Chapter 2 trailer of Poppy Playtime…? As much as I dislike EnchantedMob, the trailer does look pretty cool. I find it cool that Zamination, who helped with Poppy Playtime, are the same people who got me into FNaF in the first place.
It's nice to see them get more recognition - though I wish they'd stop with the Fazbear and Friends clickbaity shtick. It is targeted towards little kids, after all, you shouldn't be putting that…stuff on the thumbnails.
Okay came back two days after writing this LMAO turns out they were making poppy Playtime nfts with lore attached- like pls why would you do that?
Yeahhhh, you can tell I'm disliking the game more and more. It just feels like the same formula as every indie-horror-for-kids game ever, not to mention the shadiness of EnchantedMob's advertising and…history. You can look it up if you want, I won't get into it here lol.
Anyways, new Security Breach DLC is coming out! I'm really excited to see what comes next :D
Reviews!
MoonTheMagical: Don't worry, I'm like a month late to this chapter, so now we're even lol. And omg blulyign cildhren iss so fnunnn!1!1!1!1!1! I also used to do the kindergarten gossip with my brother when he was in kindergarten. Never any juicy gossip, sadly.
SomeRandomRobo: Sameee. Too bad it's early March! I can't wait for it to get warmer.
Qxr: I haven't seen Legend of Korra yet, but I really want to!
Lydia-from-Limmet: I can hear the meme song right now LOL!
The idea for this chapter was inspired by user Bendy The Bunny's animation to the song 'Heaven 2 Hell'! It's a great video, and he's a fantastic animator, please check him out if you haven't already. (I'm one of his top commenters B))
Chapter wordcount: around 8k something like that
Enjoy!
Chapter 72
When Life Gives You Lemons, Sell Them For Profit.
Michael shovelled another handful of buffalo wing chips into his mouth, chewing. He was down to the bottom of the bag, so it was mostly pieces and crumbs. He didn't mind though, it was easier to put a bunch of tiny ones in his mouth than it was with larger chips.
He was currently watching Gwen Stefani perform her new song on MTV, the song being a special that had come on that morning at eight. Michael was trying to get as much Saturday morning TV time in as possible before Henry and Charlie came over and William forced them to socialize. Elizabeth was very excited for this event, Michael was not.
Not that he disliked either of the Emily's. Charlie was whatever, and Henry was nice enough. He gave good presents on holidays and his birthday, and was kind to him and his family. It was just that William forced them all to act as if they were a perfectly functional family wherever they were over.
Some parts of this were okay, like how William always acted like a decent parent (actually it was a little scary to see him so nice, but better than his usual grumpy self). Others weren't, like how Michael had to lie and say he was getting all A's and act like a nerd. Which meant no TV or video games, and no junk food. William was all about image when it came to Henry - Michael had no clue why. Some sort of grown-up competition of who was the most impressive, he supposed. He'd never understand adults.
Finishing the bag of chips, Michael licked the dust off his fingers and tossed the plastic bag onto the floor, something he knew his mother would nag him about if she was there. He'd have to go to her place tomorrow, which he also wasn't looking forward to. If how William expected him to act when Henry was here was bad, his mother was a million times worse. It was all nag nag nag when he was there. At least William only came into his room to deliver laundry, and even that was rare. William hated laundry duty.
Michael fished around in his pocket for some gum, but discovered none. Frowning, he dug around the pillows and sheets and under his bed, but found nothing. He must have chewed up his last package a while ago and forgotten to buy more.
Sighing, he flicked off the TV and stood up. He was still in his flannel pajamas, so he changed into something a little more appropriate - black denim jacket, burgundy hoodie, and blue jeans - and flipped through his wallet to grab a five-dollar-bill and walk to the gas station. If there was a little extra, maybe he could buy another bag of chips or a Dr Peppa with that.
Frowning, he discovered nothing but a rusty old dime and a gift card to Fredbear's that had expired three years ago. Had he run out of money that quickly?
He exited his room, heading downstairs to Evan's room. Maybe he could bully the twerp into giving him some cash.
"And then BOOM! You exploded! You burst into a hundred pieces! You're dead!" Elizabeth exclaimed, tossing the fighter jet across the room. It hit the wall and fell onto the floor, Evan crying out and snatching it.
"That's not fair! Dinosaurs can't fly and ninja-kick my plane!" Evan cried in outrage, clutching the corpse of a jet.
"Sucks to suck," was Elizabeth's response. She'd obviously picked that line up from him. Michael felt a twinge of pride.
"So, Ev. Remember that time I let you borrow that old tiger shirt of mine?" Michael started.
"You didn't let me, Mom made you give it to me so I could donate it to the homeless charity!" Evan objected angrily.
Michael rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So you owe me for that, right?"
"No, the homeless people do." Evan replied tartly.
Michael blinked. "Oh." Well, he couldn't rob money from some homeless person wearing a tiger shirt, now could he? "Um, well, you still owe me. So can I borrow two bucks? I need, uh, a can of...chowder. For the...patients. In the children's ward. It's for charity."
Evan raised his eyebrows. "You. Charity."
"Uh-huh. So can I?"
"You gotta ask nicely." Evan retorted smugly.
"Ms Louise says it's important to use your manners," Elizabeth added, making her gray dinosaur jump on top of a red plane. "We learned about it yesterday."
Michael gritted his teeth. "Puh-leeze."
Evan laughed. "Nope. I'm broke."
Why that little...Michael was going to wring his neck like a washcloth. He turned to his little sister, who was smashing two dinosaur figures together. Hey, maybe she'd robbed someone. He wouldn't put it past her.
