HOME | DD

Description

(art) 8 AP to Newt (3 full-bodies, 80% for collaboration)
(literature) 16 AP to Newt (3,808 words, same character bonus)

Since my last upload was of baby twins and these were sitting around anyway... Here! I just finished SaintPumpkinMuffin 's sketches because they were adorable. Especially the one of Cricket, though I finished up that one a few weeks ago so the older art is a bit noticeable, :' ).... also I loved that sketch so much, here's a short story I wrote that has also been sitting for a bit:

Key: This is in Newt's perspective, before Cricket's accident, so no nicknames yet, and they're still pretty young so the writing is a bit jumble-y in consequence! it's about them "saving" a toad... sort of. (Kala = Cricket, Kelley = Newt)

--

  The thing had big flat blocks for eyes. You could see little dots of yellow and green around its weird pupils and its pupils moved quick so you really had to pay attention.

  The air was surprisingly warm, even for summer, and so we were both free of our cloaks which was nice because they were much too big and that meant they usually just got full of grass, and mud, and sticks which dad didn’t like but we didn’t either because it was annoying.

  I was trying not to move too much when looking between my brother and the thing because he had told me not to. Our braces clicked when we moved and that would scare it, was what he whispered with a sidelong glance. One full of complete, quiet, seriousness.

  And so we were hunched over our legs looking back at the creature, still as possible. Its little body pondering our very existence from its spot in the grass, just like we were doing to it. It made me uncomfortable because it breathed in through its chest like nothing I’d ever seen, and its little eyes more of jumped to look at things rather than moving smoothly like ours did… or anyone else’s for that matter.

  “I don’t like frogs.” Was something I said quietly, in more of a whine than anything. By this point I had already shifted my head to mainly be looking at Kala, a pitiful attempt to gage his attention without actually asking for it. But all I got in response was a, “Kelley, stop.” in his hissing voice that meant it. It made me frown and my head turned back to the small frog. Though this time my eyes dropped to the ground between my feet instead of looking at its dumb, ugly figure.

  Kala liked this sort of stuff; the mud, dirt, grass... but I really just wanted to go back inside. Sometimes being outside really just felt like too much and it was tiring. Plus the house was usually quiet during the day which meant we could probably even have our room to ourselves for a few hours. Our dad wouldn’t mind if we weren’t loud. We weren’t much help in the fields yet anyway.

  I could see Kala’s eyes shift slightly toward me through the corner of my identical ones. He must have felt bad for snapping, or he just couldn’t help himself because he faintly whispered an, “it’s not a frog, it’s a toad ‘cause of its brown skin. Toddy told me that.” and then he blinked a moment. “Don’t you remember?” he continued with curious eyes.

  I didn’t. But I didn’t like Todd so that was probably why.

  I just shook my head, but apparently too violently as the ugly brown frog-toad leapt in the opposite direction of the two of us. I heard Kala gasp from between his curly hair before screaming, “wait!” and bounding after the measly thing which only made it jump again. His motion rocked me forward too and it made my shoulders tense. My voice sounded too high-pitched and pathetic when I tried to protest. It took me a moment to regain my posture but by the time I did I could already see my brother’s bright blue telekinesis snagged around the animal. The toad’s hind legs dangling pathetically in the air while Kala brought him in even closer.

  “Wow! Look at him!” He screeched in some wave of excitement that made my green eyes open wider. “Look, Kel, look!” and he shoved the slimy thing closer to my face. It made my lower eyelids tense and my brows furrow in something resembling worry.

  “I don’t like frogs!” I cried for the second time today, this time much louder and more frantic. I ducked my head sideways to avoid looking at it. My own brown, wavy hair helping to obstruct my vision.

  But Kala’s hold on the frog fell instantly as I tried to blink away moist eyes. He blinked, himself, a teal hue still wrapped around the creature’s middle. “He’s a toad.” He said flatly. Disappointment obvious in his expression and tone. Whether it was because I got the thing’s species wrong, again, or because I lacked the same enthusiasm as him, I wasn’t sure. But his calmed domineer let me stand a little straighter.

  “I don’t like them.” I said again, this time a much quieter defense with a bit of a sniffle. Kala merely spun the toad back around to get a better look at him. Creepy eyes and all. “I do.” he said with a bit of a toothy grin.

