The Mushroom Kingdom Fanfiction: Twins Tug of War

Title: Mushroom Kingdom Twins Tug of War

Word Count: 3,000 words

Commissioned by: redreaper1951

Written by: Danni Lynn

11/22/2021

Clouds cover the normally blue skies of the happy Mushroom Kingdom. Royal twins, Cerrybel and Plummebel sit with their elbows on their bedroom window’s windowsill. They frown at the darkening weather. Despite the gloomy day, both girls wear bright dresses in their favorite colors. Cherry takes after her mother in a pink dress and a red bow and white flower crown in her long strawberry-blonde hair. Plum, identical to her father has long purple hair with a white bow and flowers, and a blue dress.

“What do you want to do today?” Cherry asks.

Plum hums in thought. She hops down from the window and pulls an old scarf down that was hanging on their coat rack. She sits on the floor and spreads it out before her. Cherry comes over and sits down on the other side of the scarf, her skirt puffing up around her.

“Want to play jump rope?”

“No,” Plum responds.

“What about pretend turnip pulling? That’s my favorite!”

“No. Do you want to play bungee jumping?”

“No! Let’s lasso our goomba plushies!”

“I don’t like that idea.”

“Well, nor do I.” Cherry huffs. She reaches forward and snatches up one end of the scarf from her sister. “I’ll just play by myself then.”

“Hey!” Plum yells. She reaches for the scarf but Cherry pulls it out of reach and jumps away. “I got it down first. Give it back!”

“Nuh-uh!” Cherry sticks out her tongue and wiggles the scarf in the air. “I think I’ll play dress up with it. I can pretend I’m Queen of the whole Mushroom Kingdom.” She lifts the scarf and drapes it over her hair like a fancy shawl.

Plum successfully grabs the other end and pulls it off her sister’s head. Her hair stands up from the static and Cherry quickly brushes it back, her cheeks going pink. She grips the scarf and pulls it in her direction. Plum holds on and retaliates, tugging it towards herself. Cherry stumbles and comes closer.

“If you don’t know what to play, I want to play by myself.”

“Not with the scarf I picked out to play with,” Plum counters. She pulls again, this time with resistance from Cherry. Cherry squeaks in indignation and pulls back. Soon, both girls are tugging on the scarf, neither one giving or gaining any ground.

“You can never make up your mind about what we should do!” Cherry says.

“Nor can you. And I don’t like rainy days!” Plum pulls then suddenly gives some slack. Her sister loosens her grip when Plum reverses and pulls sharply, making Cherry nearly let go of the scarf.

“Oh!” she cries. The twins lock eyes as they both twist their ends of the scarf around their hands. They know what they are going to play today.

“I bet you can’t beat me in this competition,” Plum says. Her lips are curling into a smile. Cherry blows a stand of hair out of her face and returns the same expression, full of a youth’s confidence.

“Oh yes, I think I can.”

“I dare you.”

“Dare already taken—I already said I can!

“Let’s go already!”

It begins. Cherry and Plum lower their stances and lean backwards, pulling hard against the scarf stretching between them. A disagreement and indecision about what game to play led to playing only the most perfect game of them all. A classic, the favorite game tug-of-war.

Cherry and Plum enjoy the excitement, wildness, and simplicity that is their favorite game. Each girl twists the scarf in her hands, pulling back and forth, from one side and then to the other. Their dresses sway in time, their arms pump back and forth as they give ground, gain it, and slide right back. The whole motion moves like a steady metronome as the frustration and annoyance at not knowing what to play melts away to reveal faces of laughter and expressions of joy.

Plum pulls hard on the scarf, imagining it is the strongest of ropes and that she is the strongest of players. Her violet hair whips around her shoulders and the white flowers in her hair tremble and shake in her effort. Cherry giggles and wiggles her arms, trying to dislodge her sister’s firm grip.

“We should have played this right from the beginning,” Cherry says.

“I would have thought of it,” Plum says.

“But you didn’t! I’m glad I thought of the idea. This is perfect to play together.”

“No you didn’t do that either! You took the scarf away to play by yourself.”

“Duuuh, that was my plan. I knew you would try to take the scarf back.”

They laugh. Cherry holds on tight and bends backward, wrenching her sister forward. Plum tumbles and bumps into her sister, knocking her over. Cherry yelps and rolls onto her bottom, pulling the scarf to her waist. Plum pulls but her feet slide out from under her, and she falls to the ground as well.

“Okay, okay, we’ll stand up on three, agreed?” Cherry asks.

“Yes, on three.”

“One—”

“Two—”

“Three!” Cherry and Plum shout as one and jump to their feet. Plum takes the lead and backpedals, pulling Cherry along with her. Cherry tries to stop the movement, twisting her body side to side in an effort to slow down.

“You can just let go Cherry, I won’t make fun of you too much if you loose this fast.”

“Never!” Cherry twirls the scarf around her wrist twice and points to the window outside. “Plum, look! It’s raining koopas and goombas!” she cries. Plum whirls around to look out the window.

“Where?!”

