The Three Terrors

Quincy’s ragged apartment resided in an unsavory part of Almond Bay. Many thugs and delinquents hung out in nearby trash-filled streets and alleyways, just right outside Quincy’s cracked, small window. Every building was painted in graffiti, sections of buildings had bricks blackened by fires from the past, and police sirens were singing at night like clockwork.

          Quincy only had a confrontation with the unsavory locals once. A gang tried to shake him down for money when he first moved to the complex called Almond’s Pit. When he was being robbed Quincy just gave the malicious group a bone-chilling glace, never even said a word while gliding past them. Ever since then, Quincy had been left alone.

The rent there was generously covered by Blue Diamond Elementary while temporarily teaching. The inside of the apartment was no better than the outside. The walls peeled, the faucet leaked, and there was an unnatural odor coming off the ceiling in a certain corner. An odor that Quincy best believed should remain a mystery.

          The giant ducked through the doorway to his barren apartment, looking around the living room to be greeted by very little in the way of personal belongings. He had never brought much with him when he traveled from job to job, which was for the best given his profession.

          Quincy was to stay until the end of the school year, or until a permanent replacement was found which was highly unlikely. Either way, once he was no longer need he would leave Almond Bay behind, not because he disliked the city, he just never wanted to stay anywhere too long.

          Staying in one place too long brought about the nightmares, the nightmares he’d been having since he was a child.

          Quincy dropped his body on a stained, torn couch, feeling a sharp sensation on his butt cheek as he did so.

          “Hmm, that’s right. Nearly forgot about these.” He mumbled through his mustache as he pulled three clear, plastic bricks from his pocket as well as a shock toy disguised as mint gum. He smirked as he cradled the toys in his open palm.

          As mentioned before, Quincy was amazingly fast. He thwarted the Three Terrors’ pranks before they had a chance to blink. Magic or superhuman, Quincy was neither of those, naturally gifted though, yes.

          “A magic flower, I guess you were not entirely wrong, humans would see me as magic if I let them. Thanks to me though, they quickly get used to a man with a flower on his head, seeing it the same as a hairstyle. You seem happier than usual, Quincy. Today was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?” That young, feminine voice squeaked in the back of Quincy’s mind again.

          “I suppose it was,” Quincy replied.

          Walking over to his fridge to grab a bite to eat he noticed that his answering machine was flashing a red dot. He pressed the play button and grabbed a chilled bottle of turnip juice and leftover fast food.

          Beeeep.

          “Hey, Quincy, it’s Agatha. Calling to let you know that Leena is confirmed to be out all week. So, it will be just you until next Tuesday. Raven will still help during recess, but aside from that, you’ll be on your own for a while. Have a good night.”

          Beeep.

          Quincy felt unexpected disappointment. He was curious to meet the other faculty’s acquaintance, but it looked like he would be much too busy for that.

          “The people here a nice too. This city feels like a nice place to live. Don’t you think, Quincy?” The voice chirped. “Maybe we could stay here. Aren’t you tired of moving around all the time?”

          “It is nice, yes. I’m not one to settle down though. I just want to do my part and move on, see more of the world.”

          “We’ve already seen most of the world. Plus, with me, we could go wherever, whenever. I just worry about you. Always traveling with no destination.”

          Quincy had not lost his sanity. The voice that whispered to him was indeed coming from the flower that grew from his head. The closest friend he’s had ever since he was a child. A mystical being taking the shape of a houseplant.

          “You can stop worrying, I’m fine. Better than I’ve ever been.”

          The flower bent, meeting Quincy’s gaze. “You know that I know exactly how you feel. I just want to see you happy, truly happy, selfishly happy. To stop running from the nightmares. To stop running from her.” The flower moved a single leaf on its stem in the direction of a picture frame. Afterward, it popped off of his head, scurrying around the room, using roots and leaves as appendages. It flew to a clay pot beside the picture frame and nestled in the rich dirt.

          The frame displayed a detailed drawing of a young girl. Her hair was auburn like Quincy’s mustache, her nose petite, her lips curved a smile. To her back was a sunset. She was missing a key feature, her eyes. She had an absence of eyes.

          Quincy stood eerily silent. He was in a trancelike state while settling his eyes on the picture. He nearly looked ill.

“Alright, I’ll leave you be. Maybe I’ll never understand you fully, Quincy. Even if I don’t, we’ll be friends forever. Where you go I will follow.” The buttercup danced, swaying side to side. “I’m just along for the ride.”

