"C'mon, it's time to wake up!"
"Noooo... I need to sleep."
"Miranda, Patty's in the middle of doing her makeup and we have to be at the entrance in 30 minutes done with our breakfast. You have to get up!"
Here's a thing I've learned from being in the company of the great Miranda González: she likes to sleep. If she ever gets the chance to do it, she will. Be it in the middle of the afternoon, early morning, late morning, late at night, any way or time she gets to sleep is never enough for Miranda.
So now, I was trying to make her get up... and she decided to just hold on tighter to her Plagg plushie and turn her back to me. How sweet.
Yet, I did get some help from Patty. Not willingly, of course, but enough to make Miranda and the people from the dorms next to us wake up if they hadn't yet. Because out of a sudden, a loud scream came from the bathroom making me and Miranda jump from where we were. I grabbed a shoe from under my bed, and headed to the bathroom, ready to kill whatever bug Patty would consider to be an endangerment to her life.
I opened the bathroom door and found Patty with her makeup bags spread all over the sink and her sitting in the toilet with her hands covering her face.
"Patty, what's wrong? Where's the bug?"
She looked at me weirdly, as if what I was saying didn't make any sense.
"Girl, I could easily kill a bug! It's much worse than that!"
I let my arm down and looked at her confused.
"Is Hozier releasing a new song? Is Hatari breaking up? Did Lorde die?" Not that I'm a fan of any of that, but I know a scream of agony from Patty can mean a lot of things.
"What?! No! Gods, Caroline, you're giving me depression just thinking of that!"
I rolled my eyes and put my shoe in my foot. "What is it then?"
She looked at the sink seeming as if she was about to cry.
"I didn't bring my eyelash curler!"
So, let me get this straight: on a trip to the middle of the mountains where we were supposed to bring practical stuff, my dear friend decided to bring her whole makeup routine items, and yet because she forgot ONE, she started screaming in the bathroom at 8.30 in the morning. I'm sorry but I cannot be the one who doesn't see what the big deal of an eyelash curler is.
In response to Patty's actions, I rolled my eyes and looked at the white ceiling. "Well, then I guess you're gonna have to live with that for a couple more days."
She looked me deadly in the eye. "Don't even joke about that! Do you have any idea how valuable an eyelash curler is to my morning routine?"
I rolled my eyes once again and turned to her one last time. "No. I don't. But food is more important than makeup. And if you take much longer, we're gonna miss breakfast. So, be quick." And then I walked back to the bed area to find that Miranda was still in bed.
Since when did I become the sane one in a group?
● ● ●
Two minutes before 9 o'clock, the three of us had arrived and yet only one-third of the people were there. Miranda started complaining about us not having to arrive that early because most people weren't even there yet and Patty started complaining about her hair and how "dirty it was" leading to the fact she had to wear a ponytail today.
"Gods, my hair looks so bad today! And I hate to put it in a ponytail! It looks awful!"
I turned to her with a glare of confusion. "What's so wrong with ponytails?"
Keep in mind that I always have my hair in a messy mix of a ponytail and a bun. And when I say always, it includes every possible action of the day except for washing my hair and the exceptional combing my hair. Because when you have a Hermione Granger type of hair, stuff gets messy in 10 minutes anyway, so you might as well lose all hope on it.
"You know what I mean," Patty responded after a small sigh.
Truth be told, I really didn't. And I didn't really want to either so the conversation ended there. Which led to an awkward silence of less than two minutes because three other people decided to arrive, including one very... excited one.
"Who's ready for THE AMUSEMENT PARK?!" Adam screamed at my ear, which made me almost drop my phone, but you know, the usual.
"If you plan on screaming to my ear for the rest of the day, then I'm out," I said in response to his sudden excitement.
"C'mon, Caroline. Loosen up a little. I'm sure we'll all have a good time." Ben said with his hands in his hoodie pockets.
"Besides, I'm sure there not even the roller coasters in the park are not even that high. You'll be fine!" Adam adds while looking at me with that goddamn annoying yet calming smirk. Oh my gods, why does he have to do that?!
I take a step back and try my best to show confidence. "I'm not worried about the roller coasters. In fact, I once went on one with eight loops at the age of 12 and was fine. Are you scared, Johnson?"
