ENJOYYY

I step over to the next cage, excitedly peering in on cute little birds fluttering their wings. Ty, Leon, Papa and I arrived at the pet shop approximately an hour ago. The two oldest have been arguing furiously with the store owner while Tyler and I took refuge in the very back aisles of the building.
"Are they done yet?" he groans, leaning against a giant bag of dog food. "It's been so long"
"Whatever" I smile even though it still makes my head hurt. A few days ago was when I was first allowed to venture from the Koppinger's, but still am racked by migraines and nausea.
I admire the tanks of colourful fish, their tiny bubbles and unblinking eyes. I had a fish, once, but one day I came home and there it was, floating upside down at the surface. I wasn't upset. It was just a stupid fish.
I make my way over to the birdcages, the birds screeching and squacking as I near their homes.
The bird I had seen a month ago bounds over to me, and cocks its head. It has fluffy feathers peeking out from the back of its neck, and thick, white stripes stretching from its wings to beak.
"Hey there little bird" I smile, and stick my finger through the cold metal bars to pet the chickadee's forehead. He only stays put for a short while, though, as the small bird squirms away from under my finger, and moseys over to a darker bird in the cage. I watch as they peck at each other, and goof off in the cage.
''They're pretty cute, aren't they?''
I find myself face to face with the redheaded girl who occasionally works at the shop.
''They're beautiful.'' I sigh, listening to the chickadee's songs.
"Truly." She pauses. "Chickadees are thirty percent off, if you'd like to buy one" Initially, her statement makes me really happy, but nervousness floods me once I realize that Papa'd never let me have another pet. I'm much too bad at taking care of them.
"N-no, it's okay" I smile fakely, and shake my head. The redhead gives me a short smile, and prances off to feed the sugar gliders.
I go back to the singing birds, and think for the first time about how amazing it would be to get a chickadee. I had always wanted a pet bird as a child.

Ty walks up behind me, and flicks the back of my head gently.
"Talking to yourself again?" He  laughs, and helps me to my feet. There's a throbbing in my brain, but I ignore it. "Grandpa and your dad are almost ready to go"
"Okay" We trot over to the till, where the two stand, deep in conversation. Pa turns to greet us, but Leon looks at the ground sadly.
"Papa, the bird I saw a while ago is on a really good sale!" I say, throwing my arms up in the air enthusiastically to lighten the mood. 
"Birdie, your birthday is in a little more than a month, maybe you could but it then" my father sighs, and scratches his arm. "Just not now, okay?"
The store owner walks out of the back room, and looks toward Papa and Leon.
"We'll be a short second, kids. Why don't you go get a smoothie or something?" Mr. Koppinger's face is as red as a tomato when he says this, which worries me that the problem might be more than I've assumed.
"S-sure" I lead Tyler out the door, and we walk silently to the neighbouring building, an old ice cream parlour. "Here's five dollars" There's an extra bill in my pocket, so I hand it to Ty. "I'll be waiting outside" 
Minutes later, he returns with a cone of ice cream. 
"Here's your change" Tyler gives me a handful of pennies and dimes. 
"Thanks" I pause. "What do you think they were talking about?"
"Not sure. I think it might be something money-related, though" He licks at his double-decker treat. "But whatever"
'No, not whatever!' I think. What if we become bankrupt? Maybe that's why Papa didn't let me get the bird. Perhaps we were already bankrupt.
It seems like no one ever tells me anything.


As we're driving home in the Jeep, I notice that Papa and Leon are being eerily silent.
"What was that argument about?" I adjust the beanie neck pillow Dr. Norman provided me with.
"Nothing much, sweetie, just a little spat" Leon reassures me, his eyes never leaving the road.
"Seriously? That was much more than a 'little spat'" Tyler mimics his grandfather. "Sorry. I'm also very curious" I smile at his apology. I've never encountered an apology from him that wasn't forced.
"Okay" My father sighs, and reclines in the passenger's seat. "The gentleman who owns the pet store is going to sue us for...causing small plumbing problems..." I frown. "No biggie"
"After he dropped that information, I kindly agreed to pay him a sum instead of getting the law involved, but Rich refused" Leon says, turning into the gravel road leading to
the Koppinger's.
"Seems like a stupid argument, if you ask me" Ty chuckles, and turns toward the window.

