"Family Means No One's Left Behind"~ A Greenflame and Children Story

Chapter Sixteen: The Singing Contest

Narration~
Three days passed by in the blink of an eye and the gang still couldn't think of a good way of a fundraiser to help Mia. There were only four days left before the eviction. Skylor and Sker let Mia help out at the noodle house, and paid her $7.00 an hour. The money was slowly increasing, but it still seemed like there wouldn't be enough to pay the landlord.

Skylor's Point of View~
Sker, Mia, and I were working in the noodle house, preparing the customer's orders, preparing the food, and serving it onto the conveyor belt. Mia and Sker were in the kitchen cooking, along with my co-worker, Mary, and I was serving the food to the people who weren't close to the belt. "Wow, it's pretty packed in here today," I said. There actually were a lot of people here, a bit more than usual. "Hey! What's up with the food?! It tastes like cardboard!" A man called from a booth close to the restrooms. I walked over to the man and his family and said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll take it back and cook it again. There's just a new chef here, and it's a big job to make sure everyone gets the right order." The man gave me an intense glare as his wife tried to tell him to calm down and the two children stared at their father. "Well, why don't you tell the chef to cook better?" He said in protest. When he said that, it annoyed me, him telling my son and Mia to do a better job at cooking. "You don't talk about my son and his friend like that," I said with a bit of anger in my voice. "So, it's your son and his friend that are the ones cooking this crap, huh? Well, I suggest that you get some real chefs who can cook something of value." He said. Then he stood up and ordered his family to follow. They quickly arose from their seats and he led them towards the door. "Hey! You can't just leave without paying!" I said as I caught up to them. The man turned around and glared at me. "Why should I pay for this crap?" He asked in a sarcastic tone. "Because it's the law, you ordered it, and it's for a good cause," I said in response. The man cocked his head to the side slightly and said, "Fine, I'll pay for that disgrace you call a meal." Then he pulled out $14.00 from his pocket, handed it to me, and immediately left the restaurant. "Jeez, some customers can't be appreciative of what they're given sometimes," I mumbled to myself. I went over to the cash register and placed half of the  $14.00 inside, and went to the kitchen. I placed the $7.00 through a slit in a jar that had about $21.00 inside of it now. "Thank you so much again for letting me have this opportunity to work with you and Sker, and helping me and my family raise enough money for the house. We're all very grateful for it. Thank you." Mia said as she turned to me. I smiled and said, "You're very welcome Mia. And it's nice to have another person help out around the noodle house. I know that Mary, Sker, and I are very glad to have you here too." Then, Sker stepped in and asked me, "Hey mom, who was that guy at the door? He looked angry." I looked at him, Mia did as well. "Huh? What man?" Mia asked. I was silent. I didn't want to hurt Mia's feelings because of what that man said. She looked at me with concerned and worried eyes, and I couldn't find a way to avoid telling her. "Well, he...he just wasn't very 'okay' with what he got. There are some customers that do that kind of thing." I said as I tried to put it in an assuring tone. Mia gasped and her eyes widened. I guess she knows by what I meant by 'okay'. I thought. Mia quickly untied her apron, took off her hairnet, and placed them aside. "I'm so sorry! I knew that I messed up on an order! I-I just didn't know which one! I'm sorry Skylor!" She said frantically as she grabbed her things and began to make way towards the door. "Wait! Mia, you don't have to leave. Everyone makes mistakes." I said. "Yeah, you can stay and still help around here," Sker added. "No, I...I don't wanna make any more mistakes. I'll just see if there's anything else I can do, without messing up. It's fine, really." Mia said. But before me or Sker could say anything, Mia had already walked out the door, and down the street. "Mia.," Sker said softly. "The poor dear, I wish we could do more for her," Mary said. "Yeah," I said.

Akidah's Point of View~
May and I were walking around Ninjago City, thinking of some ideas to help Mia, when all of a sudden, Mia came speed-walking past us with her head lowered. "Huh? Mia? I thought you were with mom and Sker at the noodle house. What are you doing out here? Is everything okay?" I asked as I turned around. She quickly stopped and turned around and answered, "Oh! Uh, I left early." Me and May had questionable looks on our faces. "Why did you leave early? Did you just not like working at the noodle house with Sker and Skylor?" May asked her. "No, I did like working there with them, but there was a mistake that I made while cooking, and a man complained about it, and I left. I didn't want to make any more mistakes." Mia explained to us. And as quickly as she said that, Mia had turned back around and walked away. "Poor Mia, now what will she do?" I said. "I don't know, but the week's almost over and Mia said that they don't have enough money to pay the bills," May said. I sighed and we continued our walk. "She's kinda like Lari, in a way. Like, they both stop trying at something when they make a mistake." I said. "Mm-hmm. Yeah, kinda." May replied. As we were walking along the sidewalk, something with a bit of color caught my eye. I stopped dead in my tracks and looked over to my right. "Akidah?" May asked, looking over her shoulder in my direction. "May, you should come over here and look at this," I said to her. May walked back over to me and looked where I was looking. She gasped and exclaimed, "A singing contest?" I nodded. "And, there's a $5,000.00 reward! That could save Mia's house!" I said. I took the flier off the glass window and May and I quickly ran home to deliver the news.

Kabaz's Point of View~
I was at home with Lari and my dads, thinking of some ways to help Mia. Suddenly, May and Akidah rush through the door panting. Akidah had a slip of paper in her hand as well. "Why are you two in such a rush?" I asked. "We think that we just found a way to help Mia! Here, look at this!" Akidah said as she came to the table and placed down the paper she had. Everyone looked at the paper and had astonished looks on their faces. "'The Borg Theater Singing Contest'! That's an amazing idea!" Lloyd said. "Yeah! And there's a $5,000.00 award!" Said Lari. "This could definitely save Mia's house, and also leave her with plenty more," I said.

{Time Skip~}

Sker and his mom came back home and we told everything about the singing contest. "That's amazing!" Skylor said. "Yeah, but who's gonna be the one or ones to enter and win the prize money?" Sker asked. The whole room was quiet. "Hmm, I don't know," I said. "How 'bout May and Akidah do it? Back when they were in 4th grade at that talent show, they were amazing singers." Lari. "Yeah! I think that'd be great! What do you say about that May?" Akidah said. "Uh, okay, I'll do it," May responded. So then it was settled, Akidah and May were the ones going to enter the contest, and try out for the auditions tomorrow afternoon.