Cherry takes advantage of the distraction and returns both hands to the scarf and runs away with it. But, Plum manages to keep a hand on the material, jerking Cherry to a sudden halt.

“I don’t see them,” Plum says.

“There are no goombas or koopas—that’s just an expression!”

A heavy rain had indeed started outside. The girls continued on with their game, pulling and beginning to attempt to run in different directions to outslip the other. But as they are twins, to outwit your sibling is no easy feat.

Cherry bounces along on the balls of her feet, pulling the scarf in an erratic fashion. Plum’s arms shakes, trying to keep up with the shaking and jerking. In her excitement, Cherry bumps into their bedside table and knocks off a pile of chapter-books titled Toad’s Journey and Other Tales. The girls don’t notice. Plum takes the lead and jumps onto their large bed, bouncing up and down. Cherry follows after her and nearly looses her grip as she stumbles and nearly falls. Plum laughs, but then Cherry takes control again as she darts off the bed, using the momentum to nearly pull the scarf away from Plum. Plum hops off the bed with a loud thump and pulls back, rebalancing their tug-of-war battle.

Suddenly, there is a shuffle and a knock at their door. Cherry and Plum drop to the floor and drape the scarf over their laps, each holding it in one hand.

“Girls? Is everything alright in there?” Cherry and Plum’s bedroom door opens to reveal their father, Zhard, peeking in. He squints his bushy purple eyebrows at them.

“Do I sense some rough-housing up here? I know it’s a rainy day, but I think you both should be careful, right?”

“Yes, dad!” Cherry says.

“We are just playing a game of teatime!” Plum chimes in. Their father raises his eyebrows.

“Teatime? Well, I don’t see any teacups or tea for that matter.”

“It’s imaginary tea dad—duh!” Plum says with a giggle.

“Silly, he says he can’t see the tea,” Cherry adds.

“Oh goodness,” their father says. “Well, alright. Have fun girls!”

“Thanks dad!”

The door closes and their dad goes away. Cherry and Plum let out a big sigh.

“Wow, how do they always know?” Plum says.

“Did we really just say ‘imaginary tea?’”

“Silly.” Plum hops up and positions herself for more tug-of-war. Cherry bounces too and pulls hard, pulling Plum towards her.

“Hey, I have a way we can make this even more fun!” Cherry says.

“What is it?” Plum asks. Cherry holds the scarf in one hand, eyeing her sister until they both understand they are in a small momentary truce.

“I still have some balloons left over from our real tea party last week. Should we use them?”

“Balloons? Yes!” Plum says. She claps her hands together. “What colors are they?”

“I think they were all pink and purple.”

“That’s perfect!”

Cherry opens up her armoire and fishes around for the package of balloons. Little statues of different colored koopas fall out of the armoire. A fire flower plushie falls with a squeak and a few fake tokens bounce to the ground. Cherry pokes her head in between some of the dresses and nightgowns hanging up. She sticks her whole arm in before exclaiming, “Ah-ha, I got it!” She steps back, clutching an opened package of balloons in her hand.

“Here they are!” Cherry upends the package and a handful of flat pink and purple balloons fall on the ground. Plum snatches up a purple one and immediately brings it to her lips. A great purple balloon suddenly inflates until it is extra bouncy, but not too full.

Cherry does the same until her pink balloon is the same size. She deftly ties the end and ties Plum’s for her.

“This will make tug-of-war even more interesting,” Cherry says. She gives Plum her purple balloon back and then takes her pink one, sticking it under her dress so it looks like she has a big tummy. Cherry keeps one hand on the balloon so it doesn’t fall out and one hand tight around the scarf. With her scarf covered hand, she hits the balloon with a satisfied bounce.

“Perfect! Now we can run around even more.”

Plum gets her balloon all ready and wraps the scarf around her one hand even tighter.

“I’m ready when you are,” Plum says.

“Awesome, three, two, one—go!” And the girls are at it again. Plum and Cherry pull with only one arm each, their other arm around their respective balloons. This is much harder and they find themselves sliding back and forth quite a bit. Cherry takes the initiative and runs at her sister, breaking the tension and bumping her balloon belly into hers. Plum yelps and falls to the ground. She gets up and does the same to her sister, they crash and fling each other backwards, the scarf pulling tight between them.

Giggles ensue as they alternate tugging and bouncing. This back and forth motion wears on their arms as the jolt and stumble every which way. Cherry gasps for air as she grows tired. Plum laughs and bounces off the armoire and then the bed post with her fake tummy. Cherry follows along, tightening and loosening the scarf as her sister spins past her. Plum stumbles and knocks over a castle of blocks. Cherry runs with the scarf over her shoulder and bumps into the armoire again, sending a shower of plushies that were precariously perched on top to the ground.

“Oh my goodness!” Cherry gasps. Her hands are growing red and sweaty with the effort of their fight. She is a little dizzy as well.

“Are you getting tired?” Plum asks, pulling to enunciate her words.

“No, of course not!”

“Do you want to give in?”

