Hey! Everyone! I'm here to deliver another chapter! Enjoy!


It was another day in Aberdale and since the weekend had arrived, it was the perfect time to go outside and enjoy the day…had it not been for the heavy rains and rough winds. Despite this, however, that didn't stop Clarence and Sumo from playing in the mud, flinging lumps of dirt at one another like makeshift projectiles. In the middle of their fun time, though, Tionona came out of the trailer home and called out the boys.

"Sumo! Clarence! Get inside! Time for dinner!"

"Okay, Mom!" Sumo shouted back.

"Clean yourselves up before you come in!" Tionona quickly went back inside, leaving the two boys alone.

"Let's use the gardening hose to wash ourselves," Clarence suggested.

"Way ahead of you," Sumo grabbed the hose and sprayed water all over his friend, quickly washing all of the grime, mud, and dirt off his body and clothes, before doing the same with himself.

"There we go all cleaned!" Clarence grinned.

"You got that!" Sum gave his friend a thumbs up.

Both boys entered the trailer, where the rest of Sumo's family was at the dining table, while Mel was at the kitchen sink, washing his hands.

"Alright kids…" Mel began. "I was going to cook tonight, but the stove and oven aren't working."

Everyone but Tionona herself was surprised by this and murmured with one another upon hearing his response.

"Settle down, everyone. He's not done yet," Tionnona calmed the group down.

"That is why I gather everyone here to decide what you guys want for takeout," as soon as Mel was finished, everyone became very excited, for takeouts was a rarity among them.

"Oh yeah!" one of Sumo's brothers shouted.

"I have a taste for Chinese food!" Another shouted.

"No, I want seafood!"

"Barbeque!"

"Rough riders!"

"ENOUGH!" Mel shouted and immediately, everyone grew silent. "Now, I will have the final say on what we will get."

"Oh, what did you decide to get for everyone, Dad?" Sumo curiously asked.

"Mexican food," the Sumouski were surprised by this, but smiled and accepted his answer, with Clarence doing the same thing.

"Now, I just need to order it and we should be good to go," Mel grabbed the phone, a pen, and a notepad. "Now tell me what you all want."

One by one, everyone told Mel what they wanted and wrote them down on the notepad. After several long minutes of jotting everything down, he called Baja Grill and gave the person on the phone his order, before hanging up the phone, satisfied with the results.

"Okay, it will take a half hour for the food to be ready," Mel explained. "I'll head out now."

Mel grabbed his coat and exited the trailer home, leaving just Tionona, their kids, and their friend behind.

"Hey Clarence, let's go to my room," Sumo suggested. "Got something to show you."

"Right behind you!" Clarence giggled with excitement.

The two boys ran towards the bedroom, with Tionona happily watching the kids go back to playing, but before she could go back to watching TV…

"Are you freaking kidding me?!"

Startled by this, she looked through the small window and saw her husband working on his truck, along with a trail of smoke lingering in the air.

"Uh oh," Wasting no time, a concerned Tionona bolted out of the trailer home. "What happened?!"

"The truck's engine is acting up!" An annoyed Mel answered. "I'll try and fix the engine."

"..Don't hurt yourself now."

"I'll keep that in mind, with that, Tionona went back inside, just as rain began pouring down hard on Mel. "Dang it, not now, Mother Nature!"


Twenty minutes later…

"ARGH! An angry and wet Mel kicked the door open, as his whole family poked their heads at the commotion.

"What happened, Dad?" Sumo was the first to ask, as Mel took a deep breath, before offering his answer.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the truck is down," upon hearing this, the kids groaned in frustration, before Mel spoke again. "I know, and I can't call Tanner and Joseph, because they don't have cell phones."

"Oh! Oh! Sumo and I can go get it for you!" Clarence boldly suggested, with Sumo nodding in agreement, prompting everyone to look at the two with shocked expressions.

"You two, going out there?!" As soon as Tionona said this, the sound of thunder was heard in the background. "No way! It's too dangerous."

"Oh, come on, Mom! We can handle it!" Sumo stubbornly insisted.

