I Double Warf Dare You

     He dropped the bat and frowned, staring after the ball as if it would jump right back over the fence.

     "That was our last one, Hecton! Geez! You cheese head!" Lullabie, the baby Skeith, complained, glaring at him with her arms crossed. She looked mad enough to take on the Snowager.

     "Don't worry, I'll just hop over and get it!" Hecton said, looking for a way over.

     "You can't just jump the fence, dung breath!" Lullabie snapped.

     "How come?" Lucas the baby Grarrl asked as he pulled off his ball mitt. "Just ask your neighbor for it back."

     Lullabie rolled her eyes. "Boys are so dumb. Everyone knows that's old lady Connie's back yard."

     "Who?" asked Xambie, the baby Aisha, before blowing a large bubble with her gum.

     "Old Lady Connie," Lullabie repeated angrily. "She's this old Acara that's lived in that house for like... a thousands of years! She's mean and old. And she NEVER gives kids their toys back."

     Hecton shook his head.

     "That's stupid! That's my last ball. I'll just go over and ask for it back." He determinedly marched to the gate and headed for the sidewalk. Lucas, Xambie and Lullabie trailed after him.

     The Lupe made it up the stone walk before freezing. Old Lady Connie's house was big and dark. It loomed three stories high, and was made of old creaking wood, with a crooked chimney and turrets.

     "Well, go on!" Lullabie called from the bushes, snorting arrogantly. "Ain'tcha gonna get your ball?"

     "I'm goin'!" Hecton snapped, and he flattened his ears as he slowly moved one paw after the other up the old porch steps and to the front door.

     "Go on, sissie! I double Warf dare ya'!"

     He looked back over his shoulder in time to see the tops of his friends heads as they hid behind the bushes. Gulping, he raised his paw and knocked on the door.

     "I'm no sissie..." he grumbled.

     It was completely silent for a moment until the door creaked open. A cold, musty breeze drifted from inside the house and out onto the porch, and Hecton shivered as he looked up.

     There in the darkness, was a hunched over old Acara, with a curled upper lip and shaggy eyebrows.

     "Old Lady Connie..." he whispered, taking a step back.

     From the bushes, Lullabie elbowed Lucas.

     "Look! There she is!" she whispered, trying to duck further so Old Lady Connie wouldn't spot her.

     "What's he saying?" Xambie asked, ears twitching.

     "I don't know." Lucas grumbled, glaring at her. "You've got four ears, you tell us!"

     "Shuddup, ya cheese heads, I can't hear!"

     The three babies peeked over the bushes and gasped.

     Hecton was gone, and the front door was closed!

     Lullabie jumped up.

     "OLD LADY CONNIE GOT HECTON!"

     Screaming the babies took off down the side walk, arms flailing, tails wagging, and little eyes closed so they couldn't see if they were being followed.

     ---

     "Alright. Old Lady Connie has abducted Hecton," Lullabie said, slamming her fist into her open palm. "And we've gots ta save him!"

     Lucas and Xambie nodded, holding out their hands as Lullabie loaded them each with a sling shot and a pink Blumaroo walkie talkie.

     "Our mission, which you have ta' accept, is ta' save Hecton," she said, tucking her own walkie talkie and sling shot into her belt.

     "I don't wanna go," Lucas admitted, looking at the ground in dismay.

     Lullabie gripped his shoulder. "You don't have a choice. Help me save my brother, or I'll pound ya."

     Lucas gulped and nodded. Spinning around, the three babies headed back through the gate to the side walk, slowly walking back towards Old Lady Connie's house.

     "Alright. Lucas, you go first," Lullabie said, pushing the small Grarrl forward.

     "What? Me? Why do I have to go first?" he whined, as Lullabie and Xambie scrambled through the bushes to head around to the side of the house.

     "'Cause you hafta' knock on the door and get her to answer, so we can sneak around and find Hecton."

     Xambie waved. "I'll never forget you, Lucas."