When we approach the house, I unbuckle my seat belt and hobble out of the car. The eldest Koppinger leads the way, stacking stray lawn chairs and gathering random picnic blankets from the deck before we step into the quaint cottage. Referring to it as 'quaint' seems the most correct, since Leon's house is anything but extravagant and gigantic. He seems to like it that way, and I agree with him.
We set down our raincoats, as the weather has been quite muggy for the past few days, and the four of us plop down on the couch. I reach for the television remote, and flick on the flat-screen before us.
"Here we have the Pademelon, or Thylogale billardierii, a small creature that resides in the forests of Australia." The four of us blankly watch a documentary about a cute little kangaroo-like animal. It's interesting how friendly they are to their trainers, even though they're wild animals held captive. One segment turns to another, and eventually we've spent the whole rest of the morning sitting in the living room.

"I should tend to my garden" The old man strikes up conversation. "It's been awhile, and I'm worried."
"In this weather?" Papa exclaims, and walks over to fetch himself a beverage.
"Why not?" Leon bids us farewell, and tugs on his rain boots before he disappears into the cold, wet day.
"I need to get going, too" Pa sighs, also gathering his things. "Play nice" He winks before leaving the room.
'That was quick" Ty comments, throwing his feet over onto the coffee table.
"Yep" We sit awkwardly for a half hour, until the morning turns to afternoon and the sky finally starts to brighten.
"I guess I should help your grandpa" I sit up, and pull on my shoes. "bye"
"Goodbye, Miss Boring"

"Can I help?" I hover over Leon, slipping on a pair of gardening gloves. "I'm not too good at taking care of plants, so I won't be of much use"
"Balderdash"
"Okay..."
"Go grab a watering can" He points towards the shed, and I follow the path. Inside the teetering building, there's stacks of random junk, but I'm not really surprised. Leon had to store everything somewhere, I guess.
I fill up a metal bucket and pour chilly hose water onto the plants as Leon kneels beside them. He holds the yellowed leaves between his fingers and lets out a little sigh.
"I try to water and take care of them everyday," he looks up at me. "But they keep dying."
"Wait" I gasp, remembering something. "In the magazine I read a while ago, there was a 101 sort of segment" Leon smiles. "Be right back"
I dash as fast as my head will let me, into the house and out again with the thin book in my hand. I sit down next to my elderly friend, and flip it open to page twelve.
"Here's a check list" I say, and Mr. Koppinger leans in to see what it says.
"Okay"
"Is the soil fertile?"
"What does that mean?"
"Well, the book says that fertile soil is when your dirt is high with nutrients. Like, compost and stuff, apparently''  I shrug, reading on. "It's actually really important to have good soil"
"What's next?" I peer at the glossy paper.
"Secondly, provide good conditions for your flowers and stuff. Make sure it isn't constantly in the shade, and that you're not drowning it. Things like that"
"I'll work on that" He throws a handful of dirt into the hole of a previously alive tomato plant.
"Oh!"
"What?"
"You might want to get rid of the weeds" I laugh, after reading a tid-bit on how fatal weeds can be to the growth of plants. I turn to see the stretch of dead plants across the front of Leon's house. There's more little weeds sticking up than flowers.
"I-I thought those were wildflowers" he smacks his forehead. "Oops"

Hours later, the two of us slink inside, our hair laced with strands of grass and hands caked with mud.
"You can shower first. I need to order pizza" He scratches his cheek, and picks up the phone receiver.
"CHEESE!" Ty yells from the couch, his eyes not moving from the video game. Leon and I roll our eyes.
"Okay, I'll be right back" I grab my duffel bag, and walk into the bathroom. With three more people at the house than usual, it's become pretty filthy.  I set down my things and, after the tap heats up, jump in the shower while still wearing my filthy clothes. For awhile, I stare at the floormat, swirls of dirt flowing off my
body. The beating flow of water is warm, and soothing.