"How about this…" Mel interjected. "If you have someone accompanying you and holding the cash, you boys can go."

"Deal, Dad!" Sumo instantly accepted the terms.

"Fantastic." Mel turns his attention to the rest of the children. "Alright, who would love to volunteer?"

Sumo's younger brothers remained quiet, uneasy, and nervous about venturing outside in such harsh weather until Brandi decided to speak up.

"I'll go with them."

"Are you sure sweetie?" Tionona asked. "You will be out in that storm."

"I'll be alright," Brandi assured her mom.

"So it's settled then," Mel accepted his daughter's answer. "Alright, come here and I'll hand over the cash."

Brandi walked over to her dad, and he handed her the money before she grabbed her jacket and joined the boys at the front door, both wearing their jackets, as Clarence got the umbrella ready.

"Alright kids, be careful out there," Tionona said.

"Don't worry, they got this," Mel reassured his wife, before turning to them. "Right?"

"Of course," Sumo gave his parents a thumbs up, as he opened the door.

"We'll be back before you know it," Clarence declared, before the kids headed out into the rain, with Brandi closing the door behind.

"You think they would be alright?" Tionona asked.

"I'm sure they will be fine. Besides, I raised Tanner and Joseph to be tough and they came out fine."

"That's exactly why I'm worried." Tionona let out a frustrated sigh.


"Ack! This wind is something else!" Clarence panickedly held onto the nearest traffic pole.

"Tell me about it!" Sumo shouted. "How are you holding up, Brandi?!"

"I'll manage, but at this rate, we're going to get blown away!" Brandi replied.

"She's right! We need to find a place to recover!" Clarence agreed.

"But we've only been outside for like a few minutes!" Sumo argued. "We can keep going!"

Reluctantly, both Clarence and Brandi continued onwards, following Sumo's lead towards their destination. However, the weather was becoming more and more fierce as time passed, but despite this, the trio managed to make it through several blocks, before they decided to take shelter in the nearest place they could find. Fortunately, though, Chuckleton's wasn't too far, and quickly went inside, being surrounded by several people within the building.

"Welcome to Chuckleton's! Table for three?" asked a female employer.

"We're not here to dine, miss. We need to take shelter because of how bad the storm is," Sumo explained.

"No!"

Startled, everyone turned around and saw Clarence down on his knees, clutching his now ruined umbrella and sobbing uncontrollably!

"I was going to use it for the longest time!"

"Don't worry, Clarence, it's gonna be alright," Brandi patted the boy's back.

"Wait, what are you kids even doing out there at this hour?!" The female employer asked in complete bewilderment.

"Would you believe we're out to get our dinner to go?" Brandi briefly explained.

"...I see. If that's what you kids are going to do, then stay safe out there," The female employer turned her attention to Clarence. "You can try to have the wind blow your umbrella back, but I would be careful, as it's quite risky."

"...Thank you!" Clarence expressed his gratitude, as he, Sumo, and Brandi left the restaurant to continue their journey once more.


Not long after leaving Chuckleton's, the trio passed through several neighborhoods and unfortunately for them, the storm managed to die down by this point, though the road was filled with numerous puddles, as many vehicles splashed water on the trio passing by them, much to their dismay. Unfortunately, the relief was short-lived, as the rain came back and the wind started to pick up by the time they reached Aberdale Zoo, which was oddly opened for some reason.

"I didn't think the zoo would be open in this kind of weather," Brandi remarked.

"Who cares about that," Sumo casually shrugged. "We can just rest here for now."

The kids passed through the booth and quickly made their way inside the aquarium, only to be unexpectedly greeted by a familiar voice.

"Clarence? Sumo? Fancy meeting you here."

Startled, the trio turned around and saw Rita, snacking on some hotdog.

"Hey Rita! I see that you are enjoying yourself," Clarence greeted her. "Is Chelsea with you?"

"Naw, she's busy watching her sister and her cat," she nonchalantly replied.

"I see…" Clarence could frown in response, his unfortunate experience with Crumbles still fresh in his mind after so long.

"Clarence, don't feel too bad about it," Rita let out a few giggles.