  “Let’s go get a box!” He stumbled upward at that, pulling me back up with him, toad still dangling pitifully in his distractible grip. I really didn’t think that was a good idea because we’d have to get something from the house and dad didn’t like animals much. Though when I tried to mention it Kala just shushed me with another grin and a reassuring, “no, no, it's okay.” before pulling the ugly toad into his chest.

  Kala was odd because any grin he ever made really was reassuring. It did make everything feel okay and worthwhile; exciting even. Like it couldn’t be a better idea if Kaia had come up with it herself. Of course, they didn’t always end with the same hopeful outcome, but I followed along with him anyway because… Well, I guess I just always did. And if any extra nerves tended to arise, I would just stay closer.

  And so we hobbled back to the house. Kala had insisted that I try to hold the little animal only… Three times and that “he wouldn’t bite or anything,” but I still didn’t want to.

  Our house was big and rickety and it made a lot of ghost noises and there was paint chipping everywhere and loose floorboards too. But it was also almost always warm because we traded our neighbor vegetables for firewood very often. It smelled good too, either thanks to the crackling fire or breakfast that morning. Of course both of those nice things were usually just stuck downstairs on the first floor, and there were three total. Not including the basement.

  But I still liked it, when it was quiet.

  Clambering up the porch steps and we could already hear noise from inside; laughing, but it was rude, cocky laughing like when the older boys got too riled up and then got in trouble for it. I didn’t like that sound because usually they were being mean. Or were going to be.

  If my brother didn’t have me then I’m sure he would have just plowed right through the front door to show everyone the toad we’d caught. It’s because he’s brave and I wish I was like that too sometimes.

  But I’m not, and he still had me right at his shoulder, and I complained. I didn’t want to go inside because it was too much, whatever that meant. But it was still true. It was upsetting too because during the walk back home I was beginning to look forward to going inside but we couldn’t now and it made me want to cry for a second. I could feel the back of my neck and my face heat up. They had to ruin everything.

  I think Kala could tell that I was having a block because even though he slumped his shoulders and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, he didn’t push it, and I liked that.

  He spun around and I did too. The porch was just as rickety as the rest of our house but its white columns and light, wooden side door masked it pretty well for anyone looking in. Of course, no one really saw the side porch because it was for kids and the front porch was for visitors… but the front side looked okay too.

  As we looked back down the stairs, I was surprised that no one else was walking down the little dirt path if some were already in the house. I could only figure they were coming to get food and usually that meant everyone would be. But it seemed the rest of our brothers were still out working. I was glad dad didn’t insist we went along today. Usually I just felt in the way when we did and I hated that.

  “Did we get eggs this morning?” I heard Kala ask from my left side. I just blinked because I didn’t know, and it wasn’t my job to know anyway. But when I turned sideways to look at him too, he was looking the opposite direction so I could only see the back of his head, and that was just hair similar to mine.

  “What?” I asked instead of giving him an answer; it was a weird question to be asking at that moment, so mine was reasonable.

  When he shifted his weight I could see the woven egg basket though, so I wondered why he even asked me in the first place. “I guess so.” Was what I finally ended with. It was unnecessary because the answer was already obvious, so he just ignored me and began to drag me toward the pretty-looking basket.

  “Here.” Said my brother after we were standing overtop of the handmade necessity, and he shoved the toad into my chest. I squirmed backwards because I’d already told him I didn’t want to hold the thing multiple times, so I didn’t know why he was asking me again. I didn’t want to touch it, let alone hold it. I started whining again and I could feel my eyelids tense but Kala didn’t revoke like before. Instead he barked a desperate, “please!” with the same serious look he had on his face when we first found the dumb toad. I just cried louder at his big voice but that seemed to annoy him because he just pushed the ugly animal closer to me until I had to take it or he’d drop it on me.

  Then he knelt over the empty egg basket and took out the cloth that we used to support their fragile outer-shell.

  The frog felt slimy in my grip and I could feel its little chest moving up and down when it breathed. Its skin was bumpy like sandpaper, it felt as ugly as it looked and I really didn’t like the feeling. I considered dropping it for a moment but I knew that would make Kala upset, so I didn’t. But its little body and weird eyes still made me uncomfortable. I tried to look away from it and back toward Kala but my hold on it was beginning to get shaky and trembly which made it try to jump.

