Bobby’s eyes popped open. “Cool! I never thought of that! I just love the sound of the little bell. Ding, ding, ding.”
“Yes, the bell is the best part,” Joe agreed slowly. He turned to me and whispered. “I see Zac and Meg coming.”
“Keep him talking…”
“I’m running out of material,” Joe whispered. “He’s not the deepest kid.”
“Make something up, Joe!”
Joe turned back to Bobby. “What’s your favorite fart of all time?”
Bobby put a finger to his mouth. He licked the finger. He put his finger in his nose. Joe and I both turned away. “Now that’s a really hard question. I’ve had some really great farts. Probably the time I stood up and farted in Meg’s face when she was watching some silly kissy movie on TV. It was a great fart because I totally didn’t mean it, and it really stunk. Meg said it made her cry. I was so proud.”
“Off the bike!” Zac said, grabbing Bobby by the shoulder. Zac pulled Bobby off his bike. Joe and I screamed and the bike crashed to the ground. We both bounced out of the carry pouch, rolled across the ground, down the curb, and onto the road.
“Oh, I probably should have done that differently,” Zac said.
Joe and I pushed ourselves to our feet. We looked up to see a red car coming down the road at us. Meg screamed.
Zac yelled, “Stop! Stop!”
“We’re going to die!” I screamed, frozen to the spot.
Joe pulled me next to him, more towards the middle of the street.
“Joe, what are you doing? We should be trying to get back to the curb!”
Joe shook his head. “No, I’ve done the math. We’re safe right here. Don’t worry. We’re going to be okay.”
I shivered and shook as the car drew closer and closer. My heart pounded so hard, I could feel it in my throat. It felt like my heart wanted to jump out of my mouth. I closed my eyes. I felt a rush of heat and wind. I tilted backward but didn’t fall, and I felt something whizzing over my head.
I slowly opened my eyes. Turning, I saw the car had passed right over us. Joe grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. “See, there are advantages to being two inches tall!”
Zac got down on his knees and helped Joe and me up over the curb. “That was SO close!” he said. “I was sure you guys were road kill. Man, that would have been so ugly. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Me too,” said Meg. “If you’re flat, I wouldn’t get any reward.”
“See, you are magic!” Bobby concluded.
I shook some sweat off my forehead. “I think lucky is a better word.”
“Luck and magic are the same things,” Bobby said. He rolled his eyes. “Silly, magic, little tiny people.”
I walked over to Joe and tossed my arms around him. I squeezed him hard. “Joe you saved my life. That was amazing thinking on your part!”
He squeezed me back. “Thanks, I didn’t see any other option.”
“Wait, are you two a couple now?” Zac asked.
Did I detect a tad bit of jealousy in Zac’s voice? First, he sounded concerned for my safety, and now he seemed worried that I might be more than buddies with Joe. Even though not an hour ago I told him we were just great friends. Could Zac actually be interested in me? Now that would be the strangest turn of events yet.
Joe looked up to Zac. “Nope, still just friends!”
“For now,” Meg said.
Joe and I stopped hugging. Joe looked at Meg. “Not just for now. I love Bella, but like a sister.”
“Oh yuck, how can you love a sister?” Bobby said, nearly choking on the words - love, and sister.”
Joe looked at him. “I’ve known her forever. I think my first words were spoken to her. She’s always been there for me and I will always be there for her.”
Bobby itched his head and picked his nose at the same time. “Sounds like icky love to me.”
“It is love,” I told Bobby, “just a different kind of love.”
“You’ll understand when you get older,” Joe said.
Meg walked over to Bobby. “Well maybe not. You are kind of dense!”
“Hey, I’m not dense!” Bobby stopped talking, he itched his butt. “Wait, what is dense?”
Before anybody could answer, we heard a man yell, “Hey, what are you kids doing on my lawn?”
We turned to a see a tall, but slightly bent old man walking towards us. He was using a walking stick and had a grumpy look on his face.
“Oh no, we stopped at old man Pool’s house,” Zac said. “He’s the meanest guy on the block, if not the city. He hates kids!”
