Mrs. Leiston gave a hurling sigh as three children whipped past her in an angry fury. At the front of the blur of faces was her youngest child, a mischievous little boy named Carr, who was clutching a small fuzzy object. Not far behind trailed his older sister, Paige and her best friend, Leandra.

"Give it back - you brat," shouted Paige as her arm reached up to catch Carr by his shoulder.

"Hey!" he squawked as he smacked her hand off his shoulder, "don't touch me you stinky little loudmouth stupidhead."

"Gooooood one," retorted Leandra, ready and willing to stand up to Paige's annoying little brother. He always caused problems when she came over.

Mrs. Leiston listened as the squabbling, running, and hitting continued for several minutes. She didn't have the energy to try to stop them after her long day of work and decided to bank on the idea that they would wear themselves out before someone got hurt. She went to the kitchen sink to work on the dishes that were stacked in a pile caked with dinner from the night before. She wondered aloud if anyone else ever did any cleaning around there as she started scrubbing. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud clatter coming from the family room and the sound of three children falling into a heap.

The entire group, caught up in the moment, had somehow managed to bash into the family room wall. Mrs. Leiston peered out of the kitchen to inspect the damage. Somehow the children, now in tangled mass on the floor, managed to survive the crash (although the family portrait formerly hanging on the wall didn't appear to be quite as lucky). Paige and Leandra had managed to catch a hold of the fuzzy object Carr had been carrying and a vicious game of tug-o-war ensued. Concerned that the next casualty would be one of her precious figurines, Mrs. Leiston thought resignedly maybe it was time to intervene.

"Children. For the love of God, must you make such a ruckus?" she interrupted.

For the first time the children realized there was someone in the room besides themselves.

"Erm, sorry Mrs. Leiston," said Leandra as she pointed an accusing finger at Carr, "but he stole my stuffed Woink."

Mrs. Leiston shook her head. She often wondered why children Paige and Leandra's age would still enjoy cartoons. It wasn't even that they enjoyed them. They were, in her opinion, obsessed. While other children their age spent their time flirting with boys and going to dances they were perched in front of the television watching episode after episode of "Poink and Woink." Mrs. Leiston was hoping it was only a stage that they would grow out of soon. Much like the stage Carr had gone thru when he felt the need to constantly pull down his pants and moon anyone he was unhappy with. That was a stage she could have lived without.

A ripping noise invaded Mrs. Leiston's ponderings as she realized she had been standing there lost in thought for a moment too long. Leandra and Paige had half of the stuffed animal in their hands and Carr had the other half in his. Leandra was looking very angry and on the verge of tears. Paige had already started pounding on Carr with one hand as she attempted to wrench the other half of Woink from Carr with the other. Carr proceeded to scream bloody murder.

"SHUT UP!!!!!" screamed Mrs. Leiston. "just SHUT UP!!!!"

Carr looked up in shock. "Mom, we're not allowed to use that word in this household" he murmered.

Mrs. Leiston glared at Carr. "YOU are not allowed to say shut up. I'm an adult. I made the rules and I can do what I want."

"That's not fair," grumbled Carr. He had a habit of pulling on that last nerve. It was a habit that usually landed him in a heap of trouble, as it inevitably did this time.

Paige heaved a sigh of relief as her mom dragged Carr by his ear into his room. She knew there was only so far they could push her on Friday nights and they had sure done it. If Carr hadn't taken the brunt of the punishment she would have been in deep trouble. Luckily, she was the quieter of the two and knew when to keep her mouth shut.

Leandra grabbed the two halves of Woink that lay forgotten on the floor and the two girls went to the kitchen to try to find something in the junk drawer to put him back together. Rummaging through nails, staples, and pushpins, they finally pulled out some superglue. Probably not the best remedy for a broken plush toy but it would work.

Leandra held onto Woink while Paige glued him back together.

"Make sure you remember to put this back," said Leandra as she handed Paige one of Woink's eyeballs that had fallen to the ground when he had been pulled apart.

"Oh yeah," said Paige, "he'd look pretty stupid with only one eye. Sorry about my brother. I think he's a mutant or something."

"Probably," replied Leandra, "he's surely not related to you. You're much more mature."

"Thanks, pal," exclaimed Paige with a huge grin on her face.

A second later Leandra reached up to itch her face. Unfortunately, she used the same hand that had previously been holding Woink. Paige gasped as Woink fell into the junk drawer facedown.

"What in the world did you do that for, brainiac" teased Paige. She was actually quite glad Leandra had done something stupid. She was used to fulfilling the part as the ditzy klutzy sidekick.

"…itched…" mumbled Leandra, feeling rather stupid. A slight blush crept up her face.

Paige reached down to grab Woink. It was too late to save his face. Loose change, buttons, and paperclips had adhered themselves to his face where she had just applied the superglue for his eye.

"Erm, how's this for a good look?" she asked holding up Woink.

"Oh, just dandy," said Paige with a giggle "Although it doesn't look much like the cute little Woink I've grown to love. Maybe it should be his twin brother, Goink?"

"Perfect!" exclaimed Leandra "Goink has a strange personality disorder and thinks he's a trash can!"

The prior fight was soon forgotten as the girls ransacked the house looking for anything and everything to glue on Goink's face. With their new best friend in hand, they grabbed their sleeping bags and plopped in front of the television.

A little girl dressed in a glitzy pink outfit, looking almost too cute to be true, scampered onto the screen. A little brown furball bounced behind her. Everytime he touched the ground he let out a little noise that sounded like "woink, woink, woink."

"Look!" shouted Paige, holding Goink up to the screen "It's your twin brother Woink!" Then she made Goink's new antennas, made from old Popsicle sticks adorned with pieces of lint, perk up in excitement.

Mrs. Lieston watched from the kitchen as the two girls snuggled into their sleeping bags for yet another overnight Poink and Woink marathon. She shrugged and told herself that at least they were having fun.