“Hello, Hillary speaking. Who is this?”
The voice on the other end of the phone sounded frantic and panicked. An older teenager or a young woman, Hillary couldn’t be sure, but with the urgency in her voice, she was now worried for an entirely different reason.
“Hello, this is H….Hillary? The, the same one who signed up for… volunteering with the Owl Scouts this morning? Or was, like, um, made to sign up? You know…”
The young mother sighed, hoping that the debacle would be entirely resolved and behind her by this point. Why would the Owl Scouts still be calling her? Maybe something had come up? Payment issues, missing cookies located, whatever it was the woman on the other end of the phone certainly didn’t have the confidence and attitude of the girls who had previously arrived at the door.
“Yes, this is her speaking.”
“Oh my god I am SO sorry! Gabby and Katie informed me what happened, and they didn’t check with me about anything, and I didn’t know there was an issue with a cookie payment, and the tickling, and the contract they made you sign, oh and I’m their leader, and I am so sorry I can’t believe…”
Apologies were pouring out of this girl’s mouth faster than Hillary could keep up with. Her cautious attitude was instantly replaced with her usual kindness as she switched to a soothing voice, trying to talk to the voice on the other end of the phone.
“Hey hey hey, it’s okay, take deep breaths. Deep breaths, that’s it. So, let’s go from the top, okay? Who am I talking to, what’s your name?”
Deeply breathing like Hillary instructed seemed to help calm the girl down, and while she still sounded incredibly apologetic, at least she was down to being understandable. Hillary sat down, feeling the comfort of her bathrobe hugging over her body; she imagined herself mentally passing this comfort onto the troop leader as she started from the beginning.
“Okay. So, my name is Danica. I’m the troop leader for Owl Scouts group twelve, and, uh, my girls were doing the cookie drive in your area. Gabby and Katie, they’re in my troop, they went to collect payments and take orders, and apparently there was, like, an issue where you didn’t have funds, or didn’t remember ordering cookies? Anyway, they should have come to me about it…”
“Still don’t know where those cookies are, if they ever existed” thought Hillary to herself, but she let Danica continue.
“So, um, they apparently asked you to volunteer for them? And I know that they have signed papers from you, but, um…”
“We’re at that part now? They left out a major part…” thought Hillary. Her bellybutton tingled underneath her robe as she remembered the interrogation sequence from that morning, and she gently rubbed it with her spare hand to calm it down.
“I mean, there are plenty of other ways we could have worked something out, but like, I think they maybe pressured you into volunteering, and what you did, wasn’t really, volunteering stuff? I mean you made money and all, but I don’t think it was really… appropriate? Again I’m SO sorry, and, um, I just needed to talk to you as their leader, because I take responsibility for them, and Gabby and Katie can be… a bit of a handful…”
“It’s okay” finally spoke Hillary, giving Danica a chance to catch her own breath and cool down. “I will admit, what Gabby and Katie did was… unorthodox. But right now, I’m safe and healthy, and I really appreciate you calling me to talk about it.”
“Oh, thank you so much for understanding! Again, I am EXTREMELY sorry. When Gabby and Katie called me, I asked them to go right back to your house and apologize in person. I’m on my way as well, so I will be there later to talk to you, but I felt like they need to see you as well.”
Hill’s skin got goosebumps under her fluffy covering at the thought of seeing the mischievous scouts again. Danica didn’t seem like she had the best control over the two, could she really enforce an apology from them?
“All right… thank you for letting me know Danica.”
“They should be there soon.”
*DING DONG!!!*
That was way too soon!
“Thanks Danica! That might be them right now, I will talk to you later!”
In a bit of a panic, Hillary grabbed the fluffy pyjama pants she had intended to wear and practically jumped into them. The robe and pants would have to do; they kept her decent and cozy at least, and hopefully she would be able to keep Gabby and Katie on the porch this time around. The doorbell rang again as Hillary descended the stairs, and she managed to open it up not long after; sure enough, the blonde and brunette scouts were there waiting for her. They certainly didn’t look apologetic; just like before, they had the unnerving smiles on their faces that sent a shiver down Hillary’s spine.
“Hello again Hillary. On behalf of Owl Scouts Troop Twelve, we would like to apologize for any discomfort you experienced during your volunteering session this morning.” Katie began.
“We understand that it may have been physically exhausting, and you should have been provided alternative fundraising options or advance notice before coming out with us” continued Gabby.
“You’re not exactly apologizing for tickling me…” Hillary thought to herself again. The scouts continued.
“We would like you to know, that we are very appreciative of the time you spent with us this morning, and that you were very helpful with our impromptu fundraiser. We are thankful for your assistance and patience as we resolved the matter of payment.”
“It’s not like I had a choice!” Inside her head, Hillary was dumbfounded at their choice of words that seemed to keep absolving them of any blame. But, the sooner they left, the easier the rest of her life would be.
“Hey mom! Hey scouts!”
The sound of Brie’s voice filled the air, prompting Hillary to look up, and Gabby and Katie turned around. Brielle was walking up the pathway to her front door, smiling brightly… and holding the last bite of a chocolate chip cookie. She casually tossed the chunk into her mouth as she stepped up past the scouts towards the door.
“Those cookies were really good! Thanks again! Hey mom, are you paying them?”
Hillary, Katie, and Gabby all blinked a few times awkwardly.
And that's how Brie found herself tied up in a series of ropes on her own couch. Just like her mom before her, her arms were tied at the wrists behind her back, pressed between her body and the cushions, while her legs were strung up and stretching out to rest on the Ottoman. The Girl Scouts stepped back after tightening the last few knots, allowing Hillary to get in close and look down at her daughter. As tempting as cookies always were, Hillary was sure was going to be a lesson in how to communicate with your parents and not get them into 200 dollars of debt. Brie looked up sheepishly, as Hillary had exclaimed everything that had happened that morning in great detail as the scouts had done their work.
“In my defence, I could have sworn I wrote a sticky note.”
Hillary smirked, before she cracked her knuckles. Then, she turned to the two Owl Scouts in her room, and said:
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author