Next one is "The Lucky Penny." I was actually kinda hoping to upload this on Friday the 13th, but we don't get one of those until June and I'm not going to make you guys wait that long.
So, my feelings on this episode? I thought it was all right. We'll start with what I liked about it. The song is awesome. It would probably be on my Top 10 "Molly McGee" songs list. I also loved the brief moments of Libby actually having good things happen to her. For everything she goes through, that girl deserves the reprieve she gets here. As for what I didn't like? Well, this episode was not the best look for Andrea in my opinion, because like in "The Don't-Gooder," it depicts her as a Mary Sue who gets everything handed to her with minimal effort on her part. I get that in this case it was necessary for the plot, but it doesn't make it any less annoying. Especially since Andrea does become a better person later on, and that's when the world starts dumping on her. But, whatever, I'm not in the mood to rant about karma. Let's just go ahead and start, shall we?
Bonus challenge: guess how many times the word "bag" is used in this chapter! If you're correct, then...nothing happens actually, you're just correct. What, do you want a cookie? Sorry, but we don't have the technology to virtually send food through computers yet.
Also, yes, I did watch the new Snow White and it sucked. Big surprise, I know.
Stretch, Stinkie, & Fatso: Muahahahahahaaaa!
Molly: Can't believe you're all mine
Fatso: Uh, what?
Molly: You and me for all time
Stretch: No way!
Molly: I'm never, ever, EVER gonna be alone again
Stinkie: This stinks!
Molly: It's just you three and me
Fatso: For all eternity?!
Molly: For all ETERNITY!
Stretch, Stinkie, & Fatso: NOOOO!
Molly & Ghostly Trio: It's the Ghost-Ghostly Trio and Molly McGee
Fatso: We've been cursed!
Stinkie: It's the worst!
Molly: Now you're stuck with me
Molly & Ghostly Trio: We're never gonna be apart
Stretch: Is there a way to hit 'restart'?
Molly: Nope!
Molly & Ghostly Trio: We're the Ghost-Ghostly Trio and Molly McGee
Molly: That's me!
Stinkie: Well, that's she. Hee, hee, hee!
Molly & Ghostly Trio: Ghostly Trio and Molly McGee!
Fatso: Oh yeah!
Chapter 33
Luck Be a Libby
It was a somewhat windy morning in Brighton. Molly McGee was as chipper as ever as she walked to school with her living best friend, Libby, and her non-living best friends, the Ghostly Trio.
"You know what, guys?" she began. "I've made many optimistic overstatements in the past, but I believe today is a truly special day. Go ahead! Guess what today is!"
The Trio threw out their guesses.
"Boo-Bash-a-Bone-Bag Day?" Stretch hoped.
"Burp-at-Your-Friends-Day?" Stinkie anticipated.
"Bastille Day?" Fatso suggested, earning stares from Stretch and Stinkie. "What? Nobody thinks the French Revolution is worth celebratin'?"
"Good guesses, but you're all wrong!" Molly started to dance. "It's Friday! Oh yeah, it's F-R-I-Day! It's the best day of the week except for every other day! Goooo Friday!"
Stretch rolled his eyes. "Only you would make a cheerleader routine for a blank calendar date."
"What's the big deal about Friday anyway?" Stinkie questioned.
"Yeah, nobody even gives you free French fries!" Fatso complained. "Just like Sundays don't give ya free ice cream."
"Ya want free food? How's about a knuckle sandwich?" Stretch punched Fatso in the face.
"Hm…needs salt." Fatso said dizzily.
Libby sighed. "I wish I could be as enthusiastic as you, Molly. But today is Friday the 13th! The day where my usually bad luck gets even worse…"
"Oh c'mon!" Molly scoffed. "Lighten up! Luck's not real! And Friday the 13th is just some dumb superstition."
Stretch got between the girls.
"Actually Moll, luck is very real. And Libby here is full to the brim of bad fortune."
Just then, the wind blew and a plastic bag flew into Libby's face.
"Case in point." Stretch noted.
Libby removed the bag. "It has begun…"
The best buddies soon arrived at school and Molly headed to her locker to grab her books for first period.
