Cherry and Atticus Save the Neighborhood

chapter 4

The remainder of the days were not going so well, they now had two days until they would all have to go away forever.

"Just two days left." Patch sighed.

"We know..." Cherry groaned as Gerald played one of the games in the arcade.

"There's gotta be some way we can stop those bulldozers." Atticus sighed.

Cherry texted on her phone.

"This is no time for texting..." Atticus looked at her.

"I'm calling my sister..." Cherry said. "She should be able to stop this..." she then sent the message. "Now we wait..."

"Doesn't your sister take a while to answer a text because of her jobs?" Patch whispered.

Cherry realized that and cursed under her breath, but then saw her sister did respond, but it was an unfortunate message. "'Sorry, Cherry, but I'm very busy right now and can't take texts or calls, tell Dad I said hi, but I'll see you real soon!'..." she then sighed. "Great, now how can we stop those bulldozers?"

"Well, we do still have the historic landmark theory." Patch said.

"Look, guys," Gerald looked to them, not understanding Patch, so ignored what he suggested. "There's nothing more we can do. We just have to face it. In two days, this neighborhood is coming down, and we're all just gonna have to move on!"

"I think I know who can help us with the historical landmark thing..." Arnold spoke up.

"What historical landmark?" Gerald asked, not knowing about that plan. "Besides, saving the neighborhood isn't a game, it's real life, and in real life, you can't always win." he then won the game he was playing, but it wasn't enough to cheer him up about what was going to become of their home. "I mean, I can win Runaway Bus every time I play it, but that's because it's a game!"

"We know, but still we can't give up." Atticus said.

"You guys did your best..." Gerald gave a small smile.

Arnold sighed and left the arcade with his new friends. "I bet Grandma knows a historical landmark around here somewhere..."

They passed various shops which were either sold or out of business, it was a truly sad sight indeed. Sid and Stinky were sitting on the sidewalk together, seeming to stare at the pavement.

"Hey, guys, what's wrong?" Atticus asked.

"Hey, guys..." Sid muttered.

"We were just lookin' at a piece of history." Stinky explained.

"It was four years ago, me and Stinky made these hand-prints in the cement." Sid showed them.

"'Sid and Stink'," Cherry read aloud, then glanced at the boys. "Sid and Stink?"

"Well, it only says 'Stink' on account of when I was just fixin' to write the Y to finish off my name, Sid's old man came moseyin' down around the corner and we had to hightail it." Stinky explained with a nostalgic smile.

"I always thought that made it even cooler." Sid smiled.

"Yeah, we always figured it'd be here forever," Stinky sadly stood up. "But after they tear down the neighborhood, I reckon nobody will remember."

"I wouldn't give up on this just yet, guys." Patch assured them.

Stinky pet Patch on the head. "I wish you could help too, little feller... We'll catch ya later..." he then walked away sadly with Sid.

Arnold looked emotionally crushed about this, he wouldn't give up though.

They continued to return to the boarding house until they saw Mr. Green outside his shop, looking hopeless.