"How can I not? Do you have any idea how many baths I had to take to get that fish smell off?!" he complained.

"I know, Clarence. I know," Sumo patted his friend's back.

"Thanks, Sumo."

"What are you guys even doing here?" Rita asked.

"We're trying to get to Baja Grill to pick up dinner for my family," Sumo replied.

"Oh nice," Rita then turns to face Brandi. "Oh, who's this?"

"Brandi, my little sister," Sumo introduced her to Rita.

"Hey," Brandi casually greeted. Rita let out a gasp at the sight of her.

"Ididn'tknowyouhadsisterSumo! Name'sRita!Sonicetomeetyou!Whatareyourhobbies?!"

"Slow down right there!" Sumo placed his hands on Rita's mouth, waiting for her to calm down, before releasing his grasp.

"My bad," she sheepishly rubbed her head.

"Don't worry about it, I understand everything you said," Brandi said. "Anyway, I'm happy to meet one of my brother's classmates."

Rita couldn't help but smile, appreciating her response very much, before an idea came to her.

"Say, why don't you guys join me in looking at aquatic life?"

"We love to, but we should probably leave," Sumo declined.

"We can spare a few minutes," Clarence injected.

"Can we? Please Sumo." Brandi gave her older brother the puppy eye with Clarence and Rita joining in on the stunt. Sumo tried to dart his eyes away, but it was starting to become too much for him.

'I hate it whenever they do that!' Sumo thought before he sighed and took a deep breath. "...Fine, we can stay, but only for a little bit okay?"

"Alright!" Rita, Brandi, and Clarence shouted in unison, as they excitedly ran towards the water tank to their right, leaving Sumo to himself, who only shook his head in response.

"Something tells me that we're going to be here longer."


After several minutes, the kids were enjoying each other's company, resting at the snack bar after watching a lengthy documentary about aquatic creatures, and despite learning a few certain facts about some of the aquatic creatures they were familiar with, they enjoyed it and more so to see a few more people inside, despite the intense rainstorm they were having.

"Well…that was interesting," Rita commented as she took a sip of orange juice.

"Honestly, I could have gone on without hearing the diet of what certain aquatic creatures eat," Brandi remarked. "I can't imagine any creature would find a jellyfish delicious!"

"Some of them find it tasty, though I wonder how they would be able to chew on it while being electrocuted," Clarence quipped before he gasped. "You know, we should ask someone!"

"Ew, no way, Clarence!" Brandi quickly shot down the suggestion."

"For once, I rather not know," Sumo agreed.

"Ditto," Rita nods her head.

"...Alright, I understand," Clarence conceded to their demands.

"So what do you want to do next?" Rita asked.

Before anyone could answer, all the lights immediately went off, startling many people and annoying a few more. Some of the staff, however, went outside to check the back of the building, where the power source was; when they got there, they discovered that the electrical fuse box was fried. Despite this, though, they fixed it to the best of their abilities as much as they could, to no avail.

"Great, how are we gonna feed and care for all the animals?" A female staff member panicked.

"Forget the animals! We need to have everyone evacuate the zoo immediately!" Another female staff member argued.

"And leave the animals at the mercy of the weather? No way!" The sole male staff member objected.

"That's enough, both of you!" The staff turned and saw a young woman coming towards them. "You two, I want you to rally everyone in the aquarium and keep their morals up."

"Got it!" The two female staff went back inside leaving the male staff and the female leader alone.

"And I want you to join me in calming down the animals."

"Say no more!" with that, the male staff member followed his leader to where the animals were at.


"What's going on out there? Are we going to be ok?" asked a concerned Brandi.

"Don't worry! I'm sure the power will come back," Clarence reassured her.

"Yeah, it's most likely just a power outage." Sumo casually shrugged.

Just then, two female staff members from before came back and went in front of the door.

"You spoke too soon Sumo," Rita commented, prompting Sumo to roll his eyes in response.

"Okay everyone, the power has been cut off and it looks like it will remain that way for a while. So for now, remain calm and do not panic."

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Rita.

