Rough Day

This story took place two months ago.

One thing you might not know about Curtis E. Owl, the beatnik bass player for the Sprout House Band, is that, just like almost everyone else, he has a heart of gold, and is especially this way towards his 8-year-old younger brother, Otis, who has autism.

One day, Otis ran down the stairs, with very small tears in his eyes, and told his family that he was searching things up on his tablet that he didn't want to search up because if he did, he'd rage, and he constantly reminds himself angrily to not search things up that he doesn't want to, sometimes slamming his fists. Most of these searches are about kids' shows, which the autistic kind love, usually crossover-related.

OTIS: Mom? Dad? Adam? Curtis? Acia?
ADAM: What is it, Oats?
MOM: Is something the matter?
DAD: Yeah, you look like you have tears in your eyes.
OTIS: I don't.
MOSSI: Well, is something still the matter?
OTIS: Yeah, actually. There are things I don't want to search up on Gaggle or Wahoo on my MyPad, but I search them up anyways, and that makes me rage.
CURTIS: Don't you try to remind yourself not to search those up?
OTIS: Yeah, but I'm always like, "NO, OTIS, NEVER SEARCH THAT UP! NEVER! EVER! EVER!"
MOM: Oh, wow!
OTIS: Yeah, right?
MOSSI: Tell you what, how about you stop going on Gaggle or Wah-
OTIS: Wahoo's fine, I thin it's much safer than Gaggle. Definitely much safer than Gaggle.
MOSSI: No, I wasn't even finished!
OTIS: Okay.
MOSSI: How about you stop going on Gaggle or Wahoo for a while and do something to distract yourself?
ADAM: Yeah, like watch a video, play with your toys, read a book...
MOSSI: ...And you'll stop thinking about the things you don't want to search.
OTIS: Got it! I will!

Hours passed, and Otis was still thinking about the things he searched "for torture" as he would say in his mind, so he decided to take a bath and listen to calming Baby's World music on YouTube on the radio, all whilst mediating and thinking happy thoughts, to calm himself, to no avail, so he got out of the tub, retreated to his bed in his and Acia's room, and started crying, when Curtis heard him.

CURTIS: Otis, ya okay?
OTIS: No.
CURTIS: Oh, really? What's the matter? The searching things up on your MyPad?
OTIS: Yeah. I searched things up that I didn't want to because I'd get upset, *sniffs twice* and *sniffs twice* that made me upset. *breaks down in tears* I'm having a rough day! *crying*
CURTIS: Aww, tell you what, how about I give you a seizure, ya know, a massage, and sing to you, and you'll feel better again?
OTIS: Okay.
CURTIS: Great.

Go to sleep, my little brother,
Go to sleep, oh, close your eyes
Mother is baking,
Cake, she is making
And it will be ready for brother's awakening.
Go to sleep, my little brother,
Go to sleep, oh, close your eyes
Go to sleep, my little brother,
Go to sleep, oh, close your eyes

Once he finished singing, Otis was put into a deep sleep for several hours, but didn't know it until he was told after he woke up. He may have had another search on the Gaggle search bar the following day, but he's mostly forgotten about his potential searches.

We all have our fair share of rough days, but things will get better.

UPDATE (9/7/2025): Fixed some errors.