Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to present chapter twenty-five of Alanna the Piranha. I must say when it rains it pours. My novelist carted me off to the groomers this week after all that kafuffle with my dental cleaning. Although I do look much more like my magnificent self and am ready for warmer weather it is not yet spring, and the air is still rather chilly. The Maltese was also groomed but to a less spectacular effect. And he shivers every time he goes outside now which adds a bit of amusement to my day. I shiver too but his agony is much more delightful. My quivering is merely stylish. And with that thought here is chapter twenty-five of Alanna the Piranha. Насолодитися!

Alanna the Piranha

by

Gigi the parti poodle

Day the Twenty-Fifth

“Where is it?!”

I can hear Stacy yelling upstairs and running around. When she loses something, she can be rather narrow focused.

“Where is my bracelet?!”

“What bracelet, dear?” I hear my mom ask.

“My Classic Pear Tennis Bracelet!”

“Well, you know I never touch your jewelry…”

“It should be right here! Right here in my jewelry armoire!”

“Are you talking about the one with the rhino?”

“The one with the sapphire cubic zirconia! I love that bracelet!”

“Well, dear, you love all your jewelry…”

“But I especially love the Classic Pear Tennis Bracelet with the sapphire CZs! It’s my favorite! My absolute most favorite!”

Stacy let out a primal scream. It is terrifying when Stacy lets out a primal scream. She throws something because I hear a loud thud against the wall.

“I’m going to lose it!” Stacy yells as if she hasn’t lost it already.

“Do you remember when you had it last?”

“In my jewelry armoire!”

Alanna tiptoes across the floor and I catch something twinkling on her wrist.

“Alanna,” I say. “Are you wearing Stacy’s Classic Pear Tennis Bracelet with the sapphire CZs?”

Alanna fidgets nervously. “That would be wrong,” she says.

“Yes, it would.”

A big tear forms in her piranha eye. “It was just so pretty,” she says. “I was looking for something to wear for Fabulous and my first performance and…it was so pretty.”

“Alanna, you have got to stop hunting for bling in Stacy’s bedroom.”

“But it’s not fair!” she says and stomps her foot. “I’m a girl too! I like pretty things!”

“Alanna, Stacy’s things aren’t yours. Don’t go into her room again. Let me help you find what you need for your costume. Stacy has things she wants to get rid of and…”

“Stacy has things, and I should have things. You need to take me shopping and let me try on pretty things.”

“I can’t take you shopping, Alanna.”

“Why not? You’ve taken me other places.”

“Look…I could order you something online…

“It won’t get here on time! I need it by tomorrow!”

“What’s all that racket down there?” my mom demands.

“Just working, mom,” I call back.

“Be quiet!” Stacy yells. “My bracelet is missing!”

I give Alanna a warning look. “If I can find your bracelet,” I call up to Stacy, “Will you give me something for it?”

“Did you steal it?!”

“I didn’t steal your bracelet, Stacy. If I can find it, can we make a trade?”

“A trade for what?”

“Shoes,” Alanna whispers.

“How about a pair of shoes?” I call up to Stacy.

“What kind of shoes?” Stacy asks.

“High heeled pumps,” Alanna whispers.

“Uh…high heeled pumps!”

“I’m not going to support your weird shoe fetish, pervert,” Stacy yells. “That’s halfway to incest!”

“They’re for my…friend!”

“You mean that weird renaissance fair cloak girl?”

“Yes!”

“A girl?” I can hear my mother ask Stacy.

“She needs them for a show,” I explain.

“I’ll bet,” Stacy says sarcastically.

“I’ll be right up!” Then I turn to Alanna and say, “Give me the bracelet and I’ll get you the shoes.”

“But I won’t have anything shiny to wear,” she says as another tear forms in her piranha eye.

I can’t stand to see her cry. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Could you get me some lip balm too? The heat has been on in the house because its cold outside and it’s making my lips chap.”

“Sure. Stacy’s a virtuoso when it comes to lip balms. I can probably talk her out of a couple.”

“Thank you, Flint.”

I head up the stairs to my mother and sister.

“Well, it’s about time,” Stacy says when I reach the top of the stairs.

“Let’s find your bracelet,” I say.

“I think that girl you’re tutoring is stringing you along so she can mooch off you by talking you into talking me into a pair of my shoes.”

“Guess what? I’m going to mooch off you too. I need a couple of lip balms.”

“Are you serious?”

“Chapped lips.”

“You always look like you have chapped lips.”

“Stacy, be civil to your brother,” my mom says. “Flint, do you want to look in Stacy’s room and she and I will check the living room.”

“I didn’t leave my bracelet in the living room, mom,” Stacy says.

“Let’s look there anyway. A fresh set of eyes on your room may help it turn up.”

My mother and sister descend the stairs to the living room which gives me a chance to head into Stacy’s room and slip the bracelet into her oversized jewelry box or armoire or whatever she calls it.

“I found it!” I call to them after a couple of minutes.

I hear the scuffle of anxious feet as my mother and Stacy run back into her room.

“Where?” Stacy demands.

“In your jewelry box.”

“It’s an armoire,” she corrects me. Stacy pushes me aside and pulls open the drawer. “But I looked here,” she says agitated. “I looked in here and it wasn’t there and now it is.”

“Problem solved.”

Stacy gives me the hairy eyeball. “Something’s fishy,” she says.

“Like I said,” my mom says. “A fresh set of eyes.”

“Yeah, right.”

“So, how’s about those shoes and that lip balm?” I ask.

Stacy stares me down. “You’re up to something, Flint.” She turns and opens the drawer of her mirrored dresser and hands me two lip balms before marching to her closet where she retrieves a pair of glossy red pumps and shoves them into my chest. “Have fun. And know that I’m on to you.”

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and the five installments in my Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!!!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: FLEE (2021)–Hulu

This week’s pick is an Oscar contender for both Best Animated Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature. It is the harrowing true story of Amin, an Afghanistan refugee who at the age of thirty-six is finally comfortable enough to tell his best friend and interviewer how he got to Denmark as a young teenager without a family or a friend. What we know about Amin at the top of the film is he is an Academic and an orphan. But as his story unfolds, we begin to find out about the harrowing journey and sacrifices he and his family endured which started in his early in his childhood, through his adolescence in Russia and up to and beyond his arrival in the Netherlands.