XANDER: Buffy! What's up?

BUFFY: You guys didn't hear?

XANDER: Hear what?

BUFFY: A murder. Somebody killed two little kids.

WILLOW: Oh, no.

BUFFY: They were, like, seven or eight years old. My mom found the bodies during patrol last night.

Amy: Oh, my God.

OZ: Kids?

XANDER: Why was your mom there?

BUFFY: More bad. She picked last night, of all nights, for a surprise bonding visit.

WILLOW: God, your mom would actually take the time to do that with you? That really wasn't the point of the story, was it?

BUFFY: No. The point is, she's completely wigging.

JOYCE: Who's wigging?

BUFFY: Um... everyone. You know, 'cause of what happened.

JOYCE: Oh, it's so awful. I-I had bad dreams about it all night.

WILLOW: Hi, Mrs. Summers.

JOYCE: Oh, hi, everybody.

XANDER: Hi.

Amy: Hi, Mrs. Summers.

JOYCE: Buffy, have you talked to Mr. Giles yet about who could have done this?

BUFFY: Yeah. He, uh... He thinks it might be something ritual. A cult. Uh, he's still looking. In the meantime, we're gonna add to my patrol and, and, y'know, keep an eye out.

JOYCE: A cult. Like witches.

Willow coughs. Amy looks away.

WILLOW: Sorry. Phlegm. Too much dairy.

JOYCE: Oh, I-I-I know you kids think that stuff's cool. Buffy told me you dabble.

WILLOW: (nervously) Right. Absolutely. That's me. I'm a dabbler.

JOYCE: But anybody who could do this isn't cool. Anybody who could do this has to be a monster. It's...

BUFFY: (interrupts) You know what? Uh, would you guys excuse us for a little bit?

JOYCE: Uh, n-nice to see you.

XANDER: What a burn. I mean, Buff's mom was just starting to accept the whole Slayer thing, and now she's gonna be double-freaked.

WILLOW: (smiles) Makes me grateful that my mom's not interested in my extra-curricular activities. Or my *curricular* activities.

written by: Jane Espenson & Thania St. John; Transcribed by: AleXander Thompson. Full transcript at:
http://www.studiesinwords.de/45gingerbread.html