(no subject)

[evil_koala_626]

It was raining. It almost always rained in the afternoons. Admittedly the rain was relatively sparse this late in August, but that did little to alleviate the boredom. Fat drops beat against the windows and was met by the rhythmic thudding of a tennis ball striking a wall. Thud, bounce, catch. There was very little movement to indicate that the small form was conscious. Only the wrist moved, bouncing the ball with unerring accuracy at the same patch of wall and seizing it out of the air.

 

Rain was the worst. At least some afternoons, he was able to wait in the tree house. Outdoors offered countless distractions. A sunny afternoon outside could almost make him forget that he had to spend a few hours alone.

 

It had nearly been a month and the kumu was still firm that Lilo leave Stitch at home during class. It was too risky, he’d told Nani over the phone. Lilo obviously couldn’t control the dog. What if it’d hurt someone?

 

There was a startled gasp from the downstairs. Pleakley was “conducting his research on human interaction” in the living room. During this time of day, it usually involved watching four hours of Soap Operas topped off with an episode of Dr. Phil. Jumba had disappeared in to the rain some time after lunch, presumably to putter around his laboratory in the large spaceship parked behind the house.

 

Thud, bounce, catch. Thud, bounce, catch. Thud, bounce, bouncebouncebounce…

 

“Hey!” Stitch cried as the tennis ball made a bid for freedom. It had slipped past his claws, rebounded off the baseboard of the lower bunk and was now quickly descending from view down the staircase.

 

“Aah! Meeo dakka poju!” The little alien scurried down the stairs in hot pursuit. The ball took to the air midway down the stairs. Unfortunately, further escape attempts were halted as Stitch leapt after it and seized the ball out of midair. The closed door at the bottom of the stairs rudely interrupted the pair’s flight. With a tooth rattling crash the door was thrown back on its hinges and a rolling mess of sporting good and extraterrestrial mayhem tumbled through.