TWO YOUNG BOYS sat on the blistering sidewalk. One was bouncing, loud and upbeat, while the other sat glaring and frowning.

"Stop being annoying, Annoying-Pants," the older one, Dark, hissed, glaring at his friend, Wilford.

Wilford huffed, tugging on his friend's shirt.

"Come on, play with meeee," he whined. "You always sit there and frown, Darki!"

"Don't call me that."

Wilford pouted and laid down on the sidewalk, stomach facing skywards. He glared at Dark, huffing.

"You're no fun," the boy whined, slapping his friend's shoulder. "I'm gonna tell Ana you're a meanie!"

"You wouldn't dare—"

"Boys, come on in now!" their care-taker called, beckoning the two boys inside.

"I'm gonna do it!" Wilford yelled as he stuck his tongue out at his friend, darting off into the house. Dark only frowned and leisurely followed after.

"Ana, Ana—Darki's a meanie, he wouldn't play with me!" Wilford tattle-tailed. He looked up at their care-taker, pouting deeply. The woman inwardly smiled and put a worried look on her face.

Ana bent down to Wilford's level, jutting out her lower lip as she caressed the side of the little boy's face.

"Awe, do you want Darki to have a time-out?" she cooed, lightly pinching the boy's cheek.

Wilford nodded, stamping a little foot on the ground as he furrowed his brows. "Yeah! He needs time-out until he play with me!"

Ana tilted her head, spotting Dark at the doorway with a frown. Her brown eyes looked back at the boy. "Does he really, Willy? Isn't that mean?"

Wilford's face softened, and he looked over at Dark, who glared at him. This made the boy huff and turn back to the kneeling woman.

"Yes! Yes, he does, Ana. Lookie!" The boy pointed to his friend, who was now beside him. "He's glaring at me again! He always a meanie!"

Ana smiled, ruffling the boy's hair and giving a glance at the older boy.

"Dark," she said. "You should play with your friend sometimes!"

The older boy pouted, crossing his arms. "I'd rather have time-out."

Ana lightly ruffled Dark's ebony hair, her hand uselessly being swatted away with a small hand.

"How about this," she presented. "If you don't learn to get along and play with each other, no cookies!"

Wilford gasped, flinching as he put his hands to the side of his face, mouth agape. He turned to Dark, shaking his shoulders.

"Darki, Darki, you have to be nice or we get no cookies! The world will end!"

Dark groaned, putting his hands to his face as his panicked friend kept shaking him. "Wilfooord!" he whined. "Stop iiiiit!"

Ana lightly chuckled and placed a gentle hand upon Wilford's shoulder. His eyes darted up to her, and he stopped shaking his now-dizzy friend.

"He needs time-out time now, Ana," Dark groaned, holding his head. "He's a meanie, too!"

Ana smiled, shifting so she rested on her other knee. "No time-outs today, boys." She made them both face each other, humming with amusement.

"You two have to hug each other until you learn how to get along, okay? Otherwise, no cookies!"

Dark gasped. "Ana, noooo! He's weird!"

Wilford frowned at his friend, growling. "Am not! I am—" His face went blank and he looked up at their care-taker, a finger on his lips. "What's the word, Ana? Uni-uni—"

"Unique?"

Wilford's brows furrowed with determination again. "I am unique!" he told his frowning friend.

"I still don't like you," the older boy whined, crossing his arms.

"Now, now, that's not a nice thing to say, Darki! Come on now—hug it out. And if you make up, you can have cookies after!"

"Yes, Ana!" Wilford piped, looking up at their care-taker as he pulled Dark into a tight hug. Their heads bonked.

"Oooww," the older boy whined, his arms trapped at his sides because of the suffocating hug.

Ana laughed at this, heading into the kitchen. "Now you two stay there until you learn to get along," she said, disappearing around the corner.

"I hate you," Dark mumbled, pouting as his face was squashed against the side of his friend's.

"Anaaaa!" Wilford whined, hugging his friend tighter.

"Hug it out, boys!" her voice called.

Wilford pouted, looking back at his friend. Their noses bonked, and Dark's face went red.

"Uh-oh," Wilford said, his deadly hug loosening. "Please don't be mad at me, Darki?"

His friend huffed and looked to the side, growling. "Fine."

Wilford gasped, looking at his friend's now-light-pink cheeks. "Does this mean we can play?!"

His pouting friend looked back, humming. "Yeah..."

Wilford let Dark out of his hold, pumping his arms in the air as he danced around on his little legs. "Yay, yay, yay—Ana, Ana, Darki finally wants to play with me!"

"That's good!" her voice called. "Go have fun in the house, okay? It's getting dark out, and you know what that means!" Their care-taker snuck around the corner, her hands at her face like an attacking bear. "Monsters!"

Wilford screamed, hiding behind his friend. "No, not the monsters, Ana!" he mewled.

