CHAPTER 11

"Good evening Mrs. Bullock". Said Laura.

"Good evening, I've been expecting you". Said Mrs Bullock dressed in a yellow gown with an apron tied and worn around her. She hugged Laura.

"Hope I'm not late, it's the traffic". She said, looking at her watch, "It's seven o clock already".

"It's always like that here in Portland". She said, pecking Laura on the cheeks. "let me take this down for you". She said, handling down her jacket.

Mrs. Bullock took the jack and hung it on the coat hanger.

"Where's Mr. Bullock, is he upstairs".

"No he's not back yet, still at work".

"Ohh".

"So let me just keep your bag in the room, upstairs". She said, taking the bag from her left hand.

"How's Joshua".

"Joshua is fine, he's in his room, so why don't you have a sit ". She said, pointing at the couch. "I'm in the kitchen".

"You mind if I can help".

"No thanks, God it's been ages, I've really missed you and Zach". She said, putting her two hands on Laura's cheeks.

"I know, me too". Said Laura, hugging her.

"So I'll be right back, make yourself at home, you can on the TV if you want". She said, pointing to the TV and then walking into the kitchen.

"Oh sure".

Laura stood up from the couch and headed over to the TV,she took the remote placed on top of the TV and turned it on, the screen displayed a black man standing in front of aliens.

"Men in black 2, interesting". She said, walking back to the couch. She sat down and dropped the remote by her side.

"I know, Laura, Will smith's men in black was always one of your favorite movies". Said Mrs Bullock, as her voice echoed out from the kitchen.

"Yeah, always one of my favorite". She said, with a heap of excitement.

"How's Zach". Said Mrs. Bullock, coming out of the kitchen.

"He's fine, I left him at home".

"Okay, it's hot in there". She said, panting and drying her face with her left hand.

"Mummy". Said an average little kid, running down the stairs.

"Yes Joshua".

"Ohh, Aunt Laura". He said, hugging her in excitement. "You came".

"Yes I came". Said Laura, smiling.

"Yes Aunt Laura is here".

"Is dinner ready?".

"No not yet, but it will be". She said, carrying Joshua up. "Now why don't you go play with aunt Laura for a bit". She said, smiling.

"Yes, mummy".

Mrs Bullock let go of Joshua as she placed him down on the floor.

"So Laura I'm stepping back in". Said Mrs Bullock, walking back into the kitchen.

"Sure".

"So Aunt Laura, where have you been". Said Joshua, climbing on her laps

"I've been busy with a lot of things".

"I've really missed you".

"Yeah, me too". She said, pecking Joshua on the cheeks.

"How's uncle Zack?".

"He's fine".

"Tell him I miss him, when you see him". He said, squeezing his face on her chest.

"I will Joshua".She said, giggling.

"Dinner's ready, lobster Mac and cheese with corn dogs". Said Mrs Bullock, stepping out from the kitchen.

"My favorite". Said Laura

"Laura, help me set the dinning table while I go do the dishing".

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark sat on the bed, holding his phone in his hands.

"This game is so good". He said.

"I'm glad you like it my friend" said the female voice

"I'm helping this guy look for scattered pieces of a boat in a circus".

The atmosphere of the circus was eerie and strange, mark moved the character around different directions in the circus down to the downtown wagon, he looked at the counting timer, it read 9:35. "I have nine minutes left, I've seen like five pieces, so far".

"It remains eight". Said the voice.

"I know, my task is to look for thirteen pieces altogether".

Mark looked at his stats once again.

COINS- 60

TIMER- 8:59

TOOLS

HINTS

Mark moved the guy's direction to the cage and he found one piece, then he moved to the clown alley and found another piece.

"It remains six pieces".Said the voice.

He then moved the guy's location to the arena and found another piece, he moved towards the X- ground tent and found another.

"It remains four more". Said the voice.

"Let me use hints". He said clicking on the hints section. A RED ARROW displayed on the grand-stand building. "The piece must be there". He said to himself. He moved the character's direction to the grandstand and found the piece, then down to the excursion car and found another piece.

"It remains two more". It said.

