《Narrie's birthday circus surprise》 About this book Right! I''m Narrie TRISH Middlecreak, I got to keep my surname because 1. Middle creak is SO much cooler then "Alexander". And 2... Momma Lauri doesn''t actually have much family... I mean I have Uncle Jarrod and my cousin Anita and that''s pretty much all with that surname that I know about. ANYWAYS! We live in Noel, Yes, and I am using this page to tell you why I personally think the town is called NOEL, that was one of Mr Blisters contests, just like this book! Basically? He always has little contests going on! Anyways, this is something that I personally got printed as a fake headline in the paper. Elf skeletons found in town. Changes it''s name to Noel. Becomes a tourist town. Millionaires flaunted their money to make the depressed town of Noel into overgrown farmland. Narella Trish Middlecreak ANYWAYS! This is my story, and it has some friends of mine, like my bestest friend in the world! Ben Macintosh! (Picture of Ben watching Narrie on her laptop with Lauri making a cup of mocha with whipped cream in the background while Momma Kate is in the doorway of the Middlecreak Bed and Breakfast front desk that says "1 vacancy" sign.) "Ben..! WHAT are you doing? Introduce yourself!" Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Narrie... What are YOU doing?" ... And Momma Lauri! "Sweetheart. I am so proud of you! And now you can have that mocha I promised you." Ahh! Have I told you how much I love mocha? Well... You''ll find out! (Here''s a picture of my extended family.) See, something that Momma Laurie doesn''t seem to realize is Mom used to let me drink coffee ALL the time! Well anyways, Grammy and Grampa and Skyler and Sam are surprisingly not in this story much... But there is Aaron, he''s a little kid, my best friends crush, works in the bakery and gives us as many old muffins as we want! Hey, there actually pretty good with milk. (Picture of a hotshot 13 year old with an arrow pointing, "Aaron is only 9".) And I can''t forget Ellie, she is the really cool person who''s going to uni next year and even told me that I... Shouldn''t try to be super mature anyways.... Anyways! Her aunt Maddie is the one who helped me and Ben have the BEST un-BIRTHDAY not-SURPRISE EVER! "HEY!" Umm... Did I leave anything out? "Missy!" Momma Kate just looked at the computer screen and sighed, "I... I certainly helped." I know that. I also know that... EVERYONE tells me that Momma Kate needs to know that I''m not taking her for granted. Or like Granite you know? How we take rocks for granted? But they hold up the whole earth together right? So like that. Because... I just casually got up to surprise Momma Kate with a really big hug! "I love you." And this is probably what I will never forget, how she holds me tight and then says it back except funnier! "I love you, Narrie, TRISHA, I love you so much. Never, ever forget that okay. And other people love you too. But Honey, ALWAYS remember that I love and hope that I can give you at least as much support as you have given me." ((Notice how she can still hold me up! On her feet at least...) Comic of Momma Kate holding Narrie up and spreading her arms around and saying,) Chapter 1 & 2 Chapter 1. About I''m Narrie Middlecreak and this is a story about my first birthday in my forever home... I just said that didn''t I? Forever home. (Family portrait of Narrie inbetween Lauri and Kate Middlecreak taken in front of their large house that might be turned into a bed and breakfast next year???) Anyways! There''s my mom, since... Well, since the wedding really, she''s been getting kinda bored being a stay at home mom, it seems like she''s taking on as many projects you can throw at her. Anyways... See out there? This "stump out" party? That''s ours. So basically... When we bought the house, Lauri was given an option to purchase the land for... NOTHING! Nothing? Well... IDK, maybe these "parties" that they love throwing are the price... Honestly I''m just so surprised because... Momma Lauri is probably, definitely loaded. I mean... Who knew that having no hobbies and making your own coffee and the only time she ever regularly ate out was to see Mom at the deli? I mean, is that all it takes? Who knew that having no life outside of work would make her rich? I mean... Whenever I play my sims that way the meeples die of starvation. So... (picture of exhausted meeple dolls) ANYWAYS! We live here. (On this town map that even has Mr. Blisters property is highlighted) And this is our house, we had to repair it. Umm... Flip the page if you wanna see what it used to look like... (A picture of how this CHARMING BEAUTIFUL 5 bedroom home with 2. Count them... Two large bathrooms and a half bathroom which is what we used to have...) (A picture of how the rundown place this used to be, and the charming oversized place that was a bed in breakfast at one time and probably could be again that I live in today. THIS vs this) Well anyways... Last year, when the contractors were working on rebuilding the place, Mr Blister. The rich middle aged guy who owns half of the town. He asked. (Cartoon of Mr Blister talking.) "Hey, would you like to buy that property for back taxes? We can make a deal." What the deal was, was we work with a tree removal company to clear cut the overgrowth for the whatever the back taxes were! So basically? Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. (Picture of a field with a lot of stumps. that says, "Free land!!!") But not stump removal... So guess what we did? SO! All spring long we''ve had a "Stump out Party!" and... Our neighbors are happy and well.... (Picture of an explosion.) Sometimes the fire department even gets training.
  1. Chapter 2. My upcoming birthday surprise.
I''m Narrie Middlecreak and here is a drawing of a humming bird on a flower. I''m currently hiding in the reading nook while Mom and Lauri in the kitchen and why am I here??? Well... It''s a rainy spring afternoon and since my birthday is coming up soon I was kinda wondering if they might give me a hint? Well anyway, Mom 1, Kate is on a mission! ¡°I need help to recreate the first cookie that you made for Narrie.¡± "Why?" "Umm... Sweetheart," Mom... Was flustered but honest, She''s doing great! "I... Can not make 300 cookies in a week!" Then she ran around the counter and attempted to get on Momma Lauri''s good side by asking, "But Hon! You can ¡°teach¡± me! So... The thing is I really wanna surprise Narrie." Yeah... That''s when I realized that I am, "NOT", actually supposed to be listening in... So I boxed my ears and made up the rest of the conversation. So Momma Lauri looked at Mom, (Mamma Kate? How do kids with two Mom''s do it huh? Then again, how do kids with more than one parent tell them apart to people who don''t know them, do they need to know them? Does it matter? Well, I imagined Mom staring proudly at a big dreamy cookie treasure box that she made all buy, (Yes, the word ¡°buy¡± is an intentional typo, it''s supposed to be by, but..?) herself for the girl who''s birthday is coming up! ¡°Well!¡± I imagined Mom showing off her exciting plan by begging Lauri to help! ¡°This cookie treasure box is going to be such a great surprise that even if our princess doesn''t win first prize in the silliest Motherly Persons Day Hat Contest, everyone will remember that it''s HER BIRTHDAY! "I''ll tell you what." Lauri''s voice was loud and clear over my boxed ears! Meaning that she actually put in a lot of thought into what she was saying! "So you want to to help me?¡± Mom said the exact thing that I was thinking! ¡°I wanna make her a big treasure box for all those little ones your making." Like..! Was I reading her mind?!? A treasure box and little cookies! So this is, really happening?!? Yes. I heard Momma Laurie laugh so I played a song on my phone so that I wouldn''t have to box my ears anymore and imagined how this secret birthday surprise that I am NOT supposed to know anything about might end up. ¡°Really?¡± I imagined her saying excitingly as my eyes glanced at Mom as she was literally doing her victory dance! So yeah, I think that that she was kinda extremely excited and when she suddenly stopped made sure that Momma Lauri understood! "You do know this is for the everyone right" "It''s for our darling." Lauri told her as I unplugged my earbuds. Yeah, I won. No doubt about it, definitely telling Ben that as they blabbered on and on until... "WELL... Kinda, " Mom was blushing. "Are you sure? Last year you literally just gave her like unlimited arcade tokens." "No." Lauri sounded annoyed, but... Does that mean I... I''m not getting more arcade cards for my birthday? I mean... PHEW! She just explained that, "It was only 5 cards, that is NOT unlimited." Wait... I''m still getting some cards though right? Last year, we went to the arcade for my birthday, my special mission was to get a step parent! This year? I already got a step parent. And I got my own super spirally tower bedroom! So like... Everything is perfect now. Chapter 3 & 3.5 Chapter 3 Negotiating and the circus. Hi! My name is Narrie Middlecreak and guess what? The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. (Picture of Moms long colorful braids with our family.) Chapter: 3.5 My first contract. (Picture of old cracked phone that I still use for games. Argh!!!) Chapter 4. Chapter 4 May 11th, is when I regret to inform you that Ben knows my middle name. (Picture. Ben and Narrie were in the town center park after school.) "Cinderella? That''s your middle name?" That''s... Ben, he, WAS, a friend, and he had been a really good friend too, up until about now... "Yeah... It''s, kinda funny." "Why?" Ben looked at me, "Narrie, I never would have guessed." "You didn''t..." I was getting up anyways but I was still, VERY, upset..! "You asked. And I told you that I want no fuss, and you fussed, so I am leaving thank you very much!" I played that stormy character because when my mom used to get stressed out she would have that "snappy turtle" attitude sometimes. I''m really happy that she doesn''t seem to ever be stressed out anymore ever though. But... I''m kinda afraid to forget who she was before I made a wish upon a star like in the Cinderella story either, I just... "Narrie." Ben got up, "I''m very very sorry, but I did not think it would bother you... I mean..." WELL!!! I huffed and if Ben wasn''t cute, he''d be an idiot..! That''s another thing that Mom gave me, something that I''m kind of embarrassed to let her know even though my cousin Anita says that I should let her know for some reason is that... I like geeks. Those glasses, that fun nervous demeanor, always practically, happyish, and really..? There is a surprisingly few number of geeks in this town! I''d think a small town out of the way with lots of clubs and stuff to do would just welcome geeks..! You know, those behind the scenes people would flock to a town where we film 2 TV shows! A silly 10 minute reality show about Zany Lainy, and a 30 minute skit comedy show that Mandy sometimes has to edit out on Utube because they say a bad word. But she always hangs up the good Q-code link at the town bulletin board, not that anyone actually cares bu, "Hey... "Wait! Why are you scanning that?" "To see what new thing Mandy posted." This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "She''s just some old cat lady you know!" I shouldn''t, she''s pretty nice... But still! She is an old cat lady! "Well..." Ben explained, "She is cool, and even pays us to be in her plays!" "I..! Ben..." I threw away my trash and thought about that... Okay, Momma Lauri is "rich" right? She must be, they somehow afforded not only the house, but to rebuild it and Mom even got to quit her job! So, yeah... She''s rich. (Picture of piggy bank in a tv.) Well... Know what''s in my piggy bank? Several quarters, the new dime series and a couple of the Lincoln pennies that, "WERE EVERYWHERE before everyone wanted them..." That''s what Mom said. Then Momma Lauri laughed and does a quick auction search and says, "A dollar, free shipping." And Mom said the most important thing of all..! "It''s not as fun!" "Well... We can still get some rolls still at the mint." "That, is, cheating..." WELL! You know what I say? "Mom! That''s how to spread them around! Beef up the market!" Well anyways! It is my birthday and I AM, GOING, TO... Get Momma Lauri to add this into my re-negotiating contract because Mom feels so badly about having mothers day on my birthday anyways! "Well," I started to brag to Ben, "I''m going to have my birthday party on TV." "Really? That''s like in two days." "Yeah, mothers day." I know, honestly I''m kinda proud that I get to celebrate my birthday with my parents. But I also know that Mom feels bad about it for some crazy reason that I can''t really put my finger around. "So they''re going to put you on?" Ben looked at me like I was as crazily stupid as I felt... "I mean... Yeah, they''re usually at town events and stuff." "EXACTLY!" (I did not let him finish because what he was going to say was, "They are probably back in the city right now, at least that''s what the Utube post says.") * Well... It is a few days later, and I was not on the video, AT ALL! The only other lesbian parents that I have ever met was there alright. But I, the girl who''s fortunate enough to always get flowers for her birthday, (Sunny does too, but I''m certainly not bringing her into this mess!) And anyways... I don''t think that I even WANT to be a mom. Was NOT..! "I was not on TV..." I mean, We looked with a fine tooth comb on every single scene! And... "I wasn''t even a pixel!" "I''ll make it up to you Honey." I honestly don''t think she tried. I certainly didn''t actually even expect her to look for myself with me. Well..! I mustered the energy when I got off the couch and shouted to Mom, "You better! We re-negotiated!" "..." You can tell that got her blood moving because, "WELL!!!" She hallowed at me because I, Narrie Cinderella Alexander Middlecreek did NOT get a wicked stepmother. Nope. No sirree-bobbin-thread, I got a wicked MOTHER! Chapter 5 Ryan Chestnut: Reporter. Chapter 5 Ryan Chestnut: Reporter. (Picture of broken and abandoned telephone poles near the stump out party.) This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. (Picture of Narrie on TV with the circus and a big, "See me!" sign.) "Honestly Grampa,¡± I shook my head at the really old guy who might even be getting an old brain age! ¡°You''ve been the one hosting most of these stump out party''s!" Chapter 6: Who is Cinderella? Chapter 6 Thinking about a new name. Hi. Today is kinda rainy... Anyways, so my name is Narrie..! But that''s not what my middle school ID is going to say! (Picture of Narrie''s photo ID "Cinderella Cinderella Alexander Middlecreek") Something that''s really hard for me to think about is my middle name, it''s Cinderella. SIGH... My birth-mom named me that. Mom tells me that she wanted me to have an awful stepmother, so she... Named me it twice to make it into a powerful spell... I proved her wrong though! Because I got to pick my own stepmother! So there! Still... I kinda wonder if I''ll get to marry a prince. (Ben, you are kinda like a prince right?) I mean, anyone who would marry me had better be able to turn on that charm! He can not just be hot and handsome and fit and able to pick me up and fight off any bullies that come after me or my friends, but he also has to be really nice and romantic and give me all those feelings that some adults try and warn me about. Well... I... I don''t like to think of my name very much, but I do, I really like it, I mean, I like Cinderella, I like the little mice and the magical slippers and I really like pretty dresses and Mom thinks that I should change my middle name sometime and I think that she might be right... (Picture of Narrie and Lauri sitting at the living room. Comic balloon: "How about...") "How about..." My absolutely not wicked stepmother is about to suggest a middle name for me..! "Trish." Well... Honestly, I don''t "hate" it. But I don''t know if it really fits, ya know? I''m a cute girly girl, and Trish sounds... Sassy and kinda tomboyish. So I was such a brat and asked her, "Why? Was the grammy that I''ll meet in heaven named, "Trish"?" "Honey..." Mom says that when I''m being a pain. Basically we worked out this system. You know that contract I talked about? One of the clauses is, "Don''t be a pain, and when I am, I get a court hearing." Or whatever you call a once a week "talk", or, "meeting"... "Mom''s name was Trisha." Lauri showed me a photograph of her family on her phone, "Always thought that if I got a kid I''d name them Trish, it''s really stupid. And I don''t mean to push it onto you. Sorry I mentioned