The Plutonians

By: Kate, 6^{th and 7th} grade

Chapter 1

It Just Gets Worse and Worse

       “Come on Madison, run!”  Yelled Jack desperately as the swarm of kids surrounded them.  “No Jack, we’ve got to fight!” retorted Madison belligerently.  She put her fists up and spit out insults at the boys; this included some cursing. 

Suddenly while Madison was still insulting with all her might, the crowd parted and a ninth grader stepped forward out of the crowd.  This ninth grader happened to be the toughest and roughest ninth grader at Warm High School.  His name was Farver.  Farver had dark, black hair and black clothes.  Well, he pretty much had black everything; a regular Goth.  Madison looked up, gulping; the insults slowly subsided into thin air.

       “Maddie, it seems that you got into a fight with my lil’ brother… agin’,” Madison gulped again.  Jack stepped forward tentatively.  “Please, can’t we talk this over a little bit?  I’m sure she’s learned her lesson and won’t do it again,” Jack cast a sideways glance at Madison.  “No, ya see, that’s what ya sed las tam.  But et seems thet ya’ve done et agin,” and just like that, Jack was on the ground, outside the ring of boys, his glasses broken and his nose bloody, streaming down to form a small puddle.  The ninth grader Farver blew on the huge fist that had sent Jack flying.  Farver turned to Madison who was looking down, horrified, at the unconscious body of her best friend, Jack.  Farver laughed at her stare, “Ha, now, wat shud I do with you?  First of all, why’d ya hit my brether?” 

Madison, picking up courage said, “Well your brother is a butthead, I told him meself.  But he started insultin’ me straight off, he had no right.  When he started insultin’ my best friend Jack though, I couldn’t take no more, and I hit him,” Farver shook his head.  “Well missy, if ya hit me brether, I’m agonna het you!”  Madison’s eyes grew very wide, and she started backing away from Farver, only to be pushed closer to him by the ring of shouting boys.

       Suddenly, she turned around and punched the fattest kid she could find behind her.  The fat kid fell down crying, which opened up enough space for her to scramble through.  Farver, dismayed, pointed at the running form of Madison as she sprinted away and yelled, “Git her!”  Immediately, all the kids ran, screaming after her.  Last of all to go was the fat kid, who, smelling excitement, wiped his tear-stained eyes with his grubby hands, and wiping dirt all over his shirt while trying to wipe the dirt off, waddled off. 

Madison was getting very tired, but knew that if she stopped, the Unspeakable would happen.  Suddenly, she stumbled and fell, as that happened, one thought flashed through her mind.  What am I doing?  Farver hit Jack and he’s a bully, not to mention his brother is a butthead!  I’m runnin’ away from them.  Well I know one way not to get killed.  Madison hobbled up as fast as she could on her burning knee.  She looked down and saw blood running down, soaking her sock and running into her shoe.  Ignoring that, she yelled out at the oncoming crowd, “Stop!”  The boys kept coming, either not hearing or not heeding her words.  Well, that didn’t work.  Got to think, wait, I’ve got it!  “I challenge Farver to a fight!” The boys stopped dead.  A hush descended over them all.  The boys looked from one to the other, and then whisperings spread through the crowd.  Madison knew the extremity of the fight, but she felt like with all her experience fighting, she could take him.  Alright now Madison, you’re probably crazy, but at least when I die I know I’ll have died fighting for Jack.  Oh, I wonder what they’re saying; no I don’t, I do not want to know what they think he’ll do to me.  Oh, no, here he comes.  Get ready Madison, a storm’s coming your way, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.  Madison looked straight forward, trying to hide the fear that was coursing through her body.  Farver pushed his way through the crowd, his black shirt and jeans discolored from the dust that had been kicked up.  “Ya got some nerve chall’nging me to a one to one fight,” Farver spat to one side, weighing his options.  On the one hand, if he declined, it would look like he was scared of a girl.  On the other hand, if he accepted, well: A smile spread across his face, “But we’ll have to call Ref,” more whispering rippled through the crowd like a wave.  Madison breathed slowly, a bittersweet moment.  Well, I won’t be killed by a bunch of boys today, yet.  But on the other hand, Farver is a ninth grader.  One punch from him and I’m out like a light.  I will have to use all my skill to come out of this the victor. 

       Madison craned her neck up to the sky and yelled, “Ref!  Ref!  Ref!”  The boys, hearing her call, chimed in, “Ref!  Ref! Ref!”  Soon the call was ringing through streets, houses, and through the whole town of Pluco.  The mayor sat up in his desk and thought: oh no, there is a fight coming, I bet it’s with that brat Madison.  She is always getting into fights.  The mayor reached with a slimy tentacle towards the phone.  What?  Did you think everyone on Pluto is human?  Yes, they do live on Pluto by the way.  I’ll explain after the fight scene.

