Andlat's Story Spot

“High score!” The video game's digital voice announced as Lucas landed another blow on the grunting orc before him. He pumped his fist in the air as the arcade game began to print a long chain of tickets. “Almost got enough to-” his voice trailed off as he saw the door to the arcade open. The sounds around him of video games chirping, skeeballs rolling, and children squealing in the playplace seemed to fade as he saw Richie Collins standing in the entrance to Charlie Cheetah's. Why was he here? Lucas quickly dodged behind the arcade cabinet, methodically making his way up to the prize counter. “Come on!” A kindergartner shouted, almost running into Lucas, his joyful shout almost scaring the eleven year old out of his skin. “This place has the coolest slide ever, you go into a tunnel and-” his soprano voice melted into the general cacophony coming from the indoor playground where little kids reigned. “Wait for me, Joey.” Another boy said, half-skipping as he ran to catch up. “W...

Only two hours ago, Sean and Devin had been wrestling in nothing but their underwear over who would get the light blue shirt and who would get stuck with yellow for Easter, but now they sat amiably side by side, watching their family chat. Sean surveyed the chaos, glad that Mom had at least bought them different shirts, even if he had ended up with the dorky yellow one. Despite being fraternal twins, everyone was always calling him Devin! “Looks like Joey's here.” Devin said. “Joseph now, remember?” Sean looked where he was pointing. “Oh, he's talking to Uncle David.” “Yeah.” They both shuddered. David was a retired teacher, so he always asked a million questions about school. Even from across the yard, they could hear Joseph energetically talking about some history project. “He enjoys it more than we do.” “Yeah.” Sean agreed. Bored, his eyes wandered the yard. He saw Margaret in her disgusting Easter dress playing with a doll. Joseph would probably talk to David for like ...

"We're here!" Dad said in sing-song. In truth, they had been at the ballpark for at least fifteen minutes while Dad found a parking spot, but now the car was stopped. Jayden tried to unbuckle his car seat, but the release was behind him, which meant he was stuck until Dad came over. "Aaron, can you" Aaron snorted and got out of the car. "Let Dad do it." The bratty nine year old said, punching his mitt with his hand. "Alright, slugger." Dad said, opening the door. "Ready to get out?" "Yeah." Maybe he had forgotten, Jayden thought, until Dad pulled the diaper out from behind his carseat. "Dad! No!" "Jayden, we talked about this." Dad said. "You didn't like the potty rules last time, so-" the potty rules had been Jayden was not allowed to go by himself. He had to be accompanied by either Dad or Aaron, which had led to a near-accident and Dad carrying a squirming Jayden up the stairs to the n...

An old repost Luke was the best athlete in his school. Everyone knew it. No matter what sport he played, he excelled. Even the coaches on other teams would comment about how they knew he would go pro someday. Luke was all set to spend the summer at the most prestigious sports camp in the country, but then his grades came in. His mom told him that boys who barely pass any of their classes don't get rewarded with sports camp. Instead, she was shipping him off to his aunt's for the summer. Luke would spend his summer doing a different sort of athletics. Luke's aunt made it clear from the get-go that, since she had students living with her, she needed to keep her adolescent nephew out of trouble, so he would be intensively studying ballet with the students. At first, he thought that meant doing lifts and helping as an assistant, but his aunt banished those thoughts from his mind when she presented him with tutus, leotards, and panties. "For the summer, you are my niece, Gr...

Not sure this is what they meant by "there are no small parts, only small actors" When Jamie became a world-famous actor, he knew he would never tell anyone that his first big role was as Little Bear in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Maybe he could mention being in it as a sort of ‘from humble beginnings' thing, but the actual role would go unmentioned. It had taken a lot to convince everyone that Little Bear was just as good a name as Baby Bear and even then, he wasn't thrilled to be Little Bear. “I auditioned for Papa Bear.” “Yes.” Mrs. DeMarco the director agreed. “But that's part of acting. You don't always get the role you want.” She chuckled. “Can't have two Papa Bears with one Mama Bear, now can we?” “I thought you were… y'know, casting a kindergartener.” “I thought so too, but I think it'll be better with one of my older actors as Baby Bear.” At first, Jamie tried to make the most of it. After all, Little Bear and Papa Bear had a lot ...