  It didn’t get away but the motion of it bopping upward scared me because it looked like it was going to land right on me and that made me want to cry again. But I just jolted a bit and gasped and made this weird choking sound that ended with dry sobs until Kala pulled me back down to him.

  He eased the tan creature out of my light, rust colored grasp and then patted my shoulder a few times with his own light blue telekinesis. A rehearsed, “it’s okay, Kelley,” in the normal sweet, quiet voice that he used whenever he wanted me to calm down.

  I just frowned and looked back down at the basket where we placed the toad. My face felt hot and I was disappointed in myself because of it.

  Kala had cleared the light colored squares of cloth from the woven basket and placed them up against the wall of the house so that they wouldn’t blow away. This left enough room for our toad without getting the sheets dirty because we’d probably be in trouble for that. I didn’t necessarily know that putting the toad in a basket we used for fresh eggs was an idea that our dad would approve of, but my voice was still too crackly to mention anything coherent to Kala and this method did keep us from going inside with the thing.

  So I didn’t say anything about it but just watched between my brother and the toad.

  “He seems happy now, doesn’t he?” Kala said warmly. His green eyes were watching the little toad again. I looked at it for a moment but then back to my brother, he at least seemed to be happy. He seemed proudly content of finding a makeshift home for the creature and though I wasn’t sure I agreed with him, I nodded my head quickly because I knew that would make him happy too. It looked like it did.

  I could tell he was about to mention something about finding grass, and rocks, and water for our toad but before he could start, let alone finish, there was a bang and the wooden side door swung open behind us. Both of our heads spun around in unison, it was a reflex that I almost wish we didn’t have because if we didn’t they probably wouldn’t have even noticed us.

  But they did. Caleb and Ael came out first, and then Graeme. Aelwyn looked like he was just going to continue back down the steps but he paused because of Caleb who looked at us like he’d never seen us before. I’d turned back toward the basket to try to ignore them so they’d go away, so I didn’t see what Graeme was doing. I heard Kala staring back at them (if you’re wondering how I could hear that, it’s the same way you can feel someone looking at you when you’ve got your back to them) and then I heard him ask, “what?” because Caleb hadn’t said anything yet. That was daring because the older boys usually were rough and that was just the kind of bait they needed to snap at you. But Kala didn’t even seem to realize that because he just sounded light like he always did.

  And so I heard Caleb’s bratty older voice go, “what the fuck do you mean, 'what'?” in a voice that strived to mimic my twin’s on the last word. More of a mock, than a mimic. It was mean sounding… and I felt Kala blink, and then he looked down. That made me feel sad but not in a way that I wanted to cry because I hardly ever wanted to cry when I was just sad.

  I heard him mutter something along the lines of, “sorry,” and “we found a toad,” but I doubted Caleb or the other two could hear it. I felt Kala swing back around to look at the little creature tucked in the egg basket until I could see his face in the corner of my eye again. His expression had fallen and that didn’t feel very good either.

  Ael’s voice asked what we were doing and as he did so I could feel him walking towards us so I turned my head a little bit to glare at him until he was nearly overtop of us and it hurt my neck to continue doing so. I felt him looking down at the basket and the toad and also Kala looking up at him.

  “You can’t have that!” was his immediate reaction and he reached down to grab the greenish-brown toad, but Kala rushed forward first which earned a good bump on his shoulder in consequence. Ael didn’t get a hold of the little thing but he barked an annoyed, "Kelley!" (they often mixed up our names, sometimes on purpose, but I think he meant Kala this time because he was looking at him) and then managed to snag the handle of the basket and pull the entire thing up toward him. He knocked both of our shoulders in doing so and that made me want to cry. I wasn’t sad I was just… upset, because this wasn’t how it was supposed to go and it was frustrating. But they still always did things like this and I hate it.

  It was making Kala upset too, I could tell because his face was starting to look red and he screamed at Aelwyn to stop. I didn’t think there was a reason we couldn’t have the toad, and if there was, Aelwyn didn’t have the right to be the one to tell us. They just liked to do this because they were taller and older.

  Kala tried to shove him because he was hardly ever scared of anything but then Ael reached out to block his chest so the effort was pretty much pointless. Kala said another assertive, “please!” like he’d done to me earlier but that didn’t get him far either.