He then moved the guy's direction to the excursion train and found one piece, then finally down to the kip joint and found the last piece. Then suddenly, an inscription displayed on the screen, MOVE OVER TO THE RIVER AND BUILD THE BOAT. He looked at the timer, "5:58, I don't have much time, I'm using a hint". He pressed the hints and a red color displayed AN ARROW POINTING TO THE LEFT.

"The river must be there". He moved the guy down to the direction and found the river. BUILD PIECES OF THE BOAT, YOU NEED A HAMMER AND NAIL, displayed the inscription on the screen. Mark clicked on the tools section and found nail, hammer, ladder, boots and other items, he clicked on hammer and nails.

"Got you".

"You are almost done". Said the voice.

He moved the guys hands using the hammer and the nail on the pieces of wood, when the boat was done, The word displayed, HELP ME FIND MY PADDLE on the screen.

Mark looked at the timer, "this is 2:45, not much time left". He clicked on the hint and a red color displayed, POINTING AN ARROW TO THE GREEN GRASS. "that must be where it is". He said, looking excited.

He moved the guy's direction over to the grass and found the paddle, he picked it up, then an inscription displayed, YOU MAY ENTER THE BOAT AND LEAVE. Mark walked the character to the boat and it displayed, YOU HAVE FINISHED EPISODE THREE, then a puzzle appeared and mark played it, matching the right candies to the right tiles, then an inscription displayed on the screen, SUCCESSFUL, YOU HAVE UNLOCKED EPISODE FOUR, WATCH A VIDEO AND GET 10 COINS, he watched the video and was rewarded ten coins, COLLECT YOUR LOGIN REWARDS OF FIVE COINS, he clicked on it and was rewarded five coins.

"This is sweet, I have ninety coins already".

"I told you that you would love the game". Said the voice.

"I know and the game is sweet".

In an instant, his phone made a miscellaneous beep.

"Awww, low battery". He said, feeling disappointed. "I'm hungry, I need to warm the fish taco and hotdog in the microwave". He said, standing up from the bed.

He looked at his phone screen. "8:30 PM,how time flies".

"I love you my friend". Said the voice.

"I love you too". Said Mark.

______________________________________________

"So how did you see the lobster Mac". Said Mrs. Bullock.

"It was delicious". Said Laura.

"And the corn dog, hope it wasn't tasting burnt".

"No, it didn't taste burnt to me".

"I cooked it because I know it has always been your favorite, since when you were a kid".

"Yeah right".

"We had so much moments together back then". Said Mrs Bullock, holding her hands

"Yeah, I think about all those years".

"Since the day we adopted you and Zach and decided that we were going to be your guardian, I haven't regretted it".

"God we had so much moments, did I give you a hard time growing up?".

"You not really, but Zach, o my God, he gave me such a hard time". Said Mrs Bullock giggling. "I remember when Zach crawled into that stool and then he couldn't come out". She said, pointing towards the stool. "His face was outside and he was like mommy help me". She said, mimicking the cry of a toddler".

"Oh, Yes I remember, it was so funny". She said, laughing and putting her hands on Mrs. Bullock's hands.

"Then you, you kept Mr Bullock's phone in the fridge".

"Oh yes, I remember that, Mr Bullock was so upset but it was very funny". Said Laura, laughing.

"Yeah, I missed those good old days when we all lived together, it was fun".

"I know".

"So how's life now".

"Life is good, after I left, I got a job and ever since then, I've been taking care of myself and Zach".

"How's Zach by the way".

"He's good".

"What's he doing now".

"He doing this internship work in a computer workshop".

"Wow, that's cool".

"So what about you".

"Me".

"Yes you, how's your love life, got any boyfriend's". Said Mrs Bullock, blushing.

"No I don't, not at the moment".

"Why".

"Nothing I've been busy with work".

"With work".

"Yes".

"Honey, you are not getting any younger and you are not a kid anymore, you got to have someone to be there for you".

"You think so".

"Yes, someone that can hold you, that you can share your feelings with because time doesn't get any younger and before you know it, you are getting old, you start to regret that God I wish I had a guy back then".

"Ohh, alright maybe someday".

