North by North Tree-st

North By North Tree-st - Part 1

Hi, guys! It's great to be back! I hope you enjoy this :D

Chapter 1

The sun rose brightly, lighting up Ocean Avenue. The light shone in through the windows, and made brass house numbers sparkle. Birds sang, flying through the sky without a care in the world. Early morning walkers greeted one another with a smile. It was a perfect summer morning.

The peace was not felt all throughout the avenue, however, as an argument broke out in the Belcher household. Well, their version of an argument, which was more akin to a heated conversation.

"Aw, come on, Bobby; it'll be fun!" Linda pleaded over the breakfast table, causing the three children to groan simultaneously. "You'll enjoy it!"

"No, Lin," Bob sighed, putting down his coffee. "We can't afford to close -"

"Yes, we can," Louise piped up.

"- And it sounds terrible," he finished, and Linda gasped.

"It does not!" She sounded scandalised. She was holding the flyer for the 1st Annual Bog Harbour Community Barbecue in her hand, waving it with a sort of reverence. Bob shook his head slightly and returned to his newspaper.

"Father, a day in the sunshine, eating food, does not sound terrible!" said Gene, and Louise and Tina nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we'd be away from here!" cried Louise, brandishing her fork, sending scrambled egg everywhere.

"But, a community barbecue? Really, Lin? It sounds absolutely awful."

"Why, Dad?" asked Tina.

"Because, Tina," Bob sighed, "it's stupid."

"Wow, great argument," Louise grinned.

"Well, why would anyone hold a community barbecue in the woods? That's, like, the worst place to have a barbecue. Why not right here? Plus, I hate it."

"Oh, Bobby, don't be such a grump. It's a barbecue, not a barbe-can't. We're going." Linda stood, still holding the flyer, and walked over to the counter. She grabbed the coffee pot, along with the orange juice, and brought them both back to the table.

"I don't want to."

"Come on, Bobby, it's just one day; only one day." Linda managed to jokingly pout at him while she refilled their coffee mugs, ignoring Louise's attempts to sneak some.

"But it's a Saturday, Lin; that's a big day for us. And it's this Saturday; it doesn't give anyone a lot of notice," Bob grunted from behind his paper.

"Four days notice is plenty, my love, so we're going."

"Hm, no, we're not," said Bob, and his family groaned. Bob grunted, slightly annoyed. He didn't know why they wanted to go to this stupid barbecue so badly; going would mean they would have to miss work. Besides, Saturdays were their best days, more or less; they still had a lunch lull, rather than a lunch rush, but they usually had a good five or six customers.

"Oh, come on!" Louise slammed her fists down on the table.

"No, Louise, we are not going into a forest for a barbecue; that's a nightmare waiting to happen."

"I think it'll be fun," said Tina.

"No, it won't," Bob retorted. "Fire and trees don't mix; they're not supposed to. It's going to be everyone bored waiting around for the food; eating badly cooked food, and making small talk with strangers." He looked over the edge of his paper, as the kids clamoured to be the first to have a refill of the juice; Louise kept sliding her sibling's glasses out of the way at the last second, causing Linda to keep spilling it everywhere. He gave a small sigh, not wanting to attempt to discipline her this early in the morning.