Rescuing the Teddy Bears/Fighting Off the Popsicles

By Katelyn Shear
     AKA
Kataleen the Kreative



I stared at my fingernails, the green and yellow polish glinting in the sunlight streaming through the window in Linzee's room. I looked up and sighed. Beekee and Linzee were arguing over stuffed animals. Again.
     "I don't see why you insist on having the stuffed Peter doll!" Linzee lashed out in frustration, waving the stuffed version of Peter in the air.
     Beekee huffed and narrowed her eyes. "Because I like the Peter doll! He would look great in my room!"
     I rolled my eyes. "Why do either of you want a stuffed doll? That's baby-ish." I tuned my focus back on my nails. I admired them for a few more moments, and then noticed something.
      There was no bickering bouncing off of the walls and into my ears. No noises. Nothing. I looked up, prepared to find both girls passed out on the floor or bleeding to death or something, but they stood there, staring at me, mouths agape.
     "What?" I said, unsure if I had done something wrong without knowing it.
     Beekee's mouth opened and closed, as if she were trying to say something, but couldn't. It reminded me acutely of a fish I had seen at an aquarium in the real world. Linzee seemed to think the same thing, for she looked at Beekee and demanded her to close her mouth.
     "But--I--She--" Becki looked as if she were trying to find words, but Linzee shook her head. I didn't understand why they were acting so strange, but I figured if I kept my mouth shut, I'd find out soon enough.
     And that I did. "You think stuffed animals are . . .baby-ish?" Linzee looked as if someone had just struck her. I blinked a few times, not sure if I had heard her right.
      "Yes, I do."
     Beekee clutched her heart. "Three words . . . that's all it took to break my heart in two!"
     I stared in confusion. Why were they making such a big fuss over stuffed animals?
     Linzee nodded and then turned to me. I saw tears glistening in her eyes. "Have you ever had a stuffed animal?"
     I sighed and shook my head. "No, I've never wanted one. They're creepy!"
     Linzee grabbed my hand and jerked me from the comfy chair I had been sitting on. "We will find you a stuffed friend! We shall look high and low, never stopping until we have found 'The One'!" She lifted my hand in the air like those guys who knock each other around a ring until one falls on their face after they win. I took my hand back from her and scowled.
     "I do not need a stuffed animal! And I won't have one!" I turned my back to her and folded my arms like a stubborn four year old. Bad move.
     Linzee and Beekee tackled me to the floor and then carried me to the real Peter.
     "Let go of me!" I screamed.
     But they didn't listen. They were talking about what kind of stuffie to get me. They threw me over Peter, jumped on, and off we flew. Peter began to do his tricks, Linzee hollering and Beekee trying to keep her lunch in. I fell off of his back, plunging to the earth far below. I shrieked. This was not the way I planned on dying. Linzee grabbed my hand and did a backflip.
     I was so going to kill them.