"Y-yeah, just a bit tired. It's nothing to worry about," Brandi insisted.

Sumo, though, wasn't fully convinced but decided to keep it quiet for the moment.

"Now I know you all are feeling tense, nervous, and agitated, but please try to relax." the other female staff member said.

"What's going to happen to us?" Clarence worriedly asked.

"We're going to evacuate you guys…" the female staff member began. "Just follow instructions and we will be okay. For now, stay where we are until we say otherwise."

Everyone remained quiet as they waited for further instructions. The crowd tries to pass the time, from talking to one another and scrolling through the pamphlet to looking outside from the windows or dozing off. After much time had passed, another female staff member came in.

"Okay, everyone follows me."

The crowd quickly lined up and followed the staff member's lead, except for those who fell asleep and unfortunately, Clarence and his friends were among them. As the last person left the building the door closed, with the group now outside heading towards the front entrance.

"Alright, I want you all to stay close to each other. The animals were getting a bit restless so I want to keep your distance," the female staff member advised the group

"Isn't anyone going to help them?" One teenage girl worriedly asked, looking at Clarence's group.

"Of course, the rest of the staff are doing everything they can."

As if to be proven wrong, more than a few animals began acting out erratically, particularly the lions and monkeys, who were ramming on the bars and glass screens rather hard. Understandably, everyone became on edge, with some distancing for safety. If that wasn't enough, a loud banging noise ended up agitating some of the larger animals.

"Oh no, we need to move fast," The female staff member turned to her co-workers. "Lead them to the left! The right is too dangerous!"

She nodded her head and led the group to the left, much to their relief. It was short-lived, however, as one of the animals managed to bust through the gates, allowing it to leave its cage: a medium-sized South China tiger, followed by a group of monkeys, an alligator, a small-sized Asiatic Lion, and a band of penguins.

"Holy crap!" the female staff member shrieked, but tried her best to remain calm in the situation. "Easy now, I know your critters are scared and restless but we are doing our best to keep things under control. Now I want you all to go back to your cages."

Despite her best efforts to calm them down, the animals roared and screeched in response; suddenly, the animals lunged at her, followed by a terrifying scream that could be heard throughout the zoo for all to hear.


"Ugh..." Sumo was the first to open his eyes, followed by his sister and his friends.

"...How long were we out?" Brandi asked.

"Beats me." A groggy Clarence spoke as he rubbed his eyes.

"Did you guys hear that scream?" asked Rita.

"Yeah, I did," Sumo answered.

"So did I," Brandi nodded before a sudden realization came to her. "Guys! We need to get to Baja Grill!"

"Don't just stand there, get going!" Rita urged the group

So the entire group began to head to the main entrance, just in time to be greeted by the sight of an intense storm of wind and rain.

"Ack! When did this storm get worse?!" A panicked Clarence asked.

"How long did we even sleep!" Brandi shouted.

"Let's focus on getting our dinner right away!" a determined Sumo shouted.

"In this storm? I doubt it," Rita disagreed. "We're going to need a miracle for this one."

"HELP!" the four turned around and saw the now panicked female staff member being chased by the now-freed caged animals trailing behind her. Brandi's eyes lit upon seeing the scenario play out in front of her.

"Guy, I think I just got an idea."

"We're listening…" Sumo began, as he, Clarence, and Brandi leaned closer to Brandi.


"Chad honey, care to help me with the groceries?"

"Say no more, I'm on it," Chad went out and picked up the groceries for Mary, much to her joy.

"Thanks, sweetie." Mary expressed her gratitude before unpacking the groceries herself, all the while flipping through a few channels along the way, before she stopped on the news channel, just as it began playing the latest current event in Aberdale.

"Breaking news, a group of animals have just escaped from captivity, and are now running amok on the streets!"

"Oh my," Mary, though worried, shook her head right away. "At least Clarence is safe inside with his friend Sumo."

"We are now going on live TV, with Sophie in front of Aberdale Zoo. Sophie."

"Thank you, Arney, I'm here in front of Aberdale Zoo and as you can see here, the animals have caused much chaos, and the streets are now riddled with traffic."

