It didn’t take a rocket scientist to ascertain that this wasn’t normal. Or at least, it shouldn’t have been.

But once again Tawny founder herself escorted by a McCurdy to their place of residence.

While the first ride she was a ball of nerves, and the second ride she was a ball of confusion, on this third ride she was a ball of excitement.

She was going to be living with Eugene and Rebecca. In their gorgeous home. Tawny’s face was glued to the passenger side window during the car ride, as she didn’t want to freak out Professor McCurdy over her excessive smiling.

When they arrived, Rebecca was already waiting in the garage, holding one of the lush Egyptian cotton towels she had used during her first visit.

“I’ve had the bath drawn for you already,” Rebecca said, handing her the towel. “And dinner should be ready by the time you’ve washed up.”

As Tawny soaked in the bath, she pinched herself seven times to convince herself she wasn’t dreaming.

She was given her own pair of silk pajamas--a beautiful jewel shade of plum--which she wore as she sat with the McCurdy’s during dinnertime.

The spread was amazing; Rebecca must’ve been cooking all day, because to Tawny it felt like they were eating for Thanksgiving rather than a Monday evening. Everything was delicious; Tanwy had worked up quite an appetite spending the day on her feet so she took quite liberal helpings of chicken and mashed potatoes and ate half the cherry cheesecake on the table.

In between bites of food, she even got in some conversation with her gracious guests.

“I hope you find everything to your liking,” Rebecca said, smiling.

“Ohhh, this is incredible,” Tawny said, her mouth still full of mashed potatoes. She swallowed before speaking again. “I can’t thank you enough for taking me in.”

“Like my dear Eugene had said, we are both very happy to have you,” said Rebecca. She glanced at Professor McCurdy, who nodded and raised his wine glass.

“I can’t imagine how long this must have taken to put together,” said Tawny. “This is like a 3-course meal at a 5-star restaurant.”

Rebecca gave a light chuckle. “Thank you, dear. But you flatter me--I’ve been to the top Michelen star ranked restaurants, and I could assure you they’d put my culinary skills to shame.”

“Oh, I don’t know, my love,” Professor McCurdy said, reaching for and taking his wife’s hand. “I’d say you could punch above your weight with the world’s finest. I’d dare say you could best them with your baking acumen.”

“I guess you could call me a ‘pastry pugilist’,” Rebecca teased. The two McCurdys leaned in and rubbed each other’s noses together.

Tawny mulled over this information between chews, then swallowed before speaking again. “So...were you a chef in Europe?”

Rebecca looked back at Tawny. “No, dear.”

“Oh, so you were a teacher?” asked Tawny

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Rebecca sat up in her chair. “No...” She was still smiling, but to Tawny it appeared she had taken a slight defensive stance.

Oh no, thought Tawny, as dread crept into her soul. Have I offended her? Did I press too far?

Thankfully, Professor McCurdy stepped in to change the subject. “Have you made any new friends while at Westinghouse Manor? I could imagine it would be vital to have a support system in such an environment.”

“Yes, Audrey,” said Tawny, relieved to see Rebecca relax in her seat. “She was the one with the green hair you met when you found me this afternoon.”

Behind his designer frames, Professor McCurdy’s eyes flashed wide with recognition. “Ahh...so that was Audrey. I didn’t recognize her with the dramatic new look...”

Professor McCurdy glanced knowingly at Rebecca, and the two seemed to be sharing a private joke to which Tawny wasn’t privy.

Once again, Tawny was paranoid. What’s this about? He KNEW Audrey before? What the hell does that mean? Why are they keeping things from me...?

In that instant, anxiety mixed with Tawny’s overextended stomach from all the gorging, and she suddenly felt nauseous. She dropped her cutlery on the plate a little louder than she had intended, and the two McCurdys looked at her, concerned.

“Are you alright, dear?” asked Rebecca. “Something not agree with you?”

“No, no, I’m fine,” lied Tawny. “I just....I guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I couldn’t eat another bite.”

“That’s to be expected,” said Professor McCurdy. “My darling wife’s been known to go a bit overboard when we have guests. That just means more leftovers for tomorrow.”

“At least let me help you tidy up,” said Tawny.

“No no no,” insisted Rebecca, standing up from her chair. “As our guest that means we don’t want you to lift a finger. Besides, from what Eugene has told me, when you’re on the Westinghouse clock all you do is tidy.”

“Speaking of which,” said Professor McCurdy. “You have a long day ahead of you. You should probably go straight to bed.”

“Oh,” a pang of disappointment hit Tawny. She was hoping she could spend a bit more time in the company...

On the other hand, he was right. And even as he spoke the idea, she could feel the fatigue of the day setting in all at once in her body. She yawned. “Good idea.”

Professor McCurdy led her to the guest room, which was right next to their own master bedroom.

The door was open to the master bedroom, so Tawny got a quick glimpse inside. Even though the lights were off, Tawny could see the massive Alaskan king size four-poster bed, luxuriously draped in jade green and royal purple curtains.

When they reached the guest room right next door, the bed wasn’t as excessive, but it was still the one of the largest she had ever seen, let alone used.

As she climbed into the super king-sized mattress, its marshmallowy softness immediately enveloped her and sleep overtook her within minutes.

---

Tawny stood on a massive ship, in the middle of a vast expansive sea.

On her left shoulder sat a loud and obnoxious parrot with purple and green feathers. “Aah!” the parrot cried.

In the lookout, the scribbly-winged Chalkboard Tawny stood, pointing her telescope to the open water ahead. “Storm a-coming!”

Suddenly, the boat dipped and rose on massive waves, its wooden frame creaking loudly with every sudden movement. Tawny struggled to gain her sea legs as the ship moved up and down.

“AhhAHHH!” the parrot cried.

When she looked to the stern of the ship, she saw Maddie, standing at the edge, and clutching a rope to keep her from falling over.

Why did you abandon me, Tawny? Maddie yelled over the waves.

“I didn’t!...” yelled Tawny, but no voice came out. The creaking of the boat intensified with the growing waves.”

“Ahh! Ahh!” cried the parrot.

Tawny glanced to the port of the front of the ship. There, she spotted her mother, hospital tubes sticking out of her. She looked frail, and was gripping on to a pole at the port for dear life.

“Tawny...” her mother yelled out. “Help me....”

“Mom!” Tawny yelled, before falling to her feet.

The ship bobbed to and fro on the waves, ever faster. Creak, creak Creak.

Still the parrot sat stubbornly on her Tawny’s shoulder, screamin in her ear. “Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah! Aah!

The storm was fast approaching. A giant wave, appeared, dwarfing all the others.

AaaaaaaaaaaAAAH!!!!

The wave overtook Tawny, sweeping her off the ship and into the cold waters below. There was nothing she could do.