You come home to find the usual scene. Your brother is watching Pokemon on the telly, mom is in the kitchen doing something or other and your sister is probably playing in her room. You call out, "Mom I'm home," to announce your presence and head for the room you share with Peter.
Dropping your backpack on the floor, you swat off your bed the stuffed animal Pete has left there, a Pokemon Plush, and sitting down at your desk, you begin to work on your homework.
You've three assignments to do, one of them due tomorrow. Sighing, you begin to work on that one first. You've just finished it, a Social Studies paper, and have start on the English paper, when there is a knock on your bedroom door. Dropping the pencil, you get up to answer the door.
You see your mother outside, holding Steph, who is sucking her thumb and drenched in sweat. You mother looks harried, and as she stands there holding your sister, she asks, "Thomas, if I give you a list and a bit of money, can you go down to the store and pick up a few things? I'd go, but your sister's not feeling well."
Sighing, figuring you were going to go down there anyway, you agree and she tells you to collect the list from her when you're about leave and that she'll be in the kitchen.
Back in your room, you pack your homework back into your backpack, collect your allowance you've been saving up and are just about to leave for the kitchen when you remember the amulet. Pulling it by the chain, you take it from around your neck. You've started to trace the crack that runs through it, when you get another static electric jolt from it.
Yelping and than cursing softly, you drop the amulet onto your desk. It collides with a lamp and than hits your desk. As this happens, a large chunk breaks off. Looking at it, you mutter, "Just great," and go to pick up the Amulet of Zulo.
For you trouble, you get a third static electric shock, this one the worse yet, and dropping the dropping the amulet, you watch as it hits the corner of your desk, breaks off a third piece and the crack in the center of it turns into a spider web design. Muttering dark curses at the thing, you storm out of your from and into the kitchen.
There, you collect the list and money from your mother and then as an after thought, you grab three Ziploc sandwich bags and head back to your shared room. Peter is there, messing with one of his toys. Ignoring him, you take a notebook from your backpack and carefully without touching it you pick up the shard from off the floor and deposit it into the plastic bag. The same treatment goes for the medallion and the shard piece sitting on the desk.
Dumping them in your desk drawer, you leave. As you are closing the front door to the apartment, you hear Pete yelling, "Mom, can I go over to Jerome's place?"
Ignoring this, knowing that mom will probably say yes because Jerome's father and mother only live a couple of apartments down from yours, you take the elevator down and head for the nearby store.
Actually, it's a department and grocery store all in one and looking at the list, you see that most of the items are food items; most likely for whatever mother's cooking for dinner. The only item that bothers you is the last item, Pull-Ups for your sister to wear when she goes to bed.
You're not sure why, but the idea of purchasing or dealing with girly items for you sister has always bugged you. Figuring this was the best place to start, you head over to the section for newborns, infants and toddlers and make your way to the shelves that have the diapers and Pull-Ups stacked upon them.
You are just about to pull down a box of Dry Nights for a five year old girl, when you stop. Someone has opened a bag of diapers for a two year old girl and what makes you laugh is that they've put one onto a stuffed skunk and then started pulling an infant girls dress on it. But the person had only gotten it over the stuffed animals head before they’d apparently stopped, or had been caught, one of the two.
Laughing still at how ridiculous this stuffed animal looks, the way the diaper sort of enhances the look of the creature being feminine, you're not sure why, but you go over and pick it up off the shelf.
The moment your hand touches the plush skunk and the girl's diaper, you receive and electric shock, worse then the ones you got off the Amulet of Zulo. Cursing loudly, you drop the stuffed animal and then furious, you kick it down the aisle. Going back to the cart, you drop the Pull-Ups in, but than stop as everything sort of goes hazy.
As if doing it from far away, you go back down the aisle and pick up the stuffed animal. Next you pull the dress the rest of the way onto to it and seeing no tags on the dress, just one on the skunk, you deposit the stuffed animal into the cart.
