"Isaac!" Taylor screamed as he witnessed his brother slip into a puddle of muddy water. He almost laughed at the humiliated look on his brother's face as he stood up and examined his mud-drenched pants. "You okay, Ike?" Taylor asked while trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Yes I'm okay. I just hope that no one sees me out here like this." Isaac said as they continued to walk through a vacant parking lot.

"You got some mud in your hair." Taylor informed as Isaac stood shocked as he pulled a clump of mud from his hair.

"My hair." Isaac almost whispered in disbelief. "I can't believe I got mud in my hair."

"Get over it. Why are you so obsessed with your hair, anyway?" Taylor asked as he and his brother turned towards the direction where they heard a scream come from.

"It's Zac. He's probably trying to joke around with us again." Isaac said as he ran towards the scream. Taylor followed behind and was surprised to discover that the scream had come from a girl. Her head appeared from inside a dumpster and Taylor tried not to laugh because it was the most hysterical thing he'd ever seen. He turned towards Ike, who was also struggling not to laugh.

"Excuse me, could you just give me a hand? Kinda get me out of here?" The girl asked Taylor and Isaac. Isaac and Taylor walked towards the dumpster and lifted up the top and each boy grabbed the girl by one arm and lifted her out of the dumpster.

"Thank you so much." She said as she turned to walk town the street.

"Wait a second." Taylor said. "Why were you in a dumpster?"

She sighed and turned back towards them. "Why are your pants all muddy? And what's with your hair?" She questioned Isaac when she saw that he was a mess.

"I slipped and fell in a mud puddle, okay?" he answered, obviously embarrassed.

"Sheesh you don't have to get all mad at me like that. You know, I'm not having the best day, either." She informed again.

"You must not be. Why were you in a dumpster like that?" Taylor repeated.

"If I told you, you'd think I was the most disgusting creep ever." She said. "So I'm not going to tell you. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get changed out of these clothes. Being in that dumpster sure didn't help my clothes much."

Isaac could tell that this girl was lying. Her clothes looked like they hadn't been washed in years. And her hair didn't look too clean, either. Her skin was caked with dirt and didn't smell too much like flowers. She was so skinny, he noticed. She would be pretty if she would clean herself up, he thought.

"Were you in the dumpster looking for food?" Taylor asked. Isaac guessed he had probably been thinking what he'd been thinking. They were always like that. They knew each other so well they could finish each other's sentences.

"Okay. Yeah. I was. Now mind your own business. I'm gonna have to find somewhere else to find food." She said. She began to shiver as a gust of cold, New York wind blew by.

"Aren't you cold?" Isaac asked as he began to take off his jacket.

"Well, yeah." She said as she took the jacket from him and put it on.

"So what's your name?" Taylor questioned.

"What's your name? And why do you gotta ask so many questions? You're so nosy." She shouted.

"Taylor. And this is my brother. He's Isaac." He answered and he waited for a reply from her.

"Okay. I'm Amanda." She answered. "So you guys have any more brothers or sisters?"

"Yeah. Sure we do. Two other brothers, and three sisters." Taylor answered.

"And where are they?" she asked.

Isaac suddenly wondered why she wanted to know so badly. Maybe he shouldn't say. What if she was planning to murder his family? He couldn't let that happen. Before he could say anything, Taylor said, "Oh they're at our hotel. We're staying at the Mayflower. It's SO cool. But I don't know where Zac is. He's supposed to be following us. I think he stopped to go to the bathroom."

As if on cue, Zac caught up to his two brothers. "Hey guys. Hey." He greeted when he noticed the girl in between Isaac and Taylor.

"Hi." She said. "So you're Zac?"

"Yeah." He agreed. She had to have known who he was.

"Hey, you guys. I don't really think you're brothers." She said. "You're just trying to trick me."

"What?" Isaac wondered aloud. He looked over at Taylor, who was also surprised by her comment.

"You don't look alike at all. Why don't you stand together so I can compare the way you look." She commanded. Even though it was a weird request, all the brothers agreed to stand together. "Yeah I guess you kinda look alike. Stand together a little more."

The brothers all stood together like told. "Now smile or something. I wanna see your teeth." She requested. As the brothers stood with their mouths all smiling, she reached into a pocket of her pants. Before they could say anything they saw a flash.

Amanda ran off before they could ask her anything.

*****

The next morning the Hanson family was content at eating breakfast together. Room Service had sent up a boy to deliver the daily newspaper to their room. Taylor was the first to open it up. He always read the comics every morning. He opened it up and took notice to glance at the front page. 'An Encounter With Hanson.' By Amanda Peters. He examined the picture. It was definitely from yesterday by the dumpster. That girl took a picture of them! That's what the flash was from.

He shoved the paper towards Isaac and showed him.

"Oh my gosh. Look at that mud in my hair."