Green Trial/Gallery

"How could this have happened?"

"All of us were outside"

"doin' chores!"

"Not all of us."

"CRICKET!!!"

"Cricket?"

"That's me name."

"Don't wear it out."

"What do you have to say"

"about this?"

"The heck?"

"You guys ate all the cake without me?"

"Nice try."

"We know you ate it."

"What? No, I didn't."

"Cricket,"

your mom worked

real hard on that cake."

"And some of us thought

we deserved a little treat."

"You were the only one home."

"Therefore,

the only one

who could have done it."

"But it wasn't

me!

"I was upstairs,

resting my hurt arm."

"I've heard enough."

"Room! Now!"

"Come on,"

"up we go."

"But I'm innocent!"

"Tilly, you believe me, right?

"You KNOW"

"I wouldn't do this!"

"Well,"

"you were"

"the only one home, and..."

"you do love"

"cake."

"Please! I'm beggin' ya!"

"I invoke...

Sibling Code!"

"Sibling Code?"

"Papa? A minute?"

"Brother..."

"Sibling Code is

a sacred oath of loyalty."

"Only to be invoked in

the most extreme situations."

"If you're lyin',

I'll never be able

to trust you again."

"I know."

"But I swear on sibling-hood,

I AIN'T."

Really, Cricket? Is there anything you're forgetting to say, like what were you really doing inside the house supposedly resting your hurt arm?

"Okay, family."

"I know my brother."

"And if he invokes sibling code,

then he is telling the truth."

"Therefor, I propose...

"A TRIAL!"

"Oh, I could get into that."

"Fine!"

"But the evidence is pretty incriminating."

"Cricket is my baby brother."

"I will defend him in life,

and death."

"It may take weeks!"

"Months!"

"You have an hour while I make a new cake."

"We can work with that."

"Court is now in session!"

"Let us begin."

"Lady and gentleman of the jury."

"Miss Mama Prosecutor."

"We've gathered here

to investigate a crime

about a cake."

"Now..."

"What makes a cake?"

"Sugar?"

"Flour?"

"Sure..."

"But you know what ingredient is NOT

in Mama's recipe?"

"INJUSTICE!"

"And that is what we have

here today."

"Ooooooh!"

"She got you

gooooood."

"Let us review the timeline."

"This morning..."

"Mama finished making the cake after breakfast."

"The four of us left to do chores at 9:00 a.m., leaving Cricket and his injured arm home alone."

"At 11:20 a.m., we arrived back at the house, at which point..."

"The cake was gone."

"Did anyone see the cake

between those times?"

"Yeah,

at 11:00."

"We were all in the garden,

and I checked on it through the window."

"It was untouched."

"That means I'm innocent, right?"

"No."

"It means Mama must prove

you ate the cake some time

between 11:00,

and 11:20."

"Easy."

"For starters."

"There's a huge mess in the kitchen,

and I know exactly how it got there..."

"You make an interesting point, Mama."

"But also..."

"NUH-UH!"

"You said you saw the cake

from outside the house."

"THEREFORE..."

"The mess inside the house

could have been caused before 11:00

by anyone."

"LIKE GRAMMA!"

"Strawberry... icing."

" I'm sorry, Tilly..."

"but we've got all the evidence we need, right here."

"So, what do you say we call it?"

"I...I..."

"I CALL A RECESS!"

"I can't believe you, Cricket!

"You abused

sibling code!"

"I..."

"I DIDN'T!"

"I don't know how the icing

got on my arm!"

"I was tellin' the truth before,

and I'm tellin' it NOW!"

"Brother..."

"You lied to me!"

"And you've broken my trust."

"Forever."

"Oh..."

"This is

the worst day

of my life!"

"I was pinned

for somethin' I didn't do,

lost your trust,

and I even missed my call

with Gabriella!"

(Wait, what?)

"Wait..."

"You had a video call planned with Gabriella?"

"Why didn't you mention it before?"

"Well, 'cause it never happened."

"I was just about to call her

when y'all got back from doin' chores."

"Lemme see that."

"Bingo...

bango."

"Stop what you're doing!!"

"And I'm here

to tell you..."

"That Cricket is very much responsible

for all the evidence Mama presented."

"So you

ADMIT IT!"

"Are you kiddin' me?!"

"You make me

sick."

"Tilly...?"

"What are you doing...?!"

"Buuuut..."

"He's NOT responsible

for eatin' the cake."

"Allow me to explain."

"During the recess,

I learned

Cricket had a video call planned

with his Big City girlfrield.

Gabriella."

"Seen here, in this drawing I found hidden in Cricket's room."

"What's your point, Tilly?!"

"I will get there."

"Cricket DID lie about

his arm injury."

"Not as a way to be alone

with the cake,

but instead

to prepare for

his video call

with his GF."

"And how's that?"

"I'm glad you asked."

"First!"

"I know that he becomes

incredibly nervous whenever he speaks with Gabriella."

"When nervous, Cricket is prone to singing and dancing with unbridled aggression,

in order to soothe himself."

"I AM THE MAN!"

"I AM THE MONSTERMAN!"

"OOOOOH, I JUST GOTTA BE FREE!"

"BARRY CUDA!"

So it turns out the kitchen disaster was Cricket's fault.

"Second!"

"Cricket could have worked up quite a sweat."

"And for a creative boy, anything could be a towel."

"Including a cushion."

Gramma: "I hand-sewed those in 1950!"

So Cricket was the one behind the sweaty cushion as well.

"And third!"

"Cricket likes to climb up high,

to make himself feel real tall and powerful."

"I feel so

TALL!

AND POWERFUL!!!"

So that's how the strawberry icing got on Cricket's arm.

"Ohhhhhh!"

"That's exactly what happened!"

"That's all speculation!"

"You have no proof that Cricket

didn't eat that cake

in the 20 minutes after!"

"Au contraire!"

"May I present to the court,

Exhibit C."

And now, let's take a look at what REALLY happened while Cricket was alone...

"You always rehearse before makin' a phone call?"

Was this really why he didn't tell his family what he was doing earlier?

"GIMMIE THAT TABLET!!"

"It's for your honor!"

"Cricket's rehearsal video is

an embarrassing 32 minutes long."

"CRICKET!!!"
(That was the part Cricket was called downstairs.)

"This time-stamped video

clearly proves

that between 11:00

and 11:20..."

"My client's mouth was full of love."

"Not cake."

"And with that..."

"I rest my case."

"I find you..."

"NOT guilty!"

"Do the innocence wave with me, Ma!"

"Thank you for trusting Sibling Code."

"And for knowing me better than anyone else."

"I love you, baby brother."

"Cricket..."

"I am so sorry

I almost grounded you

for something you didn't do!"

"It's okay."

"I usually done it."

"But if Cricket didn't eat the cake..."

"Then who did?"

"There's gotta be

something we're missing."

"And now for a poem, "From the Fires of my Heart"."

"Huh?"

"I know who did it."

"I know who took the cake!"

"Hello, Dad."

"Grampa?!"

"Nick?!"

""That's me!"

"Dad,

Grampa,

Nick."