"TWENTY THOUGHTS"

WISDOMMONKEY

~ Important Note: This is a creative writing challenge that I discovered while browsing along Google. That being said, the chapters will not tie into each other in any way other than being from the same show category. It's somewhat of a theme challenge, but isn't as confining as the normal 100 themes challenge you see floating about here. The rules, while still strict, are loose and more writer-friendly. Journey forth and enjoy! ~

(Theme description—Describe a "first" (first apartment, first kiss, first time driving a car, first lie, first big success, first roller coaster ride, first time in this setting). Include as many details as possible, being sure to include an aspect relating to each of the five senses.)

CHAPTER ONE

First Born

"Alvin! Stop standing on your tippy-toes!" Theodore, the youngest of a family of triplet chipmunks, whined, a pitiful pout prominent on his fuzzy face. "I-it's cheating!"

He and his brothers were at the tender age of five, so Dave, their adoptive father, felt it was important to start tracking their childhood milestones. As a surprise gift to his growing boys, he designated one wall in the kitchen to be their height chart wall. Being so young and eager to grow up too fast, all three of the chipmunks were excited and fascinated by the new ritual. They would beg each night to be measured, leaving Dave to sometimes wonder if this had been such a smart idea after all. But, his chipmunks were happy, and that was all that matter.

"Is not!" Alvin, the more feisty of the group, snapped at his younger brother. He strained himself as he tried his hardest to stand directly on the tips of his toes, his shirt riding up and exposing his stomach. "Look, Dave! I'm, like, a gazillion feet taller!"

The raven-haired man couldn't help but get a chuckle out of his troublemaker's commentary, but he also couldn't ignore the teary-eyed face of his youngest.

"Now, Alvin," he sternly began, moving over to Alvin, pencil in hand. "Theodore's right. Standing on your tiptoes is cheating. Now, feet flat on the floor, please."

As Theodore's pout turned into a satisfied smile, Alvin's lip curled into a grimace. He crinkled his nose and huffily folded his arms across his chest, all while reluctantly obeying Dave's orders.

"But, it's not fair, Dave!" The youngster whimpered, stamping his foot against the wooden floor of their kitchen. He shoved his back against the wall and leaned upon it, his expression filled with attitude. "I need to be taller!"

Another chuckled escaped the man as he placed a pencil mark in the proper area. He shook his head slightly and playfully rolled his eyes at Alvin's typical behavior.

"Well, I'm afraid you'll just have to wait. Don't worry, if you eat well and get lots of rest, you'll grow up to be a big, strong boy."

"Man," Alvin corrected in a mutter. For a five-year-old, he certainly didn't lack emphasis in detail. He sighed in a puff before stomping his way over to the couch, taking a seat next to the middle child of the family, Simon. Alvin looked at his younger-by-five-minutes brother with a snarl.

Simon, pushing his oversized glasses back onto the bridge of his nose, glanced dully to his older brother. He cleared his throat and began to speak.

"What?"

Alvin turned away with a 'hmmph!' sound leaving his lips, arms still firmly pressed against his chest.

"Nothing! I just don't like you!"

The three others in the room went wide-eyed before narrowing their eyes on the first born. Dave gasped in disbelief and confusion, wondering what triggered Alvin to snap in such a way. Sure, Simon and Alvin were the two that bickered the most, but it was mostly sticking their tongues out at each other or making goofy faces behind the other one's back. None of them had ever heard Alvin so bluntly insult anyone.

"Alvin!" Dave spoke in a warning voice, giving his son a disapproving look. "Why on Earth would you say something like that? Simon hasn't done anything to you."

"I just don't like him! Okay?!"

It was clear that the five-year-old tyke was getting antsy as he fidgeted in his seat, pounding his tiny hands against the couch cushions. His eyes were glazed over with frustrated tears, leaving the rest of the group in a state of disorder. Alvin had just went from being ecstatic about the height chart, to bawling his eyes out over an unknown reason to his family.