3 hours later
I huffed and puffed as I climbed the last steep hill on the mountain. I still didn't understand why we hadn't taken Peter up. Linzee wouldn't say. We were above the clouds now, and the view was stunning.
     "What mountain are we on?" I asked, still trying to catch my breath.
     Linzee, looking offensively cheerful, smiled. "We're on Teddy Bear Mountain, controlled by the evil Popsicles." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "We have to get past the Popsicles without being seen. There is no telling what they might do."
     Oh, great. Jahsmun had told me of these Popsicles, but she was still on her trip to the real world, so she couldn't tell us how to fend off these colored chunks of ice on sticks. I took a deep breath.
     "If something goes wrong, we can just jump on Peter and fly away, right?"
     Beekee started to say something, but Linzee interrupted. Again. "No. We shall fight to the death!"
     That didn't sound good. Linzee could fight to the death if she wanted to. First sign of Popsicles and I was outta here!
     Beekee tapped Linzee's shoulder and whispered something in her ear. Linzee spun around and began running. I knew something was wrong. So I began to run too. The three of us ran, and Linzee ran around a corner. Her sudden scream echoed around me and Beekee. We rushed to where the scream came from. We found her on her knees, something in her arms. I slowly walked up to her.
     "Linzee . . . Are you okay?" I touched her shoulder gently. She jumped up and pushed a pink stuffed cat into my arms. I stared at it, wondering why on earth I would even consider keeping it. Ah, well, maybe she wouldn't try to kill me. "Thanks." The grin on her face grew before she flounced off.
     I looked down at the stuffed animal in my arms and realized. . . it was looking at me. And blinking. A scream climbed up my throat, but I forced it down. I stared at the stuffed cat thing, wondering if it talked like Peter.
     "Um. . . . . Hello." I heard my voice shaking.
     The pink cat stared at me, and for a minute I wondered if I was crazier than I had originally thought. Then IT spoke up. "Hello. You are the reasonable one, yes?"
      I was beginning to think that was my new nickname. "Yes, I guess I am, if you compare Linzee and I."
     The pink cat smiled. REALLY smiled. "Wonderful. You will save the Nation of Teddy Bears from the evil Popsicles!"
     I had to laugh at that. I was the reasonable one. Not the warrior. "Um, yeah. Maybe you should talk to Beekee about that first. She has an assassin on her side. Yep, she'd be better for the job." I put the stuffed cat down and walked away. But apparently, it could walk too.
      "We need your help! You have the backpack. Please." The hope and trust in her eyes made me want to cry. I was always one to fall for the wide eyes and tears. "Okay, I'll do it."


1 hour later
I'm a fool. Why can't I just say 'no' to one, measly stuffed animal? I followed the stuffed cat and her billions of stuffed friends. Okay, so maybe not billions, but around a thousand. We marched along, and I felt like the land/people version of Finding Nemo. I was expecting at any moment to start singing, "Just Keep Marching!" Suddenly, everyone stopped. Even Linzee, who had been hugging each stuffie as she or they passed each other.
     The stuffed cat walked over to me. "It's the Popsicles. What are you going to do?"
     I nearly passed out laughing. "What am I going to do? I'm not going to do anything!!! I'm outta here!" I turned, but saw the billions--thousands of stuffies, each watching me with wide, tear-filled eyes. "Oh, for cryin' out loud! I don't want to fight Popsicles!"
     Stuffed cat looked at me. "It does not matter. You have been chosen by the stuffed queen to be our leader!"
     I felt like dying right there. Why should I be the one to take on the Popsicles? "Why doesn't your stuffed queen be the leader? She's the queen!!"
    Just then, the chanting of Popsicles filled the air. They rounded the corner of the mountain with sticks and rocks.
     Linzee began chanting with them. "Sticks and stones may break my bones!!!!" Apparently, she wasn't on my side. Though I did have to wonder why the Popsicles didn't finish off the famous quote. Ah, well, no time to think about that. I had to fight! To save this nation! I grabbed my backpack and dug through it. I pulled a blowdryer out.
     Beekee came up beside me. "A blowdryer? We don't have anywhere to plug it up at!"
     I smiled. "No worries! It's a wireless blowdryer. No cords or plugs needed! I found it on sale at the mall. It was a great price. I couldn't believe--"
     She stared at me, dumbfounded. "Wireless?
     I grinned. "Yep! Didn't you know? Everything is going wireless! Phones, computers, blowdryers, stuff like that. You know, I once saw this thing at--"
     Beekee shook my shoulders. "Stop talking!! We need to defeat the Popsicles!!"
     I frowned at that. She was always ruining speeches. "Okay, okay. Here, pass these blowdryers and matches out. We can defeat them this way!"
     Beekee began throwing blowdryers and matches at everything in sight. I turned my blowdryer on full blast and pointed it at the Popsicles. "Prepare to meet your maker at Unilever!!!!!" I screamed at them. I ran at the Popsicles, the hot air making them melt quickly. I jumped over them, karate kicking one of them in the head. I dug bow and arrows out of my backpack, lit them on fire, and pretended to be Robin Hood. Okay, so maybe Linzee would be a better Robin Hood. I handed her the bow, and she went wild. She started shooting at everything in sight, which was the Popsicles. We have finished them off. Well, all except one. THE KING OF ALL POPSICLES.
     I heard Beekee whistle for Peter and waited. We could take this "king" out. All we needed now, was Linzee. Beekee dragged Linzee up with us, and I counted to three.
     One. . . . . . Two. . . . . . THREE!!!!!!!
     And off we jumped, tackling the king. Beekee did some karate move Paul taught her (Want to know who he is? Oops, she'll have to tell you.), Linzee was shooting him with fire-lit arrows, Peter was eating him (Um, well, we've gotten rid of the body), and I was shooting him with my blowdryer. Once he had melted, and was being eaten by Peter, Stuffed Cat thanked us.
     "How can we ever thank you? You'e saved us from many years of torment. We are forever in your debt."
     I looked at her slyly. "Well. . . . you can return to the Lair with us. I want a cat, even if it is stuffed. Deal?"
     She stuck out her stuffed paw. "Deal!"
     And we flew off, back to the Lair. Hopefully Jahsmun will be back soon, I thought, hopeful.



