Riddle Middle

Chapter 23: Babysitting

Smiley (1st person)

I got to Zack's house at around five fifty. I rang his doorbell and waited. His mom answered. "Ah, you must be Smiley," she said. "Yeah, that's me!" I said. "You can go anywhere you want in the house, help yourself to anything in the fridge, and Bryan should be in bed by nine," she said. "Alright," I said. "I should be back by eleven," she said. "Okay," I said. "Right, I'll be leaving now. Thanks for watching him," she said, walking past me. I went into their house. It was pretty big and... shiny. Bryan saw me and ran over. "Yay!" he yelled, hugging my legs. "Hello!" I said. "Hi! Are you my brother now?" he asked. "No, not-" I stopped talking because his expression immediately changed. His eyes watered and he looked disappointed. "Yes, yes I'm your brother. At least for tonight," I said. He smiled again and continued hugging me. "Can I make you dinner?" he asked. "Oh, uh, sure!" I said. "Yay!" he yelled, running into their kitchen. There were a few crashing sounds, and about five minutes later, he told me to come into the kitchen. It was a complete mess. "Here it is!" he said, pushing a bowl towards me on the kitchen's island. There was some brown soup with stringy things floating in it. "Okay..." I said. He gave me a spoon. I put some of it into my mouth, and it was disgusting.

"Do you like it?" he asked. "Yeah, it's...Uh... What's in it?" I asked after turning away from him and spitting it out. He put out ingredients on the table. Apple sauce and raw ground beef. "Now it's your turn!" he said. "You want me to make you something?" I asked. "Yeah!" he said. "What do you want?" I asked. "Hot dog!" he yelled. That sounded easy enough. I took a microwave hot dog out of the fridge and microwaved it. I gave it to him, and he ate it in about thirty seconds. "Dessert!" he shouted. "Okay, what do you want?" I asked. He pointed to a jar. I opened it, and it was full of cookies. "How many do you normally have?" I asked. "Uh... Ten!" he yelled. I knew that wasn't right, considering that they were pretty big. I took three of them and cut smaller circles into them. I had ten smaller ones. "Here," I said, handing them to him. "Thanks!" he said, eating them in about a minute. "Can we watch Toddler Funtime?" he asked. I absolutely hate that show, but I'd watch it for a little bit if he really wanted to. "Okay..." I said. It was only seven, so we still had about two hours until he was supposed to go to bed. We went over to the couch and sat. I put it on and forced myself to watch it. The dialog was quiet, but the music was insanely loud. The colors were too bright, and it didn't even have a story. I watched it for about thirty minutes. Bryan yawned and leaned against me. I looked down at him to find that he was asleep. I turned that stupid show off.

I guess I fell asleep, because when I woke up, everything was dark, and Bryan wasn't next to me anymore. I panicked and looked in every room in their house for him. It was about ten, and he wasn't anywhere to be found. I tried calling his name, and he didn't respond. The doors and windows were all locked, so I figured he was probably still in the house somewhere. The only place I hadn't checked was their basement, and I didn't want to go down there. It was dark and dusty. I tried the light switch right inside of the doorway. Nothing. There was a flashlight on a small table next to me, so I grabbed that. I shined the light into the basement. There were a bunch of boxes and cobwebs. "Hello?!" I called. "Hello!" Bryan called from in the basement. I went down the steps and heard a shuffling sound next to me. I spun around and shined the light at the sound. A small furry animal darted towards me. I yelled and instinctively ran away from it. I assumed it was a raccoon or something, and I eventually got away from it. "Bryan? Where are you?" I asked. "I'm right here!" he said, stepping out from behind a box. I sighed with relief. "Ooh, a kitty!" he said, running behind me. "Wha?" I asked, turning around. He was squeezing a large possum. Its eyes were glowing white because of the flashlight, and it looked terrifying. It franticly tried to twist its long snout to bite Bryan. "NO! I-I mean, put the kitty down-" I said. "Okay!" he said, tossing it towards me. It hissed and ran towards me. It clawed at my legs, and I gently kicked it away. I heard a squeaking sound behind me, and I turned to see some much cuter animals. They looked the fluffier versions of the possum that attacked me. I realized that those must be its babies, and that would explain why it was acting so aggressive. I grabbed the possum and held it under its shoulders. "Can you carry the smaller ones?" I asked Bryan. There were three of them, and they looked terrified. Bryan scooped them up and followed me out of the basement. We let them go out of the front door.

"Why can't we keep them?" Bryan asked. "Because they belong outside," I said. I looked at the time. It was ten fifty-five, and Bryan was supposed to be in bed a while ago. "Okay, you need to go to bed now," I said. He yawned. "But I don't want to..." he said. I carried him through the kitchen and into the living room. We went into his bedroom, and I placed him on his bed. "Can you read me a story?" he asked. "Sure, what do you want me to read?" I asked. He handed me a children's book, and I read it. About thirty seconds in, he fell asleep. I closed the book and set it on a table. I went back out to the front door and heard Zack's mom pulling into the driveway. I opened the door and she approached me. "Did everything go okay?" she asked. "Oh, yeah, he was... no trouble at all," I said. "Really?" she asked. I nodded. "Here," she said, handing me twenty dollars. "I thought I wasn't getting paid-" I said. She shrugged. "I mean, it's only fair that I give you something," she said. "Thanks!" I said. My house was close enough to Zack's that I could walk back. I like Bryan, but he's a handful.