Dark frowned and looked up at Ana, his stubby arm across Wilford's chest. "I'll protect you, Willy!"

Ana smiled, chuckling. "That's what I like to hear, Darki." She made a little hand gesture. "Now go on, boys. I'll tell you when the cookies are done!"

Wilford beamed, taking Dark's hand and running off further into the house.

"Comon, Darkimoo—let's go on an adventure!"

"Darki... moo...?"

Wilford looked over his shoulder, tilting his head as he stopped. He loudly gasped, pinching at Dark's cheeks.

"Hey! What're you doing!" the older one demanded, swatting away his friend's hands. "Wilfoooord!"

"You were smiling, you were smiling!" he squealed, dancing around in a circle. "Dar-ki was smi-ling, Dar-ki was smi-ling!"

His friend frowned. "Was not!"

Wilford smirked, poking his friend's nose. "Catch me and maybe I'll forget you smiled!" he yelled, running off into the hallway.

Dark rolled up his sleeves with a pout of determination. He ran after his friend, their little feet thumping against the wooden floor. "I'm faster than you!"

Wilford laughed and stuck his tongue out. "Nuh-uuuh!"

They rounded a corner. Dark quickly followed, his socks making him slide.

"Wooooah!" he yelped, falling to his hands and knees. He sat on his behind, holding his knee. "Owiiieee!"

Wilford ran back to his friend, terror on his face. He knelt by his friend, gasping.

"I'm sorry, Darki! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

The hurt boy sniffled. "It's not your fault," he whined, letting go of his knee. He rubbed at his eyes, standing as he pouted. "I want cookies now."

Wilford smiled, hugging his friend. He gasped. "Darkimoo, I have an idea!"

Dark's eyes widened. "What is it?!"

Wilford's face went mysterious and determined—like he had the best plan in history. He went closer to his friend, whispering: "We're gonna go on an agent mission!"

Dark jumped. "I'll be leader, I'll be leader!"

Wilford pouted. "But you're always leadeeerrr," he whined softly, giving his friend puppy eyes. Dark growled and crossed his arms.

"Fine—you can be leader this time!" He turned his eyes back to his friend. "For the cookies."

"For the cookies!"

The boys set out on their adventure. They snuck around the house, peering from the corner to look at the oven. Their care-taker, Ana, stood before it, a red glove on one hand.

"That's the evil guard named Evil Girl! She's making sure that no one in Cookie Town gets cookies!" Wilford explained, pointing at their care-taker.

Dark frowned. "We will save the people of Cookie Town!"

As the two little children bickered their little plan, their care-taker, Ana, was hiding a little smirk. She decided to play along.

As she took out the tray of fresh-baked cookies, she placed it on the countertop—no place the little kids could reach.

"Mwa-ha-ha-ha!" she exclaimed, turning around and putting on an "evil smile."

The two boys squealed, startled at the sudden outburst from the woman.

"You'll never save Cookie Town! These cookies are all mine!" she announced, giving another cheesy, fake laugh.

Wilford gasped, eyes wide. "Agent Darki, code red, code red! Evil Girl caught us!"

Dark puffed out his chest. "I'll save the day and defeat Evil Girl!"

Wilford gasped. "Agent Darki--it's too dangerous!"

Ana smiled, taking a dramatic step towards him. "You'll never defeat me! Evil Girl always wins!"

Dark ran up to her with stubby little legs, hitting "Evil Girl's" thigh. "Bam, bam, boom!" he said as he lightly punched their care-taker.

Ana dramatically gasped, sinking to the floor. "Oh nooo, you've defeated me!" she cried out.

"Ha-hah!" Dark cheered, doing a little jump. "See, Willy? I saved Cookie Town!"

Wilford cheered, hugging his friend. "Now Cookie Town can have cookies again!"

Ana smiled and stood, seeing the cookies were cooled now. She transferred them to little circular plates that had a superhero face on them. She handed the goodies to the two young friends.

"Don't eat too fast or you're gonna get a tummy-ache, okay?" Ana warned, carefully handing a plate to each boy. "And don't run around with the food!"

The boys nodded, carefully walking away from the kitchen.

"Can we watch TV too, Ana?" Wilford asked, his eyes wide and bright.

Ana smiled, walking over and turning on the TV to a channel the boys liked. They sat close together, munching on their fresh goodies as they watched the screen.

"Thank you, Ana!" Wilford called over his shoulder, smiling.

"Thank you!" Dark said after his friend.

Almost every day was like this when they stayed with their care-taker.

The two little boys would argue, make up, and then finally play. Little did they know that that endless loop of happiness would...

fade.

Hope you liked it! My goal is at leat 1,000 words per chapter, and it came to 1,700! ^-^
Thanks for reading and have a fantastic day/night,

Aya :)