“Oh,” I said, my jaw dropping. “I know this guy. He worked for my mom once. He was her janitor when she worked for a big company. He got fired for stealing trash.”
“Why would anybody steal trash?” Meg asked.
“My mom thought he was trying to steal company secrets. He is not a fan of hers,” I said, as Mr. Pool stormed over. “Zac, you can’t let him see us! He might use us to try to get money from my mom or something.”
“Don’t worry, not going to happen,” Zac told me. He walked forward and met Mr. Pool before he could get close enough to see us.
“What are you kids doing on my lawn?” Mr. Pool demanded again. His face turned red and the wrinkles on his face deepened.
“Just riding our bikes on the sidewalk, sir,” Zac said. I could hear the smile in his voice.
Mr. Pool came in closer. He pointed. “I only see one bike.”
“Oh good, he can count,” Joe whispered to me.
Zac tapped his foot nervously. “Actually, my sister and I are helping my little brother ride his bike. He’s just learning.”
“I am not!” Bobby screamed, stomping his foot.
Yeah, I was pretty sure Bobby wasn’t ever going to be the sharpest kid in his class.
Mr. Pool leaned forward and squinted. “Why’s a kid that young crossing the street on a bike?” he demanded. “I should call Child Services…”
Bobby ran forward. “I needed to get away with my little fairy people, I wanted to keep them all to myself.”
“Say what?” Mr. Pool balked.
“I found some fairies in my house. I want to keep them for myself so they can grant me wishes and give me money!” Bobby insisted.
As Bobby talked, Meg bent down, whisked us up and put us in her back pocket.
“Good thinking on her part!” I told Joe.
“As long as she doesn’t sit down,” Joe said. “That would be a terrible way to go.”
“Look, the fairies are over there!” we heard Bobby say.
“Kid, there are no such things as fairies!” Mr. Pool said. “Now go home before I call the police!”
“Yes, sir!” Zac said.
Chapter 11
We got back to Zac’s house, happy to be alive. Meg took us out of her pocket and dropped us on the kitchen table.
We heard a car pull into the driveway. Zac grinned. “Oh great. Mom is home. She can drive you guys back to Bella’s house. I figure that’s the safest way to go.”
I heard Zac’s words. They made perfect sense. We just get in the car and go home. But something about what old man Pool had said, worried me. What if word got out that my mom kept dangerous devices in our basement? Actually, the shrinking ray was most likely the only dangerous device in our basement. And it probably wasn’t dangerous at all, if used properly. But sometimes, people can make assumptions. I didn’t want or need anybody assuming my mom was a bad mom. That would have been so far from the truth.
“Zac, Meg, Bobby, please you have to hide us!” I said.
“Ah, why? My mom is cool for a mom,” Zac insisted.
“Yeah. Why?” Joe asked.
“Yes, our mom is great,” Bobby said. “She never even farts!” he added.
I leaned over the table. “I’m sure your mom is great. After all, you are all great. But I’m afraid she might misunderstand why we are so tiny. She might blame my mom and my mom could get into trou
ble. I don’t want that.”
“But your mom had nothing to do with us being dummies!” Joe said. He thought about it. “Well, you do have some of her genes, but still…”
“I get where Bella is coming from,” Zac said. “Nobody wants their mom to look bad. It’s kind of our job as kids to keep them looking as good as possible.”
“And to not embarrass us,” Meg said.
We heard the car door close. We heard footsteps drawing nearer. Zac quickly reached over and grabbed me. He dropped me into his side pocket. I assume he did the same for Joe.
Wow, my body tingled. I mean come on, you can’t get any closer to a guy than being in his pocket. Right? Wow, amazing, getting shrunk had actually got me closer to the cutest boy in the school. Now we were on an adventure together. This was something we could tell our kids and grandkids. I mean come on, you just can’t have a better more memorable and cuter meeting than…“Grandma shrunk herself and Grandpa saved her!” I gave myself a little mental pat on the back. Ha, even when I do something less than bright, it turns out pretty well for me.