Hysterical screams and blazing horns can be heard in the background. However, that was nothing compared to what happened next.

"COMING THROUGH!"

The cameraman turned to his right and saw four children riding one of the freed animals; Upon closer inspection, it was none other than Clarence, Sumo, Rita, and Brandi, with both boys riding on a tiger, Rita riding on a lion and Brandi was hanging on the monkey's back, as it hop from tree to tree.

Mary blinked a few times, having trouble believing that her son was out in the storm causing amok, before shaking her head in disbelief.

"Mary, are you ok?" Chad asked with concern.

"I-I'm fine Chad. I must be seeing things," Mary wearily replied, before she resumed unpacking the groceries.


"Sumo, how far are we from Baja Grill?!" Clarence loudly asked.

"What street are we on Brandi?!" Sumo called out to her sister.

Brandi observed the area for a bit. "We're on Linden Street!"

"Okay and Baja Grill is located on Alm Street, so we still have much distance to cover!" Sumo informed his friends and sister.

"Good thing our animal friends are taking us to our destination!" Rita shouted.

"Right?! I didn't think this would happen today and yet here we are!" Sumo exclaimed.

"You got that right!" Clarence agreed before he and Sumo bumped their fists.

"Heh, this day has become quite interesting," Brandi commented. "If I had known how much fun I would have with my brother, I would have joined up with them more often."

"Same," Rita stated.

The four relaxed, as the tiger, lion, and monkey continued…at least, until they arrived to the next block, as the group spotted numerous animal control vans, along with many vets that were well-suited for such an incident. Most of the animals turned around and started running for their lives, with the vets pursuing them in their vans not long afterward, Clarence, Sumo, Rita, and Brandi are left at the mercy of their animals' frantic behavior, as they increased their speed much faster than usual: the monkey and the tiger that the kids ride on respectively split up, while the lion continued onwards on its own.

"Rita!" Clarence called out to his friend.

"See you guys later!" Rita waved the group her farewells, as the lion turned to the corner.

"Brandi!" Sumo called out to his sister, as the monkey swung in the opposite direction.

The boys couldn't get off the tiger on account of the overall speed their beast was running. An opening showed itself when they came across a river.

"Clarence we have to jump!" Sumo said, as Clarence looked down at his steed and patted his head gently.

"Thank you for the ride!"

The tiger let out a neutral growl in response before Sumo and Clarence hopped off the tiger and landed straight first into the river, watching their feline friend run off on its own, still being pursued by the vets from behind.

"You are now free!" Clarence happily shouted as he and Sumo swam into shore.

"Well, that went well," Sumo commented. "Come on, let's find Brandi!"

"Lead the way!"

Once they swam back to higher grounds, Sumo and Clarence walked around the area looking for Brandi, searching every house, corner, and yard, but she was nowhere in sight, much to Sumo's dismay. His sister's well-being was at stake and if his dad ever found out that he and his sister had gotten lost, he would be in a lot of trouble.

'Don't jump to conclusions right now. I can find Brandi and bring her back home safe and sound,' once he calmed down, Sumo continued to search for his sister before it got too dark in Aberdale.

Upon reaching Wonder Ave, they saw a figure that was sitting on a light pole. Curiously, the boys ran towards the figure, and much to their relief, it was Brandi herself.

"Sumo! Clarence!"

"Oh thank goodness you're safe!"

"If you count being stuck up here as being safe then yeah, I'm safe!"

"Alright Brandi, let's just calm down and get you down," Sumo was annoyed by his sister's sassy remark, but was at least grateful nothing bad happened to her.

"I have an idea: why don't you jump down and we'll both catch you," Clarence suggested.

"But what if you don't catch me?!" Brand, understandably, was worried about his idea.

"Well, you might end up breaking something," Clarence answered nonchalantly.

"That…doesn't make me feel better," Brandi grew paled, too horrified to imagine that possible outcome.

"Not cool, Clarence!" Sumo scolded his friend.

"Remember you broke your leg the other day? You managed to take it like a champ!" Clarence countered.