"Okay, I hear you".

"Yeah, so I wanted to tell you that me and my husband would be going to this conference at New York, so in two days time, we should be back, so we are leaving tomorrow, as early as eight o clock in the morning".

"Alright".

"So I want you to take care of Joshua, not just as a babysitter but as a mother, see him as your son". She said, putting her hands on Laura shoulder.

"Okay, that's not a problem, I'm going to do that, I'm going to treat him like my son".

"Then it's settled then".

Sounds of footsteps thumped from upstairs as a man, average in height dressed in a night robe came running down the stairs

"Laura, how are you doing?". Said Mr Bullock.

"I'm good".

"Sorry I've been so busy since I came back from work, I couldn't even come down to greet you". He said, hugging her. "I've been doing a lot".

"Yeah I can see that".

"So there's this conference meeting that me and my wife are going to an---".

"Oh, I've told her about that". Said Mrs Bullock, interrupting the conversation.

"Yeah, she told me". Said Laura, looking over to Mrs Bullock.

"And to help us babysit Joshua".

"Yes, that too, she filled me in on everything". Said Laura.

"Okay, then it's settled then, So how's it been". Said Mr Bullock, placing his right hand on her shoulder.

"So I'll leave you two, I want to go check in on Joshua". Said Mrs Bullock, holding him on the cheek.

"Okay".He said, pecking her cheeks

Mrs Bullock climbed up the stairs.

"So how's it been, My God I've missed you". He said, touching her shoulders.

"I know, it's been good". She said, giggling.

"How's Zach".

"He's fine".

"I'm glad to hear that, so what are you doing at the moment".

"I'm just working per time at a cinema".

"Oh I see, so you got any plans for college"

"No not yet, but very soon I will".

"Okay that's wonderful, sorry we can't talk for long, I'm still busy upstairs packing but maybe I'll call you tomorrow or the next, then we'll chat better, how about that". He said, holding her left cheek.

"That's sounds cool since you're busy".

"Alright my love, goodnight". He said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Good night too". She said, hugging him.

Mrs Bullock came downstairs, changed from her yellow gown dressed in a night robe.

"So honey, I'm going upstairs". He said to Mrs Bullock.

"Okay sweetheart, goodnight".

"You too". He said, climbing the stairs.

"So are you ready to sleep".

"No not yet, I don't feel sleepy".

"It's 10 already".

"I know".

"I set your room already, it's the room that Zach use to sleep in".

"Okay".

"Because Joshua has already occupied your room, so I hope you don't mind".

"No, I don't".

"So how's everything going on with Joshua".

"Well everything is going on fine".

"I just asked because I knew how hard it was then without Joshua".

"Ohh, right back then".

"Yeah".

"Back then, it wasn't easy having a child on my own, not that I never wanted you guys".

"No I'm not thinking that way".

"like a child of my own, you know before I adopted you kids, I didn't have a child on my own, so me and my husband, we kept on trying but the doctors said that I was barren, I would never have a child, life was kind of tough for me back then, it was hard".

"Yeah, you told me back then".

"Then later, I started to have this sickness, the doctors ran test on me and they discovered that I was pregnant, the doctors said that it was a miracle that they didn't know how it happened".

"Wow, wonderful".

"So each day I'm just grateful, I'm grateful to God and to you guys, everyday of my life".She said, touching Laura's cheeks. "And I've never regretted it".

"Hmmm". Said Laura, shaking her head.

"That's why I said, time flies, it flies so fast that if you don't take time, you might regret leaving your life without doing what you want". Said Mrs Bullock, yawning and covering her mouth with her right hand.

"Are there still those photographs, videos and photo books of us".

"Yeah sure, they are in my room, you can see them anytime you want to, they're all inside that drawer beside the big mirror".

"Okay, I'll check them all tomorrow".

"Alright honey".

"So I'm ready to go upstairs".

"Me too, I need to wake up early, I'm starting to fall asleep".

"Alright".

"So you can go, I want to go lock the doors, windows and switch off the lights downstairs".

"Okay, Goodnight".

"Goodnight Laura, Sweet dreams"

"You too". Said Laura, yawning.