“Of course, always friends,” Quincy smirked as he came back to reality. “Let’s just eat and call it a night. We’re getting up bright and early tomorrow.”

          “Aye, aye,” the flower saluted and followed up with a giggle.

          That night, the giant slumbered in bed, limbs dangled off the edges. He snored very loudly while wearing a baby-blue nightcap. The flower also had a tiny nightcap of its own, exactly like Quincy’s.

          Quincy dreamed of that girl, the girl in the frame. Dreamed of running toward her in a grassy field. Whenever he got close, she danced away from him, glancing over her shoulder while laughing. Quincy could not see her eyes, they were concealed behind a blue fog.

          While they both frolicked in the field, turnips rained from the sky. Instead of smashing into the ground, they fell through it and a daisy blossomed from where they made contact. It was an odd yet sweet dream.

          The buttercup, or rather the being that had the appearance of a buttercup, lit up the dark apartment with a warm glow. Droplets of dew made of light dripped up to the ceiling and rippled upon vanishing.

          Quincy Daisy had been an extraordinary person all on his own, but the flower that grew from him was a wonder as well. Powerful and omnipresent. It could do things that humans could not comprehend. Sometimes, it would even use its mystical powers to help out Quincy, but such an occurrence was rare. Quincy had told the flower to never use its powers to make his life trivial. The flower never understood why Quincy refused powers to make his life easier, but it respected his wishes and settled on just minimal intervention.

          Catching that tree, for instance, was all the strength of Quincy, a feat that very few could perform without injury. Thwarting the Terrors’ pranks with ridiculous speeds, lobbing objects and children with amazing precision, Quincy pulled in unwanted attention to no end, a problem that fueled his constant travel.

          This time, the flower felt like it needed to intervene. It wanted to stay in Almond Bay and knew, deep down, Quincy wanted the same.

          The flower flashed a bright yellow light, undoing the damage that had been done today. Back at the playground the tree and the fence were restored to perfect condition.

          “I want to stay here for a while longer, no, I want to live here with you. You can be happy, Quincy.” The flower never made a habit of conversing with itself before meeting Quincy, seemed he changed that.

          Memories of the tree falling were purged from everyone, replaced with another. The flower thought about the young ginger girl Kari while replacing everyone's memories. It felt a familiarity as if it met the girl before, feeling she was special in a way it could not understand at the time. Kari’s memories were spared, along with Quincy’s, just out of curiosity of that odd feeling and things to come.

          Quincy never questioned why the flower fixed the tree. At least once a month the flower did something weird. That was his life now and he’d grown used to the mischievousness.

           

 

***

 

          “What do you mean? What are you talking about?! Are you messing with me?”

          The next day Kari came into a surprise. Diya, Troy, and everyone else had no memory of Mr. Daisy catching a falling tree. This agitated Kari as she believed that her friends were messing with her.

          “What are you talking about?” Troy retorted, pumping his fist. “The tree never fell over. Mr. Daisy pulled me out of the tree then ripped his shirt. It snagged on a branch. It didn’t explode.”

          “Has everyone lost their minds? The tree fell, he caught it, his shirt exploded, everyone cheered.”

          “Kari, have you hit your head? Maybe you have a parasitic worm in your brain,” Diya said with a blank expression.

          “I’ll show you. I’m not lying.” Kari grabbed their hands and dragged them to a curtained window. “Behold, the fallen tree.” She drew the curtains and presented with an outstretched pose.

          Troy and Diya squished their faces against the glass, looking out at the kindergarten playground. They saw no evidence of what Kari had been blathering about. They exchanged glances, then glared at the lass with concern.

          “Is... Is this a game? If so, I don’t get it,” Troy remarked.

          “You probably had a strange dream and are mixing it up with reality. Must be the worm,” Diya added.

          Kari parted the two and took a gander for herself. The playground had not changed, the tree and the fence were fine, better than fine. The fence was brand new and shiny while the tree was lush and healthy. She shrieked out of frustration and tugged her hair before staring daggers at Mr. Daisy who was patching up Ana-Lee’s backpack at the time. She gashed it earlier chasing Desmond into the school.

          “It was the gorilla magician. He must have done some type of magic spell on everyone. His power is great and evil knows no bounds.” She gathered Troy and Diya, stealing their ears. “Well, forget the tree. I’ve got a great prank for Mr. Daisy today.”

          Kari’s companions tore themselves away from her and scowled. Well, Troy scowled, crossing his arms in addition. Diya’s ivory eyebrows just lowered a smidge, the rest of her remained ever doll-like.