"Eli, do you-"
"Nopety nope-nope. I spended all my money on a gumball at the gas station, remember?" Elizabeth reminded him helpfully.
Michael frowned. There had to be some sort of way he - and maybe his siblings too - could earn a bit of cash. Some sort of easy business three kids could do on a warm Saturday morning that would get them some quick money…
Ding-dong!
And that was Henry. Michael sighed, exiting the room grumpily and heading to their living room, where William was anxiously dusting the sofa. The sofa! Michael rolled his eyes at the absurdity. Surely nobody was that OCD.
"Michael, would you be kind enough to open the door for me?" William asked, his voice dripping with fake sweetness. He fluffed out a striped pillow and set it carefully on the couch.
"No," Michael responded, placing a spicy buffalo wing chip in his mouth and crunching it in a sassy manner.
William gave him a Look.
Michael gave him a fiercer Look.
William's face shadowed and he dusted faster, his hand becoming a blur. "Michael, open the damn door."
"I'm not your freaking slave, do it yourself!" Michael scoffed. He wasn't exactly sure why he didn't want to - after all, the door was right there. But then that would be letting his father win, and giving him the knowledge of defeat was something Michael hated. He was not a coward.
William growled in frustration, standing up and whipping the feather duster in Michael's direction. The metal handle hit him right in his arm and Michael winced, sucking in his breath and blinking fast. That hurt like hell, would probably leave a bruise, but there was no way he would let his father have the sick satisfaction of knowing he was in pain.
William stalked over to the front of the room, shooting him one final glare. "Little brat, can't even open a door." He muttered, running a hand through his hair and fixing a smile on his face before he twisted the handle and opened the door.
"Uncle Willy!" Charlotte squealed, running forward from her father's side and suctioning herself to William's leg like a little octopus, her pudgy arms wrapping around him with a death grip. She gazed up at him, blinking with large brown eyes, the colour like a baby fawn's own pupils.
William blinked in surprise. "Hello, Charlie." He took a step backward, hoping to subtly shake the small child off his leg without bringing much attention to it. Unfortunately, she seemed to be glued on, and she only beamed harder.
Henry laughed at the sight. "Oh, Charlotte, don't bother William." He gently pulled her off, and Charlie complied, pouting and crossing her arms. She wore a fern-green tee underneath a darker green pair of overall shorts. Her shoulder length dark brown hair was tied into two pigtails.
"So sorry about her, she's been excited to see you and the kids since this morning! She woke me up early so we could make sandwiches. Charlotte got me the bread herself, didn't you?" Henry nodded to his daughter.
"Mhm!" Charlie agreed, looking very pleased with herself. "I got it out of the freezy an' Daddy went to the kitchen and Michael Waved it."
"Microwaved," Henry corrected, chuckling. "She keeps calling it a Michael Wave."
William smiled tightly. "How amusing." He stepped to the side, gesturing. "Won't the two of you come in? The kids have been dying to see you, Henry, and Charlie too."
Henry nodded, ushering Charlie inside with the palm of his hand. William stepped to the side to allow them to pass, observing them carefully. Michael found it odd that his father did that, he always seemed to stare calculatingly at people without saying a word, as if he was judging them, sizing them up for a greater purpose. Totally creepy, in Michael's humble opinion.
"Michael! How wonderful to see you - my, you're nearly as tall as me!" Henry said approvingly. Michael, who usually liked Henry, just gave him a nod - he really wasn't in the mood for anything right now. Plus, his arm still throbbed from the feather duster, which he knew was going to bug him for the rest of the day.
Evan came into the room then, clutching a worn Bonnie plush in his arms. Michael rolled his eyes, did the little wimp need his stuffie that badly?
William noticed him entering and turned to him. "Hello Evan, where's Elizabeth?"
Evan looked to the floor, almost as if he was ashamed. Michael sure hoped he wasn't going to say what he thought he was going to say.
"She's in the backyard, playing raccoons." Evan admitted quietly, still looking to the floor. Michael face-palmed. Offfff course.
William's eyes went as wide as an owl's, and he suddenly was dashing to the back door, unlocking the back door in a sort of frenzy. The others hovered behind him, with Henry's face creased in confusion.
"What's going o-"
"No time to explain, we've got to get to her before it's too late!" William shouted, finally unlocking the door and kicking it open, running as fast as he could across the grassy hill, sunshine beating down on his back.
And there Elizabeth was, and - oh thank God - she wasn't eating someone's socks, just the grass. William slumped in relief, then realized that grass also wasn't exactly a healthy snack for a five-year-old to have, so he rushed over to Elizabeth, who was happily sitting down cross-legged, stuffing handfuls and handfuls of grass into her mouth. He scooped her up into his arms and Liz began screaming at the top of her lungs, kicking him as much as she could. With one hand William held her up, and with the other, he covered her mouth so that their nosy neighbours wouldn't call 911 again like yesterday. That was an adventure.
"Elizabeth, what the hell were you doing?! I told you, no more playing raccoons!" William scolded, setting her down carefully.
Elizabeth frowned, her eyebrows scrunched down angrily. She couldn't help it that she'd forgotten! That wasn't her fault, she wouldn't have done it if she'd remembered!
"I wasn't playing raccoons! I was playing goats! You never said I couldn't play goats!" Elizabeth crossed her arms.
William had to admit, she was correct. "Okay fine, then no more playing goats, or whales, or porcupines, or anything!"
Elizabeth's lower lip wobbled, but she didn't cry. She'd learned that crying wouldn't make her daddy give in, crying only seemed to work on her mummy and Mikey. "Okay…"
"What was that?" Henry asked in bewilderment. William sighed, shaking his head.
