U N O F F I C I A L
H O M E P A G E
As usual the typical disclaimers apply--I don't own the characters, etc. and I'm definitely not making any money from this. "Little Things Mean A Lot" by Roxanne Sullivan "That's it!" she thought. "Enough is enough!" She had had high hopes for the day, but no one had remembered. Breakfast had proceeded as usual--good mornings, small talk, rushing about. No one had shown any inkling of the special nature of the day. "Men!" she whispered under her breath. In general, she liked living in this house full of men. She cared for all of them deeply. But...there were times when she longed for female companionship. Today was one of those days. A woman would have understood. A woman would have remembered the importance of the day. The morning progressed and still, nothing! Each one of the men in her life made mention of their plans for the day. When she showed no interest in their activities, they left her alone. She even overheard Jonny saying, "Hadj, she's in one of THOSE moods. I think we'd better steer clear of her today." The two boys disappeared into the lighthouse. The two older men went into town to pick up some equipment for a project that Dr. Quest was working on. Even Bandit had disappeared. Alone. Alone and getting angrier by the minute. Maybe she was being petty, but it had been a special day from her perspective. It was a day that had changed her life. How could they forget the day that she came to live with them. "That's it! I'm leaving. I know where to go where someone will understand and appreciate me!" The house was empty; no one heard her. Now she was starting to feel just a little bit petty. She made a couple of phone calls, went into her room, and packed a suitcase. The boys were still in the lighthouse, most likely engrossed in some game in Questworld. If they heard the cab pull up in the driveway, they would probably think it was Dr. Quest returning from town. She placed a note where they could find it, letting them know how hurt she was and where she would be so they wouldn't worry. She made sure Bandit had food and water (Jonny could be so irresponsible!) and waited for the cab. "I'll miss you," she whispered. Evening approached. Benton and Race returned. They had had a difficult time finding the correct equipment and had to go to Bangor. Finding the note as they entered the main house didn't help matters. Deep concern passed over the men's faces. *What had happened while they were gone?* Jonny and Hadji returned from the lighthouse. Benton greeted the boys with, "What do you two know about this?", holding the note in front of their faces. "Nothing, Dad. We've been in the lighthouse all day. We even forgot to eat lunch we were having so much fun," replied Jonny. "Well, she's gone! Now what are we going to do?" bellowed Race. Hadji tried to be a calming influence. "She's done this before and she's always come back. Maybe she just needs some space. At least we know where she is and that she's safe. Let's try to figure out what triggered this episode," he said. A week passed with no word. They had each tried to phone her, but she wouldn't take their calls. E-mail was no good either. They missed the little things about her; those things that made the compound special. After almost two more weeks, they began to feel desperate. This was the longest she had been gone, at least under the current circumstances. The house felt so empty; the family was incomplete. Race missed her the most. The sense of loss was like a shroud. They started to blame each other for her leaving. Jonny took a lot of the heat. "Maybe if you had been a little more considerate, she wouldn't have gone" was the most common comment heard in the house. Finally, Race announced, "I'm going to go get her and bring her home. This can't go on any longer!" The Quest males, Bandit included, left the compound. About half way to their destination, Benton blurted out, "Oh my! I just figured out what it was that we forgot. I hope we can make things right." They arrived at their destination. She hesitated seeing them, but she had missed them. The four men, sheepish looks on their faces, apologized profusely. Bandit had his tail tucked between his legs. Benton spoke for them all, "I don't know how we could have forgotten such an important day. You're one of the most important members of this team. We miss you, we need you, and we want you to come home." She looked at each one of them, each repenetent. "How can I not return," she thought, "they really do need me." She paused for what seemed like hours to the men. "Alright, I'll come back, but some things are going to have to change." "Anything you want," the four responded in unison. Feeling just a little bit evil, she told them she would return in a couple of days. She approached the front door of the main house. It seemed like forever since she had been here. The front door flew open. Jonny, Hadji, and Bandit ran out to greet her. "Boy, Jess! Are we glad you're back. We've really missed you. Things just haven't been the same without you!" gushed Jonny. Jessie became instantly suspicious. They were overdoing it. "OK, what's up?" The boys looked at each other, waiting for the other one to speak up. Finally, Jonny spoke up. "We forgot Mrs. Evans' fifth anniversary of coming to live with us and take care of us. She got so upset and felt so unappreciated that she left. She spent almost 3 weeks with her daughter in Camden. We ate lots of take-out, the laundry piled up, and the house was a mess. We couldn't find anything!" "None of us had really realized how much we needed her and how important she was to us," Hadji added. If looks could kill, the look on Jessie's face would have killed the boys ten times over. "You idiots! How could you forget? I made sure to tell her how much I appreciated her before I left because I knew I wouldn't be back in time. Didn't you read the emails I sent from my mom's reminding you of the date? "Oh, that's what *Don't forget the 18th* meant in your signature block. I guess you should have left a clearer message." Jonny ducked before Jessie could get near him. Jessie glared some more. "Maybe I should have hit you over the head with a baseball bat!" She thought to herself, "How could four intelligent men be so helpless and oblivious." As she walked into the house, the boys heard Jessie mutter, "MEN!"
Please direct comments about this story to the author at roxie@scholars.bellevue.edu.
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