Twelve year old Leif Duke scanned the neighborhood one more time with his binoculars, watching for any sign of life, a middle-of-the-night jogger or dog walker. Nothing.

With a nod to his twin and cousin, the three boys crept out of the darkness of the hedges.

Their backpacks were bulging with supplies, and they wore black from head to toe, including ski masks.

Too bad their cousin Tim wasn’t here, Logan thought, he would have driven the getaway car. As it was, their bikes were stashed safely around the corner

The house in front of them loomed. It was an older neighborhood, with big yards and huge trees that were going to look fantastic with toilet paper strung amongst the long, leafy branches.

The trio spread out across the yard, being careful not to get too close to the house in case there were motion detection lights or an alarm.

Principal Patel was an obnoxious old toad who, earlier that month, had given the trio an unfair detention assignment for a week. They had been fingered as the culprits behind a mysterious bout of diarrhea that had struck numerous teachers one afternoon. Everyone who ate one of the cupcakes, found themselves running for the bathroom mid-class.

Mr. Totten, the disliked geometry teacher, had been struck with it badly, and other teachers noted he had eaten several of the cupcakes. Coach Treckle, who taught 4th period gym and coached the girls basketball team, swore up and down she had seen one of those “damn Belden-Duke triplets” skulking near the teacher’s lounge.

Unfortunately, Leif Duke had been skulking near the teacher’s lounge. He was hoping to catch Ms. Hall, his math teacher, to talk to her about a low grade on a test.

He and Logan had been pulled out of science class that afternoon, and found Miles in the principal’s office waiting for them, looking bewildered.

“What’s this about?” Miles asked.

The twins shrugged. “I don’t know. But Mabon isn’t here, or Jace or Dana. So it can’t be a family emergency.”

“You three be quiet!” Principal Patel stormed in. “I won’t have the three of you collaborating on your stories!”

The three looked at each other, puzzled.

“Excuse me, sir, we’re not collaborating. We don’t even know why we’re here,” Leif said politely.

“In my office, now!” The principal roared, pointing.

The trio got up and followed, noting the disgusted and angry faces of the other people in the office.

Principal Patel slammed the door shut. “You three think this is funny? A quarter of my teaching staff trapped in the bathrooms all afternoon?”

Mystified, Leif shook his head. He handled authority figures better than his twin and hoped Logan would keep his sarcastic mouth shut. “Sir, I don’t think we follow you. What are you talking about?”

“Laxative cupcakes!” the principal shouted.

Miles’ blue eyes bugged out as Leif’s mouth dropped open. Logan was clearly startled, then he snickered, and Principal Patel’s eyes swung to him.

“Think it’s funny, do you? You obnoxious little cretin! Which one of you got them into the teacher’s lounge?”

Miles found his voice. “Are you serious? Sir, you really think we did it?”

“After all the pranks you three have pulled, this is the worst! Balloons filling my office, unbolting seats in the auditorium and turning them around—I let those slide but this is malicious!”

Leif thought it wise not to point out it had been his cousin Tim and his best friend Dean that had done the seat trick in the auditorium a few years earlier.

“Sir, I promise you, we didn’t make any laxative cupcakes,” Leif said. “This is the first we’re hearing about it!”

“I asked a question!” Principal’s Patel hissed. His eyes were wild, and he was practically foaming at the mouth.

“I was waiting for Ms. Totten outside the lounge earlier, after lunch,” Leif said. “I wanted to talk to her about my test grade from last week.”

“Likely story, Duke! Or are you the Belden? Nevermind, it doesn’t matter. Everyone knows where there’s one of you, the other two are also! You know perfectly well Ms. Totten was out today!”

Leif frowned. “No, sir, I didn’t. I don’t have her class until 6th period. I was hoping to catch her during lunch.”

“Likely story,” Principal Patel muttered. He reached for the phone. “Let’s see what your parents have to say about this! I think a nice expulsion ought to do it!”

The trio stared at him, horrified. They hadn’t done this. Their pranks were harmless, minor explosions in lockers that caused a lot smoke, dribble glasses swapped out at the table, pranks where no one got hurt.

Principal Patel had never liked them, once finding out they were related to one Timothy Mangan, who over one weekend several years before, had unbolted and rebolted every seat in the auditorium—right before the big awards assembly. Tim and Dean had almost been expelled for that stunt.

The trio had often noticed the principal in the hallway, watching them, scowling, lurking. They had had many a detention at his hands, but now, he looked borderline lunatic and ready to strangle them.

Trixie Duke and Diana Belden had appeared on the scene, and the twins watched with delight as Trixie tore into the principal. In the end, they settled on a week of detention. Trixie fought for less because there was no evidence they had done it, but the principal wouldn’t budge.

So now, it was payback time. And if they found out who had done it…

So here they were, in the dead of the night, having snuck out and ridden their bikes.

Taking out the first roll, Leif held the end and threw the toilet paper with glee. There was something majestic about the way it soared through the air, over a branch and spiraling down.

Logan beamed as he hurled his roll up and up. Miles had a satisfied expression as he gently lobbed his through the branches, ensuring a complex weave of paper that would be a royal pain to get out. They moved through the yard, quickly and expertly tee-peeing the trees.

Then the porch light snapped on.

The door opened and Principal Patel appeared with a shotgun in his hands.

“You hoodlums!” he screamed. “You wretched little twerps!”

The three sprinted towards the street, not realizing how close to the house they had gotten.

“Left!” Miles panted.

“No, right!” Logan exclaimed.

There was no time to argue. They ran to the right when they reached the end of the yard, as fast as they could. They could hear the principal behind them, yelling profanities.

“Shit, wrong way!” Leif pointed to the small grocery store.

“He’s still coming! Go! Over the wall!” Miles bolted for it.

Luckily, there were some trashcans nearby and they scrambled up on top of them, and over the stone wall. Logan jumped too high and almost flipped himself over the wall, his legs flailing.

They could still hear Principal Patel screaming, but his voice got fainter.

The boys crouched down in the shadows, breathing heavily. Then they looked at each other and started laughing.

***
Author Notes
- A huge thank you to Ronda, my lovely editor who did a super fast edit for me.
- This was written for photo #18 of the CWE 3: A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words Challenge. Thank you to the CWE team for coming up with this fun challenge!
- I thought it was time into a glimpse of the shenanigans of the Trio of Terror when they were a little younger.
- Word Count 1,197

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