          “Kari,” Troy started, “I don’t want to prank Mr. Daisy anymore. I think he’s actually a pretty cool teacher. He’s not like the other substitutes.”

          “Whaaat?” Kari gasped.

          “I am in agreement with Troy. I have grown rather attached to Mr. Daisy and do not wish to cause him any harm. He seems like a substitute that we can trust.”

          “Whaaaaaat?” Kari gasped harder, so much so she let out a little cough.

          Troy held out a hand. “C’mon Kari, he’s fun. Let just give up on him. There are plenty of other teachers to mess with.”

          Kari examined her fellow Terrors, then Troy’s hand. She clenched her jaw and smacked the offer away. “How could you? We’re the Three Terrors. We make every sub run away from us screaming in terror.”

          “Then... I don’t want to be a Terror anymore,” Troy said walking away, shoving his arms into his pockets.

          “Me either Kari. I hereby resign,” Diya added before following closely behind Troy.

          Kari was baffled, dazed. They just walked away from her. “F-Fine. I’ll do it myself,” she screeched. “I’ll show you that he’s not as ‘nice’ or ‘fun’ as you two think. I’ll break him. They always break one way or another.”

          She huffed and puffed out of breath, face as crimson as her hair. Desmond, who had overheard everything that happened, slid up to Kari and put a hand on her shoulder.

          “That’s rough dude... If you want I can show you this cool bug I found,” he grinned stupidly.

          After several moments of silence, Kari shoved the punk kid away. “Shut up Desmond. Go eat your dumb bug.”

          “Hey, your loss,” he shrugged.

         

***

 

          The start of school was an exciting experience. Exciting, yet terrifying. Children pulled away from their families for hours on end every day. Meeting groups of strangers their age, listening to an authority figure they know nothing about. A herd of crying kids with separation anxiety and confusion. Even if all they did was play all day, that didn’t matter. The first day of kindergarten was always the roughest.

          At Blue Diamond, kindergarten began at the age of four or five and ended at six or seven.

          On his first day, Troy was not guided to the school by his mother or father. The one he held hands with, and let go of, was his grandmother. On such a life-changing day neither of his parents could make it.

          At such a young age, Troy was used to being alone. Both his parents worked ridiculous hours. Hardly home, hardly had any time to interact with their only son. It wasn’t their fault, they tried, but he didn’t understand, couldn’t understand.

          He would spend his alone time doodling, creating friends out of pencil and paper. Creating his own family. Whenever his father had an hour to spare he would make the most of it by creating art alongside his son. But those hours were few and far between.

          After reluctantly releasing his grandmother's grip, he went on his own to draw in the classroom, keeping his distance from all the other children. Not dropping tears from his eyes, he let his hands do that on paper.

          Diya’s mother was a famous actress, starring in movie after movie, a bustling life of a movie star. Despite that, she was able to pump out seven kids, all daughters, with Diya being the youngest.

          The quiet child saw her mother more through a screen than in the flesh. Her father was always there, at least physically, but taking care of seven daughters all by yourself could be as hard as any full-time job.

          The day she came out of the womb she was independent. Able to walk and speak far sooner than expected. A prodigy, so beyond her age that her sisters who shared the same ivory hair and rust-colored eyes would overlook the fact that she was just a sprout.

          Diya, who did not express emotion very well, glumly let go of her father’s hand on the first day of school. To no disrespect to her father, she would have preferred that she had released her mother’s grasp that day, the woman she saw smile, cry, and laugh behind glass and static.

          Diya spent her first few moments in the classroom leering at a bookshelf, comparing it to the one she had at home. Reading comforted the ivory-haired girl.

          Troy’s white sheet of paper was swallowed by a shadow. He peered up to see that a crimson-haired girl was blocking the light to his drawing. She had a stupid grin on her freckled face.

          “Whatcha drawing?” She asked.

          “...I’m drawing my friends,” Troy replied, smothering his art with both his arms.

          “Ooooo! Can I see? Can I see?”

          Troy groaned and quickly gave in. The lass took the paper and held it to the sky, tilting it left and right. “Hmmm. Looks good to me. I don’t know how to draw well.”

          She returned Troy’s drawing and sat across from him. Her big, emerald eyes glittered as she rested her chin in her hands.

          “Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

          “My name’s Katharina,” Kari giggled, “but my brother just calls me Kari. What’s your name?”

          “Troy...”

