A Trio of Troubles

"Hey, Stupid, what are you doing?"

"I'm picking up dirty clothes, and I'll thank you to not call me Stupid."

"Oh, that's right. You're Idiot."

"Shut up. You might actually hurt my feelings."

"Oh, cry me a river."

Taylor picked up the remaining socks in the corner and threw them into the laundry basket on his bed. "At least I do some work around here."

"That's because you're a suck-up. And a stupid one, at that."

"Hey, one load of laundry every two weeks just happens to get me out of doing the dishes. It appears that I'm the smart one."

"Will you two stop bickering?" A third voice interrupted the conversation as Isaac wandered into the room. "You sound like a married couple, which would put you right in the stereotype of the South." He snickered at his own joke. "Homosexual incest...is it ruining America's teenagers? On today's Jerry Springer, we ask teen idols, brothers, and gay lovers Taylor and Zachary Hanson exactly what keeps them together."

"Shut up, Isaac. At least...uh...um...shut up!" Zac was digging frantically for a comeback, but failing miserably.

"Ooh, good one! I'm hurting! Gasp! I may die from such injury! Ah!" Isaac dramatically climbed up onto the top bunk and flopped down, crossing his arms over his chest. "When Mom calls us for dinner, you can tell her you killed me." He then proceeded to make gagging noises to accompany his death scene.

"Hey, MacBeth, you want to help me start the laundry?" Taylor asked. "It'll get you out of doing the dishes tonight."

"No, no, I'll be dead by that time anyway. Just let me die in peace."

Tay shook his head and started out the door, laundry basket in hand.

"Taylor?" Isaac called from the top bunk.

"Yeah?"

"You were a wonderful brother. Don't let anyone tell you different!"

Tay rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Ike."

"So, Idiot, where have you been all day?" asked Zac, climbing up on the top bunk and jumping on his brother.

"Well, firstly, I'm dead, so you can't be talking to me. Secondly, I thought Taylor was Idiot, and thirdly, where I was is none of your business. And fourthly, get off of me! I can't breathe!"

"If you're dead, you can't breathe anyway."

"Well, it's disrespectful to jump on dead bodies. So stop!"

Zac stopped and sat still next to his brother. "Why is it none of my business? I'm your brother and I have a right to know!"

"No, you don't. You have no rights."

"I can weasel it out of you. You know that as well as I do. I'm the King of Annoying People!"

"That's for sure. Well, to save my dead self from your incessant nagging, I'll tell you. I was at the mall."

"That's it? That's what you couldn't tell me? No, wait a minute. Who were you at the mall with?" Zac looked suspiciously at his brother.

"Abby."

"Jeez. You've been spending a lot of time with her lately. And yet I haven't met her, and still don't know who she is or anything."

"That's because that information is of no use to you."

"Tell me!"

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you." Isaac grinned, but Zac persisted.

"What's she look like?"

"Zac! What does that matter?"

"Just curious, jeez."

"Well, it doesn't matter. She's just an average person. She's got blue eyes and light brown hair."

"How old?"

"Seventeen."

"How did you meet her?"

"Jeez, Zac. Do you have to give me the third degree?" Isaac's patience with his younger brother's questions was wearing thin.

"Of course I do. Inquiring minds want to know. Hey, that reminds me. The Inquirer wants to know if you died in a boating accident."

Isaac laughed at his brother's joke in spite of himself. "Tell them yes. Then, they'll all leave me alone."

"No, they won't. Because then The Star will want the story, the Weekly World News will claim that you were abducted by aliens while bass fishing, and The Reporter will say it was really a cover-up, and that you are a transvestite polar bear in disguise, trying to pass off as a human."

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Where in God's name do you come up with this stuff?"

"Oh, I get bored in the supermarket checkout lines."
"This explains so much."

In response, Zac yanked Isaac's pillow out from under his head and tried to suffocate him with it. "Ah!" he screamed. "There's a transvestite polar bear in disguise running loose in our house! Someone call the cops! I've got him under control, but I can't hold him for much longer!"

Isaac shoved Zac off of him and into the wall. "Give up, you bass-fishing alien! You can't fool me!"

Just then, Taylor walked into the room. "Guys!"

Ike and Zac looked up. "Yeah?"

"Dinner." The wrestling fight was tossed aside as the boys made a mad dash for the kitchen.

*********

"All right, who volunteers for the dishes?" Diana asked, and a collective groan came out of the mouths of seven of the nine people seated at the table. She and the baby were the only two excluded from this action. "Well, I know that I'm not going to do it, and neither is your father, Mackie and Avery can't, Jessica's got ballet, and Isaac did them last night," she said, spelling out her logic. "Which leaves Taylor and Zac. Oh, but didn't you do laundry today, Taylor? Zac, dishes duty."

Taylor grinned at his younger brother, but Zac only stuck out his tongue and got up to do the dishes, mumbling, "I still don't know why we didn't get a dishwasher."

"So, Isaac, where were you today?" Diana asked as the children got up to go to their respective activities. Ike grumbled and sat back down, knowing he was in for a long discussion.

"Just at the mall."

"With who?" Diana smiled innocently. "Just curious."

