The History of a Runner/6

Chapter 6: Thickened Plot
Mike sat down at his desk, pencil in hand. He started taking notes on his conversation with Homestar earlier that day, seeing if he could make that into a children's book. He listed some things he think could be important &mdash; the Strongest Man in the World Contest, Homestar and his two friends, the Grape Fairy and the Bee...

He was busy working on the story line when Craig peeked over his shoulder. "Hey, what have we got here?" he queried. "'The Homestar Runner'? 'Strong Bad'?  'Pom Pom'?  What kinda names are those?" Mike blushed, though he had no idea why. He hadn't thought of the names, after all. "What others have you got up your sleeve? Mr. Bland?  The Robot?  Señor?"

"...Maybe," Mike admitted, and jotted those down with his notes. Craig sat next to him. "Okay, let's see..." he scanned what Mike had written so far. "Hm, this seems like it could be a pretty good story. How about we have Strong Bad boast that..." Craig went on to explain his idea with Mike, and the two talked about, making improvements here and there. About half an hour later, they had started writing the first draft.

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"So this is where you live?" Jackie asked as she and Matt walked down the hallway. "You and Mike?"

"Yep," Matt replied as they stopped in front of his apartment. "Our friend Craig is also staying with us for a while." He took his keys out of his pocket and started to unlock the door.

"And we're not telling them about what happened in the park, right?"

"Uh-huh. Our little secret."

"Got it." Matt took out the key and turned the knob.

"I'm home," he called out.

Mike and Craig looked up from the table. "Hey," Mike said. "Who's she?"

"Oh, this is my friend Jackie. I met her at the park today."

"Hi," Jackie greeted, and smiled politely. She looked at what Mike and Craig were doing. "What are you guys writing?"

"Oh, it's a children's book," Craig explained.

"Oh, you guys are writers?"

"No, but we didn't like the children's books in a bookstore we visited today, so we're taking a shot at it. Hey Mike, is it okay it I grab something from my room?"

"Sure. I gotta use the bathroom anyway." The two of them stood up. "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, Jackie."

"Thanks," she said. The two of them left the room, and Matt went to the desk to check out Mike and Craig's book. Jackie wasn't hungry, but she went to the kitchen to get some water.

"...Jackie?" Matt called.

"Yeah?" She walked toward Matt. He was eyeing Mike and Craig's writing, a look of astonish on his face. "What is it?"

"Take a look at this...." Matt handed Jackie the paper. She took one look at the title and understood what he was talking about.

The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest

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H met G in his office. "Any luck in the building?" he asked, referring to the searching of the mutated participants (whom they agreed to called the "Mutes").

"Everyone working here has searched every square inch of this building," G told him. "They're nowhere to be seen. They must've escaped somehow."

Uh oh. "Okay then. I'll send out a small search party to scan the entire city.  We have to find them." H started to reach for the phone on G's desk, before G grabbed his arm.

"I think you should take a break."

"What? What do you mean?  I'm fine."

"H, you've been growing more worrisome by the hour. This isn't good for you." But what else am I supposed to do? H thought. "Take the day off tomorrow. I'll tell the Chief that you need a small break.  I'll take care of everything."

H was about to complain, but he decided against it. It was hard to win an argument with G. "Fine." With that, he walked out of the office, out of the building, and started to drive back to his house.

Still, every step of the way, his mind was racing.

Fun Facts
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