          “Hmmm. Troy. We’re friends now, Troy.”

          “What if I don’t want to be your friend?”

          “Too late. We’re friends now. Hey, want to see something funny?”

          “Sure, I guess.”

          Kari captured Troy’s hand, dragging him along with little resistance. While the two were walking past Diya, Kari snatched her up as well, all while looking onward toward her unknown goal.

          “Stop staring at those books. You’re my friend now too. Come with meeeeee.”

          While Diya was being limply dragged along she said, “My name is Diya. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.” Her father always told her to properly introduce herself when meeting new people. Even though this was an odd way to meet someone, she practiced this advice.

          “Diya? Cool. My name’s Katharina, but you can call me Kari. And this blue-haired boy’s name is Troy. He’s good at drawing.”

          Troy sent Diya an uneasy smile, Diya returned with an even less convincing one, square and toothy.

          Kari led Diya and Troy out of the classroom, right under the teachers’ noses. There were two teachers in the classroom, neither was paying attention. One was incredibly old with terrible eyesight, while the other was doing her best to comfort the new batch of sobbing, homesick goblins.

          While they walked through the hallways, Kari ignited her new friends’ ears with her onslaught of babbling. She listed the shows she liked, her favorite foods, how weird her brother was, and more. Her listeners only responded when the lass had to draw breath.

          They arrived at a classroom on the other side of the building. The three couldn’t sense a single flicker of life inside. Diya and Troy learned it was an English classroom thanks to a plaque fixed near the door.

          “Kari, I think we should go ba�"”

          “Shhhhh.” Kari silenced Troy’s plea, pressing an index finger to her lips. “A substitute teacher is running this classroom today. Before school, I saw him kick a stray dog that sniffed at his shoe. He was screaming at it, calling it dirty. He’s super mean. I tried telling the teachers, but they wouldn’t believe me. Said I was just making stuff up. If they won’t do something about it, I will.”

          Before Troy and Diya could comment, Kari strolled into the classroom, stole the steaming coffee mug off the front desk, and revealed a plastic baggy she was concealing under her shirt. She plopped what looked like a chunk of fudge into the mug then returned it to the desk.

          “What did you put in his mug?” Diya asked as Kari returned to her.

          “Dog poop,” Kari sneered.

          “You three seem far too young to be in this classroom.” The voice belonged to a relatively handsome man who approached them. He wore pristine threads and had perfectly parted hair. The telltale sign of a complete neat-freak. Giving the trio nothing more than a passing glance as he entered the classroom he said, “Return to your classroom, and don’t stray on your way there.”

          They stayed and watched the magic unfold. The way he spat out his coffee over his polished desk. The fast jerks of his head ruined his parted hair. Brown fluid flowed down his chin, scalding his chest and staining his clothes. He was absolutely writhing in anger.

          Kari and her friends were on their butts in stitches. “That’s what you get,” Kari hooted.

          “You little s***s,” the sub screeched.

          Kari, Diya, and Troy killed their laughter as the man stomped their way and threw his open palm at them. But before they were struck, his attack was stopped by an olive-skinned woman with a ponytail, Ms. Watson. During that time, Ms. Watson was a fresh face to the children. She restrained the man, trapping his arms behind his back with a flair of martial arts skills.

          A man who was walking with Ms. Watson confronted the outraged sub, their faces inches away. He had slick, black hair and a pair of dark rubies behind sharp glasses. His cold expression was such that one word was shared between the children’s minds, “demon.”

          “Now, what’s going on here?” the demon announced. He studied the angry animal from head to toe, shifted his glare to the frightened children, then shot his fiery gaze back. “Did I just observe a teacher about to strike a group of helpless children?”

          The angry sub swallowed hard and ended his fidgeting, still restrained by Ms. Watson whose normally cheerful face was at a scowl.

          “Those, mmhmm,” he cleared his throat, “children put something in my coffee. I ended up burning myself because of it and thought I’d show them some discipline.”

          “It was dog poop,” Kari corrected. Diya and Troy giggled. Even Ms. Watson broke her scowl to let out a quick snicker.

          “I don’t care if it was cyanide they put in your drink. We do not strike children.” The demon raised his voice and stated each word clearly. “Perhaps we should go to Mrs. Reed’s office to discuss this further. Ms. Watson, please escort this gentleman so he does not get lost along the way. I will join you shortly.”

          Ms. Watson took him away. Along the hallway, he screamed several words that allowed her to drive a knee in the back of his spine. He whimpered and held onto silence after that.