"I don't know, you guys." she admitted. "I still think believing in luck is silly."
"Well, believe it, skin bag." Stretch quipped. "As much as we love makin' jokes, this ain't one of 'em."
Stretch forced Fatso to stick his hands out and he placed a cookie in each one.
"Ya see, good and bad luck normally co-exist in harmony as two sides of a perfectly balanced scale."
Fatso drooled and prepared to eat the cookies. Stretch continued.
"But on Friday the 13th, everythin' is amplified!"
He snapped his fingers and the cookies became so enormous, that they ended up crushing Fatso.
"Yeah, take our soul sister, Libby, for example." Stinkie gestured to the turtleneck-clad girl, who had just put money into a vending machine, only to have her chip bag get stuck.
"That gal's luck stinks like moldy cheese every other day of the year. But today, it gets upgraded to sewage plant levels of reek. Maybe even elephant-cleanup levels."
"Why must you always put these images into my brain?" Molly lectured.
Libby banged on the vending machine repeatedly, but her chips wouldn't budge. She then resorted to shaking the thing and accidentally crushed her foot with it.
"Yow!" she slumped to the floor as another plastic bag hit her face. "Aw, take the $1.25! And my dignity…"
"Meanwhile, people who normally have good luck are extra lucky." Stretch went on.
Molly approached the machine and inserted some money. She reached into the slot and pulled out two bags of jalapeño chips, one of which was the one Libby had tried to get out.
"Whoa! Check it out! I got two bags!"
Libby groaned. "Lucky you…"
Molly couldn't stand seeing her best friend so down and wished she could do something to improve her luck. That's when she got an idea.
"Hey, you guys?" she said to the Trio. "By any chance, is it possible for a ghost to, I dunno, make a person luckier?"
"Good luck ain't somethin' ya can just poof into existence, Moll." Stretch insisted. "It can only be transferred from someone who already has it."
"Okay, so why don't you transfer my good luck into Libby?" Molly suggested.
Libby gasped. "Please, you guys? I'm tired of running into things, tripping on stairs, and stepping in some random animal's fecal matter. I want my bad luck gone! Just for today? Pleeeeaase?"
"Fuggeddaboudit!" Stretch refused. "Do ya know how much energy goes into powerful magic like luck transferrin'? It takes a minimum of three ghosts just to make it happen!"
"Last time I checked, you're the Ghostly Trio." Molly recalled. "And a trio is a group of three, so it looks like we're covered there. C'mon, why don't you just do it?"
"'Cause you ain't our boss and we don't have to!" Stretch argued.
"And we don't want to!" Stinkie added.
"And we…wee wee wee all the way home!" Fatso stated randomly.
"Your stupidity is givin' me a brain pain!" Stretch slammed his hands across Fatso's lips, flattening them. "Anyway, McGee. If you really want us to help ya out, yer gonna have to make it worth our while. And just to let ya know, we don't work cheap!"
"Okay…" Molly held out the chip bags. "Fatso, if you do this for me, I'll give you both of these bags of Fire-Blast Jalapeño Crunchies!"
Fatso fixed his mouth and swiped the chips from Molly.
"Well, I'm sold!"
"Aw, so what?" Stinkie grumbled. "Ya got one out of three. Big whoop! It'll take more than overpriced snack foods to convince me to hop on the bandwagon."
"How about a bag of sweaty socks from the boys' locker room?" Molly offered.
"Deal!" Stinkie shook her hand.
"And for Stretch…"
"Oh no!" Stretch turned his back to Molly. "You may have suckered in those ecto-heads, but I guarantee you won't get me!"
"Not even if I let you sleep with my Suzy Snuggles doll for a week?"
"Shhh!" Stretch shushed her. "Uh, ya know what? I'm feelin' mighty generous today. So, I'll make the magic for ya just this once." he leaned in and whispered in Molly's ear. "Make it two weeks."
"You drive a hard bargain." Molly whispered back. "But okay."
Stretch flew over to Libby. "Now, it's worth mentionin' that we can't exactly transfer luck from one person to another. But what we can do is put the luck into somethin' physical. Libster? Hand me a penny."
