The Whisperwind household was in a sad state after the passing of Raven And Blue Jay. The platters of food that filled the dining table were left to spoil for weeks. Wren didn't see much of her parents, and survived on left over birthday cake..
..until that too began to spoil. The small containers of ashes stayed right where they had dropped as well.
Malibu spent her time in the old nursery, rocking back and forth and staring off into space or at Raven's now abandoned doll, while Benji threw himself into his job at the stadium, hanging out with his fans in front of the stadium long after he left work.
And Wren did pretty much exactly as she pleased. She convinced her parents that a newly decorated room and a new motorcycle would help her get over her loss.
The house was so depressing and filthy, she couldn't wait to get herself a part time job at the old warehouse. She took full advantage of the voice in her head which promised to make her wishes come true.
"Very well. Here's a street art kit for you. Go for it! I'll watch for cops."
"I want to make friends with a werewolf!"
"Follow me. I know right where to find one."
"I think maybe I changed my mind about the werewolf."
"Whatever."
'Heelllpp! I'm being abducted by aliens! I didn't ask for this!"
"Err... sorry. *snicker* Nothing I can do about that."
"IT'S NOT FUNNY!"
Benji was not happy that Wren had stayed out after curfew, and gave her a stern lecture and grounded her.
"But.. but.. I was abducted by aliens! I swear!"
"Don't you lie to me, young lady!"
"Tell him Cuddles, you saw it!"
But Cuddles stayed silent on the matter, and Wren resigned herself to two days in the house.
That lasted less than a day.
"I wanna try some of the new herbs that I heard about. Can you get me some?"
"Of course, but that means you'll have to sneak out."
"Oh. Ohhh. Yes! I wanna sneak out. Right now!"
"Oh, yes. Herbs!"
Wren was feeling pretty good by the time she headed for home. Now to just sneak quietly back in the house...
Uh oh. Looks like the aliens are back.
"Hellllppppp!"
"Bye Wren, have a nice trip." *snicker*
"IT'S NOT FUNNY THIS TIME EITHER!"
"How dare you sneak out when you know you are grounded! I'm extending your grounding and taking away your computer privileges too! Now get back in the house, young lady!"
"But.. but.. I was abducted by aliens again, I promise!"
But her mom didn't believe her any more than had her dad. It became the story of her life. Six times the aliens came for her, and six times her grounding was extended because of it.
"Enough about aliens, young lady! You are grounded again!"
"But it's not fair! It really was aliens! They keep coming for me. Why don't you believe me?"
"That's it, Cuddles. My dad makes me soooo mad. I just wanna see his ghost. Hey! Voice! I wanna see my dad's ghost. Make it happen!"
"Uhh.. Wren. Be reasonable. He's getting really old. His time is almost up. Why not just wait a few more days and see what happens?"
"Oh... all right. As long as I get to see his ghost soon."
Her parents were getting wise to her sneaking ways, and so Wren resigned herself to staying home most of the time. She spent her time decorating the garages walls....
...and the back walkway. And the aliens still refused to leave her alone.
"I swear it was aliens! I was just outside painting...I mean playing with Cuddles.. and suddenly... ALIENS! They took me away in their spaceship and probed me and dropped me back off at the driveway! WHY CAN'T YOU BELIEVE ME???"
"Thanks for helping me find a rainbow gem. You know I've been looking for one since I was a little kid."
"Sure thing. You're sure about sneaking off to the science facility while your parents are at work? You only have seven hours left on your grounding."
'Yeah. Doesn't matter. Aliens'll probably come tonight anyway."
Whew. Wren made it back with the potion without getting caught. Now to give it to Cuddles and let it do its magic.
"What do you think you're doing, young lady? I know you sneaked away while I was at work. Now you are grounded again!"
"But..but. Mom. I went to get the potion for Cuddles to make him real. See? Right here. There he is. That's all I did. Mom.. Mom? Please don't me mad. Can't we be friends again?"
Malibu stormed back into the house,with Wren and Cuddles following after. Wren had just stripped off her winter clothes down to her underwear for some reason, and when she looked up she was shocked to see the grim reaper there.
"I wanted to be friends! I wished for it just now. I just wanted to be friends again with her..."
Benji fell asleep for the last time that night on the floor next to Malibu's urn.
And the next evening the reaper came to take him to join her. Wren thought she would be happy to see his ghost, but in reality it was more complicated than that.
She and Cuddles celebrated their new freedom with a rousing pillow fight.
They put up holiday lights, hid the urns upstairs, and told everyone that Benji and Malibu were off on a free vacation. No one suspected that two teenagers were living alone in the huge house.
At long last, the pile of dirty dishes were taken care of. Cuddles had a thing about neatness. One could almost say he was neurotic about it. Wren was happy the dishes got clean without her having to do it.
Wren became quite a fan of the many different kinds of herbs that she managed to score, now that she was no longer grounded.
One day she decided to build a snowman. It turned out rather.. creepy.
She didn't like the way it was staring at her, so with lots of screaming and carrying on, she smashed it flat.
Meanwhile, Cuddles had been trying to fix the old stereo - the one that had been broken ever since the fateful party. It didn't go well, and Cuddles was distraught.
"Somebody is trying to kill me. They rigged that stereo especially to try and kill me. I'l get 'em. It was those fairies, I just know it!"
"Take that, fairies! I'ma smash your house for trying to kill me!"
"Um, Wren. I don't think there's any fairies living in the old dollhouse."
"Shush, if Cuddles says there's fairies in there, there is. He's way smart."
"Um.. yeah. Whatever."
"I guess he got the fairies good."
"Serves them right for trying to kill my Cuddles!"
That evening they both grew up. They didn't dare have a party, so it was just the two of them. Cuddles was first, and Wren blew a birthday horn for him.
A little while later it was Wren's turn. She didn't think she'd ever been this excited in her life.
Yes! Complete freedom at last! Look out world, the Empress of Evil is on her way!
Just wow, you have nearly an empty home with everyone dieing.
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