A Light in the Sky - The Backyardigans

Fire in the Woods

The sound of a phone ringing rang through the halls of Pablo's house as his mom frantically sprinted from her bedroom. She bounded like an Olympic racer across the house, entering her cluttered kitchen as she spied the phone on the counter. Immediately she slammed her flipper on it and brought it up to her ear, before speaking. "Hello?"
"Hey Gina, it's Rick." An old, gruffy voice replied.
"Oh, Rick! I am SO sorry for not calling you back earlier, taxes have been driving me up the WALL as of lately." She replied, letting out a snicker. "Hah, no worries! I'm just glad you had TIME to call back!" The old man laughed, much to Gina's relief. "Anyways, is Pablo home? I wanna ask him somethin' right quick." Rick asked. "Oh, yeah! Here lemme get him right quick." Gina replied, before lowering the phone down and shouting into the house.
"Pablo!"
"Yeah mom?"
"Uncle Rick wants to talk to ya!"
"Oh, sweet! Be right there!"
A series of fast-paced thumps could be heard as the young penguin climbed down the stairs, and speed walked into the kitchen. Upon entering, Gina handed Pablo the phone, to which he promptly raised it to his ear. "Hey Uncle Rick!" Pablo ecstatically said into the phone, a smile forming on his face. "Heya kiddo! How've you been? Enjoying your summer break so far?" His uncle responded. "You bet! Though all I've been doing really is playing with my friends and hanging out down at Short Creek. I'm just ready to do something other than playing video games or just waltzing around in the creek all day, heh." He could hear his uncle let out a snicker on the other end, before he responded. "Glad you mentioned that kiddo, cuz I wanted to ask ya: Would you wanna head over to short creek and go fishing for a bit?" Pablo's eyes immediately lit up with excitement. "Uh, YEAH!!" "Great! Be sure to get your stuff ready and I'll be over there lickety-split!"
"Alright, thanks!! See ya later!" Pablo excitedly replied, before setting the phone back in it's holder. He immediately bolted up to his room, and threw on some clothes he didn't mind getting dirty. He also remembered to grab his creekfishing rod and tackle box. When he got everything he needed he headed downstairs, waiting for the arrival of his uncle. After what seemed to be a half hour of waiting, the sound of a truck pulling up could be heard outside. Immediately, Pablo jumped from the couch he was sitting on and threw open the door, and smiled as he saw his Uncle's truck pull into their carport. He went back inside and grabbed his stuff, making sure to say goodbye to his mom and stepdad before he left. As he walked out, he heard his uncle call out to him.
"Hey Pablo! Ready to go?" He asked, his voice as cheery as ever. "Oh you better believe it!" Pablo laughed while tossing his fishing equipment into the truckbed. He then got into the truck and buckled himself in while his uncle pulled out of the driveway.
"So, you ready to do some creekfishing?"
"Mhm! I got my rod and my tackle box you gave me too."
"Nice! Before we go though, I gotta run to my tackle shop for a bit. Business is starting to ramp up now that summer's here." His uncle explained. "Oh, that's fine man. I was thinking of trying to find some bait there anyways!" Pablo cheerily said. "Hey, good thinking! I also got some crickets up there too. This recent rain we had has REALLY made finding bait easy. Plus I heard the creek flooded overnight, so it's gonna be RIPE for fishing." "Oh I don't doubt that for a second man. I just hope it'll be as good as last year's fishing season." Pablo explained. "But hey, even if it isn't as good as last year, at least we'll have fun doing it, eh?"
"That's the spirit kiddo!" His uncle laughed, as he pulled out onto the highway to get to town.

Cayen stared at the ceiling of his bedroom as he heard his mom stirring downstairs.
He had been up for a while, but he was much too tired to get out of bed. ESPECIALLY after his accidental high last night. His body felt like it was covered in sandbags, and his covers seemed extra soft for some inexplicable reason. To him it just felt like the drowsiness he felt before getting up for school on steroids. But, that would soon fade as a familiar (and delicious) smell filled his nostrils.
The smell of fresh, sizzling bacon.
Immediately his stomach practically imploded on itself, and let out a loud growl. Even his midnight munchies couldn't sate him till morning. He HAD to get that bacon. Slowly but surely, he reached for his phone on the tray table that stood as a nightstand. Once his hand felt it, he grabbed it and sluggishly brought it to his face. The clock on his phone screen read 12:27. It wasn't normal for him to wake up so late into the day, but at this point he was too tired to care. He let his arm drop off the bed, and then heaved himself upright. He got out of bed, and trudged out of his room and into the hall. As he made his way down to the kitchen, the near-euphoric smell of bacon only got stronger. Finally, he reached the kitchen, where his mom was cooking some bacon in a pan. He also saw his big sister, Megan, sitting at the table with a cinnamon roll in one hand and her phone in the other. "Mornin' sleepyhead." Cay's mom said, smirking a bit. "Mornin'... sorry for not getting up sooner, those meds REALLY messed with me last night." Cay replied, his voice a bit hoarse. His mom just nodded, before snickering. "Oh I know. The mess you left in the kitchen last night told me everything." Cay froze for a moment, before it hit him. "Crap... I forgot to clean that up, I am SO sorry."
"Oh don't worry about it Caleb, I completely understand. Did anything else happen last night?" She questioned, turning to face him. "Uh... ok please don't laugh when I say this but... I started trippin' balls last night." He answered. His mom looked at him with a bit of shock, while Megan nearly burst out laughing. "Seriously?? Oh my god I wish I was awake to see that, that must've been HILARIOUS to watch!!" She wheezed. "Oh shuddup Meg, if you saw the stuff I saw last night you'd feel the same way." Cay sneered. "Well what DID you see then?" Mom asked again, raising a brow. "Well... It's kinda hard to put into words. It was just a bunch of weird psychedelic colors and stuff, and this weird green light thing outside." He explained, sitting at the table now. "A light? Huh... that's odd. What did it look like?" Meg asked. "It looked like a star or flame, and casted everything in this bright green light." "Damn... that must've been WAY too many meds if it caused that vivid of a hallucination." Meg said. "O-oh god, I am SO sorry Caleb... I-I was in a panic, I didn't mean for you to take that much!"
"Don't sweat it ma. I'm doing alright now, just drowsy as hell."
This reassured her a bit. "O-ok... a-anyways I got some bacon hot and ready for ya if you want it." Immediately Cay's eyes went as wide as dinner plates at this, and his mouth watered as he laughed.
"Mom, that's the reason I even came DOWNSTAIRS."