Starship

This day couldn’t have gone any worse. Lily didn’t know how things got out of hand. First, Clyde was chasing after Nicholas. The man didn’t know what to do.

“Kay! Help!” he yelled as he backed away. His wife looked from the muffin at one booth.

“You say something, dear?” she asked. She looked to see Clyde running by her. Her husband tried to push the deranged woman off. Kay stared at them for a moment before shrugging. Nicholas’ face dropped.

“Aren’t you going to do something, woman?!” he shouted. Kay turned and looked again. It was Lily trying to do something.

“Stop! Come back here, Clyde!” she shouted. “Leave that man alone! Clyde! Clyde!” Meanwhile, Lewis and Muriel were plotting their escape. The farmer looked around.

“Is she looking?” Muriel asked.

“I don’t think so,” Lewis said. The other old biddy looked around for the nearest exit. The question was how fast could they pull this off. Clyde was going to be fine on her own. They couldn’t get rid of her if they tried. Lewis saluted at her back.

“Cheers, mate,” she said.

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Annie frowned as she shook her head.

“Idiots,” she muttered. She looked down and saw her nephew about to doze off beside her. The woman smacked him on the shoulder.

“Get up!” she snapped.

“Huh? Wha?” Crusher asked. He turned his head. Annie shook her head.

“Stay awake,” she said. They had been making decent sales. Half of their baked goods were gone. Crusher threw back his head and groaned.

“But nothing is happening,” he said.

“Be patient,” Annie said. “We’re making some sales.” She ignored Clyde’s laughing and shouting. She forced herself to smile.

“But I am bored,” her nephew said. “Can I go now?”

“No,” she said. Crusher frowned as he looked at her.

“But auntie…” he said Annie folded her arms across her chest.

“We still have all of these baked goods to sell,” she said. She spread her arms around to the light purple boxes. The young man rolled his eyes and sighed. Annie shook her head. He was so determined to do this bake sale. The boy kept asking questions last night. What did he think was going to happen?

Annie’s attention was distracted when she looked up to see a mom with her kid walking up to their booth. She nudged him in the arm.

“Stand up straight,” the woman hissed in her nephew’s ear. “New customer.” Crusher stood up as stiff as a board. Annie forced herself to smile.

“Good afternoon,” she said. “Welcome to our booth. What can we get for you today?”

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Lily lost track of all her friends. Clyde was still looking around for Nicholas. Now, Lewis and Muriel were gone too. The former teacher groaned as she rubbed her forehead. How did this all manage to spiral out of control? Lily felt like she was going to scream.

She turned around just at the right moment to see Clyde running past her. Lily took in a breath and held out her right arm. She already hated how this was going to end up.

Wham!

The air let Clyde’s stomach as she collided with Lily’s arm. The dirty old biddy hit the floor. Lily stood over her, shaking her head. Clyde groaned as she looked up.

“What did ya do ‘hat fo?” she asked. Lily kicked her in the side.

“Ow!” Clyde shouted.

“Stop that,” Lily said. The other old biddy looked up to see Nicholas running over to his wife. Clyde looked up, pouting.

“’E got away,” she complained. Lily felt like she was going to scream but she gave it her all not to give in.

“Never mind, let’s go find the others!” she said through gritted teeth. The former teacher grabbed her by the arm and dragged her along with her.

Meanwhile, Lewis and Muriel were halfway down the road away from the church. They didn’t dare look behind them. They pushed themselves to keep walking. Muriel turned to the farmer.

“You think Clyde’s going to be okay?” she asked. Lewis moved her arms behind her head.

“Sure,” she said.

“But…” Muriel said.

“It’s fine,” Lewis insisted. “She’ll catch up with us later.” Muriel started to say something but closed her mouth.

“Come back here!” they heard Lily shouting in the distance.

“Crap!” Muriel shouted.

“Run!” Lewis shouted back. The pair of them took off running as fast as they could. They were going to have to go back for Clyde later.

End