Just as the half-monkey/half-boy Jake was tearing into a bunch of bananas while sitting on the kitchen counter, his older sister, Melissa, came in through the front door.
“I’m home! You there, shrimp?” she called out.
Jake froze mid-bite into his fourth banana.
Crap! She’s home early! he thought.
He looked at the clock, 3:54 p.m.
No, he thought. She’s not early. I lost track of time playing around as a monkey. High school let out already. What am I going to do? I can’t let her see me like this. Not only would she never stop making fun of me for turning into a monkey, but I’d also have to tell her about the remote. And, I don’t want to share it with anyone yet.
Only one choice, hide.
He hopped off the counter, leaving behind a mess of banana peels, and started franticly searching for a hiding spot. He heard his sister’s footsteps heading towards the kitchen.
“Come on, Jake! Are you sleeping in there or something? I know I heard someone in the kitchen,” she said.
What am I going to do? he thought.
He looked around desperately.
The cabinets!
Quietly, but with and animal’s swiftness, he opened a cabinet under the sink, crawled on top of some old cleaning supplies and gently shut the door behind him.
“Jake?” she said. This time her voice was clearly coming from inside the kitchen. He had just made it.
“Jakey?”
He held his breath.
“Aw, what the hell?” she moaned. “What kind of a pig are you to leave banana peels laying on the counter?” She sighed. “Well, I’m not cleaning this up. I don’t know where you’re hiding, but you better come out and clean this up before Mom and Dad get home.”
They both waited a moment, listening. “Fine,” she said. “Play hide and seek if you want, but it’s your but that’s going to be in trouble later.”
Jake listened as Melissa walked back to the living room. Relieved, he let out a deep breath. He was safe. Being as small as he was now did have some nice benefits when it came to hiding.
But, then, he remembered.
The gun! he thought. I left it in its box in the living room. Stupid! She’ll find it for sure.
He opened the cabinet door, crawled out as quietly as he came in, and closed the door again. He could hear his sister watching TV in the living room. He galloped down the hallway towards the living room and peeked around the corner. There was Melissa sitting on the couch flipping through channels, and right next to her was the box with the Transformation Gun poking out of it.
Jake watched her as she put down the TV remote and settled back on the couch. In his mind, he was chanting, Please don’t notice it, please don’t notice it, please don’t notice it...
But, as much as he willed her not to look, Melissa saw the box and said, “What’s this?”
She lifted up the gun and read it’s casing, “Transformation Gun?”
Jake panicked. What was he going to do now? Should he reveal himself and try to stop her? Or, should he just keep out of sight and hope that she thinks the gun is just a toy?