"Okay, this Willoughby story is odd, right? But it's not all bad. At least they ate every family meal together. And by "they", I mean these two."

"You like it spicy, don't you?" Asks Father.
Mother answers, "Oh, I don't just like it, I loaf it."

"They just forgot to share with their kids."

The Willoughby parents share an entire meatloaf while the children stand outside the kitchen door, starving, needing food.

"I do not predict leftovers." Tim frowns.

Jane groans, "But I'm so hungry I just wanna eat my own tongue!"

"Me too."
"Me too."
The Barnabys agree in sync, "Us too."

Y/N holds in her growl, "If only they'd leave some for us. Why don't they cook more so we can have yesterdays food? They only cook enough for themselves."

Jane asks, "What if, we dress up a Barnaby like food-?"

"Bad idea." a Barnaby interrupts.
The other Barnaby agrees, "Terrible idea."

Y/N frowns, "Jane, no. Just no. That's cannibalism, and we are above that."

Jane asks, "Okay, what if I go-?"

Tim interrupts, "Stop what-if-ing!"

"Yeah."
"No What-ifs."

Tim frowns, "I know you're hungry, but Willoughbys do not beg for food! We wait."

Suddenly, everyone's stomach rumbles. Y/N sighs.

"Okay. I have a plan. Barnabys, I'll need you to do something for me." Y/N requests.

***

The Willoughby parents are kissing, when Tim interrupts the kiss.

"May we have food?"

The parents break the kiss.

"Food?" Father asks.
Mother frowns, "We eat todays food. You eat yesterday's food."

Tim objects, "But you ate all of yesterday's food yesterday! So there is no food left over for- JANE!"

Jane takes the Broccoli and wine glasses from both sides of the meatloaf. Yes, these kids are so desperate for food they will eat broccoli.

Mother gasps in shock, "My name is Mother. Who is this Jane?"
Father asks in anger, "You call your mother names and you expect us to feed you?"

Y/N peaks her head up just above the meatloaf while the parents are distracted and Jane is taking the broccoli and wine. She grabs a knife and splits the meatloaf in two halves and gives it one half to the Barnabys, who run to another room quite silently and quickly. She runs away to appear behind the door that Tim is in front of. She opens it and walks in.

"Please, Mother, Father, we are starving." Y/N asks as she gives her best persuasive face.

Suddenly, Y/N and Tim notice Jane about to eat the last part of the meatloaf Y/N deliberately left on the plate.

"No, no no!" Y/N exclaims.

"No?" Mother asks.

Tim nervously chuckles, "We mean, yes Mother! Don't!"

Jane swallows the meatloaf whole, and Y/N and Tim dread the next moments, knowing they'll get blamed.

"Don't?!" Mother asks.

Father orders, "You do not tell your mother what not to do!" He stabs his fork into the platter, then realising the food is all gone. "You selfish children! You ate it all!"

Y/N asks, "How could we have eaten any of it? We've been standing right in front of you!" at the same time Tim yells, "No we didn't!"

Mother whimpers, "Oh, Father, I'm going to starve!"

She then faux passes out in Father's arms to see the other children and screams.

"It's that girl! She brought the small one!" Father exclaims.

Mother whispers, "They are creepy."

Both Barnabys smile, "Hi Mummy."

Father asks, "What are they doing here?"

Y/N and Tim push them through the door, exclaiming, "Nothing! They're just going... uh-"
Jane finishes, "Hungry."

Mother whines, "These children, always wanting!"

Y/N frowns, "We're just fine, aren't we Jane?!"
Jane pushes Tim and Y/N over to say, "The Barnabys could use another sweater."

The Barnabys object, "One's good." "We like this one."

Both Y/N and Tim try so hard not to get their siblings in trouble, keeping them from asking for things.

Mother groans, "Look at me, I'm fretting!"
Father frowns, "Dreadful!"
"I'm all a fret!"
"Appalling."
Mother then yells, "I CAN'T KNIT!!"
Father yells, "This is all your fault!"

Y/N pales, her E/C eyes widening in panic while Tim just realises what is going to happen.