I know that if Joe were in this same pocket, he’d probably point out that we were not out of trouble yet. We were still tiny and not home. He might even say that I was reading too much into Zac’s reaction. Joe, he always had to be so practical.
I heard the door open, snapping me back to the reality of the moment.
“Hey Mom,” Zac said.
“Hello Mom,” Meg said. “The sugar has worn off, I’m calm now.”
“Hi Mommy! I missed you, and we don’t have any small people in the house,” Bobby said.
“That’s good, kids,” Zac’s mom said. “Now I have lots of groceries in the car. Please help me bring them in.”
“Right!” Zac said. I felt myself moving.
“On it!” Meg said.
“Yes, Mommy,” Bobby said. “And we still don’t have any little people in the house.”
I must have made like five trips to the car and back to the kitchen in Zac’s pocket. I couldn’t complain because the pocket felt warm and comfortable. After all, I was next to Zac! But still, I did get a little nervous that we might be discovered.
I heard Zac drop a heavy bag down on the counter. “That’s it, Mom, we’ve brought all the bags in,” Zac said proudly.
“Yep, we did,” Meg said.
“Sure did, and we still don’t have any little people,” Bobby added.
“Good job!” their mom told them. “Meg, can you help me unload these bags?”
“Why me?” Meg asked.
“Well, I love Bobby dearly, but he’s not the best when it comes to putting things where I can find them.”
“That’s true,” Bobby said, with far more gusto than he should have. “I like being mysterious!” He paused for a moment. “Oh, but not about little people, we have no little people in our house or in Zac’s pocket.”
“What an odd thing to say,” their mom said.
“Wait, odd is bad right?” Bobby asked.
“No, Bobby, odd just means different or unusual,” their mom said.
“Oh cool. I like being different,” Bobby answered.
“Hey Bobby, let’s go to my room. There’s a funny video on YouTube that I want to show you.”
“Oh, I love funny YouTube videos! Is it Minecraft? I love Minecraft. Or maybe Pokémon? Those are cool too. I mean whatever it is, I want to see it.” Bobby paused. “But wait, what about the little people that we don’t have? I thought…”
I felt Zac move rapidly. “Come on Bobby, let’s go!”
“Hey, you don’t have to push me,” Bobby said. “I like watching YouTube videos! I was just…”
“Bobby, for once in your life, please be quiet,” Zac said.
“Sure, I can be quiet,” Bobby told him. “I can be the very best at being very quiet. Yes, I can be as quiet as a mouse that is hiding…. I can be as quiet as a…”
I felt Zac rush Bobby towards the door.
“Mom, my brothers are so weird,” Meg said.
Chapter 12
Next thing I knew, Zac popped us out of his pocket and down onto his bed. Wow, I was in Zac’s room!
“Thanks, dude,” Joe told Zac. “That pocket was getting a little stuffy. When was the last time somebody washed those pants?”
“I didn’t even notice,” I grinned.
Joe crossed his arms and looked at me. “Really?” he said.
I ignored him. “So what’s the plan now?”
“I’ll wait for Mom to finish with the groceries and then when she’s getting ready to cook dinner, I’ll bike over to your house. How far away is it?”
My heart sank a bit that Zac didn’t know where I lived. I’d walked by his house so often, I could find his house blindfolded. Apparently, Zac didn’t keep track of me like I did of him. I had to expect that. But now I could turn everything around. I had Zac interested in me. I could build off this. I could make this work for us both.
“I live at 13 Rosewood Drive.”
Zac scratched his head. He did remind me of Bobby a bit. “I’m not really sure where that is…”
“I know the way,” I told him.
Joe snickered.
“It’s pretty darn close. Maybe a block and a half away. Two blocks at the most,” I said.
Zac nodded. “Yep, I can bike that easily.”
“Me too!” Bobby said jumping up and down.
“Excuse me?” Zac said, turning to his little brother.
“Did you fart?” Bobby snickered.
