\tYou decide to tell your mom what you are doing and ask if you should do anything more or if you should take anything. Your mom’s smile widens as you tell her your plans and what you did so far.\n\t“Wow, Christina! I did suspect you about your dashing out of the house, but I didn’t expect your dashing out of the house was for your jeans. Ok, well, I used to work in that building when I was your age, and so I think you should take a picture of the jeans. I have one right here! Just wait a minute!”\n\tWhoa, whoa, I am so glad I told my mom!!! She helps me like crazy!!!!!”\nShe came back\twith the picture in her hand. She put it in your hand.\n“Go on, my responsible girl. Go on!”\n“I’ll see you later!!!!!!!”\nYou go out into the garage again to get your bicycle. Stepping onto the pedal, you feel the little tingling of excitement in your stomach. You cycle through the narrow streets and arrive at the lost and found. Stepping into the cool building, you start to relax.\n“Hi, Alice! I’m here! My mom worked here when she was our age and so she gave me a picture to use.”\n“Great! I forgot to remind you last time. It’s really fab because in a few minutes the radio taping is going to start and your mom gave us just the thing we needed. If you didn’t do it, that might have been the end of your jeans.” Christie M. and Alice say exclaim at the same time. \nThey really are twins. They even say a whole big phrase at the same time!”\nChristie M, you and Alice march down the corridor single file, Alice leading. This time, the troop walk past the bright pink room into another room, this one painted lemon yellow.\n“Here we are!” Christie M. cries, starting to dance around the room. Alice joins in.\n“Come on! Join us! This is a tradition for this room. Since it’s bright yellow, we call it the HAPPY ROOM!!” She shouts.\nFeeling like you are crazy, you join into the skipping and dancing. \n\n30 minutes later, a teenage girl a bit taller than the McMartin twins, comes in while you are still dancing.\n“Oh, hi, Katie! Hey, Christie B, this is my sister Kaitlyn, Kate for short. Katie, this is my new friend Christie. Not our sister, this Christie, I mean. We call her Christie B.”\n“Hey, Christie B. Nice to meet you. Guess what? My Christie, Alice and I are the 3 little ones from 8 other siblings! Isn’t that awesome?” Her voice is rather deep and when she talks she sounds like a rich cowgirl. \n“Um, and it’s time to record, you know. I don’t understand a single bit why exactly you guys dance when you come in here but...”\n“Oh, yeah! I completely forgot about the recording and it’s already 3:45! The radio record needs to be finished by 4:00!” Alice’s transparent voice turns into a high- toned one.\n“Well, let’s get goin’ then! We’ve got much work to do and we haven’t even started yet,” Kate replies and walks out of the room.\nAlice and Christie starts following her so you follow too. You follow her into another room, this time turquoise-ish green, with a sofa, a TV, and a small old-fashioned desk in the middle.\n“Uh, Kate, I was wondering about the wall colors. What exactly do they mean?” You ask.\n“Oh, dem walls? They are color-coded. These turquoise-coloured rooms are the recording rooms, the yellow rooms are the resting rooms, of the happy room, rather, and the pink rooms are the interviewing rooms. Now, let’s get going. We really have to record or we can’t get it onto the radio! Get on with it, you guys!” Kate orders bossily. \nYou, Christie M and Alice bustle around, looking for the recorder. Finally, you find it, and you bring it to the little desk.\nKate leaves the room for a “little break” as she says.\n“Finally, peace and quiet,” Alice sighs. She turns on the recorder and says,\n“Be quiet, please. I am going to start to record,”\nYou and Christie M. nod at the same time. Alice presses the record button and the record starts.\n“Here we are reporting a lost pair of Ms.Christina Beauregard's favourite jeans. They are dark navy blue and made of rich sheep wool. She saw it last when she went to her friend’s house for a sleepover. If you find it, please contact the Lost and Found department as soon as you can. Thank you.”\nChristie M. pressed the stop button and the recording ended.\n“That's all? That was fast!” You say, surprised.\n“Yep. Now we just have to wait for Kate to come. Oh, perfect timing, Kate! I was just about to go get you!” Alice looks relieved.\n“Good. Now pass it all onto me, young ones. I will do everything else. Now you guys can sit back and relax. Bye, girls!” She demands quickly and runs out of the room. \n“Thanks, guys. I really appreciated your help. See you! And contact me as soon as you get something!” You thank as you run out of the door after Kate. Muttering a little Goodbye to Kate, you run out of the big building and go home as fast as you can.\n\n***\n\n...1 MONTH LATER…\n\n\tRing ring! Ring ring! You hear the phone ring and your stomach bubbles with excitement. \n \t“Hello? This is Christina Beauregard speaking,” You say.\n\t“Christie! Christie! This is awesome news! Somebody found your jeans lying on the street just now! SOMEBODY FOUND IT!” Alice screamed into the phone.\n\t“That’s fab, Alice! Thanks for helping! When will it come home?” You ask.\n\t“It’s already here! The person brought it here just for you! Come and get it!” She exclaims excitedly. \n\t“Mom! Mom! MY JEANS WERE FOUND! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!” You scream through the house. Quickly, you go into the garage, get your bike, and pedal as quickly as your feet can go. You arrive at the lost and found and Alice, Kate, and Christie M. are standing there, Alice holding a carefully wrapped package in her hands.\n\t“Hi, Christie! I haven’t seen you in a pretty long time! Guess who the someone that found your jeans was?” Kate asked.\nChristie and Alice groaned. “Why do you have to spoil everything all the time, Kate?” The twins whined at the same time.\n\t“Did I do anything wrong? Come on, guess, Christie! Go on, Guess!” She pushed (Not real pushing).\n\t“You?” You guessed.\n\t“THAT IS RIGHT!!!!!!!!” Kate’s voice boomed.\n\t“Thanks, Kate. Where did you find it?”\n\t“Over there,” Kate pointed to a rose bush. \n\t“Well, we better get going, Kate. I’m glad you found your jeans!” Christie M. reminded.\n\t“Thank you so much. I love you all! See you soon!”\n\nTHE END

