𝙈𝙔 𝙂𝙪𝙮 || 𝘼 𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝙓 𝘿𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙁𝙖𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙘

EPISODE ONE: TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

     "Dammit!" Harry hissed.

     The man punched the wheel, the car horn honking in response. Robin looked up from the map he was examining.

     "Stop throwing a hissy fit! It won't change the fact that we're stranded in the middle of nowhere," they frowned, unbuckling their seatbelt.

     Manny sat in the backseat, twiddling his thumbs and chewing on his lip.

    "Uh, Dad?"

     "I'm too tired for this shit, I'm gonna have a smoke," grumbled Harry, grabbing a small box and a lighter.

     "Muddy..?"

     "Fine! Run away from your problems! I'll fix this on my own!" Robin retorted.

     Manny didn't get a chance to call for Robin again before she jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind her. They sighed, grabbing the teddy bear next to them.

     "I guess we have permission to stretch our legs, too, since Dad and Mud are,"

     Pushing the door open, Manny was hit with the smell of the forest. The scent of pine and dirt was fresh from the short, previous rain shower. His brown teddy hung loosely by his side, swinging around with each skip Manny took. Whistling a tune, Manny continued to trek through the trees. To his disappointment, though, there was nothing interesting going on.

     Manny huffed, crouching down to brush off a rock. They plopped down and stared up at the trees' canopies.

     "This is just plain boring!" Manny groaned.

     "Someone make something interesting happen!"

     The boy waited, arms outstretched to the sky as if he was waiting to embrace something; but nothing happened. Sighing, Manny kicked a rock and watched it skid away into a patch of grass.

     "So much for wishing on any damned thing."

     Picking up their teddy bear, Manny began his journey back to the car. However, on this trip, they felt uneasy--like someone was watching them from the trees. Manny decided it would be a good idea to speed up his strides. The car wasn't too far now.

     A tree root tripped Manny up, startling them and causing a frightened yelp to erupt from their throat. Whipping around on their back, they noticed that their shoelaces were untied. The dirty, white laces had wrapped themselves around a twig growing out of the root. Manny's battered, white sneakers had been pulled off of his foot halfway, revealing his sock-covered heel slightly.

     "Ugh, I thought I tied you three hours ago!" Manny muttered, working on the small knot to free himself from the twig.

     "Need any help, friend?" a familiar voice asked.

     Manny looked up in confusion, only to have his expression drop into a dreadful one. The man standing above him was tan, his yellow flannel resting over a dark blue sweater. Bringing their eyes up further, Manny was only brought more feelings of distraught. The middle-parted, dyed hair and facial hair finished the puzzle. It was Shrignold.

     "No," Manny shook his head, "not you!"

     Shrignold smiled, putting his hands on his hips, "Yup, it's me!~"

     The boy below complained into his hands, rubbing his face to try and find some kind of physical comfort.

     "I noticed you were feeling kind of blue, so I came to offer you some brotherly lo--"

     "Noooo! No! Don't you dare say that word!" said Manny, pointing at him with a glare.

     Shrignold smirked and put his hands up defensively, "Fine, fine! I've only come to offer you help. Y'know, as a friend."