"I've been putting the Discovery Channel on recently, and they've been doing Raccoon Week and talking about how both raccoons and goats can eat many things, such as flowers and grass...God, I've lost like half my lawn already!" William had been sick and tired of hearing her yabber on and on about diet pills and murder cases, and figured that leaving her unsupervised in front of the TV wasn't very good for her. Unfortunately, it seemed that the influence of the Discovery Channel might have been even more harmful to her health than crime shows and beauty hacks.
Henry blinked. "You mean Elizabeth-"
"Mm-hm."
"Wha- you should take her to the doctor's! Grass can't be good for her to eat - it could have chemicals and stuff!" Henry cried.
William waved a hand. "Ah, it's fine. She doesn't seem to be affected, and I've threatened the loss of ice cream privileges, so that should do it."
"But even so, I'd take her to your family doctor if I were you." Henry's warm umber eyes were wide and worried.
"That bloke doesn't know anything about my kids," William replied, a bit snappily. Him and the family doctor didn't always see eye to eye...William hated the judging look that the damn doctor gave him whenever Elizabeth ate something she wasn't supposed to, or if Michael got into a fight and needed stitches. As if it was William's freaking problem that his kids were idiots!
Henry glanced away. "Right, sorry."
After arriving inside, Charlie seemed to naturally migrate over to Liz. The younger gasped, running over on unsteady legs and giving Elizabeth a big hug.
Elizabeth frowned, pushing her off. "Keep it professional, Agent."
Oh lord. It seemed that Elizabeth was back in her cop slash spy phase...William sincerely regretted letting her go on the TV at all. It was just that the television was such an easy alternative to actually being there and entertaining her.
William had been insanely busy recently, what with the new pizzeria sister location and all. And despite the fact that he was in charge of the paperwork and Henry was in charge of the animatronics, William was still stuck with programming Circus Baby, on top of all the paperwork required.
Well…
Technically, it wasn't his responsibility to program any of the animatronics. But William had done some, erm, tweaking to a few of the Funtime's programming, for reasons he wouldn't get into. And maybe Freddy's design was similar to Baby's. But for Circus Baby, she was different. William wanted her to be perfect, his magnum opus.
So, the point was, William had to be the one to program and build Circus Baby. Henry wouldn't understand, never would. It was something only he could do.
And with that final thought, William turned to Henry and gave him as warm of a smile as he could.
"Would you care for a drink?"
~lll~
"Gasp! Look, it's the ancient cavern where the magic gemstone is! Agent Ella, what's the status?" Elizabeth hissed into her electric yellow walkie talkie.
"Coast is clear, Agent Circus Baby!" Charlie whispered back into the microphone, a loud beep ringing out when she let go of the slate-gray talk button.
Elizabeth turned to her friend, who was standing right beside her, and they both nodded in confirmation. Together, they reached for the bathroom door handle and turned it.
"YOU'RE UNDER A REST! PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" Elizabeth shouted, pointing her index and thumb out in a finger gun. Charlie nodded vigorously from beside her.
"LIKE YOU JUST DON'T CARE!" Charlie added enthusiastically, eyes alight with an umber flame.
Elizabeth crept around, carefully inspecting behind the shower curtain, in the bathtub, down the drain. No sign of evil-doers yet. Elizabeth signalled to Charlie that it was safe to inspect the cupboards.
Charlie nodded seriously, crouching down and opening each door. One contained some bleach, washcloths, water in a spray bottle, and paper towels. The other contained a package of toilet paper and a half-full wastebasket. Nothing out-of-the-ordinary yet.
Elizabeth turned to the mirrors and frowned. She knew that there were cupboards behind the mirrors, but they were too high up to reach. Looking around, she suddenly had an idea.
"Charlie, pass me the toilet paper package." Elizabeth instructed.
Charlie frowned. "That sounds like bad idea."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. The only reason Charlie was here instead of one of her brothers was because she was supposed to follow every order! And she usually did, but now she was rebelling? As if.
"Charlie! Do it! I'm the lead spy, and you have to do as I say!" Elizabeth scolded, placing her hands on her hips.
Charlie nodded solemnly. "Sorry." She tugged the large package of stacks and stacks of toilet paper out from under the cupboard and pushed it up against the counter. Elizabeth climbed on top of the package, which was slightly sagging under her weight, and steadying herself with her arms outstretched in a sort of T-pose.
"O-okay. Now I just need to open the doors." She reached out, opening one. Elizabeth didn't actually need anything specific, just something they could pretend was the magical gemstone they'd been searching for. She loved gemstones. Her mother had given her a necklace with a real sapphire once! It was so pretty and shiny! Just like Circus Baby. Elizabeth hoped she could meet Circus Baby soon. She just knew that-
"Lizzyyyy! Find the gemmy-stone!" Charlie whined, her arms starting to get tired.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, why was Charlie so impatient?!
"I'm getting to it!" She snapped.
"Sorry," Charlie mumbled, glancing away.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes again and continued searching around further. Pills for muscle cramps, pills for runny noses, the yucky cough medicine she had to take once, the yummy stomach pills that taste like strawberries, a pair of tweezers shaped like a giraffe, her daddy's pills that made her head go spinny - oh! This would work!
"Charlie! I found the gem!" She exclaimed, pulling down a small compact and flipping it open. She held the small mirror up so that it reflected the lights above.
"Woahhhh." Charlie was very impressed. "It's so shimmery!"