\tYou chose to come this passage: Get $10 from your piggy bank. \n\tStumbling over the stairs, you climb up into the bright blue dressing room. Worriedly, your eyes search around the room and spot a little blue Pig. You snatch it off the cabinet and shake it as hard as you can until...BONK! The cap falls off and all your money spills out. As quick as a lightning bolt, you grab 10 $1 bills and dash out of the room, leaving the mess wickedly on the floor. \n\t“I’ll see you later, mom!” You shout as you ran out of the door. \nCarefully getting on your bike, Whoosh! You start pedaling at full speed, being as fast as a triathlon cyclist.\n\n\t3 Minutes later, you finally arrive at the Lost and Found with your $10 in your pocket.\n\t“Huff, huff. Hi...” An out-of-breath you says. “I… have… the… money… Alice…!”\n\t“Ok, great!!! Now we can actually put it over the radio!! I’ll see you later!” She quickly says and waves you good-bye.\n\t“Bye, Alice!” You say and walk out of the door.\n\nWhat do you do next?\n\nHere are your choices:\n\nTell your mom and ask for advice from her\nor\nGo back to the lost and found without anything\n\n[[Tell your mom.]]\n[[Go back to L&F]]

\tYou choose to tell your mom and see if she can help. But first, you decide to take a rest. Collapsing onto your bed and start reading your favourite book called Little House on the Prairie By Laura Ingalls Wilder. Soon enough, you doze off into a deep sleep.\n\n\t5 hours later, you feel your mom shaking your shoulders and you bolt right up. Your mom gives a big sigh of relief and cries,\n\t“I thought you DIED!!!!!” and hugs you so hard that you feel like your ribs are cracked. \n\tAnd then you remember. \n\tI was supposed to be asking my mom about my jeans!\n\t“Mom, I-I lost my jeans and I don’t know what to do!!!” You stutter to your mom.\nShe stares at you like you are crazy.\n\t“THERE ARE LOTS MORE JEANS IN THE WORLD, YOUNG MAN!” She shouts at the top of her lungs, “I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID LITTLE JEANS! YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN BUY ONE FROM YOUR ALLOWANCE, DO YOU?”\nYou stare back at her amazingly. \n\t“I HOPE YOU LEARNED YOUR LESSON FOR TODAY! NO ELECTRONICS FOR 1 DAY!”\n\t“B-But mo-”\n\t“YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN JEANS!”\n\t“I never knew my daughter could be so irresponsible.” She shakes her head and mutters as she walks swiftly out of the room.\n\nA DEAD END

