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"Aubrey, just throw him over! C'mon, you're gonna be outpaced by snails at this rate!"
In the realm of many suburban-raised children, the concept of "adventure" was very rarely something organic. ‘Adventure’ was something seen through those same cable-free cartoons you'd watch on Saturday mornings that would always come to a happy conclusion after a neat, consistent twenty minutes of runtime. ‘Adventure’ was something designed from story time in the elementary school library, where you'd all be ferried to that little nook in the back once a week, and you'd be introduced to literary necessities for a developing creative mind: something like "The Giving Tree," "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," or a classic penned by Dr. Suess. ‘Adventure’ couldn't exist of its own volition, when the world was designated to you block by block, curfew by curfew. It was always “go run around outside,” but it was never “your small town has been ransacked! Pick up this sword and save your friends and family!”
So, in the way of many suburban children, Aubrey and the others had learned to be resourceful in their inorganic adventure-making, and quite clever about it. At least, they thought they were quite clever.
"I'm not gonna… just… throw him over! That'll get him all dirty…" Aubrey was currently stationed hesitantly behind the tall, white fence of Sunny's backyard. The gate was locked, and the front door was locked, and none of the kids had any idea on how to make them un-locked. The adults, being Kel and Hero's parents and Sunny and Mari's parents, had no intentions on having the rambunctious children bother them while they talked about very grown-up things. So, like any reasonable adult, they talked about the importance of the outdoors, griped about how 'kids these days' were always glued to the television, and locked them outside. Kel had protested that his father watched the TV as much as they did before the door closed in their faces.
"Who cares? What's a little dirt?"
"I care, Kel! No one wants a muddy stuffed animal! And… Mr. Plantegg would be upset!" Adding in the vote of stuffed animals always allowed one to get a leg up in disagreements.
Kel groaned, very showily. "...Girls…"
"What was that?!" Aubrey practically ground her teeth. Arguments between the protagonists added 'tension' to the plot of an adventure story, making it harder for the group to overcome their struggle. Well, that's what Sunny told her in English class, one time. Aubrey thought it sounded unnecessary for friends to have arguments to “further their character development,” and she never thought she was becoming a better person when Kel stepped on her toes. Oh, and Basil agreed that fighting with friends was stupid. So… there!
"Guys, please don't fight…" Basil sounded whiny, but Aubrey could practically see his cheeks puffed up with held back laughter. "Someone might see, the longer Aubrey stays back there…"
"She can dip if she has to. If she climbed over once, she can climb over again, Mr. Plantegg or no. Why don't you try tossing the other stuff over at least?" Kel sounded very matter of fact. Unusual. For him, at least.
“But… what if someone sees us from the outside?" Basil's plaintive tone was practically a trademark of his. Aubrey figured he'd be the character of the story that has to spur the more courageous protagonists into action, since he'd be too scared to do anything himself. Or maybe he'd be a damsel in distress kind of character. She'd have to think about that one.
Right now, after having climbed the fence into Sunny's backyard, and retrieved goodies from their treehouse, Aubrey felt like a roguish hero, herself. Ooh, or maybe she was like a brave knight, storming into the dragon's cave to collect a great fortune! Yeah, the brave knight who'd come home to open arms and cheers, loved and treasured by all. Irreplaceable.
"Hey Aubrey, if you toss over the spare Orange Joe I hid up there, I could keep watch out here!" Kel promised ravenously.
"Yeah, yeah. I got your stupid battery acid. You don't need to go on watch for me, though. Do it for Basil! I'm not afraid of getting caught."
Kel made a noise of affirmation, and Aubrey could see him shuffle around through the slots in the fence, lining himself up for the pitch. Basil was protesting from the other side.
"Well, I'm not afraid. Just trying to be, uhm, cautious! Y-Yeah, cautious. Right, Sunny?" Sunny had been standing at Basil's shoulder for a good time, now. He was focused on what was arguably the most important role of any heist: eating ice cream. The cone had to have been dripping, at this point, with the heat of the summer day as strong as it was. So Sunny, being Sunny, prioritized his dessert over his friends’ affairs.
Aubrey figured he'd be the sidekick kind of character, if Sunny was ever meant to be a protagonist in a story. However, he didn't really do enough of a job in being 'supporting' to pull it off. Oh well, Sunny was just Sunny.
"Mhm. You're the brains of the operation." Sunny mumbled, and went back to licking his iced treat. Well, maybe he could support a little bit.