it..." (Picture of Lauri held out her phone to show Narrie a childhood family portrait.) "Mom!" I shouted to Momma Kate, "Do that really annoying thing where you say my whole name except if my middle name was "Trish"!" "Okay... Honey..." Mom started making her voice husky and trying to work herself into that really cool mood that I''m not supposed to like but... I really like hearing it! "You have, gotta... Narrie..." She paused and breathed deeply and then blew out this HUSH that''s actually super loud, "NERELLA TRISHA MIDDLECREEK..." Well... I guess it''s not actually, THAT, loud, but when your mom drags you by the ear with her invisible hands... I learned to, NEVER, LET HER GET THAT FAR!!! Stolen novel; please report. I do though, OF COURSE I do, I''m still a kid, but I haven''t for awhile... Really, been super good since she tacked on that, "Don''t be a pain" clause onto my new phone contract. "Ahh... What was my old name?" I asked Mom and... You know? The one I kinda really never want to remember why it bothers me so much... "Narella Cinderella Middlecreek." I... Started pouting and well... It just should not bother me as much as it does... "Honey, there''s some things you ought to know! A name change can help you get rid of these sad feelings, and if you ever want to keep the novelty of your old middle name, you can always tell people that, and if you want to, we can just add on another name. Yeah Honey, we can do that too." "That one..." I... Need to hear it again... "With my old and new name." "Narella, Cinderella, Trisha, Middlecreek." ... SIGH... "Still have no clue." I felt like snapping. Like, why do we have to do this, like ever? Why can''t I just pretend that the C on my library card means... No, I don''t want it to mean anything!!! Chapter 6.5 I want to be mature. (Picture of "PAUSED" on the tv set.) Well, Narrie here and... I am still kinda looking upset, but... My own personal step mother made me feel a whole lot better! "Hey, Trish Honey, you up for a game of pinball adventure?" That was Momma Lauri. Here''s another thing about going to middle school... (And why we have to get these things settled this summer!) I have gotta find a better name for her and be mature because "Momma", sounds, so... Childish! "Yeah..." I answered and I''m kinda really hoping that this new one (name) that I''m getting really will replace my old one soon because the person who gave me it is the person who proved that professy (misspelling of prophesy) wrong. I looked directly into Momma Laurie''s eyes and said, "I only want, YOU, to call me Trish though, I mean, Mom can do that "Narella Trisha" thing, but never Trish, no A''a, okay." Lauri smiled. "It''s just that..." I wanted to tell her, I mean, I even hushingly shouted so that Mom could hear! "I never want to even remember what my old name was..." "I love you Sweetheart." Mom just passed through and gave me a hug and, now Lauri is giving me a hug, and they both LOVE me, and everything is absolutely perfect from now on until... I just remembered!!! "I have to tell BEN!" "Why Hon?" "Because... I told him my old name, and..." I could see it just now, he will remember my old name for-EVER! And when I tell people that, "I changed my middle name as a kid," and then when I try and get them to guess what it was, they will always guess correctly and it''s all because BEN HAS NO FILTER!!! (That means he''s going to whistle, "Once upon a dream...") "So that''s why I need to tell him my new middle name is TRISH!" "Yeah..." Momma Lauri said, she does this thing that I think has to do with confidence, I don''t know, a lot of step parents probably have that. "But what if you find out you don''t like the name?" I... Looked at the person who likes puppy''s and who I am going to give her my puppy dog eyes to until she tells me not to and I... She''s the only one I ever want to call me... (Picture of puppydog eyes.) "Trish, are you alright?" Momma did! See, this is why I love Momma Lauri, I didn''t just win, I won, BIG! So I ran up to her and realized that''s stupid! I mean... I''m practically a teenager! So basically, I shrugged my shoulders and muttered, "Yeah, just wanted to test you." "Trisha," Momma Lauri snarled, "I do not like you testing me like that." And then Mom walked back to join us and asked, "Who''s Trisha?" Like... WHAT??? We like literally talked about this 5 minutes ago! Sometimes her memory scares me, I mean I hear all these kids saying their grand parents are getting dementia and I know Mom''s old (Like over 40!) and Auntie Skyler told me she had a really bad concussion a long time ago and... "MOM! Are you playing or tired or..." "Playing, I understand Hon, I just am kinda tired, but if you tell Ben, please only say that you''re thinking of it? Let him know that it''s just a maybe for now because... Well... There has gotta be some downside to calling you Trish right?" "Yeah." Momma Lauri is... ON HER SIDE! Yeah, I totally tried to ignore what she said BEFORE Mom came back but, "It might not fit you." But that is NOT all of this story, no! Because when she picked up her game controller and threatened to push the UNPAUSE button, she asked, "What do you wanna be called anyways? We can change your first name at the same time Hon." What? Yes... That''s what I was thinking about while my character was waiting to spawn... Don''t I like Cinderella (Narrie)? Or would I rather just officially write Narrie? Because... In middle school you got to start writing your official name and carry a student ID and, and... Something that Lauri didn''t give me but we share is that that flight/freeze/fight thing, I freeze, Mom becomes a quiet person who will take my hand and lead me to the exit, but Momma Laurie freezes. And so I think it''s really cool that I freeze too! So I looked around and smiled, licked my lips and shrugged my shoulders, "I don''t know yet." Chapter 7 Chapter 7: Narrie''s dream. So my name is Narrie Middlecreek and I like just had the best dream ever! So basically, in my dream, I was an acrobat. And the circus announcer person introduced me as, "Trisha Narella spinning around in an elevata" (Picture of bedroom and dream balloons.) BTW, I''m texting Ben. Me: So my act was one of those round spinning hoops in an elevator to the top floor and then I spin down this spiral thing to the ground and then I woke up... I think, It was COOL though. Me: I wonder what it means? Ben: Well... I think it means you''re cool with your middle name. Me: Yeah? Ben: Yeah... And, I think Trish kinda fits your character. Me: Really? How... Well, I mean.... I was kinda scared of this right? Well... Ben: "Embarrassing emoji face." BTW. That''s a system we worked out, what it means is... "Do I really want to know?" Me: Alright... I... Want to know! Ben: You''re fun and elegant like a real acrobat ballet dancer. Me... Me: Are you sure? Ben: I think Narrie feels really pretty and I think that Trish sounds like a really fun person and... This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He... Did that on purpose! HE WAS going to say, "Cinderella is really cute and magical and fun and really really sad too..." Because he will ALWAYS remember the other day when I confessed my deepest darkest secret. I, I want to forget, I really really want to forget that I was named after a really really old fairy tale cartoon! Well! I just can not stand glass slippers anyways! They are so hard! And heavy and probably breakable too! I mean, that''s how I got into this mess? Remember how I broke my phone screen? I mean... All of this is because I was embarrassed and lied to Momma Lauri how my fingers were getting little cuts in them and... WELL..! I did not send my best friend a reply. Was it because it''s morning and Lauri told me no phones in the bathroom, nor near the sink, and if it''s raining to always put it in a weatherproof bag? Yeah... But still! I was, I mean, I am determined to NOT, reply to this conversation! * "Narrie." Ben smiled at me when I got to school, we sometimes walk together but... Just look at the map from the beginning of the book! Basically? It''s a lot of exercise! We live on a plateau, that''s a flat spot on a hill, before you get to an even taller hill, which goes to a mountain, where I kinda think that those rocks are going to tumble and make a landslide all over our house, but they haven''t yet, and it''s been millions of years, I guess. Still... Those cliffs look cracked! And... I know, Aaron''s dad explained to me that the reason global warming makes icebergs is because the water melts. And these rocks aren''t held up with water, but with more rock. So they aren''t going to just topple our house because of global warming... Well... I think that he''s an idiot. I mean, HELLO! Haven''t you heard of EARTHQUAKES??? Well I certainly wouldn''t ever tell him that, and... I am learning that he isn''t, it''s just a character that he plays at the theater but still..! "So Narrie." Ben walked with me down the hall. "Did you find out any more about this circus thing?" "Nah, probably just some really early thing over in the city." "Yeah... Maybe there going to set up the tent here though?" "I doubt it," I looked at Ben and told him some nonsense that hopefully makes me sound mature, "You have to pay a circus to come to town and you know how the town is, "Not broke"." Ben laughed, "But Mr. Blister is the richest guy in town! He had a million dollars once." "Yeah, and now he is in a lot of debt..." At least that''s what the monopoly report said, they also said that most of the towns people just want him to tear down those historical buildings. Sell it for trailer parks and Mc mansions and stuff. Me? I think that some of these historical places would be cheaper to rebuild. At least that''s what Momma Lauri implied when she said that all the repairs for the house cost a lot less than a new place and... That''s how we got all the "stump out party" land... "Wait! Ben, I just realized something..!" RING!!! "I''ll tell you later alright." I told my best friend who... Is in a different class then me, "But If I''m right, then..." RING!!! Chapter 8 Chapter 8: The theory. Narrie here and... I just realized something, like... IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SO OBVIOUS! But for some reason it wasn''t. So basically, we do have an old circus tent in the field that has been clear cut... And we do have parties, and... Mom has been hinting at wanting to give me a really big birthday bash, and well... I think I''m the target, the stooge, the one who knows nothing because I''m just a happy little girl who''s getting a surprise circus party! So... Do I really want to let Ben know that I am 100 percent certain that Mom is giving me a surprise birthday party with a circus??? Yes, yes I do. (Picture of cafeteria. RING! goes the lunch bell.) "So Ben..." I started to tell him after the lunch bell rang, all cool and casual like too, like, I''m not telling no body no secret information cool, "Mom is giving me it." "What?" "The thing." "What?" "You know..." I spread my arms wide, "The, BIG show..." (Picture of Narrie spreading out her arms and Ben looking like she''s crazy..) "What???" This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. WELL..! I honestly do not think that me and Ben always meet eye to eye! So... I whispered in his ear how I think that mom is really going to put on a circus and get my birthday on TV and, "You are kidding." "Nope, the field," I started to tell my best fried as we walked into the cafeteria, "The, "gonna make it up to you." The fact that she know that I absolutely LOVE circuses! EVERYTHING BEN!" I remembered to hush my voice like Mom does but... "I am getting my very own circus!!!" SNICKER SNICKER. (Picture.) "Pretty tall for her age." a teacher snickered and... It''s... Pretty obvious that I am going to fail at being mature in middle school huh? Well, I am in 6th grade right? And, well... I was hopping up and down like a bunny rabbit! "So... You think that..." I continued ANYWAYS! At least until he started laughing. "Hahaha!" (Picture of a sad angry face as Ben is laughing.) "Ben... " I... Do not like him sometimes, like, why is he my bestie anyways? Is it because he''s really nice and cute and we just connect? No! Can''t be that... Is it because he... When I look into those eyes I start to remember that time he helped me up and got me a band aid and... I imagined that he kissed me and asked if it was all better? I... Really should stop these thoughts! I am only a kid! Not even a teenager. Of course I love him. Did I just think that??? Lauri says that love is when you wanna be friends forever, and I do. Ben is my best friend. Mom says that best friends are really nice to have, but they sometimes drift apart. I don''t wanna drift apart. "Well... I''m not going to believe that there''s going to be a circus at your house for awhile Narrie, but it does sound really fun." He smiled, and he is... Just writing me off isn''t he... SIGH. I gave him a hug and went to the next class... Because... I''m okay with him not believing me because I really don''t wanna ruin this friendship by doing something that we''ll both regret... Like Grampa told me when I asked about a pie his and grammies faces! "A fight is a big step Honey," Grampa told me, "But if you both get through it, you will be stronger." I think that he and Grammie have a lot of fights, because they are pretty strong together, I mean, they are even both super active and do all that old person romantic stuff like laugh together and look at photo albums too! Chapter 9... Not a rumer anymore. Chapter 9: A reporter in our mists. Narrie Trish Alexander Middlecreek here and guess what? It''s "School roomers day"! (Picture of nerdy Ryan Chestnut roaming the hallways.) "So today is the first day of the rumors." Ryan said into his Selfie stick, he''s the reporter who... "I think that they''re doing away with him, or the town rumor mill articles or something..." I randomly blurted out, but..! "Really?" Someone obviously listened though..! "He''s one of the good ones, he usually keeps it interesting." Well anyways... About once a month Ryan comes here to school and does a story about the rumors spreading. DON''T WORRY! They totally edit out the juicy parts. ANYWAYS... It''s something that I really like about this town. I sometime even get in and they give me a gift card but... I probably should have opted for the cash to stuff into my mostly empty piggy bank huh? (Picture of My piggy bank has a whole $1.26 in it...) WELL... I really like doing it. And sometimes, we get to pick our favorite rumors or stories to go in the paper like a vote and it''s really awesome and I even got picked twice and I haven''t even been to this school for long and... I mean, I lied, I have been in front of Mandy''s camera, one of her shows once, I mean, I even get to be on Lauri''s videos all the time! Mandy laughs and on the comments she says that I make the show! I mean... It is so cool but, I''m kinda afraid that Lauri''s feelings and I don''t think it would because there wouldn''t be a show if not for Momma''s cooking! Well..! I am kinda pretty sure that I''m right about this circus theory, and if I''m right, then I''ll certainly get to be on TV! So basically... I''m going to be seen by thousands of peoples! So what kind of performance should I do huh? Should I just model some cool clothes? I bet I could even get free clothes to do that! Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. * "Same day." So Sunny drew this comic about when I decided to blurt out my prediction about the circus coming to town present for my make up birthday! (Here''s a comic that my other best friend Sunny Crumpet drew.) Narrie and her parents are sitting at the coffee shop while Aaron is listening to my best friend beg her parents for that stuff that mom doesn''t let me have... "So," There I was, begging my parents for some after school coffee to look like a super mature preteen! "if I confess something really big can I have some coffee?" "Do you need coffee to confess it?" Momma Lauri asked, while Mom turned the other way as she probably thought... "You make her ask???" And then the last caption of Sunny''s comic said before everyone in the cafe knew what I blurted out, "And is it important?" (Not really but...) "Yeah and (ABSOLUTELY!) YES!!!" So... After we talked and... Mom realized that she was way over her head. Basically? The phone didn''t stop ringing about the circus that she started the rumor of and you know that I totally blame Aaron for ratting it all out to his barista parents. Remember that little guy in the hallway? That same little guy? Yeah him... And of course by the next day it even got into the front page gossip paper! Front page; "Circus performers wanted for back to school circus party at the Middlecreek inn." By the way, the deal about the inn is that our house was an inn in the old days, and a lot of the people in town were born around here, and like, how long does it take to grow a grove of trees? 