Back in Memory Lane, Zach was taking the lead. A big red blur came in front him. He stepped into the blur & the blur zoomed into the silvery white behind it. The red disappeared and the silvery white surrounding us was changing. A picture. It was black and white like an old-timey movie.
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The setting looked like an average 1950s neighborhood, I think. The houses were lined up perfectly and they looked mostly the same. Some people seemed to be walking around the sides of the road. It could be summer because the people were wearing not very much layers of clothes and the sky had a bright sun. A lot of people also wore sunglasses to block their eyes from the hot sun. The setting then cut to one of the houses, then it zoomed out to two houses then three. The house on the left looked tiny and simpler than the rest of the houses. The house on the right looked bigger and richer than other houses. The house in the middle of the 2 unique houses looked like the houses in that neighborhood scene. Out of the big house, two women marched out of the front door. Unlike the world around them, they had color on them. The women both had white skin, freckled faces, green eyes, rosy cheeks, and red lips. They were the same height, had the same face, wore the same clothes and smiled the same smile. They were both identical. They're the identical twin ladies Zach mentioned. They both wore blue dresses with little white polka-dots and the same red slip-on shoes. They had the same red hair in the same medium curly hairstyle. They each both held a cake and they were both marching to the little house in synching footsteps. Zach was right. Nobody could tell the difference between Lily & Poppy until their true colors show. The twin lady on the right knocked on the door lightly.

Then she said "Hello?"

They have the same western accent as well, obviously.

The twin on the left then called out "It's us, the Blumstein sisters!".

Someone then opened the door. It was another lady...that looked a lot like my mom except in the 1950s.

Weeeeeeiiird! Is that Zach's mom?, I asked in my brain.

"Hi there", the lady in the house greeted.

"Howdy! Nice to see you again", the twin women jinxed.

"Just to remind you, I'm Lily", the twin on the right introduced.

"And I'm Poppy", the twin on the left added.

"We've brought cakes to welcome you to our neighborhood", Lily replied.

"Thanks, you two", the lady in the house spoke.

Then a big, medium built man, he had short brown hair and had a short brown beard. He had white peach skin and pink-ish cheeks. He wore a red buttoned up flannel shirt, dad jeans, and brown working books. From the looks of it, he looks like the lady's husband.

"May we come in?", the twins asked the couple.

"Of course you can, come on in", the man happily greeted.

The lady that looked like my mom opened the door for the twins as the man walked back into the house.

"So what cakes did you bring?", the lady asked.

One twin replied "I just brought a chocolate cake", as she presented her cake to the couple.

The other twin added "& I brought angel food cake. We baked these cakes ourselves, I hope you enjoy them", as she presented her cake.

"Well you can just place them on our table and we can dig in", the man spoke.

The twins did as told and placed their cakes carefully on the kitchen table. Then the four people sat around the table to talk and the lady set the table so they can devour the two cakes. The conversation was blurred out and the scene zoomed out and revealed a little person spying on them around the corner. It was Zach, spying on the grown-ups' conversation. The scene turned to his face, with is eyes wide open, his pupils tiny, his eyebrows lifted, and his teeth clenched.

"Why are they here?", he asked quietly. "They scare me! Well, only one of them scares me. But still! There's no way to tell them apart until I do something crazy."

Stealthily, he tiptoed out of the corner and around the kitchen. He still kept an eye on the conversation the whole time he snuck. One careful step at a time he kept sneaking. Zach was quiet as a mouse and sneaky as a thief. After a couple more steps, he accidentally stepped on a bug. It made a little crunch when he stepped on it.

"Oh no", Zach muttered worriedly.

The four adults quickly looked at the little dude. The brown-haired lady giggled, stood up, and walked towards Zachary.

"Do you two remember my son, Zachary?", she asked the twins.

"Of course we do", one twin replied.

"Who would forget that face?", the other twin added.

Both twins stood up, each cut a piece of one of their cakes, put them on individual plates, & stepped towards Zach. They bent down to his height, holding the plates of cake.

"Remember us, little man?", the twins asked in sync.

Zach shuddered in fear & confusion, looking at the twins. They had the same jolly facial expression. The only thing that was different was the pieces of cake they were holding. The twin on the right was holding a piece of chocolate cake. The twin on the left was holding a piece of angel food cake.

"Yeah of c-course I do", Zach nervously answered. "But who is who again?".

"I'm Poppy", the twin on the right spoke.

"I'm Lily", the twin on the left spoke. "Would you like some cake?".

"We made them ourselves", Poppy added.

"Sure", Zach replied slowly trying to act cool.

He picked up the fork from Lily's plate & took a bite of her angel food cake.

He spoke "Mmm-mm, this is boss, Lily!".

