Andlat's Story Spot

How far would you go to get back a stolen phone? Brandon's heart pounded in his chest to the point where he almost thought he could see his shirt rising and falling. Why was he so nervous? He looked at the poster of the girl in tap shoes, dressed in some weird yellow outfit that was as feathery as it was sparkly. Because I don't belong here. He thought with a sigh. He had to go in there. Yesterday, McKenna had stolen his phone. He had to get it back before Mom and Dad found out he had 'lost’ another phone. I didn't lose it, he thought grumpily. McKenna took it! He had tracked her down only to learn she had given it to her friend Josie. Josie, he was told, took ballet here every Saturday morning. McKenna swore that she would definitely have it. So, here he was. He had even gotten up super early – almost as early as a school day – to sneak out of the house. The last thing he needed was for Mom or Dad to find out. “But I don't want to talk to some weird ballet girls.” ...

“And that's a wrap on another Miller Family Tries! Let us know in the comments if you'd try any of these weird Oreo flavors! Like, subscribe, and ring that bell!” The camera shut off. “Nice job, everyone!” Mom said, giving her kids a hug. “I don't think I ever want to eat an Oreo again.” Riley moaned, rubbing his tummy. “Too bad, bud. We've got” Dad pretended to count the stacks of Oreo packages. “A million Oreos, looks like.” “We'll just have you two bring them to school like we usually do.” Mom said decisively. “For now, Riley, go check the mail. I think we've got a new brand sponsor coming any day now.” “Which one?” “You'll have to wait and see.” Mom said with a knowing smile. Riley dashed off to the front door. Sure enough, a large cardboard box sat right by the door. He picked it up and charged back to the kitchen excitedly. “Are we getting a dog!?” “Huh?” Mom took the box from him. “Well, it says Puppy Pak.” He pointed to the large blue letters on the ...

To Caitlyn, a few hours of clothes shopping sounded like heaven, especially so today. It had all started at breakfast, when her older brother Jackson had been doing his usual routine of begging and pleading to get out of back to school shopping. “C’mon, mom, you know what size I am. Why do I need to come with?” Jackson whined. His mom sighed. “Because, Jackson, you’ll complain about everything I buy.” “But it’ll be boring!” “It’s only a couple hours.” “You know, mom, maybe he should just stay home.” Caitlyn said. Both her brother and her mom turned to stare at her. “Well, think about how much longer it’ll take with him whining and dragging his feet. I want to go to at least three different stores, so” she shrugged and trailed off, nibbling on her toast as she waited for her mom to see her side of things. “Hmm. I guess, as long as you stay out of trouble.” “I promise.” Jackson said at once, staring at his sister in disbelief. He brushed a bit of auburn hair out of his face. “Th...

  “Oh, no you don’t! You’re not setting one foot in this house with you as muddy as you are. Leave your clothes on the patio and hose off real quick.” This was hardly the first time Trevor had heard that, so he complied, the high fences of the backyard ensuring no one saw the naked boy rinsing himself off with the hose. “Done?” His mom asked, reappearing at the back door almost the instant he finished. He nodded, hands over his crotch. “Did you bring me something to change into?” “Bath first.” “I rinsed off!” “March, mister.” Trevor sighed and shuffled into the house, hands still covering himself as he walked past his little sister at the dining room table. She looked up from her princess coloring book to giggle at his predicament. “Mom!” He protested, seeing the mounds of pink bubbles in the tub. “In the tub or I’ll put you in there like a baby myself.” Trevor climbed in, muttering darkly. He protested when she started bathing him, but she quickly convinced him it would be be...

  “Alright, Trevor, hop out.” Trevor unbuckled his seatbelt, grumbling to himself. His mom, ever creative with punishments, had come up with a real doozy. Rather than spend his Saturday playing video games or going over to a friend’s house, the eleven year old had to accompany his mom on her errands. Desperate to get out of following her from store to store in the mall, however, Trevor lit on something. “Mom, I don’t have shoes.” He said. “I couldn’t find them, remember?” Mom had rushed him out the door that morning, ignoring his protests about being unable to find his shoes. She had said that they would buy him some or figure something else out. His mom looked down at his bare feet and sighed. “Let me see what’s in the trunk.” She opened it up and began to dig. “I can just wait in the car.” Trevor called, but she did not seem to hear him. He wondered if he had finally beaten his mom until he heard her exclaim in excitement. “You’re not going to like it, but these should work.”...

With only two weeks until opening night, Mrs. MacAllister decreed that the whole cast had to have their costumes finalized. To Davey's relief, as one of the group of 'Pajama Boys', that meant bringing his own pajamas in. He had agonized for a bit over his pajamas before settling on a t-shirt and shorts in blue and white vertical stripes. They were from the boy's department, like all of his clothes, but they looked the coolest. Given that his other options were construction vehicles or the farm set with a tractor on the shirt and adorable babyish farm animals on the pants, the stripes were an easy winner. Rehearsal was set to begin, so all the pajama boys were herded together into a changing room to get on their costumes. The air was jovial, but Davey had expected to change alone, so he blushed a bit about exposing his briefs to the room. All the other pajama boys were in eighth and ninth grade, so Davey should have easily been the most mature since he was in tenth grad...

“I can't do that. That's for little kids and I'm going to be twelve tomorrow.” Jackson had heard it a million times over the last month as Logan counted down and now, finally, it was Logan's birthday. But was it really going to stop? He hoped so. “Now that I'm twelve-” even a room over, it was annoying enough that Jackson almost covered his ears as he sought refuge in the kitchen. Seriously. Twelve wasn’t that big of a deal! Sure, he was excited to turn ten in a few months, but that was different. Ten was double digits! Twelve was… twelve. He was tired of hearing about it. There wasn't even that big of a difference between nine and not even actually twelve yet. Everyone knew you only turned the age when you blew out the candles, right? At least, he was pretty sure that was how it worked. Maybe you either blow out the candles or it hits midnight. That felt- “You better not be planning to steal some frosting.” Dad said, interrupting Jackson's thoughts. “I ...

“Look, TJ!” Mom said, holding a big cardboard box. “A package came for you!” He tried to hide his displeasure. The last package he had gotten contained a bunch of baby toys. That was not even him exaggerating. Mom had heard about a brain stimulating toy subscription box at singalong and had not even hidden it from him, sitting as he was on her lap at the time, as she signed him up for the 0-36 month box. They happened to be the very same toys he was half-heartedly playing with now since he had already maxed out his allotted screen time for the week. “More toys?” He asked, forcing a smile. “No, sweetie. Your Easter clothes!” TJ tried to hide his growing displeasure as he remembered the horrible shortalls and bow tie of last year, already horribly babyish even before he got pulled into playing Bunny Tag with all the toddlers. Mom tore into the package with relish. TJ did not know what he expected, but out of the box came a white and yellow striped t-shirt and pants. That did not look...