Valerie was swinging away in her back yard on a swing her father made out of a car tire. Each breeze that came from swinging made her long golden hair fly everywhere. She wore her short little blue jean shorts and a whitetank top. She wore two small braids on each side of her face to keep her long hair from getting in her eyes. She was glad it was finally summertime. That meant no school, no homework, and no more waking up early.

It was extremely hot that summer day. It was still early in the day and her parents were at work, leaving her alone with her grandmother, who took care of Valerie and her brother Tommy while Mom and Dad were at work. Since Valerie was only 14 and Tommy 16, they didn't really need a guardian to watch them over the summer, but grandmother's presence gave their parents peace of mind. The siblings didn't mind though. They loved their grandmother and besides she cooked a lot better than their own mother.

"Valerie!" Called out Tommy.

Valerie was leaning back swinging and looked up to see her brother running towards here. He was dressed in his usual long shorts and a long t-shirt. He looked as if he'd been running for a while.

"What?" Valerie asked.

"Hey Mr. Olsen's tree has a whole bunch of peaches that just ripened! I say we go get some!" He said breathlessly.

"Tommy, you know that old man is going to try to scare us if we do. Remember last time we tried to steal peaches from his tree and he almost tried to come after us."

"He's just bluffing. He'd never hurt kids."

Valerie nodded. "No, I believe he would hurt us. Let's just leave it alone."

Tommy walked closer putting his hands on the ropes of the swing to stop his sister's swaying. "I think you want to go get peaches with me Valerie. Remember how juicy they are?"

Valerie giggled. It was a known fact that she loved peaches. Her mother wouldn't allow her to eat so many because then she'd never eat her regular food. It was incredibly tempting to go out and get some peaches but Valerie dreaded the fact that the scary old man might try to come after them like last time.

"Please?" Tommy begged his sister. His blue eyes danced as he waited for his sister's response.

"Well, have you told grandma where we're going?" Valerie asked.

"Yeah, I told here we were going to the store to get some ice cream."

Valerie looked up at her brother smiling. "Oh alright! But we better not get caught. If we do I'm blaming it all on you."

"Yes!" Tommy exclaimed.

The siblings walked the two blocks where Mr. Olsen's house was. Mr. Olsen was an old man that lived alone. He was pretty mean looking and often liked to scare away kids. His house was huge and had a gorgeous garden full of fruits. But the main attraction was a big peach tree that held the most delicious looking peaches ever.

"Ok now I'm gonna grab some first and I'll hand them to you. Put them in this bag here." Tommy said pulling out a plastic bag from his pocket.

"Yes I know. Now hurry up I don't want to get caught." Valerie was still paranoid.

Tommy looked around at the quiet neighborhood. He started to climb the tall wooden fence.

"Be careful!" Valerie whispered.

"Shhhhh! I know what I'm doing!" Tommy hissed.

He felt himself trembling just a small amount of fear that the old man Olsen would come out. Once up by the tree, he grabbed as many peaches as he could. He started throwing some down on to Valerie as she quickly began to put them in the plastic bag.

The peaches looked so ripe and delectable. Valerie's eyes glowed as more as more peaches fell to the floor as she tried to gather them fast. The plastic bag was getting overloaded now.

"Hey Tommy, that's enough. The bag is full already." Valerie called out quietly.

Tommy looked down and saw a good amount of peaches on the ground. Since he was wearing a long t-shirt, he knew he could carry some peaches on his shirt. He climbed down from the tree and fence almost jumping down to the ground fiercely.

"All right, look I'm gonna just grab some of these peaches and -"

Tommy stopped talking as he watched Valerie's eyes widen in fear. He slowly turned and saw the old man Olsen standing there with a baseball bat ready to beat on them. Tommy stepped in front of his sister to protect her.

"I thought I told you kids to stop stealing my fruit!" The old man roared.

"I-I-I'm sorry sir," Tommy stammered.

Valerie took a deep breath, as her knees felt weak.

"Run Valerie! Let's run!" Tommy screamed out.

Valerie didn't hesitate. She still managed to hold on to the bag of peaches as she and Tommy ran like hell. They could faintly hear the footsteps of the old man as he tried to catch up to them. Valerie didn't even want to look back. She was petrified.

The siblings ran for a few blocks and managed to lose the old man. They ran behind an alley that separated some nice suburban homes from an apartment complex. Tommy and Valerie leaned up against a wooden fence. They were both winded from running fast trying to get away from the creepy old man.

"I told you Tommy that we were going to get caught!" Valerie said angrily as she punched her brother's arm.

"Ouch! Shit I'm sorry! I thought we could get away with it." Tommy screeched.

Valerie fumed. She started to walk down the narrow alley getting away from her brother. She gripped the bag full of peaches and started to scurry.

"Valerie! Wait! Where the hell you going?" Tommy yelled.

Valerie didn't answer him. She was still frightened by the look of the old man's fury in his eyes. She kept running as she heard Tommy running behind her.

His sister ran fast, Tommy thought to himself. Finally he managed to grab her arm stopping her. Valerie tried to pull away and with the resistance of her brother, she fell hard on the grass, dragging Tommy with her. The peaches fell all over the floor getting bruised by the fall.

Tommy fell on top of his sister as she was sobbing. "Valerie, I told you to wait up. The old man is gone. We lost him. There is no need to run anymore." His hand reached to wipe her tears.