Molly glared. "Stretch, this isn't one of your so-called magic tricks where you say you'll make someone's money 'disappear' but then you just keep it for yourself, is it?"
"Oh please. If I was doin' that, I woulda asked for a twenty. Anyway, don't ya know that pennies are considered to be good luck?"
"Whoever decided that must not have had a single one to his name." Stinkie remarked.
Libby handed Stretch a penny she had retrieved from her turtle backpack and the lanky ghoul set it down in the middle of the hallway.
"Okay, stand back!" Stretch shooed the girls away. "We gotta warm up here!"
Molly and Libby did as they were told and watched as Stretch did some neck exercises, Stinkie cleared his throat in a loud and obnoxious way, and Fatso recited some tongue twisters.
"A ghostly ghoul gifted great guavas to a gander of ghastly geese."
The Trio then transformed into their taller, scarier selves and the penny began to float off the floor.
"WE, THE GHOSTLY TRIO, HEREBY TIP THE SCALES OF FORTUNE!" Stretch announced.
"Gosh, are they always this dramatic when they curse?" Libby asked Molly.
"Sometimes, but Mom always makes them wash their mouths out with soap afterwards." Molly joked.
"WE SHALL NOW TRANSFER THE LUCK OF MOLLY MCGEE INTO THIS PENNY!" Stinkie commanded.
Molly noticed a green aura surrounding her and it floated toward the coin.
"WE DECLARE THAT WHOEVER HOLDS THE PENNY SHALL HAVE GOOD LUCK FOR THE REST OF FRIDAY THE 13TH!" Fatso finished, before turning back to normal with his brothers and opening one of his chip bags. "Okay, there ya go. Now to enjoy the spoils of my labor!"
The penny landed in Libby's hands.
"Wow! I caught it! It didn't hit me in the face and I didn't accidentally swallow it! I can already feel my luck turning itself around!"
Fatso ate a chip. "Mm! I gotta say, Crunchies really live up to their name. Just listen to that crunch! Though I wouldn't say they're 'fire-hot.'"
Stretch counted down on his fingers. "Three…two…one…"
All of a sudden, smoke came out of Fatso's mouth and he breathed fire onto Stretch and Stinkie.
"Oh wait! There it is! 'Scuse me!"
He phased into the vending machine and gargled down a few cans of soda. Molly couldn't help grinning.
"Well, time to head to class!" she declared.
But as soon as she took her first step, she heard something squish beneath her foot.
"Aw man! I got gum on my shoe!"
Libby plugged her nose. "Um…I'd be more worried about what's on your other shoe…"
Stretch sniffed. "Ew, smells like Bates brought his corgis to school again…"
"Nice!" Stinkie commented. "Hey, maybe ya still got some luck in ya after all!"
"Just 'cause you like steppin' in doggy doo don't mean everyone has to!" Fatso replied.
"Eh, I'll admit it's an acquired taste." Stinkie shrugged.
"And an acquired smell!" Molly gagged. "Yuck!"
Unfortunately for Molly, the stepped-in fecal matter was only the beginning of her bad luck streak. For the rest of the school day, she found herself experiencing every type of pain known to man, including bee stings, black eyes, and bruises all over her body. To add insult to injury, the Trio were always around to mock her endlessly for her mishaps. However, Molly didn't mind suffering all that much, since Libby was having the best day ever with her lucky penny and seeing her smiling face was worth it in the end. Even if it meant Molly herself wasn't smiling with her.
Good luck
Bad luck
Two cosmic forces diametrically opposed
It's good luck
Bad luck
One hits the jackpot
While the other hits her nose
When the two friends went outside to have lunch, Molly tripped on the way down the stairs, launching her tray onto Libby's head…where it landed gently and without any of the food spilled. Molly, on the other hand, landed in front of one of Mr. Bates' corgis and into a suspiciously warm puddle.
Watch her go!
She can't help but succeed
Meanwhile, she's about to realize
Where that dog just peed
"Ugh! Seriously?!" Molly whined.
