45

Canonized Omake

It had been a calm and comfortable Christmas morning at the Pelham household. They were about half way through opening presents, and after a light breakfast, they would be going over to the Dallon's for brunch.

Crystal still had a goofy smile on her face because her dad was so excited about her gift to him, he kept looking over at the wall every few minutes to see if the light on the charger had gone from red to green.

"It's ready! Eric, bring it over please," Neil sat up on the couch and opened and closed his hands in an exaggerated 'gimme' expression that left the entire family laughing at him.

Eric retrieved the device from the charger, grabbing the instruction manual out of the box as well, and handed them both to his dad.

"Ugh Ugh, I don't need no stinkin' instructions! I'm a manly man," Neil growled in a poor impression of Tim 'The Toolman' Taylor.

The man lifted one leg, kicking his slipper off, and rested his foot on his knee. He applied the cordless heavy-duty sander to the bottom of his foot and pulled the trigger as he turned to look at his son standing beside the couch.

"See?" He gave a small groan of pleasure as the device buzzed to life and he moved it vigorously back and forth without even looking at what he was doing. "Easy as pie..." His voice trailed off as he watched his son's expression shift from humor to horror, mouth opening and finger pointing behind his dad.

Neil started to turn to see what was going on, when he was suddenly ejected from the couch by a gleaming forcefield. He tumbled on the floor and looked back at the couch in bemusement. He saw a sight he knew would have him sleeping on the couch for the foreseeable future.

Sarah was standing from where she had been seated by him on the couch. Her face was coated in a fine layer of powdered dead skin, and she was shaking in fury as she spit more of the powder out of her mouth.

"Oh. I guess there was a dust collection canister that should have been attached."