50 years? Are people really that old? "Aaron!" Yes, the kid who ratted me out in his parents cafe! I was being really quiet too! And he... Well, "How old is your dad?" "Papa is 40? I don''t remember, I just remember Mom puts like a lot of birthday candles on his cake and I was like... "Want me to help?" And then I did, and well... I am certain that Dad does that for me on purpose because he does like to play the big wolf in the play!" "What I mean is that..." He was nice enough to explain his jumbled up brain as we walked down the hallway, "I couldn''t blow them all out..." "Alright." "Papa blew softly behind me and I heard a whistle and he helped me blew them out and he didn''t even lie about it at all! He said that it''s very important to understand that we all need help sometimes, and that''s the reason why I asked them to help you!" "Okay..." Me? I just hope that Mom really does sleep tonight, she slept last night, but sometimes I see her tired shadow in the morning and... It still stresses me out. The thing is it''s one of those things that I am supposed to talk to them about. The person who talks and stuff, they had me write a letter right? And in this letter is a confession right? And... Their going to mail it to my parents at the end of the year right? Even if I don''t... Don''t tell my parents... I mean I can totally tell them not to send it, but... Yeah... What am I supposed to say, huh? "Mom..." That''s how my letter started, "I am always going to be worried about you. But EVERYTHING is going to be ALRIGHT. Staying up and worrying all night IS NOT going to help." Chapter 10 & 11 Chapter 10 Community center. So.. Narrie Trish Middlecreek here and guess what? (Picture of comic of Policeman standing up in town center and telling everyone how.) "We put on parades!" "We decorate the town!" "We help each other out in this community!" "And we can band together and have a circus!" That guy? He''s the policeman. He''s what my collage bound cousin calls, unlucky in love. His kids? The one who still lives at home? Todd? He''s hiding his face. But I''ve personally seen Todd say things like, "I wish I had the courage to do that." Anyways! He''s Policeman Ronald! Stands for public relations, and he is Maggie''s uncle.. Meaning he''s Aaron''s grunkle, meaning... (Picture of me and Ben in a crowd like a "findamacallit" book.) "So you think Aaron asked his family?" I am... Watching Mom taking peoples names with a clipboard and... "Yes." Ben... Mom... Oh my God. Yes, it just dawned on me what''s going on... "Ben, they''re really doing this all for me..?" "I think this goes beyond just your make up birthday present." Ben looked at me and... Isn''t this where the lead gets kissed??? Well... He didn''t kiss me... I mean... Forcing my heart to almost stop was all for nothing as Ben sighed and walked into the library, "I honestly don''t think I could do anything Narrie, I mean..." I followed him down the isles as he muttered on, "What can I do for the circus? Or this big birthday bash? Narrie... What can I do for you or anyone else, huh?" I looked at him and... Why, is, he, acting, like, this? I... Didn''t understand... So instead of telling him, "Oh Ben, you could kiss me, I''m 11 now you know, we''re the same age for a whole 4 months Ben! And maybe, just maybe we will be... You know... Be hand holding partners in middle school!" But instead I told him, "We''ll find something." Oh... Of course that''s when Momma Lauri brought me back to earth by pointing at me and saying, "Hey you! Your mom, I mean Kate really did it, it really is all going to work out." "Yeah thanks to you!" I pointed back at her! Well..! Even though Mom taught me that it was sometimes really dangerous to just trust things are going to work out, Momma Lauri has that "faith" thing that... That sounds scary and comforting at the same time! I mean... "Trusting" that things are just going to work out..? Well anyways, after Ben went into the library and picked up the new "Silly Adventures Weekly", Momma Lauri found us and asked, "So y''all ready for the last day of school?" "Yeah..." Then... THEN! Mom walked up onto the center stage and... "Wait, What''s Mom doing?" "YES, I did spread the rumors," My mom Kate took the waterproof microphone they keep the for announcements and added, "It was the wish that I picked, I knew it was ambitious..." This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. That''s when she got that happily determined expression that I just LOVE seeing, "Yeah, I know it is, but I... I just... HAD, to!" "What my dear wife is trying to tell you" Lauri supported Mom by briefly explaining to everyone, "is that we saw a wish at the hospital wish tree and... Well, she thought it was an easy, buy a few circus tickets sort of thing right? Well, and then she found out there was NO circus coming to town, so... Not so easy after all!" Kate looked around nervously, then carefully walked through the crowd as someone muttered to me, "I really thought your Mom was better at talking to people..." "I''ve never seen her up on stage." I thought that the reason why Mom didn''t say anything was that she was just really excited when Laurie proposed on Halloween. But... "Kate!" Stephanie Johannas, the old cat lady who paints her face like a china doll shouted. "You have to do something for the kids!" Mom went rushing over and asked, "... Why?" "Grammy." A little kid just took her hand and asked, "Can I be in the circus?" That''s Miles, he latches on to Mrs Johannas like she''s as strong as her TIGER ROAR!!! (She does a puppet show.) "I don'' know Sweetheart, we''ll see." Then she patted Mom''s hand and told her, "Kate Sweetheart. That''s why." Mom looked and... Looked around, and then bent down and smiled at the kid and then she opened her mouth and shook her head, "Of course you can be in the circus Sweetie. We will definitely find something for you, and all of your friends to do too!" (Stephanie is a really nice person, but sometimes, I think she... Gets lost. It''s cool, I forget what''s going on sometimes too.) --- Chapter 11: Mom''s reason... THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CIRCUS. Narrie T Middlecreek present and..? So..! I just found out something so I''m asking Momma Laurie, "So... What you''re saying is that Mom found a wish?" "Yup, an Easter wish, that was her wedding present this year." Lauri gives Mom anniversary presents. Mom does too but says she is not good at giving gifts. So she just tries to look really pretty and oftentimes just makes Momma Lauri a knitted Anicritermon. (Picture of a bunch of her favorite anicritermon toys on the bookshelf.) Yup yup yeah... I bet that if I asked really nice and then she''d probably try to teach me, she''d help me make things like that so that I could make a lot of friends in middle school but! "NO! NOPE, NO SIRREE! I am, NOT, going to be an old lady!" Not now, not EVER! "Well Missy," I can just hear her now... "It''s still good to learn!" And I''d be like... (Living room with Lauri and Narri picture.) "What was it the Easter wish anniversary gift anyways?" By the way, this is important... Because my parents have a really cool wedding anniversary! It''s the floating holiday of Easter! "I told Kate we could do any of the wishes she wanted to tackle... Well, some kid wanted to go to the circus with his dying Grampa." Shoot... That was not supposed to make me sad. But I can just see Grampa now, getting hurt, getting sick, quarantine him and never be able to see him alive again and... I smiled. "Mom is really going to do that?" "Yeah, that''s the plan, somehow raise enough money for put on a little show," Momma Lauri smiled at me, "And Honey, that program? Yeah, I know your mom gets carried away sometimes, but that''s what we''re here for. And the town is coming together, and we can really make a big show. Maybe even raise enough to put it on for a couple different shows. And yeah, this one will be on TV, so is that an alright birthday present?" I''m sorry... Are you asking me? I''m... NODDING! "Of course that''s like so much better then I ever dreamed of!" "So anyways, Honey..." Mom just barged into our conversation and changed the subject and then had the idea of saying, "I don''t mean to change the subject, but it looks like changing a name is a multi step process so are you sure you still want that?" I... Really don''t like thinking about it. "Mom, I don''t want to think about that stuff right now thank you very much! "Narrie T Middle-creak present." I hope she understood that. I heard a writer uses initials, and at the middle school they call kids by their assigned names because we go to lots of different classes and some of the kids made up these little rhymes and catchphrases. like, "Narrie Trisha Middle-creek present", like a real adult! "Understood. I love you..." Momma Lauri looked at me and asked, "Do you want me to call you that ever?" Basically? Last week I told her that she''s the only one allowed to call me, "Trish" so. She probably thinks it''s special. "It''s special." I told her, gave her a hug and... Went outside with Rupear. That''s our "young", meaning not even 10 years old yet dog. We have 3 Dogs, Rupear, Sally, and Alabaster, Alie is the first letter of the alphabet, and she was our first dog, so... That system did not actually last, but still..! Chapter 12 Mandy and the camera lens. Chapter 12. Mandy and the camera. (Picture of "June 10TH!" "Filming day" being circled on a calendar.) OMG! So..! The circus is coming together and... Oh yeah! Trish here and... Does that sound better than Narrie? OH..!! There''s my favorite U-tuber! "HEY! Mandy!" I called to my favorite freeview star! "What''s up, did either of my moms tell you that I''m going to be on TV for my birthday???" "No, they DIDN''T!" Mandy bent down and... Swung back and forth and almost toppled backwards, but didn''t, "But... Can I come?" "Yeah, it''s the circus." "The circus is your birthday?" Mandy exclaimed, "Wow!" Then she tapped on my shoulder and told me, "Narrie, I remember something about your birthday. Not many kids have such a special birthday." Here it comes... (If you didn''t know my birthday was on mothers day this year...) "It''s my make up birthday. Because Mom felt bad even though I got a new phone and..." I showed her my new phone that''s in a really pretty polka-dotted cheetah case and... "WOW!" Mandy exclaimed, then she looked closely at the back camera lenses and asked me, "How''s the camera on that?" "I don''t know, I like your camera better though." I told my hero. Or one of the role model peoples that I have got because her camera''s have actual lenses and look like real camera''s with film and handles and stuff as apposed the thing that will just slip out of my hands and I can''t really use well with gloves on or anything! "Well... You know they do have straps for phones, and these popup rings?" She showed me her own field camera that''s technically a phone with 4 really nice lenses and a microphone and... "Yeah... Still it''s kinda..." I mean... The thing is that I really like Mandy''s lens and how it''s a real camera and you can change lenses like and with it you look really cool and everything instead of this fragile thing that I am pretty certain the whole front and the sides, that I''m supposed to be holding on to! Is just one, big, slippery, glass, screen... If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "Hon," She tried to make me feel better, "a camera is a camera no madder what it can do, what it looks like or even what kind of lens it has, did you know that they have other lenses for phone cameras?" Yeah... I''ve heard, I''ve even seen them once or twice too but... "I... Don''t know much about that." "Well!" Mandy exclaimed, "Why not come with me and check one out! I know I have a few in my car..!" See what I mean? Mandy is wonderful! (Picture of Mandy''s car with a few magnetic stickers on it so she doesn''t forget where she parked and a Plush octopus on the steering wheel.) "So... Anything special at this awesome circus that''s not only themed but real and for the whole community and it''s going to show up and be on real TV and in the paper and everything birthday party?" "IDK..." Well... What more special do I need? Everything is already pretty great. "WAIT! When you write the report don''t use my old middle name alright. Because I... I mean we''re going to change it. Alright." "Sweetheart, I won''t ever use your old middle name again, alright. I mean," She knows what it is though... "in the context of your middle name!" "Ha ha." I laughed nervously, "Umm... I wanna change it before middle school." "Oh, going into the big school?" "Is... Is the big school any different? I wanna be super mature and stuff right? I also... You know Ben?" "Probably." Gotta love her answers! I mean, just the fact she remembers me! And she is REALLY busy too! "Well... He likes computers and wears glasses and is cool and I mean, I kinda...." This is what I want to ask the lady I only get to see in real life like on special occasions and never privately because her special person, Ryan Chestnut, is, like, BEN!!! "I like like him and I wanted to know if it''s as painful as it looks on TV to kiss someone with glasses." (Picture. of banging into ouch kiss glasses.) Well..? I watched her turn around and... "You mean my little chipmunk?" That''s what she calls Ryan, cute little dopey eyed Ryan Chestnut with his cheeks full of nuts! "It''s not painful, but mostly he just kisses my forehead. So I don''t know about the other kind." Wait... "It''s okay to just kiss someones forehead???" "It certainly is for us!" Mandy found what she was looking for and added, "Maybe you can ask Ben if it''s alright sometime." "Alright. Thank you." SIGH! Yeah, Mandy is my role model! "And here Sweetheart," Mandy opened her hand to show me a little thing on a clip and told me, "I only have a macro lens, but if we attach it, we can get some really cool closeups!" (Picture of closeups flower on phone screen.) Chapter 13. The wish tree at the hospital Chapter 13. The wish tree at the hospital! (Picture of wish tree in childrens art work at hospital.) So... It''s a rainy day..! But! I''m at the children''s ward of the hospital and there''s a wish tree and I get to help make a wish come true! "Narrie," Mom just laughed and told me, "Wouldn''t it be so cool to make your own furry character and dress up?" I thought about Stephanie, the old lady who ALWAYS dresses up... Except for Halloween! That''s when she wears the most boring costume in the whole world and when I asked last year, "Who are you supposed to be?" She laughed and answered, "A zombie!" And then she pulled her hat off and revealed sparkly pink hair and hush hush told me, "But I''m in disguise!" So lets start over. My name is Narrie, or should I go by Trish? Because after Momma Laurie kept telling me about my step grandparents, I really, really want to be a part of Grammy Trish. I mean, I want them both to be a part of me, and... And my cousin Anita thinks it''s kinda cool to go by Trish so..! Anyways, So here I am, and guess what? There are a lot of cool characters who go to children''s hospitals. Like furries! I mean, furries am I right? I mean, I could NOT do that dressing up in a hot suit in the summertime thing but..! (It''s June.) "Hey." I asked this really cool looking furry with big ears and an expression that was SO INVITING!, "So those neck air conditioners, they. You know... Do they work in the hot suits?" "A bit." "Cool." Yup! I was so BRAVE!!! I wanna be a furry. Maybe, just maybe I will be. Probably I won''t though. Or maybe I just want to volunteer here more..! "MOM!" I exclaimed, "Is this where you found the make a wish thing?" "Yeah. It''s in the lobby." Momma Kate looked out the window at the front entrance and told me, "That''s one reason why the town is like it is." What? She is making sense but... "How?" "Well... The community center? You know Terry? He channeled all that sad energy into trying to help his community." I have heard her talk about, "Terry" before but... "Who?" "The old guy who made us this ring." (Picture of ring on Momma Kate''s finger.) A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "And your earrings." Okay... I know who that is now, what I mean is this town is small, and there''s this guy who... Well he doesn''t frown, but he doesn''t smile either, and I remember coming into the jewelry shop all excited to look really pretty for my parents