Cousin Catastrophe

      Yeah, we're not a normal family.

      I'll digress for a minute. I'm Kougra, a Snow Kougra... don't make fun of my name, that's my brothers' job. I'm the second oldest... well, I like to think of myself as that. I'm really not, but I try to ignore the fact.

      The third in the age totem pole is Nicky. Well, okay, he's actually the second oldest, but like I said, IGNORING. He's a baby Kougra, which is why I'm ashamed in saying he's my older brother.

      The youngest is Prince, a red Kyrii, and the outcast of our family. He's in the middle of a bunch of Kougras, and he's not as troublesome as we tend to be... not like he isn't trouble at times anyway.

      The oldest is Tiger, a desert Kougra. Yeah, the one leaning back in his chair, feet on the kitchen table, reading a newspaper and totally unaware of my two fighting brothers. I dunno, I guess he chooses to do that.

      And our owner is Lizzy. A crazy teen that tends to switch back and forth from stern mom to that-crazy-kid-that-skateboarded-into-my-trash-cans, or at least that's what the neighbors call her.

      Back to the main topic.

      At that moment, Lizzy walked in, and it was evident she had just woken up. Her jacket collar was lopsided and she had her hair in a lazy ponytail. She was wearing gym shorts, what she calls her pajamas. She looked kinda odd, with a grey t-shirt under her leather jacket, combined with those blue gym shorts...

      Then again, we weren't looking super fancy ourselves.

      "Well, good morning to you, too," Tiger grunted, watching as my owner trudged over to the cereal and poured herself a bowl.

      "Hi." She collapsed into a chair and began eating the cereal. Then she tapped her spoon on the side of the table. "Oh! I just remembered something."

      "That you didn't pour your milk?" Tiger asked, turning a page in his newspaper.

      "That Prince and Nicky were just wrestling and you only stepped over them?" I also asked.

      "Hey, we're done!" Prince assured between pants.

      "I won," Nicky beamed proudly.

      "Did not!"

      "Did too!"

      "Did not!"

      "ANYWAY..." My owner fought in, getting up to get her milk. "Your cousins are coming over."

      We all froze. She looked at us with a confused expression. "What? Don't you like your cousins?"

      "Yeah, sure, it's just... they're a bit..." Tiger trailed off, looking at us helplessly.

      "Wild?" Prince tried.

      "Crazy?" I shrugged.

      "I have no idea what's going on!" Nicky threw his hands up in the air.

      Lizzy sighed. "As if you guys aren't wild and crazy enough."

      "You included." Tiger mumbled behind the paper.

      Lizzy shot him a glare before continuing. "Joey and the triplets are actually more tame than you four, if I could say so myself!"

      "Oooh, the triplets." Nicky nodded in understanding. "I remember them!"

      How could we forget? Their last visit was so crazy, they set the fridge on fire.

      That's right. The fridge. But that's another story...

      Anyway, Joey and the triplets, (and no, they're not a band... even though they could be) do seem proper and polite and everything at first glance, but they seem to use that as a disguise. Joey is the oldest, and the only Kougra, whereas the triplets are three Xweetoks.

     If I remember correctly, one of them was a girl named Julissa, and the other two were Jared and Justin. I can never tell Jared and Justin apart. Sometimes, I can't even pick out the girl! They're all identical, and like to wear the same clothes. They're really close, too. They're sly and sneaky and elusive, and they drive THEIR neighbors crazy too.

      I sometimes wonder how Lizzy puts up with us all.

      Oh, well. Mynci see, Mynci do, I guess.

      "They're coming in a few hours, so pick up, clean up, look decent." She stood up and wandered off, probably going to change, or maybe lock up her possessions.

      Tiger shut his paper and sighed exasperatedly. "Today's gonna be a TREAT," he grumbled.

      "No sarcasm in this house!" Prince huffed.