          It was just the demon alone with the children. He was about to make a speech but simply sighed as they gave him puppy-dog eyes. He didn’t care for that substitute and wanted him gone anyway. Kari had done him a favor, but he’d never tell her that.

          “Follow me. I’ll take you back to your classroom. You little terrors.”

          From that day forward, Kari, Diya, and Troy were known throughout the school as the Three Terrors. They were inseparable as they wreaked havoc in and out of school.

         

***

 

          Kari was determined and continued to prank Mr. Daisy all on her own. Every attempt, however, led to failure. Mr. Daisy eluded and evaded everything Kari threw at him, a feat no other substitute had accomplished before. All her plans that Tuesday ended in failure, especially after unexpectantly flying solo. Kari was truly off her game after her fallout with her friends.

          Wednesday was a complete catastrophe, she was getting even sloppier. Kari built a catapult designed to launch a batch of rotten tomatoes when Mr. Daisy tripped the wool thread connected to it. Before she had a chance to use it, it backfired, smashing her in the mug with a smelly, red smoothie. Without Troy’s artistic input and Diya’s sensitive calculations, it was doomed to fail from the start.

          The two former Terrors just watched Kari’s attempts from afar. Kari continuously made a fool of herself, but they liked Mr. Daisy and stood by their decision, refusing to help or even speak with one another. Still, they missed their friend and their leader.

          Thursday, the custodian found Kari hanging upsidedown in a supply closet, muttering to herself, “I forgot to put this before that. I didn’t even need that switch and I have way too much rope.” The child was clearly out of her mind, consumed by her obsession. She couldn’t even remember what she was setting up in the closet. Mr. Daisy had never even opened that closet once.

          The custodian cut Kari loose and flipped her back to her feet. He smiled, several of his teeth were absent in his mouth. “I talk to myself in this closet too sometimes. Kinda fun isn’t it? You can have the most amazing adventures.”

          The odd custodian’s crazy counteracted Kari’s madness and she snapped back to reality. He presented Kari with a bit of his homemade beef jerky before sending her on her way. It tasted pretty good.

          Kari’s belief that all substitutes were evil had an underlying speck of truth to it. Ever since the coffee incident, Blue Diamond had attracted one human-shaped cesspool after another. They treated students like animals, they pocketed belongings, they neglected their duties or abused their authority, all behind closed doors. Carelessly, they did this in the presence of Kari, undoubtedly assuming that no adult would take the word of a child over their own. Time and time again, the Three Terrors had sent them screaming out of the building like their backs were ablaze. Kari had zero trust in any substitute. Mr. Daisy may have been the first pure-hearted substitute teacher that she had met, but she was far too blind to see that.

          Finally, it was Friday, the end of the school week. Ms. White would be returning to class next week. Kari wanted Mr. Daisy gone before her return, feeling that the kind-hearted Ms. White would be corrupted by the gorilla magician.

          There was a brief window while Kari was poking around her breakfast cereal with a spoon where she wondered why the giant never scolded her at any point during the week. Never has a teacher made it an entire week without showing their true colors. Shaking her head, she dismissed those thoughts, guessing she was falling under Mr. Daisy’s spell.

          “This is my last chance,” she convinced herself, “I’m starting to slip. For a moment I thought he’s actually a nice teacher. It can’t be true, never has been. I’ll use my finishing move.”

          Kari’s finishing move could only be performed the minute she was let out of school. She’d had only done it twice before. She was going to fill Mr. Daisy’s car with frogs.

          At the thrashing clink of the bell after a tame day, Kari ran out of the classroom and into the parking lot, dancing around people as she went. She was on limited time before her brother picked her up. Any other day of the week she would take the bus or be picked up by her babysitter, but Fridays were special. Her brother got off early on Fridays and drove her home himself. It would be about thirty minutes before he would arrive.

          Kari scouted the parking lot, wielding a net and bucket she hid in a bush before school. A red-haired secret agent on a mission. Her target was Mr. Daisy’s car, an old beater that was far too small for the man to sit comfortably. Half of the locks were broken, its blue paint shaved away in patches revealing rusted metal, and the trunk was always slightly open.

          No witnesses were nearby, but that wouldn't have mattered anyway. Kari was sneaky like a fox and swift on her toes.

          During the rainy season, frogs could be found all over Almond Bay. When the rainy season ended they either returned to their lakes or hid in the ponds that dotted the city. One of those hidden ponds was not too far away from Blue Diamonds parking lot, a pond only the Terrors were aware of.