"I know, right?" Elizabeth grinned. She liked how easily impressed Charlie was with very simple things.
"Wanna keep looking for gemmy-stones?" Charlie asked her, flopping down on a small blue bath mat and spreading all of her limbs out like a starfish.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No, I'm bored of that. Let's play doctor! I'm the doctor, and you're the patient." She ordered.
Charlie nodded. "Okie!" She took a seat on the edge of the bathtub, her feet just barely brushing the floor. Elizabeth examined her patient closely, checking for broken legs or tonsillitis.
"Okay. So, you're a patient who's just checked in. You're twenty-nine, and you've been in a salad accident and broken all of your noses," Elizabeth informed her.
"Oh no!" Charlie did her best to look very scared. "How do I get better?"
Elizabeth's face was solemn. "You have to take this yucky medicine seventeen times a day and only wear pink for twelve whole months. That's a year, by the way." She'd been learning about the months of the year in class that week.
Charlie scrunched up her face in disgust. "I don't wanna eat yucky medicine..."
"Well, then you shouldn't have eated that evil salad now, should've you?" Elizabeth chided, climbing back on top of the toilet paper and teetering on the top. She carefully examined each bottle, then pulled one down that had a funny name, 'chloroform'. It sounded like chlorine (the pool stuff), and Farm, where pigs lived. Elizabeth hated pigs.
"Right, so you're going to need to take seventeen spoonfuls of the Chlorine Farm, okay Charlieeeeeeeeeeeee!" Elizabeth's order turned into a scream as the toilet paper tower broke and she tumbled backwards, landing hard on the bathmat. She immediately began to wail, big tears falling down her face. Charlie gasped, her face turning an expression of panic. What should she do?!
Fortunately, she didn't have to decide anything, because Michael had come speeding into the room at the loud thump. He spotted Liz crying on the floor and immediately knelt down, forehead creased with concern.
"Liz! Are you alright?!" He asked worriedly. Elizabeth flipped over onto her back, grinning widely.
"Yeppers peppers!" She chirped, bouncing up off her back and happily skipping down the hallway, humming a cheery tune. Michael sighed, wondering why he even bothered trying to help, and got off his knees, mumbling incoherently. Charlie stood up, a little confused, but nonetheless ran to go follow Elizabeth, trailing behind her.
~lll~
"It sure is a beautiful day, isn't it? We should go outside!" Henry suggested, admiring the sunshiney view of the outside world from the crystal bay windows.
William paused, then nodded. "You're right, it is a lovely day. We could head to the neighbourhood and stroll around there."
Henry beamed. "Perfect. Want me to round up the troops?"
William chuckled, setting down his book, Murder from Murderville. "Sure."
After Henry had peacefully gotten Charlie and Evan into the living room, bribed Michael with five dollars, and practically wrestled Elizabeth away from her dolls, and after they'd gotten shoes and jackets sorted out for the four kids and two adults, they were off on their walk.
Elizabeth skipped close beside William, taking in all the sights and smells of a warm sunny day. Birds chirping in the clouds, frogs croaking in the creek by their house, cars honking on the dusty, dry road. The sky was the exact shade of a jay's wing and Elizabeth could imagine all sorts of mythical creatures flying around in the blue. She glanced up at her father, reaching for his pale hand with her own, but he slapped it away, displeased. Elizabeth frowned, but shrugged, not going to let it ruin her sunny happy day!
Michael, however, appeared to be in misery.
Well, maybe not that far. Michael just hated going outside with his family. They were so loud, and annoying, and he knew kids from school who lived in the neighbourhood. Cool kids, ones he wanted to impress.
They passed by a small brown cottage with vines and roses coating the walls, guarded by a peeling white picket fence. Bushes of hydrangeas and dahlias coloured the shamrock grass in bright shades of cardinal and magenta. The breeze blew a dandelion puff's seeds through the air, tickling Michael's nose and making him sneeze.
William caught the mischievous glint in Elizabeth's eyes and pulled her back in-between him and Henry so she couldn't get anywhere near the pretty cottage.
"No, Elizabeth. Mrs Tifton hates you, remember what you did to her prize roses?" William chided, tone blunt. "Those have pesticides too, if you ate them we'd have a whole other thing to deal with."
Michael rolled his eyes. If you asked him, the daft old crone, Mrs Tifton, had it coming. She was all old and weird and smelled like icky lavender perfume a decade past its expiration date - actually, that was a good way to describe her. Besides, Mrs Tifton was mean and had yelled and screamed witchy curses at Elizabeth, calling her a hellchild and other insults.
Plus, when Michael was seven, his mother had forced him to take piano lessons from her. She'd put her wrinkled, gnarled hands over his and make him play the same obnoxious tune over and over again. Her raspy voice was like a scratchy record, droning on and on and stabbing the high notes and making Michael want to hang himself.
"So, Uncle Henry." Elizabeth said, beaming up at the man and jostling Michael out of his thoughts. "How's it going with making Circus Baby? I wanna see her!"
Henry chuckled, adjusting his square-shaped glasses and pushing them higher up his nose.
"Well, I'm glad you're excited! But I'm not the one overseeing the construction of Baby. I just made the Funtime's and Ballora, plus some extra little robots. I'm sure your father would be happy to show you Baby, though!"
Elizabeth frowned. "No, he is-"
"Haha, of course, of course! I'd be glad to show her. She's been excited, after all! Right after you and Charlie leave." William laughed, an edge to his voice as he gave Elizabeth a Look.
Elizabeth gasped, green eyes sparkling and filled with stars. She clasped her hands together joyously, smiling wide and showing pearly white teeth. "Really?! You mean it?! Yayyy! Oh, I can't wait to see her!"
