Everybody Have Fun Tonight

The bake sale was kicking off. The old biddies didn’t have any baked goods to sell. Lewis made a face at their leader.

“Why are we here again?” she asked. Lily turned around to her.

“We’re volunteering,” she said.

“But why?” Clyde asked.

“It’s for the community,” the former teacher said.

“But why?” the dirty old biddy asked again. Lily could already see where this was heading.

“Look,” she said. “We’re doing something for the community. Please. Don’t ask questions. Let’s just get to work, okay?” Muriel tilted her head to the side.

“But why?” she asked. It took Lily’s all not to scream. She took in heavy breaths but still felt angry. This was going to be a long day, wasn’t it? Oh boy…

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The Sunny Plum tent was making decent bank. This was the start of the sale after all. There were small amounts of people coming to the church. Annie frowned as she smacked Crusher on the arm.

“Wake up!” she shouted. Her nephew jumped to his feet.

“Huh? What?” he asked.

“Stand up, Dustin!” Annie shouted. The boy frowned.

“Don’t call me that,” he complained. His aunt looked at him with an eyebrow raised. Crusher sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Nothing,” he said. A woman in her forties walked up to their booth.

“It’s a customer! Stand up straight!” Annie said.

“Huh?” Crusher asked as he stood up straighter. His aunt broke into a huge smile.

“Welcome, welcome!” she said. “Welcome to our tent! What can we get you today?” The woman took her time looking at all of their baked goods. Crusher forced himself to grin. Annie discreetly smacked her on the head.

“Cut it out,” she hissed under her breath.

“I’m sorry?” the woman asked. Annie quickly looked up.

“Nothing,” she said. “Nothing. Just take your time.” The potential customer said nothing as she kept looking. Aunt and nephew kept their smiles plastered on their faces.

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William and his nieces made it to the church around ten in the morning. Clover looked over at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Are you sure that you need this?” she asked. William gave her the side-eye.

“I want some pie,” he said. Liz gave him an odd look.

“Didn’t your doctor---?” she began to ask. He quickly held up his hand.

“Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!” the old man whispered. “Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!” Liz closed her mouth as she stared at him. He took a breath and put down his hand. Liz and Clover looked at each other. Who was going to be the one to hold the leash this time?

“William?” a familiar voice asked. The old man froze. Wait… Don’t tell him… William turned around to see Lily running over to him. His stomach turned as she got closer.

“Lily!” he said. “So nice to see you—again.” His nieces stepped back as they kept their mouths shut. William already started planning his escape in his head. However, he noticed the concerned look on the former teacher’s face.

“Have you seen where the girls went?” he asked. William himself looked confused.

“You mean Muriel, Lewis, and Clyde?” he asked.

“Yes. I turned around one moment and they were gone,” Lily said. She put her hands on her hips as she looked through the growing crowd. William glanced around as he figured the old biddies into his plans. The nieces began looking around as well. Suddenly, Clover paused and pointed forward.

“Is that Clyde running over to Mr. Grey and his wife?” she asked. The older adults turned toward the front entrance of the church. Though it was her back, they could tell that Clyde was running over to the couple with arms up in the air.

“Nicky!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. The couple turned in time to see her running closer. The color drained from Lily’s face.

“Oh no…” she said in a soft voice. Lily took off running after her friend. William, Clover, and Liz looked at each other as they ran after her.

End