The Crazy Chicken Escapade
It was the next morning, around 10:30. Levi Cranston (The Magic Video Game) was the only person in the house who was still sleeping. Victoria and Olivia, two of Levi’s four older sisters, checked on him periodically to see if he had at least stirred. It was now Victoria’s turn to check on him. When she went up to his room, he was still sleeping soundly on his futon. He was wrapped in his red and black plaid comforter under his ceiling fan, which was going at full speed. Levi was sleeping on his stomach. He was shirtless, and he wore plaid shorts. He was barefoot with his left ankle in a brace. There were many posters, most relating to old video games, on his wall. There was a pink lava lamp on his night stand. The only things not well-organized in his room were his video games. He had an older console in his room, as well as several handheld games. Levi looked very cute and innocent when sleeping, and Victoria really did not want to wake him up. She had to, though, because they had to meet their aunt and uncle at the airport at noon. They were coming in from Rhode Island and would stay in Valparaiso for a week. Victoria had to think quickly about ways to wake up Levi. She had thought about turning on the TV to full volume to try to wake him up. She also pondered turning the light on and turning the radio on to full blast. And then she believed that pouring ice cold water on him would be the best option. Victoria went down into the kitchen to get an icy cold water bottle. When she went back up to Levi’s room only to find him still asleep, he was now sleeping on his back, so his chest and stomach were exposed. Victoria twisted the cap of the water bottle and tried pouring the icy cold water on his stomach. As a response, Levi jumped quickly and rolled over on his side. He could now hear his own heart pounding in his ears, and he started crying. “What the heck, Victoria….” Levi moaned while fighting to go back to sleep. “We have to meet Aunt Jennifer and Uncle John at the airport in less than two hours,” Victoria responded. “I want to go back to sleep.” “When did you go to bed last night?” “Two.” “Playing video games?” Levi couldn’t help crying. Not being a morning person, he found it very hard to wake up. When he was half-awake, Levi grabbed his blue throw blanket and wrapped it around himself. He sat up while shivering. His eyes were closed, and he put his head in his arms. He was really not in the mood to wake up yet, much less, converse with anyone. “I’m cold,” he spoke quietly. “I poured ice water on your stomach,” Victoria stated. “I noticed. When are we going to the airport?” “As soon as possible.” Levi didn’t move. Instead, he lay back down on his futon. He gently laid his fingers on his chest, and he could feel his strong pulse pushing against his fingertips. He closed his eyes and thought about Mackenzie Burbanks, his girlfriend. Mackenzie is a girl whom Levi had asked out four days after he had his tonsils taken out. He has always thought she was the prettiest girl in school since he moved here from Crown Point. Her brown hair, brown eyes, and unique smile would always get Levi’s heart pounding harder than it would when he played in the most intense tennis match. His breathing would become so labored that his chest hurt, and his stomach would turn upside down. The phone rang, and Victoria hurried downstairs to answer it. Her brother wished it would be Mackenzie, even though he was sure it wasn’t she. Mackenzie was visiting her relatives in Long Island for a couple weeks. When he eliminated that idea, Levi made good use of this time by adding a few more minutes of sleep. Five minutes later, Victoria returned to Levi’s room. “Hey, Levi, we don’t have to be at the airport until two,” she told him. “Why two?” Levi asked. “Their flight has been delayed.” Yes! Levi thought. He could get at least another hour of sleep. While covering himself up in his comforter and other blankets, he waited for their two cats, Duchess and Prussia, to come in and lie on the bed with him. He closed his eyes again and slept for thirty minutes until his dad came into his room. “Howdy, partner!” his dad shouted all of a sudden. Levi slowly opened his eyes. When he came to his senses, he knew it was his dad. Levi tried going back to sleep. “We gotta go to the airport, dude! So, you gotta get rid of them here blankets!” his dad announced comically. Levi moaned. He was not in the mood for this. He wrapped himself in his comforter so that his dad would have a hard time pulling the covers off him. His goal was to get at least ten hours of sleep every night during the summer, but that could not possibly happen at this point. “Okay. I gotta pull them woobies off you. One….two….three!” his dad said as he pulled his comforter off his son. Levi tried desperately to grab one corner of his comforter, but his dad made sure he could not reach it. He still lay on the bed, moaning. Levi did not want to get up. He spent too much time playing video games, and he got only eight hours of sleep. Once his dad told him that they needed to start heading out to the airport, he slowly sat up and crossed his arms. His eyes were half-open. Right now, he only focused on waking up, as it would take him a long time to do so. His dad then left the room, and Levi made a few more attempts at waking up. Every morning, he would try to do at least 50 push-ups. Sometimes, he would try to go for 100, and other times, he could barely make it to 50. Today, he was shooting for 100. And here goes nothing. A few minutes later…. “….98….99….100,” he counted to himself while fighting to breathe. He made it to 100. Afterwards, he lay on his stomach, breathing very hard. Pain shot up in both arms. His chest hurt every time he took a breath and during every heartbeat. He could feel his heart pounding so hard inside him that it could burst at any given moment. His