The Lemon Meringue Boy

Part 28

The rest of the day was normal. Mabel and her friends came down from Mabel's room and the whole gang watched some movies in the T.V. room. Then Grenda made dinner and we got ready for bed. All throughout the night new I was a little bit off. Mabel seemed to notice too.

"What'sa matter Bro-bro? You look like you just ate bleventy bags of Smile Dip!" she seemed legitimately worried, and I hated to have to lie to her.

"Nothing. I'm fine." I forced a normal-ish smile. "Just a little tired."

"Well make sure you don't stay up to late researching or you're gonna look like a zombie." I smiled for real this time. She was the best sister ever. 

"Oh! Remember what's happening tomorrow?" She gave me approximately zero time to guess before yelling, "Stan and Ford are coming back!!! Aren't you so exited?!" 

I was excited, but my heart still leapt to my throat. If anybody was gonna find out about Bill, it would be Ford. Good thing I was getting rid of that problem that night, right? I gulped and the butterflies in my stomach got wilder. Yeah, good thing.

Once I was showered and in my pajamas, I found Wendy in the kitchen. "Hey, Wendy?" I asked. She looked up from a tabloid she was reading. "You know those raccoons from a couple nights ago?"

"Yeah. They causing trouble again?"

"Not really, but I've been hearing sounds from the corners of the basement. I was wondering if I could keep your axe down there. You know, just in case?"

"Sure, but the rule is if you get anything on it, you're the one to clean it. Got it?" I nodded. I wondered if I was going to get anything on it. The thought made me shiver and I forced the horrifying image from my mind.

"Thanks. I will." Wendy pulled the axe from the umbrella holder and plopped it down in my hands. The weight of the head made me sway. I'd used this axe before on the shapeshifter. I could use it again. I had to. It was the only way things could go back to normal.

 I thanked Wendy one more time before walking through the T.V. room, towards the vending machine. Mabel was sitting in the armchair.

"Heya Broseph! Whacha doin' with that axe?" She waved me over. I gently set the axe on the arm of the chair. Mabel scooted over to make room for me.

"I was just taking it to the basement. Raccoon problems."

"Oh, I thought you were going out for a late night murder spree..." Although it was obviously a joke, her words made me break out in a cold sweat. "I was just about to watch some old cartoons I found in the cabinet under the T.V. You wanna watch?"

"You do not know just how much I want to watch those cartoons right now." I smiled at her and she smiled back. I needed some sort of distraction, and there is no human being more distracting than my sister. She always knows what to do to cheer me up. "Awkward sibling hug?"

"Awkward sibling hug." After the pats we ended up watching about an hour of corny, fuzzy cartoons. We said goodnight and I grabbed the axe. I could only put it off so long. I waited behind the vending machine until everybody was asleep, then snuck out the back door.