  Then Caleb came close to us too and just grabbed the basket from Ael and flipped it upside down like some sort of idiot. That made our toad jump sideways and out onto the floor of the porch. I didn’t know what to do but I could feel my nerves amping up and my face was getting hot again. Now I could see Graeme too because I was facing all of them again and he was just rolling his eyes by the stair railing. That just made me mad and I wanted to scream at him but I didn’t, I just started tearing up again like a dumb baby and I could feel my body shake.

  I heard Kala curse at Caleb and try to hit him but Caleb was still just taunting him and I could see him move like he was going to kick the toad across the porch back into the yard and I still didn't know what to do. But my crying was getting louder anyway so I screamed for dad instead of just being scared and useless. I knew it was probably going to make him mad but it was partially a reflex and I also knew it would get them to just go away.

  I didn’t want him to come outside because then we’d all be in trouble but if he was in the house he’d probably just yell for us to stop and that’s what he did. Aelwyn just scowled at the both of us and even though my face was still red, I liked that because it meant I did something too. If he had just looked at Kala like that it would have meant that he was the only one who snapped back, and it would have meant I was useless again. Even though I didn’t want to be. I wanted Ael to feel mad so that look we got felt good to me… because he deserved to feel angry because anger didn’t feel good.

  Caleb dropped the entire basket at once which was just petty spite because he was irritated when dad went, “BOYS!” in his old, deep, raspy voice and then, “KNOCK IT OFF!” and then he yelled again for us to go finish our chores but me and Kala didn’t have any right now so we didn’t have to, just them.

  Caleb shoved Kala’s shoulder again and then both of them spun to meet Graeme at the railing and they all ran down the steps, pushing each other as they did so.

What a bunch of freaks.

  This is what I meant by too much.

  My shoulders were still tense and my body was still shaking a bit thanks to my stupid nerves but I rubbed my face to try and calm down and look normal. Kala looked like he wanted to cry too. But he didn’t. Instead he just pulled me closer to him and we started looking around for the toad. I didn’t think Caleb kicked him but if he did and I missed it, we probably wouldn’t find him. Kala would be upset about that so I hoped he didn’t.

  It took us a few minutes because the wooden floor boards were about the same color brown as the weird little toad so he was hard to see, but we eventually found him propped up against one of the white columns breathing oddly through his chest like he did, and then Kala grabbed him really quick. He looked relieved and it almost made me laugh a little bit because the toad wasn’t really important.

  He looked at him with his same eyes as mine and then said that, “maybe we shouldn’t keep him here,” and it wasn’t really a question for me but more of like he was pondering that thought over with himself. But I said, “hmm,” anyway because even that would usually help me decide, if I knew someone else was listening.

  A few moments passed but then Kala nodded which made his curly hair bounce a little bit, and then he just went, “okay.” and I figured that meant that we were probably going to put the toad back. It was probably a good idea too because I don’t think the little thing wanted to be kicked across the porch and we’d probably need that woven basket for eggs again soon.

  Kala seemed a bit disappointed in his eyes and the rest of his face and I kind of was too, if I’m being fair. I watched my brother blink for a second and look at the basket that was on its side in the middle of the walkway. Then he turned back to me with the toad, again, dangling in his blue telekinesis. He stuck the slimy thing out to me again, but this time I just blinked my eyes and took the stupid animal, with a frown.

  It felt the same as when I first took it, but I was still a bit riled up from the older boys so maybe my breathing was just too shaky to really focus on the toad because I didn’t mind it as much as before. Even if it was still the same gross, alien-looking thing.

  Kala had reached down to put the square, patterned pieces of cloth back in the egg basket and then propped it back up against the wall.

  I would have left it there and blamed Caleb.

"Here.” I said when his posture leveled back out with mine, and I pushed the toad into Kala’s chest. The thing tried to jump a bit when we traded it off and it made me start to grind my teeth some but that was it. What a dumb thing.

  “Let’s put him by the pond. There’s flies.” I nodded at that and said, “okay,” to my brother and we hobbled back down the steps with our braces clicking like always.

  Frogs were one thing, but I guess I didn’t mind toads too much.

WC: 3,808
--
I've actually been enjoying writing a lot over the past few months... and this was pretty fun considering Newt and Cricket had a lot of different traits way back when. But also a lot of the same which you should be able to see ha.