                                                       The End, for now. ;)

NEW STORY!!!!

SAVING LINZEE

by

Becki Badger

AKA

Beekee the Bold

I drummed my fingers on the desk.  TAP-TAP TA-TAP TAP TAP TAP-TAP-TA-TAP.  Where is Linzee?  I wondered.  She's always here by now, what could be holding her up?  Should I try her FF communicator?  Nah, she's always putting it down places and forgetting about it.  Well, I could always try-
"Hey, Beekee.  What's up?"  I started as Kataleen came in.
"Don't scare me like that!"  I snapped.  "Where have you been?"
She held out her hands.  "Getting my nails done."  Her nails were green with a yellow "F" on each.  "The fairies are the best.  I can't ever get 'em right, but the fairies don't mess up ever.  Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"  I said, still scowling at her.
"Like that!  Stop it, it's nasty looking, and you're scaring me!"
I crossed my arms.  My face, by this time, was all squinched up, and I looked like a two year old.

Me, trying to get a good example of what my face looked like.

Still trying . . .

Aaand . . . not succeeding.  But you get the point, right?

"Linzee's not here,"  I said, finally.
She stared at me.  "So?  Neither is Jahsmun.  She went on a trip to the real world.  So why are you so worried about Linzee?  She's on the island somewhere.  You know how big it is."
I shrugged.  "She could be . . . or . . . she could be . . ."  I trailed off.  Hehe . . . this is gonna drive her crazy.
It did.
"What?  WHERE COULD SHE BE?!?!?!  BEEKEE, TELL ME, I CAN HANDLE IT!"
I looked around, secretively, to make sure no one heard what I was about to tell her.  Haha . . . yeah, right.  I wanted to build suspense.
"She might have been . . . kidnapped."
Kataleen's eyes were enormous.  "Kidnapped?  By . . . by whom?"
"Roman's kidnappy friends."  Sneaking another peek around the Bair.
"Then we have to get her back!"  she said, clearly distressed.  Maybe I should have kept that rubber from when we almost broke Reth out of jail.
"Oh, we will,"  I assured her, already gathering my gear.  "All we need now is my rappelling equipment, my smartphone, my taser, and Peter.  Oh, and a couple of goats.  Just in case he gets hungry."
"Peter?"  Kataleen, who was already scrambling for the items, glanced back at me.  "But we can't take Peter.  We have to have written permission from Linzee to take him."
"So?"  I said, already whistling for him as I started out of the Lair.  "I'll just tell her it was an emergency.  We ARE rescuing her, after all.  Plus, I'm Linzee's favorite."
"But . . . but, it's in the BYLAWS!!!"  Kataleen wailed after me.  It was too late.  Peter had landed, and I was climbing on.
"Kataleen, you might want to sit this one out,"  I said.  "There's gonna be an assassin."
She looked at me, skeptically.  "Beekee, I've met your assassin.  I think I can handle him."
"Are you sure?  There's also sure to be mafia, and booby traps, and katanas, and guns, and eyelash curlers."  I did NOT want her getting hurt on this mission.
She stuck out her hip and put her fist on it.  "I like eyelash curlers, and you might need my backpack, in which there are more traps than any mafia could hope to counteract."
I sighed.  "Hop on then.  But remember, we've gotta make this a quicky, because I gotta get back to study.  I guess I have to write the story about . . . what was that battle?"
"The battle of the wilderness?"  She glared at me.  "Haven't you done any of the reading?"
"Uh . . . Peter, let's go!"  I said, to cover.  I could hear Kataleen "tsking" over me as Peter bounded into the sky.