"Then I'm the strongman, right Sunny? Check me out!" Aubrey could only assume Kel was flexing for what might have been the thousandth time.
"...You're the comedy relief. The 'Dumb and Dumber,' kind."
Aubrey mentally rescinded her idea of calling Sunny 'supportive.' Or at least, he only was for Basil, then.
"Well, you're the 'dumb' to my 'dumber,' buddy. You can't escape it! Aubrey, toss me the Joe! I need the fuel for my intense guard duty!"
Aubrey chucked the fluorescent soda can over the fence, pleasantly surprised when it didn't erupt all over the sidewalk. One piece of contraband down. Only a couple to go.
"I've got Sunny's sketchbook and stuff, next!"
Sunny made an intrigued sound, his mouth full of ice cream.
"Oh, I'll take it! No, Sunny, your hands are all sticky, that's a bad idea. Aubrey, maybe slip it through the cracks?"
Aubrey saw Basil's small fingers slide between two fence panels, and she giggled as his hand did a little wiggle. Aubrey, in turn, clasped her hand like she was trying to make a bird in a game of shadow puppets, and menacingly inched towards Basil's unsuspecting hand…
…and striked! The "beak" of her hand tightly snapped at Basil's, causing him to let out a surprised cry as he was suddenly pinched.
"Aubrey, that hurt!"
"Aubrey, stop that! You're gonna make Basil cry, you bully!"
"...That's something Mewo would do, Aubrey."
Aubrey slipped the sketchbook through the fence with a laugh, listening as her loot dropped lightly to the ground.
"Aren't you supposed to be on watch, Kel? Jeez… getting all defensive." Aubrey huffed, her hands on her hips, but took note of Basil's silence with a nervous sting that jabbed at her. She couldn't go on to be the reason for this band of protagonists having a spat.
"I barely touched you, Basil. That didn't actually hurt you, did it?"
She heard Basil's loafers drag across the pavement, then rustle along the grass. Pavement, grass. Back and forth, trying to decide which ground to stand on. It was almost nerve wracking in its repetition.
"N-No. I guess not. Sorry, I overreacted."
There, problem solved.
"Well, that's it, then. I'm coming over! And I'm still not tossing over Mr. Plantegg. He's coming with me!"
"You're too stubborn!" Kel called over from where he stood at the curbside, watching for pedestrians who looked untrustworthy.
"Okay! Don't worry, Aubrey! Sunny and I will break your fall if we have to! We're strong!" Basil assured her confidently.
Aubrey heard a noncommittal sound come from Sunny's end.
"Come ooon, Sunny! Every free climber needs a spotter! It's safety 101!" Basil sounded like a teacher with his educationally lecturing tone.
"...I've never free climbed."
"Treehouse?"
"...Oh."
Aubrey huffed as the two boys sorted things out on their end, tucking Mr. Plantegg firmly under her arm, and smoothing out the hem of her pleated skirt for good measure. She planted a pink sneaker confidently on the first backer rail, and used the momentum to hoist up her other leg onto the second one. It was a little awkward with her left arm pinned to her side, but Aubrey was sure she could make it to the next beam! What's life without a little struggle? And what's a proper 'adventure' without a little risk?
This hero, who was currently still struggling hoisting herself up to the next beam, had to think of something new. Innovative. Boundary pushing. Something, anything, to keep Mr. Plantegg from being subjected to being thrown over the fence like a mere object, but also allowed her to scale the behemoth that was Sunny and Mari's backyard fence.
She stuffed Mr. Plantegg into her mouth.
"Are you okay, Aubrey? You're taking a while…" Basil sounded jittery and expectant.
"Mmph mmph!" Aubrey replied.
With the hero of this riveting tale reaching the apex of her climb, Aubrey quickly wiggled Mr. Plantegg out of her mouth, and slung a free arm over the other side of the fence. She couldn't let her friends-and-sidekicks see her do something so silly. She had an image to maintain!
Basil let out a small, supportive 'woo' sound upon Aubrey making her appearance, the latter who felt a bit of nervousness creep up on her upon looking down at the drop before her. It was one thing with the dark, cushy turf of the backyard, but this pebbly, clay-filled ground below her looked harsh and unwelcoming. And the drop… it looked so high! But it can't have been that high. Sure, it was a tall fence, but this had to be another case of the good 'ol "Monkey Bars Effect." A real perception-warper.
Still, knowing what it was didn't make it less scary.