          Kari pinched the corners of her mouth and shaped her lips long and thin as a greeting to the orchestra of frogs in a hollow, rotting stump.

          “Ribbit, ribbit,” she sang. The frogs continued their croaking, not even recognizing the child as anything to be distressed about.

          She had gathered a swamp-full of the amphibians and released them into Mr. Daisy’s car. The interior wasn’t great to begin with, but now it matched the inside of a frog’s glass tank at a pet store.

          “I’ve done it. He’ll never come back. I win gorilla magician,” Kari told herself, boasting about her assured victory. She smacked her butt curbside at her usual waiting place, playing with her shoelaces for entertainment until a white car drifted next to her.

          The resemblance between the siblings was uncanny. Kaleb had the same smoldering, red hair as his sister. The emeralds at the front of their skulls were identical, and his skin was just as pasty as Kari’s, although, he had fewer freckles than his little sister. As he grew older his freckles began to dissipate�"Kari would see that change too as she aged. He was quite handsome despite the dark patterns under his weary eyes.

          Kari crawled her grinning face into the white car and buckled up without so much as a greeting to her elder brother. Her attempts to smother her mischievous smile had not gone unnoticed by him.

          “Oh no. What did you do this time Kari?” Kaleb sighed, combing his fingers through his long, wavy bangs. “Who am I going to get a letter from? Gene? Kraw? They're not fun to read you know. Gene goes on forever, using words I didn’t even know existed, and I swear Kraw falls asleep halfway through writing his. I’d rather they call... actually, never mind. That sounds worse.

          “It wasn’t me�"I mean, what are you talking about brother who I love so much?” She batted her lashes and clasped her hands in prayer.

          Kaleb reached over and pinched her nostrils while simultaneously keeping his eyes on the road, driving smoothly back to their home. “Don’t try that cutesy look on me, I invented that look. Long before you were even an idea. I also invented that evil smile of yours, a dead giveaway you did something wrong.”

          “I dib noffin,” Kari hummed, her voice muffled by her clenched nose.

          Kaleb released his sister, wiping the snot his sister left on his fingers with his pantleg. She pointed and laughed at him.

          “Snot fingers, snot fingers,” she mocked. “How do you like my booger attack snot fingers?”

          “Well, whatever you did I’ll deal with later. I want to get home, clean up, and prepare supper.” A corner of his mouth lifted. “Got a good deal on some pork today. I can just taste it now.” Kaleb licked his lips, Kari copied him.

          They listened to the radio the remainder of their journey home, singing along the best they could to lyrics neither were familiar with. Their combined singing voices would've made deaf people cry.

 

***

 

          Kaleb and Kari were left very little upon their parents’ death. A beat-up old two-story house that needed a lot of work and a mediocre sum of money. The elder brother worked hard to get what Kari needed to secure her future. He had to fight tooth and nail to even keep the two together.

          The main source they shared for entertainment was a big box tv they had in the center of the living room. Watching movies and shows together was a Friday night tradition, had been for a while.

Kari kicked off her shoes and ran up the squeaky staircase to her bedroom, snatching up loose articles of clothing while she dashed. After a change of clothes, she patrolled the house for more laundry to gather. That was Kari’s job for the day.

Kaleb exchanged his work attire for more casual wear, tossing his dirty work clothing at the scampering, red gremlin passing by in the hallway. She added it to the top of the mound in her hands that was almost as big as her.

While Kari prepared the washing machine, Kaleb grabbed all the garbage and dirty dishes he could find. Under Kari’s bed, he discovered at least twelve store-brand pudding containers, all with a small bit of pudding leftover, and an empty, dirty glass. He shoveled the containers into his garbage bag and balanced the glass on the ever-growing stack of plates in his hand.

“Kari?” Kaleb cried out through the house.

“Yeah?” Kari shrieked in response while dumping her fourth cap of detergent into the washing machine.

“Remember to only use two capfuls, we don’t need a bubble bath in the laundry room. Not again.”

Kari stopped herself before she poured in her fifth cap, quickly dumping the blue liquid back into its container and twisting the cap back on.

“I-I know that,” she responded with a gurgle in her throat. She slammed the metal lid down, set the dial, and secured her position on the couch in the living room. She watched tv until dinner was cooked and served.

After they ate dinner it was time for the most heated debate of the week; what movie should they watch?