Noticing the crystal tears and sloppy sniffles, Dave decided to send the two younger boys up to bed.

"Simon, Theodore," he gently spoke, gesturing for them to head upstairs to their shared bedroom. "I'll measure you boys first thing in morning. Right now, I need to have a talk with Alvin."

"Okay, Dave," Simon and Theodore chimed in unison, slowly making their way up the stairs as they purposefully wanted to catch tidbits from the conversation. Was Alvin in trouble? Would he get his desserts taken away for a week? Would he get a spanking?

As these silent questions filled the curious tots' minds, they stood frozen on the staircase, absentmindedly watching through the railings. However, their father quickly caught on and playfully shooed them up the stairs.

"Boys, bed."

"Aw, nuts!" Theodore whispered as they continued their way up to their room. "Dave never lets us do anything fun."

"Oh well," Simon remarked, following close behind the other. "Come on, I'll read you 'The Three Little Pigs'."

The chipmunk in the green pajamas gasped and went bright-eyed.

"You can read?!" His voice was squeaky with shock.

The bespectacled boy nodded with a proud smile on his face.

"My teacher says that I'm a very fast learner."

~ First Born ~

Once Dave was sure Simon and Theodore were in their bedroom, he took a seat next to the sobbing Alvin. He placed a fatherly hand on his son's back, pulling the boy into his lap. Instinctively, Alvin buried his face in Dave's flannel night shirt, trying to wipe away the many tears that fell. Dave shushed him quietly, bouncing Alvin soothingly on his knee.

"You know what you said to your brother wasn't nice," the brunette informed, forcing eye contact between the two of them.

"Y-yeah," Alvin stuttered, his throat catching from the phlegm of crying. "But... but, he deserved it! It's not fair, Dave! It's really not fair!"

Another look of confusion.

Dave gave a breathy laugh, sounding almost nervous. He didn't want to make his eldest child more upset than he already was.

"What's not fair?"

"He's not fair!" Alvin shouted, starting to wipe his nose on the sleeve of his red pajama shirt. Dave, however, quickly grabbed a tissue from the nearby table and wiped the youngster's nose. "He shouldn't be taller than me!"

The man gave another bemused look until the sentences made a successful connection in his mind. His mouth dropped a little as he let out an 'oh!'.

"I'm the oldest!" The chipmunk fumed, once again nuzzling his face into the nightshirt that smelled of body wash and the roast beef they had for dinner. "I'm the leader! But, Simon's soooo much taller than me! He does it on purpose, Dave! On purpose, I tell you!"

Dave gave a sympathetic look, wiping a tear away from Alvin's face with a clean tissue. He sighed lovingly, patted Alvin's back as he began to get tiny hiccups from the constant crying.

"Oh, Alvin. Simon can't help that he's taller than you. Everyone grows at their own speed; Simon just happens to be going through a little growth spurt, that's all."

"B-but, I'm older... Everybody thinks I'm his baby brother or something."

While his hiccups and crying were reduced to the pitiable mewls of an average child, he climbed off of his father's lap. His feet hit the floor with a thud, threatening to wake the boys that had already gone to bed (if they were even asleep, that is). He dried a few of the last spilled tears with his sleeve, this time managing to do so without Dave intervening.

Watching Alvin in this vulnerable state made Dave's heart falter a little. He hated to see any of his fellas hurting. Lately, he'd been dealing with the "boo-boo phase" of childhood, bandaging scrapes and bumps. But, dealing with a probable emotional meltdown left him pondering what to do. As soon as he finished questioning himself, a light bulb seemed to flicker on in his mind. He snapped his fingers as a great idea hatched.

The red-pajama-wearing tot looked over to the couch as he sensed his dad stand. He watched the man head toward the kitchen, wondering why Dave was thinking of food at a time like this. He began to grumble under his breath until Dave motioned him into the spacious kitchen.

"Alvin," the slender male tenderly spoke with a warm smile. "I'm going to give you something very important to me. You know, your grandma..."

