h Chapter Fifteen g
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Beep…Beep…Beep. Alaysia suddenly awoke with a start, the noise of the alarm clock blaring in her ears. Reaching to shut it off, her eyes blinking, trying to focus, she noticed the time read 12:07. Instantly, Alaysia threw back the blanket and sat straight up. She slipped on her shoes and quickly went to her sisters room and shook them awake- telling them that they had to hurry because they were late, that it was past midnight. Understanding, both her sisters quickly got out of bed and began getting dressed. While her sisters were running around trying to get themselves ready, Alaysia went down the hall to wake Izayah. On her way, as she was about to pass her grandfathers’ room, Alaysia took a moment to peek in. Disappointed, Alaysia saw that her grandfather was still fast asleep, snoring. Quietly she pulled the door closed, then went to her brothers’ room and roused him out of bed. Within minutes, all four kids were hastily making their way through the yard, headed for the root cellar, hoping that the Oogie would still be there, waiting for them.
Off to their right, over by the trees- just as they were approaching the root cellar, the children heard a noise. They stopped, Frightened, all of them staring in the direction of the trees, listening very intently, each of them trying to locate the source of the noise.
“Pssst, Psssst- Over here.” the children heard someone calling from behind the trees.
Not one of the kids moved, they remained frozen in place, their hearts pounding in their chests because none of them knew who it was that had called to them. For all they knew it could be the Ogre. Alaysia had told them that the Oogie said to watch out for the Ogre, and they weren’t taking the any chances, would not take the risk of walking into a trap.
“Hey- kids, it’s me.” the Oogie said, popping out into the open. “Don’t go to the cellar, come over here with me.” it said, motioning for them to come.
Because they were so afraid, the children had all been holding their breath. After they realized that it was the Oogie, the children, all at the same moment, letting out a huge sigh of relief, walked over to the tree where the Oogie was waiting for them.
“Where have you guys been? asked the Oogie.” “I’ve been waiting and waiting since midnight.” “I was really starting to worry that you may have run into trouble with the Ogre or something.” it said, the worry in its voice apparent.”
Alaysia answered; “Sorry Oogie, we’re really sorry.” “We didn’t get to sleep till around ten last night, and when the alarm woke me up this morning it was already after midnight.” “We came just as fast as we could.”
“Well, it’s alright- you’re all here now, and you’re all safe, the Oogie replied.” “That’s what matters- that all of you are safe and sound.”
“My grandpops isn’t okay- he’s still sleeping!” blurted Izayah angrily. “What about him?”
“The magic dust will take care of your grandfather, don’t worry.” “It just takes time.” Looking from one child to the other, the Oogie told them; “I promise- I promise all of you that your grandfather will be just fine.” “Is the magic healing your wounds where the Ogre hurt you?” Alaysia asked the Oogie.
“It’s beginning to, the Oogie answered.” The Oogie pulled back the hair from around the wounds in its sides so that the children could see that scabs were already beginning to form- a sure sign when a sore is healing up.”
“See?” said the Oogie. “The magic dust will work, you’ll see.” “Right now though, we have other things that we all need to discuss.”
“What other things?” asked Alaysia.
“Well- asked the Oogie, have you guys been thinking about that special thing that you want me to do?” “Have you kids figured out what that will be yet?”
“We talked about it a lot, Shaylah said. We thought of a lot of things, but none of them seemed really important, not important like we think it should be.” “We just don’t know what to ask for, Oogie.” “It’s really hard!”
“Yeah- the Oogie said, I thought you guys might have some trouble with it, because it’s not an easy thing, especially for children.” “So- what do you think about my helping you decide what to choose?”
“Would you Oogie?” “Would you really help us?” the children asked, truly glad that the Oogie offered.
“Sure I’ll help- I’d be glad to, the Oogie replied.” “I bet you’ll be impressed with some of the ideas that I’ve come up with.” “But first, how ‘bout we all sit down here together and just talk” “I’d like to know things about you- kind of find out what you guys are all about.” “Come on, let’s all sit.” the Oogie said, plopping itself down onto the grass.
For quite some time, they all sat around, talking. The Oogie asked them all sorts of questions about themselves, listened very carefully to their answers. In time, the Oogie finally gathered enough information so that it had a fair idea of what to do for each child.