walk out of

"The vibe vault" glance at "The kid kave" and

question our life choices. We walk out of the

room where we built the forts in and walk to the kitchen and see the kids struggling to open a fruit snack.

“Let me see that.”

I open it in one try.

The kids look at me like I just cured cancer.

We sprint into the Vibe Vault and shut the door.

We fall into the pile of blankets and pillows and get comfy.

Then a THUD comes from the kitchen.

We crawl out again.

Katherine is blogging again.

Lydia is shaking the crud out of the fruit snacks.

Launi says, “I am hungry.”

I open the bag, and Katherine snaps, “I told you, let me see them!”

I whisper to Reba, “If this happens again, we are locking the Vault and hiding the snacks.”

We get comfy again.

Then we hear another “HELP US!”

Reba throws her blanket across the room.

“We just sat down!” she shouts.

The kids yell back, “BUT WE NEED YOU NOW!”

“This is a problem,” I tell Reba.

“I vote we hide the snacks.”

She nods.

We sprint out.

Reba distracts the kids with magic tricks.

I grab a trash bag and every snack with a wrapper.

We sprint back to the room, flop onto the pillows, and lock the Vibe Vault door.

Then we hear bangs and crashes.

Reba plays on her phone.

I sit up.

“That’s their way to lure us out,” she says.

A note slides under the door: “We know what you did.”

Then another: “We have TNT.”

“It’s a bomb threat,” Reba says.

“They have bombs?” I say.

We know the snack war is far from over.

As a peace offering, we yeet a fruit snack out the door.

We hear the kids dive for it.

That was my terrible snack story.

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Chapter 2: Reba’s POV

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I was just trying to enjoy my Saturday.

Just one Saturday.

One.

But no.

The kids needed help every five seconds.

I swear, they treat snack bags like the hardest thing ever.

The first time, I didn’t mind helping.

The second time, I was annoyed.

The third time, I was ready to retire from babysitting forever.

We had just gotten comfy in the Vibe Vault when we heard another crash.

I threw my blanket across the room.

“We JUST sat down!”

But the kids yelled, “WE NEED YOU!”

I looked at Laekyn.

She looked at me.

We both knew what had to be done.

“Snack lockdown,” I said.

She nodded

I distracted the kids with magic tricks.

They were terrible magic tricks.

But kids are so gullible, so it worked.

While they were staring at my hands, Laekyn grabbed every snack with a wrapper and stuffed it into a trash bag.

We sprinted back to the Vibe Vault 

Locked the door.

Collapsed.

Then came the banging.

The stomping.

The dramatic cries for help.

I rolled my eyes so hard I saw my brain.

“That’s their way of luring us out,” I said.

Then a note slid under the door.

“We know what you did.”

Then another.

“We have TNT.”

I stared at it.

“It’s a bomb threat,” I said.

“They have bombs?” Laekyn asked.

“No,” I said. “They have imagination.”

We tossed a fruit snack out the door as a peace offering.

We heard them dive for it like wolves.

Kids are wild.

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Chapter 3: Launi’s POV

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I was hungry.

That’s it.

That’s my whole motivation.

I saw the fruit snacks.

I wanted the fruit snacks.

But the fruit snacks did not want me.

I pulled.

Lydia pulled.

The bag refused to open.

Katherine filmed the whole thing like it was a documentary

Then the teens came out.

Laekyn opened the bag in one try.

One.

Try.

I felt betrayed 

Later, I tried to open another snack.

It didn’t work.

I shook it.

I yanked it.

I used my teeth.

Nothing.

Then the teens came out AGAIN.

And AGAIN they opened it instantly.

I don’t know what kind of superpowers they have, but I want it.

Then they locked themselves in the Vibe Vault.

We tried to get them out.

We banged on the door.

We yelled.

We begged.

We wrote notes.

We may or may not have threatened them with imaginary TNT.

They threw us a single fruit snack.

One.

Just one.

I caught it.

I ate it.

It was worth it.