\tThis has to be perfect to be able to take the money!!! You think. Your mind starts to race, and you get all thrilled and excited. \n\t“Are you home, dear?” An old woman’s transparent voice sounds. It’s your mom's aunt, Aunty Merlin. She sometimes comes over to ”babysit” me although I’m already 10 years old. She thinks that being at home alone is dangerous and always calls her when she goes out, no matter what. Sometimes I go to her house. She lives next door and so you think that you just have to knock on her door when your mom goes out and you always get so annoyed.\n\t“Do you need anything? Are you okay?” She calls behind you, starting to hear her footsteps.\nPerfect conditions. Why don’t I ask Aunty Merlin for a $10 bill? Easy as pie. You think.\n You start your plan that instant.\n\t“Aunty Merlin, do you think it would be okay if I borrowed a $10 bill from mom’s purse?” You ask.\n\t“Sure, dear, I think she won’t mind very much. Here you go,” She says and passes you what she thought was a $10 bill but was a $100 bill. You did not notice and you took it to the lost and found. \n\t“Hello, I am back with my $10 for the payment!!” You skip into the room and slap it onto the table.\n\t“Great! Now we are completely ready. That was very quick, \t\nChristie! Can I call you Christie?” She exclaims.\n\t“Sure! Let’s be friends! Where do you live?” You ask.\n\t“I live in House #12, Boxing Street.” She replies.\n\t“Great! I live there too!” You cry.\n\t“OK, i think we should get back to work. Whoops, I think you brung a $100 instead! Take the change home and give it back to your parents!”\n\tUh, oh, You think to yourself worriedly. Mom is so gonna be mad at me!”\n\tYou dash all the way home as fast as you can and scream,\n\t“MOM?”\n\tYour mom answers, “Yes? I was starting to wonder where you were...”\n\t“MOM I AM SO SORRY I MEANT TO TAKE $10 FROM YOUR PURSE BUT AUNTY MERLIN ACCIDENTALLY GAVE ME $100 I AM SO SOR-”\n\t“Whoa, whoa, slow down a bit. So what happened and why? Tell me from the beginning. Why didn’t you tell me?”\n\t“So first, I lost my jeans. Then, I decided to go to the lost and found to report my jeans….” You told your mom the whole story, including the part where you met your new friend Alice McMartin.\n\t“This is sorta extraordinary, Christina. Again, why didn’t you tell me?”\n\nA DEAD END

\tYou decide to go to the nearest lost and found to ask for your jeans.\n\t“Mom, I’m gonna go to the pharmacy to buy bandages and mosquito repellent! Coming back in 30 minutes!” You lie as you stride proudly out of the door. Getting your sky blue bicycle, you start riding to the lost and found. \n\t10 minutes later, you get to the lost and found. Glumly, you push the clear glass door of the lost and found department. The building was silent besides the sound of managers’ nails clicking on the computer keys and the sound of pencils scratching on the report papers.\n\t“Excuse me?” You call nervously. Your voice echoes through the corridor. Then you hear a soft voice with a western accent behind you.\n\t“What would you like?” A girl about your age that is extraordinarily tall with dark blond hair wearing a bright pink dress and extraordinarily high high heels comes up to you.\n\t“U-u-um, I have come to report a lost pair of jeans and…..” You hesitate. \n\t“Ok, I know just what to do! Follow me this way!” She cries and grins as she starts walking down the corridor model-style. She leads you into a small room with the walls painted the same shade of pink as her dress.\n\t“Here, my name is Alice McMartin. What is your name?” She holds out a hand and a business card.\n\t“I am…..Christina Beauregard, nice to meet you, ” You say, taking her hand and shaking it. \n\t“Ok, let’s get started. We don’t have a lot of time. Ah, there it is. Ok, so what have you lost?”\n\t“My jeans,”\n\t“Ok, what does it look like? Does it have some specific things, like your name stitched in it?”\n\t“Not really. It’s dark navy blue, and it’s made of the best wool,”\nAlice jots it down on a fill-out sheet. \n\t“When and where did you see it last?”\n\t“I saw it last when I put it in the laundry at my friends house last week,”\n\t“Do you remember picking it up or seeing it after that?”\n\t“No,”\nYou start to get sleepy. \n\t“Ok, thank you, we’ll put it over the radio by next week. Anything else you would like to add?”\n\t“Um, no,”\n\t“Bye, then. We’ll contact you as soon as we find it. And also, we need $10 so that we can speak it over the radio. Bring it in as soon as you can,” She ends.\n\t“Bye!” You say and hurriedly jog out of the door and into the corridor. You keep on jogging until you get out of the building and into the bicycle park.\n\nYour choices are:\nGet $10 from your piggy bank \nor\nGet $10 from your mom\n\n[[$10 from you]]\n[[$10 from mom]]