“No!” Cherry begins to pull with new energy. Plum whines and then grabs the scarf with both hands. Her balloon falls out of her dress and rolls away. Cherry pushes her balloon away and wraps her left hand back around the scarf too. Both sisters size each other up. Cherry lowers herself so she is more balanced. Plum widens her stance and leans forward with her elbows tucked to her stomach. Cherry mimics her but then suddenly pulls back, knocking them both to the ground.

“This is crazy,” Plum says with a laugh. “Just give up, you know you really want me to win.”

“Now, why would I want that? I’m working hard to beat you,” Cherry says.

“Because I think your nice and you’ll give me what I want.”

“Yeah right!”

Cherry and Plum sit up. They stick out their feet from their frilly petticoats and stretch their legs out. All at once, they lean back, pulling on the scarf and push on each other’s feet, struggling to outdo one another. They lean back as far as they can, the scarf trembling as it pulls taught between them. Cherry and Plum lean so far back that they are nearly lying back straight, with just their shoulders and heads up off the ground.

Plum breaks the position and stands up, Cherry collapsing all the way on her back as she does.

“Let’s see if you can hang on like this,” Plum says. She wrenches the rope, pulling Cherry into a sitting position, and begins to run in circles around her. Cherry gasps and holds on with all her might, tucking in her knees and elbows, as her body is spun round and round.

“You can let go anytime! I bet you can’t hold on any longer!” Plum chants. She jiggles the scarf and spins as she pulls her sister helplessly to-and-fro. Cherry screeches with excited laughter as her skirts splay out and her hair swirls into a tangled mess. Her bow slips loose, and a few flowers fall to the ground but she does not loosen her grip on the scarf.

“You’ll—have—to—try—harder!” Cherry yells, her voice bouncing over the jerking motions. Cherry kicks out her feet then flips on her stomach, using her body to wrap the scarf around herself and gain more leverage. Plum skids to a hault and falls to one knee, frantically trying to get more of the scarf back.

“That’s no fair!”

“I think it’s smart!” Cherry counters. She rolls over, pulling the scarf in even tighter. Plum drops to the floor and scrambles to loosen the scarf.

“But I know your weakness,” Plum announces.

“You wouldn’t,” Cherry says.

“Do you want to bet?” Plum quickly wraps the remaining stretch of scarf around her wrist again and reaches out her second hand to surprise tickle her sister. The move is successful. Cherry unrolls and bounces up in a second, kicking her feet.

“That’s unfair! You know I can’t handle that!” she yells, bursting with laughter.

“Yes I do,” Plum agrees. She reaches towards Cherry one more time but her sister leaps up and runs away, pulling Plum with her. They hurdle towards their bedroom door, skid to a halt, and spin away from it, bouncing off the wall and knock over their parasols that were leaning against the wall. The pink and purple parasols hit the floor with a clatter and roll as the girls skitter over and past them.

“I’ll hold on and never let go,” Cherry exclaims.

“I’ll hold on until my arms go numb!”

“I think my arms are already numb!”

They stop spinning and come to a stand still back in the middle of their room. The room shows the ongoing struggle of their tug-of-war: the bed covers are strewn and wrinkled, their armoire’s contents inside and on top are in disarray, books and blocks cover the floor like little obstacles, and now the parasols join the mess. It’s a wonder that Zhard or Princess Peach haven’t come back to check on them with all the ruckus going on. The girls are so happy and delirious from having a good time, they might actually look outside and see real goombas and koopas raining down from the sky. Such is the high of a good time.

Cherry and Plum stand still, watching each other. Cherry’s bow has completely fallen off and is now somewhere in the room. Plum can feel one of the flowers from her flower crown loose in her bangs, they tickle her forehead. The sash of her dress has come loose and is slipping off after playing with the balloons. A small tear is on the shoulder of Cherry’s dress and her hair is an absolute rat’s nest from spinning around on the floor. Their shoulders ache, their arms are shaking, and their hands burn from the effort of holding on and pulling for so long. The girls smile. These are the marks of a good time.

“Are you ready for the big finale?” Cherry asks.

“Are you asking if I am ready?”

“Do you think you can handle it?”

“I want to see if you can even handle it. I think we know who the winner will be.”

“Yes, I think it’s obvious who will win.”

They both tighten their grip on the scarf and get ready to pull for the final round. The scarf between them is now much longer and thinner than it had been when Plum first pulled it off the coat rack. Some strands have come loose, and it is very stretched out from them playing tug-of-war. Despite the wear, it has been used wonderfully.

“Let’s go!” Plum yells. She wrenches the scarf back, her arms jarring to a halt as Cherry does the same thing. They both grunt and groan, putting their backs, arms, and legs into every moment of the pull. They both begin to lean backwards, the scarf giving some ground as it stretches out a little more. Their arms start to shake, their feet begin to slip and they begin to raise their voices in one yell as they pull more and more out of this scarf’s ability.

The material between the princess’ fingers begins to fray. The middle of the scarf trembles violently, stretching until it is hardly recognizable anymore as its original form. With a final yank from both ends, the scarf busts its seams, ripping to pieces and sends both girls falling to the ground. Cherry and Plum hit the ground hard and half catch themselves from the tumble. As the pieces of scarf float around in the air, a big smile spreads over each of their faces. They start to laugh.