She adored Baby. Big, long-lashed sapphire eyes, happy red cheeks and cherry lips with two amber pigtails tied with two blue bows. She could sing, dance, dispense ice cream - she was all Elizabeth wanted to see...and be. Honestly, being Circus Baby would be pretty cool. All the attention on her, lifetime supply of ice cream, and her father would spend as much time as possible with her! It sounded like a dream. And now she would finally see her!
Elizabeth beamed, feeling very pleased with herself. Having accomplished that, she decided to ask Henry some more questions. After all, it wasn't every day she got to see him! Plus, he was almost as smart as her Daddy.
"Henry, what's it like working with Daddy?"
"Well, it's very-" Henry started, but was cut off.
"Is Funtime Foxy nice?"
"Oh, well I guess maybe-"
"Am I your favourite of all of us?"
"I can't really say-"
"What's your favourite, no, when did you, no, what's your best-"
"Hey, why don't we play the Let's-Throw-Elizabeth-In-The-Ditch game!" Michael cheered, picking his sister up from under her shoulders and hoisting her up, swaying back and forth to get maximum momentum on the throw. Elizabeth cheered, wiggling in excitement.
"Heyyy, how about let's not!" William added enthusiastically, snatching Elizabeth out of the air before she could land in the murky waters below. Liz beamed and cuddled closer in his arms, happy either way. William rolled his eyes, setting her down and then pulling a small clear bottle of sanitizer out of her pocket, cleansing his palms. He grabbed a cylinder-shaped orange bottle from another pocket and popped two aspirins in his mouth, swallowing them dry. Michael had no idea how he did that.
They walked a little farther, admiring the houses on that Street, before the hot sun beating down on Michael's back was starting to get annoying. Sweat dripped down the back of his gray tank top, and his bangs were starting to stick to his forehead. He was hot and thirsty and tired... seriously, he would kill for a-
And that's when he got his brilliant idea. One that would solve both his current problem as well as his previous one. One so obvious he wasn't sure how he didn't think of it before.
"Michael? Why did you stop?" Evan asked in concern, turning around to look at him. The others also stopped as well, giving him odd looks. Michael ignored that.
"Guys...what if we hold a lemonade stand?"
At first there was silence. Then Henry started to nod, a smile appearing on his freckled face. "I think it's a great idea! Right, William?" He turned to the taller man, who seemed lost in thought. He quickly snapped out of it, gray eyes becoming less fuzzy and more focused.
"Yes, yes. Brilliant. Um, Mike, why don't you three and Charlie go home and prepare the stand - there's some lemonade mix in the pantry, I think - and me and Henry can...advertise." He suggested, clasping his hands together.
Henry grinned. "Fantastic. Michael must have inherited his great ideas from you, Will! I can certainly see the spark in his eyes, matches your own."
William blinked, clearly surprised. "O-oh. Yeah, he must have."
Michael just rolled his eyes.
But now William and Henry had disappeared, and Michael was tasked with transporting three tiny children to his home. Elizabeth and Evan were hard enough, now he had to look after a three-year-old?! This sucked.
~lll~
After a lengthy process of mixing the lemon powder with cold water and trying not to let the kids 'taste test' it (aka trying to down the entire pitcher in one gulp), they had one extra-large pitcher of icy cold lemonade. Michael couldn't resist the temptation and poured four small plastic cups for the four of them - after all, they were going to need some energy if they were going to be selling this stuff.
Then, after rolling out a huge green poster board and soaking it in rainbow glitter glue and puffy animal stickers, they had a sign to hang on the tarnished brown desk that would act as their professional lemonade stand.
"Mike, we're rich, right?" Evan asked curiously, trying his hardest not to spill the pitcher as they walked down the mossy cobblestone path to the road.
"Um, kind of, yeah. Why?" Michael huffed, his arm muscles straining under the weight of the desk. Oh well, at least he'd be able to show off to Shelby May next week.
"Why didn't we just ask Daddy for money, then? Makes sense to me." Evan quipped.
Michael frowned. "First of all, you're way too old to be calling him that. Second, Father would never give us money unless we had a good reason, like for a field trip or something. Come on, Ev, you know that."
Evan looked at the ground. "I guess."
As they neared the large iron fence gate that guarded their home, Elizabeth started to sigh, louder and louder, until Michael finally turned to her in annoyance.
"What?!" He snapped.
Elizabeth sighed again dramatically. "How come I have to carry the poster, and Charlie doesn't have to carry anything? It's no fair!"
"Well, Charlie's only three. And besides, we don't have a fourth thing to carry, so you'd be empty-handed!"
"Exactly!" Elizabeth grinned. "I've carried it down the hill, and that's the hard part, so now Charlie gets it! See, it's very fair."
"Yeah, and the poster is also larger than Charlie. No more talking." Michael finished, heaving a desk leg over his shoulder. Elizabeth slumped, disappointed. Michael didn't even get why she was upset. The poster weighed nothing, while this desk felt like he was lifting twelve horses. Or his deceased grandmother.
"It's hot out." Evan pointed out helpfully.
Michael scoffed. "No shit, Sherlock! Thanks for reminding me! This whole time, I thought it was snowing."
"I was just saying..." Evan mumbled, looking at the ground. He didn't speak for the rest of the walk.
"Okay, right here should work," Michael decided. It was a nice spot by a decently busy road. It was in the shade of a huge oak tree but enough in the sun that the glitter would sparkle and catch a casual driver's eye. And there was a lot of glitter. Elizabeth had made sure of that.
