She crawled through the tunnel into a room that looked exactly the same as the one she just left ... except ... something wasn't quite right.
She gripped her frying pan tightly, just in case this was some kind of horrible trap. A wonderful smell hit her nostrils ...
'Wow ... something smells good!' She thought, smiling.
She followed the scent to the kitchen, which looked far brighter and cleaner, and in front of the oven was a pretty lady with waist-length black hair and she was wearing a pretty green dress. She was humming to herself.
"Who are you? And what are you doing in my kitchen?" She asked, frightened.
She turned to look at her and smiled. She had dark green buttons for eyes, which freaked her out a bit. What scared her more was that she had no idea where her parents were.
"You're just in time for supper, dear!" She said, smiling.
"Wh-who are you?" She asked, hiding the frying pan behind her back.
"I'm your Other Mother, see?" She said, smiling sweetly.
"But ... my mother doesn't have ... bu-butt-" She was cut off.
"Buttons? Do you like them?" She asked, tapping her button eyes with her finger nail.
She shuddered as her so called 'Other Mother' got a huge turkey out of the oven.
"Would you kindly tell your Other Father that supper is ready, dear?" She asked nicely.
She just stared at her and the Other Mother giggled.
"Go on!" She said, smiling sweetly.
Kathleen cautiously walked away and went upstairs. She was suspicious of this ... but she had to figure out where all of this was going. The "Other Mother's" accent scared her a little.
She could have sworn it sounded very familiar ... just then, she heard piano music. She followed the sound until she came to the room where her father's room should be.
But instead, it seemed to be a music room of a sort. A black haired man was sitting at the huge piano in the middle of the room, playing away.
"Uh ... h-hello?" Kathleen asked, frightened.
He turned to look at her. He had button eyes, too ... they were dark green as well ... but not as dark as the Other Mother's.
"Oh, hello Kathleen." He said, smiling.
She stood there, stunned.
"H-how do you know my name?" She asked, clinging onto the frying pan for dear life.
"Of course I know it, I'm your Other Father, silly. Hey, do you want to hear a song?" He asked, smiling.
She didn't want to be rude, so she nodded slowly. He turned around and began to play a wonderful song ... and to her surprise, he began to sing.
"Makin' up a song about Kathleen~
She's a peach, she's a doll, she's a pal of mine
She's as cute as a button
In the eyes of everyone who ever laid their eyes on Kathleen!
When she comes around exploring
Mom and I will never, ever make it boring
Our eyes will be on Kathleen!"
She approached him cautiously and he looked at her with a smile.
"What do you think?" He asked.
"Uh ... th-the Other Mother said dinner is ready ... that's all I came for." She said, still gripping her frying pan.
"Really? Oh!" He said, getting up and leaving the room.
'Who ARE these people?' She thought, anxious and suspcious.
-
She sat at the dining table and the Other Parents looked at her with smiles on their faces. She looked at the food in front of her. It was her favourite meal ... and she felt so hungry.
"Eat up, Kathleen, dear!" The Other Mother said, smiling.
Not wanting to be rude, she obeyed. The food was beyond delicious ... it seemed like her taste buds were over-exaggerating ... but she didn't care.
"Boy, you sure are hungry." The Other Father said, sounding edgy.
"She is, isn't she dear?" The Other Mother said, drumming her fingers on the empty plate in front of her.
She looked up at them and became slightly edgy when you noticed the Other Mother wasn't eating.
The Other Father seemed to be just as hungry as you were ...
"Aren't you hungry?" She asked her.
"Oh, I ate earlier." She replied, smiling sweetly.
She sighed.
"Oh, Kathleen ... we've been waiting for you for so long ... haven't we, dear?" She said, looking at the Other Father.
He looked up and nodded, continuing to eat like a ravenous wolf. After Kathleen finished eating, she suddenly felt very sleepy. The Other Mother came over with bandages ... and began to unravel the ones already on her hand.
"How did you know I-" Kathleen was cut off again.
"I noticed it whilst we were talking earlier." She said, smiling as she replaced the old bandages with the new ones.
"There ... now, would you like to play a game?" She asked.
"No thank you ... I'm so tired." You yawned.
"Ok, sweetie ... I'll take you to bed ... seeing as your Father has taken a nap ..." She said, glaring at the Other Father.
Kathleen looked at him and noticed he had fallen asleep with his head on the plate, which she found hard not to laugh at.
The Other Mother took her to "Her Room". It was truly amazing. The wallpaper was her favourite color and the carpet was a wonderful white with pink flower patterns. There were even curtains covering the windows!
"Wow!" She breathed.
Her bed was the best part ... it was a real bed! Not just a broken mattress in the middle of the floor. She climbed into bed as the Other Mother tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead.
"Good Night, love." She said, smiling.
She slowly drifted off to sleep ...
-
She awoke to find herself in her real room ... which was disappointing. Suddenly, she realized there was no pain in her hand.
She removed the bandages ... and the graze on her hand was gone! There wasn't even an indication that the graze was even there to begin with ... Happiness flowed inside, she leapt out of bed and went to find the little door ... only to find that it was bricked off ... was it all a dream?
