DasHexxchen Habitica 01-22-2023

Prompt: [WHAT IF]- ["Troll" gadget]

WHAT IF- What if you had a device that could directly manipulate the “properties” (position, age, etc.) of any object in the real world as well as “spawn” (summon) any animal? Write a story about someone using such a device to “troll” (prank) people (e.g. moving the TV remote around or summoning (“spawning”) squirrels near where people are walking their dogs).

"Well, we would not be late if you knew where you put your stuff, hun." "But mom, I am just a kid. As my parent it is actually your responsibility, that I get to school on time and with my sports gear, lunch money and stuff.", Alex said with a smug grin. "Nice try. You are sixteen though. So it is also my responsibility to teach you responsibility. And the moment when you have to explain the pink fluffy shorts to your friends will be a great teaching moment. I am so very sad, I have to imagine it instead of being there with you. But I gotta run and score some fresh croissants. Your aunt is coming over." "You are having croissants without me? Are you not punishing me enough?" "Be good and one will be waiting for you on the counter, when you get home." Alex' face lit up just a little, enough to betray a teens actual thoughts to a mother, but not so far as to be damaging to Alex reputation as a sixteen year old. "Soo? Would you get out of the car, so I can get enough for all of us?" "Course!", Alex scrambled to get out of the car fast, not leaving anything behind and paused for a few seconds before opening the door: "Love you mom." The door opened and closed too fast for Mary-Ann to process an answer. Instead a smile crept on her blushing face. Those were the moments. The high parents chased everyday and that made it all worth, the never ending laundry, the weak bladder, utterly destroyed sex-life, the tears and the worries. Mary-Ann absent mindedly started the car and got honked back into reality, when she nearly bumped into a battered half-blue and half something beetle when backing up. "Shit, so sorry.", she apologized waving a hand to the matchingly battered driver. He had long passed and her manners went unwittnessed. She hurried her car down the street, wasting no thought to the fleeting moment she her with Alex before and circled though her imaginary lists for the day. Getting to the artisian bakery near Alex' school to hopefully grab the last three croissants of their Wednesday batch, clean the house, find Alex' actual sports gear, pick and clean fresh strawberries to fill the croissants with and make herself presentable... Well, cut out the last one. It was just her sister and she was running 20 minutes late because of Alex already. She could still pull off those sweat pants as a mom. If anything, she was allowed to wear those compfy gifts of the gods. In fact the guy in line behind her was checking her out right now. She'd be jiggered, it was the same guy she nearly bumped into earlier. As she was about to apologize to him again, she quickly decided differently after scanning him. He was huge, wearing a big hat, a battered trench coat and caried a staff. Who carries a staff today? The man looked down and did not meet her gaze, apparently feeling caught. If there was not that aura around him. Mary-Ann did not like him, she activly retreated a few inches in fear, despite him not doing anything threatening at all. He was just this kind of man you don't want to get involved with, because trouble sought them out. Mothers sense this. She quickly got her croissants, they actually had tons left, and a cherry danish, before getting out with her eyes focusing the floor. At home she went to the garden first, because she wanted to prepare a big batch of strawberries for the week and let them sit in vinegar water for a whileto preserve them. She cleaned the floors and the bathroom and collected most dirty laundry from the house. Alex' stuff was nowhere to be found. Mary-Ann sighed and took a small stick out of her back pocket. "Seems your time has come, my trustly old pal. I just have a few years left with you anyway. Might as well make them count." She rolled her thumb over the end concentrating on her surroundings and blurring her sight. She tuned into the device, put her other hand beside her body and soon the handles of a bright green sports back slit into her palm, quickly closing around them, while she disconnected her thumb. "There you were, just shoved deep into the abyss of a closet. Why am I not even surprised. Ughh.", she had sniffed the bag and was not pleased. But before she could put anything away the doorbell rung. "Whoa, you are a whale." "I love you too, sis. And If I remember correctly I did not ever call you names when you were pregnant." "You were also overseas during my pregnancy and Alex' birth and did not get to see me walking around as if I was a balloon. You are welcome." "Well, there were video calls and I still did not say anything but, 'Oh you are radiant!'" "Hmm, I am still not sure if that was about my skin or the geometry of my belly. Come in. We can bicker in the living room." Mary-Ann fixed some tea and pulled out two georgous croissants, filled with cream and strawberries, which