"Should we make a song? Songs always get people to buy things." Elizabeth suggested, smoothing down the tablecloth. Charlie nodded rapidly, seeming to be in favour of this idea. Girls. Michael would never understand their love for cheery music - give him metal over Disney any day.
Michael rolled his eyes, voice full of scorn. "Songs are stupid, but feel free to make one. I'm not going to, though."
"Okee!" Charlie chirped, already starting to think up a commercial-style jingle for their lemonade stand.
Evan frowned, shifting around in his seat uncomfortably. "I'm coldddd."
"It's like, fifty degrees out here! How the hell are you cold?!" Michael asked incredulously.
Suddenly, the rumble of rubber on asphalt sounded from far down the road. Michael's ears perked up (well, they would if he was a dog), and he yelled at everyone to order.
"EVERYONE SHUT UP!"
That seemed to do the trick...maybe too well. Charlie's lower lip wobbled, brown eyes welling up with shiny tears.
Michael face-palmed, groaning loudly. This was horrible for business. "Um, just, uh- calm down, Charlie." He smiled really big. "Please?"
Charlie did not seem to be calming down, even with the polite manners.
Michael's gaze shot from side to side. "Nnnnnhh…" On the one hand, he didn't want to be caught dead comforting a little girl, especially if that car rolled down it's windows to reveal someone from his school. But on the other hand, if it was some rando adult, they wouldn't want to see a sobbing toddler at a business - it would be totally bad for their image!
Fortunately, Evan seemed to have the same worries as he did, so he leaned over and gave Charlie a hug, patting her back comfortingly. "It's okay, Charlie. Michael didn't mean to use his outside voice!"
Meanwhile, a lady was exiting her car, unbuckling her seatbelt and hopping out. Unfortunately, she was on the opposite side of the lemonade stand. She could see and hear them...but the four kids could not.
"What- we're literally outside!" Michael exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. Seriously, was Evan slow or something?
"No shit, Sherlock." Elizabeth quipped, placing her hands on her hips and sniffing haughtily.
Everyone turned to stare at her.
Michael pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily. "Okay, okay, okay! Everyone just shut up and let these people get their goddamn lemonade-!"
"Well I never!"
Everyone turned to stare in horror at the lady, swathed in shades of dull pink and muted green chiffon fabric. Her gray-blonde hair was swept up in a fancy-looking bun held up with a golden comb of pearls. It was Ms Tifton, the nosy old lady who'd thrown a tantrum when Elizabeth ate a couple roses.
She took a step forward, a gnarled finger pointing accusingly at Elizabeth. "Such foul language should not be spoken by a young lady such as yourself! You're the little imp who ate my rose bushes, aren't you!"
Elizabeth's eyes went wide and fearful. Michael narrowed his eyes, stepping in front of his sister protectively.
"And you!" She turned The Finger over to Michael, who sighed and prepared himself for a lecture only his mother could rival. "You need to be watching your mouth around these children. All of you, filthy little soul-sucking gremlins. This is why I never had any of my own!"
"Not because you couldn't find anyone to get it up with you, right?" Michael snickered.
The lady looked appalled. Her features reminded Michael of one of those odd monkey-like creatures with the big eyes and tiny pupils. "How dare you speak to me in such a vulgar way! I ought to-"
"Stab me with a knife? You could probably do much better if you use your nose. It's pointier than any blade I've seen," Michael trilled as innocently as he could, resting his cheek on his hand and grinning in a sly fashion.
"It's a unicorn!" Charlie squealed happily, clapping her hands. The lady turned her venomous glare onto the small girl, who whimpered and ducked under the desk, covering herself with the floral tablecloth.
"Where is your mother? I'd like to have a word with her." The lady sniffed.
And all at once, everyone started talking.
"Mother. Um, she's…out. To the shops. Grocery shopping. Because that's what you do at shops. You shop. Ha-ha-ha." Michael attempted a laugh.
"Mum doesn't live with us, her and Daddy- er, Dad, are divorced." Evan answered. Michael glared at him, the lady didn't need to know that much about them!
"Mummy is a space alien cowgirl princess and she's fighting crime with Daddy!" Elizabeth cheered.
"What's a Mummy?" Charlie asked, tilting her head to one side like a confused puppy.
Everyone stared at her.
"Look, lady, can you just leave us alone? We're trying to run a business here, and you're ruining our whole marketing strategy."
The lady sniffed. "You're all too young to even know what that is!"
How dare she! Michael was not too young. Last year, his school had run a program where they ran a business and sold handmade trinkets to the younger grades. Michael had sold chocolate-peanut-butter cupcakes, which had gone well until one first-grader had an allergic reaction and had to be sent to the hospital and his mother almost sued Michael. Which wasn't even fair, it was the kids own fault for not reading the sign!
"We are not!" Michael snapped. "Now, are you gonna buy some lemonade or not?"
His siblings both nodded angrily, and Charlie…well, Charlie was Charlie. She just smiled at the lady with her usual sunny disposition.
"Of course not! It probably has cockroaches and snot in it." The lady huffed, crossing her arms.
Then, Michael had an idea.
"Oh no, we would never put cockroaches in here, right guys. Now, beetles on the other hand…" Michael grinned evilly.
"Beety beety beetles!" Charlie sing-songed, twirling around and doing a little dance.
The lady's face suddenly turned the slightest shade of seafoam green, and a hand flew to her mouth. "Ugh! You little trolls are repulsive, absolutely repulsive! I'm getting out of here…ugh!"