Next you head for the grocery section, and finding it difficult to read the shopping list, you close your eyes and count to ten. When you open them again, the fog has cleared from your mind and looking back at the list, you begin to collect the food your mother sent you to get. After that, you purchase out of your own pocket money two new pairs of pants and a couple of shirts.
It's only when you're checking out, explaining to the cashier, "This is two orders," that you feel everything go hazy again when you pick up the Dry Nights and then the plush skunk. Dropping them both onto the conveyor belt, you close your eyes again and count to ten, figuring that it helped last time.
Quickly grabbing the plush animal, you toss it in with your purchases instead. Afterward, you begin to make your way home, lugging the heavy bags all the way.
When you arrive back at the apartment, you hand mother her change and groceries and head for your room. On the way there, you see your sister playing with a couple of dolls in a fairy costume. Everything goes hazy again and suddenly you want to be dressed in the same attire, playing with the skunk plush. The moment you remember the stuffed animal, the haze clears and you dash to your room.
Glad that you have no brother to share it with, slightly upset that mother only had you and Steph, you dump your new clothes out onto your bed, noting that mom has stripped it.
Picking up the skunk, you set her on your desk and say, "I think I'll call you Miss. P.U." Laughing at this, you begin to put away your new clothes. After a bit, a knock on the door announces your mother's presence and she tells you dinner will be ready in a bit.
Dinner passes quickly and afterward your mother starts to get ready for work. Asking her were your sheets are, she curses silently and then says, "I'm sorry Thomas. I just didn't have time to wash mine, yours and Stephanie’s bedding. There should be clean ones in the linen closet in the bathroom."
Nodding, you head for the linen closet, but rush back holding the only two sets of sheets that were in there. One is Dora the Explorer and the other is Hello Kitty. Showing them to your mother, you tell her, "I can't put these on my bed, they're my sister's."
Your mother looks at you and in her face you can see how much she's trying to make everything right since dad died. Something of this bugs you and before she can say anything, you tell her, "You know what, never mind. I'll either use these or sleep with no sheets." and with that said, you head for your room.
Of course you know that what you said could be considered rude, but you're to upset because of the memories of your father that have come flooding back. After a bit, your mother comes to your room and says, "I'm going to work now. Try to keep an eye on your sister. I’m sorry about the laundry. Tell you what, I’ll make up for it in some way tomorrow. Okay?"
You nod and mother leaves, closing your door. Listening to the front door of the apartment close, you get up and opening the door to your room, you can hear the telly playing some children's program. “At least Steph is keeping busy,” you tell yourself as you close the door.
Looking at the sheets that you got from the linen closet, you tell yourself, "Just for one night, because I don’t really want to sleep on a mattress with no sheets," and pick up the pink and purple Hello Kitty sheets, glad that they are not all pink like the Dora the explorer ones.
After making your bed, you head for you sisters room. It's a typical girl's room; pink and white with My Little Pony, Dora, Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty themes spread all over the place.
For some reason you want to play with the tea set in the corner, but muttering instead, "What the hell is wrong with me?" you hastily make your sister's bed and leave; only to return to throw the matching comforter onto the bed.
Next you throw the matching comforter on over the sheets on your bed and without really thinking about it, you grab Miss. P.U. and head for the living room. There, you cuddle the skunk plush closer and sitting down on the couch, become absorbed in the program Stephanie is watching.
You remember playing like this all your life, watching programs like this, which kind of bothers you. You fail to notice as the hazy feeling has crept over your mind and with out thinking about it, you say, "Steph, would you like to play dress-up with me and Miss. P.U.?"
Your sister looks at you, a strange combination of emotions spreading across her face; one of joy at being asked this and one of mild curiosity. Before your sister can say anything, you tell her, "I'd like to dress as a fairy princess and Miss. P.U. can be our royal subject." And you sit there, playing with the stuffed animal, waiting for her answer.