"Your turn" I step back into the living room, drying my soaked hair. Leon sits at the counter, cross-stitching a bowl of fruit.
"Thanks" He winks, and begins to walk to the bathroom. "Oh, you and Tyler can go get the pizza in half
an hour"
"Okay!" I smile, grabbing a juice box from the cupboard and plopping down on the floor beside the coffee
table.
"Where is the pizza place?" Ty questions, pausing his game.
"Uhh... a few towns over. We might need to leave before thirty minutes is up"
"Sounds good to me." He goes back to the television.
"Wait"
"Yeah?"
"Let's go now. We don't want to be late" I gather up the pizza money, Leon's car keys and my bag. Ty groans, sets down his controller, and walks to the door alongside me.
"Do you even have your license?"
"Nope, that's why you're here!" I grin, slip on my sneakers, and run out the door. He follows. I actually manage to make it into the Jeep without any nausea, which is a feat, with my condition lately.
"It's much too early to go get the food" Tyler complains, slipping into the driver's seat. We take off down the road, and I give him directions towards our destination. Otherwise, we don't speak.

It's an hour later when we arrive back in Wrenside. The sky is still bright. I hold the food in my lap, picking them up occasionally to make sure they're still hot.
"Hey, Birdie" He says, swerving messily around a parked car.
"Hmm?"
"Would you like to go see the treehouse later?" We almost slam into a semi truck, but Tyler miraculously manages to avoid the collision.
"Of course!" I smile. Ty is a horrible driver, but he seems to be in a nice mood, so I don't bother him about it.

"We have the pizza!" I grin, stepping into the house. Papa and Leon cheer hungrily from the kitchen island, while taking out paper plates and equally disposable cutlery.
"How was the drive?" Leon smiles, typing up his hair.
"Good, I guess" I move on to giving the four of us each a slice of pizza. We all sit down. The rest of us stare in disbelief as Tyler grabs a bottle of ketchup from the counter, and squirts  it all over his dinner.
"What are you doing?" Papa laughs, taking a sip from his cola.
"Are you serious you've never seen a person eat ketchup before?"
"Uh, no. Not like this" I laugh, putting down my slice before I drop it.
"It's the same stuff as pizza sauce"
"No, it isn't"
"Weirdo Canadians" he chews a bite of pizza. Pa and I laugh as dribbles of ketchup go down his chin, and a little red  mustache forms on his upper lip.
"Hey, Birdie" A few minutes later, Leon asks me a question.
"would you like to get some ice cream with me after dinner? It may soothe your
head for awhile" He stuffs a spoonful of pizza into his mouth. I giggle at his unusual mannerism.
"S-sure" I hesitate, looking at Ty, who I had already promised to accompany after dinner.
"You don't have to, of course" Mr. Koppinger says. Tyler's pouting, but, eventually, he nods in acceptance.
"Oh, no, no, I'd love to!"
"That's good" Papa eyes me skeptically, a smug grin on his face. I try not to pay
attention.
Once we're done digesting our dinner, Mr. Koppinger grabs his handbag and tugs me towards the door.
"We'll be back later" He says, dropping my hand momentarily to let me pull on my sneakers, but grabs it again when I stand back up. "Bye"
"Bye!" Pa laughs. The giddy Leon drags me down the long gravel road leading to his house, and into town.
"Where's the parlour, again?"
"Oh, it's that way" I point to where Ty and I were earlier, catching my breath.
"Oopsie!" He grins, letting me recover before continuing on towards the ice cream shop. My spirited friend opens the parlour's door with a flourish, resulting in a loud jingling.

Next week is the (meager amout of) vacationers usually arrive, so when we walk inside, the store employees are sitting behind the counter, their feet resting on a bucket of chocolate sauce.
When they hear us come in, one person pops up to serve us. The other three stay in their positions.
"Welcome! What can I do you for?" A quirky employee comes out from behind the cash register to greet us.
"Hello, sweetie!" Leon, in his usual bubbly manner, gives her a grin. "I'll have a kids size vanilla cone. And whatever the young lady wants"
"Um..." I look all around me, at the number of menus written on the black-board walls. "I'll have a hot fudge sundae, please" I say, finally deciding on what to eat.
"Good choice" Mr. Koppinger winks.
"I'm always in the mood for hot fudge and pecans"
"Who isn't? We smile.