\tThe next day, you wake up bright and early, and you decide to go to the lost and found straight away on your bike. You devour your breakfast, put on random clothes, brush your teeth and as quick as a whiz, you’re ready.\n\t You run out of the door for the millionth time, with your mom calling after you,\n\t“Be careful, Christina! And be sure to be back by lunchtime!”\n\tSlowly and steadily, you pedaled to the lost and found, enjoying the cool breeze whistling in my ears.\n\t10 minutes later, you arrive at the lost and found, feeling good and fresh. You walk right into the building and see Alice talking to another manager in front of a computer that looked just like her. Or maybe it was her clone talking to Alice. Whatever. \n\t“Alice?” you say softly.\n\tThe girl in front of the computer replied straight forward,\n\t“Yes? Is it you, Christie?”\n\tThe other girl that was talking to her glanced at me, stared at Alice and said,\n\t“Who is that?”\nAlice whispers in her ear. Now her face is all red, all the way up to her ears.\n\t“Ok, hi, Christina. Um, I am Christina. I am Alice’s twin sister and we… fight a lot. Um, Let’s be um, friends!” Christina manages a nervous smile. Then Alice takes over.\n\t“Meet Christie. My sister, I mean. Should I call you Christie 1 and Christie 2 or is just Christie ok?”\n\t“I think I should be Christie B. and your sister can be Christie M.” You say, glancing back and forth from Christie M. to Alice. \n\t“That’s a great idea!” Christie M. blurts out, starting to become more excited. “Let’s start the big thing. So what are you guys working on?”\n\tAlice quickly summarized it to her sister. \n\t“The end,”\n\t“Ok, so what we need now is a picture of your precious jeans now. Do you have it?” Christie M. says\n“Uh, n-not yet, no,” You stutter, suddenly becoming cold, “Sh-sh should I bring it?”\n\t“Of course! You need one! We need to see it so that we can describe it. But we better hurry up if we want to get this done today. We don’t have much time and the next time the radio goes over the country is after the next 2 weeks, I think. I guess we’ll have to give up you jeans. Sorry, Christie. I knew that they were really special to you. We’ll give you another chance next time,”\nYou hung your head and your eyes swelled up with tears.\n\nA DEAD END

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\t“Guud mrrrrn’g! ‘S time tr wrk up!!!!” you hear a muffled sound near by.\n\t“What….?” You grumble. You spit out your long, soft brown hair out of your mouth and stumble out of your bed, forgetting that you are wearing your favourite light blue cotton pajamas.\n\t“Wake up!!!” Your mom says.\n\tClumsily, you walk sideways to the dining table where there is a stack of freshly- made pancakes with butter and maple syrup draped over them like an ocean.\n\t“Can I eat them???” Your mouth starts to water.\n\t“No, dear, it’s for the minister. He and his wife are coming later to have a little snack.” Your mom replies as plain as steel.\n\tYour mom tells you to change in a jiffy to go out for breakfast and you decide that you are going to wear your favourite pair of long, dark blue wool jeans. But they are GONE! You search everywhere you could think of; your closet, under your bed, in the laundry basket, the bathroom, the trash bin, and finally, you give up. You stamp your feet in disgrace and fall onto your bed, stuffing your head under your pillow.\n\tNever mind. You think. I’ll find it later.\n\tIn a blink of an eye, you were changed into another pair of jeans, but you were still worried about your FAVOURITE jeans. \n\tWhat if they had been ripped up? What if it had been recycled and turned into something else, like a T-shirt? You wonder.\n\n\t2 hours later, you came back from your breakfast and are continuing on your search for the missing pants.\n\tI am so glad it wasn't my underwear. But WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITHOUT THE DEAR JEANS? It cost $50!! Your vision starts to blur. You fall onto your bed with a big Flop! and jump right back up.\n\tClearly deciding to go to the nearest lost and found, another idea comes into your head.\n \n\tShould I tell my mom? Which should I take, my mom or the lost and found??? Maybe I should be responsible for myself and just go straight to the lost and found…\n\nWhich would you do?\n\n[[Go to the L&F]]\n[[Tell your mom]]

Where are my Jeans?

By Saki