"We'll catch you Aubrey, don't worry!" And there was Basil, with his arms outstretched. Sunny stood right behind him, ice cream in his right hand, but his left hand was held halfheartedly upwards, loosely mirroring Basil.
"I'm keeping an eye out, but if you fall, I'll zoom over, Aubrey, so don't worry!" Kel gave a thumbs up and a wink combo filled with moxie.
Aubrey huffed again. This part of the hero's journey was so cliched. Everyone was supposed to band together with the power of friendship or something silly. Hero, Mari, Basil, and Kel would all "aww," at cheesy resolutions like that. Sometimes she felt like Sunny was the only one mature enough to realize things weren't all butterflies and rainbows like the cartoons made things out to be. It was unfortunate, but not everyone could be as grown-up as she was.
"S-Stop rushing me! I'm trying to think! I can get down just fine all by myself!"
"You're not scared, are ya, Aubrey? You're never scared-"
"S-Shut up, Kel! You smell weird!"
"Your face smells weird!"
"That doesn't make sense!"
While arguing with Kel, very much akin to what a grown up kind of person would do, Aubrey didn't notice how the thin fence didn't hold her as she wobbled, and how she began to slip in her reckless state.
Up and over, she fell… directly onto a panicked Basil and Sunny, who weren't actually expecting to have to break her fall, as they had fully believed in her boasts of capability.
Kel laughed a little, like any good friend is meant to do when their friends come across a silly little accident. And like any good friend is meant to do after that, he went around helping each of them up.
First came Sunny, with Kel pulling on his arm, very concerned with his friend who had been squashed by the others. Next was Aubrey, and the hero of our fence-scaling 'adventure' was very humiliated about having to be helped. She scoffed, brushing off Kel's hand.
"Poor Mr. Plantegg… he didn't deserve to fall over like that."
"Can we just admit Mr. Plantegg is you, already? You sound goofy." Kel grumbled as he tried his best to hoist up Basil, who clumsily scrambled around a bit while he tried to get up. Sunny offered him the smallest of help by tugging on his wrist.
"Well, mission accomplished, I gu-" Aubrey was about to triumphantly hoist Mr. Plantegg in the air when she noticed a dripping stain on his side.
She quickly sniffed it on instinct. "What…?"
She looked up at a despairing sound that came from Sunny, who was broodingly considering his fallen ice cream cone on the sidewalk. The melted scoops of chocolate trickled into the cracks of the pavement, and off into the dirt.
"Oh, Sunny… I'm sorry about your ice cream." Basil's voice was like a sad little warble, and he considered the ice cream at his friend's side. Aubrey felt her own heart tug, ideas of successful or unsuccessful adventures now far from her mind due to the sudden tragedy. She reached down to the ground and picked up Sunny's sketchbook.
"Sorry… I shouldn't have been so clumsy." She offered it to Sunny, who took it and nodded gratefully, but still cast a sad eye to the desecrated dessert.
Kel nodded sagely. "You know… I'll lend you some of my money once the ice cream man comes around again, and you can have first pick!" Ironic, as he was last noted to have been ten whole dollars in debt to Sunny, but the good intentions were acknowledged.
Sunny shied away from the attention, insisting they do something else rather than moping.
Aubrey couldn't help but agree, a twinge of pride coming back upon the realization that their mission of retrieving things right from underneath the adults' noses had been successful. What a thrill! And none worse for wear, except for her poor plushie. She was already starting to miss it- the illusion of stirring up trouble when these pocket sized adventures were hardly any trouble at all. It made her feel bigger.
"...Wanna see if we can get away with washing off Mr. Plantegg in the plaza fountain?" Aubrey mischievously suggested. Kel looked taken aback- in a positive sense, of course.
"Whaaat? I thought you were all worried about keeping us in line and not getting in trouble, Ms. Goody-goody!"
"Well! I just feel bad for Mr. Plantegg! And the water's waaay cleaner than in the lake! It's your fault that I got ice cream on him in the first place!"
"Fine… but only if I get to keep watch again!"
"I don't know, guys… Sunny seems a little-" Basil was cut off by his own surprise as a strange shivery yelp issued from his mouth. He whipped around in a frenzy. Kel and Aubrey only blinked at him in confusion.
"Sunny?! What was-"
Sunny, emerging from behind Basil, held up a guilty hand, sticky with ice cream, and lowered his head sheepishly. "...There was some on your neck."
