It's Just A Show

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It was 2:50pm that Friday afternoon. Twelve year old Jake's right foot tapped the floor repeatedly in impatience as he looked at the cat face shaped wall clock hung high at the front of the classroom.

"Arrgh, come on," he exclaimed as he rolled his eyes and rested his palm on his cheek. For some reason, the last ten minutes of the school day were the most excruciating.

"Hey, McCurdy! What did I say last?" the middle-aged history teacher on reading glasses that stood in front of the class said as he pointed his index finger at Jake.

"Who, me?" Jake sat up replied with his thumb pointed toward his chest.

"I wonder how many McCurdys we've got in this class. Get up son. Tell me, what did I say last?" The teacher said with his arms folded.

"Well...um," Jake said now said as he stood up, scratching his brown hair, "I think you said something about Alexander the Great, um... getting his portrait done by Michelangelo?"

The teacher heaved a huge sigh and placed his hand on his face in disappointment just before the last bell rang and all the students immediately began to pack up their books. "Alright everyone, don't forget the project on antique history. Jake, you better not flunk history this time."

"Okay Mr. Henry!" Jake said quickly as he dashed out of the classroom. "Finally," he said as he mounted his bicycle parked outside and started to ride home.

When Jake finally got home, he quickly opened the door and rushed upstairs.

"A little early, aren't ya, boy?" Jake's brunette mom who was in the kitchen preparing dinner called out. In less than five minutes, Jake came back downstairs and walked towards the living room.

"Today's the day for the last episode of Hunter Knights! It's coming up by 5:30pm," Jake said as he picked up the TV remote and changed the channel.

"Finally. You can finally get over that show after today," Jake's mom said as she washed her hands at the tap. Jake turned his face toward the kitchen.

"I'm just gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Jake said as his mom chuckled. "Nothing can ruin today. TV? check. All my extra chores done? check. A bag of Fristos?" Jake asked as he ran to the fridge and opened it up. His eyes popped open wide as he screamed, "Mom! What happened to the last bag of Fristos?"

"Oh, the chips. I gave 'em to Huxley this morning. Unfortunately, there was no more dog food left," Jake's mom replied while cutting some vegetables.

"What?! Come on Mom, those were mine," Jake whined.

"I'm sorry, last time I checked, who's money was it again?" Jake's mom said.

"Jeez, alright, alright. Give me some cash so I'd go buy another one before the show starts," Jake said with his eyes lit up.

"Then what in the world is your allowance for? Go spend some of those," replied Jake's mom.

"Arrgh. Alright, alright. Fine, I'd be right back."

Jake climbed upstairs and came back down almost immediately, after which he got on his bicycle and rode to the nearest store. He then chained his bicycle outside and got into the store, up to the young man by the counter.

"One bag of Fristos please," He said as he put a dollar on the counter.

"We're sold out kid," the man said as he texted on his phone. "That old lady outside bought the last of em for today," he added.

Jake turned back and looked outside at the short old lady in a pink jacket and a flower skirt who sat down on a bench and took the bag of chips out of her grocery bag. She put her hands to open it up when Jake instinctively screamed from inside the store,

"Wait! Don't eat that!"

He immediately ran outside to the woman, panting and then spoke to her,

"Can I buy that from you?"

"Why, this is my favorite snack. Now scurry off, would ya?," the woman replied as she set her glasses right.

"It's my favorite too," Jake replied. "I really gotta have that now. I'd do anything."

"Hmmm, anything? You say?" She placed her palm on her jaw. "Well, Chloe does need a scrubbing."

"Who's Chloe?" Jake asked.

"You want the chips? Follow me. My home's nearby."

In no time, they got to an apartment in a four storey building. The old lady went straight to the vintage sofa and picked up a fat white cat. She motioned to Jake to follow her and they both got into the bathroom.

"Alrighty. She hasn't had a scrubbing in a while now and it's really bad. All you gotta do is wash her, then the bag of chips is yours," she said as she left the door. "Oh, and yeah, she hates water," said the old lady as she closed the door behind her.

Jake turned on the water in the bathtub and looked back at the cat.

"Alright. Let's make this easy for ourselves," Jake added as he picked the cat and tried to put her in the water. The cat could not get in. She and Jake struggled in there for minutes as they both ran round the whole bathroom.

About an hour later, Jake returned home tired with the bag of chips in his hand. "Oh, you're back," his mom said as she climbed upstairs. After a few minutes, she came back downstairs to find the TV turned on, the last episode of the show playing, but Jake sleeping deeply on the couch with an open bag of Fristos in his hand.

All unsourced images were edited on Canva