Once we were well on our way, I pulled out my smartphone.  It had been running Linzee's whereabouts since three o'clock, when I first missed her.  Now to see if it found her.
"Yes!"  I shrieked.  "It found her!!!"
"Really?"  Kataleen said, trying to look over my shoulder.  "Where?"
"Um . . . it appears she's on an island due West of here."
Hearing this, Peter banked sharply to the right, almost tipping us off.
"Hey, watch it, Peter!"  I said, trying to force my stomach back into place.
"Sorry,"  he said, ducking his head.  I rubbed him right between the shoulder blades: his favorite spot.
"It's okay, it just freaked me out."

In due time, we reached the island, and Peter circled it, while we came up with a plan of attack.
"Hmm,"  I said.  "Peter, can we rappel off you?"
"Sure,"  he said.  "Right after I get rope-burn-proof skin."
"So much for that idea,"  Kataleen said.
"Yeah, and I really wanted to use this rappelling stuff.  It's left over from the thing in London, and I've been trying to think of a time to use it since then."
"What thing in London?"
"Oh, you know.  The thing where I got kidnapped and Linzee came to rescue me, only Roman got there first?"
"Oh, right.  Well, why doesn't Peter just land on the beach?"
I glared at her.  "Because, Kataleen, the entrance is everything."
"Whatever.  Peter, put us on the beach, please?"
"Anything for the reasonable one."
I stuck out my tongue at the back of his head.  "Well, fine, if you're gonna be like that."

"Now what?"  I asked, once we were headed towards the jungle.  Kataleen shrugged.
"I dunno.  What does your phone say?"
"Oh, duh.  Forgot about it.  Hold on, let me check."  I did, and it said we were headed in the right direction.
It seemed like we'd been walking for hours (although it was probably only half an hour), when there was a noise ahead of us.  Kataleen and I looked at each other and began to run.  We broke into a clearing and I started laughing.  Linzee shrieked and looked at us.
"Seriously, grillz, do you have to scare me like that?"
She put down the tea cup.  So the big secret was that she had escaped to a tea party . . . with her stuffed animals.  For a dare I had forgotten about.
I sighed.  "I'll never get to use that rappelling stuff."