      "Why do you even hate sarcasm?" Nicky spoke up, giving Prince a look of contempt.

      "Why don't you?!" Prince sputtered, pushing the Kougra to the floor. Then they were at it again.

      "Well, if you ain't eating breakfast..." I grabbed a bowl and sat down next to Tiger. "You think our house will still be intact tonight?"

      "I was thinking the deadline would be a few hours from now," My brother grumbled, pushing back his chair and leaving the room.

      A few hours later...

      I walked out to the living room to see a Kougra with three identical Xweetoks by his side.

      They were all blue, looking innocent and naive. The Kougra looked slightly exasperated, and he wore a simple red hoodie and jeans, like he had barely had time to get ready and that was all he could throw on.

      What intrigued me the most were the blue identical Xweetoks.

      One of them was wearing a red and white bow, so she was presumably the girl. The other two beside her wore ghostkerscarves, looking exactly alike. Good thing the Kougra was different.

      "Joey. How're you doing?" Tiger stuck out a welcoming hand and Joey shook it. The two seemed to relate, being the eldest in the family and all.

      "Hey, Tiger. These are my lil' bros and sis. Julissa, Jared, and Justin." He pointed them out when he said their names, but I was still confused.

      "Neat. Nicky, Prince, and Kougra are over here." He motioned towards us and we meekly waved. The four waved back.

      "Where's Lizzy?"

      "She's out getting food. She'll be back in an hour or so."

      "Cool." Both Kougras started towards the living room, leaving us alone. "Did ya hear the news? They got new things in that one shop..."

      I coughed in the awkward silence between us and the triplets. "So... want to come to our rooms?"

      The three nodded and I silently lead the way, my brothers behind me and the three Xweetoks in the very back.

      We reached Nicky's room, which held all the toys. Not a surprise. The kid just wants every toy imaginable. He actually got lost in a pile and it took us twenty minutes to find him.

      Suddenly, Prince nudged me, and I looked at him. "I got... uh... some work to do," he quickly explained. "I'll be in my room." He strolled off, slamming the door behind him.

      "You can't always bail forever!" I called after him in irritation.

      "Hey, what does this do?" I saw Justin (Jared?) bend down and pick up Nicky's baseball bat.

      "That's for playing baseball. You hit this ball with it. Do you wanna play?" Nicky held up the baseball during his explanation. I saw something gleam in Justin's/Jared's eyes.

      That didn't look good.

     "Sure." He reached over and took the ball. He tossed it into the air, then slammed it hard with the bat. Harder than I expected.

      The ball flew to the other side of the room, crashing through Nicky's window. My brother and I exchanged shocked glances. Lizzy hates it when we break stuff. It's really nothing new, though. We've broken too many tables and lamps to count anymore.

      I saw something sail towards me out of the corner of my eye, so I turned and barely caught the wooden bat that had been headed for my face.

      Tiger and Joey rushed in then. Just my luck, right?

      "What was that... what... KOUGRA!" Tiger growled once he saw the broken window and the baseball bat in my hands.

      I slowly, awkwardly, put the bat behind my back. "...it's not what you think," I mumbled, trying to give a reassuring smile.

      "No playing baseball in the house!" He snatched the bat away, then left with Joey, leaving me confused and wondering what the heck just happened.

      I heard malicious giggles and glared at the triplets. They straightened up, looking sweet and innocent again.

      "It was an accident," Justin (I think it was him, now...) assured, and Jared and Julissa tried concealing their laughter.

      "That wasn't very nice!" Nicky pouted.

      Julissa nodded. "You're right. We're so sorry. How about we play outside?"

      Nicky smiled and nodded enthusiastically, but I knew these three meant trouble. But what could they do outside?

      I'll just tell you now, they can do lots.

      We walked outside, Nicky blabbering on about whatever was outside. Julissa and Justin were hardly listening, looking at the flowers in the garden curiously, and not in a good way.