... that's all I've got to say, enjoy my mess of words and sketches

Description

(art) 8 AP to Newt (3 full-bodies, 80% for collaboration)
(literature) 16 AP to Newt (3,808 words, same character bonus)

Since my last upload was of baby twins and these were sitting around anyway... Here! I just finished SaintPumpkinMuffin 's sketches because they were adorable. Especially the one of Cricket, though I finished up that one a few weeks ago so the older art is a bit noticeable, :' ).... also I loved that sketch so much, here's a short story I wrote that has also been sitting for a bit:

Key: This is in Newt's perspective, before Cricket's accident, so no nicknames yet, and they're still pretty young so the writing is a bit jumble-y in consequence! it's about them "saving" a toad... sort of. (Kala = Cricket, Kelley = Newt)

--

  The thing had big flat blocks for eyes. You could see little dots of yellow and green around its weird pupils and its pupils moved quick so you really had to pay attention.

  The air was surprisingly warm, even for summer, and so we were both free of our cloaks which was nice because they were much too big and that meant they usually just got full of grass, and mud, and sticks which dad didn’t like but we didn’t either because it was annoying.

  I was trying not to move too much when looking between my brother and the thing because he had told me not to. Our braces clicked when we moved and that would scare it, was what he whispered with a sidelong glance. One full of complete, quiet, seriousness.

  And so we were hunched over our legs looking back at the creature, still as possible. Its little body pondering our very existence from its spot in the grass, just like we were doing to it. It made me uncomfortable because it breathed in through its chest like nothing I’d ever seen, and its little eyes more of jumped to look at things rather than moving smoothly like ours did… or anyone else’s for that matter.

  “I don’t like frogs.” Was something I said quietly, in more of a whine than anything. By this point I had already shifted my head to mainly be looking at Kala, a pitiful attempt to gage his attention without actually asking for it. But all I got in response was a, “Kelley, stop.” in his hissing voice that meant it. It made me frown and my head turned back to the small frog. Though this time my eyes dropped to the ground between my feet instead of looking at its dumb, ugly figure.

  Kala liked this sort of stuff; the mud, dirt, grass... but I really just wanted to go back inside. Sometimes being outside really just felt like too much and it was tiring. Plus the house was usually quiet during the day which meant we could probably even have our room to ourselves for a few hours. Our dad wouldn’t mind if we weren’t loud. We weren’t much help in the fields yet anyway.

  I could see Kala’s eyes shift slightly toward me through the corner of my identical ones. He must have felt bad for snapping, or he just couldn’t help himself because he faintly whispered an, “it’s not a frog, it’s a toad ‘cause of its brown skin. Toddy told me that.” and then he blinked a moment. “Don’t you remember?” he continued with curious eyes.

  I didn’t. But I didn’t like Todd so that was probably why.

  I just shook my head, but apparently too violently as the ugly brown frog-toad leapt in the opposite direction of the two of us. I heard Kala gasp from between his curly hair before screaming, “wait!” and bounding after the measly thing which only made it jump again. His motion rocked me forward too and it made my shoulders tense. My voice sounded too high-pitched and pathetic when I tried to protest. It took me a moment to regain my posture but by the time I did I could already see my brother’s bright blue telekinesis snagged around the animal. The toad’s hind legs dangling pathetically in the air while Kala brought him in even closer.

  “Wow! Look at him!” He screeched in some wave of excitement that made my green eyes open wider. “Look, Kel, look!” and he shoved the slimy thing closer to my face. It made my lower eyelids tense and my brows furrow in something resembling worry.

  “I don’t like frogs!” I cried for the second time today, this time much louder and more frantic. I ducked my head sideways to avoid looking at it. My own brown, wavy hair helping to obstruct my vision.

  But Kala’s hold on the frog fell instantly as I tried to blink away moist eyes. He blinked, himself, a teal hue still wrapped around the creature’s middle. “He’s a toad.” He said flatly. Disappointment obvious in his expression and tone. Whether it was because I got the thing’s species wrong, again, or because I lacked the same enthusiasm as him, I wasn’t sure. But his calmed domineer let me stand a little straighter.

  “I don’t like them.” I said again, this time a much quieter defense with a bit of a sniffle. Kala merely spun the toad back around to get a better look at him. Creepy eyes and all. “I do.” he said with a bit of a toothy grin.

