The whole house was a bust and I fought off the disappointment, keeping the kids going by directing them outside.

“We’ll search both yards, then the next house,” I tell them. “Next one to find one will get a prize!”

“A prize?” Cassidy repeats with excitement and I know I’ve got her hooked; she’s got a very competitive streak.

“Yep, but stay close. Only these two yards, okay?” I remind them. The three of them dart off in different directions, finding their own corner of grass to search. Nervously I scan the area again, but as always, it’s just us. I wonder about the fifth collectible briefly before shaking the thought away. I worked my way towards the sidewalk, looking in cars and on the roof, anywhere I could think. And as my eyes passed over a birdhouse, I saw it. A small glowing…what was that thing? An acorn?

Benny is the only one left who hasn’t found one, so I call him over. Crawling out from behind a fence, he hustles over.

“Do you see that one, up there?” I tell him, pointing to it. He squints, before finally nodding. “I’m going to lift you up so you can get it, okay?” Benny nods and I pick him up, lifting him to the birdhouse that’s slightly above my head. He grabs what I think is an acorn, looking surprised when it disappeared in his grasp. A bright flash and we all received a notification saying the seventh collectible was found.

“Awesome job,” I say with a genuine smile. I feel much better now that the kids are safe. I’m the last one that needs a collectible in our group, and we still have 45 minutes before the challenge is up.

“Should we check the last house?” I ask Benny, who smiles cutely and nods. I feel a slight pang every time Benny chooses not to talk, guilt trying to bury into my chest, but I remind myself that there was nothing I could do before the tears well up in my eyes.

“Can you go get Cassidy for me?” I ask Benny, who nods in affirmation and skips off. I sniff and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand before calling to Theo, who is digging through the contents of a car.

“Hey, find anything cool?” I ask him as he tosses something over his head. I think it was deodorant.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Yeah, look at this!” He holds up a small keychain accessory, some little stuffed thing I don’t recognize. Swinging it back and forth, Theo tucks it into his pocket again for safekeeping. He reaches under the car and pulls out a baseball bat and I nod in appreciation.

“Now that’s a good find,” I tell him, grabbing it and swinging it a little. “Definitely better than the broom.”

“I wanted it though,” Theo pouts and I chuckle.

“Buddy, I don’t think you want to be carrying this around the whole time, it’s heavy.” Theo thinks about it for a moment before finally giving in.

“Fine, but I’m gonna look for a smaller one,” he tells me and I shrug.

“Sure pal. By the way, Benny has his collectible now too. We need to go meet with Ren soon

“What about the pwize?” Cassidy asks, coming up from behind with Benny by her side.

“I found it, so I get the prize!”

“No!” she groans in despair. “Dat’s not how dis works!” I can’t help but laugh at her seriousness and I ruffle her messy hair, pulling a few leaves out of it.

“Then let’s do this,” I tell her. “Whoever finds the next one will get a prize too, okay? If I find the next one too, then I guess I get double prizes.”

“No way,” Cassidy says. “Ima find it!”

“Okay, but wait,” I grab her sleeve as she turns to head off who knows where. “We have to meet up with Ren in ten minutes, so we’re just checking the living room, and then heading back.”

The house is unlocked, thankfully. I don’t want to be playing with fire, literally, more often than we needed to. It was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.

This house was very cluttered, especially compared to the other ones. Stuff was piled up in the living room, both mounds of garbage and stacks of dishes, as well as random items strewn about. Was that a bop-it under the pizza box?

“Egh,” I pinch my nose as the smell hits me. “Well, let’s try to be quick, I guess.”

Theo and Benny seem less bothered by the stink and the mess, while Cassidy crinkles her face and starts over in an area closer to the door, which was letting in a fresh breeze.

“I’m going to check the other rooms really quick,” I tell them before going around the house, peeking into each room. Each one made my stomach twist a little more. They were all very full of…well, mostly junk, by the looks of it. The bedroom had a pile of laundry that was almost as tall as me, and the kitchen had more empty raman packets than I cared to count. I didn’t know who lived here before, but I was seriously questioning their life choices.

Heading back to the kids, I see Benny struggling to move a stack of precariously balanced books in order to look on the shelves below. Lifting the top ones off, I toss them unceremoniously on the couch, because why not? It’s already covered in trash. He pulls the others out of the way and maneuvers to look at the random things on the shelf. I check how much longer we have left and wonder if it’s even worth looking the last ten minutes here instead of heading back to Ren. After I caught another whiff of rotten…something, I decide it’s not.

“It’s time to head back now,” I tell them. The kids scurry over without much complaint; clearly none of us are thrilled at the prospect of searching this house. I make sure I grab the bat and we head back to the grocery mart, Theo and Cassidy chatting about the keychain he’d found.