Uncle Billy�s bed was nice and comfy as I sat staring at him. I was pouting my hardest, tryin� to get him to skip goin� pubbin�, or at least take me with him. It wasn�t fair, why did Uncle Billy get to have all the fun just �cause he was elderly. Elderly� that�s what my teacher back at home taught me to call old people. She said it was more respectful. I thought it made them sound like an elf.
Uncle Billy was tryin� to decide on his sweater, whether to pick the blue one or the green one. I voted for green, but again I don�t count because I�m too young. Short and young, that�s me. Too little to do anything and now I was just makin� myself more depressed.
�Hey kiddo, chin up.� Uncle Billy half-smiled at me as he put the green sweater back into the closet. See? My options don�t even count. Options� op� opinions! That�s it, opinions.
I sighed pensively, staring down at my feet as they swung freely against the bed. I was very sad, to say the least. Why did he have to leave with, as Merry had told me, a �devil fan girl�? What if she tried to make me eat broccoli for snack? What was I supposed to do then?
Uncle Billy put on his blue sweater and I shook my head. �I told you the green one.� I said, sounding almost every bit sorrowful as I felt inside.
Bobo frowned and sat down on the bed beside me. In a matter of seconds, I was sitting on his lap and looking up at him, turning on my �acting� skills.
�Now kiddo, you know I�d love for you to come.� He began, looking me in the eye sincerely. �And you know that Merry wanted you to come along as well, but you�re just too��
�Young.� I finished for him.
�Exactly. Now look, you�ll have fun tonight with Kaylee, I promise.�
�Cross your fingers?� I asked quickly.
He nodded. �I promise on my role as a hobbit.�
I grinned at the mention of a hobbit. Haw-bit. �Okay.� I grinned, my eyes wide with excitement. �Will you bring me back a present?�
Uncle Billy laughed. �Only if you behave.� He grinned.
�I promise on a hobbit too then!� I swore, raising my hand to show I meant it.
�I�m not sure if I believe you�� Bobo said slyly.
�Well you better.� I answered, trying to look my toughest.
�Or what?� he asked defiantly.
�Or this!� I tackled him backwards on the bed and got him into a headlock as I saw Mr. Bean do to Orlie earlier on. We were still in a ball of ticklin� and gigglin� when there came a sharp knock at the door. Uncle Billy jumped to his feet at the noise and headed for the door.
�No!� I called, scrambling after him as fast I could. I wanted to open the door.
Uncle Billy unfortunately got there first and quickly opened the door. I looked on as a teenager walked into the house. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, kinda reminding me of what Orlie looked like in his elf costume. She had her hair in a ponytail, but for some strange reason she smelt like she took a bath in my moms perfume. She reeked really bad and I saw Uncle Bobo�s eyes begin to water at the smell.
�Good evenin� Mr. Boyd!� She chirped cheerfully, smiling a very big smile at him.
�Good evening Kaylee, thank you for coming on such short notice.� Uncle Billy greeted her, coughing a bit to clear his throat from the smell. Turning to me, he smiled and his eyes widened a bit, as if not believing who just walked in. "And this." he continued, motioning towards me, "Is my niece Alex."
She was tall and looked normal. I started to doubt Merry�s statement about her being a �devil fan girl�, she didn�t look that way, or seem it... but I spoke to soon.
�Oh!� Kaylee squealed, �She�s adorable!�
I backed up a bit as she started towards, her arms outstretched. She reminded me of my aunt on my father�s side. She enjoyed hurting my cheeks, and it seemed that Kaylee was a younger version of her. I was going to have to get Uncle Billy back for this, big time.
�Oh aren�t you so precious...� she cooed. Precious? Now where did I hear that before? �You�re the sweetest thing ever!� she exclaimed, pulling me into a tight bear hug. I looked over her shoulder, panicking beyond belief. All Uncle Bobo did was smile and shrug. Oh, was he ever going to pay for this.
�Well now Kaylee, Alex�s bedtime is eight-o-clock and she has already had her dinner. She�s allowed to have a bedtime snack and you help yourself to the fridge.� Bobo rambled. Kaylee seemed to be listening intently, but her eyes seemed glazed over. She looked rather psychotic.
�... Oh, and one more thing.� Uncle Billy remembered as he picked up his car keys, �We�ll be home by one since we all have work to do in the mournin�.�
Kaylee gasped at this. �We, Mr. Boyd?�
He smiled knowingly. �Aye, I might just bring Dom, Orlie, and Elijah around.� he said in his teasing voice. I know he was lyin� because he often uses that voice to get me to do things I don�t want to do... and I end up fallin� for it every time!
