Bundle of Bodes

Chapter 13

"So let me get this straight," Kinsey said, "You're yourself again, just without your Anger, Sadness, Rudeness, Laziness, Sleepiness, Cluelessness, and Mischief?"

"Yep," Bode said.

"So then tell me why we shouldn't just leave you as you are right now?"

"Kinsey!" Tyler said.

Bode said to Kinsey, "You only removed one emotion from your head, and look at all the trouble that's caused. So I don't really want to find out what'll happen if a bunch of feelings are missing from my head."

The Locke siblings ran downstairs to the foyer, and Bode put the Head Key into his head again and turned the key. The second Bode appeared along with the toy chest. "Let's go put back the easy ones first," Bode said.

Bode dragged his Sleepiness off one of the couches in the great room. Sleepiness yawned and said, "Is nap time over?"

"No, you'll have plenty more time to sleep," Bode said, continuing to drag him across the floor into the foyer. "You'll just have to do it in my head." He dumped Sleepiness into the toy chest.

Kinsey entered the drawing room and grabbed Cluelessness by the hand, and she led him to the foyer. "Where are you taking me?" Cluelessness asked.

"Right here," Kinsey said, in front of the chest. "I need you to just climb down this ladder. 'Kay?"

"Sure, I can do that!" Cluelessness followed her directions without hesitation.

Tyler picked up Laziness off the ground in the winter study and hauled him over his shoulders. "Hey, what gives?" Laziness said. "I was so comfy in that spot."

Tyler carried him back toward the foyer. "Yeah, well, I'm sure you can get comfy in here, too." He dropped Laziness into the chest.

"That's three down, four to go," Bode said.

The siblings entered the kitchen, where they found Sadness weeping at the dining table. "Hey, Sadness," Bode said. "We need you to go back into my head."

"Why should I even bother?" Sadness said. "You never seem to care about me anyways. You always bury me in the deepest part of your head."

Bode sat at the table next to him. "You're right, I did," Bode said. "But I shouldn't have done that. I do care about you. I need you. I wouldn't be complete without you. I may not like being sad, but... sometimes we need to be. Being sad can help us grow. And that's where you come in."

"Do you really mean that?" Sadness said, wiping away a tear.

"I do. I really do." Bode held one of Sadness's hands. They walked together back to the foyer, and Bode opened the toy chest. As Sadness climbed down the ladder, Bode could have sworn he saw the slightest hint of a smile on his face. Bode closed the chest, and he turned back toward Tyler and Kinsey. "Now we come to the hard part," he said.

Anger and Rudeness were standing in the drawing room. "You'll never catch us!" Anger yelled. He and Rudeness sprinted off into the winter study. Tyler ran toward them, meanwhile Kinsey and Bode ran toward the kitchen in the opposite direction so that they ended up trapping Anger and Rudeness on both sides.

All three Locke siblings tackled the two Bodes. Tyler managed to restrain the two of them while they were down, but Anger then started biting Tyler's arm. "Ow! You little shit!" Tyler said. He flinched for just one moment, but in that moment, his grip loosened, and Anger was able to escape his grasp. "Shit! He's getting away!"

"We'll deal with him later; you still have Rudeness," Bode said. "Let's at least put him back."

Tyler walked back to the foyer with Rudeness in his arms. "Put me down, nimrod!" Rudeness said. "I don't wanna go back in there! There's so much more freedom out here!" Tyler ignored him and opened the toy chest. "Don't you dare put me down there, jerk!" Rudeness spit in Tyler's face. "Ha! How do you like that?"