"At least…! A-At least give me a warning! Jeez…"
Sunny, following that simple, humble request, got this ‘look’ on his face that Aubrey would usually see on his older sister’s face. That face was always meant to indicate trouble.
And in a movement like a feral kitten, Sunny darted his hand towards Basil’s exposed face, blindsiding him with melted ice cream in all its glorious stickiness. Basil immediately began to squeal, trying to squirm away from the threat to no avail.
“Sunnyyy,” his friend’s name bubbled in his mouth with the laughter coming up from his throat.
Kel saw this unhinged behavior as an invitation, and scooped up some more of Sunny’s dropped dessert for his own fuel in this impromptu food fight. He charged into battle, a giggling mess himself.
Aubrey only held Mr. Plantegg to her chest, alarmed at how quickly this humble band of adventurers had fallen to pieces. And in such a deranged way!
“Ugh, you boys are so gross!” She stamped her foot.
“C’mon, Aubrey. It’s ice cream! What’s gross about that?” Kel called out before Sunny tackled him from his right.
“I’ve already got poor Mr. Plantegg on my hands, so I don’t need to get-” She cringed as she felt a sudden splotch of something horrible… lukewarm, and sweet-smelling hit the side of her head, and trickle down her face.
This was war.
Kel and Sunny, with their cheeks sucked in, and mouths in shocked little ‘o’s,’ paused in the middle of their scuffle, and slowly turned to look at Basil, his arm still outstretched, caught in the act.
“Basil… you’re gonna get it!” Aubrey growled, fists clenched, denying a giggle that threatened to break her stern visage.
Basil gulped, and wordlessly began to sprint down the sidewalk in the direction of the plaza. From where he was splayed out on the sidewalk, Kel cried out for Basil to run faster, while Sunny merely accepted what would likely be Basil’s unfortunate fate, knowing that Aubrey prided herself on her sprints across the bases in her softball tourneys.
Aubrey would never admit it, especially when their little ensemble was firmly lectured for their messy state by the adults later, but she was glad for the extension of their little adventure, and took accountability for the condition of the other kids, knowing she was the “responsible one” who should have prevented such a thing. The ringleader. She got praised for her honesty and integrity, and Aubrey loosely wondered to herself, later, if the others viewed her in such an essential way. Would their little friend group fall apart without her? Would their pocket-sized adventures cease in her absence, or at least have a good amount of the fun taken from them?
Aubrey scowled, realizing she wasn’t all that sure. During the evening, while she scrubbed at Mr. Plantegg in her house’s bathtub (a much more reasonable place to clean a dirtied stuffed animal), she thought less of heists where she was the boss, and less of adventures where she was the knight in shining armor, and more of how, whenever Mari appeared, it would be her that the others of the friend group flocked to, and not Aubrey. Aubrey would trail after them, and make little comments as she followed in the wake of the girl who was much cooler, more responsible, and much more grown up than she was. Instead of being a leader who called the shots, she became more of a nitpicker who made snide comments in the background.
Aubrey loved Mari. She did. It’s just that…
“Aubs, you’re using up all the hot water. Cut it out.”
“Mom? Sorry… I was… cleaning Mr. Plantegg.”
Her mother had appeared at the door of the bathroom, and lingered in the doorway as she stared at her daughter curiously. Her straw-like hair fluffed against the doorframe as she rested her head against it.
“You don’t think you’re a little old for that?”
Aubrey remained silent, and decided to say something on her mind, instead.
“Mom… do you think my friends need me?”
“...Aubs, no one ‘needs’ each other.”
“Sure they do! You and Dad need each other!”
Aubrey’s mother rubbed at her arm, and darted her eyes to the smudgy bathroom mirror before responding. “...That’s silly talk, you know. Grown-ups don’t ‘need’ each other. That’s the kind of thing you’d see in fairy tales. People… stick around each other because… they want to. Simple as that. Come on, kid…”
Fairy tales…
“O-oh… okay.”
“Now stop using all the water and soap, and get to sleep. You know how loud the water running sounds from my room.”
“...Sorry. ‘Night.”
Aubrey’s mother slipped away without a word.
Aubrey’s frown deepened as she considered the silly game of her climbing around on the fence today. It was just that: a silly game. Not a heist. Not some adventuring novel. She really was being dramatic about everything, wasn’t she? Being imaginative wasn’t her forte. Or being grown up, she supposed. Maybe it was best she left that to Mari. She did it so much better than Aubrey did.
Aubrey could be so childish sometimes.