Pint-sized Pink

What Strange Things Have We Here?

Rick trudged into the kitchen. He glanced at the table and saw Syd.

"Morning, Syd," the keyboardist mumbled. The guitarist didn't reply. He appeared to be entranced with the cereal box. "Syd?"

"What's...a nine letter word...with a hyphen in the middle...that means 'small'?" Syd asked in a long, drug out voice.

"Uh..." Rick thought. "Pint-sized?"

"Thanks, Ricky. Hey, it fits!" Syd exclaimed as he penciled the word in. "Lemme check it." He turned the box upside down and the whole thing emptied. Cornflakes spilled everywhere.

"Syd! Why did you do that?!" Rick gasped.

"I didn't mean to! I forgot I left it open!" Syd cried. "Oh, no! Pink, get down! Oh, not you too, Floyd! Sam, don't-- Oh, what's the use. They're cats. They won't..." Syd stopped.

"Did you see that?" Rick asked.

"There was a little hand! A small, little hand!" Syd gasped.

Rick walked over to the other side of the table. A little boy was reaching up to grab the cornflakes from the table.

"Who...? What...? Where...?" Rick stumbled. The boy froze and dropped the cereal on the table.

"Hey! He looks like a miniature Nick!" Syd exclaimed. The piper walked over. "What's your name, kiddo?"

"I ain't got no name," the boy proclaimed. "Tey call me No Name fer a weason."

"Who is 'they'?" Syd asked.

"Te otter four."

"What other four?"

"Bitty, Kitten..." The boy chewed on his bottom lip. "Uh... Well, Roggie and Davey ain't got gooder names tan me."

"Where are they?" Syd prompted the boy again.

The boy shrugged. "Dunno."

"There you are! For goodness sake, you had me worried, little buddy!" Nick exclaimed as he hustled in and scooped up the boy.

"Nick... He mentioned another four?" Syd asked the drummer.

"Oh. Uh... Yeah... Uh... Don't tell Roger."

"Don't tell Roger what?" the lanky bassist asked as he walked in. Nick yelped and turned around. "What have you-- Syd, get your damn cats off the table! And clean up this mess! God, it's like living with children..." Roger shook his head and stormed off.

Syd went over to Nick and the boy. "Don't repeat what Roger just said," Syd told the kid. He nodded fervently and looked up at Nick.

"What's up, bud?" Nick asked.

"Tey ain't got no gooder names fer me, Nicky," he said.

"Oh. Hmm... Why don't we just call you Buddy? I mean..." Nick trailed off. Names weren't his forte.

"No, that's a great idea!" Rick said, finally coming out of his stupor.

"Really? Cool..." Nick mumbled. Buddy yawned and buried his head in Nick's shoulder. "I think he's a bit tuckered out..."

"He can rest in my room," Syd said. Nick nodded and took the boy to Syd's room.

"Now about the cornflake mess..." Rick started.

"I help, I help!" an excited voice cried. A little boy with curly black hair bounded in. He skidded to a stop and landed on his face. He sat up and sighed. "My eyes awen't wight..." 

Syd giggled and picked the boy up. "Are you Bitty?" he asked. The boy blushed and giggled a little.

"Yeah..." He hid his face behind his hands.

"I heard you had a little friend named Kitten?" Rick asked. Bitty looked at him.

"You is Kitten! You is Kitten!" he said, pointing at Rick.

"He's not Kitten!" another little boy's voice said. Rick and Syd looked down. "I'm Kitten! Bitty, you need glasses!"

Rick smiled. "So you're Kitten?"

"Yeah. Ponyboy doesn't like it much when they call me Kitten. Or when I call him Ponyboy. No Name calls him Roggie."

Rick knelt down to Kitten's level. "Oh, really? Where is Roggie?"

"He's with the big guy that looks like Jo-Jo."

"Jo-Jo?"

"Yeah. No Name calls him Davey. I call him Jo-Jo 'cause his middle name is Jon."

Rick smirked and looked at Syd. "Like our David."

"Exactly like our David. Ricky... I think these little guys are us! Or... Tiny uses, anyways..." Syd said. He looked at Bitty, who was currently sucking his thumb. "What're ya doin', Bitty?"

"Thucking my thumb," the boy said. "Don't hafe bwankie."

"Blankie is his blanket. He lost it," Kitten explained.

"Ricky! Where are you!" a boy cried. 

"That's Ponyboy," Kitten said.

"Shh! Please be quiet! I don't want Roger to get angry with me!" David's voice replied to Ponyboy's. 

A little boy stormed into the kitchen then, closely followed by David and another boy. The first one huffed and crossed his arms across his chest. "I'm hungry," he stated.

"I know you are..." David sighed. He looked up at Syd and Rick. "He's exactly like Roger only angstier..."

"How is that possible?" Syd mused aloud.

"I noticed that, too," Nick said as he came back in. Buddy was running between his legs and laughing. "This little guy won't sleep!"

"Hi Davey! Hi Roggie!" Buddy exclaimed.

Little Davey was clinging to David as if his life depended on it.

"It's okay, Jo-Jo! It's just No Name!" Kitten said.

"Tat ain't my name! It's Buddy!" the boy yelled.

"Shh! Please!" David gasped. Everyone in the kitchen froze when they heard angry footsteps. Roger appeared in a huff. His hair was matted, he had dark rings under his eyes, and he looked ready to kill someone.

"What the hell is going on?!" he growled.

"Uh..." came the collective reply. Jo-Jo hid behind David's leg, Bitty hid his face in Syd's hair, Kitten backed up into Rick, Buddy stood beside Nick and shook. No one replied to Roger's angry shout.

Except for Little Roggie. "We ain't doin' nuthin' wrong!" he proclaimed boldly. Roger looked down and blinked.

"Oh. My. God. He's a Wittle Waters!" the bassist exclaimed he picked the boy up and smiled like a fool. "He's exactly like me!" Wittle blinked then giggled. He hugged Roger and smiled.

"Oh, that could have ended way worse..." Nick sighed. He picked Buddy up and started telling him all of the cool things drummers can do.

"Hey, Bitty... It's okay now. Roger isn't angry anymore," Syd gently shook the boy. Bitty looked at him and smiled.

"Come on, Kitten. Let's clean up," Rick said to the little boy in front of him. Kitten nodded and rushed around to clean up.

"Well, what do you think, Jo-Jo?" David asked the boy behind him. Jo-Jo made grabby hands at David as if to say "PICK ME UP! PICK ME UP!" David chuckled and scooped the boy up. "Oh, what am I going to do with you..."