Chap-Stick

One sunny Thursday afternoon, after school, Cody Richardson, his parents, Bubble and Dad, and their pet fat cat, Frankie, were leaving El Burrito, a Mexican restaurant, from an excellent dinner. "Whoop boy! That there was good!" Their stomachs were full, and Cody's lips were extremely cracked because of the dry nachos he ate (He doesn't like the salsa). This made him realize that he needed some chap-stick, but this time, he wanted to try the flavored kind. Jared Codys, his eating buddy, had told him in freshman math class that same day that there was such a thing as flavored Carmex chap-stick, and that it was being sold at any little store. "Hey Bubble, I want me some chap-stick." "You already have some and ya don't need no more, Cody Richardson!" "But I want to try the new flavored kind. The regular one tastes nasty." "Ya ain't supposed to eat it!" Bubble scolded. "Well no, I wouldn't do that, it would kill me for sure!" "Then why does the flavor matter?" She replied. "It doesn't, I just don't want to go home yet. To Family Dollar!" "Ugh!" Dad boomed, and cranked the car up. When they arrived, Cody walked in. "Now if I were chap-stick, where would I be?" He was walking through the store and he ran into his main man, Zachary Clayton. "S'up Willie McGillie?!" "Hey Zach, do you know where the chap-stick might be?" "Well sure, it's near the cash-register." "Good good, thanks." "Don't mention it, bro." After their short conversation, Cody went over and found a lot of chap-stick, but it was all off-brand, and none was flavored. He smacked his chapped lips and went back to the truck. "Where's it at? Are they gonna mail it to you?" "No, Dingy Butt! They didn't have what I was looking for." Cody strummed his guitar to calm his nerves down a bit. It was a majestic sound, and it worked. "What now? Home?" Bubble asked. Cody sighed. "No. Let's try Food-Lion next. They have to have it, it's a grocery store for Dingy's sake." "Meow." Frankie said, wanting to go home. Upon parking, Cody entered the store and asked a clerk where the chap-stick was located. The clerk, which happened to be a Dingy friend of Cody's, was Benjamin Bexley. "Ben, hey dude, could you show me where you keep the chap-stick?" "It's in the pharmacy section, you could sure use some, Cody. Your lips look drier than the desert!" "I've been through the desert on a horse with no name, it felt good to..." "Cody, quit making America references and go look for the lip balm!" He giggled. "I have a job to run!" "Oh. Sorry. And thank you, I think." As Cody walked away, Ben fell over his own wet-floor sign. "Aw." He muttered. Cody looked and saw actual Carmex this time, but none was flavored, just the disgusting original. He smacked his chapped lips again and went back. "No luck again?" Cody sighed. "Nope. Let's try Dollar General, and if they ain't got it, then I'll just give up!" "UGH!" Dad groaned again. They drove off. Dollar General wasn't just around the corner from where they were. "Meow!" Frankie blurted, and wanted Cody to pet him, but he was much too angry. "Argh! Not now, Frankster. I'm so mad right now that if I even attempted to rub you, all of your fur would fall off!" On the way, Cody's favorite truck, a brand new blue Dodge RAM truck passed by. "RAM!" Cody shouted. Dad didn't care too much for RAMs anymore, since he had one a few years back, and it gave him more trouble than his wallet could handle. Dad sighed and pulled into the parking lot of Dollar General. "Alright bowe, now hurry up! I gotta get home and go to bed, I gotta work tomorrow!" "Will do!" Cody replied. Cody walked in, straight to the chap-stick, but again he just saw regular Carmex. "Well I'll be darn!" He had failed his mission, and decided to give up. "Oh well, I guess. Me and flavored chap-stick just won't meant to be together." Just as soon as Cody was about to walk out, he noticed an off-brand chap-stick, Dollar General logo-ed, and cake batter flavored. Cody scratched his head in confusion, but then he thought about how much better the taste would be than Carmex. "I have to buy this!" He implied, and rushed to get in line for checkout. But then, something else caught his attention. There, near the front counter beside the chips and some bags of cat food, sat a box overflowing with new Strawberry flavored Carmex chap-stick. Cody couldn't believe it. "WHAT?! But, but how?!" His anger intensified, and he started to get a glazed look in his eyes. Now he had to make one of the biggest decisions of his entire life. He knew that if he bought the wrong chap-stick, he wouldn't be satisfied until he got his hands on the other one. The big question was, should he buy the off-brand Cake-Batter one, or the one he had been searching for all along? He called Jared for his opinion. "Hello Jared? Yeah, it's Cody. Look, I took your advice. I'm at Dollar General and I'm trying to decide if I should buy an off-brand chap-stick, or the flavored Carmex you told me about. Do what now? Your at Subway right across the street and you'll walk over here? Great, see ya in three minutes, bye." Cody's hopes raised. Could Jared help Cody in this life or death situation? Cody paced around thinking. Soon, Jared walked in with a giant meatball sub in his hand. "What's going on, what's going on, what's going on, man?!" Cody held up the two chap-sticks. "Oh, uh, right. Well man, on the way over here, I was thinking, and I've come to a conclusion!" Cody smiled. "And?" "And, I believe you should decide for yourself, Cody." Jared explained, stuffing the sub in his mouth. Cody's smile flipped around. "You mean to tell me that you walked all the way over here just to tell me that I should decide?! You could have told me that over the phone! And don't talk with your mouth full." Jared burped. "Good lord, Cody, now just calm down now. You is making a big deal outta nothing!" He could see Cody getting mad as fire and his teeth were grinding up. "This is a VERY big deal! Now what's your dang opinion, Jared?!" "Well, if you want my perspective, I suggest you buy the Carmex. It is the one you came here for, ain't it?" "Yeah, it is actually. I'll have to think about it." Jared accidentally dropped a messy meatball on the floor and the Dollar General clerk told him to leave because of the mess he made. "Ugh, I gotta go. They's kicking me out. I hope you see it my way, see ya in school, bye." "Later, man." Jared gulped down the rest of his sub and walked out. Cody had a hard think, and soon, he had the answer to all of his problems. So, without hesitation, he bought the off-brand Cake Batter one, even though it smelled better than it tasted. Thus, Cody's lips were never chapped again. The End.