Mullet Man

Childhood is the Most Sacred Memory of All

AN: Ella and Marcella start wearing glasses at age seven, Ella switches to contacts at twelve, and Marcella switches at fourteen. Also, I did a lot of research for this chapter. And in 1993 (the year Ella and Marcella graduate high school) there were cell phones, just really bad ones.

"Ok ok, and that clip goes right there!"

"And... got it!" Marcella announced as she clipped the corner of the blanket to the dresser drawer's handle.

"Is it done yet?" Lee asked from the bottom bunk of the twins' bunk bed. 

"Almost," Ella told him, going up the steps of the bunk bed and clipping the edge of the blanket to the railing at the foot. "Just be patient, little brother."

"But I don' wanna wait," Lee whined.

"If ya don't stop buggin' us about it, you won't be allowed to hang out in the tent," Ella threatened.

"Nooo!" The three-year-old cried, pulling a blanket over his head. "I wanna hang out!"

"Then ssh!" Marcella told him. They worked quietly for another few minutes before announcing that the tent was done and ready. Lee cheered and hopped off the bed, crawling into the tent through the entrance. Ella lifted up the blanket so he could get through, and then she and her twin followed him inside.

"Wow!" Lee exclaimed, looking around. "This is so cool!"

"An' we did it all by ourselves!" Ella said proudly, puffing out her chest.

"Well, do my lil' builders want some snacks?" Bella appeared in the entrance to the tent, holding a bowl of popcorn, two juice pouches, and two sippy cups.

"Yeah!" The kids all cheered. Bella set the bowl of popcorn down in the middle of the tent floor and passed out the drinks. She sat down in the entrance to the tent, looking around.

"This is a real good tent," she said, smiling. "Nice an' small. Ya wouldn' mind if Mommy hung out with ya in here fer awhile, would ya?"

"Yeah, you can stay!" Marcella allowed.

"Yeah!" Lee agreed happily, crawling over to hug Bella.

"T'aww. Thanks, guys," Bella giggled, hugging the boy back. "Man, it's been ferever since Ah've been in a blanket tent. Y'know, me an' yer Uncle Fidds used ta build 'em all the time."

"Uncle Fidds is funny," Ella said, sipping on her juice pouch.

"Heh, yeah... he is," Bella smiled sadly. "He is..."

-----

Marcella squealed and giggled as a water balloon hit a tree trunk above her head, exploding and dousing her with water. She rubbed the water out of her eyes with one hand and looked around to find who had hit her. She spotted Ella not far away, giggling and holding a second water balloon.

"Bet'cha can't get me!" Ella teased. Marcella yelled happily and chased after her, holding up her own water balloon. The ten-year-old quickly ran away from her twin and towards the porch, but quickly skidded to a halt and spun around when Lee appeared with two water balloons.

"Get back here!" Lee yelled, joining the chase of his older sister. Suddenly, Ella stopped, staring up at the trees. Lee and Marcella, who weren't expecting the sudden stop, crashed into her, sending the three of them to the forest floor.

"Hey, what gives?" Lee asked, pushing himself up. "El?"

"Ssh!" Ella hissed. She pointed up into the trees, at a giant eye peaking out from the shadows. 

"What the...?" Marcella titled her head, staring back at the eye. It blinked and reached out a large hand towards the siblings. The three of them screamed and scrambled up, running towards the shack. The screaming woke Stan, who was napping on the couch on the porch.