The blue-eyed rodent gave an apprehensive look, not wanting to hear another boring story about his human-grandma. He thought these types of long, tedious stories were reserved to bore him and his brother's to sleep on nights when they were too rambunctious. A groan escaped him and he slumped into the kitchen, pulling himself into one of the chairs (that was much bigger than he was) at the table. Dave continued to ramble on about some silly antics his grandma used to do, but completely droned out the words by mentally singing nursery rhymes to himself.

Dave rummaged through the pantry for a few minutes longer, leaving Alvin to stew in his own tedium. With an 'aha!' and a slam of the pantry door, Dave moved to the table, a big shoebox in hand. He placed the tattered shoebox in the center of the polished oak-wood table, brushing the dust off the lid with the side of his hand. He and Alvin both gave irritated coughs as the dust bunnies tickled their throats. He removed the lid and set it aside, fumbling his fingers through a multitude of old photographs from his childhood until he came across his kindergarten picture.

"Did you know that I use to be a little guy when I was your age?"

He passed the photo across the surface of the table to Alvin, who skimmed over the photo to find the past-self of his dad. It took the toddler a minute, but he finally found a rather cheesy and unflattering photo of a five-year-old Dave.

He was shorter than every other kid in the photo. His dark hair was cut into a hideous bowl-cut style that – undoubtedly – his mother did herself. He was missing two front teeth in his clearly-forced smile. But, most importantly, he was shorter than every other kid.

Alvin got a good laugh out of the dorky photo. His attitude, however, rapidly dipped as a realization dawned upon his young mind. He noticed a few other familiar faces in the photo; they were people that Dave still kept in touch with to this day.

"D-Dave? You're a lot taller and stronger than that guy there, now," he pointed out in a squeaky tone, a smile returning to his face. A glimmer of hope filled him as he looked over the picture for awhile longer. "This guy, too... And him... And her... Wow!"

"Yep!" The father verbally agreed, adding in a nod as well with a proud smile. "But, they were taller than me until third grade. They were all having their growth spurts when this photo was taken. There's nothing wrong with being a late-bloomer, you know? Just like I'm older than your uncle, but he's taller than I am. Trust me, when you get to be my age, that's a good thing."

The brunette gave a hearty chuckle, one that Alvin did not return. It was obvious that the thought of being as old as Dave wasn't even comprehensible to the young boy. In his eyes, Dave probably had a pet dinosaur when he was little.

"So...?" The first born child awkwardly began, not understanding what all the laughter was about. "You did say I could keep this, right?"

An affectionate grin appeared on Dave's face as he removed himself from his chair, fluffing Alvin's hair with his hand. He gave a gesture to agree, yawning preventing him from verbally answering. He stretched his arms deeply and walked back into the den.

"Yes, you can. Now, you should be going to bed. Like I said, you have to rest to get big and strong."

Alvin gave a hopeful beaming look, sliding out of the seat of the large chair and skipping to catch up with his dad. All the while, he had the photo firm within his grip.

~ First Born ~

Long after Dave had gone to bed, Alvin sat up in his bed, looking at the photograph by the dim beam of a flashlight. He still got a good laugh whenever he really looked at that funky hairdo Dave had way back then.

This photograph, though very simple, was probably the most special thing anyone had given him in his short life. He examined the photo as best he could by the narrow light. Viewing it made him think of the future, when he'd be a grown-up... or at least a second grader. He could already hear the sound of the whistle his P.E. Teacher would blare, letting him run and get all buff like the superheros in the movies. He could smell the inviting aromas of the school cafeteria, where he would do like Dave said and eat well. The thoughts of one day growing to be as tall as his adoptive father seemed so close that he could almost reach out and touch it... he could almost taste it.

And, no matter what anybody said, he was the first born. And even though Simon was taller than he was, he was the boss.

~ For some reason the formatting of my chapters are near impossible to read. It seems very jumbled on the site. I'm unsure why. My apologies. ~