"That didn't mean it didn't hurt!" Sumo disagreed.

"One time I saw a guy who broke his arm and he couldn't feel it which resulted in the arm becoming a noodle."

Upon hearing this, Brandi's lip quivered, before bursting into tears, much to Sumo's anger, prompting him to smack Clarence in the back of the head.

"Ow! I was just telling her what I saw!"

"Your answer scared her! Now she will NEVER come down!"

"Oh, come on! I'm sure we can find a way to get her down," Clarence tried to reassure his friend.

"Alright then, I'll leave it to you," Sumo said with apathy, as he folded his arms.

"...What?" Clarence blinked a few times, unable to understand what was spoken to him.

"You said you can bring her down, so I want you to prove it."

"...Okie dokie!" Clarence happily said before he faced Brand. "You can slide down the pole like one of those firefighters."

"Are you out of your mind?! It's wet! I can easily lose my grip and fall!" Brandi objected.

"I'll catch you!" Clarence tried to reassure her once more.

"No way I'm coming down now!" Brandi shook her head, as Clarence let out a shrug and faced Sumo.

"Well, I tried."

"What?! That's it?! So much for helping!"

"Okay, what is your deal Sumo?" Clarence was now getting annoyed by Sumo's

"What is MY deal? The deal is that you're treating today like it's a game!"

"You sure are more grumpy than 's cat!"

"You've been stalling us from getting dinner! I promise Dad we'll be back with it, but you keep putting us at risk!"

"I was only trying to help and no one got hurt!"

Soon, the two were bickering like the odd couple they were, leaving Brandi looking on in disbelief, still stuck where she was. She should have let go of her ride when she had the chance, but she didn't because she enjoyed it so much. Sure, it was fun back then, but that fun wore off after she landed right on top of somewhere too far for her to land safely.

'This couldn't get any worse.'

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew into Brandi's direction, as she held on for dear life. Try as she might, her grip was starting to loosen up, just as the two boys looked in her direction.

"BRANDI!" Sumo and Clarence shouted in unison

"SUMO!"

Before they could act, Brand's grip completely loosened, as she began to fall downwards. By a miracle, though, a tree was nearby and by a stroke of luck, she managed to grab the nearest branch, before safely climbing down, as the duo rushed towards her.

"Brandi! I'm so glad you are alright!" Sumo hugged his sister tightly. "Are you hurt anywhere?!"

"I-I'm alright, Sumo," Brandi replied, still shaken from what happened. "L-Let's just get our dinner and head back home."

"Say no more." Sumo took the lead as they resumed their destination, with Brandi holding onto her older sibling's hand.


"Welcome to Baja Grill!" A male employee greeted the kids as they entered the building. "Oh my, you kids are soaked to the bone!"

"Gee, you think?" asked an amused Sumo "Anyway, we're here to pick up the order my pop made earlier."

"What is the name of the order?"

"Uh…" Sumo thought long and hard, but he couldn't recall what it was. He was so worried about getting to their destination that he forgot to consider who

"It'll be okay, Sumo," Brandi said, putting her hand on her brother's shoulder, as he sighed in defeat. And then…

'I remember now!' Sumo gave himself a mental slap, before facing the employee once more. "Mel my good sir!"

"Ah yes, Mel Sumouski?" The employee scrolled down the clipboard.

"That's the one!" Brandi spoke up.

"Excellent! You guys took a long time to get here." The employee commented.

"Well, it began after we left home…" Sumo began.


"...And that's how we got from our place to here," Sumo finished his extraordinary story to the employee after several long minutes, who only gave the young boy a sympathetic smile.

"You must be tired from all that chaos that happened today. Luckily for you three, your food just finished just a minute ago, so they're good to go."

"That's good to hear," Brandi smiled upon hearing this.

"I'll be right back with your food." The male employee went to the kitchen to pick up their food, leaving the kids alone, as they sat down at some nearby empty seats and collapsed from exhaustion.

"Thanks for getting us out of that pickle," Brandi said

"Yeah Clarence, you saved our bacon," Sumo pats his friend's back.