Anyway, after picking up the phone, the mayor dialed with one tentacle while with the other he pressed the phone against his squishy, gooey face, covering the phone with green slime.  He listened to the phone’s melodious, doorbell-like ring.  Finally, a gruff, old sounding voice answered the phone.  His one ear-hole hearing it, the mayor spoke slowly in his annoying, high-squeaky voice.  “Hello officer Brad, how’s your day been going?”  Officer Brad didn’t like the mayor at all, and showed it in his voice.  “What do you want Mayor Slum?”  Ignoring the rude question, the mayor tried to hold his rising anger by firmly squeezing the squeaking Mr. Potato Head rapidly.  Mayor Slum had seen that advertised at the hologram shop.  He wanted it so much he immediately ordered it and in two seconds the holographer had made the Mr. Potato Head solid.  The mayor picked him up and occasionally used it to calm himself. 

 The mayor was born into the position of power, that’s right, born into it.  See in Pluto, they don’t vote like we do.  It’s like in England, the people inherit the power.  But, the difference is that for each different Province, there’s a mayor to watch over and focus on one.  But, then there’s a king, who runs the over-all welfare of the entire Pluto.  So Mayor Slum inherited the Mayorship.  But, nobody really respected him; he was sort of a push over.  He also is kind of self-important, and tries to squeeze all the money out of something he can. 

But, anyways, back to the talk.  “What I want for you to do, Officer is to break up the fight that is about to happen,” The Officer, sensing his chance to see some action, perked up considerably.  “Where is the fight going to take place, sir?”  Mayor Slum shook his head and some of the slime flew off his body and onto the first thing they hit.  “I don’t know where it’s going to take place!  It could be anywhere for all I know.  Just patrol everywhere!  Their hangout places, houses, even the schools!  Don’t ask me how they get inside, they just do.  I want you to find them before something bad happens!”  Officer Brad nodded his head, “Yeah, last time it got ugly, but we’ll find’em don’t you worry,” Officer Brad hung up and turned around.  He picked up the intercom and shouted into it.  “Men, get your stuff on, we’re goin’ to work!  We got to track down some kids who just called Ref.  The first thing to do is find Ref.  Quickly now, no doddlers,” Officer Brad hung up and quickly ran into the dressing room.  Minutes later he emerged again, this time in uniform.  He wore a suit that made him completely invisible to everyone except to people that were wearing a special kind of glasses.  He ran out to find the police already assembled before him.  Now, if you could actually see him he would be wearing all orange:  an orange suit, helmet, boots, and pants.  Looking over the crowd, Officer Brad shouted to the invisible crew.  “Alright men, I want Officer Klud to take the silver squad, Officer Cluch to Take the Turquoise Crew, and I’ll take the Orange Crew.  The reason each crew had different colors was that the suits were matching those colors.  So, out the police went to catch the kids and save the day…Okay maybe not the whole day.

Chapter 2

Fighting for Her Life

Madison stopped the call and waited.  The boys slowly stopped the call too.  The boys looked at each other, the thrilling suspense that was weighing down on their shoulders was almost too much to handle.  Madison looked at Farver smiling his biggest smile.  He was confident, it was plain to see.  I’ve got to use that against him, Madison thought to herself.  This is really bad for me to be fighting a ninth grader like Farver, Madison groaned.  Farver, hearing her, called to her: “What, are ya’ scared already?”  Madison’s anger welled up inside of her.  Hold it down Madison, use that anger to fuel you, she thought.  Madison took a very deep breath and composed herself.  She stood up tall and looked with all the others to the distance for that slim figure that was bound to be there any minute.

       “There he is!” Toby yelled and pointed out with excitement. Toby is a young boy who was in a blue and white shirt and khaki pants that were obviously too large for him.  Everyone looked where Toby was pointing and, sure enough, there was Ref.

Ref is slim, like a bone with no meat.  His only wardrobe seems to be a striped black and white shirt with black pants and a black cap.  To top it all off, he has white shoes and short black hair.  Nobody knows why Ref wears what he wears, but apparently he thinks it’s the “cool” new style.  As soon as he walked out the door during pre-school wearing nothing but black and white, his real name disappeared.  It was Ref, nobody seems to know Ref’s real name.  Plus, Ref always wears a whistle around his neck. 

