Chapter 3: Ugly Monkey Butt

When kids heard Carlie and Camilla would be staying with them for some time, they were thrilled. Aunt Camilla was always so funny and Carlie was a good friend of theirs.

At first, everything went well. Carlie was around the same age as her cousins and she enjoyed time spent with them. She liked their toys and games and a beautiful big garden with monkey bars.

“Wanna play hide and seek?”

Even the food tasted somehow better here.

“I love cheese.”

For a couple of days, they had a lovely time together.

“Let’s play Ponnies vs. Unicorns.”

But kids are kids. One minute they are friends and then all of the sudden, they can’t stand being in the same room. And young Carlie Fyres apparently inherited her mother’s temperament.

Tori: “And yesterday, Aunt Devi gave me this sparkly pink rock and she said it was magic, because it’s…”

Carlie: *yawns* “Yeah, who cares.”

Especially Seth had a hard time getting along with her, because she was noisy and didn’t let him play with his own toys.

“How cool is this.”

But Seth was never the friendliest kid on earth so nobody was really concerned about his constant rambling and bad mood.

Seth: “When will this nightmare end?”

After a while, though, other kids started to behave strangely, too.

First, Etta got really sad.

Carlie: “Why is your hair so weird and puffy?”

Etta: “Is something wrong with my hair, Aunt Devi?  Carlie said it is weird-looking.”

Etta never thought about it before but now that Carlie mentioned it, her hair were different from Carlie’s. And she suddenly wished they weren’t.

And then one day, Amon got unreasonably angry.

C: “Hey, Amon! According to my  artifact finder, there’s an anciet scarab talisman under your bed. So move! I have to explore it around here.”

 

A: “Uhmm, I don’t know, I was about to sleep…”

 

C: “I don’t care! I am a famous archaelogist and… I WANT TO PLAY! HERE!”

But the real shock came when Tori, the sweetest, kindest, most sociable girl to ever live, started yelling at her cousin and called her an ugly monkey butt.

Carlie: “The only thing that’s ugly is YOU! AND those hideous tentacles ON. YOUR. HEAD!!!”

Melia overheard the argument – she couldn’t help it, the girls were so loud people in Oasis Springs probably overheard it, too – and she was horrified. All those bizarre moods her kids were having lately…They didn’t seem that bizarre anymore.

M: “Nobody speaks like that to my little girl!”

She didn’t dare to scold Carlie herself. She knew Camilla was overly sensitive about her daughter. She decided to talk to Camilla first. But that was a quest of its own, since Camilla had other things to do:

Melia needed to be observant to catch her in a mood for talking and even then, it was a difficult conversation to have.

M: “You shouldn’t be drinking this much, Millie. It’s not doing you any good…”

C: “I know, I know, Mom told me. Alcohol is my enemy. But you know the saying – keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.”

M: “Right, whatever. There’s something else I wanted to talk about. I’d like to know what happens next. What are your plans for you and Carlie?”

C: “Why? Am I a burden already to you and your pictoresque, perfect life?”

M: “No! Of course not. Stop saying that. But if you’re staying, we need rules – split bills, shared chores, schedled bathroom time…and so on.”

C: “Shared chores? I thought you were a stay-at-home Mom. Chores are your thing since forever.”

M: “Maybe. But it’s getting overwhelming, especially with one more kid to take care of and…”

C: “Excuse me, WHAT? Are you implying that I’m not taking care of my own child? Is that what you’re trying to say?!”

M: “Millie…”

C: “DON’T Millie me! If you’re gonna be like this, complaining about my daughter and…and…and about my very presence in this house, I can as well live somewhere else. You’re pathetic.”

Melia sighed and gave up. One look at Camilla’s stubborn face and she understood the conversation was over.

M: “Okay, then. Goodnight.”

Camilla watched as her sister walked away and finished her drink, frowning angrily.

‘What an intrusive witch!’