Dustin somehow was able to contain Dart last night long enough for us all to sleep and not get gutted like our poor cat. Mom was outside looking for our dead pet cat, so Dustin and I came up with a plan that we were absolutely sure would work.
"Okay, I'm gonna pretend to call someone from Loch Nora while Mom is still outside," Dustin said. "Tap me on the shoulder when she comes back in."
"Alright," I sighed, feeling bad for our mom. "She's so worried and delirious, she'll believe anything at this point." Looking off to the side, I crossed my arms and sighed once again, being the lookout for our dear mother. When she came inside, I quickly tapped his shoulder, letting him know it was game time.
"Dusty, Livvie, you're sure she's not in either one of your rooms?" Mom asked.
Dustin held a finger out to her before saying, "Uh-huh," as I said, "I haven't seen her since I went to school yesterday."
She came and wrapped me in a hug as Dustin was on the phone pretending to talk to one of the neighbors. I had to put my tears to the test as I willed them to come to my waterline as Dustin continued his pretend phone conversation.
"Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Thank you so much, Mr. McCorkle. Thank you so much. You are a true lifesaver. Alright, this was great. Thank you. Alright. Have a good one. Bye-bye, now. Alright. You, too." He hung up and looked mine and Mom's way. "Alright. Great news."
"They found her?" Mom asked, voice straining from tears.
"No, but they saw her wandering around Loch Nora."
"How did the poor baby get all the way out there?" Mom cried.
"I don't know, Mama," I said. "Lost, I suppose. But they're gonna look for her, I'm sure."
"Yes," Dustin said. "And Liv and I will stay here just in case they call again."
"And you're gonna go help look?" I asked. "Okay? Okay?"
When Mom leaned in to give Dustin a hug, he said, "Give us hugs, give us hugs."
Mom gave me a hug as I said, "Go get her." Pulling away, I added, "You're gonna find her, alright?"
"We can find her."
"We can find her," Mom repeated.
"I love you," Dustin and I said, both of us blowing her a kiss.
"I love you both."
"I love you."
"I love you."
"Mama, go," I said.
She closed the door behind her before I looked at Dustin with a deadpan expression, voice laced with it as I said, "You're going straight to hell."
"I know. Now, come on," he said. "We got work to do."
I went outside with him to help him open the storm cellar, before moving back inside and grabbing old baseball gear, and some bologna, placing it on the floor in front of Dustin's door before moving outside to the storm cellar.
As Dustin put on his old catcher's gear, I heard my landline ringing. Quickly, I went into my room to answer it with a breathless, "Hello?"
"I need you to help me with something."
"I can't right now. I'm helping Dustin."
"With what?"
"I'll tell you later."
"Liv–"
"Steve–" I sighed. "I promise I'll tell you later, okay?"
"Okay. Uhm, be safe."
أنت تقرأ
Always The Babysitter; A Stranger Things Rewrite
قصص الهواةSteve Harrington and Olivia Henderson have been the best of friends since they could remember. It was a coincidence, really. They got put in the same first grade class. As time went on, they were practically joined at the hip!.. until they turned 1...
