Bundle of Bodes

Chapter 2

Kinsey wasn't quite sure why they were taking this journey. She wasn't particularly dying to know the truth of if their dad had ever off-handedly remarked that Bode was the smartest. But taking a trip to her little brother's head was at least better than getting lost in her own thoughts—and she didn't need the Head Key to do that.

Bode and Kinsey pushed themselves back out through the revolving door into Kinsey's bedroom. Kinsey walked over to her other self, who was standing in the corner of the room, and she took out the Head Key from her neck. Surrogate-Kinsey disappeared, and the key dropped to the ground. Kinsey regained consciousness in her original body. She picked up the key from the ground and handed it to Bode.

"Okay, your turn now," she said.

Bode inserted the key into his neck and twisted it. A large toy chest appeared in the room with "BODE" written on it.

"Come on," the newly created, second Bode said. He opened the chest and began climbing down the ladder into the hyperactive domain. Kinsey climbed down as well.

They arrived in the wondrous arcade of Bode's head. The walls were built out of giant Legos, and Spyro the Dragon was displayed on large screens along the walls. There were video game arcade cabinets, a bubble hockey table, an air hockey table, a crane game, a fortune-telling machine, and a helicopter ride. The arcade was littered with giant toys, like cars, planes, G.I. Joes, and dinosaurs. A huge, spiral slide coursed down into the center of the arcade.

"Hey, Bode! Welcome back!" Bode's Glee said, wearing rainbow light-up shoes and jumping on a trampoline. "Whatd'you wanna play today? Minecraft? Fortnite? Mario Kart?"

"Nah, not right now, Glee. I wanna show Kinsey one of my memories."

"Oh, okay! That's fine, too! Have fun!"

Bode and Kinsey walked over to a circus ring filled with a giant pile of jack-in-the-boxes. "Let's see... I believe that memory is right over... huh?"

"What?" Kinsey asked.

"I coulda sworn that memory was right here," Bode pointed to a specific spot among the pile.

"Well, how do you know it's not there? How do you know what any of these memories are? They're not labeled or organized whatsoever."

"I just know. It's hard to explain, but it's my head... I guess I just know. And I thought for sure that memory was right here. But it's not."

"Whatever, it's not a big deal. I believe you anyways."

"No, something's wrong here. I know it."

Kinsey noticed a small figure scurry behind one of the giant toy dinosaurs. "Did you see that?" she asked.

"See what?"

"I don't know... it looked like another person."

"It's probably one of my feelings."

"Which feeling? Your Fear?"

There was an impish giggle from behind the dinosaur.

"No, that sounds like my Mischief."

A Bode in a bright red devil costume bolted out from behind the dinosaur and straight past the Locke siblings. The real Bode saw that he was holding one of the jack-in-the-box memories.

"That's it! He has my missing memory!" Bode shouted, pointing at the mischievous perpetrator. "Come on, we gotta get it back from him!" Bode ran after his Mischief.

"Are we really doing this right now?" Kinsey groaned as she ran after her brother.

Bode followed Mischief down a long, twisting tunnel illuminated by rainbow neon lights. It felt like running through a giant, glowing, rainbow slinky. The tunnel subtly sloped downwards, leading the three of them deeper into Bode's mind.

When they came out of the tunnel, they were in a gigantic aquarium. The glass walls stretched up to an absurd height. It was dimly lit; the only sources of light coming from within the large tanks, flooding the corridor in a cool, ocean blue glow.

"Where are we now?" Kinsey asked.

"This is where my deep thoughts are stored."

"Cute. Even your head can't resist making puns."

"Hey, where'd Mischief go?" There was no sign of anyone else around them in the large, empty aquarium.

"Let's just look around in here. He couldn't have gone too far," Kinsey said.

As Kinsey and Bode walked along the path in the aquarium, they looked at all the fish behind the glass. All the fish were blue, and they all had large frowns and deep, sad eyes.

"What's up with the fish here, Bode? Why're they all depressed?"

"These are all my sad and grieving thoughts."

They started to hear loud sobbing and crying. As they turned around the corner to the left, they saw a Bode curled up into a ball on the floor, crying.

"This is Sadness," Bode said. "I don't like playing with him. That's why I banished him down here."

"Well, no wonder he's so sad, then."

"Nah, he's always been like this."

"Maybe he can help us find Mischief."

"I don't think he would be much help. But I can try anyways." Bode knelt down and poked Sadness. "Hey, Sadness. Did you happen to see Mischief pass by here?"

"Yes, I think I saw him run down this corridor here," Sadness said in between sobs.

"Cool, thanks!" Bode said. He and Kinsey continued down the path.

"Oh, of course now that you got what you wanted, you're just going to leave me here to rot. You're leaving me, just like how everyone else has left me. I'm going to be all alone forever."

"Do you want to come with us?" Bode asked.

"No... no, I would be too much of a burden. I would just mess everything up."

"Well,at least we agree on that. Come on, Kins."