October 2041 - Anne and James Smith are 41, George is 17, John and Tom are 13, Jamie is 10, Alex is 8, Margaret Long is 14.
Fall is a busy time for the Smith family, with five kids in school and a mother who's a college professor.
George's parents bought him a car last year, and he drives his brothers to school every day.
Since the elementary school gets out at a different time, Jamie and Alex still take the bus to school.
Adding to the chaos is the new dog they just adopted, Summer. She's very skittish, so James has been spending extra time with her to make her feel more at home.
She isn't housebroken yet, as James discovers one morning.
He makes sure to take her out several times a day so there aren't any more accidents.
Rover isn't too happy having another dog in his house.
Jamie has been giving Rover some extra attention. She teaches him lots of new tricks so he can get promoted at his job as a service dog.
With three teenagers in the house, the phone never stops ringing.
"Hi Margaret. Tom is upstairs, just a second."
"Hey Margaret, what are you up to? Want to come over this afternoon?"
"Tom has a girlfriend," Jamie tells Alex. "I saw them kissing."
*****
It's late one ordinary night, long after everyone went to sleep, with no one awake to notice the dark figure creeping across the yard.
When you're a detective, the police respond extra quickly to a report of a burglary at your home.
She's apprehended before she can steal anything.
But the family is pretty shaken up.
"Honey, it's okay," James says. "Nothing was stolen, and everyone is all right."
"I know, but it's just scary to think that someone could break in so easily."
Alex can't go back to sleep, so his parents let him stay up with them and read.
The reading helps put his mind at ease.
Jamie is upset too, but she takes a different approach. Her parents agree that Rover can sleep with her tonight.
"You're going to sleep inside tonight," Jamie says. "That way you can protect us."
He wags his tail in agreement.
Jamie and Alex gossiping about Tom and his girlfriend is so cute.
ReplyDeleteI hate the burglar, they always seem to upset the kids the most. It's a good thing that Jamie has Rover to keep her company.
Thanks for the comment, Monique! Jamie and Alex are pretty cute. What else to little kids have to gossip about besides their big siblings?
ReplyDeleteI wish there were a mod to keep the burglar from coming to houses where there's a police officer living there. What kind of stupid burglar robs a police officer's house?