Chapter 2: A Basket Case

August heard a crash coming from his bedroom. He sighed and stood up, closing his notebook and placing it on the small side table next to him. He paused at the sign he had tacked up on the hallway: “3 days without a Glow incident.” He took his pencil, erased the three, and wrote in a zero.

“Glow?” he called as he entered his bedroom. She had really ruined his sense of home security; if anyone else ever broke in, August would be done for. Sure enough, though, it was just Glow again, jumping up and down on August’s bed.

The little girl looked at him with enormous purple eyes. “August!” she cheered, vanishing and reappearing in his arms. She patted his face and August obligingly puffed out his cheeks, letting her clap her hands on them to push all the air out. Glow laughed hysterically, then teleported back to the bed to resume jumping.

“Come on, Glow, you know you can’t keep coming over here,” August told her wearily. “Let’s get you home.”

Glow pouted. “But I’m having so much fun here!” She disappeared mid-jump and reappeared in front of August, her tiny brown hands clasped together. “Please can I stay?”

August had always liked little kids, but Glow was way too much to handle, and August wanted to stay on her father’s good side. At first, walking Glow home every few days had been a great way to get to know their neighbor, but now all parties involved were getting tired of the routine. Except, of course, Glow herself.

“No, it’s time to go home,” August said firmly. “Cecily will be back soon, and you don’t want her to get mad, do you?”

Glow’s eyes widened and she shook her head. When Glow started invading their home regularly, Cecily had gladly taken on the “bad cop” role, and the tiny girl was appropriately terrified of her.

“Come on, then, let’s go,” August said, holding out his hand. Glow tucked her hand into his and the two of them left the bedroom and walked down the narrow hall leading to the front door. Glow probably could have teleported home with no difficulties, but she always made August walk her back. At least that way he knew she actually arrived home, however long she decided to stay there.

August and Cecily’s house was in the woods, near the spot they had initially been transported to this bizarre world. Apparently getting zapped off the face of the Earth was the one way for two twenty-year-olds to own their own house these days. Their nearest neighbor was a ten minute walk away, and every time August made the trek, he felt like Little Red Riding Hood, just waiting for someone to trick him again or try to eat him. Really, anything seemed probable here.

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The walk passed without incident, though, and August knocked on the door of Glow’s house. The door opened and August found himself face-to-face–or really, face-to-lower-chest–with the largest man he had ever seen.

“Glow!” Puddle cried, sweeping his daughter up in his massive arms. “Why did you run off again? You said you would stop doing it!” Glow just giggled and teleported back out of Puddle’s embrace. He frowned. “Come now, Glow, you must stop bothering our neighbors like this!” He turned toward August and gave him an apologetic smile that showed too many teeth for August’s comfort. “Thank you for bringing her back, August. I really do try to keep track of her, but there’s only so much I can do.”

“Understandable,” August squeaked. He knew that Puddle was one of the friendliest people in this or any other world, but the man was still terrifying, with his huge tan muscles and his short spike of white hair. Cecily had once claimed he looked like Mister Clean with a large cotton ball stuck to his head, and while the image was accurate, it didn’t make the real Puddle any less intimidating.

“How is your sister?” Puddle asked conversationally as Glow teleported past him and into the house.

August tried to make his voice sound more normal. “She’s doing well. She had an errand to run today.” Cecily hadn’t told him what the errand was, so August assumed it was another attempt to get them back to Earth. He appreciated that she was still trying.

Puddle smiled again. “Glad to hear she’s well. Here, I made some extra muffins, let me grab them for you.” He turned and walked into the house with enormous strides, giving August the chance to fake a smile. Puddle’s muffins were delicious, but the one time August ate them they had some rather unfortunate side effects, so he always threw them away to be safe. He really didn’t need any more extra toes.

Puddle returned with a picnic basket of muffins that he handed to August. The smell was hard to resist, but August reminded himself that no muffin was worth permanent disfiguration. Again.

He said goodbye and made his way back home, feeling even more like Little Red Riding Hood while swinging the basket. The forest looked a lot like the forests on Earth, except for the occasional pink or blue tree and the fact that all the plants seemed to change location every day. The path was always the same, so as long as August stuck to the trail, he wouldn’t get lost in the constantly changing woods.

He made it home in good time, spotting Cecily as she was entering the house. “Welcome home, Silly!” he called to her, and she turned around and gave him a half-hearted wave.

“Are you okay? You look awful,” he observed as he dumped the basket of muffins into a nearby bush and stepped inside.

Cecily’s round face looked sickly and her t-shirt had some pretty significant sweat stains, but she waved him off. “I’m fine.” She looked at the empty basket in August’s hand. “Glow invasion?”

“Always,” he sighed in response. His stomach growled at the lingering muffin smell coming from the picnic basket. “Are you hungry?”

Cecily groaned. “I’ll never be hungry again.” August looked at her curiously and she grumbled, “This world has the stupidest magic.”

That much they could agree on.