      Suddenly, there was an odd sound behind me. Before I could investigate, a blast of cold water hit me. Whirling around, I saw Jared pointing the hose at me.

      "Turn that off!" I hollered, but he only stuck his tongue out and blasted me again. I landed on the grass, hearing loud laughter from the other two Xweetoks.

      I got up and ran forward, ducking another spray. I grabbed ahold of the hose and pulled, but Jared pulled back. Despite the kid being smaller, he was strong! We began to tug it back and forth, getting us thoroughly soaked in the process.

      "Nicky!" I called. "Shut off the water!"

      My baby Kougra brother obediently ran to do so, but Jared pulled immensely hard, jerking it from my hands. He shot a blast of water at Nicky, making him screech in surprise and land in a bush.

      I began to fight for the hose again, but another dilemma was going on. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Julissa and Justin tearing up the flower bed, stomping on the colorful plants or pulling them out by the roots. All three siblings were having such fun, making us miserable.

      I threw down the hose, and Jared shot me a triumphant smile. I ran to the bush to help Nicky up, but... he wasn't there.

      I searched the bushes frantically, until I realized the truth. My brother had bailed, just like Prince. I was alone with these crazy cousins!

      ...are we THIS annoying too?

      "Hey, Xweetoks!"

      I glumly looked up, then straightened up upon seeing Nicky at the doorway, waving a bag of...

      A bag of jellybeans?

      "Nicky, now is not the time for a sna--" I began, but the three dropped everything and raced forward.

      "Gimme the jellybeans!"

      "I want some too!"

      "Jellybeans, jellybeans!"

      The triplets began to eagerly gobble the colored candies up. I shot Nicky a grateful look and he smiled proudly.

      "What is going ON here?"

      Wow, more people and we could have a party...

      Lizzy was at the doorway, Joey and Tiger by her side.

      Check that. They were more of party-crashers.

      "I better not get a letter from the neighbors," Lizzy grumbled, stalking off into the house.

      "Is this supposed to be normal in your household?" Joey inquired, taking in the ruined flowerbed, the still-running hose, and his three siblings savagely eating jellybeans.

      "It's actually a slow day," Tiger answered with a shrug.

      Later...

      The big brother and his crazy siblings were finally leaving.

      ...Really, though, other people might say that with us.

      Julissa grasped my arm and pulled me down to her height. I flinched, expecting her to punch me or something, but she threw her arms around my neck.

      "Wanna hear a secret?" she asked sweetly, and I gulped.

      "I don't think I wanna know..."

      She sighed shamefully and put her arms down. "My brothers and I apologize for our behavior. It's just, we don't like it when we're surrounded by older people. It's like they feel they have the right to boss us around. And we're usually made fun of for being triplets."

      I scoffed. "Why? You three are lucky to be so close!"

      She gave an uncaring shrug. "We just do. We gave you trouble to show that we were capable of choosing our own actions. But you passed the test. You're fine, and we'll act less... barbaric around you."

      I wasn't too sure if that was good news or not, but whatever...

      "The only one who bosses us around is Joey, cause he's our big brother!" Julissa declared. Then she gripped the front of my shirt and pulled me back down to her level, glaring straight into my eyes. "If you ever try bossing us around, though, we'll be even worse than today!"

      "How can that be possible?!" I yelped.

      "Oh, it can. In fact, today was just the first stage out of ten!" She let me go and I quickly straightened up. She put on a sweet smile. "Seeya later, Kougra." Then she bounded off after her brothers.

      To think, the GIRL was the one that scared me... and I shouldn't get scared by GIRLS!

      Tiger flicked my ear and I swatted at his hand. "So lil' bro, what do you think of the triplets?" he asked, his arms crossed.

      "You're never going to believe this..." I muttered as I watched the four wander down the path, looking like a normal group of siblings... an intelligent disguise.

      I sighed and continued.

      "I think we've found siblings crazier than US."

The End