left ankle that was in a brace was also throbbing. Right now, it would be very hard for him to put much weight on that ankle. I will never do 100 push-ups in the morning ever again, was what he was thinking at the moment. He crawled over to his futon, used his inhaler, and lay there for another 10 minutes before he was fine again. His arms were a little sore, as well as his chest, but he felt 130 times better. His ankle wasn’t bothering him anymore, so he decided to take off his brace. After he took it off, which he only needs to wear while playing tennis and sleeping, he took a quick shower and put on his favorite blue and grey shirt and khaki shorts. Then, he ate a quick brunch and rode in the van with his family to the airport to meet Jennifer and John LeVole. On the way to the airport, Levi and Olivia listened to some classic rock music on Levi’s music player. Victoria was texting Louise and Elizabeth. Evelyn Maeve did nothing. She just stared into space. And, of course, their parents were in the front seat conversing about the time the whole family was about to have with their relatives. The little girl put her head against Levi’s shoulder. “Wevi,” she spoke. “What?” her older brother asked. “Hi.” “Hi. What are you doing?” “Nothing. What are you doing?” “Listening to music.” “What kind of music?” “Music. More music. Even more music.” The two kids couldn’t help but laugh at their own comment. Levi’s response was way too ambiguous, but it appeared to be humorous to both Levi and Evelyn Maeve. Seventeen minutes later…. At the airport. A lady and a man ran up to the Cranston’s out of nowhere. The lady, Aunt Jennifer, is a heavy-set lady with bright red hair. She must’ve dyed it. She also seems to be the very-bubbly-to-the-point-of-almost-being-obnoxious type. Or, at least, that’s how Levi perceived her when he was a toddler. They both have so much in common it’s scary, but Aunt Jennifer is much more happy-go-lucky than Levi. Uncle John, on the other hand, is not bubbly at all. He is very much of a stickler when it comes to time. Of course, when their flight was delayed, he was upset because he expected to be at the Cranston’s house at around two o’clock in the afternoon when, in fact, that was when he and his wife got off the plane. Everyone greeted each other right after they left the plane and retrieved their luggage. Then, Jennifer and John had to get a rental car and followed their relatives home. Olivia, Levi, and Evelyn Maeve decided to go with their aunt and uncle to pick up their rental car. Once they picked up their car, they made some decent conversation. “So, you guys are out of school now?” Aunt Jennifer questioned. “Yup,” Levi answered. “What grades are you in now?” “I’m in tenth grade, and Levi is a freshman,” Olivia answered. “Are you both glad you’re out of school?” “Very. This year was good, but I had everything happen to me in a matter of months,” said Levi. “Yes. This year was very eventful,” Olivia added. The four made casual conversation until they approached downtown Valparaiso and then Elmhurst Avenue. They all entered the house, and Olivia, Levi, and Evelyn Maeve helped put Jennifer’s and John’s luggage away. Then, they all thought that now would be an ideal time to relax. Olivia and Evelyn Maeve spent some time in the kitchen with Jennifer and John. Levi sat sideways on the couch, he decided to just relax and watch one of his most favorite movies until Evelyn Maeve had come into the common area and lie on top of him. He ended up turning off the movie since he had a six-year-old in the same room. She curled herself up into a little ball and lay against his chest, and all the air was knocked out of him once she did this. “OH GOD! I CAN’T FREAKING BREATHE!” Levi exclaimed. “WHEN DID YOU GET SO HEAVY ALL OF A SUDDEN?!” Evelyn Maeve blushed. “I wuv you, big brother,” she said quietly. “Awwww. I wuv you, too.” It was quiet for about two minutes. Evelyn Maeve pressed her ear firmly against her older brother’s chest. He didn’t seem to mind this, as he was wrapped up in his thoughts; particularly those thoughts regarding Mackenzie. He was in a state of peace, and so was Evelyn Maeve, who then decided to break their mutual silence after a couple minutes. “Levi, your heart’s talking to me.” “Is it fast?” “I dunno.” Levi felt for his pulse on his neck. After concentrating for a few seconds, he wrapped his arm around his younger sister. “Yep. It’s a little fast.” Aunt Jennifer eventually came into the room. She was in her bubbly mood. Levi and Evelyn Maeve had talked about putting on some kid-friendly shows, but that couldn’t possibly happen with so many people in the house, and with three more people coming later. “Uncle John wants to know if you want to play tennis with him,” Aunt Jennifer said. “Sure! When?” Levi answered as his eyes lit up. “Now! He wants to see how much you’ve improved!” Time to play tennis. Uncle John and Levi went over to the courts to play some intense matches for a while. Who knew when they would come home? Probably closer to nine o’clock. And who knew what everyone else was doing at home? They were probably not just sitting at home watching movies from the 1980’s. After a few hours of playing some intense tennis…. It was now nine o’clock in the evening, and Levi and their uncle came home. Levi’s dad was watching his favorite TV show. Their mom, Jennifer, Victoria, Olivia, and Evelyn Maeve were in downtown Valparaiso at this time, and Levi and their uncle came home from the intense tennis practice. Then, they invited Levi’s dad to get food with them. “Would you like to go to our favorite fast food joint tonight?” Levi’s dad asked. “Now?” Levi asked back. “Yes. Now.” “I’m up for that!” Levi, their uncle, and their dad drove to get some food, came home, and stayed up until two o’clock in the morning. And what a fun night it was.
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