made her little sisters eyes widen in joy. "You shouldn't have Ann.", she said faking a humble gesture, "But I am so glad you did!" She immeadiatly dug in, not pretending to have manners in front of the girl who introduced her into itching powder and swear words two decades ago. "So, hows the little one?" "Pretending to be a pest, while being an actual angel as always? I think I did well. But, we'll see if shit goes down in college or I am actrually as blessed as I think." "Blessed huh?", Mary-Ann's sister licked her finger and continued casually, "So why did you have to do that thing earlier?" "Thing?", Mary-Ann was not sure what her sister meant. "Yeahh, in the hallway. Usually gym bags don't fly through the air into peoples hands, as if a ghost just passed them and they kept a part of it." Mary-Ann was lost for words. How? No one ever saw that, even when she had been way less careful. She had done things like that a dozon times in the presence of her sister. In fact, a few years ago she had a very prolific phase where the thing was basically stuck to her fingers. "I.. ahhh.", she struggled, "You saw that?" That was the smartest thing she could muster to say? Wow, way to go Mary-Ann. "Since I described what I saw very bluntly, I guess I did. And you did not deny it. Kind of a neat trick, actually." "It's a mom thing, Jenni." "Oh well, then I guess I will wait a few more days for you to tell me, huh?" Mary-Ann looked at her sister and felt even more stupid. Of course her sister was a mom. You don't become a mom with birth. The moment you know and you feel the baby inside of you, it is what you are. What the universe tells you to... Wait a moment. Could it be? An actual mom thing? She went for it and put the little stick on the table in front of her. Then she waited as her whale of a sister, really she was carrieing twings and Mary-Ann wondered how she moved anywhere at this stage, examined it. The stick was just two inches long and had a smooth ashen gray surface. It was never warm or cold and Mary-Ann herself had not idea what material it was. "Is it magical or technological?", Jenni asked, still peering at the little rod, not daring to touch it. "I have no idea actually. Found it in Alex' diapers when we got home from the hospital. Nearly discarded of it. And it took me ages to find out how to use it." "And this is the reason why you suddenly stopped loosing things everywhere? I just thought you get that superpower through the pregnancy or something." "It does more than fining things. That's just what I use it for most. Feels like cheating if I use it in another capacity, then as a mom. If I did, I think I would not deserve it." "And you never told anyone?" "Well, George actually seemed not to be able to even see the thing. No one ever noticed it. You did today for the first time." "Hmm, you know how jealous I am right now? All this time when I felt stupid or blind for not finding the butter in your fridge, you just used this thing." "I also used it when I told you the bananas were still good to eat, great against food waste." "It can do THAT? Make things fresh again?" "Kind of? I don't know how it actually impacts matter andf I only used it a few times against food waste. I told you, mostly I find things with it. It transports things to places they were before. Like a little mini time mashine or security camera. Caught a few of Alex' lies that way." "That's so unfair!" Mary-Ann chuckled. "It is, but it is also a god-sent. And quiet fun. You should see the look at peoples faces, when you just look at a general direction and things seem to be different from what they perceived. Feels a bit like gas-lighting people. That's why I don't like to use it to much, but sometimes it really brings me joy. Like the little things do." "This is no little thing, sis. This is huge. It could change everything!" "Jenni, wait.", Mary-Ann sat straight and put on a serious face, "If this was huge it would not have been given to me. I feel very strongly about this and ask you to never tell a soul. I think this thing is just for me to use and I am feeling how I am loosing the connection. I won't have it for much longer and I think it's because Alex is all grown up. Please." Jenni sat there quietly, the half eaten croissant being forgotten, the tea getting cold. Mary-Ann did not press her for an answer. Eventually Jenni looked up, "Okay. I won't tell." Mary-Ann relaxed from the suspension and had her hand half-way to her cup, when her sister spoke again. "But to be clear, I think it is a shame and it better really BE a mom thing. Im want one of those, too."

Disclaimer (after the story not to get you to read it differently): Thumbs up if you know my guest star. This story feels incomplete and that is okay, because I felt like I wanted to tell a bit more, that would have been to much for one weekly story. Either one of the future promps will me allow to tell you more or I will just continue it on my own. I'll keep Mary-Ann and her family in mind as I will the dangerous stranger. Also, I just disliked the idea to write someone actively pranking people without having to invest much of anything, so I decided the grand sheme of things was much more fun.