***

Father picks up both Tim and Y/N with strands of their hair and drops them in front of a door. He opens it and they go just inside it, heads hanging low.

"Son, Daughter, you insist on bothering us with your childish needs. Go to the Coal Bin! Good day, sir."
Father kicks them further in, then closes the door, locking them in. Y/N smirks as she goes down to the bottom of the Coal Bin.

"Poor Timothy and Y/F/N. That's a rotten place for hairless kids in short trousers, innit?"

Y/N picks up a bag and turns to Tim to see him marking the wall again.

"Sometimes I wish I wasn't a Willoughby." Tim mumbles.

He pulls a brick out of the wall to grab a book which has a spider sitting on it. He shakes it off, causing the spider to fly into Y/N's face. She moves the spider to her shoulder, causing the Spider to purr against her face. Timothy climbs up the coal pile and opens the book, causing Y/N to follow him up, looking over his shoulder.

Tim groans, "We used to be great. We were soldiers and scientists, kings and philosophers, explorers and aviators, artists and poets!"
Y/N nods, "We climbed the unclimbable, and we always ate together... at tables, like a family..."
Tim finishes, "Where every Willoughby had a mustache, even the women. We could be great again."

He then pauses as he picks up some coal and draws a mustache on his face with it. He then reaches over and draws one on Y/N, giving her a slight shock. He turns back to the book, admiring their ancestors. Y/N sighs and taps Tim's shoulder.

"Tim... I did something for you..." Y/N smiles.

Tim looks up to see Y/N holding-

"The food? You... You saved some?" Tim asks.

Y/N nods as she gives him the entire half she had stolen from the table. He smiles and breaks it so she can have some.

"No, I couldn't. This is yours! I got it so you wouldn't starve. It's my job as older sister to help you." Y/N refuses.

Suddenly, her stomach rumbles, making Tim give her an unamused look. Y/N strokes her pink coloured hair in defeat.

"Fine, but you get most of it."

Tim nods as they eat the partially cold meatloaf.

"Against all odds, the Willoughby children still had determination..."

***

In the library, the Barnabys were working on a small dirigible. It starts flying.

"Nice job, Barnaby."
"You, too, Barnaby."

They both chorus, "Bye Bye, dirigible!"

"Imagination..."

***

The cat jumps into the kids room, where they all have hammocks instead of beds.

"And hope."

Jane, sitting on the top hammock, looking outside at a beautiful rainbow, with the cat watching her on his own little cute hammock. Jane starts singing fairly softly.

"Through the glass, over the hedge
Follow the rainbow to-"

Suddenly Mother and Father start screaming at her.

"QUIET!"
"I CAN'T KNIT!"

Jane tries to sing again, making sure she's being quiet.

"...where my dreams begin-"

Mother and Father make a pounding noise to shut Jane up.

"SHE CAN'T KNIT!"

Mother starts sobbing.

Jane whispers, "I will be free."

The pounding continues, and Father yells, "If she misses a stitch..."

"I feel faint!"
"Oh, Mother, sweet."

Jane glares at the window, the rainbow now gone. She groans and lies down on her hammock.

"Let's face it. This Willoughby family isn't great, and by the looks of it, they never will be."

***

The rain pours down hard outside.

"Not without a little help. Maybe it was the dark and stormy night, maybe I've looked in one too many windows, but this story got to me."

The cat notices someone walking past the Willoughby's gate, so he jumps down and walks towards the gate.

"I know, narrators aren't supposed to get involved, but just a little nudge. A well-timed cat's..."

The cat meows, getting the passerby's attention. The passerby drops a box in front of the gate, giving the cat a scare. The cat walks out of the gate, inspecting the box, wondering where the person went. Suddenly, a yowl comes from the box.

***

The Barnabys hear something outside, screeching.

"Something's outside."
"Definitely something outside."

The one wearing the sweater instantly gives it to his twin and they hop into a bird-cage-like contraption to go up to Jane and tell her.

"Jane."
"There's something outside."

The creature outside makes another noise, catching Jane's attention.

"That's a yowl. A beastly yowl." Jane gasps in shock.