Kataleen's Revenge

Written by Katelyn Shear
AKA
Kataleen the Kreative


I pounded my fist into my open palm as I thought of the perfect revenge. Only problem was that none of my ideas were . . . what's the word? . . . horrible enough.
     "What to do, what to do?" I pondered out loud, my fist hitting my palm again.
     "What to do about what?" Beekee said, coming into my room in the lair. I quickly jumped off of my bed, unsure what to say.
     "Um, well, I was just wondering what to do about my Time Machine-slash-Pen thing."
     "What about it?" Beekee's face paled. "You didn't break it, did you?" I tried to resist the urge to faceplam.
     "No, I--"
     Linzee flounced into the room. "Break what? The time machine?" Concern was etched on her face.
     Apparently they had decided to have a meeting in my room, for Jahsmun walked through the door, her eyes wide. "She broke the time machine? Baby sister, how could you? I told you our baby sister couldn't keep anything without breaking it!"
      I couldn't help but headdesk. "I promise I did not break the time machine! I was just wondering where to go next with it!"
     All three girls looked at me. I wasn't sure if the way they stared at me was good or bad.
     I need not have wondered. I found out soon enough.
     "Where is it? I want to see it!"
     "I don't think I believe you!"
     "Baby sisters break everything! How can we trust you with this kind of stuff?"
     My head started to pound in the All-Too-Familiar rhythm. I gave each of the girls my most intimidating stare, and I suddenly got a brilliant idea for my revenge. "Okay, grills, I'll let you see the pen. Give me a second."
     I quickly set the date and location, mentally patting myself on the back for my genius-ness. "Okay, here you go!" I passed the pen to them, and tried to hide my smile. All of them leaned together, inspecting the pen carefully.
     Becki turned the pen over and read the date. "May 4th, 1864? What--" Suddenly, the girls begn to look transparent, which I found utterly fascinating.
     Jasmine gave a yelp. "May 4th is the Battle of the Wilderness! Civil War time!"
     Lindsey began to scream. "It's dark!"
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"I can't see!!!!!"
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"Where are we?"
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I laughed as they disappeared, and decided that this was definately horrible enough. After all, I am the oldest of my siblings, so I am never called "baby sister". And no one is going to start. I laughed once more. I could not wait until they came back, ranting and raving. Good thing I hid the cricket bat earlier.
     "Hey, Peter, 'ole boy. How are you doing? Why don't we try that Loop-de-Loop?"


                                                                               To be continued. . . . . . . .

Our writing contest . . .

We four are part of a blog that has a biweekly-ish writing prompt contest.  We have a ton of fun with it, so we decided to play with it and have mini-contests between ourselves.

The rules are:

1. Someone comes up with part of a sentence.

2. Everyone gets 100 words, plus the prompt, to write the beginning of a book.

3. The prompt has to be included anywhere in the hundred-odd words.

The first prompt was: The transformation began when . . .

Kataleen's: 94 words

The transformation began when Becki stepped inside her trans-whatever.  When she stepped out, she was covered in feathers, fur, and slime.

"Uh . . . what are you supposed to be?"  Jasmine asked, her head tilted sideways.

Becki rolled her eyes.  "Why, isn't it obvious?!"

The other three girls shook their heads slowly.

Becki sighed.  "I'm a Peatigersnake!"

Katelyn's eyes widened.  "A what?"

"It's basically a mix of peacock, tiger, and a snake."

The girls just stared blankly at Becki.  Lindsey finally spoke up.  "Why would you want to be that?  What do they do?"

Jahsmun's: 

The transformation began when scientists released a toxin into the air.  Everywhere people began dropping dead.  All except for the Fearsome Foursome, who were immune to airborne infections.  One day, the FF were out walking when a zombie began chasing them,  Soon zombies began appearing everywhere and the Foursome realized they were the only ones alive.  they began running and Peter swooped down.

"Hop on!"  cried Kataleen.

Peter flew up into the air, leaving the zombies looking up in bewilderment.

"Peter's gonna get tired soon!"  shouted Beekee.

Jahsmun, Kataleen, and Beekee looked at Linzee, who was crying, because she was completely out of ideas.

Linzee's: 103 words

The transformation began when the sun vanished, leaving me alone with the moon.  I had stood watching, motionless, for hours, praying that it wouldn't go.  But the sun always sets.  As the rim of gold slipped below the horizon, I felt the moonlight rip through my body.  I screamed - but then, I always screamed.  My bones twisted apart, rearranging themselves with sadistic intensity.  My skin stretched to its breaking point, struggling to accommodate shifting organs and expanding muscles.  I screamed again, but my mouth suddenly morphed into a muzzle.  My scream became a howl.  And then . . . then I didn't remember anything at all.

And mine (Beekee's): 104 words

The transformation began when . . . actually, I don't remember when it started.  I only know tales.  They say It happened because the gods were angry with us.  It began with a bright day.  Then the sky darkened.  The winds ceased, and everything stopped moving.  It had killed everything in Its path.  Then I was born.  The midwives told my mother she should kill me, or sell me to the slave traders, who would take me to a place where red-heads were considered prizes.  But Mother refused, insisting I might save the world one day.  And one day . . . I did.