"Thank you", Lily replied with a friendly smile.

"Wanna try my chocolate cake, Zach?", Poppy questioned.

Zach really looked like he wanted it but didn't want it. Like, he loves treats but knows Poppy's true intentions. He hung his head low and started to twiddle his fingers.

"Wh-wh-what if...I-I don't...want it?", Zach muttered.

"Eat it", Poppy snarled quietly. "Please, I'm trying to be nice here. Take a bite of my cake or I'll feed it to you, you germ."

"Poppy, please. He can feed himself, he's a smart cookie", Lily assured.

So Zach, slowly picked up the fork off of Poppy's plate. Slowly, he takes a piece of the chocolate cake & puts it in his mouth. He slowly chews the piece then he chews regularly and surprisingly satisfied.

"Your cake is good as well, Poppy!", Zach commented.

"Thank you", Poppy replied satisfied. "Well, I wish we could stay but we have some important things to attend to", she told Zach's parents while standing straight up.

"Very well, thanks for visiting and thanks for the cake", Zach's mom spoke.

"Anytime, besides what are friends & neighbors for?", Lily spoke as she stood straight up.

Both twins put their plates of cake back on the kitchen table and turned to the couple.

"We hope to see you again soon", Zach's dad spoke.

"As do we", both twins replied together. "Goodbye Mr & Mrs James".

They both turned to little happy Zach & knelt down to him again.

"Goodbye, Zach, you don't have to be afraid of my sister. You'll be fine", Lily quietly assured.

"I'll try not to. Goodbye, Lily", Zach whispered.

"Hey, Zachary, wanna know my secret ingredient in the chocolate cake?", Poppy asked.

Zach's eyes immediately popped as he quietly stuttered "Wuh-wuh-wuh-what did you put in the cake?".

"Just some chocolate...& some blood and crunched spider legs", Poppy whispered with a little wicked giggle. "You tell anyone, I'll set up an appointment for you earlier this year, and it'll be the scariest one yet. Got it, Little Red?".

Frightened, he gulped and nodded quickly.

"Wonderful. Goodbye, Zach", Poppy muttered with a fake friendly smile.

Both twins marched up to the front door, opened it and continued marching outside.

Before they closed the door, Lily whispered "Poppy, why do you keep scaring him?".

Slam! The door shut and Zach walked up to an open chair.

"Isn't that sweet of them, Zach?", his mom asked.

"Yep", Zach replied.

He was half-lying because of Poppy. He knew she wasn't sweet, she was a ticking time bomb of anger and evil that can be set off whenever she pleases. It was the thing that separated Poppy from Lily.

The screen went black. Then another scene faded in. The scene was still black and white but Zach was still all in color. He was in his crib, tossing and turning. He looked like he was steaming in anger while he was asleep. He was furious at something in his dream, but what? Or who? Then he woke up with a gasp.

"Oh no, I was so close to beating her!", he muttered. "Oh well, goodnight".

He went back to sleep, out like a light. Then he started to toss and turn again. His teeth were clenched, he looked like he was growling. He woke up again, and something was moving under his blanket. It wasn't his hands or his feet, it wasn't him. He slowly lifted his blanket & found...

"A spider!", Zach shrieked.

His body turned into a flaming torch instantly killing the little black spider. He was hyperventilating after what just happened.

"I...I...I need to cool it. I don't want anyone to find out about that. Mmmm-Mary Ellen, I miss you. Goodnight", Zach yawned.

He went back to sleep again, more naturally and more peacefully than before. His blanket was cooling down just like his panicked state as he was catching some Z's.
The picture faded to black. White words appeared reading:
I'm Poppy
_

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The red blob came back in front of us and little Zach stepped out of it.

"Any questions?", he asked.

"Do you always flame up like that at night after Poppy comes over?", Rhonda questioned.

"Mostly, but only when she gets me fired up", Zach replied.

"Does Mary Ellen help you calm down?", Rosa asked.

"Yeah, thank goodness", Zach replied.

"Ah yes, sometimes da beauty of love can tame da most ragin' beast", Harold spoke.

"Has Poppy done worse than that to you?", Chase questioned.

"It depends on how angry she is. The more angry she gets at me, the more scary her torture is for me", Zach replied.

"That's sounds terrible", Mimzy commented empathetically.

"That sounds like Poppy", I replied.

I know she's done a lot worse to me than blood and spiders in a cake. Me and Zach have some things in common I never thought we had. Sometimes our emotions get the best of us. Our moms look the same, and we both have to suffer the wrath of Poppy. At least those days are over for me...for now. At this point, I'm glad I chose Zach as one of my fake brothers. Either way, I see all the coders as another family already.
I just feel it.