  “Let’s go get a box!” He stumbled upward at that, pulling me back up with him, toad still dangling pitifully in his distractible grip. I really didn’t think that was a good idea because we’d have to get something from the house and dad didn’t like animals much. Though when I tried to mention it Kala just shushed me with another grin and a reassuring, “no, no, it's okay.” before pulling the ugly toad into his chest.

  Kala was odd because any grin he ever made really was reassuring. It did make everything feel okay and worthwhile; exciting even. Like it couldn’t be a better idea if Kaia had come up with it herself. Of course, they didn’t always end with the same hopeful outcome, but I followed along with him anyway because… Well, I guess I just always did. And if any extra nerves tended to arise, I would just stay closer.

  And so we hobbled back to the house. Kala had insisted that I try to hold the little animal only… Three times and that “he wouldn’t bite or anything,” but I still didn’t want to.

  Our house was big and rickety and it made a lot of ghost noises and there was paint chipping everywhere and loose floorboards too. But it was also almost always warm because we traded our neighbor vegetables for firewood very often. It smelled good too, either thanks to the crackling fire or breakfast that morning. Of course both of those nice things were usually just stuck downstairs on the first floor, and there were three total. Not including the basement.

  But I still liked it, when it was quiet.

  Clambering up the porch steps and we could already hear noise from inside; laughing, but it was rude, cocky laughing like when the older boys got too riled up and then got in trouble for it. I didn’t like that sound because usually they were being mean. Or were going to be.

  If my brother didn’t have me then I’m sure he would have just plowed right through the front door to show everyone the toad we’d caught. It’s because he’s brave and I wish I was like that too sometimes.

  But I’m not, and he still had me right at his shoulder, and I complained. I didn’t want to go inside because it was too much, whatever that meant. But it was still true. It was upsetting too because during the walk back home I was beginning to look forward to going inside but we couldn’t now and it made me want to cry for a second. I could feel the back of my neck and my face heat up. They had to ruin everything.

  I think Kala could tell that I was having a block because even though he slumped his shoulders and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, he didn’t push it, and I liked that.

  He spun around and I did too. The porch was just as rickety as the rest of our house but its white columns and light, wooden side door masked it pretty well for anyone looking in. Of course, no one really saw the side porch because it was for kids and the front porch was for visitors… but the front side looked okay too.

  As we looked back down the stairs, I was surprised that no one else was walking down the little dirt path if some were already in the house. I could only figure they were coming to get food and usually that meant everyone would be. But it seemed the rest of our brothers were still out working. I was glad dad didn’t insist we went along today. Usually I just felt in the way when we did and I hated that.

  “Did we get eggs this morning?” I heard Kala ask from my left side. I just blinked because I didn’t know, and it wasn’t my job to know anyway. But when I turned sideways to look at him too, he was looking the opposite direction so I could only see the back of his head, and that was just hair similar to mine.

  “What?” I asked instead of giving him an answer; it was a weird question to be asking at that moment, so mine was reasonable.

  When he shifted his weight I could see the woven egg basket though, so I wondered why he even asked me in the first place. “I guess so.” Was what I finally ended with. It was unnecessary because the answer was already obvious, so he just ignored me and began to drag me toward the pretty-looking basket.

  “Here.” Said my brother after we were standing overtop of the handmade necessity, and he shoved the toad into my chest. I squirmed backwards because I’d already told him I didn’t want to hold the thing multiple times, so I didn’t know why he was asking me again. I didn’t want to touch it, let alone hold it. I started whining again and I could feel my eyelids tense but Kala didn’t revoke like before. Instead he barked a desperate, “please!” with the same serious look he had on his face when we first found the dumb toad. I just cried louder at his big voice but that seemed to annoy him because he just pushed the ugly animal closer to me until I had to take it or he’d drop it on me.

  Then he knelt over the empty egg basket and took out the cloth that we used to support their fragile outer-shell.

  The frog felt slimy in my grip and I could feel its little chest moving up and down when it breathed. Its skin was bumpy like sandpaper, it felt as ugly as it looked and I really didn’t like the feeling. I considered dropping it for a moment but I knew that would make Kala upset, so I didn’t. But its little body and weird eyes still made me uncomfortable. I tried to look away from it and back toward Kala but my hold on it was beginning to get shaky and trembly which made it try to jump.