"Oh, it was nothing," Clarence bashfully rubbed his head. "When I was trying to get you down from the light pole, I didn't mean it. I wanted to calm you down, Brandi, but it had the opposite effect."

"I know and I appreciate it."

"And I'm sorry that I've gotten a bit rough with you." Sumo apologized to his friend.

"It's okay Sumo, you had a very good reason too." Clarence nervously chuckled. "But aside from that, today was quite something wasn't it?"

"Oh, you telling me!" Brandi became excited. "I get to ride an animal!"

"Not what I had in mind, but at least we got something to share with everyone," Sumo remarked before all three laughed their heads off from their slight detour.

"Alright, I have your food here!" The male employer called the trio up.

"You have the money ready?" Sumo faced his sister.

"I sure do!" Brandi took out the money and handed them to the cashier. "Will this be enough?"

"Just the perfect amount!"

The kids grabbed the bags and left Baja Grill, just as Brandi let out a sneeze.

"Brandi, are you ok?" Clarence asked with concern.

"Yeah, just a bit cold from being wet," Brandi replied. "I don't want to walk back in the rain. By the way, do buses come out on Friday night?"

"They should," Sumo replied, before looking at the nearby bus stop, just as their ride showed up right on time. "Quickly, guys!"

Sumo, Brandi, and Clarence ran across the street and made it to the bus, as the bus driver opened the door for them.

"Don't worry about paying the fee," she said. "The change machine isn't working, so take a seat."

The trio accepted the bus driver's response without asking further questions, as they sat down and the bus rode off back to the Sumouski residence.


"Achoo!"

"Here you go, sweetie."

"Thank you, mom."

"No problem. Now just rest easy and I'll get you some orange juice."

Brandi nodded, as she watched her mother exit the room. Sumo then entered the bedroom soon after, carrying a large blanket.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, handing her the blanket.

"I'm fine and thank you for the blanket.," Brandi expressed her gratitude.

"Anything for you, sis." Sumo patted her head, as he sat on the floor.

"Where's Clarence?"

"He's in the living watching TV."

Mel entered the bedroom. "Hey, you two!"

"Hey, Dad!" Both Sumo and Brandi answered in unison.

"Good job today on getting dinner for us," Mel appreciated their help.

"Thanks, Dad!" Brandi happily smiled. "Though I do apologize for taking too long. So many things happened while we were out."

"Understandable." Mel waved off any concerns that his children may have. "I didn't want to send you out in the rain like that ever again."

"It's okay, Dad," Sumo quickly forgave his dad. "We got the job done at the end."

Mel cannot help but smile at his children with pride. "Well, I'll leave you two alone. I'll be in the living room with everyone."

Mel then left the bedroom, just as Clarence began to speak up.

"Sumo, come on down and eat with us!"

"You go on ahead, Sumo. I'll be fine," Brandi said.

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" Sumo asked.

"I said I'll be fine," Brandi insisted. "For now, go on and play with your friend."

"If you need anything, you know where to find me."

Brandi let out a chuckle, as she watched her brother run out of the bedroom, followed by a big yawn.

"I'm beat from today. Laying my head wouldn't hurt."

Getting comfortable in her bed, Brandi laid her head down and watched her family enjoying their dinner, until she drifted off to her sleep. Clarence and the Sumouski family, meanwhile, enjoyed the rest of the day in the shelter, as the storm continued to bring in more rain in Aberdale for quite some time.


And that's the end for now. Sorry about the wait. I got REALLY busy at the coming end of this year but I'm happy to report that my mental state is in a MUCH better state. And thank you for sticking by with me. At least I can deliver one more chapter in the year.

Now despite loving Clarence, I have felt a bit burned out and wanted to explore other shows. I have several in mind but I'm still unsure what show/game to settle down with. But at the same time, stalling isn't helping at all so I want to avoid that.

But rest assured! I'll still continue this story. I have so many things planned and It would be criminal not to share! And starting in the new year I will do my best to increase productivity to have chapter uploads more frequently.

That's everything! Hope you enjoy yourselves! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! See you all in 2024! Caio!