Bundle of Bodes

Chapter 1

Bode thrusted Kinsey's door open and strolled into her room.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Kinsey said. She continued sketching on her bed.

"What? It's not like you're getting dressed or anything," Bode said.

"But I could've been. You didn't know that. Anyways, what do you want?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to be here with you." Bode jumped onto the bed and snuggled up against Kinsey. "What're you drawing?"

"Just doodling, really. Can't you go bug someone else? Tyler? Mom?"

"They're both busy. That's why I wanted to come here with you. What, you don't like me?" Bode made a sad puppy-dog face.

"I just wanna be left alone right now. How come you don't have any friends from school?"

"I dunno. The kids at school are sorta mean. They think I'm weird."

"How come? Is it 'cause you're the new kid? And you live in this creepy, old house?" Kinsey said.

"I guess that's part of it. But also because I like to play pretend a lot. Even by myself."

"Well, you shouldn't be ashamed of that, Bode. Just means you have a bigger imagination than they do."

"Yeah, but still... they see me as 'different.' They make me feel like I'm some sort of freak."

"I know how that feels." Kinsey closed her sketchbook and set it aside on her nightstand. "Alright, you wanna do something, Bode? Whatd'you wanna do?"

"Well... I was thinking we could go into your head and eat some of your memory candy!" Bode looked up at Kinsey with a wide grin across his face.

"Bode... no."

"Come on, Kinsey! You asked what I wanted to do!"

"I know, but... I'm not in the mood to use any keys right now."

"Fine... guess I'll have to go into my own head and just play with my Glee." Bode got up from the bed and sulkily made his way toward the door.

"Wait," Kinsey said. "Okay, we're just gonna go in to get a few candies, then we'll come straight back out. Okay?"

"Okay!" Bode perked up.

Kinsey opened her sock drawer and took out the Head Key. The keyhole appeared in the back of her neck; she stuck the key in and twisted it. Her arms went limp and she stared out blankly. This was the one part of the Head Key that Bode hated; the soulless body of whoever was using the key was extremely unsettling to him, even if it was his own body. Kinsey's surrogate-self appeared a few feet away, along with the revolving door to Kinsey's mind.

"Come on, let's go," Kinsey said. She stepped into her own mind. Bode followed along.

They entered the M.C. Escher-esque shopping mall that was Kinsey's head. It wasn't as cool as Bode's own head, but he still enjoyed being there—mainly because of all the bright colors and candy. It was certainly more exciting than Tyler's head. Bode needed only one trip into there to decide it wasn't worth revisiting.

Kinsey and Bode walked onto a set of escalators that led to a wall. But it wasn't really a wall—rather, it was the floor set at a ninety-degree angle. Miraculously, they managed to step onto the floor and walk up it, or forward, depending on how one looks at it. Gravity had a strange way of working in Kinsey's mind. So, they walked up the floor to a store labeled "Bode Being Bode." They pushed open the wide, glass doors and entered the rainbow-colored candy store.

"I'll let you in on a little secret," Kinsey said, "these are the sweetest candies in my head. Know why?"

"'Cause I'm the sweetest?" Bode said.

"Exactly."

"I wanna get the red ones!" Bode pointed to the red candies, which just so happened to be on the highest two rows.

"Of course you do." Kinsey sighed. "Okay, come on." Kinsey knelt down, and Bode sat on her shoulders. She stood up, and Bode touched one of the cubes of red candy, causing it to pop out from the wall. He took out the cube, and Kinsey set him down. Bode looked into the memory cube.

Bode was sat at the kitchen table in their old house back in Seattle. Nina was sat next to him, and in came Rendell, Tyler, and Kinsey holding a big birthday cake with a "5" candle lit in the center. They came in singing "Happy Birthday," much to the excitement of little Bode. Kinsey must have been around eleven years old at the time. The cake was placed in front of Bode on the table, and the young boy was quick to blow the candle out.

"I hope you didn't forget to make a wish!" eleven-year-old Kinsey said.

"I didn't forget! I wished that—"

"Well, don't say it!" Tyler interrupted. "Or else it won't come true."

Bode covered his mouth with his hands. The three siblings all shared a laugh.

Bode—the nine-year-old Bode of today—was back in the candy shop, holding the memory cube full of red candies. He took a handful of them and stuffed as many as he could inside his mouth.

"Bode!" Kinsey said. "You're gonna get a tummy ache if you eat 'em like that!"

"But they taste so good!"

"Give me that!" Kinsey yanked the cube out of Bode's grasp and she placed it back where it belonged. "You already have more than enough."

Bode put the rest of the candy in his jacket's pocket.

"Okay, we got you your candy, now we can go," Kinsey said.

"Aww, but I like being in here."

"I don't feel comfortable with your grubby hands all inside my head." Kinsey and Bode began to walk out of the shop and back into the main mall court.

"My hands aren't grubby."

"Yeah, they are." Kinsey grabbed one of Bode's arms and touched the palm of his hand. "Ew, see? It's all sticky."

"That's because I just touched the candy. They weren't like that before."

"Sure, they weren't." The siblings traveled down the escalator back to the first floor—and back to regular gravity.

"Oooh, look at that! Christmas morning memories! Let's check it out! Come on, Kinsey, please?"

"Another time, Bode."

"You always say 'another time' for everything, and we end up never doing anything."

"I'm sure you have tons of your own Christmas morning memories to look through, anyways."

"My memories aren't as well-organized as yours. I lose mine a lot."

"That's what you get for being a dum-dum," Kinsey smirked.

"Dum-dum? I'm way smarter than you, and I'm six years younger!"

"Oh, yeah? What makes you so sure about that?"

"Dad always said I was the smartest one. And Dad was never wrong."

"Okay, prove it. Let's go to your head."

"Okay, fine."