want to, you can stay and watch the movie with me."
"We'd be happy to stay." Said Michelle.
"Thanks, girls." Said the lady. The movie started at eight and went for three hours when commercial time was included. Once the bells played at the end, Michelle let out a yawn.
"Well, I think somebody's tired." Said the lady.
"I am." Said Michelle. "I'm usually not allowed to stay up this late."
"Thanks again for all your help today to get my sister away from those bad guys." Said Heather.
"You're quite welcome." Said the lady. "Good night, and Merry Christmas." The girls had just enough strength to walk back to their house and trudge up to their bedroom.
"I think it's high time we go to sleep so that Santa can come." Said Heather. "But first, there's one thing I have to do." Once they had changed into their pajamas, Heather went into the kitchen and left out a plate of cookies and milk. She then took the wrapped pile of presents she had bought yesterday and put them under the tree. When she returned to the room, both girls fell asleep right away. The next morning, both girls were smiling even more than the previous day. That was because it was Christmas morning, which caused Michelle to get very excited. She tore the covers off the bed and started jumping up and down on the bed.
"Heather, wake up! It's Christmas morning!" she cried. Heather couldn't help but chuckle.
"Normally I'd be upset with you for waking me up like that, but since it's Christmas, an exception can be made here." Said Heather. They both ran downstairs and checked the kitchen first. Some of the cookies had been eaten and there was half a glass of milk left.
"Santa's definitely been here." Said Michelle.
"He sure has." Said Heather. "Want to go open presents?"
"Yes please!" cried Michelle. They ran into the living room, and Heather handed Michelle two presents.
"These are both for you. They're the ones I got at GameStop the other day." Said Heather. Michelle tore off the wrapping paper on both of them and found copies of Pokemon Scarlet and Super Mario RPG.
"I've been wanting these ever since they came out." Said Michelle.
"I know." Said Heather. "I wanted to get you the Pokemon one last year, but they were sold out, so better late than never."
"Thanks a bunch, Heather." Said Michelle.
"You're welcome." Said Heather.
"I kind of feel bad that I didn't get you anything, though." Said Michelle.
"After what happened to you yesterday, getting you back home safe and sound is a good enough present for me." Said Heather, and the two girls hugged each other. Suddenly, they heard the front door open, and a familiar voice called out.
"Michelle! Heather!" The girls knew who that voice belonged to.
"Mom!" cried Michelle. The two of them ran up to her and hugged her.
"How did you get home so quickly?" asked Michelle.
"Some seats miraculously opened up for an overnight flight back home, so we took them and here we are." Said Mom. Everyone else followed directly inside and hugged the girls.
"Glad to see that you're both safe." Said Christine.
"Listen girls, I'm very sorry we left you both behind." Said Mom. "With all the rushing around to get to the airport after we slept in, we forgot to make sure that the two of you were accounted for. Again, I am so sorry for that."
"That's okay, Mom." Said Heather. "I mean, nobody's perfect."
"That's true." Said Mom. "I do appreciate you looking after Michelle while we were away, though. I hope she didn't cause any trouble."
"She was very well behaved, actually." Said Heather.
"I'm very glad to hear that." Said Mom, and she turned to the rest of the kids. "All right guys, unpack and then we can open presents." While all of that was going on, Heather took Michelle back into her room.
"Should we tell Mom about my being kidnapped yesterday?" asked Michelle.
"Absolutely not." Said Heather. "If she were to know about that, she would never leave us here by ourselves again. It'll be our little secret. Promise me that you won't say anything to Mom."
"I promise." Said Michelle.
"Good girl." Said heather, and they went to join the rest of their family.
The End