She hobbled into the car, teetering on pointy, leopard-print heels, and slammed the door shut, speeding off into the distance.
The kids all cheered and slapped hands.
"Now we can really get to selling!" Evan grinned excitedly.
~lll~
Business had been slow.
Well, that was a nicer way of saying they'd had none at all.
Of course, that is until Michael got another one of his brilliant ideas. He quickly leaned over and taped a piece of paper reading 'closed 4 now' to the desk, and then turned back to the rest of them.
"So, do you guys have any idea why we aren't selling?" Michael asked them, clapping his hands together in order to look more professional.
"Because you're ugly?" Elizabeth asked innocently.
"Because our marketing strategy is terrible?" Evan deadpanned.
"Barketing bategy." Charlie said seriously, then burst into giggles, wrapping her arms around her knees and falling to the ground.
Michael glared at them all. "No!" He paused. "Well, Elizabeth might have a point. Not because I'm ugly, actually quite the opposite-"
"Oh God," Evan face-palmed.
"See, people might be intimidated by a bunch of older kids. But, for someone like Charlie…" He grinned. "Old people love little kids. They eat them up!"
Charlie's umber eyes went wide and glossy. "EAT?!"
Michael sighed. "Not eat, Charlie. It's a figure of speech. Just- point is, we live on a block of old people, old people will donate to cute little kids. Capiche?"
"Ca-quiche."
~lll~
"Lalalalalalala, please buy our lem-on-a-da!" Charlie and Elizabeth sang in a duet happily, banging some pots and pans together. Michael and Evan watched with rapt attention from behind the thick oak tree that was shading them all.
Michael's ears were bleeding.
They two of them had spent the past five minutes coming up with a jingle for their stand, one that consisted of four words and a whole lot of la's. And then repeated it. Over. And over. Until Michael was left with a throbbing headache. He really wished he'd swiped some of William's aspirin now…
"Okay, we're all ready to sell now Mikey!" Elizabeth called to him, hands forming an O around her mouth. Michael nodded, and Charlie flipped the sign from closed to 'oqen'.
"The P goes the other way!" Evan cried out in outrage.
"Did I ask?" Michael snapped. "Shut up, we're getting customers!"
And just like magic, the second that the two little girls were in charge, a group of old ladies magically appeared, six of them going for a light walk down the street. One of them pointed towards the stand and Charlie waved them over.
"Awlookatthecutelittledearswe'lltaketeneachhere'ssomeextramoney!" The ladies crooned, forking over green slips of paper and taking lemonade cups faster than Elizabeth could pour, then disappearing quick as a flash. Once they were sure they had gone, Elizabeth turned around, a huge grin on her face.
"We did it, Mikey! Lookit all of our money! Now you can buy all the gum in the world!" She cheered, holding the overflowing money jar on her head and running up to him, yellow-and-pink butterfly-shaped sandals slapping on the concrete and the soft green grass of the yard. Charlie ran after her, an equally huge smile on her face. The two girls flopped on the grass, rolling back and forth and giggling maniacally.
With excitement, Michael grabbed the jar from her and unscrewed the lid, pulling out fistfuls of bills. Twenty, forty, sixty…eighty-nine dollars and fifty cents!
"I'm rich!" Michael crowed, throwing a handful into the air and letting it rain down on him like crisp leaves in autumn. He laughed giddily, already planning out the things he would buy. A new pair of earbuds, a few packs of watermelon gum, a bag of buffalo wing-flavoured chips…
"You mean we're rich?" Evan corrected, crossing his arms. "You barely did any of the work."
"So? Neither did you." Michael replied, rolling up a bill and holding it to his mouth like a cigarette, pretending to take a drag and exhaling dramatically.
"Mm-hm? Ellie and Charlie did everything. You should give them the money!" Evan retorted. "You can keep some money for gum, but they deserve it more."
"Yeah!" Elizabeth added, grabbing the empty jar and attempting to stuff her head inside of it.
Charlie walked over to Michael, hands clasped behind her back. She gave him a kind smile and bent over, picking up a blue five-dollar-bill and offering it to Michael.
"It's okay, Mikey. I share." She smiled, holding the money in her outstretched palms. Elizabeth glared at the smaller girl with green flame, stomping over and snatching the money from her.
"He's my big brother, not yours!" She snapped, placing her hands on her hips and leaning close to Charlie's face to get the message clear and across.
Charlie nodded rapidly, backing away with her brown eyes wide and nervous. "I sorry."
"Good." Elizabeth harrumphed, plopping back down and crossing her legs, playing with the money and folding it into smaller and smaller rectangles.
"Anyways. I'll handle the money splitting, okay Evan?" Michael asked, an edge to his voice.
"Fine, just make it fair."
~lll~
"Okay, so Evan will get ten, Charlie and Elizabeth get twenty-five, and I get twenty-nine fifty. Sound good?" Michael asked.
Evan frowned, still displeased. "I want more."
Michael rolled his eyes. "Christ, alright. You can have my fifty cents. Is that okay with you, His Highness Sir Evangelos The Third?"
Evan sighed, knowing this was the highest upgrade he was going to get from him. "Sure. Thanks."
"Hey, kids! We're back!" Henry called, waving to the group. Michael noticed with a roll of his eyes that the paper flyers they were supposed to stick to telephone poles were stuffed in William's purse (William had insisted it was a bag, not a purse, but Michael knew otherwise.)
"How much did you earn?" Henry asked, sitting down beside Charlie on the lawn, Charlie eagerly hopping into his lap and giving him a kiss on the forehead. He smiled and ruffled her hair.
