Bundle of Bodes

Chapter 4

With every step Kinsey took as she and her brother walked toward the carnival, she heard a musical note play from underneath her feet. She looked down and saw that the ground was laid with hexagonal spots of light in various bright colors. Each spot created a musical note when stepped on. Bode jumped from spot to spot, creating a little tune as he went.

The fence around the perimeter of the carnival was made up of crayons, colored pencils, and paintbrushes. There were tons of spinning and twisting carnival rides adorned with colorful, blinking lightbulbs. There was a Ferris wheel decorated with candies. A carousel, not with boring, old horses, but with fun animals, like elephants, giraffes, rhinos, lions, and dragons.

There was a balloon stand selling hundreds of balloons. Bode's Glee grabbed them all in a single fistful, and he began to lift off from the ground. "Hey, look at me!" he shouted. "I'm floating! Woohoo!"

Kinsey and Bode came across some food stands selling a variety of carnival foods. "What do you want, Bode? Popcorn, cotton candy... deep-fried Doritos? Chocolate-covered bacon? Gross, what kind of food is this?"

"Delicious food, that's what!" a version of Bode said as he stuffed several deep-fried Doritos into his mouth.

"That's my Gluttony," Bode said.

"I'm surprised you even know what gluttony is."

"I told you, I'm smarter than you give me credit for."

Gluttony guzzled down a handful of chocolate-covered bacon. "This is so good! I could eat this all day!"

There was another version of Bode beside him who said, "Don't eat too much. You'll get sick."

"That's my Responsibility."

"He should be in control a little more often," Kinsey remarked playfully.

"Hey, you're one to talk! I'm way more responsible than you!"

Another version of Bode arrived. He belched loudly.

"Ew, excuse you," Kinsey said.

"This is my Rudeness. I apologize on behalf of him."

"Oh, I'm all too familiar with this one," Kinsey said.

"Oh, shush! You're lucky I don't act half as bad as he does," Bode said.

"You look so stupid with your hair like that," Rudeness said. "Looks like a highlighter puked all over it." He picked his nose and wiped a booger on Kinsey's shirt as he walked away.

"Gross! You little shit!" Kinsey lunged out to slap some sense into Rudeness, but Bode held her back from doing so.

"I don't want any more fights in my head! How about we go check out the carnival games?"

There was a balloon pop game, a ring toss, a test of strength, and Bode's favorite: Whack-a-Bode. The game consisted of a grid of holes, and numerous Bode heads popped out of and into the holes at a quick pace. Another Bode was holding a mallet, whacking as many of the Bode heads as he could. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing very well.

"Why can't I hit any of you?!" His face turned bright red, and smoke expelled from his nose and ears. "This game is so unfair!" he shrieked. He began swinging the mallet around aimlessly.

"That's my Anger."

"Oh, really. I couldn't tell," Kinsey said sarcastically.

"What are you looking at?!" Anger said to Bode and Kinsey.

"Nothing!" Bode said. "We're just moving along. Minding our own business."

"Yeah, you better run!"