"Wow, seems like we've got a professional roller coaster enthusiast right here. We'll see who gets to quit going on one first when we get there."
Then a short staring contest ensues, which is interrupted by Thomas.
"Well while you two have your own thing going on..." He suddenly turned to Miranda. "Hi, Thomas White here. What's your name?"
We were all taken by surprise, but nothing can be compared to the surprised, scared, and yet confused look Miranda had. And as someone who could do the same look if I were to be in her exact position, I just looked at her and tried to show her that she could pretty much be herself around the boys too.
She put her phone back in her hoodie pocket and kept her hands there. "M-M-My name is Miranda. M-Miranda González." She responded with her Latino accent showing.
"Nice! Are you Latino?" Thomas said with his inner child showing.
"Yes."
"Well, you seem like a cool person. Get ready for a day with the most wonderful people ever. I'm Adam by the way." Adam added while putting his arm around my shoulders. "Uhmmmm... excuse me but what now?"
So, while doing my best not to look redder than usual, I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled it away from my shoulders. I was not about to turn into a tomato about to explode. "That is..." I continued. "if you're comfortable with that. If you're not, then it can be just the three of us and the Duck Brothers can do something else."
Not that I wouldn't mind hanging out with Adam, Ben, and Thomas, but rules were rules and I'm not one to disrespect them and neither was Patty.
Suddenly all eyes were on Miranda. Not the best position to be in and you could clearly see how she could agree with me on this because her face just showed pure anxiousness. I relate.
"Uhmmmm... S-sure."
The response to Miranda's agreement differed from person to person. Adam and Thomas showed big smiles on their faces, and Ben and Patty showed calmness in their eyes, even though Patty was most likely faking the excitement she was feeling because she would most likely get what she often likes to call "Cadam moments". Miranda seemed kind of anxious, which is totally reasonable, and me... well...
"Guess you're gonna have to spend the rest of the day with me." Adam said looking down at me with an actual smile which... made me want to hide in a corner and hide my burning face. Why am I like this...?
"Guess so." I was somehow able to say in response. I did try to smile, but it must have looked a tad scary so I won't go into much detail on that.
Plus, I didn't even have time to react even more because suddenly Thomas raised his right hand in the air while putting his left arm around Ben and screaming. "ADVENTURE!"
I just looked at Patty and Miranda sharing the same look of fear as them. This is going to be a long day.
● ● ●
After a short bus drive to the park, the moment we arrived, we were given a map per group. The boys decided to simply throw theirs away because they'd "figure out the park as the day would go". That, ladies and gentlemen, is responsibility shining through.
Fortunately, we girls we more cautious so to say, and didn't throw ours away. I know, shocking decision.
The park seemed to be slightly space-themed. The actual entrance was just a big sign made out of wood with the carvings "Space Party" and a tiny rocket ship next to it, so you could see the legitimacy of the park.
Yet once we got in, we saw... nothing. There were literally just some weird-looking little buildings from a cheap sci-fi movie from the late 80's. Also, the rest of our class had already arrived, and most people were starting to look at their phones due to how exciting the place was.
"Are you sure this is it?" Miranda asked quietly.
"It has to be." Ben responded.
"In any case, someone's really getting a word from Miss Stevens." Patty said starting to grab her phone too.
"Hold on, let me check the map." I said taking it out of my pocket. Suddenly I had 5 people behind me all looking at the piece of paper I had in hand.
Once it was fully opened... our excitement fell to our feet.
So, here's another piece of advice. When your school says you're going to an amusement park, make sure to check their definition of "amusement" checks in with yours. Because, as of that moment we were on the most boring excuse of an amusement park ever. There were no giant roller coasters, no haunted houses, no ferris wheel. There was only a carousel with two floors, a photo booth, a couple of places with junk food, a small excuse of a roller coaster, and a laser tag place that seemed relatively small. And the place we were currently at wasn't even a place where you could do stuff. It was just a lame excuse for parents to take cute pictures of their children. It also included a bunch of walking paths that were called "Moonwalks".
In other words, our school had tricked us into going to a cheap children's amusement park. Just our luck.
"Uhh... this place is making me even more dead inside!" Patty said.
"Hear, hear." Miranda and I responded with our last brain cells burning with boredom.
"Come on, people. It's not all bad. At least we don't have to be stuck in our dorms all day long." Adam said trying to cheer us up
I was about to protest with some of my logic, but surprisingly Ben did it for me.