Good luck (score a goal)
Bad luck (unseen hole)
It's out of our control
It all comes down to luck
Soon, school was over and Molly, Libby, and the Trio headed for home.
"Ahh…" Libby sighed blissfully as a bird landed on her finger. "This has been the best day of my life! Thanks for donating your good luck, Molly."
"Yeah, no problem…" Molly chuckled, looking like an absolute wreck. "I'm happy for you Libby…"
Just then, the bottom of her backpack ripped and all her books fell out.
"And I totally understand why you hate Friday the 13th now…"
A plastic bag flew in her face, making the Trio laugh.
"I'd say this has been a pretty good day for us, too!" Stretch noted.
Stinkie was holding a bag of sweaty, smelly gym socks Molly had swiped from the boys' locker room (but not after being traumatized by seeing a few of them naked).
"You bet!" he breathed in the scent. "Hey, tell your friend Nashua to switch to polyester. The cotton ones don't do much for me."
Fatso ate another chip, feeling his stomach gurgling from the impact.
"Ya know, I was actually kinda worried that messin' with luck would spiral out of control and lead to universe-threatenin' peril…" he confessed. "But I was wrong! Just goes to show that breakin' rules ain't as big of a deal as people think! And it got me these chips, so that makes it even better!" he ate another one. "They may make my tummy and mouth hurt from the burn, but the taste is so good, it practically cancels it out!" he breathed fire again. "Okay, maybe not, but I still like 'em!"
"Hey, there's an idea!" Stinkie observed. "My stank breath is powerful on its own, but imagine what it can do with fire power! Gimme one of those!"
"Hey!"
Stinkie snatched a chip and stuffed it in his mouth. Afterwards, he belched out a flame toward Molly.
"Wah!" Molly shrieked and fell over, accidentally bumping into Libby. The impact resulted in the lucky penny flying out of Libby's backpack and across the street toward an ice cream truck, where school influencer Andrea Davenport was. She was so busy ordering her ice cream and checking her social media profiles that she didn't notice the penny landing in her purse.
"No!" Libby wailed. "My lucky penny!"
"Here you go!" the ice cream vendor handed Andrea her cone. "And according to our records, you're our 1,000th customer, so this one's on the house!"
"OMG! Really? Wow! This must be my lucky day!" Andrea exclaimed.
Molly, Libby, and the Trio's jaws dropped.
"Oh boy…this could be a problem…" Stretch worried.
"Okay, Andrea has the penny. So what?" Molly shrugged. "Can't you just whip up another one?"
"Hello? Didn't we already explain this to you on page 7?" Stretch retorted. "We can't make luck, we can only move it around! And since we moved all of yours into the penny, that means you're out of luck! Both figuratively and literally! Anyway, we got bigger problems!"
"Yeah, and one of 'em is Andrea havin' that penny!" Stinkie finished.
"Do you guys really hate her that much?" Molly asked.
"Yes! But that don't got nothin' to do with it!" Stretch explained. "See, the penny is supposed to make whoever holds it lucky, right? But Andrea is already lucky!"
Andrea gave her ice cream a lick. "Thanks so much for the free cone! Even though I could totally buy your stand with my allowance, I super appreciate the gesture."
Molly paused. "…So?"
"So, if she has the lucky penny, her luck'll hit critical mass until it creates a Luck Suck!" Stretch informed her.
"What's that?"
"It's a vortex that sucks the luck out of everythin' until there's none left!" Stinkie cried.
"So…breakin' the rules is a big deal in this case…" Fatso concluded. "Eh. You can't win 'em all." he ate another chip.
"Thanks again! Love you, bye!"
Andrea waved to the ice cream vendor and skipped away. After she left, a fire hydrant that Molly's classmate, Kat, was sitting on blasted out a geyser of water, sending the girl flying into the bushes.
"It's already started…" Stretch said solemnly.
Having eaten her frozen treat, Andrea started for home. She passed several people along the way and due to her insanely good luck, each one ended up meeting a terrible fate. Mrs. Roop slipped on an abandoned roller skate, Principal O'Conner got his favorite shirt wet due to an exploding pothole, and a random person's car lost one of its tires and skidded to a halt in the middle of the road. The whole time, Molly just watched all that was happening with a horrified expression. The Trio did the same.