     Lullabie pointed menacingly at the door, and the small Grarrl sighed before trudging up the porch.

     "'Member, you're the distraction. I have my walkie if ya run into trouble..." Lullabie warned as they crept through weeds and brush to a small basement window. The two girls held their breath as they waited, listening as the front door opened and Lucas began chattering nervously about Symol Scout badges.

     Lifting the window, they slowly crept into the basement feet first. The whole room was musty and dusty, and Lullabie coughed quietly into her arm as they tiptoed around unused furniture and piles of wood. The stairs were easy to find, and they climbed them slowly, both praying that Lucas was still chattering and that Hecton wasn't Lupe soup already.

     They could see sunshine through the space at the bottom of the door, and the scent that met them was surprisingly pleasant.

     "Must be the kitchen through this door," Xambie whispered, pressing her ears to the wood.

     "I can hear someone humming..." she said, when suddenly the walkie in Lullabie's belt went off. The loud beep was followed by Lucas's frantic voice.

     "Lullabie! She's coming back! I couldn't keep 'er busy! Get out of the house!"

     Before either of the girls could reply, the basement door swung open, revealing the hunched over form, of Old Lady Connie.

     "What are you doing in my house?" she asked, frowning at the two.

     "Please don't eat me!" Xambie cried, clutching onto Lullabie who put her little fists up.

     "Gimme back my brother or I'll pound ya'! I beat up Lucille Lenny for takin' my last cookie! And she's a third grader!" she cried, trying not to look scared in front of her friend.

     "What are you talking about?" Old Lady Connie asked, her voice scratchy and old.

     "My brother came to get his ball, and you snatched him up!" Lullabie exclaimed.

     "You made Lupe Soup out of him!" Xambie wailed, hiding her face once more.

     "I did no such thing," Old Lady Connie snapped, stepping back from the door to reveal a sunshine yellow kitchen with pretty white flowers all over the counters.

     "Your brother is in the back yard looking for his ball," she explained, pointing towards her back door.

     Xambie didn't hesitate and threw herself through it and into Old Lady Connie's backyard.

     The old Acara and Lullabie followed her out. Sure enough, there was Hecton, gently working his way through the large array of flowers that dominated the back yard. Daisies, tulips, roses, violets, draik snaps, lilies and columbines covered every corner and swallowed up the yard in a marvelous display of color.

     "I couldn't find his ball, even if I tried, so I told him to go on back and do it himself," the old Acara explained, then she shook her finger at Lullabie and Xambie.

     "Now you go help him look, but be mindful of my flowers!"

     The two babies vaulted across the yard and threw themselves at Hecton.

     "I thought you were dead!" Xambie cried, smooshing her cheek against the Lupe's.

     "I'm fine..." Hecton said, his eyes wide as he tiptoed past some tulips.

     "I thought you was dead. I woulda been an only baby," Lullabie scoffed, looking disgruntled in order to hide her relief.

     "Yeahh, whatever. Help me find my ball! I've been lookin' for an hour already!"

     ---

     "Thanks for letting me find my ball, Miss Connie," Hecton said, stepping through the front door back onto the porch.

     "Just be careful next time," the old Acara said, before directing a glare at the others further down the sidewalk.

     "And stay out of my house, you rotten babies!" She smiled briefly at the baby Lupe before slamming her front door shut.

     Hecton jumped from the porch to catch up with the rest of the babies, who were more than glad to get away from the spooky old house.

     "I'm glad that's done," Lucas said, still clutching his sling shot. "I thought you guys were goners!"

     Lullabie snorted. "Pfft. Not even! She's just an old lady."

     Hecton shook his head. "She's not just an old lady. She's a really nice lady. And I'm glad I could get my ball back."

     "So, you sissy daisies ready to play some more ball?" Lullabie asked, grinning from ear to ear.

     Xambie, Lucas and Hecton shook their heads in unison.

     "No thank you!"

The End

Thank you Sara for letting me use Xambie! :D