“What if they’re still outside?” Aloha asked back at Tessa’s.

“I feel so bad” said Waffles.

Back at Chris & Brooke’s, everyone was sitting around in the basement.

Strawberry & Pancake were secluded in a corner.

“I don’t want to be here with him” Strawberry whispered.

Maxwell walked up to them. “Guys, do you wanna play Monopoly?” he asked. “We’re all playing”

“I guess” said Pancake. “Strawberry?”

“Fine” said Strawberry.

They played for a few hours, until Ib won.

“We gotta put the baby to bed” said Brooke.

“You do that” said Chris. “I’m gonna go see what it looks like outside”

Brooke put Cory in a crib along the wall, while the dog slept underneath it.

Chris came down and whispered “It’s hailing like crazy, but it’s safe for us to go upstairs I think. Brooke, you wanna bring Cory up?”

“Sure” said Brooke. “Guys, we’ll be upstairs if you need anything. It’ll probably be safe for you to go home in a few hours”   She took the baby and went upstairs with her husband.

Strawberry and Pancake rushed for the couch. They got there before Muffins did.  Everybody eventually fell asleep of boredom.

Strawberry woke up in the middle of the night by somebody tapping her on her shoulder.  She looked up & saw Pancake.

“Strawberry, look where you are” she whispered.

Strawberry looked around and saw Strudel right next to her.

“Come on, get back up on the couch” Pancake whispered, pulling Strawberry up, being careful not to wake Strudel.   “How and why did you do that?” Pancake whispered, once they were back on the couch.

“I don’t remember doing that” Strawberry whispered back. “I didn’t even want to”

“Just go back to sleep” said Pancake.

A cold gust of wind blew.  Strawberry couldn’t fall asleep. She sat up on the couch as Pancake hogged the blanket. She felt something drape over her shoulder.