"Ya see?" Stretch lectured. "This is exactly why we didn't wanna mess with cosmic forces!"
"At least we won't get in trouble with the Ghost Council for shirkin' our misery-makin' responsibilities." Stinkie mentioned. "Plus, I got a whole bag of nice, ripe socks for this."
"And I got two bags of chips, so I'd say it was totally worth it!" Fatso dumped some more of the deep-fried snacks into his mouth and shrieked as his tongue burned. "The trick to keepin' the pain levels as low as possible is to eat even more." he took a few more bites and sighed as his mouth cooled. "Ya gotta love science."
"We need to stop Andrea from taking away Brighton's good luck, and fast!" Molly panicked.
"The only way to do that is to get that penny back." Stretch answered.
Libby put on a brave face. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get that-ow!"
Yet another plastic bag blew into her face and she had to remove it before continuing.
"Like I was trying to say, let's get that-ow!"
Two more bags hit her.
"Ugh!" she gave a frustrated groan and threw them off. "Let's-"
Before she could say even one more word, she was bombarded by a whole slew of bags.
"Um…don't worry about it, Libby." Molly reassured her. "The Trio and I will fix everything!"
"Yeah, we got this…in the bag!" Fatso joked.
In response to this, Stretch grabbed one of the plastic carrying items off Libby's face and tied it over Fatso's head.
"Looks like you're in the bag now!"
Fatso breathed more fire from the chips, burning off the bag and leaving his face charred.
"Still worth it…" he coughed up smoke.
Molly and the Trio caught sight of Andrea merrily prancing on the sidewalk, a few birds flying and singing beside her. Molly and the Trio began their pursuit, dodging even more plastic bags along the way.
"Sheesh! Have the people in this town never heard of trash cans before?" Stretch whined.
"Yeah, it's a real dump around here." Stinkie noted. "I knew it was the right place for us."
The four friends sped by Mrs. Roop as she uncontrollably rolled up a ramp in the middle of the street, flew over a car, and landed in a tree.
"Okay," Molly took a breath. "This won't be so bad. I'll just sneak up and take the penny out of her purse! How hard can it be?"
Molly caught up to Andrea and reached out her hand to grab the purse. But at that moment, a bird flew up to Andrea with a flower in its beak and she stopped.
"Aww…is that for me? Aren't you sweet?"
"Blech," Fatso gagged. "Compared to her, Rachel Zegler looks like a good princess."
Andrea leaned down to accept the offering, causing Molly to miss the purse and almost lose her balance. That's when another car lost its tire and it smacked right into Molly, sending her rolling down the sidewalk. The Trio grabbed onto the tire in an attempt to slow it down, but instead, they got pulled along with it, and all four tumbled and bounced away.
Meanwhile, Libby was carefully treading across the sidewalk, wanting desperately to avoid any more unlucky situations. She looked up and saw a few plastic bags perched on top of some telephone lines. From a distance, it almost seemed like they were staring down at her like vultures. A gust of wind blew, sending the bags hurtling toward the girl in the green turtleneck.
"No, no, no!" she pleaded as she was ambushed. "Spare me this one time! Please! Not the bags! NOT THE BAGS!"
After getting all the tire marks off their bodies, Molly and the Trio arrived at Andrea's mansion right as she was heading for the door.
"Okay, Stretch! You've got the best arm reach! So, reach out and grab that penny!" Molly ordered.
"Yeah, yeah. You owe me three weeks with You-Know-Who now, by the way."
Fatso nudged Stinkie. "I didn't know Molly was acquainted with the Dark Lord."
Stretch extended his arm out toward Andrea just as her parents came outside to greet her.
"Welcome home, button!" Mr. Davenport greeted. "We've got a little surprise!"
He whistled and a brown-colored horse with a ribbon on its tail approached Andrea.
"OMG! A pony?!"
"Yes, one of our business associates was offloading it and we thought we'd buy it just because we can afford it!" Mr. Davenport explained.
