The Crafthouse- Chapter 2

Instructions

Gardenview Center --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Toodles was walking down the main part of Gardenview. (Golly, my eye hurts.) She thinks. (Mama should be back soon. She went down the elevator, but she'll be back.) As if on cue, the elevator on the right opened up, showing Teagan holding a box. Toodles lit up immediately and ran over to her. "Mama!" She cried. "Hey, honey." Teagan whispered, holding Toodles tight in her arms. They walked together to the medical center. Rodger's bite had healed all the way, and he was happy to see Teagan again. Teagan opened the box, showing many small glowing pink orbs. "These should heal your eye. The rest of the injuries like yours should be healed by them too." Toodles took one and put it up to her eye. As if by magic, the pain stopped, and she could see clearly again! She giggled, because with her family back in shape, and all the pain gone, she could finally feel normal! She could finally feel happy! ... Toodles woke up. (No, that can't be right... My eye... still hurts.) She laid still for a couple of moments, before accepting that all the happiness... wasn't even real. She swung her legs over her bed, jumping out, and decided to go check on Rodger. But she paused. (We were all... So happy.) A tear ran down her cheek. Then another. And another. Soon, she was on the floor, weeping. "WHY?! WHY CAN'T I JUST LIVE A NORMAL LIFE?! I WANT MY MOM BACK, I WANT MY DAD BACK, I WANT MY LIFE BACK!" She screamed. She slapped her hands over her mouth. (Not good. I could have woken someone up.) She tiptoed to the patient room. All of them were sound asleep. She went past Gigi, Cosmo, and Rudie, to find Rodger. Yes, he was still hurt. Toodles sighed, wiped away her tears, and ran out of the room. She checked the overhead clock. 11:00 PM. It was really late, but Toodles was no longer tired. She walked out of the medical center, and went out into the hall. She froze. Astro... was helping Dandy over the counter of the old shop. She darted behind a stack of crates before they could see her. (What is Astro doing?! Dandy is dangerous, everyone knows that!) They looked like they were heading down to the elevator shafts! She ran after them, making sure to stay out of sight. She could barely hear what they were saying. "8... safe... stay away... Scraps..." Astro was talking. Dandy responded with something that Toodles couldn't quite hear. Then, she heard light, tappy footsteps behind her. She whipped around. It was Scraps. Toodles froze in fear, but Scraps didn't see her since it was dark- which made Toodles remember how lucky she was to have a darker color palette. Scraps passed her. Toodles didn't even notice she was holding her breath, but let it out in a big sigh. (That was close. I don't want to get caught out here when I'm meant to be asleep...) Toodles gulped, and took a dash to another stack of crates that were nearer to Dandy and Astro. "HEY! WHA- WHAT IS HE DOING OUT HERE?!" Scraps yelled. Uh-oh. Scraps had seen them. Astro and Dandy seemed panicked, and quickly dashed into the elevator that had just opened. Toodles could see Astro spamming the, "Close Door," button. The elevator closed right before Scraps could get there. Silence filled the air. Awkwardly, Toodles stepped out from behind the boxes. Worst case scenario, she could lie and say that she was awake because she heard all the commotion. Scraps noticed her, and sighed. "First thing, next morning, we're sending out search parties. Get back to bed, kid." Toodles quickly ran back to her room, but continued listening Scraps rant to herself. Something about... "They can't get away with this..." "How did this happen..." "At least I'll have a witness..." "No one can know what really happened." Toodles paused. (Scraps said WHAT?) Gigi passed her in the hall. "Hey, Toodles. Is that Scraps out there? She sure is making a racket." Gigi poked her head out into the hall. Scraps stormed back to her drawing room, slamming the door. "Yeesh." Gigi muttered, before returning to the medical center. Toodles checked that she still had her plushie, then returned to her room, and got a well-deserved sleep.