The 3 siblings go to the roof with an umbrella and lamp. Jane leans out over the railing, looking for the creature, getting a telescope from one of the Barnabys. She sees the box through the telescope just outside the gate.

"Wow! What a mystery. It's like we're in a book. Come on Barnabys!" Jane exclaims, excited to have some possible danger in her life.

The Barnabys object, "Bad book."
"Scary book."

The siblings go into the bird-cage-like contraption, which extends outside the house, then lowers at sonic speeds, only to stop just above a window, where anyone can see Mother and Father's shadows.

"Shh, they're still awake." Jane warns the Barnabys.

Inside, the parents are listening to Jazz music while Mother is knitting. Seriously, does this woman ever not knit? Or is it like a mental disorder where she has to knit all the time or she blows up a house?

"Dance, dance for your papa." Father flirts, causing Mother to giggle.

(I cringe while writing the parent's lines. Send help!)

The siblings make it to the ground. Jane opens the umbrella, with the Barnabys just behind her, holding the lamp. They walk slowly towards the gate.

"What kind of a beast yowls like that?" Jane asks, causing the Barnabys to gasp. "I'm really scared. Are you scared, Barnabys? 'Cause I'm scared." she smiles, not looking very scared.

The Barnabys slowly lose colour in their faces from fear.

"Maybe we shouldn't-" a Barnaby tries to reason with his sister.

Jane asks, "Do you remember that book about beasts with all the drawings of teeth and claws and huge piles of half-eaten kids?"

The Barnabys panic, "Don't."
"Stop talking."

Wow, Jane. Sister of the year. Nothing says "wonderful big sister" like making your little brothers wet their pants at something you're geeking out about.

Jane smiles, "It was a lot of blood, wasn't it, Barnabys?"

"Blood is bad."

Jane smiles, "I'm gonna have a quick look to see if it's dangerous. If it is, run. Different directions, zigzaggy and stuff. So it can only eat one of you."

The Barnaby wearing the sweater is shivering in fear, and asks his brother, "What is this feeling I'm feeling?"

The other Barnaby starts shivering too as he answers, "Fear. Fear."
"Definitely fear."

Jane lowers her umbrella and closes it and smiles, "Remember, twins, zigzaggy."

It is revealed that both Barnabys have abandoned Jane, running away in fear, whispering, "Zigzag. Zigzag. Zigzag."

Jane opens the gate and pulls the box in with the umbrella.

Jane smiles, "Stand back Barnabys." completely oblivious they're not even there.

"I know what you're thinking, 'cause I'm thinking exactly the same thing: What's in the box? And can we empty it so I can sit in it?"

Jane walks slowly towards the box, now seeming much more frightened.

"Hi, beast. I'm Jane. I hope you're a nice beast because, um, we're nice. Please don't eat our faces." Jane requests.

As she takes the lid off the box, the creature inside lunges at her face.

***

Y/N looks at her little brother shivering lying on the coal. She sighs and picks up some coal, throwing it into the furnace that heats up the house. She searches around to find some flint. She strikes it against the furnace, causing the coal to light up and heat up. She smiles as she gently picks up Tim and places him next to the furnace. 

Y/N sighs as she knows the parents should be asleep, so they can't hear her if she stays quiet. She starts singing so quietly that she can barely hear her own voice.

https://youtu.be/Dcva-RsC73o

(Play on low volume to set the mood)

As she sings softly, Y/N rolls down her socks to show many scars. The spider sitting on her shoulder makes a concerned noise. Y/N ignores him as she rubs her scars, remembering how she got them. No, not from what you think. Something else. She feels her eyes get watery. She wipes the tears away and lies down next to her brother and hugs him.

A/N. I am so sorry it took so long to update. I know you guys are wondering, what is this creature? What was in the box? Unless of course you already saw the movie and know the answer to those questions and you're here because you want to experience some depression. Well, I now have Netflix on my computer. Makes it so much easier to write while I'm watching on my computer. If only my earphones would work while I'm watching it and not cut out. Well, enjoy your day, night, evening, morning, or whatever time of day it is for you. Including those midnight readers. Yes, I know you exist. If you are reading this at midnight, GET TO SLEEP!