"I'm so lucky!" Andrea hugged her mom and dad tightly.
"I bet she won't think that when she has to clean the stable." Stinkie commented.
While Andrea was distracted, Stretch took the opportunity to open her purse.
"Almost got it…"
When the pony saw Stretch's hand digging around its owner's purse, however, it got angry.
CHOMP!
"YOW!" Stretch yelped, pulling his now red-and-swollen hand back. "Never underestimate the strength of a horse's teeth…"
Andrea got out her phone and started streaming on her MeTube account.
"Hello my devoted Fandreas! Today has been the greatest day in my entire life! I know I say that every day, but for some reason, this day has been especially good for me! I honestly don't know how it can get any better!"
Just then, a pair of tickets fell into her hand.
"No way! Backstage passes for Atomic Pink's next concert?! Hashtag: LuckyMe! Hashtag: Grateful! Hashtag: IDeserveIt!"
Stinkie floated over and morphed into a skunk, intending to spray her and make her run away so Molly could grab the penny from her purse.
"Your luck is about to run out, Miss Penny Pincher! Hashtag: Smellogram!"
He pointed his rear at Andrea's face and prepared to fire.
"I am so excited about this concert!" Andrea continued. "Now the only question is: who's gonna go with me? If you want my extra ticket, meet me in front of my place! First come, first serve!"
In a matter of seconds, a crowd of Fandreas surrounded the popular kid, knocking Stinkie off the bench. He landed in front of Molly, Stretch, and Fatso, his backside facing them.
"Oh no! Stinkie, don't!" Molly warned.
But it was no use and Stinkie ended up blowing a stench cloud in their direction by accident.
"Aaagh!" Stretch gagged. "I hate metaphorical boomerangs!"
"My eyes! It's in my eyes!" Fatso screamed.
Later, after soaking in gallons of tomato juice, Molly and the Trio reconvened in front of the Brighton Bargain Bag.
"This is hopeless!" Stretch complained. "We ain't never gonna get that penny back from Andrea! It's like her good luck is protectin' her!"
"I know." Molly moaned. "If only there was some way to counteract it."
"To do that, we'd need somethin' that was really unlucky." Stinkie claimed. "Or someone…"
"HEELLLP!"
The four noticed Libby being pursued by a literal tornado of plastic bags.
"I hate Friday the 13th!" she hollered.
"…Ya know, I really wish we thought of that before Stinkie sprayed us." Stretch held up a bandaged hand. "And before that pony bit my hand."
"I suspect you'll be wanting four weeks with SS now?" Molly guessed.
"What's SS stand for?" Stinkie inquired. "Smelly socks?"
"Spicy snacks?" Fatso chimed in.
"No, it stands for STOP SNOOPIN'!" Stretch demanded.
Molly called Libby over and quickly explained the circumstances to her.
"So…you're saying I'm the only one who can fix everything?" Libby summed up.
"Yeah, as it turns out, your bad luck is what we need to bring back everyone else's good luck!" Stretch told her.
"Well, if it's bad luck you need, then you're in luck!" Libby declared. "Because when it comes to misfortune, I've got you covered!"
"Wait…if her bad luck is gonna stop Andrea's good luck, then doesn't that make her bad luck actually good luck?" Fatso wondered. "This is all too confusin' for me."
"Everythin' that's not edible is confusin' to you." Stinkie replied.
"Eh. Fair." Fatso ate another chip and blew fire toward Stinkie.
"Okay, let's do-" Libby was about to say until she got hit in the face with yet another bag. "Can't I have one moment to feel heroic?!"
Once she composed herself, Libby sent a text to Andrea to meet her inside the grocery store. A few minutes later, Andrea walked up and stepped through the doors. She was immediately met with a party horn and a ton of confetti being thrown on her.
"Congratulations!" a store employee handed her a plaque and a sash. "You're our 1,000th customer!"
"Wow! Two 1,000th customer awards in one day?" Andrea blushed. "What an honor!"
The employee stared her dead in the eyes. "Good. Make sure you keep thinking that…"
Molly, Libby, and the Trio entered the store.
