Story Snippet to be Continued

   Hello all! Well, today's post will be featuring the second part of the previous story snippet, as promised. This will be finishing Chapter One of Going Ballistic. Enjoy!

Previously. . . 

I cowered in my room while Emm got her new pet settled. Upon hearing his chattering in the room next to me, I crossed my arms over my chest and fervently hoped that monkeys can't break through walls.

To be continued. . .

When I next came out of my room, Ballistic was nowhere in sight and Emm was setting the table and talking at one hundred miles per hour. 

   “Ballistic is just wonderful, Mommy,” Emm was saying, “and I showed him my room, and he just loved it; he climbed up to my dresser, right on top of my dresser, and he grinned, Mommy, actually grinned, like a person, and I could tell he was so happy he couldn’t even-”

   I just rolled my eyes and gingerly took my seat at the table, keeping a wary eye out for any sign of monkey business. Then Mom called out, “Honey, supper’s on the table!” and Dad came sauntering down the hall.

   When we were all seated, Dad said the blessing and Mom reached for the food. 

   “Emm, sweetie, why don’t you tell Dad about how Ballistic is settling in?” Mom suggested, taking my outstretched plate and heaping it with noodles and alfredo sauce.

   Emm perked up immediately at Mom’s words and turned to Dad, setting her plate back down with a plunk. “Oh, yes, Dad. Ballistic is wonderful. I love him so much, and he’s like a baby doll, only more furry and alive.”

   And more terrifying, I added silently, scooping myself some cherries.

   “I kind of wish I could dress him up pretty and name him Princess, like I did to my last hamster, but I can’t because Ballistic is a boy and you don’t name boys Princess.” Emm sighed. “But then I thought maybe I could buy him britches, little boys’s britches, and put a little shirt and bow tie on him, and then he’d be a little gentleman instead of a little lady.” She turned to Mom pleadingly. “You do have old baby clothes from when Jimmy was a baby, right?” She sent me a concerned look, as if she was afraid she’d offended me by mentioning that I was once a baby.

   I gave a nonchalant shrug and turned back to my meal.

   Mom looked like she was trying not to laugh. “Yes, I still have Jimmy’s baby clothes, but you may not have them to put on your monkey. While Ballistic would probably look very smart in a bow tie, I don’t think it would be a good idea to dress up an animal like that.”

   Emm’s lower lip formed a pout. “Oh,” she murmured, disappointed, “But I don’t want a naked monkey.”

   I nearly choked on my glass of milk. Snatching up my napkin, I held it to my face and began to cough and sputter into it. A naked monkey?

   Dad’s face also registered his amusement. “He’s not naked, baby,” he assured Emm, his lip twitching, “Monkeys have fur, so they don’t need to wear clothes. He can, however, wear a halter.”

   “What’s that, Dad?” Emm asked.

   “It’s kind of like a collar that circles the animal’s chest and you can attach a leash to it,” Dad explained.

   “That’s a good idea,” Mom approved, holding out her hand to take Emm’s empty plate. “That way we won’t have Ballistic going wherever he wants with no way to catch him.”

   “And that way, we can drag him out of my bedroom if he comes into it and ruins it,” I added helpfully. 

   Emm turned to me with a frown. “He wouldn’t do such a thing. You’re such a pestimiss, Jimmy.”

   “It’s ‘pessimist’, Emm,” Mom corrected her, “and you don’t need to be rude to your brother. He’s making a valid point. If Ballistic goes somewhere he isn’t supposed to, we need a way to get him out.”

   “I guess,” Emm reluctantly agreed, taking her now-full plate from Mom. “But I’m sure he’d listen to me. I bet I could get him out easy enough . . . even without a halter.”

   “Still,” Dad said with finality, “I want that monkey to have a halter with a leash. I’ll pick up one tomorrow on the way home.”

   Thank goodness, I thought, finishing my lump of noodles. If we were going to have such a wild and unpredictable animal in the house, we would definitely need a way to control it . . . and most importantly, to keep it out of my bedroom!

I'm planning on posting about the Fourth, so stay around, and I'll put something up in a few days!

Signed,

Martha