  It didn’t get away but the motion of it bopping upward scared me because it looked like it was going to land right on me and that made me want to cry again. But I just jolted a bit and gasped and made this weird choking sound that ended with dry sobs until Kala pulled me back down to him.

  He eased the tan creature out of my light, rust colored grasp and then patted my shoulder a few times with his own light blue telekinesis. A rehearsed, “it’s okay, Kelley,” in the normal sweet, quiet voice that he used whenever he wanted me to calm down.

  I just frowned and looked back down at the basket where we placed the toad. My face felt hot and I was disappointed in myself because of it.

  Kala had cleared the light colored squares of cloth from the woven basket and placed them up against the wall of the house so that they wouldn’t blow away. This left enough room for our toad without getting the sheets dirty because we’d probably be in trouble for that. I didn’t necessarily know that putting the toad in a basket we used for fresh eggs was an idea that our dad would approve of, but my voice was still too crackly to mention anything coherent to Kala and this method did keep us from going inside with the thing.

  So I didn’t say anything about it but just watched between my brother and the toad.

  “He seems happy now, doesn’t he?” Kala said warmly. His green eyes were watching the little toad again. I looked at it for a moment but then back to my brother, he at least seemed to be happy. He seemed proudly content of finding a makeshift home for the creature and though I wasn’t sure I agreed with him, I nodded my head quickly because I knew that would make him happy too. It looked like it did.

  I could tell he was about to mention something about finding grass, and rocks, and water for our toad but before he could start, let alone finish, there was a bang and the wooden side door swung open behind us. Both of our heads spun around in unison, it was a reflex that I almost wish we didn’t have because if we didn’t they probably wouldn’t have even noticed us.

  But they did. Caleb and Ael came out first, and then Graeme. Aelwyn looked like he was just going to continue back down the steps but he paused because of Caleb who looked at us like he’d never seen us before. I’d turned back toward the basket to try to ignore them so they’d go away, so I didn’t see what Graeme was doing. I heard Kala staring back at them (if you’re wondering how I could hear that, it’s the same way you can feel someone looking at you when you’ve got your back to them) and then I heard him ask, “what?” because Caleb hadn’t said anything yet. That was daring because the older boys usually were rough and that was just the kind of bait they needed to snap at you. But Kala didn’t even seem to realize that because he just sounded light like he always did.

  And so I heard Caleb’s bratty older voice go, “what the fuck do you mean, 'what'?” in a voice that strived to mimic my twin’s on the last word. More of a mock, than a mimic. It was mean sounding… and I felt Kala blink, and then he looked down. That made me feel sad but not in a way that I wanted to cry because I hardly ever wanted to cry when I was just sad.

  I heard him mutter something along the lines of, “sorry,” and “we found a toad,” but I doubted Caleb or the other two could hear it. I felt Kala swing back around to look at the little creature tucked in the egg basket until I could see his face in the corner of my eye again. His expression had fallen and that didn’t feel very good either.

  Ael’s voice asked what we were doing and as he did so I could feel him walking towards us so I turned my head a little bit to glare at him until he was nearly overtop of us and it hurt my neck to continue doing so. I felt him looking down at the basket and the toad and also Kala looking up at him.

  “You can’t have that!” was his immediate reaction and he reached down to grab the greenish-brown toad, but Kala rushed forward first which earned a good bump on his shoulder in consequence. Ael didn’t get a hold of the little thing but he barked an annoyed, "Kelley!" (they often mixed up our names, sometimes on purpose, but I think he meant Kala this time because he was looking at him) and then managed to snag the handle of the basket and pull the entire thing up toward him. He knocked both of our shoulders in doing so and that made me want to cry. I wasn’t sad I was just… upset, because this wasn’t how it was supposed to go and it was frustrating. But they still always did things like this and I hate it.

  It was making Kala upset too, I could tell because his face was starting to look red and he screamed at Aelwyn to stop. I didn’t think there was a reason we couldn’t have the toad, and if there was, Aelwyn didn’t have the right to be the one to tell us. They just liked to do this because they were taller and older.

  Kala tried to shove him because he was hardly ever scared of anything but then Ael reached out to block his chest so the effort was pretty much pointless. Kala said another assertive, “please!” like he’d done to me earlier but that didn’t get him far either.