"You got this, Libby!" Molly encouraged. "Go get our luck back!"
Suddenly, the automatic doors slammed into them, sending Molly and the Trio flying into a random aisle, while Libby slid toward Andrea's feet.
"Oh! Uh…hi, Andrea." she greeted awkwardly. "You're probably wondering why I asked you to come here."
Molly and the Trio watched from the aisle they landed in, Fatso still eating his Crunchies and burning his mouth.
"Okay, the burn's becomin' too much for me now! I gotta drink somethin'!"
Right after he said this, a stack of soda cans started shaking due to Libby's bad luck and shot all over the store. One hit Fatso in the face.
"Hey! Our luck's improvin' already!" he took a sip. "Blech! This is diet! Never mind…"
Libby swallowed nervously as she continued to talk with Andrea. "Well, uh…see, I'm collecting change for a really good cause and was wondering if you had any to spare."
Andrea caught a soda can and drank out of it. "What's the cause?"
"Uh…" Libby desperately tried to think of a lie. "It's for children who…um…"
A butcher working in the back of the store was cutting meat, when all of a sudden, the machine started acting up and launching sliced ham toward Molly and the Trio.
"Incoming!" Stinkie warned.
Molly grabbed Fatso to use as a shield and the ham landed in his mouth.
"…who have too many toys!" Libby finished.
Stretch facepalmed, while Fatso swallowed the processed pig product.
"Mmm! Maybe now our luck has changed!"
The wrapper the ham came in flew over and Stretch caught it.
"'Best before the 12th.'" he read. "Guess nobody bothers to read expiration dates anymore."
"Uh…be right back!" Fatso turned green and dashed around the corner.
Molly, Stretch, and Stinkie shrugged and continued observing Andrea and Libby from afar.
"Kids who have too many toys?" Andrea repeated. "Ugh! I so know what that feels like."
"Really?" Libby, Molly, Stretch, and Stinkie went.
"Uh, yeah! It's like, where do you put them all? We only have so many guest rooms."
Libby felt a strong gust of wind blowing and gasped upon seeing a giant storm cloud forming in the middle of the store. Rain began to come down, but Andrea remained dry thanks to an umbrella attached to a rope the wind blew toward her. Because of this, she remained oblivious to the storm.
"Anyways, I'm in a super generous mood today, since more good things keep happening to me than usual. I'll totally donate to your cause."
"You will?" Libby beamed.
Molly and the Trio huddled together as the rain caused the lights to short circuit, creating artificial lightning.
"Sure. Only problem is, I don't carry cash on me. I'm strictly digital." Andrea finished up her soda and stuck the empty can into her purse. "But wait…what's this? Some sort of brown quarter? It's probably Canadian. You want it?"
"Yes!" Libby held out her hand. "Thank you!"
Andrea dropped the penny over Libby's hand for her to catch. But the wetness of her palm caused the coin to slip out of her fingers.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Molly and the Trio yelled.
Libby tried grabbing the penny with her other hand and it slipped again, bouncing around in midair.
Eventually, she clamped both her hands over the penny, catching it for good. Just like that, the storm disappeared and everything went back to its proper place, completely unharmed.
"Hold on a minute!" the store employee interrupted, pointing an accusatory finger at Andrea. "There's been a serious math error! You're actually the 999th customer! Give those back!" she snatched the plaque and sash. "You didn't earn these…"
Andrea just shrugged. "Oh well. Still got free ice cream and concert tickets."
And with that, she skipped away cheerfully.
The employee handed the sash and plaque to Libby.
"Anyway, since you came in after her, I guess that makes you our real 1,000th customer!" she threw confetti into Libby's hair and glared at her harshly. "Make sure to treat this accolade with the honor it deserves…"
Satisfied with having saved the day, Molly, Libby, and the Trio exited the Bargain Bag. Outside, the plastic bags had stopped whirling around in a tornado and floated down into a recycling bin.
"Yes!" Molly hugged Libby triumphantly. "The Luck Suck's gone! Way to restore the natural balances, Libby! And congrats on your award!"