Do any of you have any particular favorite?  We girls love feedback, of any kind.  :)

FINALLY RESCUING THE KANGAROOS!!!!

FINALLY RESCUING THE KANGAROOS

By Becki Badger

AKA

Beekee the Bold

"Grillz, there's something that's been on my mind recently."
We looked at Kataleen.  "What's that?"  Jahsmun asked, letting the waves from the lagoon splash over her legs.
"Well, we kept telling everyone that we were going to rescue those kangaroos that have been disappearing, but we never did.  So now I feel like a horrible person for not doing what I said I would."
"Good point, Kataleen."  There was a clanking behind us and we turned to see Linzee struggling towards us, carrying about fifteen shovels.  I glanced at the rock next to me, where she'd been sitting just a minute ago.  Seriously, how does she do that?  Is she like some kind of ninja, or am I just going deaf.
"What are those for?"  I said.
Linzee winked.  "Wea goin' dan undah, mates."
I resisted the urge to facepalm.
Kataleen looked nervously at the shovels.  "Linzee, I know anything we want can happen here, but I am not digging my way to Australia."
Linzee looked disappointed for about half a second.  Then she shrugged and dropped the shovels in a heap.  "Oh, well,"  she said.  "They were getting heavy, anyway."
"Let's take Peter, instead,"  Jahsmun suggested.

And that's how, fifteen minutes later, we were sitting on Peter, holding on for dear life.  Except for Linzee.
"Whoo-hoo!  Now do a loop-the-loop, Peter!  I wanna see if I can stay on with just my legs!"
"No, Peter, don't!"  The rest of us shrieked.  Too late.  My stomach was thrown into my mouth and I felt all the blood drain to my head.  This ride couldn't be over soon enough.
"Linzee!"  Jahsmun yelled, to be heard over the shrieks of delight.  "Where are we going first!"
"Oh, that's easy!"  she said, giggling as Peter swerved sharply to the left, in an attempt to unseat her.  "We have to see our contact!  Whee!  Look, Mom, no arms!"
"Who's that?"  Hollered Kataleen.
"Look, Mom, no feet!  P. Sherman!  He lives at 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney!"
I facepalmed.  "Why am I not surprised?"

An hour and several sessions of cookie-tossing later, we finally landed on the dock below P. Sherman's dentistry.  At least we were alive.  Mostly.  Although I did learn that Cheetos and ice cream taste a LOT better going down.
We left Peter outside and went in.  When we approached the receptionist's desk, Linzee nudged me.
"Okay, Beekee.  You know what to do next."
I did?  I gave her a puzzled look and she glared at me.  I guess I was gonna have to make this up.  Oh, wait.  I remembered a conversation we'd had a year or so ago.  The last time we discussed rescuing the kangaroos.
"Do geese fly backwards on Tuesdays?"  I whispered, leaning across the counter.
She cast furtive glances about the empty waiting room.  "The pirates are in the telephone booth."
"Excellent,"  I said.  She handed me a manilla envelope and we hurried back outside to read it.

On the front, in big, red letters were the words: TOP SECRET.  I tingled with excitement.
"Oh, hurry up,"  Jahsmun said.  "Can't you open it faster?"
Kataleen gave her the evil eye and she shrunk back.  Then Kataleen turned to me.  "Just rip it, already!"
I did end up ripping it, and found one (count 'em: ONE) sheet of paper inside.
"Circus.  Lat.  Lon.  And then a whole bunch of numbers,"  I read.  "I don't get it."
"Here,"  Jahsmun said.  "Let me see."  I handed it to her and her lips moved as she read it to herself.  "Ah ha!  I know what it is!"
"What?  What is it?"  Linzee said.  It was always a mystery to me how Linzee knew almost everything about our missions, and yet got excited when one of us figured out the simplest thing.
"Coordinates!"
"Then what are we waiting for?"  Kataleen said.  "Let's go!"
"Wait,"  I said.  They froze and looked back at me.  "What does 'circus' mean?"
Linzee shrugged.  "Who cares?"  And they ran off, again.  I sighed and followed, reluctantly.

