Sporting Attitude

2: The Kids

"I don't know about 'a lot bigger', but this place has changed." I muttered. "At least that big blue blimp wasn't here before I left."

I walked out of the house and into the sunshine. I sighed happily and stretched. Then I heard Stephanie gasp. My head snapped in her direction. I instantly spotted my big brother.

"SARAH, YOU'RE HOME!" He exclaimed. "I've missed you so much!"

I chuckled as he dashed over to me and wrapped me in a bear hug. I hugged him back and smiled. He buried his face in my shoulder. I felt his shoulders shake as he started sobbing.

"Aww, Robs what's the matter?" I asked. "I'm home now, there's nothing to worry about."

"I'm sorry I just missed you so much." He sniffled. "And I heard you were involved in an explosion, so I... I thought..."

I smiled and hugged him tighter. He sighed and pulled back. He rubbed his eyes and looked away. I sighed and patted his shoulder.

"What are you looking at Pinkie?" Robbie snapped. "Can't a guy be happy to see his baby sister?"

"Hey don't yell at the kid Robs." I scolded gently.

Stephanie continued to stare at Rob's. Her eyes were wide and her jaw had dropped. With a huff, I held my hand up and made a closing motion. She snapped her mouth shut.

"I'm sorry Sarah, I didn't mean to stare." She said. "But I've never seen Robbie act like that."

"Yeah well, it's been a while since he's seen me, so he's extremely happy." I explained. "Oh and Robs do me a solid, grab my crutch from my house, please."

He nodded and walked off. Stephanie frowned and looked me over. I groaned and limped over to a park bench. I sat down and leaned back. Sportacus walked up to me and looked me over. The ten in the middle of his chest flashed.

"You're in trouble, but you seem fine." He said. "What's going on?"

"Nothing I can't handle, Sportacus," I replied. "I've been down to one leg for a year, I'm used to it."

As I spoke I heard a bunch of voices headed our way. Stephanie turned towards the voices and smiled. She ran off and came back leading a group of kids towards us. I smiled at them.

"Oh wow, Stephanie was right you are pretty!" One of the boys exclaimed. "My name is Ziggy!"

"I'm Stingy, and this piggy is mine." Another boy said.

"I'm Trixie and this guy on the portable computer is Pixel. " The other girl beside Stephanie said.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. These kids didn't seem to have any sense of stranger danger. I cocked my head and looked the kids over. I recognized all of them. But with my scars, they probably don't recognize me.

"Hey wait a minute, you said her names Sarah Rotten right, Stephanie?" Trixie asked. "There was a Sarah Rotten that lived here a few years ago, but she left."

"Yup that's me, how ya doing Trixie?" I asked, with a small smile.

"Wow, you've really changed. Where'd you get that scar? And where have you been?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down kiddo. Not everything I've done is for children's ears. I'm sure your parents won't want you to hear my stories."

Sportacus folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at me. I smiled a little and nodded. Then I spotted Robs running towards us. He stopped beside me and gasped for breath. He had my crutch in his hand. He held them out to me.

"Here you go Sarah." He said.

"Thanks so much Robs!" I exclaimed as I took my crutch. "This will relieve some of the pressure on my prosthetic."

I gripped the crutch and stood up. I sighed in relief as I leaned on the crutch. Stephanie stepped up to me and looked me over. I forced a smile.

"Why do you need that crutch?" She asked. "And whats a prosthetic?"

"This is all I'll tell you, kids, for now, I lost most of my left leg in an accident while I was away." I replied. "And the prosthetic is a fake leg to help me walk, but sometimes it hurts me rather than helps me."

"Why does it hurt you?" Ziggy asked.

"Well Ziggy, sometimes the plastic parts of the prosthetic digs into me. Or what's left of my leg gets sore from walking too much. Or like today, I'll take a bad step, and fall down a hole, which causes my prosthetic to jam into my leg."

Stephanie gasped in surprise. She must have realized what happened earlier. I smiled at her and patted her head. She smiled in relief. Robbie looked at the ground in shame.

"You're not mad?" She asked. "I mean I practically made you jam your prosthetic."

"Haha, no kid I'm not." I replied.

"What about me, Sarah?" Robbie asked.

"I'm not mad at you either Robbie." I replied. "Well, now I can take a look at the rest of the changes Lazy Town has gone through."

Stephanie nodded and motioned for me to follow her.