I looked at Kaylee who had her mouth open, but she wasn�t talkin�.
�See you later Alex, be good.� Uncle Billy winked.
I smiled solemnly, one last plea for him to stay and not leave me here with this... this... person. Bobo simply shook his head and left, the sound of the door clickin� shut makin� my heart fall, knowing that he had actually left me. Left me here with some �devil fan girl� while he went out and had fun with Orlie, and Merry, and Mr. Bean, and Liv, and Elijah, and everybody else... although I wasn�t sure about Viggo. He was pretty sick this mournin�. Still, I was hurt, he left me. Abandoned me alone in this strange new country with Orc runnin� around everywhere.
Oh well, I would just have to be my bravest and make the best out of the situation.
Kaylee stared at the front door for a moment, her face still holdin� that dumbfounded look. All of a sudden, she grinned brightly giving out the loudest scream I�d ever heard in my life. Holy monkeys, she was already turnin� weird!
I just looked at her, utterly confused, as she began hopping around the room letting out whoops and hollers of joy. After a few minutes, she paused and looked right at me.
I coward a bit, wonderin� what on earth she was gonna do to me.
�You.� she proclaimed, �Are going to tell me everything.�
�About what?� I asked, not understanding her at all.
�Come on, I�ll show you.� she said, grabbing my hand and leadin� me onto the couch in the livin� room. This is when I first noticed that she was carryin� a bag with her. I watched, intrigued, as she pulled out several pieces of paper.
�Here.� she said, handing me the papers, �Look at these people. Do you know who they are?� she asked desperately. I could tell she really wanted me to know, just by the look in her eyes. It scared me and I decided then and there to do whatever she said because she was taller and she looked rather evil.
I glanced down at the first piece of paper in my hand and saw a picture of Sean in his hobbit costume. I grinned widely at the familiar face, my upset of being left alone with a stranger diminishing. �That�s Sean!� I claimed, pointing to the picture.
�Good.� Kaylee said, urging me on. I liked this game because I got to see pictures of all my new friends. Next was Uncle Billy, but Kaylee told me that didn�t count �cause he was my uncle. After him were Viggo, then Liv, then Ian, and then Merry. I guess when I said yes to Merry, she was happy because she squealed with delight. After Merry was Mr. Bean, and finally Orlie and Elijah together.
Kaylee let out a sigh when I mentioned Orlie and Elijah, it was as if just mentioning their names sent her to dreamland. Now I knew for positiveness, Kaylee was a psycho. Period.
After I had stated I knew all the people in her pictures, except for some guy named John, that I remembered Bobo talkin� about the night before, Kaylee began with questions that I wondered why on earth she was askin�.
�So, do you know if Orlie has a girlfriend?� was one of the questions. Of course, I didn�t know. Orlie was Orlie, besides having a boyfriend or a girlfriend was icky. Kaylee on the other hand wasn�t happy with my answer. �Aw heck, why did I even bother.� she sighed, stuffing the pictures back in her bag.
�Well, you could always ask Merry.� I told her.
�Who?� she asked, utterly confused.
�Merry.� I repeated. �The one in your pictures that my Uncle almost beat up today.�
This caught her attention. �Fight? What happened?� I told her the story and her eyes widened with amazement. �Brilliant!� she grinned, "Had anything else happened while you were with Billy and the others?�
I nodded and promptly remembered back to yesterday. Remember when I told you about Uncle Billy practicin� fallin� down the hill? Well, while I was on Orlie�s lap watchin�, the four hobbits... haw-bits... came tumblin� down the hill, landing in a pile of feet and legs at the bottom. Upon landing, however, Elijah let out a very large toot. Everyone heard it and I bet you I could smell it too... if I was where Uncle Bobo was, with my head by Elijah�s rump. I remembered that was the funniest thing that happened during the set... on the set. Yeah.
Kaylee loved the story, she even went as far as sayin� �My poor wittle Elwood.� Who Elwood is though is beyond me.
�What did you mean earlier that I could talk to Merry?� Kaylee inquired.
I grinned, standin� up and leadin� her to the computer in Uncle Billy�s study. This is where Uncle Billy had been talkin� to him yesterday, so I thought maybe Kaylee could talk to him today, forgetting how much Merry really didn�t like Kaylee.
Kaylee�s eyes widened even more then normal as she sat down at the desk and began clickin� around on the computer. I saw her do a lot of things, makin� weird square things pop up on the computer screen. She seemed to be having fun because she squealed a couple times, and took down a lot of notes. One that I saw was Merry�s name on the computer, the name that lead to talk to him.
