The Silver Owl

23

I only have to take one step into the house for one member to notice my presence.

"ACK!" I scream as Cadet tackles me before I'm more than five paces into the house.

"LIZZIE!" I hear an excited Lucy as I feel a second weight slam against me. Zac's probably getting similar reactions from his family.

I crumble against the weight of Lucy and Cadet.

"Oh Shadow. What are we going to do with you?" I hear Mom say.

"I guess it's clear I'm home." I manage. I think Cadet's heavier than Lucy right now.

"Mom? Some help would be great right now?" I plea. Getting. Crushed.

"Shadow," Mom coos as Cadet reluctantly gets off me.

"Lucy, I'd like to stand up now..."

"Fine." Lucy complains. She lets me up. I stand up and brush off my jeans for effect.

"Thank you."

We have dinner and I go to my room, I go back out later and watch some shows with Lucy.

Soon it's time for us to head to bed. I shower, then brush my teeth. HA! I remembered this time! Point Lizzie.

I say goodnight and retreat down the hall to my bedroom, I lay awake in my own bed, it seems to comfortable to sleep in.

Tap, tap, tap.

"Yeah?" I whisper. I know who it is. It's Lucy.

"Can I come in?" She squeaks.

I smile, "Sure." Lucy opens the door softly. I see Lucy holding Angel, her trusted teddy bear. Angel's little wings made of flimsy, sparkly fabric gleam in the dim light of my room.

"I can't sleep," Lucy tells me.

"Wanna sleep with me?" I offer. She nods and climbs onto my bed.

I can feel her worried blue eyes on me. It makes me feel bad, "You're leaving again. Aren't you?"

I feel a blow of guilt hit my chest, "Yeah, I still need to find what Daddy wanted me to."

I feel her shift into a cross-legged position, and I feel soft fuzz being placed in my lap by little hands.

"I want you to have Angel." Lucy's always loved Angel. When she was little she rarely left the house without her.

"Are you sure?" I double check. The glittery fabric pokes into my leg, but it doesn't hurt.

I feel the bed bounce, which means she was nodding.

"Alright," I tell Lucy, "but you sleep with her tonight. Okay? I don't want her to miss you too much."

"Okay," Lucy's little voice replies. I fall asleep to her light breathing.

• • •

I wake up with the covers thrown all over the place. I forgot Lucy did that in her sleep. Oh well. Lucy is curled up into a little ball, drooling slightly. I laugh quietly. She's too cute.

I comb through the covers and find Angel, and gently place her in my backpack. Zac and I agreed to only stay for a couple of days, check in and make sure everyone is okay, then head off again. The only difference this time is that we know where we're going this time.

I mentally begin packing for tomorrow. Food, water, money, etc. Lucy eventually wakes up, and stumbles out and down the hall, where I am currently trying recreate Jenny's magical pancake recipe for Lucy but I fear they may come out normal.

"Pan-cakes?" Lucy yawns. I smile and laugh, Mom already was heading to work, so I'm babysitting Lucy for today, which I don't mind all that much.

I try to flip and pancake in the air just for show, but it falls on the ground by my foot.

"EEP!" I react to the flying pancake.

"IT'S A FLOOR-CAKE NOW!" Lucy screams hysterically. Cadet decides that apparently the 'floor-cake' looks tasty. She charges over and attempts to steal a bit, but I scoop it off the ground just before she gets to it.

Scooping up the pancake off the ground caused me to loose my balance, which now, I am ungracefully trying to avoid falling over on my dog. I stand there with one leg out, and both arms extended.

I spin my arms backwards to try to bring my balance back to center. "Lizzie, you look like a duck."

"Quack," I say dully, not because I'm mad at Lucy for calling me a duck, but it's funnier if it's monotone. I finally regain my balance after what seemed like decades of spinning my arms backwards. Thankfully I didn't hit the stove...

I serve up the remainder of the pancakes that didn't fall on the floor to Lucy.

"How'd yea like 'em?" I prompt.

Lucy doesn't respond. She continues to stuffing pancakes into her mouth, "Good?"

"Mh mv mem mo muh." She tries to say. I translated it to: I love them so much.

I smile, "I'm glad you like them so much. It's a special recipe my friend taught me."

"Moo?"

"Jenny."

"Memmy?!"

"Yeah, Jenny Tainano"

"My mo mer! Mes mum made mamad muf me!" I know her! She's one grade ahead of me!

I can't hold back a laugh of Lucy trying to talk with her mouth full, "Do you now?"

"Muh-huh!"

"Great! I'll make an extra big batch when I get home." I tell her.

Lucy swallows hard, "Ahhhhh. It's scratching the back of my throat!"

"Drink water."

"But I don't like water."

"Tough luck."

Lucy gives me that adorable smile I love, "You'll really make a extra big batch?!"

To myself I think, an not a. Oh my gosh- Zac. Look what you've done. Now I'm doing it too.

"Course!"

Knock, knock, knock.

I walk over to see who's at the door as Lucy continues to eat pancakes with a jealous Cadet sitting under her.

I look through the peep hole. It's Zac. I unbolt the doors, "May I help you?"

Zac smiles, "Yeah. I need to speak with Elizabeth Melanie Scott."

I put one hand on my hip, "LIZZIE?!" I wait 30 seconds or so.

"Oh yeah, she said she-"

"LIZZIE? WHY ARE YOU TALKING IN THREE PERSON AGAIN?!?"

I sigh, "It's third-person. And it's a joke. Come on in Zac. I'm just watching Lucy."