{"id":7307,"date":"2014-05-07T23:00:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-08T03:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7307"},"modified":"2025-02-18T19:12:16","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T00:12:16","slug":"home-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7307","title":{"rendered":"Home Alone (by Sibylle)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary: \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Hoss and Joe\u00a0alone at home. A prequel<\/p>\n

Rated:<\/span>\u00a0K \u00a0 WC 600<\/span><\/p>\n

Story Notes:<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

The story originally was written as a Pinecone challenge to the prompt\u00a0All this happened more or less\u00a0of Kurt Vonnegut’s\u00a0Slaughterhouse Five.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you, Sklamb, for betareading and correcting my English.<\/em><\/p>\n

Home Alone<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAll this happened more or less<\/strong>. Really, Pa. It happened, we\u00b4ve done nuthing\u2026more \u00b4r less,\u201d the chubby nine year old boy said to his father, standing in a kitchen that might have looked better after a hurricane had blown through. Behind his legs, a second boy cautiously peeked\u00a0 at their parents and eldest brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I don\u2019t hear a real good explanation something else will happen to you both.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe tightened his grip on his brother\u2019s pants.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Pa. I \u2026 I can explain,\u201d Hoss gulped. \u201dFirst I learned Joe how to collect eggs. He\u2019s pretty good. He found\u00a0 around fifteen eggs all by himself.”<\/p>\n

The small head behind Hoss\u00b4s legs bobbed. \u201cI\u00b4s a good boy!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnlyest the last one\u2026he kinda threw it in the basket. And they broke. Not all of ’em, Ma, only five or six.\u201d The boy glanced with an apologetic smile at his mother. \u201cStill\u00a0 enough left for cookies.\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cContinue, Erik!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Pa,\u2026uhm\u2026I thought why waste all this good eggs and \u2026I could cook them\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d Ben growled.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake\u2026make scrambled eggs, because they were scrambled anyway,\u201d Hoss stammered.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I took all the whole eggs out of the basket and poured the broken ones in a bowl. But it looked a little bit dirty with the egg shells and crumbs. So I strained it. I used the small sieve, Ma, and a lot of bowls, so it would be\u00a0real<\/em>\u00a0clean,\u201d he declared proudly. \u201cAnd then we put it in a pan and on the oven.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cErik, you know better than to touch the lucifers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Pa. I didn\u2019t \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2026you touched them!\u201d Joe chimed in staring wideyed up to his brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u00a0touch<\/em>\u00a0but I didn\u2019t light one!\u201d Hoss looked angrily down to the three-year-old, hauled him from hehind his legs, and put him firmly in front of himself. “There was still a little bit of heat in the hearth. All we had to do was blow, honest, Pa!”<\/p>\n

Ben nodded, lips pursed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then there was ashes in the eggs, so I strained them again\u2026and then I wanted to add a bit flour, because it looked\u00a0 sorta skimpy. And when I get it,\u00a0 Little Joe grabbed the panhandle and the eggs went all over him. He cried and I had to calm him down some. Then I swept the floor, but the broom got all dirty, so I washed it, and \u2026 maybe I\u00a0 tapped the flour-jar with the handle.\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d Adam broke in, pointing to the floor. \u201cIs that\u00a0\u00a0my<\/em>\u00a0book of fairy tales over there underneath the flour?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, Adam. I needed it to calm Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss, I.\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, I can clean your book, I guess,\u201d Marie tried to placate him. \u201cNow out of here, boys! Hop Sing and I have a lot to do!\u201d<\/p>\n

Once they were gone, she sighed, looking around. \u201cBut, Ben, don\u2019t\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was interrupted by loud shrieks.<\/p>\n

Ben opened the kitchen door. \u201cAdam! How did your brothers get into the horsetrough?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t know, Pa. It happened more or less, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n

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Summary: \u00a0\u00a0Hoss and Joe\u00a0alone at home. A prequel \u00a0<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0K \u00a0 WC 600<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1008,4,30,8,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-humor","category-prequels","category-short-stories","category-challenges","wpcat-1008-id","wpcat-4-id","wpcat-30-id","wpcat-8-id","wpcat-40-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1981,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Joe-Hoss.jpg?fit=505%2C638&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46055,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=46055","url_meta":{"origin":7307,"position":0},"title":"Some Never Learn (by BettyHT)","author":"BettyHT","date":"October 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: A prequel story in which Joe finds there are consequences for telling lies and getting even, and how you pay the price for those sooner or later, but will it change his way of thinking?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rating: PG\u00a0 Word count: 1,316","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Lake-Tahoe.jpg?fit=600%2C563&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Lake-Tahoe.jpg?fit=600%2C563&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Lake-Tahoe.jpg?fit=600%2C563&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12938,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12938","url_meta":{"origin":7307,"position":1},"title":"“Neked” Women (by Robin)","author":"profrobinw","date":"January 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Did Little Joe really see what he thought he saw?\u00a0 Adam can't believe the implications of Joe's revelation. 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