Libby grinned. "Thanks, Molly. But I think I'm ready to go back to being unlucky now. Sure, it was nice to not have the world be against me for a while, but it's a lot of pressure. And anyway, who needs luck when I have such a good friend? Having you by my side makes me feel like the luckiest woman in the world."
Molly put her hands over her heart. "Aww…"
"Yeah, yeah! Knock off the cheesy sentiments already!" Stretch snapped. "You're gonna make Fatso upchuck again. Now hand over that penny before you bone bags cause any more damage!"
Libby set the penny on the ground and the Trio surrounded it. They resumed their larger, more monstrous forms.
"WE, THE GHOSTLY TRIO, HEREBY REBALANCE THE SCALES OF FORTUNE!" Stretch announced while levitating the penny.
Molly and Libby giggled.
"They really get into their performances, don't they?"
"And with no formal training!"
"WE REMOVE THE LUCK FROM THIS MERE PENNY!" Stinkie began.
"AND TRANSFER IT BACK TO MOLLY MCGEE!" Fatso boomed.
The green aura representing Molly's luck floated out of the penny and back into Molly. When the deed was done, the Trio turned back to normal. Molly picked up the penny.
"I'm sorry, you guys. I shouldn't have pressured you into messing with luck."
"Yeah, ya shouldn't have." Stretch scolded. "We tried tellin' ya that. But ya had to go and resort to bribery, huh?"
"Exactly!" Stinkie retrieved the gym bag Molly had given him and dove in. "Ya know I can't put my foot down when it comes to sweaty footwear!"
"And I can't say jalape-no to these babies!" Fatso held out his bag of Crunchies.
"Okay, that joke stunk even by your standards." Stinkie shook his head.
"Oh, that reminds me!" Molly reached into her backpack and pulled out a red-haired doll. "Here you go, Stretch. Your reward as promised."
"Suzy Snuggles!" Stretch squeezed the doll against his chest. "How I've missed you! At long last we're together again!"
"Wait, that's your payment for manipulatin' luck?" Stinkie clarified with a smirk. "A cute wittle dolly? What a sissy!"
"Aww…" Fatso cooed. "I didn't know you were a mommy, Stretch!"
"Hey, what size maternity dress do ya wear, ya girly ghoul?"
Stretch snarled as Stinkie and Fatso continued to tease and laugh at him.
"I'll show you who's a 'girly ghoul'!"
He was about to attack his brothers, when a couple of flying plastic bags beat him to it. A few flew by and hit Molly and Libby as well. Stretch spotted one heading his way and blocked his face with Suzy Snuggles. Surprisingly, the bag floated around him and hit Libby again.
"…Hey, whaddya know? Suzy's not just the cutest doll ever…she's a good luck charm!"
"Really?" the others went.
"Uh…say, Stretch?" Molly spoke up. "I know I promised you could have her for a while, but do you think I could take her back just for today?"
"No way, I want 'er!" Stinkie argued.
"Get in line, 'cause she's mine!" Fatso rhymed.
Stretch held the doll out of reach. "I dunno. I wouldn't want any of yous guys to look like sissies. But if you're okay with that, I guess I could give 'er up. The thing is, since she's the only thing protectin' me from disaster on this particularly unlucky day, my fees will be higher than usual."
"I'll trade ya my socks for 'er!" Stinkie offered.
"I'll give ya my chips!" Fatso pleaded.
"I'll do your chores for a whole week!" Molly promised.
Stretch chuckled and whispered to Libby.
"And you thought Friday the 13th was bad."
Ghostly Trio and Molly McGee!
You'll notice I changed the part about Andrea getting free ice cream due to the payment system shutting down because I thought that was stupid. Like, if a payment system shuts down, wouldn't you just be expected to pay another way, like with cash? Maybe I'm wrong, but I still think it's a dumb reason to get free food. Also, the fact that Libby wasn't declared the 1,000th customer despite coming in after Andrea was a detail that annoyed me, so I put it in. As I said before, she deserves it.
Okay, only one more filler episode to go and then we get to the interesting ones! Make sure to leave a review in the meantime! Bye!