�Um�� I started, tapping Kaylee on the knee.
�What?� she snapped, sounding annoyed that I was buggin� her.
�I don�t think you should be doin� that. I mean, this is Uncle Bobo�s computer an� I don�t think he�d want you doing all the stuff you�re doin�.� I explained, tryin� to be nice about it.
�So, what. Are you going to tell on me?� She asked, her eyes turning kinda cold as she glared down at me.
Uh oh. I think I made the devil-fan-girl mad. Not good, not good at all.
�Um� no, but� but that�s Uncle Billy�s, not yours!� I repeated, �Besides, this is borin�. I wanna play a different game�� I pleaded.
Kaylee just blinked. �Yeah, sure kid. Let�s play hide and seek, you hide and I�ll come and find you.� She suggested.
Oh boy! Hide and go seek! I LOVE this game. I nodded eagerly then ran out of the room in search of a hidin� place. After awhile, found the perfect spot. Under Uncle Billy�s kitchen sink he only kept a few cleanin� products, so I shoved them to the side and climbed in. In a quick hand movment, I shut the door behind me and began my patient wait until Kaylee found me. I didn�t know why Merry and Orlie had been so worried about her babysittin� me, she was actually nice and liked to play games!
I waited� and waited� and waited. I also waited some more. And waited even more after that. I grinned happily to myself, contented that I had found such a difficult hidin� spot� I was the champion at hidin�!
After a while though, I began to get rather restless. Was Kaylee really this bad at hide and go seek, or was it just my great hidin� job. I decided the latter, and stayed put� even though it WAS really dark in here. Really dark, and there were strange noises comin� from the sink pipes� plus, it was getting� kinda stuffy in here.
That�s when I heard a voice. Listening carefully, I pressed my ear against the kitchen sink cabinet door. I strained to make out the words, but I knew it was Kaylee talkin�. Who was she talkin� to? Why wasn�t she tryin� to find me? It was getting very scary in this cabinet, all alone in the dark.
�Oh my gosh! You would not believe this either! I got Orlie�s� yeah, the elf� no, the blonde one, the elf. Yeah� well, anyways I have his AND Dom�s IM numbers and screen names! Yes, I know!� I heard Kaylee squeal in a very high-pitched voice, to someone. I guessed that she was on the tele, considerin� that I was positive no one else was in the house.
Had she forgotten about me?
�� Gosh, they are SO hot! I know I�m lucky� uh huh� the kid? I dunno. I sent her to go hide somewhere, that�ll keep her busy until her bedtime. I know, I really didn�t want to baby-sit the little brat� yeah, she is a good way to get awesome information� I know��
I gulped. I was a brat? B-But I was nice to her� I showed her where the computer was� and now I�m a brat? Ouch. Biggest, majorist ouch in the whole entire world. That hurt even worse then Uncle Billy leavin� me here.
I quietly climbed out of the cabinet, makin� sure she didn�t hear me. Well, if I was such a burden to Kaylee, then I would leave. I would go to where I was liked� but where?
I decided I�d have to find Uncle Billy, and quickly. I didn�t like Kaylee anymore, she was evil. She had called me a brat! Merry had been right all along.
This wasn�t a good day at all, everyone either left me, or didn�t like me and I didn�t understand it.
I quietly grabbed a little bag from the junk drawer and snuck a few chocolate chip cookies from the cookie jar. I stuffed the cookies in the bag and shut it up tight.
I padded down the hallway to my room and grabbed my stuffed bear off my bed. I put the cookies in my pant�s pocket and put on my sneakers.
Kaylee was still on the phone, talkin� about Merry and Orlie, describin� them like they were food. I didn�t understand her at all, but didn�t care. I was getting� out of here because I didn�t like her and she didn�t like me. She truly was the devil in disguise.
I snuck my way to the backdoor, because Kaylee had full view if I tried going out the front door. As silently as I could, I managed to open the sliding backdoor without much sound. I quickly ran out onto the porch, down the steps, and around the side of the house.
When I arrived at the end of the driveway, I looked around. There were houses everywhere and two possible directions in where I could go. I decided to go to the right, because going to the left had brought me to the beach, and I wanted to go to� to� now, where was I going again?
Oh well, it didn�t matter. All that mattered was that I was on my own, abandoned by my friends and left with the devil. I began my journey to find the pub where Uncle Billy, Merry, Orlie, and all the others were.
I smiled a bit, glancing down at my bear. �We�re gonna find treasure!� I grinned at him.