"Sorry bro, but I gotta disagree with you. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that this place is shit. This place makes it impossible for people to have fun."
I was suddenly looking at Ben with a surprised look. Does this guy read minds? Because I was about to say the same thing. Although I probably would have sounded sadder and more cranky than him.
Adam on the other hand, just looks at Ben with the smirk almost gone. "You were supposed to be on my side, bro!" He says quietly.
"Well, I'm sorry but I'm on the side of reality. This place is not meant for high school seniors like us."
He suddenly looks at Thomas as if looking for one last hence to prove he's not alone on this but karma was thinking otherwise.
"Johnson, I'm sorry but I'm with Ben on this one. The place is just not good."
Adam sights and looks at the sky. "Fine! I admit, this place is utter and complete crap. But we can still have fun together. Come on, we're the Gang! We once had a crazy fantastic night with nothing but random costumes in an attic. We can figure this out."
Suddenly I just see Miranda oddly looking at Patty. "Don't ask." She said.
I rolled my eyes. Everyone else but Adam was feeling the same amount of boredom. However, there's one thing where I agree with him: we are the Gang. And we can have fun even with two people who don't even like us for one night, we can perfectly make a day spent in a crappy children's park a great one. Also, I didn't want to see Adam sad so...
"You know what? I'm gonna give you a chance." I reach for my backpack, take out the map, and hand it to Adam. "If you manage to pick places where we can go and have fun, you win. But if you can't, we'll just go somewhere else and we'll leave as soon as the bus comes."
He just took the map out of my hands and opened it with a smirk on his face. "I shall now, pick the location."
When five minutes had passed already, Adam finally came up with something. "How about we try the laser-tag place?"
"You wanna go to a place called "Galactic X-Machina Battle Royal 2.0 Y"? Plus, we'll end the game in like 10 minutes!" Patty said.
I took the map out of Adam's hand and took a closer look. Yes, the arena is probably too small and so will the vests and the laser guns be, since it was a children's park, but it was our best shot. If we weren't to pick that, we would most likely be stuck somewhere in this lame excuse of an amusement park. Plus, laser tag always seemed like a cool thing to me and I had never tried it. As sad as it is, I never really had enough friends to go with and my cousins from my age all live in a different state. Also... any excuse to put myself in a close enough futuristic scenario is a good excuse.
"I say we give it a shot," I said closing the map and putting it back in my bag.
Suddenly everybody looked at me surprised.
"Are you seriously siding with Adam? Because if you are then this is most certainly a first!" Thomas teased.
I controlled my urge to push Thomas to the ground and responded as calmly as I could possibly sound. "No. I'm siding with reason. In this lame place, we can either go to laser tag at least once with a 50% chance of actually having fun, or we could simply sit somewhere and just talk until we get tired from being bored. Comparing both options, Adam's suggestion seems to be the one where we'll hear the least complaints."
Everybody stared at me blankly for a while until Ben finally spoke up. "Alright then, let's go play some laser tag."
And gone to play laser tag we went. After about 5 minutes of "moon walking", we had finally arrived at the arena, and not 10 minutes after a very rude employee gave us the equipment and explained the game.
In summary, we had to be divided into 2 teams and each team needed to have a name and so did each of its members. The aim of the game in this arena was that you would win the game either once everyone else from the opposite team was shot or when you pressed a big red button on a high place somewhere in the arena. I know laser tag is not normally played like this but it was a children's park so they had to fasten the progress.
As expected, the equipment was made for children so when it came to putting on our vests none of us was able to tighten the straps properly. Although, the vests kind of made the guys look like they were wearing crop tops which was fun to watch.
We decided amongst ourselves that it would be boys against girls. Their team was named "The Giants", which was... stupid to say the least. Our team on the other hand was named... "The Powerpuff Girls". Now, let me explain! There were three of us and our personalities sort of matched theirs. Miranda was obviously Bubbles, she had a bubbly personality and was clearly the cinnamon roll and the cute one of the group. Patty is fairly bossy, to say the least, so it is only suitable for her to be Blossom. And I don't think I need to explain why I got to be Buttercup (who is the best one out of the trio, by the way).
We decided amongst ourselves that we'd have 5 minutes to discuss strategy before we were to actually start shooting at each other's faces.