wedding and... Anyways! My earrings are just really small hoops with three birthstones set in and if I ever get my own sibling I''ll get a new pair and they''ll be 4 birth stones in them and... "So does that mean I''m getting a sibling?" "Honey! You''re more scatter brained than I!" We walked... I, was... "Okay..." I was just thinking, this is a hospital right? Mommas told me I might get a real sibling of my own right? Maybe, sometime... Yeah, "But I would be a REALLY GOOD big sister!" "I know. " Mom took me into the lobby and pointed to he tree by the receptionist. "So Narrie..." Nurse Suzy asked, "You wanna pick one?" "My own make a wish?" "Yeah!!!" Suzy is really cool! Why? Basically, I only see them like once a month but she always brings these amazing pastry delights! I mean, even Momma Kate likes them! "So Suzy..." I smiled at the person who might help me find and EASY wish because Mandy says she has a clear head on her shoulders and asked, "What kind would you pick?" "Oh! Here''s a little one." Suzy picked up a card apple, "This one wants a teddy bear hand delivered by a friend. Oh! And he''s only 8 years old too!" I looked... I thought, WOW! This does sound easy! So I took the card from Nurse Suzy, took a breath and asked Mom, "So.. What do you think?" Momma Kate just came around the counter and asked me a simple question, "Do you think you can be a friend?" I... Looked at her, at Momma Kate, and puckered my lips in a NO*(t really?... But she just continued to smile at me like she did NOT take the hint! "Narrie." Mom smiled at me like everything is going to work out and asked, "Do you think you could do it with an assistant?" Suzy smiled. "I think that would be great. And Narrie, maybe after you''ll get the confidence to pick out your own soon?" I... Looked at Momma Kate. She''s going to... My heart is pumping I can hardly breath and... "Why???" "What?" She snapped at me,"Well, if you don''t wanna help me then don''t." She picked up the card to read it and I wonder... How did she go from the nervous wreck who I wasn''t really embarrassed about my friends seeing as much as I kept worrying that her fake smile would turn into a frown the moment we turned and before we got home she''d start crying... To... Some sort of SUPERMOM who seems to think that together we can do anything! Huh? (picture of Momma Kate reading the wish card while she''s really wondering what I''m going to do!) "I mean like..." I stayed nervous myself and... Smiled at the person who always helps me up and I really hope that she understands me when because my own mind is going in a tailspin... What I mean is that somewhere along the line I got confused! "What?" "Should we go to a special place or just the gift shop?" Mom shook her head and asked me, "Oh Narrie, what do you think he would like?" "Let me see that!" I took the apple card from her hands and... "Charles likes dinosaurs." "Well! How about we check the gift shop and then," Mom smiled at me as she led me down the hall and added, "if they don''t have one we''ll get to the mall?" "The mall? Why?" Then I just remembered..! "OH! They have one of those Build-A-Plushkin stations and we can build him a custom dinosaur plush!" "Sweetheart." Momma Lauri, the voice of boring reason to the rescue... "How about we get a bear today, because I think that Charles just really wants in a visitor." Then she pointed to the top of the apple and... "Today, there''s dates. See. And we don''t know how long he''s gotta stay for." "What do you mean?" I was like... He''s dying??? "I mean," Mom yawned down the hallway, "They try and get kids in and out. So they put their best doctors on the case." "Like a mystery?" I really like those doctor mystery shows. "Yeah." Chapter 14: Middle school visitation. And last day of elementary school. Chapter 14: Middle school visitation. And last day of elementary school. So... This is what happened... "Introduce yourself." "Hi! So it''s pride month right? And guess what? My parents are lesbians!" "Okay..." Mr Beesly was so nice to me while like, most of the kids in my new class were laughing at me... But he smiled and asked, "Is there anything else you''d like to share?" So..! Instead of doing the smart thing and tell everyone my name! I... Held my head down and walked to my seat... (Sunny gave me a picture of silly acrobat named Narrie under the big tent... And to top it off, my best friend who''s leaving for hopefully JUST the summer wrote on the bottom of the drawing, "You should have invited the class to our makeup birthday party!") Oh well... Now let''s forget any of that happened and... Turn back time! * Narrie Middlecreek here and guess what? Charles, that kid we gave a wish to in person at the hospital goes to the same school as me and Mom was right. He''s going home tonight! ANYWAYS... We''re Christmas buddies now and I''m still going to make him a dinosaur "Build-A-Plushie" at the mall, and it''s gonna say, "Everything will always be okay with friends to save the day!" (Picture of that talking dinosaur plushie.) Well anyways, it''s June now and our class visited the big middle school and, well, I blurted out "So it''s pride month and guess what?" And that''s when I got laughed at so I HAVE GOT TO SMARTEN UP! "Hi," I just casually tilted down my sunglasses and nervously waved, because well... I, AM, NEVER, ever going to out myself as a stupid kid again! Nope. I''m going to be a cool middle schooler. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. But the thing is..! How do I pretend to be better, smarter, and even more boringer kid then I actually am? Huh? Momma Laurie calls this feeling spiraling... When the same thoughts play over and over again in your head... But... Well anyways, I did learn a lot today... Basically besides blurting out that my parents are lesbians on the first day of school and getting laughed at by everyone, I met my future homeroom teacher Mr. Beesly! Some of the teachers call him the "bees knees." I think that they are trying to keep that old timey term alive, that or maybe they''re those "retro" people, because the retro kids like to call him that too... But he''s really cool! (See him? Picture of Mr Beesly and a few exciting pictures.)(So, Here''s a photo of him skydiving) and a (video of him doing some kind of activism.) And well... He''s going to be me and Ben''s homeroom teacher. (And Sunny''s if she comes back next year...) So..! Do I think that he''s the kind of geek I''m afraid Ben will become? No.!! I''d actually really like Ben to become the kind of geek that Mr. Beesly is! I mean, Mr Beeszly ALWAYS has some exciting story to tell us! And it''s current too, and... Sigh. I know it''s a stupid teacher crush I have, but I''m actually just fantasizing about when Ben is older and really strong and... ''NO!'' I stopped those crazy thoughts I was having and told myself, ''Do not think that way about that boy, Ben, your best friend forever, who is sitting beside you right now!'' (Picture of Ben sitting beside Narrie as she''s trying not to look at him even though he has a window seat and that gives her an easy excuse if he ever asks what she''s gazing at.) Ben. I smiled at him as we got up to leave the room and... I even almost reached my hand out to him! ''Narrie!!!'' My thoughts kept yelling at me but... SIGH! He is giving me all the courage that I need! So after I made a fool out of myself by telling Mr Beesly and the whole class that corny joke that was meant to introduce myself... And after encouragement from my two best friends I feel so confident now that I''m going to tell our homeroom that I need to tell him something about me in middle school in a few months... "Umm," I smiled at Mr Beesly, totally meeting eye contact, Mom taught me that defensive trick that sometimes actually helps me and told him, "I need a new student ID." "Already? Why?" "I am changing my name." "Okay." Mr Beesly seemed annoyed at me... But he also told me the information that I needed, "Well if you file the correct documents, we''ll send one out to you before school starts alright?" "So..." Basically... I don''t completely understand..! "But I thought..." I could feel the confusion building as I tried to keep his gaze and clearly explained myself, "I thought since you''re going to be my homeroom teacher... You would... Umm..." "It will be alright Honey." He bent down and gave me a comfortingly soft smile and then told me, "And for now, you can use a flip the name tag around and write whatever you want alright?" "Alright!" I smiled at my new teacher who is probably going to be pretty nice because right now, everything IS GREAT!!! * Chapter 15. Getting ready for the circus Chapter 15. Getting ready for the circus Narrie Trisha Middlecreek here and... You know, people who ride the school bus home probably don''t need an after school nap. Yawn..! Well anyways, my bus just let out Thomas, he was our guide and is going into high school next year and well... You know how I really wanna be super mature in middle school? You know how I''ve been so confused about being childish? I mean, like. Isn''t "Momma" a silly kids word?" Well... "There''s my Momma," Our super mature and even popular high school volunteer guide Thomas introduced us to our next year cooking teacher and now I know that it''s not super immature and childish to still call someone Momma!!! So..! Yawn... So after dinner last night Mom tapped on a book and "HI!" I mean... I just wondered what she was working on so intently last night, "So you prolly wonder why this binder I have here is called, "Kate the great?" Well... Umm... "Mom... Are you really going to put on a circus?" "We sure are." She gave me that bright contagious smile that makes me think everything is always going to be alright from now on. "Are you going to be one of the performers?" I asked her because like... Did I tell her about my dream? "Did I tell you guys that I dreamed about me being an acrobat person and spiraling down the stairs on a hoop!" I remember really hoping my parents would think my mostly sorted out dream was as cool as me and my friends think it is because..! "And then I could introduce as both my mom and the great performer, "Kate the great." She smiled at me so I excitingly asked her..! "So what do you say? Huh?" "Ha ha ha, no." Mom told me and... I''m sorry... WHAT? "But just trying to get support for this adventure has been a performance enough, thank you very much." Okay... So there''s this BIG problem with Lauri being my stepmother... And that is that her "mature" attitude has is wearing off on Mom. I think that''s what pheromones are, and they''re rubbing off on Mom because the teacher said that everyone has smells and stuff that they like and Lauri''s candles are always this cinnamony minty smell and I wasn''t actually paying attention in school at all and honestly, I''m surprised that I even graduated to middle school! Well anyways, the bus is stopping for me and I just remembered that after laughing with me, Momma told me that, "You know sweetheart, I don''t think any of this would have even gotten past the silly dream stage if you hadn''t shared those silly dreams of yours with us." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. * "Hi Momma!" Momma Lauri opened the door for me and I needed to tell her all about my first (visitation) day of middle school! (Picture of Lauri opening the door on a cold June day.) Wait... "Where''s Momma Kate? "At the market, and..." Momma Lauri gave me a hug, "You calling Kate "momma" now? I thought that was for kids!" "Well..!" I tried to put on the dramatics as I eyed the sweat Chai latte with yes, whipped cream and a cherry on top and then explained to her... "Because I heard a real live teenager call his mom Momma. And he was cool, and tall, and then I started thinking that it wasn''t super childish anymore." "Really?" Momma kinda looked at me very suspiciously! Like... "I mean, why is it such a big deal? Huh?" I REALLY wanted that Chai Latte! "Because like last week I was like... "Gotta be mature," Huh?" I took off my backpack, put on some sunglasses and nodded my head, "Well... Cool..." By the way... Mom just turned away and laughed at me and... Yeah, But she tapped the mug so I guess I can have it now! "Anyways." I took off my shoes and and since we''re on the subject now anyways, and I really don''t wanna discuss any of this stuff with Momma Kate ANYWAYS! "So you''re Momma Lauri and Mom is Momma Kate and when ever I refer to either of you it''s going to be just Momma, and in most cases people won''t ask, "which one". But in the few cases that they do I''ll be sure to sound super mature and say your first name." Yeah, I know that I''m probably still being childish, I know when I told Ben and Sunny they said I was being silly and over thinking things but... I wanna be a really cool high-schooler too! So I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Whatever." "Cool." Momma smiled at me as the aroma of that spicy chai latte filled my hopes of being a cool kid who can still feel like me and... "Oh yeah," Momma Kate came into the kitchen and started to tell me, "Sweetheart, if you still wanted to talk to another kid with two moms, Ellie is coming by soon, you remember her?" Umm... How can I forget? I mean, Lauri doesn''t know this but..! Okay, maybe she does... Well, a few years ago her new parents had a wedding ON CHRISTMAS! So yeah, basically, I will ALWAYS remember the day that Mom actually smiled here and Grampa let me dance on his feet. (I''m not allowed to do that anymore...) Anyways, Ellie wrote a song. I mean, say it like that and it''s nothing right? But it was a good song. And since then she''s written like a dozen more and even gets likes and it''s really amazing! So yeah, ABSOLUTELY! I nodded and smiled because well... We just put mattresses in 2 of the guest bedrooms so... I''m thinking that their going to be staying here!!! "Really?" I answered after all I ate the cherry and said, "I bet she knows how to be ultra mature for middle school!" "Yeah, she''ll probably have some practical advice." Chapter 16. Chapter 16. Narrie Trish Middlecreek here volunteering at the food pantry with Ellie''s grandparents neighbor... Hey! It''s a close nit community here in the village of Noel, I mean... (Population, 973) Anyways... (Picture of Narrie and Stephanie raiding the community center pantry.) "So Ellie''s making a song," I was telling Mrs, Johannas, she''s like one of the teacher peoples at the community center, " And it''s going to be so cool and the circus theme song and everything and..." So basically... There''s this thing that''s been on my mind, I told Grampa and... Well... What if it''s not real huh? "You remember that dream?" She nodded and def had no clue what I was talking about but I kinda love her inviting smile. But... I kinda don''t ever want to have one like that! I mean, don''t tell her this, but... Some people make fun of her..! "So, Anyways..." I started to explain myself. Basically? After the other day at middle school I realized that... I need some grounding! And Stephanie''s a hat carrying witch, and they''re all about grounding right? So... "I wanted to tell you something..." "Alright!" Oh I love that gentle painted smile that Stephanie wears. (Picture of a nervous smile painted on a mask.) "Well, a few years, (months) ago, I had a dream alright?" I started to tell Stephanie the organized chaos that held my thoughts together and started to explain myself! "And in it I saw Momma Lauri. And then I saw her a few days later at Moms work, and I got to know her, because..." I took a breath, and then started to admit out loud what I was piecing together, "Well, I also saw that person in my dreams too, and..." Boy! That was hard... Do I want coffee? No, I already had some with Stephanie! "I just remembered all that but you know how I''m changing my middle name to Trish, and how that''s my angel grannie''s name?" "Yeah..." Stephanie answered and I think that she knows what I''m asking getting at now because her smile got less intense and... (Picture of less intense face.) "Well..." I breathed deeply and remembered that dream, "Trish" was waving at me, she looked kinda older then the pictures. She had gray hair, and a knitted sweater like Mom made for Lauri and..." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I just looked at Stephanie, I know they have church services and talk about angels and stuff but... What if she thinks I''m just a stupid kid? Well..! Her smile and the way she twinkled her earrings make me know for a fact that it will all be okay if I tell her..! "This person who is sometimes in my dreams?" I took a deep breath and told her, "She looks kinda like Grammie Trisha." "Okay Sweetheart." (Picture of smiles!) Okay! So this is why I''m telling Stephanie right, because number 1, she''s like right here! And number 2... She has this reputation right? "You can tell me, because I can keep a secret." Well... Kids aren''t actually supposed to tell her secrets because she does in fact keep secrets! But she''s really nice and wears such inviting outfits and makeup like a clown and, "Maybe it was an angel?" She started talking, "Or maybe it was like those eye tricks where you fit in the pieces." (Paradolia...) Wait, So... You not only believe me but... "...Alright." "And anyways," Stephanie looked at my nervous expression and told me, "it shouldn''t stress you out Honey! No, it''s like honey right? Little sweets in stuff, M&M''s in your cookies. Etc." "Really?" What? Huh? This is the other thing about Stephanie. Mrs Johanna is crazily too and... She just made me think of bubble coffee with whipped cream and tiny smarties on top and... (Picture of drink.) "Yeah, just like those happy thoughts," She smiled at me, "be it a smile, an angel, or a happy place, maybe a flower, or just like the best feeling in your world at whatever moment because that''s what they are!" Basically? She talks like a kid except a little smarter..? "And they''re like those chocolate chips in your plain old sugar cookie!" She gave me a bag of chocolate chips and had a thought! (Light bulb!) I love her thoughts, I think I do anyways... "Because when they get reheated, you know what happens?" "Umm... The cookies melt and becomes really hard rocks?" "Ha ha ha ha..." She chuckled, "I take it you''ve burned cookies before!" Did I want to admit to it? Not really. "Well Hon..." She opened the pantry door and asked, "You ever make hot cocoa or cereal with them burned cookie pieces?" (Picture of crumbled cookies over hot cocoa.) "No... Wait," I mean... Oh My GOD! Cookie and Creamy hot cocoa??? "Can I?" "Yeah, I mean I do. But I''m lazy, don''t like cooking, tend to make a mess and have a thing about throwing stuff away, so..." We went out of the "Quiet room" and well... That''s why I like Stephanie. Because she''s always happy to spend a few extra moments with you and... Sigh... "Maybe then we can make sense of them sad little things," I muttered under my breath, "like the reason why I''ll never get to meet grannie Trish..." Stephanie glanced at me, smiled and then tried to raise my spirits by adding, "Well, then we''ll just have to connect them feelings to a pretty fun thing. Like some chocolate chip cookie hot cocoa!" "And yeah, we''re making some!" "Ha ha." Stephanie laughed and told me, "Well, then lets hope we, "don''t", burn them!" Chapter 17: Circus birthday party. Chapter 17: Circus birthday party. Narrie here and guess what? BTW! I totally forgot to tell you that those cookies I made with Stephanie were for the 1st circus talent show! That''s what just ended and... Guess what? I got to be like a judge person! Hey... Why are y''all looking at me like that? So yeah, Charlie? The kid we gave a teddy bear to in person the other weekend? Yeah! He came to the first day of my make up birthday party! Basically, this circus is like open to every and anyone so we''re having a talent show, and my parents are even talking about opening up the house like... "We''re really going to have our own bed and breakfast?" Yeah, just like in Mom''s movies! SIGH!!! (Picture sign of bed and breakfast.) "Anyways," I''m telling Ben, my best friend in the whole world who I kinda want to call boyfriend but don''t want to make it weird or nothing. "Mandy is filming THE WHOLE THING! And guess what???" "What." Ben asked me and you know, I really don''t think that boy actually believed that I was even GOING to have my own circus until after the tent was all set up... ANYWAYS! The talent show will start soon and... "Well..!" I smiled at Ben and took a deep breath and told him that, "we''re also going to be making a wish come true for every single month!" "Wow..." Is what I imagined Ben would have sarcastically told me if not for... (Picture of Narrie waving to Ellie, "a cool highschooler and her dog") "Hey." That''s Ellie. Why do I like her? For starters she''s like super mature! For seconds she''s cool and on TV and stuff, and for thirds! She totally made me not have to watch Ben''s eyes rolling... (Picture of me imaging Ben''s eyes are rolling and saying, "Whatever you say Narrie, I''m kinda tired... Videogames all night you know?") "So," Ellie looked at me and said, "Grammy told me you had questions." Grammie? Questions? All of those questions were pushed to the back of my mind because... Ellie! you saved me from getting mad at Ben for being boring again. But like... What are you talking about? (Calendar with first day of school marked.) Oh yeah, she''s going to help me be a mature, happy middle-schooler! Not that I ever want to actually think about that ANYTIME SOON! Thank you very much! "So..." I petted her dog to divert my thoughts and... Bragged! "You know something?" I told Ellie, "We have 3 dogs now!" "Cool." The super calm singer songwriter replied as Alabaster came over to see what the commotion was about! "Woof!" "So..." I am absolutely almost ready to ask whats on my mind, "Are you really going to write a new song for the circus because nothing that I''ve said or made up so far about this summer has been a lie and I think it would be really cool to have a new song for my make up for sharing a holiday birthday party." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Yeah..." Ellie smiled and did some hand sign then explained, "Grammy, I mean, Mandy''s mother said you were going to be doing a lot of stuff for middle school, like even changing your name?" "You know, I would have never started making music if not for her, I mean, she''s really fun. Anyways." Wait... Fun? I thought of the lady who had a reputation of writing dry, boring articles and well... It''s hard to think of Aaron''s future grandmother as fun! "Hey." Ellie waved to Aaron who...Fell onto the floor and let Ellie''s dog slobber all over his head, then, he casually said, "Hi." and... "Good thing Dad hasn''t given him a cookie yet! Those get stuck in my hair." Aaron has curly hair and I''m starting to think they are almost like family, "So Aaron... Do you call Mandy''s mom your grammie too?" "Na unh!" "Are you sure?" Yeah, I thought I was acting like a teenager and was trying to show Ellie the little bit that I knew about how to act like a middle-schooler... Blurting out words! "I thought that Mr. Blister was your grandpa." "He IS NOT!" Aaron acts childish sometimes, I mean, I forget how defensive this super mature short for his age 9 year old can get... Anyways!"He is my daddy''s brother. So I get to call her Missy Inky Octopus!" (Picture of Miss Inky Octopus) "Because me and Mandy made up a name for her and we laughed and Mom said it''s alright and Papa put on that "Umm..." face and then waved his arms like a Egyptian and Miss Inky Octopus smiled. So yeah! I can call her that." "Ha ha." I think he hangs out with Mandy, Little Miss Inky Octopus a little WAY too much... "Yeah AHH!" He nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders and said, "So she might... MIGHT, become my aunt sometime, but no! She is never ever going to be my grammie." "Well," Ellie shrugged, "she lets me call her Grammy." Okay... I don''t know if Ellie is going to teach me how to be a cool middle-schooler or not but... Wait..! "Beep Beep" She just got a text and casually told me out of the blue, Me. So casual, not nervous at all, that, "Mom''s out of work." Wait... Mom? I... Thought that it was alright for a mature teenager to say Momma and now... I mean... Okay here''s the deal, Number 1: Ellie is like super mature and in highschool and stuff, I mean, she might even be in university! And number 2! My mind is... "I thought you called your parents "aunts"." "Easier." I... Am looking up at the cool girl who has so much dignity that she let her dog slobber all over Aarons annoying face but... "What do you mean? " "See at college, you tell people you got adopted by your "aunts", and they pity you, look at you funny, I know their just trying to be nice, but being reminded of some things still really kinda hurts." She drifted like Mom used for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and adding, "So it''s easier." Okay... So, I think that the way to be a super mature teenager according to Ellie is..! "Take the easy road as long as your true to yourself!"??? I think that''s what she was trying to tell me.. Well, as we started to walk into the parking lot around Blister square, Ellie starting talking about something that completely took my attention..! "Hey, you know that Maddie has been practicing acrobats and stuff for your party?" "Really?" Like, acrobatics and stuff? I mean... Like..." Dare I tell Ellie my kinda not really secret wish like thing? That all of birthday dreams might actually come true??? By the way, I was cool and did not tell that! "Yeah, they can even do some cool moves," Ellie explained, "and like Auntie said, "Why not see if you can do anything for the circus, alright?" By the way, right now the words, "Trisha Narella swimming in the air..." are floating in front of my eyes and... I can not seem to get my words out! Like... Will Maddie teach me some moves??? "So... Narrie..." Ellie stared at my calm composure and asked, "Before someone, Grammy Marcy, Starts to test her horn to get my attention and embarrass you, was there anything else on your mind?" Umm... She''s probably going to laugh at me, but I really wanna get my facts straight, "I wanna be a super cool mature kid for middle sky and like I also wanna be..." Should I say it? "A kid? And an acrobat too!" "So..." Ellie looked at me, and then said. "You want my advice? Be yourself, your happiest, fullest, most vibrant self that shares themselves with your loved ones. Because" SQUEAL!!! A car skidded it''s breaks and she cried out and told me. "Don''t you ever do that stupid acting all mature thing to avoid them alright..." Well... She started breathing and blinking so it was alright, and so I broke the silence by asking, "Do you sky dance too?" I looked at my ticket into the big time! "Because I Really want to learn how..." Ellie laughed at me and asked, "You want auntie Maddie to teach you how to... "SKY DANCE!" "Ha ha." She laughed again and told me seriously, "And since their staying at your inn, you''ll prolly get some extra training, So be ready for a work out because Maddie is a really good balancing person." Chapter 18 Dog Show Chapter 18 Dog Show This is apparently the same day, and guess what! There''s a dog show today! So here I am! Narrie Trish Middlecreek and... "So..." Mandy just... LOVES theatrics! She just blew a confetti canton and announced, "Here we are at the dog show portion of our annual Noel community circus and..! Look, there''s a dog dressed as a dragon! Wait! Or is that a little dragon? Guess well never know. "How are you Narrie, and did I hear you are having your first guest? "Yes! It''s a trial run for the Middlecreek bed and breakfast." I proudly advertised my future family business! "Well, today is a big day, it''s the second day of the big circus countdown, and..." Mandy paused and pointed her camera at... "There''s Ellie!" Mandy proudly announced, "The girl who made me an honorary aunt because Mom practically adopted her personal assistant... Which in theory I should be SO, so happy with because she doesn''t bug me anymore..." "But in reality...." Mandy laughed as she pointed the camera back to herself, did a hand sign and said... "We''re going to cut this out because sometimes I get really jealous, and then, that''s when Mother tries to actually do stuff with me and well¡­" Then spread her arms and laughed..! "That never works out!" "Anyways!" Mandy smiled at the camera before pointing it back at the action! Which just happened to be some little dog hopping up on a bigger dog and getting taken for a ride! And then said, "Always remember folks!" She pointed the camera lense to Ellie''s 8 year old dog and said, "Not only young pups are fun!" (Picture of that little dog smiling with excitemtent as the bigger dog is taking them for a ride.) "Yeah, some of that will be good!" Mandy smiled, then pointed her camera at me and asked, "So, where are your babies?" I looked around and then saw Mom''s rainbow coloured dog toy..! MOM!?? Why did Momma Luari let you have pigtails at a dog show??? (Silly picture of a dog toy hanging off one of Momma Kates pigtails.) Well... I shook my head and told Mandy, "Momma Kate brought Alabaster." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. That was when we watched Ellie''s aunt Maddie come out and Ben asked me, "Is that the person who''ll teach you those mad acrobatic skills?" "Well, there~Zzz" Mandy thankfully diverted my embaressment by making us laugh as she introduced the person who was looking up at the cieling for some reason, "Maddie is a local here from Noel and the reason why we are here today." Maddie hopped up and I found out why Mandy did that sleepy time Zzz thing! Because at this very moment, I am watching a mesmerizing acrobatic air dance as Maddie hopped up and grabbed hold of the falling hoop! And then..! While she sat down there holding a "circus soon" sign, a dog hopped up through the hoop and probably is going to get on tomarrows front page of the paper! (Picture of Maddie catching a dog that landing on her lap.) "You are su''posed to wait your turn!" Madieline, the person who is going to teach me how to do that hushed near the dogs ear said before landing and exclaiming, "Ahh! This little guy couldnt wait up, but I hope y''all can (wait your turns) at the Noel circus next week." And then she let the dog down, made them all wait as she did a verbal countdown of... "3. 2. 1. Go go go go go!" As all the dogs ran through the hoop and started off the race portion of the dog show, I kept feeling like I am planning on doing the right thing because that really cool and mature TEENAGER is the one who put all these ideas in my head in the first place! It''s not that I''m scared, everything is going perfect now, of course I''m scared, I''m scared that I''m going to fall down and Mom is going to run away and scream to Momma Laura that it''s all her fault for bringing us back here where I got hurt. Yeah... I''m scared, But..! I also know that the liklyness of that happening are... And the liklyness that having incredible fun and learning probably important skills too will probably be so worth it! So..! Yes, I dare to think it! Maddie is going to teach me how to be an acrobatic sky dancer too! "There she is!" "Who?" Ben looked at me, so I got defensive and shouted, "The person who''s going to make me a real ACROBAT!" * Chapter 18.5 Chapter 18.5Nerella Trish is going to be an acrobat! Narrie Middlecreek here and after the dog show, we went to the frozen confectionery palace, that''s actually a wooden front, like in an old western, one of my granpie''s friends likes to make those movie props. Anyways..! Today... Is VERY HOT! (Picture of thermometer saying 90/32 degrees!) I stared, I looked, Basically? Ellie texted me that they were getting an ice-cream after the dog show, and it''s a great way to get on Maddie''s good side. See... Apparently Maddie is kinda like me in the way that she is really scared of dangerous stuff, but purposely does things like acrobatics. where you can probably, definitely break your neck..! Anyways..! "HEY YOU!" I called to Maddie when I saw them come over. "Hey honey," She tapped a tall chair and told me, "you know, I''ve know you since you were as tall as this here chair." then thought for a moment and added, "And honestly, it should not surprise me that you like balancing because you used to climb right up these bar stools." Momma Kate laughed, and then surprised me by encouragingly smiling, "So my princess might actually learn a skill this summer?" I looked... So... Momma Kate isn''t terrified that I''m going to break my skull? Like... This should make me happy right? Maddie laughed and said, "I don'' know. It''s really just doing yoga on a really big tire swing." "But..." I had dreams about being a sky dancer and now you say it''s just playing on a tire swing..? "What?" This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Maddie laughed and explained to me, "Well... Acrobatics is just the art of balancing your body weight as it sways around in the air waves. But then the advanced stuff is when a performer swings from poles to hoops to swings like skateboarding in the air." (Picture of Narrie starting to think about fire poles and playground tire swings and... an elegant tutu wearing ballerina dancing on the tire swing.) I thought about