"Order up!" The server smiles, handing a bowl of vanilla soft serve to Leon, and after shaking sprinkles on top, a heaping bowl of chocolate and ice cream to me. "Have a good evening!" Mr. Koppinger hands a handful of cash to the lady, and walks outside, me tailing behind him.
"Mmm" Leon smiles, licking his ice cream. "This is good!" I can tell his grin is fake.
"What's wrong?"
"I asked for a cone..." Mr. Koppinger admits, sticking a spoon in his mouth. "But whatever!" He motions for me to sit next to him on the pier, and I gladly take the spot.
"Hey, Birdie"
"Yep?"
"Chocolate, or vanilla?" Leon asks, scooping up more soft-serve.
"Oh... I don't know" I sigh, trying to remember my favourite out of the two. "Maybe vanilla. I'd rather have chocolate drizzled on top instead of having it flavoured that way"
"Me too" He smiles. "Your turn!"
"Do you mind if it's personal?"
"Not at all!"
"Are you... rich?"
"I guess you could say that. It's a long story" He scratches the back of his neck.
"Oh." I reply.
"Well, I guess we have time." Leon spoons another mouthful of dessert into his mouth. "I really don't mind."
I settle back into my seat to listen.
"Well, it all started five years ago, when I was seventy. At that point, I was living in Utah with my son. I haven't admitted this to many people, but when I was younger I had...gambling troubles" I nod, urging him on with his story. "The only time I ever got lucky was my seventieth birthday. I had bought a ticket for 15 million dollars" He pauses dramatically, slapping himself in the forehead. "And won"
"What's so bad about that?" I question, thinking his reaction to the money was ridiculous.
"Once my name entered the news, I received hundreds of letters a day from people that had the same habits as me. I was flooded with mail, each one asking for me to feed their addictions with money. I burned every single letter. A month later, my wife Margaret died in a tragic accident" He leans into his hand, hiding the expression showing on his face.
"I'm s-sorry..." I try to apologize but Leon turns his head to look at me.
"Sweetheart, it's not your fault Meg died" 
"O-okay"
"Long story short, I moved up here to evade the bimbardment of letters" He erases the look of sadness displayed across his face. "I haven't been bothered since!" 

I finish off the last dregs of my melted ice cream, and throw the plastic container into the recycling bin that sits beside us.
"Are we done?" Leon stares down at his own empty bowl sadly, probably thinking about what he could have done differently so as to get a cone instead.
"Yeah."
"Let's go, then!" He reaches over me to throw out his own garbage, and stands up. We admire all the work done on the marina before we leave. Since my accident, Papa and Mr. Koppinger have been working on it day-in and day-out. It looks great.
"Wait" I stop ater a few steps. "I'm meeting up with someone here. I'll meet you back at your house!"
"Okay" Leon gives me a wink, and hops away. I sit back down on the bench, and look around the bay. There are busy fishermen working on their boats, and children splashing around in the ocean, a pink-and-orange sunset reflecting off the stretch of water.

It isn't long before Ty arrives.
"Hey"
"Hello" I pat the bench beside me, but he insists on standing.
"Ready to follow me?" Tyler scratches his neck.
"Sure" He leads me into the forest adjacent to my house. We make our way down the winding path, tumbling over the occasional root. After a while, Ty and I reach our destination.
"Well, here you are"
"Wow" I gasp. "It's amazing"
"T-thanks" he smiles at me. "Go inside!" I nod my head, and start to climb up the rungs of the brand-new rope ladder. Inside the treehouse, there's a brand-new beanie chair and a stack of pristine magazines, each placed exactly where I remember them.
I lower myself onto the squishy chair, and take in my surroundings. It's amazing, thinking that Ty, Papa and Leon would do all this for me.
Ty clambers up the tree behind me and leans up against the wall.
"I have one more surprise for you, Birdie."

Wow, this is a horrible/short chapter haha :)

sorry this sucksssss

weeeeeeee

Caroline
11/5/2012 10:43:12 pm

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

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@angieevasquezzz
11/16/2012 08:33:53 am

This is my kik(:

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@eshina321
11/16/2012 09:04:48 am

Heyyyy saw your pic on instagram sooooooo... About to read your story :) and btw this is my instagram

Reply
11/17/2012 11:53:43 am

This is so good!!!! The checedee is to cute!!! Any wait for end tell me when!!!!

IG: @a_random_blonde_girl16

Kik me for updates please!!!! Kik: @crazy_unicorn

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Katia
11/18/2012 07:22:30 am

WTH! I thought I commented! :P Anyway, yeah, repeating what I said: I LOVE this chapter! Go update, now! I want to see what Tyler has in store for her! :3

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Hannah
11/18/2012 03:10:03 pm

Hi I saw your picture on ig and I would absolutely LOVE if you could make an imagine for me with Niall! My ig username is @__heyitshannah__ hope it's not to much trouble!! Thanks :) xx

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