“I want to watch an action movie!” Kari exclaimed, placing her dirty dishes in the sink and hopping over the back end of the couch. She landed exactly where she was prior to eating, the indent was still warm, and rapidly flipped through the channels, waving the remote around the room like it was a magic wand.

Kaleb filled the sink with hot, soapy water before coming over and snatching the remote out of his sister’s hands.

“Hey!”

“We watched an action movie last week,” he stated. “I believe it is my turn to choose what we are watching. Perhaps a nice, sad romance,” he mocked.

“Noooo! Anything but that.”

“Cmon, Kari. Don’t you want a good cry? Don’t you want your heart to flutter as two lovers lean in for that first kiss?” Kaleb mimed he was kissing another person.

“Romance stinks!” Kari puked.

Kari attempted to take the remote back from her brother, but she was much too short to reach it. Kaleb covered Kari’s face with his palm and laughed maniacally. He dropped the remote upon feeling a sharp pain in his hand from Kari biting it. She caught it and held it tight to her chest.

Kaleb smirked and there was a menacing glint in his eyes. It was much like the look Kari had when she plotted�"they truly shared the same blood. He pinched either of Kari’s cheeks pulling them outward.

“Eeeeeeeeeeegh.” Kari let out a gurgling, animal-like noise.

“Fine, we can watch an action movie, I give in,” Kaleb said as he tugged her face. Upon releasing his grip, Kari’s cheeks snapped back and were red for a few seconds. He went back to his dishes.

“Yay!”

About twenty minutes into the movie the siblings were napping on the couch, completely drained from their busy weeks. Kaleb snoozed long-ways on the couch, his face covered by a damp towel he had been using to dry the dishes, while Kari was on top of him, using him as a human pillow, snoring toward the ceiling. They both mumbled incoherently in their sleep.

A flurry of bubbles awoken them after an hour, lightly popping against their skin. The laundry room had truly become a bubble bath. They exchanged groggy glances and cleaned it up without a word before dumping the wet clothing into the dryer and calling it a night.

Saturday morning was Kari’s time to watch cartoons while her brother mowed the lawn and ran errands. Her favorite cartoon was “Onion: The ninja who cries.” The show was quite popular with people of all ages.

Diya and Troy were no exception, they loved Onion just as much as Kari. Every Monday they would ramble at length about their favorite parts of the episode. Kari was especially excited to talk to her friends about this recent episode, then she remembered she is not talking to them right now and became glum.

“Mr. Daisy for sure won’t be back Monday, then those two will realize that I was right. He probably had to walk all the way home, crying.”

Kari pictured it clearly in her head; a gorilla wearing magicians clothing walking along the side of the road with a river flowing from his eyes and a thumb outstretched for a ride from passing vehicles. Her face beamed in the sky, taking the place of the sun, laughing downward at the teacher’s misery.

 While Kari watched cartoon after cartoon she had been slowly draining a glass of slightly watered-down apple juice. At the end of the last show in the lineup, Kari gulped down the remainder of her beverage. She was about to slide her empty glass underneath the couch but stopped herself and delivered it to the sink instead.

“I’m such a good sister,” she convinced herself, hocking a large loogie into the sink and wiping her mouth with a paper towel. “Maybe too good. What would he do without me?”

“…and it was all thanks to this man, Quincy Daisy,” the tv blared.

“What!?” Kari screeched, chucking her used towel at the trashcan but missing it. She lept onto the couch and cranked the volume. “Why is Mr. Daisy on tv?”

Mr. Daisy was indeed on tv. He was outside Almond Bay Zoo, next to him was a young, dolled-up reporter holding a microphone. The reporter tried to remain professional while next to the giant, though, her reporters’ smile would twitch once in a while. Quincy’s face was a steel-molded scowl, his emerald eyes petrified the young lady when he passed a gaze her way. Little did anyone know that being on tv put butterflies in his stomach and this was his unfortunate embarrassed face.

“Today, I’m standing here in front of the Almond Bay Zoo with the incredible man, Quincy Daisy. Quincy here has been a teacher for a decade, but recently he dabbled into the world of herpetology by recognizing a frog that was believed to be extinct for over five hundred years. Quincy, where did you find the little croakers?”

The reporter stepped onto an offscreen stool and reached her microphone up to Quincy’s face.

“I, uh, found them in my car,” Quincy simply said.

There was a long silence.

Kari had gotten her face inches away from the tv, her arms were embracing either side of it. From outside she could hear the purr of the lawnmower muffled by the walls of her house.

