Kevin and Pesky followed Ralph inside, Corey was trailing behind. Ralph's small feet shuffled forward, scraping against the brown tiles that lined the floor, the walls plastered with 1950s wallpaper of flowers.

But the house was dark, the window shades covered. Granted, it was going to be dark away, because the days were growing shorter as the autumn moved on towards winter, Halloween just around the corner.

There was also a musty smell in the house. Like the smell a kid would find in grandma's closet. As if there were a bunch of clothes just around the corner that smelled of old people, dust, and scarce use.

"Let's go into the kitchen." Ralph suggest, adjusting his mask. "What are you guys going to be fo..fo..fo..fo..fo..fo..fo..fo..fo..fo..fo...ffffoo..for Halloween?" Ralph managed to stammer through the last few words, the stutter in his voice eventually releasing its grip from him, so he could ask Pesky and Kevin the question.

Kevin follows Ralph into the house, looking around with slightly widened eyes. "Do you live with your grandma?" he asks, the question popping out the instant his mind associates the smell with old people, not thinking about the fact that it might be rude.

But, he nods quickly and follows into the kitchen, and doesn't seem put off by the stuttering. "Indiana Jones," he answers with a smile, relaxing a bit more at the very normal question.

“I...I..I....Indiana Jones...” Ralph said nodding his approval.

He looked around the old house and then as the kids walked into the kitchen, offered the kids a seat. Corey was the first to sit down at the kitchen table. Pesky’s radio

“N...n...no.”  Then Ralph whispered to Kevin in a conspiratorial tone that everyone could hear. “Sh..ash..:she isn’t my real ...gr...grandma.”

Kevin plops down into a chair as well, but his eyes widen a little as he gets the answer from Ralph, and at least part of what Penelope said turns out to be true. "She isn't?" he asks, speaking quietly to match Ralph's whisper.

"N..n...no." Ralph said in an even more hushed tone. And with that, he leaned into Kevin's personal space and said in a conspiratorial tone.

"I..i..i..i...swear. It's...It's...It's...I have memories of here and..and..and...everything. But she's...she's..she's..not my Mom. You..you..you..you know how? Because I..i..i..i..also have memories of my real life." He stuttered, slightly spoiling the effect of his attempt to conspire secretly.

"So...so..so..I woke up at the beginning of the summer. And..and..and..there she was. Are...are..are.y..y..y..y..y..y..y..y..you here to help me? D..d..d..d..do..d...do you know where my real Mom is?"

This message was last edited by the player at 21:09, Wed 01 Jan 2020.

Corey looked at Kevin and Pesky. "This is getting weirder and weirder." He observed in a quiet voice. The ran his hand through his hair.

Kevin grins, nodding in agreement with Corey as if that made it the best thing ever. Looking back to Ralph, he says, "Yeah, we'll help. Somehow. What's her name?"

But before Ralph could answer, the woman appeared behind him coming into the kitchen. She didn't so much as walk as she did glide.

"Hello boys. Why, Ralph, it looks like you brought some friends over." The woman observed through her large spectacles. She spoke in a wistful, airy voice that was soft and somehow unnaturally soothing.

**OOC - Jumping in late to catch up.

Pesky listened anxiously as Ralph tried to explain what was happening.  He leaned forward, hunched over the table, trying to hear Ralph's every word but, between the stuttering and the whisper, he was having a hard time making sense of it.

The woman entered, startling Pesky.  He bolted upright in his chair, then relaxed just as a bit as she spoke.

"Ummm..hi. I'm Corey" Corey offered. And suddenly just like that Corey was no longer complaining like he had been all the way over here. Instead he was giving his best 'hello adult-woman, I'm Corey and I'm well-behaved' smile.

OOC: Yay! Welcome back! You've been missed.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:16, Thu 02 Jan 2020.

Kevin also jumps, but much like Corey, he slips into his well-behaved act he usually reserves for teachers, chess tournament officials, and reporters. He smiles and says, "Hi, ma'am. And I'm Kevin."

"Do you boys want something to eat?" the woman said kindly. "I would love to invite you to the kitchen." The woman said.

Ralph's eyes were wide open. He was shaking his head 'no' and mouthing the word 'no' to both Kevin and Pesky. The older woman, Ralph's Mom, couldn't see Ralph because his back was turned towards here.

Pesky saw Ralph's reaction and immediately spoke up.

"No ma'am, I just ate before coming over.  But thank you, though."  He nodded at her with a smile and added, "And I'm Peter, but my friends call me Pesky."

Kevin's head is starting to move in the direction of a nod before his brain catches up with what Ralph is signalling to him. Mid-nod, he turns it into shaking his head no, "No thanks."

"Ralph, be a good boy and fetch my tea kettle." Ralph's Mom said. "I'm going to make you boys some hot cocoa. I can't let you leave without hot cocoa. It's so nice to see Ralph making new friends, especially with everything going on at school. Are you boys excited about Halloween? Have you picked out your costumes yet?"

As Ralph's 'Mom' spoke, Ralph moved over to the other side of the kitchen and grabbed an old, rusty tea kettle. He put it under the sink faucet and filled it with water, then set it down on the stove.
This message was last updated by the player at 11:37, Thu 09 Jan 2020.

Kevin glances over towards Ralph, this time, before saying anything. With no warning apparent, he says, "Thanks! Yup, or most of it anyway. Just missing one thing still, but it won't be hard to make."

Trying to act completely casual, he asks, "What is going on at school? I just moved here, haven't been to school yet."

Ralph didn't say anything. So his Mom went over to the counter and started to fix up the hot cocoa. Kevin's words just hung in the air for a moment, floating out there without anyone answering.

"mmmm..hmmmm." Ralph's Mom said, adding the cocoa into the small kids mugs.

The kitchen smelled musty, like no one had live in there for years.

"S..s...school?" Ralph asked, uncertainly.

"Yeah. School." Corey said, pressing the issue. "You know, that stupid place we go to." Corey said.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:36, Tue 14 Jan 2020.

"Now young man, I'll have no language like that in my house."

Corey's faced turned read with embarrassment. "Yes, Ma'am." he said, head down and suddenly going very quiet.

"S...s..s..s..s...so at s..s.s..s..school, there aren't many k...ki..ki..kids. A lot of the...c..c..class is empty. S..s..s.s..s..s..so, Mrs. Wettinger...i..i..is now giving out m..more homework." Ralph explain to Kevin, without really explaining the reasons why those two things would be connected.

"Well that doesn't make any sense," Pesky said, almost to himself.

He kept an eye on Ralph, watching how he interacted with the woman, and felt an uncomfortable tension in his gut.  He didn't understand Ralph's story so far, but something was definitely...off.

Ralph's 'Mom' nodded with her head in the direction of Ralph, and Ralph, taking the hint sat down at the table with his head low, looking defeated.

"Boys, have a seat." Ralph's Mom said. She started over from the table with a large glass of what looked like Chocolate milk.

Corey sat down at the table, face still read from being chastised in front of everyone by Ralph's Mom. "Yes, Ma'am. What is that stuff?" Corey asked with interest, eyeing Ralph's glass.