At first, Shannon Bishop was just the babysitter. It was convenient, living in the same neighborhood as the Hendersons, but it wasn't too much of a stretch to move to the Wheelers' house or even out where the Byers family lived to watch all the boys...
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One Month Later
Hugging her jacket tight around her, Shannon jogged from her car to the Wheelers' front door, letting herself in without knocking.
"Hi, Mrs. Wheeler!" she called out, shutting the door behind her carefully. She checked the bottoms of her shoes for any marks or stains before stepping further into the house.
"Is that you, Shannon?" Karen Wheeler's face popped into view as she moved in the kitchen to see down the foyer hallway for herself. Her face broke out into a smile. "Hi, honey. Oh, and please– just call me Karen."
Shannon smiled back at her. "Sure, Mrs. Wheeler." They did this dance every time, and they would likely never stop. Shannon wouldn't give up her manners no matter what the other kind woman said to her. "Are they downstairs still?"
On cue, the voices of the boys filtered up from the basement, loud and excited. Karen laughed. "I think you have your answer."
"Hey." Shannon heard another set of footsteps settle in behind her, and she turned to find Jonathan coming their way. He nodded at her, then at the basement door. "Ready to get them?"
She let him lead the way. "Let's do it."
"Lucas cuts off its seven heads, and Dustin places them into his bag," Mike was saying amidst the cheers of the other boys. "You carry the heads out of the dungeon, victorious, and you present them to King Tristan. He thanks you for your bravery and service."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Dustin cut in. "That's not it, is it?"
Mike gave a so-so motion with his head. "Well, no. There's a medals ceremony-"
Dustin took on a sound of outrage. "Oh, a medals ceremony? What are you talking about?"
"The campaign was way too short!" Lucas added.
"Yeah!" Will chimed in.
"What? It was ten hours!" Mike argued.
"But it doesn't make any sense!"
"It makes sense!"
"Uh, no. What about-"
"Okay, that's enough!" Shannon called out, descending the steps behind Jonathan. "No more game talk– you're all cut off for the night."
"Jeez, what's that smell?" Jonathan complained, teasing. "Have you guys been playing games down here all day, or were you just farting?"
The boys broke into a round of laughter, and even Shannon cracked a smile. "No, that's just Dustin," Lucas giggled. "He farted."
Dustin's smile wiped right off his face. "Did not."
"Yeah, you did," Lucas replied, then began to break into song about how, "Dustin farted, Dustin farted," all while blowing raspberries.