  Then Caleb came close to us too and just grabbed the basket from Ael and flipped it upside down like some sort of idiot. That made our toad jump sideways and out onto the floor of the porch. I didn’t know what to do but I could feel my nerves amping up and my face was getting hot again. Now I could see Graeme too because I was facing all of them again and he was just rolling his eyes by the stair railing. That just made me mad and I wanted to scream at him but I didn’t, I just started tearing up again like a dumb baby and I could feel my body shake.

  I heard Kala curse at Caleb and try to hit him but Caleb was still just taunting him and I could see him move like he was going to kick the toad across the porch back into the yard and I still didn't know what to do. But my crying was getting louder anyway so I screamed for dad instead of just being scared and useless. I knew it was probably going to make him mad but it was partially a reflex and I also knew it would get them to just go away.

  I didn’t want him to come outside because then we’d all be in trouble but if he was in the house he’d probably just yell for us to stop and that’s what he did. Aelwyn just scowled at the both of us and even though my face was still red, I liked that because it meant I did something too. If he had just looked at Kala like that it would have meant that he was the only one who snapped back, and it would have meant I was useless again. Even though I didn’t want to be. I wanted Ael to feel mad so that look we got felt good to me… because he deserved to feel angry because anger didn’t feel good.

  Caleb dropped the entire basket at once which was just petty spite because he was irritated when dad went, “BOYS!” in his old, deep, raspy voice and then, “KNOCK IT OFF!” and then he yelled again for us to go finish our chores but me and Kala didn’t have any right now so we didn’t have to, just them.

  Caleb shoved Kala’s shoulder again and then both of them spun to meet Graeme at the railing and they all ran down the steps, pushing each other as they did so.

What a bunch of freaks.

  This is what I meant by too much.

  My shoulders were still tense and my body was still shaking a bit thanks to my stupid nerves but I rubbed my face to try and calm down and look normal. Kala looked like he wanted to cry too. But he didn’t. Instead he just pulled me closer to him and we started looking around for the toad. I didn’t think Caleb kicked him but if he did and I missed it, we probably wouldn’t find him. Kala would be upset about that so I hoped he didn’t.

  It took us a few minutes because the wooden floor boards were about the same color brown as the weird little toad so he was hard to see, but we eventually found him propped up against one of the white columns breathing oddly through his chest like he did, and then Kala grabbed him really quick. He looked relieved and it almost made me laugh a little bit because the toad wasn’t really important.

  He looked at him with his same eyes as mine and then said that, “maybe we shouldn’t keep him here,” and it wasn’t really a question for me but more of like he was pondering that thought over with himself. But I said, “hmm,” anyway because even that would usually help me decide, if I knew someone else was listening.

  A few moments passed but then Kala nodded which made his curly hair bounce a little bit, and then he just went, “okay.” and I figured that meant that we were probably going to put the toad back. It was probably a good idea too because I don’t think the little thing wanted to be kicked across the porch and we’d probably need that woven basket for eggs again soon.

  Kala seemed a bit disappointed in his eyes and the rest of his face and I kind of was too, if I’m being fair. I watched my brother blink for a second and look at the basket that was on its side in the middle of the walkway. Then he turned back to me with the toad, again, dangling in his blue telekinesis. He stuck the slimy thing out to me again, but this time I just blinked my eyes and took the stupid animal, with a frown.

  It felt the same as when I first took it, but I was still a bit riled up from the older boys so maybe my breathing was just too shaky to really focus on the toad because I didn’t mind it as much as before. Even if it was still the same gross, alien-looking thing.

  Kala had reached down to put the square, patterned pieces of cloth back in the egg basket and then propped it back up against the wall.

  I would have left it there and blamed Caleb.

"Here.” I said when his posture leveled back out with mine, and I pushed the toad into Kala’s chest. The thing tried to jump a bit when we traded it off and it made me start to grind my teeth some but that was it. What a dumb thing.

  “Let’s put him by the pond. There’s flies.” I nodded at that and said, “okay,” to my brother and we hobbled back down the steps with our braces clicking like always.

  Frogs were one thing, but I guess I didn’t mind toads too much.

WC: 3,808
--
I've actually been enjoying writing a lot over the past few months... and this was pretty fun considering Newt and Cricket had a lot of different traits way back when. But also a lot of the same which you should be able to see ha.

... that's all I've got to say, enjoy my mess of words and sketches