"Ok, girls. We need a strategy. I'd say we go for the kill and run to the button." Patty said laser gun in hand. I have to admit, I'm glad it wasn't a hairbrush because that would be terrifying.
"I can go for the kill if you want," Miranda suggested with a mischievous look growing on her.
Great, I'm in a team of laser-tag reckless serial killers. Just my luck...
"Hate to say it, but that is the worst strategy ever. In laser tag you have to shoot at a 9.8 feet radius if you want to be sure you hit the target we can't just go around and improvise that'll be a complete annihilation for our- "
I didn't even have time to finish my sentence because suddenly the loud buzzer went off and the door slowly opened. And what I had in front of me were three different paths with relatively high walls and all were very narrow, like the length of a door.
And we weren't even given a map. Guess little kids just prefer to go around and hit each other with lasers. How... fun.
"So, Caroline, what were you saying again? I think it was how awesome mine and Miranda's plan was." Patty said looking at me mischievously.
I took a deep breath and looked at them gun in hand. "Guess what? New plan: let's just go for the kill and hope for the best."
As soon as I said that Miranda turned to me with a shy yet genuine smile.
"Don't worry. I'm sure your boyfriend won't try to kill you immediately."
And then I felt my cheeks burning red and it transporting to my ears and my hands went numb and cold and I was now in a huge panic and I didn't know how to respond and... AHHH! Why?!
Patty, instead of being the supportive best friend she would supposedly be, gave Miranda a smile. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
And before I could even process what had just happened, I found myself in the middle of this narrow labyrinth, laser gun in hand and supposedly ready for the kill.
But, guess what? I was most certainly not.
So I just leaned against one of the walls, took a deep breath, and tried to figure out if I could hear any footsteps and analyzed the situation: if the aim of the game was either to shoot everybody else from the other team or press the big red button, then I would need to have my laser-gun ready at all times and walk as randomly until I could find the button because I had no idea where it could be. It's like being in the Minotaur's labyrinth but I didn't have a ball of thread to retrace my path and there were three beasts trying to kill me instead of one. In other words, I was at a disadvantage.
But not to fear, I was not about to wait for someone to barge in and shoot me. From what I had read before about laser tag, you should either take a defensive position or go for the kill. But that would be in normal laser tag. In this one, I had no choice but to keep on moving because the paths were so full of twists and turns that you could barely see anything that was 10 feet away from where you were standing. I could however move as quietly as possible.
So, that's what I decided to do. And, for about a minute or two, all seemed to go smoothly. But then, I heard someone shouting from the other side of the arena.
"No! Tell my mom I love her!"
And so, Ben was the first person to be out. I don't know how it worked exactly but about 30 seconds later, a door opened and he left.
It was now 3 against 2. And whoever killed Ben was now at a disadvantage. Yes supposedly, it should be the boys who were at a disadvantage because they now had fewer members. But, because he screamed, they now could just follow the sound and figure out where one of us was. Meaning that either Patty or Miranda could potentially be found by either Adam or Thomas and shot on sight. And I was not about to let my teammates get killed.
So, if one of us was about to die because two jocks were following us, then why not do the unexpected and follow them. I mean think about it: we couldn't possibly know where the red button was. The only thing we could do about that was to just walk randomly. But if we were to walk randomly yet towards a supposed direction, then our chances to win the game the other way would increase even by a small chance. If either Thomas or Adam were walking in that direction, then the chances of them meeting someone who was in the place they were walking towards were high. But what if someone was doing the same thing to them, they wouldn't be counting on that. And the chances of two meeting one, versus one meeting two are different.
However, that might not be their plan and they might not even consider that. Also, this is just a game of laser tag.
But, in case they were actually smart for once, then I'd have to take my chances and follow the sound. And that's exactly what I did.
Well, obviously you can't run in laser tag. It messes with your senses. So, I just started walking as fast as I could while also trying to keep it quiet.
It had already passed 3 minutes and no one was finding anybody. You couldn't even hear a thing. Guess we're just better at keeping it quiet than Ben.
But that was until... the Powerpuff Girls lost one of their fellow comrades.
"Fucking son of a bitch!"