Half an hour later, we were somewhere in the middle of the desert.  With nothing in sight.  Right where the coordinates said we were supposed to be.  The only good part of it was that Linzee and Peter hadn't played their little game.
Linzee sighed.  "Well, we might as well give Peter a little break.  Why don't we land and check it out.  Maybe we're just looking at an opposite mirage, or something like that."
Jahsmun cocked an eyebrow at her.  "An opposite mirage?  I've never heard of such a thing."
Linzee shrugged.  "I've encountered a couple."
I stared at her.  "Where?"
She grinned.  "Top secret.  Anyway, let's go."
By this time, Peter had landed, and we had climbed off.
"So which way do we go?"  Kataleen asked.
We all looked at Linzee.
Linzee looked around.  "This way,"  she said, pointing.
So we started walking.  However, we hadn't gone twenty feet when I felt a cool breeze.
"Woah!"  I said.  "Where'd that come from!"
I started running, and the land suddenly changed from desert to the inside of Walmart!  The others quickly appeared next to me.
"Woah,"  Kataleen said.
"Woah,"  Jahsmun said.
"Heck, yeah!"  Linzee said.

There were Kangaroos all over the place, and they were running the Walmart!  Some were cashiers, and others were stocking the shelves.
"So where are all the people to buy stuff?"  Kataleen said.
"I dunno,"  Linzee said.  "but there are some pretty crazy looking people over there."
She pointed, and Jahsmun shrieked, leaping into my arms.
"Oof!  Jahsmun, what's wrong with you!"  I said, dropping her.
"Clowns!"  she shrieked.
"Unfortunately, no,"  one of the clowns said, coming up.  "We were born this way.  By the way, I'm Binky.  These are my sisters.  Blubber, Buffy, and Bubbles."
"Sorry about my friend,"  Kataleen said.
The clown waved her away.  "Eh, don't worry about it.  We get that reaction all the time.  So, can we show you some of our goods?"
"Actually,"  Linzee said.  "we need to free your workers.  It's ruining the ecosystem for them to be in here and not out there."
Blubber started . . . well . . . blubbering, and her sisters comforted her.
"What's wrong with her?"  I asked.
"Binky looked sad.  "We've had such a hard time finding people to work here.  We were certain the kangaroos were the right way to go.  So now we won't have anyone to work here!"
"Hey!"  Kataleen said.  "If I can find you workers, would you let the kangaroos go?"
"Well . . . of course,"  he said.
"You'd do that for us?"  Blubber said, drying her tears.
"Sure!  We know how hard it is to be taken seriously.  All of us are told we're too young, too big, too whatever to do things."  She began rifling through her Mary-Poppins' Exclusive Backpack.  "Now, let's see what I've got here."  Then she popped back up.  "Linzee, you remember last week's trip to Never Land?"
"Sure, what about it?"
"Remember how all those fairies stowed away in my backpack?"
"Yeah?"
"And how we can't get them back, because You have to have fairies in Never Land for humans to travel back and forth to Never Land?"
"So?"
"And how they don't know the way?"
"Would you get to your point already?!?!"  I was getting frustrated.  Kataleen wrinkled her nose at me, but proceeded.
"What if they worked here.  I mean, I wanna keep two or three for home, but the others need a home, and I can't think of anything that would keep them out of mischief more than working.  Working does that to you."

In the end, we gave the Bs (which is what we decided to name them) ninety-nine fairies, keeping two for the island.  They were extremely grateful, and let the kangaroos go immediately, for which the kangaroos were immensely grateful.  When we got home, we found that three joeys had stowed away in Kataleen's backpack, and we decided to keep them.

THE END