"Eighty-nine dollars and fifty cents." Elizabeth chirped.
William's gray eyes went wide. "Ninety dollars?"
"No, Daddy! Eighty-nine dollars and fifty-"
"Yes, I heard you. That's- wow. That's very…good. Good job, Michael." William scrunched up his thick eyebrows as if he wasn't sure how to acknowledge him, and finally decided in a nod of approval. Which was pretty big for William, so Michael couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of pride.
Charlie crawled out of her father's lap, standing up and walking over to the stand, where there was a small paper cup of lemonade there. She picked it up and walked over to William. "Wan' taste?"
"Um, that's alright…"
"Will," Henry coaxed. "Drink the lemonade."
William rolled his eyes. "Fi-ne." He tipped the cup to his mouth and let it sit for a moment. Hm. Sweet, but not overly so. Tangy and tart, but sugar-coated with the slightest hint of honey. Of course, it was boxed.
"Mm." William tried. "Good drink."
"Glad to know Caveman William approves," Henry teased.
Charlie beamed at William's praise. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his legs tightly.
"Thank you, Uncle Willy!" She chirped gratefully. William, looking around in a slight panic, patted her head awkwardly.
"Uh, thanks, Charlie."
"You're welcome." And with a hop, she bounded off and back into her father's lap, who smiled and praised her for being so polite, and how it was so wonderful that she was using her manners, and oh, what a good girl she was!
Elizabeth watched enviously. What was Charlie doing that she wasn't?
Oh well. It didn't matter anyways, because her Daddy was going to let her see Circus Baby that night! Elizabeth could hardly bear it.
~lll~
"I'm heading down to the basement. Do the usual, and don't disturb me unless you detest television and ice cream."
Evan and Michael both nodded and cleared their plates, ready for a heartfelt brawl over who's turn it was to do the dishes.
Normally, Elizabeth loved to join in, egging them on and offering support, but this night was different. Tonight, she'd see Circus Baby!
"Hey Daddy," she began, skipping after him. "Remember when you said you'd show me Baby?"
William stopped in his tracks. "No. When did I say that?"
"When we were on a walk, remember?" Elizabeth was starting to get a sinking feeling in her chest that this wasn't going to end well.
"When we were on a walk, I said that? Hm, let me think." William pondered this for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I don't recall this."
"You did." Elizabeth's lower lip started to wobble, but she bit it still. "You promised."
William shrugged. "I don't remember it, and you know that if I didn't remember it, I didn't say it. After all, I'm much older than you. It's just science!"
"Yeah…" She looked at the floor, casting her eyes downwards. "I just… I know you said it. I remember it so clearly!"
"Well, it's possible you imagined it. You could've thought it so hard that you convinced yourself that it was real." He suggested. Then he smirked, a dangerous flash entering his eyes.
"You know, I knew a girl who was obsessed with this one boy in our class. Always talking about him, how he smelled, how he wrote. We were always so weirded out by her. And then one day, she announced to the whole room that they were dating. Of course, nobody believed her, and when the boy came back from his vacation, he said that he had no idea what she was talking about."
"But, she went on and on about all the romantic dates they went on, how cute he was when he room her hand in his, and how he was such a flirt, each of his words poetic."
"Eventually, it got so bad that whenever the teachers asked her simple questions, she wouldn't respond. She'd just say something like how her obsession could easily answer it, or even something as off-topic as 'I like him in red'. It was…disturbing."
"It was like everyone else was…invisible to her, or just an outlet to her wild delusions. In her world, it was only him."
"And w-what happened to this girl?" Elizabeth asked, already dreading the answer.
William grinned, baring teeth that looked sharper in the light. "She was locked up a couple years later in an insane asylum. That's like prison for crazy people, Elizabeth. Nobody could talk to her and have an ordinary conversation. Not her family, not her friends, and not even her 'crush'. She'd just sit there in her bed, chattering about all their dates, and their inside jokes, and how she hopes they spend the rest of their days together, with a hazy look in her eyes. And to this day, she's still chattering on."
Elizabeth shuddered, tremors racking her spine. Her eyes were starting to well up. Am I that obsessed? Will I end up like her, faking all these stories? Am I just imagining this now?
Is this real?
"D-daddy, I'm sorry if I-I sounded crazy!" Elizabeth wailed. "I n-never meant to s-say that! I j-just thought it was r-real!"
"And so did the girl," William chuckled. He stretched his arms out above his head, yawning much like a sleepy cat. Looking down, he gave her a once-over disdainfully. "And brush your hair, you don't want to embarrass yourself at school tomorrow."
And with that, he strode away, stepping down the stairwell and locking the door firmly tight behind him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and pulling hard. God, she was so persistent! He supposed she got that from him.
At least that story should keep her away…
Yass William! Gaslight gatekeep girlboss! Manipulate that kindergartner! Slayyyy!
And wow, such wholesome moments between Charlie and William. So cute. I'm sure nothing bad will happen.
Oh, and in case you wanted to see more of William's POV, I'm planning on focusing every flashback chapter next act on him, and his backstory starting from when he was a child. So that should be fun!
Question/Challenge: If you've ever run one, what's the most money you've made from a lemonade stand? Me and my brother once ran one that earned sixty-eight dollars, plus a dump truck and a limo stopped by! We donated the money to a local animal shelter, it was very epic.
Speaking of donations, me and a couple friends bought pins which proceeds went towards supporting Ukraine. It's horrible what's happening, and I feel terrible for people I know who have family there :(
If you know any way to send support to Ukraine, you should definitely donate!
Have an amazing day/night!
~Ghost