Solving the Mystery

It's early in the morning at the Smith household, and yesterday Julie had made plans with friends to get to the mall early today.

Burt wakes up the next day to the smell of bacon frying from the kitchen. As he fumbles around to pull some clothes on to go downstairs and eat, it strikes him that his Deceiver (Sharp) isn't where he left it on the floor.

The sound of Janet's guitar (she always starts playing that thing so early when there's no school!) pull Julie from her slumber. As her digital clock comes into focus, she feels the panic rising inside of her - she overslept! She's supposed to meet her friends at the mall in just over a half an hour, and she hasn't even started getting ready yet!!!

Burt heads downstairs to question his mother about the toy, but to his surprise, when he enters the kitchen he finds his dad at the stove, frying an entire pack of bacon and piling pancakes high onto a plate. Burt has never seen his dad cook before.

"Good morning, sweetpea!", Julie hears her mom call back from downstairs. "Someone's finally awake! Try and hurry, or we'll be late for brunch!"

Burt's dad spins around and grins. "Mornin', kiddo! Mom's still sleeping." He glances down at the stack of pancakes and chuckles with embarrassment. "Well, it took me a little while to get the hang of it, but I think they're coming out good now! Besides, you're a growing boy. You need a hearty breakfast, eh?"

He speaks at a pretty rapid clip, as if he's already had a few cups of coffee, and he piles some pancakes and bacon onto a plate while he talks and brings it to the kitchen table. "Here, eat up!"

Julie's mom suddenly appears in the doorframe of the teen's room with a look on her face. "Sweetie, you know we have brunch with the Carters today. You can go to the mall later, okay?"

"Sick? Nah, I was just up earlier than usual this morning. Cleaned up the lawn a little bit and then figured I'd try my hand at making breakfast! Let me know how they came out, kiddo," Burt's dad says with a chuckle as he ruffles the kid's hair. He's sweating up a storm as he stacks up the rest of the pancakes and bacon onto plates and shuts off the stove. He unzips his track jacket as he fans himself, but doesn't take it off. "Well, schools are closed, but I still gotta head off to work today. I'll see you later, chief, enjoy your day off."

He grabs his keys and heads out the door. Burt, left to his breakfast, hears the sound of his car starting, pulling out of the driveway, and heading off down the road.

As Burt finishes his breakfast, he hears footsteps plodding down the stairs - his mother, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with one hand and holding Sharp with the other. "G'morning, sweetie," she says with a yawn. "Did you leave this in our room? I nearly stepped right on it getting out of bed," she says as she gestures with the toy.

"Yes, dear, and on Tuesday, I told you that you should move your plans a bit later because I made plans with the Carters for Good Friday brunch, and Jerry and Daniel are both going to be there and everyone is expecting you and your sister to be there as well," Julie's mother says. By this point, she's made her way to the girl's room and his leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed, eyebrows raised expectantly. "You said, 'Sure, whatever,' and then locked yourself in your room for the rest of the night to talk on the phone."

The girls' mother rolls her eyes. "Fine. Janet, tell your sister you'll sit next to Jerry so we can get moving. At this rate, the quiche will be cold by the time we get there."

She kneels down next do the obviously distraught Julie and says, "Sweetheart, I know you want to see your friends, but you're doing me and your sister a big favor by coming. I promise I'll drive you to the mall afterwards and give you a little extra spending money for the afternoon. Ok?"

Burt's mom yawns again and shakes her head, shrugging. "I really don't know, he bounced out of bed before the sun was even up. Told me to sleep in and enjoy the day off. He didn't tell me he was planning on making breakfast though..." She raises an eyebrow at the stack of pancakes in front of Burt, and then places the Deceiver on the table in front of him. "Here you go," she says, then adds, "I didn't know you were still into toys like this."