Yup: Blossom was down. May she rest in peace. Also, they were now a at disadvantage. Yes, we were now with the same number of elements per team, but don't forget: now that Patty shouted, I could figure out the position of one of them and either go for it or run. And the best part was, I was pretty near that place. I heard it like it was two walls opposite of me. So, one of them shouldn't be so far away.
But the question stands: should I run for it or should I avenge my best friend? Defend myself, or go for the kill with the possibility of shooting whoever it was while also having the possibility that the same guy could shoot me?
I took a small deep breath and decided to go with the first option. I'd have other chances to find one of them and there was still the possibility of finding the button. So, I started moving the other way. And besides, I still had Miranda to help me out. Even though, I had no idea where she was.
Two whole minutes go by and you can only hear the air conditioning machine going on making the place start to feel a tad cold. But then, that's when I saw him. As soon as I turned left in one of the million corners in that stupid arena, by the end of that corridor, there stood Adam from behind, turning the next corner.
And the moment I saw him, I turned around and stumbled on my shoe. HOW GREAT WAS THAT?!
I could see him suddenly turning around. "Who's there?" He asked in a whisper.
Why, oh why didn't I shoot him right then and there?
I got up and started walking the other way, I had to get as far away from him as possible right now and shoot him when he least expected it. Look, I know I'm the one of the group who is more like Buttercup and I'm acting nothing like her right now, but my second thoughts and anxiety always come back when they're least wanted!
Yes, Adam might have heard me starting to move but he was following me right now so I had to think of a plan on the spot. So, I took a few more twists and turns and stood in the darkest one I could find. Then I heard his steps coming closer.
"Whoever you are show yourself! Or I'll just keep following you until you do!" Adam threatened in a weird mischievous voice. I have to say he started sounding like a teenage Scar from The Lion King.
But you know, what always happens to villains in typical movies and books? They get what they deserve. And that's what's going to happen to Adam.
Yet, this poses another problem. If I were to just go and explode in his face, he'd do the same to me. Meaning that this was a time for drastic measures.
So, with all my courage and might, I came out of the shadows and there he was. In a flash, I pinned him to one of the walls and shot him right then and there.
Suddenly, the lights of his vest, shut down and his eyes looked directly at mine.
"Impressive." He said with an amused smirk forming on his face. "But a little too slow."
I looked down and that's when I noticed. Adam's laser gun was pointing right at my chest from the side and the lights from my vest were down.
I looked back at him and only then did I notice that the distance between our faces was nearly 3 inches. So... I froze. I mean what would you expect?! My mind gets all messed up whenever Adam does something to me when I least expect it. How do you think I would feel if I were to do something like that without realizing I was doing it?! Well, I can tell you the answer: even more messed up!
Suddenly a voice came from the walls. "Hey there, lovebirds! How's everybody doing?"
Wait a minute... I knew that voice!
"Patty? Where... when... HOW?" I said letting go of Adam and starting to look around at the walls to see where her voice could be coming from. And that's when I noticed. Up in a corner stood a single camera with the smallest microphone under it. You mean she's been watching the whole time? Oh, no...
And, as if the situation couldn't get any worse Adam decided it'd be a good idea to put his arm around me again out of nowhere. How nice...
"Well, we just shot each other and now we're dead, so we're GREAT! But how do we get out of here exactly?"
"Don't worry. Dave's gonna open the door for you and then you just follow the light." Ben said from the microphone.
"Wait... Ben's there too? What up Big Ben?!" Adam said raising his hand as if waiting for a high five.
"You call your best friend "Big Ben"?" I asked quietly. "And who the hell is Dave?"
Suddenly a door opened and we could see light. Thank the gods!
"Dave is the guy who works here. He just opened the door for you. You're coming to us now. See ya'!" And then Patty hung up.
Three seconds after she did, I took a step away from Adam and looked at him, glad the lights weren't that bright because, if they were, then someone was bound to look like a tomato.
"Let's... let's just go then. I said looking down, trying to avoid him.
And then I started walking in what seemed to be the right direction. Adam soon followed.
"Hey, Caroline?" He asked from behind.
Is kept on looking around and trying to find our way out, simply by the light (like seriously, how is this arena made for little kids?).
"Yeah?"
"Are you mad at me for shooting you?"
"What? No, of course not!"
"Ok, nice. I wanted to ask you something."