that, Now that''s the kind of stuff I signed up for and probably really will break my neck if I attempt it on my own so I had better do what my teacher says is play it safe! Especially if she''s also scared to break her neck!" "Well Narrie!" Madeline Peterson looked directly at me and... I need to learn this looking directly into someones eyes to get their attention trick! "Do you want me to help you choreograph your own show?" Ahh... So there I was, still... Kinda frozen as I watched Maddie''s attention completely switch to Momma Laurie as she brought over a couple of ice creams! See! Momma Laura KNEW that I would probably have a hard time getting my words out, so like... She even ordered me a Frosted Cocoa Berry Parfait! "Honey!" She did not laugh while my nervous smile was getting pretty obvious, but she certainly smiled and even dared to lick her lips as she twirled the spoon around and told me with a snap of her fingers..! "I thought you wanted to be "Trisha Narella spinning around in an elevata." (Picture of Lauri holding two ice cream parfaits and..! This is how she brings me back to earth! I however started to breath again and nearly gasped as she sat down across from me and said, "Oh, you want one?" Of course I nodded, but THEN..! Momma Lauri added on a stipulation! "Well, I challenge you:" She started, "To do something incredibly scary and potentially real that will create a memory that might just be your worst memory but it is going to be a memory that will live inside of you... FOREVER!" I... "You mean I gotta actually ask Maddie to help me learn how to hold onto the giant hoop as it spins around in the air..." I am trying not to think about what I am saying because..! It''s just scary! "And on top it off, I need to learn how to wave and not throw up?" "Yeah." Momma Lauri smiled at me, nearly handing Mom the parfait that literally has my name on it and..! Well..! I told her! "Only if you do something equally embarrassing too!" "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha." Maddie laughed, "You just want the parfait!" "Yeah, so?" I said as Momma Laurie stuck a straw in her milkshake and told Madeline, "That''s how I get her to do things she needs a little extra encouragement to do." "WELL!" I will not be predictable! So I gave Momma Lauri a hug that made her spill a little bit of her milkshake and said..! "That was for..." "Honey!" Lauri muttered, "You just made me spill it on YOUR head so..." ARRGH! Picture of Narrie''s sticky hair. *** Chapter 19 Practicing our circus performance. Chapter 19 Practicing our circus performance. Narrie Middlecreek here and it''s been a few days since we started practicing! Me and Ben have a rhythm lined up, first we climb up onto the hoop, and then we brace ourselfs as it starts to spin... Ha... Ha... Well... This is my circus, and guess what? My BFF Sunny, and sharer of this super special late mother day birthday party got to come over the mountain for a few days! And like... You know those elf skeletons that I was joking about at the beginning of the book? Well... This is why..! So... The town had that dragon festival party last year and there was a new Santa''s workshop, like a wood carving toy shop and... Well! "Santa" hires "elfs" to deliver presents throughout our mountains and they are doing some of the coolest acts in our little circus! (Picture of some of the performers in elf costumes with ears and a santa''s workshop dragon emblem and everything.) Well... I personally don''t think you wanna actually see all the mistakes we made while training so... I''m going to skip to the circus! Ha ha. I''m joking, it''s just a silly dream that I had! Dreamy border picture of the day of the make up birthday circus day!!! "And now!" Mr Blister acted as MC of our pretty large for no planning circus..! And then, when his gravelly voice didn''t want to come out of the speakers... The other Mr Blister, (I mean Aaron''s dad) spread out his arms to make a big air trumpet and shouted, "What you have all come to see, for her make up birthday party, Trisha Narella spinning around in an elevata" This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "Hey Narrie... What''s an elevata?" Ben just asked me and... Basically, Ben acts really dumb sometimes. "It''s just a spinning thing," I answered him as the rings we were holding onto started to rise, "Like when the rings go up and down..." and that''s when I realized that the circular curtain that we were standing in was way, way down below us! And I started to do that hyperventilating thing and...! OMG. "Oh-mi-ga oh-mi-ga!" I could not calm myself down when Ben, the boy of my dreams gave my hand a reassuring grip and smiled at me and gave my hand a reassuring grip and... That''s when I gulped that anxiety down and laughed! Because honestly... I twirled around in the middle of the hoop and joked, "It''s not like it''s that easy to fall off!" Shoot... I... I''m still spinning and the EVERYONE IS GOING TO WATCH ME WHEN I FALL! (Picture of circus in the middle the kids over a air thing.) Splat! (Flashback boarder.) Well... That woke me up! SIGH... I kept thinking about that all morning, I even told Ellie that... "Everyone is going to see me fall..." "Ha ha ha..." Ellie laughed a few days ago, AFTER I FELL! "Yeah, but when you get into middle school, you''ll have 2 options, embrace it and move forward, or be paralyzed and look back on yourself and always feel all silly for like ever." Then Momma Lauri pouted and said, "You have it easy! You and Ben get to at least pretend that no-one is staring at you, but me? I''m literally the center of attention!" (Picture of Momma Lauri in a clown costume and (practicing) bicycling around the ring.) Well... Her clown costume is better put together and designed then last year when she dressed as a cat familiar for Halloween. She didn''t wear ears and... Her whiskers were just penciled on! But... Then again... That''s also when she proposed and had a lot of other things on her mind, but still! Well... I have some things on my mind too! Like number 1: I am so happy that she kept encouraging me to do this acrobatic performance, although it''s really really kinda scary. And 2: I''m really happy that even though she is kinda a boring kind of a geek unlike those cool forensic geeks who always have brightly lit offices and dance music playing. I''m really happy, because she cares about me and never tries to run away or make Mom feel bad at all. And also... I kinda wish this was still like my dream where Ben is superman and can catch me when I''m falling..! Chapter 20. Our opening segment and... Whos that? Chapter 20. Our opening segment and... Who''s that? (This next part talks about a sensitive topic, ghosts.) Narrie Trish Middlecreek with Ben Macentire here at the first big circus day and guess who''s opening up with a silly bicycle act? Momma Lauri! Cue circus music--> Picture of momma in a clown costume getting squirted by water as she''s being pulled by a dog while in the background, half a person is walking through the bleachers... See there? Yeah, Mandy has a whole crew of student filmographers to film this whole event as we''re walking into our first act and... Ben you see this? Well, I kinda hope someone is recording what I''m seeing because that person just walked through the hay barrels... So, either I''m still dreaming again or this is a really cool magic trick! "Hi. Good afternoon. Howdy!" Is what I was saying as me and Ben waved into center stage, but all my attention was on that one familiar face. "And now!" Mr Blister acted as MC of our pretty organized for having no real circus experience circus... "What you have all come to see, and we would not have any of this if not for someones embarrassingly creative idea for a make up birthday party." Honestly! He did not have to say so many words and embarrass me! "Trisha Narella and Ben Macentire spinning around in circles!" Picture of me and Ben in our silly costumes, with a sack of candy each to throw to the audience as we rise up.) Well... After everyone laughed at our ridiculous costumes... Thanks to Mom and her attitude of, "Honey! If you wear silly costumes, you''ll be happy when they laugh at you!" Attitude... You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. We carefully climbed up into the hoop that was hovering several inches in the air and as soon after we had a good grip, it started to rise... And well... As hoop spunned around I lost my place but Ben helped me get into a rhythm and soon, we started throwing parachuted light ups and pieces of candy! It was cool but... GURGLE~. I just got dizzy and shifted my body weight and forgot how to slow down and I''m really sorry Ben! Picture of hoop spinning out of control with Narrie and Ben on it as candy parachutes down on Momma Lauri''s clown hair! Well... It quickly became a nauseous ball of terrifying soup as we spun around and around and like..! I did not throw up on Momma Laurie''s head! So there! I caught my breath and waved and slowed down to a gentle spin as every time I passed the 12 o clock where... OMG, Momma Laurie must have noticed the ghost too because she just swerved! "The haunted circus tent." I laughed, Ben looked at me, and although I don''t think he could hear me, I promised him, "I''ll tell you later." Soon after, guess what? Well... We looked in our santa clause or bank sacks kinda funny like we rehearsed, and then stepped down and bowed and then waved to everyone and I joked to Ben, "Now! Lets go get some of that deep fried carnival food!" Ben looked at me... Like, "Just joking! I know that we have a show later!" But then... (Picture of ghost standing in a hay barrel as Sunny comes over.) "Narrie, what''s wrong?" Ben asked as Sunny came running and jumped through the dust that I thought was waving to me. "So..." He playfully took my hand like we practiced it one of us ever needs an extra hand and led me outside with Sunny, "You said the tent is haunted???" "Wait..." Sunny looked around and laughed, "Really?" Now... I would normally love Sunny''s "robust" attitude except for one thing..! What was that? Oh yeah... BTW, Ben is kinda afraid of ghosts... And there''s like one that I''m 100 percent certain that I''m not the only one who sees them right there! (Picture of the three of us standing in front of a circus entrance.) Well... After the clowns, meaning Momma Laurie and some of those Santas workshop elfs stole the show for a couple of minutes. Our ringmast, Mr Blister announced, "The really cool teacher on a unicycle, Mr Beesly!" "Downright foolish is what you mean!" Momma Kate huffed, apparently not thinking doing dangerous things is good for a young father to be doing as she told Baby Milo, "And that''s you''re daddy out there... Lets hope he doesn''t brake his back and gives you the childhood you deserve." "Hey, whats going on anyway?" Sunny asked as we watched Mr Beesly come onto stage and several of the kids laughed at his clown costume with a clown watering flower bee and everything! "That''s..." "This little flyers papa..." Momma Kate sighed as she and Milo watched the man going a death defying jump over a puddle of water with plush crocodiles and toy fishes as Mr Unicycle from one stone to the next, "Oh, yeah, Mr Beesly, he''s going to be your homeroom teacher." "Okay..." Sunny muttered, "Don''t really want to think about that because I won''t be here but..!" She smiled at Mom, then gave her a hug and said, "Thank you for throwing us a really cool circus birthday party!" Chapter 20.5 second act and a surprise emergency Chapter 20.5 second act and a surprise emergency "AND NOW!" Mr Blister started to rumble into the microphone..! "What some of you have all been waiting for..!" Honestly, I''m starting to think that Mom is right, Like... What if Mr Beesly actually got hurt! "Mr. Beesly will do his most death defying trick EVER!" That''s when a man in a brightly yellow and black bee striped jacket and came out and started a buzz! Like what I mean is that the whole audience started buzzing! I mean, it was so loud that some of the show dogs that we are trying to get adopted for the second half of our act are getting bothered! "Mom?" Well... My Beesley''s unicycle show just started, and guess what... I think that Mom is talking to my imaginary friend..! (Picture of mom talking to transparent person as she stands in the entrance with Baby Milo and Mr Beesly is doing his unicycle show and Narrie Middlecreek is kinda worried...) Narrie Middle creek here and I have a secret, I have an overactive imagination, yeah, I personally don''t think there''s anything "wrong" about it, but... That old lady, the one who Momma Kate is talking to? I''m pretty certain that she''s my Momma Laurie''s grammy who I''ll never get to meet in person, and if this is like last time... Grampa Alexander is around here too!" I''m excitingly looking around at the dogs because Momma Laurie says that I remind her of him that way. So I think he''s with the dogs that are looking for new homes! "Hi!" Momma Kate waved to the wall and said to someone..? Or my imaginary grammy? AKA The angel who brought us here..! If Mom sees her maybe she''s real! "I haven''t seen you since the wedding." "You gonna watch your grandbaby''s performance?" Mom sighed as my namesake continued to blankly watch Mr Beesly''s death defying act of crossing on ever growing smaller and taller stone structures while buoy balloons are swinging at him from both sides!!! "Oh well." Mom sighed and said, "It was nice seeing you again." I looked at mom, received a good luck hug, and smiled, because, like, with my family and friends here I''ve got a lot of good luck! You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "Narrie." Ben held his hand out, "You ready?" "Okay..." I looked at my prince and walked with him, but not hand to hand to the center podium and tried to give him my thoughts with a smile. ''Just because I don''t need your hand, doesn''t mean I don''t still need you though! Ben, I hope that you realize that.'' It''s just that... Number 1, I''m 11 now, a free woman! I''m just trying to figure things out! Number 2. I''m honestly not sure about things... I''m only 11! My brain is still developing! And number 3... "Mom don''t need no body," That attitude still plays in my head even though Momma Laurie is currently holding her hand and they probably need each other just as much as I need them and my friends! "Let''s do this!" I took Ben''s hand and... Well! That''s when the fun started! (Comic picture diagram to follow of our performance.) so in this, there was two circus poles, and the two of us are going to twirl to the middle, change, and twirl back! We climbed, then we twirled, and then we flipped around and it was incredible! And then... I heard a bark and... I should have been ready for this, we practiced it enough times! I mean... First I smelled smoke. Then the clowns were acting erratically... I know that we rehearsed this part and it''s safe but..! Well! Instead of acting appropriately, I was dazed with the dogs barking around me while some figure seemed to point at me from behind the smoke and say, "I need you." "Narrie!" Ben woke me up as I was overwhelmed and exclaimed, "Fire!" I looked again and yeah! There she was, Grammy Trish Alexander in full colour, and not the one that''s sitting with my uncle and cousin neither! But the one I saw in my dreams and promised me that everything would be alright. Except..! "Hup hup hup" The silly clown are calling the dog carrying water fire brigade and that''s when we started our real show! Which was... Simply to navigate down ALL OF THESE HOOPS! See, Mr Blister had several laying around and I kinda wonder why... Anyways, I got to climb through the loops in an interestingly funny way with all of the balancing tape and metal hoops! So we started our performance of going from loop to loop and walking between them and standing on top and climbing down and Ben helped center my foot when it fell and..,.! NO! I didn''t fall on the pool of foam! Ben caught me! Sigh! And then we performed our act spinning down back to the ground as the clowns were going HUP HUP HUP! It was so funny! Oh the suspense! As WE, Me and Ben have to put out a mock fire to save the dogs that are hopefully finding forever homes soon! "Narrie. LOOK!" Momma Lauri waved her arms helplessly as she pointed a sign toward a HUGE aquarium with several candles smoking oil lamps inside and shouted "FIRE!" "Narrie..!" Momma Kate is playing her part by looking so worried with those dogs but..! "HEY Ben!" He''s holding a water hose and..! "Why''re you spraying my face!" That''s when the hose went, dead... Ben, yes Ben my boyfriend made a great not first, but early impression as he saved the day by throwing a bucket of water and putting out the fire, but not before the clowns decided to make a big show of things and shoot fire retardant everywhere! And I mean everywhere.! *** Chapter 21. Anita, intermission, and ghosts at the petting zoo! Chapter 21. Anita, intermission, and ghosts at the petting zoo! I''m Narrie Trish Middle creek and guess what? My circus birthday party is being haunted by people I never got to meet except in my dreams..! I know this because Momma Kate talked to one of them as she and imaginary Grampa Alexander were telling the intermission adoption dogs to wait! That was right after we bowed and waved around to everyone, and listened to Mr Blister say, "And now for an intermission! Where we will have a little dog show folks, these dogs need homes. And..!" He huffed and let out a nervous exclamation! "I, I would be very surprised if nobody can help..!" Way to put the guilt on people huh?! At least it''s better then the "Do you have room in your heart?" ads, and then Mom would tell me, "Hun, I live out of a backpack and we share a twin, I don''t think we have room in our flat." Well... That''s all in the past when we went out into the petting zoo and Ben exclaimed, "THAT WAS GREAT!" (Picture of a petting zoo with family!) Ben exclaimed, "EVEN BETTER THEN WE REHEARSED!" "Honey," Mom just looked at me and asked, "Are you okay?" Sigh... She know something freaked me out there, it''s not the mock fire, we rehearsed that several times, it''s the... (Picture of ghosts grandparents waving and by a cow fence at circus petting zoo.) "I..." I know I''m just overwhelmed and tired... And I know that I''m probably genetically crazy... I mean, I don''t really know that but Mom always says that Dad was crazy and I also know that "my brain is still developing..." But... Is it okay to want to go up to my imaginary grandparents who I think that I''m watching them wave to me and... I mean like going up and saying "Hi" to that cow that Grammy Trish is hugging is... That would really make me look crazy right?!? Well instead. I laughed! "Ha ha ha." I laughed the shakes out of my shoulders and admitted, "I just thought I saw a ghost." "A ghost?" Ben opened his eyes wide and exclaimed, "Again!?! Like.. This tent might actually be haunted???" Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. "Oh sweetheart, I didn''t think that you still thought ghosts were still icky?" Mom remembered how I used to get spooked, I still get kinda uncomfortable, but... "Just remember that they can''t hurt as baby, but they can remind us of things." Remind us of things..? See... Even though I never got to meet Momma Lauri''s parents, I think that''s them because they look the same as the photographs on refrigerator. "So Narrie." Ben started to ask just when as my cousin Anita was coming over! "Hey! Why are you smiling?" Picture of Narrie''s cousin Anita giving her a high five.) "Because." I told Ben with a bit of sass just before Anita gave me a high five! "That was so cool!" Anita gave Ben a high five and then chuckled at our funny chicken costumes..! Picture of our funny chicken trapeze costumes. Yes, that''s why I hid the photos! I did not want to tell you... But then, my older and really mature cousin Anita might have asked me, "So you think I''m too old to learn that trapeze stuff? I mean like..." This is why I said "might". "Because I''ve always wanted to go mountain climbing and really hope they kinda have some climbing clubs at college or something really close by because I once went rock climbing with some other kids one time and well..." She hushed in my ear and then told me, "They didn''t wear harnesses!" Okay, if that was too many words, totally feel free to skip whatever my cousin is saying. "And I''m like, NO!" Anita started her funny story that I would usually love if not for several amazing things happening right now! "I ain''t gonna crack my skull again, and they were like, "Oh, wear a helmet if your so scared," and the thing is that like... I broke my leg once RIDING A BIKE! So like, I am NOT going to go rock climbing without a harness. Okay," ''Hey Ben?'' I looked at the boy who actually wears a watch and mentally asked him, ''When do we have to go again?'' "I mean like," Anita started, "I figure that if I break stuff doing like relatively safe stuff like riding a bike, I''m going to definitely get hurt and stuck in the hospital like all season long if I go rock climbing without a harness so like of course I''m not going to go without a harness you know!" And here is a picture of my cousin Anita spinning her finger around like the second hand on a watch. "But like, you guys learned how to spin with the hoops like an acrobat and Aunt Laurie said that you like just learned this like last week, in town???" "And I was like, "Really?" I told her, "So I''d have an excuse to come to town on the weekends if they can like... Teach me too? Because Narrie! That looked really cool!" "Aaand Now!!!" Mr Blister was heard over the loud speaker system, "What maybe some of you have been waiting for! When our cast comes together for the continuation of the dog show and adoption!" "Oh gotta get my seat!" Anita ran back to her seat. Sigh, I clucked like the chicken I did not really want to be, I wanted to be a colorful bird of paradise! But all they had were these chicken costumes! So with a laugh we left the petting zoo and I told Ben, "Anyways, I''m pretty sure they''re happy ghosts." "Wait..!" I could just hear Ben gulping. He''s in the theater and been practicing you know, "There''s... More than just one ghost?" Well I just peaked in back of me and waved to the nice couple who I get to feel like they really are watching over me and yeah... So what if an older kid has imaginary friends? HUH!?! Chapter 22. Our final act with the dog adoption! Chapter 22. Our final act with the dog adoption! Cue circus music! Yawn... I mean! It has been an AMAZING DAY!!! Narrie Middlecreek with Ben Macentire here for our final act! Where (hopefully) all of these dogs get forever homes! Picture of Ben and me are walking toward the center circus stage where things look chaotic! Anyways... Remember how Mom was bringing out some dogs? Yeah... Those ones are still amusing the audience, and remember those HUP! HUP! HUP! Clowns? They set up an obstacle course! But mostly, I get to imagine that Grammy Trisha is watching me from over there, or up there. And I mean... If it wasn''t for her being in my dreams I don''t think I would have EVER even have gotten a stepparent. Not only that, but I would have had a cursed name for the rest of my life! "Come on Narrie!" Ben just put a flying ribbon in my hand and we are starting our final act! "Hey," He started to add when the dogs started to follow us around the circus, "some of them are actually following us onto the obstacle course!" "Told you!" I told Ben as we went all outback with our ribbon wips and tried hard to do a trick that we almost succeeded one time! "Lets whip them through the hoops and pull them down!" Well... After about 5 times of trying, and by the way... Don''t tell Ben but the rope person had already started to lower the hoop... But then..! Everything worked out so awesomely that one of the dogs was just as impatient as Ben! (Picture of hoop wrapped with Bens ribbon wand as excited Thomas hops through the hoop before it lowered.) Well, as we walked to the bench for a well needed break, I thought about how we got all of those show dogs to jump through the hoop like a limbo jumping dance and I think that they''ll all get forever homes! Sigh... Just looking around this birthday circus is amazing! But... Sigh... "I can''t find them..." Like... What if I just made them up... I mean... I looked all around and... "Who?" Ben asked, but... "Grannie and Grampa..." I told Ben something that I really didn''t think would even bother me... I looked around, the show is practically over, and my imaginary grandparents are gone too and... I mean... "Mom always tells me not to be scared of ghosts and memories but she never told me how bad it can feel when they leave me!" I complained to Ben as we sat down on a bench and watched the real animal trainers and wait until the clowns and come back at the big finale! Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. (Picture of big finale!) "And now..!" Mr Blisters loud ring master voice started to announce, "For any of you who would like to celebrate your birthday or un-birthday or even a 360 day late birthday..." He did that dramatic pause thing! "Come on up! Because this circus is in fact a make up birthday party for a kid who''s special day just happens to land on a very very special holiday to celebrate all nourishing persons!" So..." He paused... Moved his hand toward Mom and... "Come on up and shine your colorful light Kate." "You know..." Sunny just laughed, "I think that Mr. Blister actually expected you''re Mom to not run the other way!" Well... That''s when the spot light went to Momma Kate and Momma Laurie in her clown outfit that made everything look rehearsed! (Picture of Moms sad smudgy colorful makeup from Momma Laurie.) "Well...!" Mr Blister continued while Momma Laurie kept Mom from hiding her face and making sad smudgy make up clown and you know... I think this was rehearsed! "And a very... Great representation for the newest business in Noel! The Middle creak hotel, and guess where it''s located..!" "The bridge by the creek!" Aaron stole the spotlight. "Ho ho ho," He continued like he expected Aaron... And then smiled as a dog came up to him and he pointed to them 3 projector screens in the middle and ask asked, "was that a dog, or..! Yes, it''s the other reason why we are having the circus here!" He pointed up to the kid and his grandparents who mom thought that buying circus tickets would be an easy wish to grant... Personally I''m really happy that it wasn''t! "Because this guy made a wish," Mr Blister added, "and for your benefit his whole family was happy to be interviewed!" "Well!" Sunny looked at me and said, "That dying grandparent was on the big spotlight, and on Mandy''s camera too!" * Guess what happened next..! Well, we walked out of the tent and I think that my imaginary friends are still around here because I just felt a warm chill! So I took a deep breath, and let out a smile as I excitingly asked my best friends, "So... Guess what?" "What''s up Narrie?" Ben, my chicken feather covered here is asking me, "Like, ready for tomorrow?" "Argh!" Sunny exclaimed, "I wish that I could do something for OUR birthday too! But..." Sunny informed us all of the dreaded news..! "We''ll be going back to pottsville tomorrow night..." "Well!" I looked around and you know something? I really like to pretend that my best friends saw my imaginary ghosts because that means that we really are in fact all connected! "Oh Sunny!" I watched people leave and decided to let my silly side out, "Were you able to see Granny Trisha?" Yeah! It was kinda silly to say that... But, I also know that it''s perfectly okay because my brain is developing and I can get messed up easily and start to actually think that I see ghosts... But... I looked around and saw some happy family, maybe it was the ghosts, maybe it''s because everything is better than alright now. But the fact remains that my parents really are really together. And... "I am VERY very happy with my new name and my life and my late birthday circus on TV and you guys too!" "Ha ha ha..." Sunny smiled at me as informed me that... "Well..! I didn''t see no spooky things Hon, but, you know?" She spread her arms and added, "I know there''s some spooky thing behind our our house!" Ben looked a little spooked and asked, "What?" "Narrie!" Sunny exclaimed to me, "You live in a haunted hotel now!!!" Chapter 23 After the circus performance..! Chapter 23 After the circus performance..! (And there is an intentional spelling mistake to show how tired I, (NTM) was...) "NOT A HOTEL!" I, Narrie Trish Middlecreek who is still proudly wearing her chicken acrobatic jumpsuit just blurted out to my best friend and sharer of this makeup birthday circus, Sunny Crumpet, "It''s a Bed and breakfast! "Well..." Ben excused Sunny''s rude behavior by blaming the mayor, "Mr. Blister ALWAYS fumbles his words to get a laugh!" "Hi there Narrie!" The Kaplins, who I just met the other night when Momma joked that I wouldn''t inherit the business until I''m 60..! "We got a room booked in a few weeks, be looking forward to working with you!" Well... The sun must be in my eyes because I... Just saw Grannie Trisha leaning against the fence and petting a goat and like... I know my anxiety is making her up now so disappear! "That was the Koplins," My tired self explained, "They thought would be kinda nice to spend the holidays in a like small town, just like the movies Mom really likes!" "Ha ha ha." Sunny laughed and I spilled the beans about my really busy week! "So here''s the story," I started to stand up like a really wobbly chicken! "some of the investor people asked if there were any vacancies in town? And Br. Blister asked us, like in person if we had guest rooms available? And like¡­" I took a breath to get into Mom''s accented loud voice and demanded, "What does he want this time!?!" "Ha ha ha." Ben laughed. "And then... Mr Blister shared with us his fabulous story of the Middlecreek Bed and Breakfast deal!" And that is when I pointed both of my arms to... "My beautiful clown of a stepmother thought it was a great idea! And she told him," The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Only if you make us GOOD," I made myself all businesslike and said, "And I mean really "GOOD advertising!" "Absolutely!" Mr Blister said and..." "So..." Sunny perked up, "Aaron''s doing the graphics huh?" "IDK." I said, "I think that there going to work the bed and breakfast into that monthly comedy magazine." "Cool!" Sunny exclaimed and emphasized, "So maybe I can drag my uncle back here BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS," And then..! "Mom will never worry because he will have a steady paycheck drawing cartoons... HERE!!!" Well I laughed and remembered that evening, it was right after I had practically begged Ellie''s aunt person, Mrs Peterson to teach me the art of acrobatics. "Grr''rate!"Mom laughed at the news and snapped her fingers, "You''re already acquainted with our first unofficial trial guests." "For... What?" But then Mom answered, "For our bed and breakfast silly!" And then Momma Laurie came in and told me, "YEP! And if all goes well it''ll be ALL yours in about 50 years!" What? (Picture of me, Narrie with a weird expression on my face going, Ahhh?) But then... Momma Kate said something that I really don''t understand... But... I''m still kinda really scared about, and that is because she laughed and asked Lauri is she was going to remarry... "Well..." I took a breath and explained my business situation, "I don''t live in a hotel. I mean I might when I inherit the place in 50 years though..." "50 years?" Sunny exclaimed and then muttered, "Well... They do say that 60 is the new 30." "Yeah-AWN." That was Ben''s yawn... Usually I would usually think that yawning in the middle of the afternoon is a bit rude, but right now, we''re both kinda tired so... Yawn... It''s contagious! So... "Why don''t you see if Mrs Peter will teach you a thing or two," I told Sunny, "and then you can be in the show tomorrow too!" She smiled, and then gave my Cinderella hands a parting kiss as she told me, "For a princess." And then she gave Ben a normal hug and waved to us both, "See you later!" "Okay..." Ben knows that I''m tired... What I mean is that, I... "This is the first time all week that I''ve got to take a break a break and..! We have a show tomorrow too!" "I know..." He yawned... I mean, I TOTALLY stifled my yawn, wait... BEN NO. (Picture of Narrie yawning as they''re sitting on a stump. "YAHAAAAaaaah.") "Okay..." I sat down on a stump out back as we waited for our cue for something which might be coming in a bit probably... I think... * Chapter 23.5 Some well needed rest. Chapter 23.5 Some well needed rest. Narrie Trisha Middlecreek here and after Ben and Sunny said goodbye, I spent as much time as I could resting and imagining being with my imaginary grandparents without making myself look crazily as possible! Well... The technique that I used was... "People watching". And what I did was I focused on them and we communicated in subtle expressions. Like a smile here and a nod there, and sometimes a wave. However, if you''re not careful and you really do start to snore, you might just do what I did spill your ice cream... (Picture of ice cream near Narrie''s feet as a goat that her imaginary grammy is petting starts to lap it up.) But then... Mom just stopped in front me and instead of sitting down with me, she started talking to imaginary Granny Trisha again and... Walked off. You know, things like this is why I wonder if ghosts and angels are "real" or just thoughts floating around in my head... "Hi Mom..." I lazily waved... It was NOT because I was tired though! I knew that I was tired but... Mom doesn''t let us have ice cream at home! Something about getting sick and throwing up and forgetting about the sticky mess while overnight ants came and basically? I understand why she gets freaked out whenever she sees an ice cream cone in the house. Does that mean I don''t like icecream? NO! And I really want Momma Laurie, the person who actually carries cash, to buy me a new ice cream cone. "I am SO proud of you!" Momma Lauri just gave me a hug but... "What''s wrong sweetheart?" Well... I shook off that weird feeling and smiled but... Something is not right! So like, this is like the happiest day of my year right? So am I sad because it''s ending or am I just tired and losing my mind and... "Are you alright Sweetheart?" Momma Lauri asked me and... I looked at Momma Laurie, and in my mind, these are her parents haunting me, and she told me to always let her know if anything''s bothering me, and... I know that I''m just really tired but I''m also so scared that I''ll never see them again after they fade..! (comic of Narrie feeling very upset in Momma Lauri''s clown arms.) "Mom..." Momma Laurie led me along the garden by the river and I... "You told me that it''s okay to be crazy sometimes?" "Yeah sweetheart," Momma Laurie assured me as we walked onto my secret gazebo garden bridge and added, "You can even tell me that you hate me, and I''ll be alright with it." I... Am not sure how comfortable I am with that..! Well... Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "I know that I never got to meet them but..." I shrugged my chicken wings and confessed, "I think that you say that your parents live in heaven and stuff and sometimes even watch us and like, I think that maybe they might even visit us and help us to imagine them and..." I smiled at the person who promised me everything will be alright from now on and told her, "I love you and I am so glad you love me and Mom and..." She looked at me in the middle of the gazebo and gently told me, "You know? I think they visit here often." That''s when Momma Kate was pushing a wheelchair showing off the bridge that we built together last year to some pretty familiar faces. I mean..! They were on tv so... (I was too!) Anyways, one of them was in a wheelchair so I knew that''s why she was pushing a wheelchair! (Picture of family we are making a circus for.) "Look!" Lauri pointed out Billy, "There''s the kid who we''re doing this for, and his grandparents. We USUALLY keep it a secret you know with a calling card to help spread the magic." * (Picture of walking home with a very excited Momma Kate.) "So..." We passed some newly adopted pets as they walked through the living dragon pathway that we sometimes play croquet through and was asked... "Did you have good day?" "Well..." I took a deep breath and with a silly, "CLUCK", I told my parents that "This is like the best make up circus birthday party ever!" "Grr'' rate! Well..." Momma Kate started and... Did I ever tell you how much I LOVE seeing Momma Kate get excited about something? "I am so glad that you''re saying that because, guess what?" "What?" "Looks like we''re going to keep having actual bed and breakfast guests, and also!" She said a tongue twister, "And guess what else?" Mom! I looked at our guests car! And said, "I already know because Mr Blister advertised us!" "Yeah... But guess what else!" Momma Kate skipped onto the porch and told me, "I might be picking you up from middle school if that''s alright." Do big kids get picked up by there parents? "...Why?" "Because Mrs Beesly works till 5 twice a week and apparently I''m a decent babysitter after all." Part of me is a little surprised because I don''t think mom is actually a good babysitter, but I also know that I''m biased so... Well we have this little window decoration on the porch that says, "Protected by angels" on one side, and then we turn the sign around when we don''t want to be bothered to... "Beware! Angels within." I you know, think we''ll take the sign down now that we''re a Bed and Breakfast and just be protected by dragons, because they''re like the same thing. They''re all Gods protector spirits. But... I just went inside and took a good look at Laurie''s family portrait hanging up and... "Are ghosts protector spirits too..?" Well anyways, the reason why I really wanna know is because my imaginary grandparents look exactly the same! So their obviously not just my imagination! And if they''re Gods protecting spirits it shouldn''t bother me when other people talk to them... Well ANYWAYS..! It certainty did not take me long to enter my own personal dressing room tower, avoid looking at my messy bed and change out of this chicken costume! Because..! (Picture. Aroma of coffee and "Sniff sniff...") OHHH! I just smelled that coffee aroma and that means that I won''t need a nap after all! * Chapter 24: I... WAS SO BRAVE! Chapter 24: I... WAS SO BRAVE! I''m Narrie Trish Middlecreek and I am... Mostly partially convinced that my grandparents have haunted my make up birthday party circus! Anyways..! Where''s this aroma..! Sigh... Momma Lauri still has some of her clown makeup and and the coffee smell is in the air and... Maybe I''m just tired but I feel like a whiny little kid..! Basically, if you don''t know the context... My party just ended and well... I''m 11 now, and I''m too old to take a nap! (Picture of kitchen with Momma Lauri still having some of her clown costume on as she''s making coffee..) "So..." I was really good, I mean like, I didn''t even slur my words at all so..! I put on the cuteness and smiled, "Can I have some? I was a really good girl!" "Uh huh." Momma Lauri said sarcastically and well... There''s this thing about geeks... They speak "geekanese", basically, there''s this rumor of micro subcultures in the bigger schools... And well, I honestly don''t know if she meant, ''No.'' or, ''It''s not like your going to sleep tonight anyways... So..!'' "And um..." Well, I thought it best to make up a really quick good reason why I need an after circus birthday party pickup loaded with caffeine and sugar and... She''s getting out the spices! "And," I told her because Momma Laurie who''s coffee is so much better than any energy drink that I''ve ever had and said..! "You were really proud of me!" Well... Sh did not budge! No, instead she put me on the spot by squinting her eyes! "And uh..." I started to sit down and tell her that, "I really want to share something with you." AH! that spicy aroma that you constantly insist that the recipe has been passed orally for generations. That means by talking, like... NOT EVER WRITTEN DOWN!!! I took a good look at Moms back and told her, "Sometimes you say that it''s okay to have coffee to help me before I spill the beans and tell you guys something important that''s on my mind so..." She just turned around and broke up the dust from the afternoon sun and asked, "What''s on your mind Honey?" "I''m tired..." I... Okay... I just thought I saw some of that glowing fairy magic dust swimming around Mommas hand, but like, I thought that magic was all just make believe... Yeah, just like ghosts. "Never mind, it''s nothing." (Picture of coffee aroma and dust particle glowing.) "Well..." Momma Laurie laughed as she spun the golden glowing dust around with her arm and told me, "Whether you need it or not, "everything will be better if you reach for the stars." then she took another mug down for Momma Kate and told me that, "You two have proven that to me." (Picture of Grammy Trisha reaching out her hand into the dust glow and blowing it as grampa Middlecreek waved to her.) "I..." Umm... Grampa Middlecreak just opened the kitchen door and waved to my imaginary Grammie Trisha..? "I coulda'' sworn..." He just mumbled and... Okay, this is getting way too weird for me to wait for coffee... I mean..! "I..." Imaginary grammie just swirled that golden dust and smiled at me like.. Like... "Yeah!" Momma Laurie broke up my nonsense thoughts by telling us, "That was one of Mom''s things, she always told us that, "Not only will everything will be okay, but things will get even better if you keep trying and reach for the stars..." I looked at the cloudy apparition that looked like her and I even thought that I heard a voice that sounded like the home videos that Lauri showed us tell me, "Not only will everything will be okay, but things will get even better if you keep trying and reach for the stars..." Okay..! "You know my new name right, Trish?" I looked at Momma Lauri, who''s probably going to think I''m crazy but... "Well... I saw her. Grammie, I saw her before I even met you!" Momma Lauri she seemed okay with that so..! I completely spilled the beans! I mean, I just couldn''t take it anymore! "I saw you after school at the diner, and then I had a dream about Mom and then I saw you again and you waved and I thought that, "Mom might get a new friend! Because..." Momma Laurie smiled at me and... "Because in my dream, Granny Trisha told me that you were going to help Mom be less lonely." "And then!" I was so proud of myself and poured myself a cup of that liquid energy and told Momma Laurie my deep dark secret..! "the next day I saw you and mom laughing and imagined that grammie Trisha, I didn''t know it was her back then, but she and Grampa Alexander were peeking through the window and pointing and laughing and..." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. What''s wrong? Momma Lauri bit her lip and is looking around and... There I was, holding my breath because I really didn''t know if I just messed up and made Momma Lauri really mad at me or sad, but... I just wanted her to look at me! (Picture of Momma Lauri clown with tears in her eyes..) Well...! After she smiled at me, I went to get a photograph from the refrigerator and said, "I know it''s probably just all the stress going on! But I would really like to get to know them a little better..." Momma Lauri just took my hand and asked, "You know what this means?" "What?" Umm... Like, I don''t know, I''m tired? I''m crazy? I''m hallucinating and have something wrong with me that combined with an overactive imagination and the fact that... I have no clue? "Kate." Laurie laughed and told Mom,"We might not last forever." Okay... That''s the second time they''ve joked like this... IN FRONT OF ME! I know that I''m probably blowing things out of proportion but... It''s all my fault, I should NEVER have mentioned Granny Trisha, I just thought, since it''s my middle name now, I mean... Well... She just took a sip and I am getting kinda scared that she might be going back on her promise... I know that Momma Lauri gave me this locket to help me remember that no matter what, we''ll be family but... What if she''s lying? Mom said that people lie. I slid open the locket and held my expression while my heart cringed for the really, really bad news... "Oh Narrie, it''s nothing bad." Lauri said like... "It''s just one of them signs you know." ''So... You''re not breaking up?'' I want to ask them sometime, I want a clear answer before I go to bed. So instead I watched her pour coffee and asked, "Just a sign?" "Mm-hmm." Momma Laurie poured in some creamer and sighed. "Okay... You... You do want me still in your life right? I mean! You gave me this locket and promised!" "Oh sweetheart, it''s just that well... You know my brother?" Then she looked at Mom and said, "You know how we thought she helped Jarrod and Amber get together too." "There is absolutely nothing wrong with Amber!" Mom got all defensive and now they''re "talking" again, the exact same way that scares me! " Amber is a really good parent and Jared''s best friend." "Exactly," Momma Lauri gave Mom a kiss, and then well... I guess I was over reacting... So I made a foam heart in my mug and I... I think I''ll give it to Grampie. "Hi Grampie!" Grampa Middlecreek works at the hardware store and is helping us get some other rooms all fixed up so that we can be a real bed and breakfast! "Here! I made you some coffee." "Thanks Hon." I gave it to him and some of my cloudy heart still almost looked like something, and guess what..! "WOW! You''re expanding your abilities!" (Picture of Narrie''s latte art.) "It''s a garden, but then I messed it up so I tried to fix it into a heart and I messed that up too but it should be okay." "Well..." He set the coffee down and, "Ready for for our handshake?" Basically? We modify it almost every week and see who gets the moves in the correct order first. First we had a high five. Then we spun around, tapped each others shoulders and gave each other a hug! And well, afterwards he helped a tired kid stop thinking that the world is falling on their shoulders. Me, I''m the tired who who had a nightmare 3 days ago about the circus tend falling down on my head! "You know," Grampie told me, "there''s a lot of people who love you, and everything really will be okay, otherwise, what am I making a nursery for?" I... What? Nursery? Like... A..! Anyways... "Narrie Honey, I really want to let you know what surprised me," Momma Laurie took a deep breath and brought me a mug to help me make my own creamy concoction and said, "Granny Trisha told me where I could find a really good friend too, in my dreams. But I thought that it was just my imagination." She helped me fill up the mug with some whipped cream and explained, "But what surprised me was that if she was in your dreams too, then maybe it wasn''t... Just a dream." (Picture of Grannie Trisha nodding a smile behind Momma Lauri.) "Really?" Momma Laurie just told me that it''s okay to think that imaginary Granny might not be just imaginary. "Then like... Maybe she can help me in middle school? Oh yeah, since she''s haunting this place, she can help me clean!" "Ha ha ha." Momma Laurie put a cherry on top of my whipped creamy spicy cocoa and told me, "In my dream, Mom and Dad, Granny Trisha told me where I could safely open my heart up to a couple of really great people..." Well... My nose was in the whipped cream and then she tells me that??? And then she looked directly at me. Meaning that she challenged me to a game of blink 1, 2, 3... "I love you." (Picture of blink 3...2...1... "I love you.") You see, after my parents got engaged, Momma Laurie taught me this really mean game. She told me that I "don''t need to mean it, but it''s still sometimes fun to say it..?" "Okay..?" I remember asking, "Umm... Say what?" "Well!" Momma Laurie was trying so hard to be exciting back then... And "If we both say the phrase I''m thinking about at the same time, we can have a ditto flavored cookie!" "What''s a ditto flavored cookie?" I really wanted to know? I mean... "It''s two of a kind, a copy, a..." She pointed her finger to me and said, "I''ll have whatever she''s having." Well... Now when we say it at the same time, it feels kinda special you know? ANYWAYS. "I love you my little acrobat!" Momma Lauri reminded me that this is my forever home and I don''t really need to worry, "and I love your mom and I love knowing that everything really is..." "Yeah!" I answered quickly because I know how that emotional stuff sometimes bugs her, I mean... Today is a happy day! "And you know..." I looked around at all of my family and said, "I love my new middle name too." ''And all the changes we''re making? Like growing up? Or going into middle school without Sunny?'' Sorry... Those thoughts were actually NOT supposed to pop into my mind! "WELL..." Momma Kate yawned, "I hope you like your make up birthday missy because this not so little adventure is going to ruin my sleep for months!" "Ha ha ha ha!" That''s the great Kate. The person who I am always going to love even when she does gets mad at me for real and... Like when I forget that I gotta sometimes remind her that I do. In fact... Care? Well... I remedied that by running up to her, accidentally made her spill her creamy sleepy time tea, and then I reminded the person who gave me the best make up birthday party in the whole world that! "I love you too!" FIN Well..! This is Narrie Trish Middlecreek, and... It''s the end of our little adventure and well..! It was super fun! Like, all of that circus stuff! Yeah, Kick off for back to school! Yeah! Wait... You say we ended the last chapter with a cliffhanger? And what''d I say at the beginning of the chapter? Ahh... OH! You wanna know about the elfs! Well... Don''t tell anyone but... (We made ''em up.)