“Well, that’s quite a strange place to find an endangered frog,” the reporter stated, breaking the silence, “and thanks to your find the mayor has announced that a new frog sanctuary section will be added to the Almond Bay Zoo, as well as several new laws that will keep these critters from going extinct! Such an exciting day in Almond Bay history.”

Kari backed away from the television, her heart sank with solemn and she hung her head low. She knew, at that moment, that she had lost to Mr. Daisy. The ultimate prank that should of set the sub over the edge was flipped into a celebrated event on the news.

“I would like to add one more thing,” Quincy boomed. The reporter returned to his level.

“He’s going to rat me out, tell everyone the reason he had frogs in his car was because of a childish prank. Everyone is going to hate me now.”

“My name is Quincy Daisy, substitute teacher. I’ve traveled to many schools and have seen many places. I will be teaching at Blue Diamond elementary for one year. If interacting with the kindergarten class here has taught me anything...”

Kari bit her quivering lip.

“...it’s that... it’s going to be a fun year.”

Kari lifted her head and looked upon Mr. Daisy’s beaming face behind the screen. It was almost as if Mr. Daisy was talking directly to her. At that moment Kari finally understood; she was wrong.

It was a slow news day so very few caught Quincy’s time on the small screen. If he had known that he wouldn’t have felt as embarrassed after his little speech. His whole head became the color of a beet. Even the reporter who had been afraid of him prior gave an “Awww” and held a hand over her chest.

Suddenly, a frog jumped at Quincy from offscreen, landing on the lily pad that was on his head. Then another, and another. Quincy was covered head to toe in frogs, no one could see his flushed face anymore. The reporter appeared unnerved by the amphibians, backing away from the frog giant. One lept towards her and she let out a screech before the television turned black from Kari turning it off.

Kari walked slowly up to her room with her eyes fixated on the floor in front of her toes. She looked as though she was contemplating her existence. She balled up her fist and shook a tear from her eye.

“It’s time... for my final plan against Mr. Daisy,” she told her empty room while bursting through the doorway.

 

***

 

          “I surrender!”

          For the first time ever, Kari was early, the first student in the classroom. The students and Mr. Daisy had walked in on Kari standing on a stack of milk crates in the center of the room. She was covered in white cloth, in her hands were handcrafted flags made of popsicle sticks and bits of toilet paper.

          Everyone looked puzzled, just standing there in silence at the red and white lass. If not for the flags she would be dressed like a lit candle.

          “I surrender!” Kari screeched, repeating herself as if nobody had heard her the first time.

          “Kari, you shouldn’t stand on milk crates. You could get hurt,” Quincy worried, reaching out his arms as if he was already trying to catch her mid-fall.

          “�"I,” Kari interrupted Mr. Daisy, “I, Kari, leader of the�"” She corrected herself since the Three Terrors were broken up. “I, Kari, hereby surrender to the substitute Mr. Daisy. I will no longer prank him for the rest of my�" Waaah”

          Kari yelled as she fell off the crates but Quincy scooped her up before she hit the floor. In his large hands, she began to cry and repeated “I’m sorry” over and over.

          “Kari, what are you sorry for?” Quincy asked softly.

          “Because I kept pranking you. I thought you were a bad person just like all the others. But your not. I was wrong. And now you hate me.”

          “Kari, I don’t hate you. I’d never hate any of my students. Just because you tried to toy with me here and there doesn’t mean I like you any less than any of the other students.”

          Kari’s nose was oozing snot and her eyes were watery. “Really?” she asked with a gurgle.

          “To be honest, I found it quite amusing. Though, I don’t promote having fun at others’ expense. But I don’t mind if it’s at mine, I’m a big lug who can take it.” Mr. Daisy chuckled softly.

          She drew her wet face from the floor and their eyes met. It was the first time Kari realized that they shared the same emerald eyes. She felt a kinship with Quincy in those short seconds. Quincy felt something too upon meeting Kari’s gaze. A memory buried deep started to rise to the surface until...

          “�"Mr. Daisy. You can put me down now.”

          “Oh, yes, sorry.”

          Mr. Daisy had her much higher than those milk crates ever were. He caught her by her armpits and was dangling her like a ferret. To him, she weighed barely anything.

          When her toes touched the floor she was greeted by the beaming smiles of Troy and Diya. The Three Terrors got back together and shortly after began causing mischief again. They had a revised rule: “No pranking Ms. White or Mr. Daisy.”

          Yes, Mr. Daisy had won over everyone in the class; everyone, especially Kari.