"I went by myself," he fibbed, but Zac wasn't about to let him get away with that.

"LIAR! He went with Abby!" Zac shouted from the kitchen sink.

"Zac!" Isaac yelled. His mother raised an eyebrow.
"Abby?"

"Yes, Mother, Abby."

"Who is this Abby girl? You've been spending a lot of time with her lately. And I still haven't met her."
"She's Abby Winters. I don't think you know her. Can I please go?"

"Oh, I don't think so. I want all the juicy details. What did you do?"

"We shopped, Mom. That's what people do at a mall. Now can I please go?" Diana nodded, and Isaac got up from the table, and bolted off to his room.

"Hey, Mom? Can I go out for a little while? I want to go for a walk." Zac had finished his dishwashing and needed to get out of the house.

"Well, since it's still light out, I suppose. But I want you back here before dark, got it?" Zac nodded.

Thank God it stays light here forever in the summer, he thought as he pulled on his shoes. He stepped out the back door and into the sun-drenched yard. After making his way through the grass to the little forest behind the family's property, he followed the small creek, and eventually found the tree he had been looking for. He placed his hands on one of the rough wood slats that was nailed to the trunk, and stepped up onto a lower one.

He had found this "treasure" about two years ago. It was an old treehouse, God knows how old, that had been left behind in the woods. It wasn't nearly as "high-class" as the one his brothers had helped him build in their yard, but it was his hideaway. He always came here to think. Right now, he just needed to rest. The band had been touring a lot, and they were on a long vacation at home. He was exhausted, and the house was too busy for him.

As he climbed the makeshift ladder, his mind wandered. He was tired, but extremely imaginative at the moment, and a few new song lyrics played in his head. He suddenly stopped as he heard a noise from above, in the treehouse that was just a foot above his head. Someone was humming.

The song wasn't familiar, but Zac liked it. In his mind, he put his newly written words and the tune together. Amazingly, it fit perfectly. It clicked. He hurriedly headed up the remaining two steps, about to make a business proposition with the owner of the hum. He stopped when he saw who it was.

"Ike? I'm going to the mall. Wanna come?" Taylor asked from the doorway. His brother was just getting up.

"No, not particularly."

"Can you drive me, then?" Taylor gave the most convincing smile he could to his brother. Isaac sighed.

"I'm going to kill you." He yanked a pair of jeans on and walked out to the car, Taylor in tow. When they got to the mall, Tay thanked his brother and jumped out, heading to his favorite clothes store, Ocean Pacific.

As he made his way around a rack of jeans, his eyes fell on a girl. She had blonde hair, up in a ponytail, and brown eyes. She was wearing wide-leg, hip-hugger jeans and a maroon Adidas short-sleeve shirt, with a hood sweater tied around her waist. She was sorting through an odd assortment of neon green T-shirts and blue sweatshirts when she looked up and caught his gaze. He shyly looked at the floor, and his cheeks flushed.

"You're Taylor Hanson, aren't you?" she asked.

"Um...yeah," he said, looking up and blushing an even deeper shade of red.

"Oh, cool. I liked MMMBop."

"Thanks."

"Oh. I'm sorry. My name is Becky. Becky Lerner," she said, and stuck out her hand.

"Hi, Becky," said Taylor, shaking her outstretched hand.

"So, how's the band going?" she asked.

"Pretty good. We have three albums out and another one on the way."

"Cool. You know, I've always wanted to be in a band. Me and my friends kinda started one, but we didn't get anywhere."

"Oh, really?" he asked. Other musicians fascinated him. "What were you called?"

"Four Strype. But spelled weird; it was F-o-u-r S-t-r-y-p-e."

"Sounds cool."

"Yeah, well, we kinda had an argument, and my best friend went on a week-long trip. You can't really have a band without a guitarist," she said. "When she came back, it kinda dissolved."

"What do you play?"

"Keyboards. Hey, isn't that what you play?" He nodded. "Cool."

"Hey, um...do you wanna have some lunch with me? We could talk more about music," he suggested.

"Sure."

"Well, I'm done shopping, so whenever you're ready."

"Okay, let me just pay for this shirt." They walked up to the counter, and Taylor waited while she paid for the neon green shirt. Then, they headed to McDonald's, got their lunch, and sat down.

"So, did you guys write any songs?" he asked.

"Yeah, but they weren't that great. Nothing like I Will Come to You or anything."

Taylor blushed. "It wasn't that great," he said, embarrassed.

"Sure it was. So were Where's the Love and Weird. The videos were works of art."

"Well, thanks."

"Some artists are really weird in their videos. There's this one by The Cars where the lead singer is walking on water, and all these people are drowning around him. It's crazy."

"Yeah, I think I've seen that one." They contemplated the Cars video as they silently munched on some fries.

"Okay, so from a successful musician to a not-so-successful one, tell me what goes into making an album," she said.

"Technically or musically?"

She shrugged. "How about both?"

"Well, it's a long story," he said. She glanced at her watch.

"I've got time."

So you've got your opening. Now send in your addition to the story by clicking here: Words Submit!™. They'll be judged approximately monthly, then put out the next week. Keep an eye out!