Wait... why would Adam want to ask me something? Oh no, he probably figured out that I liked him and now he was going to say he didn't like me, and things would get weirder than they ever were and it'd ruin the trip and it'd be all my fault because I couldn't stop blushing and feeling nervous whenever I was around him. Why does the universe hate me so much?
"Sure, ask away." I replied in the most confident voice possible.
I could suddenly feel him take a deep breath. Oh boy, I know what's coming.
"Do you wanna hang out tomorrow? Just the two of us, I mean."
And then, my heart fell to my feet and I died. Great job, Adam. You've managed to kill me twice on the same day.
Now, when someone you have a crush on asks you if you want to spend some alone time with them, you'd naturally say yes on the spot or become so speechless that you couldn't even utter a word.
But me?
Oh, I was at the very least original...
"Why?"
"Seriously, Caroline?! "Why"?! The guy I liked just asked me if I wanted to hang out with him the following day and all I was able to reply was "why". How could I be so stupid?!"
But, then the unexpected came. Adam started laughing. Like what I said was normal. What in the name of Jane Austen just happened?
"I don't know why." He said now walking next to me with a wide smile on his face. "There shouldn't be a specific why. I just like hanging out with my friends and you're my friend. Plus, tomorrow's free day so we can do whatever we want and the two of us could use some catching up. What do you say? Are you in?"
I looked at him with his eyes shining in the dark and his smile spreading all across his face.
So, I gathered all of my courage once again and started to slightly smile back at him.
"Sure. We can hang out tomorrow."
And then we had finally arrived at the door and there stood Dave.
"Took you long enough to get here. Walk faster."
I shared a glance with Adam, holding our laughs for some reason, and then proceeded to follow Dave to the main entrance again. Once we were there we finally got to see our fallen members. Patty and Ben had their eyes fixed on a big TV screen on the wall.
"About time you two arrived! Quick! Shit's about to get interesting." Patty said signing us to join them. Oh boy, if she knew what Adam had just asked me, she would define take that as more interesting.
Adam and I stood now next to our best friends and our eyes were also fixed on the screen. In about a 48-inch flat TV screen stood views from every camera in the arena. And I was finally able to see why Patty said that "shit's about to get interesting". Because you could finally see where the red button was. And Miranda and Thomas were each only 3 corridors away from it.
"Come on, Big T! You can do this! Just take a step left and then right!" Adam said, his eyes almost without blinking.
Thomas was walking faster than Miranda, which was not good for the Powerpuff Girls.
But then suddenly, when he only had one turn left... he turned the other way. Thomas. Turned. The. Other. Way!
We had a chance!
All eyes were on Miranda now. She had her gun ready and there was only one turn left to do. She had to turn right and then she would be face to face with the red button.
And when the time came... that's exactly what she did.
The moment Miranda hit the button, a loud boom exploded and a weird pumped-up song started playing inside the arena.
"YES! WE WON!" Patty shouted.
"Eat MY SHORTS, YOU LOSERS!" I added.
I guess you could say that "and so once again, the day is saved thanks to... THE POWERPUFF GIRLS." Ok, I'll stop with the references now.
Soon after Miranda came out along with Thomas, the three of us winners took a price. Guess what: it was a lollipop. And not even one of the pretty ones. It was just one of those who all have the same flavor. But hey, better that than nothing.
The rest of the day went smoothly. We ate more junk food than we should and we certainly screamed a little too loud when Thomas decided he wanted to go to the carousel. But you know what? We had FUN. And I wouldn't trade this day for any other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This. Chapter. Was. So. LONG!
Trust me, I'm not planning on making a chapter any longer than this one. 5700 words is way too much for anyone to handle.
Now that that's out of the picture, let's get down to business... 🎶to defeat the Huns🎶!
I'm sorry for that...
Anyway...
Yes! There is a new character. What do you think of her so far? She's a cinnamon roll isn't she? And if you say anything bad about you, don't worry because someone, and by someone I mean me, will physically fight you.
And what do you think of the way Caroline has been acting with Adam? His obliviousnes to it is irritating, isn't it? Well, I for one, love that fact that it is.
As always, if you have anything you would like to ask, you can message me to my Wattpad account or email me to theoneandonlyowlface@gmail.com and I'll see you in the next one.
Owl Face out!
"TH-TH-TH-THAT'S ALL FOLKS!"