“You’re not biking anywhere with these two. These are real people and we need to keep them safe. Plus you’re NOT supposed to even cross the street!” Zac lectured.
Bobby crossed his arms and closed his eyes. He stomped his left foot, then his right. “Look, I found these fairy people. I want to help them get home too!”
“You can help by letting me do it,” Zac said.
Bobby stuck out his tongue. “Nope,” he said, with his tongue still hanging from his mouth. “I want to help!” he screamed. He stomped his feet, “Help, help, help!”
“Hey, what are you guys doing up there?” their mom yelled.
“Nothing,” both Zac and Bobby called back sweetly.
“Do nothing more quietly please!” Mom yelled back.
“Sure thing Mom,” they both called back together.
Joe looked at me. “They’ve done this before,” he said.
“It’s kind of cute,” I smiled.
“We have to help them solve this problem,” Joe told me. “We don’t need Bobby telling his mom about us.”
“That’s a good point,” I said.
Currently, Bobby and Zac were locked in a battle of words.
“You can’t help!”
“I want to help!”
“You can’t help!”
“I NEED to help!”
“You can’t help!”
“Please, please, please! Let me help!”
“You can help by not helping.”
“Not helping is not helping!” Bobby whined.
“Sometimes the best way to help is to NOT make things worse,” Zac said slowly.
Bobby crossed his arms. He turned his back on Zac and started to cry.
Zac pointed at him. “Don’t cry Bobby, Mom will notice!”
Bobby looked over his shoulder. “I’m so sad. You always leave me out. I want to do something.” His crying was becoming louder.
Zac sighed.
“Zac, if you don’t let me help, I’ll tell Mom that you won’t let me help with the little people.”
Zac rolled his eyes. “Mom will think you’re crazy!”
Bobby spun back towards Zac. He paused for a minute. He staggered back. “Oops, I got dizzy.” He straightened himself up. “Mom loves me, she never thinks I’m crazy.” Bobby walked past Zac, bumping him on the way. “Let’s ask the little people!”
Zac rolled his eyes. “Sure, let’s.”
Bobby walked up to us. He looked
at us, his eyes wet with tears. “Can I please help you little people get home?” he asked softly.
“You know you could have got us killed when you ran off with us earlier,” I said.
Bobby turned red. He looked away from us. “Yep, yep. I know.” He looked at us. He dropped his head lower. “I feel bad about that. I don’t want to hurt anybody. Well, sometimes I do want to hurt Meg. But only when she’s mean to me.”
I sighed. I knew the kid meant well. I know what it’s like to be little and to have nobody trust you. Still, when you are two inches tall, you can’t take a lot of chances. You have to be logical.
“Sure, kid,” Joe answered before I could.
“What?” I said.
“What?” Zac said.
“What?” Bobby said, his eyes popped open. He seemed as surprised as any of us.
Joe nodded his head. He looked at me. “Yeah, I’m surprised too. But I know what it’s like to be the little brother. It’s really no fun. Nobody thinks you can do anything. This kid needs a win. We need to give it to him!”
Zac walked over to us. “You sure about this?”
Joe puffed out his chest. “Yes, yes I am!”
Bobby jumped up and down clapping his hands. “Yes, yes, yes. I get to help!” He flexed his arms. “I can be a hero.” He dropped his arms. “Wait, I still get money right?”
I gave him a slight smile. “Sure. After all, heroes deserve to be paid.”
“Actually, most super heroes don’t get paid,” Zac corrected. “They do it for good.”
“True,” Joe agreed. “But a lot of them like Batman and Green Arrow are billionaires, so they don’t need the money.”
“True,” Zac agreed. And Black Panther is a prince and Wonder Woman a princess, so they are well off too.”
“But I’m not rich at all,” Bobby said. “And I am not super.”
I rolled my eyes. Apparently, Zac shared some geek traits with Joe. Well, you learn something new about a person the more you hang out with them. Sure, Zac may not have been quite as perfect as I first imagined. But hey, he was still pretty darn special! His little flaws just made him more relatable. Yep that was it.
Zac to the Rescue! Page 6