       As soon as Madison saw him, she lost all feeling in every part of her body.  She knew that it would be probably be the most important fight of her life.  She gulped for the third time in that day; a record for her.  Ref loped up the grassy slope and down it again.  Madison watched every step he took, knowing that with each step, the time was coming closer to becoming real, not just a figment of her imagination.  The dense woods on either side of the plain seemed to constrict the plain, squeezing it down until there was no room except for her. 

Then, suddenly, Madison was woken up out of her trance to the sound of yelling.  Boys were pulling her towards Farver.  He just stood there, seeming ten feet tall.  Madison was in a ring of boys with Ref in the middle blowing his whistle, holding Farver back from charging.  It seemed to be going in slow motion for Madison.  Her ragged, tangled, brown hair was pulled back from her face by the hair tie that was old and brown.  Madison always used that hair tie so that her hair wouldn’t obscure her vision.

Suddenly, everything was broken out of slow motion by Ref’s whistle.  Ref let go of Farver and he charged forward.  There was nothing to stop him; except Madison.  But, Madison was quick.  She side-stepped Farver and threw out a quick lash of her arm against his back.  It was successful, and Farver stumbled into the crowd.  He righted himself, and rubbing his back, took it slower.  Madison and Farver circled each other, not daring to look away from the eyes that were staring into each other’s face. 

Suddenly, Farver lashed out with a hard punch that sent Madison flying.  The crowd roared with enthusiasm.  She lay on the ground, her body scanning itself for injuries.  It found none, and Madison got up slowly.  She found Farver a ways away, again, being held back by Ref.

Suddenly, she tasted blood and wiped her nose.  She groaned as she realized that the punch had given her a bloody nose.  Farver laughed at Madison with that evil smile that he always gave his prey.  It was to discourage them.  But Madison was not giving up that easily.  She was very stubborn, and made sure Farver knew that. 

“Hah!  You think that’s going to stop me?  A stupid bloody nose isn’t going to stop me!  You’re going down Farver; I’ll make sure of that,” With those last words, Farver broke from the strong hold of Ref and charged forward, overwhelmed with anger.  Madison gritted her teeth and stood solid, not looking fearful at all, even though she felt like throwing up. 

The boys held their breath, some not even watching.  Some started shouting to Madison, “Move out of the way!” But it was in vain, Madison didn’t move.  Farver gained speed with each stride.  Then suddenly…

 “Officer Brad, there they are!” shouted a police officer.  “Where, I don’t see them anywhere?” shouted Officer Brad back.  “There!” said the officer, pointing.  Suddenly, Officer Brad looked closely where the other officer was pointing, but to no avail; he couldn’t see them.  “Wait, I’m getting’ older now, I need my special glasses,” the officer took off his regular goggles and pulled out an ice case from his pocket.  This ice was specially made into an almost indestructible form.  It was gathered from outside the dome of the city.  Don’t worry, I’ll explain. 

So, around each province, there is an ice dome specially formed to make temperatures suitable for human life.  The Plutonians still had to travel from time to time to another province, but they always used weemodes.  Weemodes are microscopic airplanes that can withstand even the coldest of days, while still keeping the inside warm.  Now, I bet you’re wondering; how do the Plutonians fit in the weemodes?  Well, scientists used ice and special minerals they created, to form a potion.  Don’t ask me how they made it, only the scientists and apprentices know, and they don’t tell anyone.  So all you do is drink the potion and become microscopic.  After the ride there, attendants give you an antidote and voila! You’re a normal size again.  Also, another question you might be asking is, how do they get the metal?  Well, they don’t use ice.  The Venusians (people who live on Venus) trade metal from Venus for something they need and we have plenty of: Water.  It’s a fair trade.

I know, I know.  You want me to go on with the story.  Fine.  Anyway, Officer Brad opened up the ice case and pulled out another pair of goggles.  This time though, when he put them on, he could see much better from a distance.  “Ah, much better,” Officer Brad turned to the policeman.  “Where is it again?” The policeman pointed again and this time, Officer Brad saw the children.  “Hurry men, I see them, we must stop them before it gets ugly!” with Officer Brad in the lead, the force of policemen, now joined together in all their invisible, colorful splendor, started down the hill. 

Ha, ha, ha.  Oh, I really got you there didn’t I?  You were all ready to read the exciting part and I changed the subject.  Well I couldn’t hold it forever, so here’s the exciting part.

As Farver got the closest he could get, Madison side-stepped and clothes-lined him!  Farver gurgled what was supposed to be a scream, but it was mutilated.  Then, suddenly, it was quiet.  Madison looked down at the body of the unconscious Farver.  His hair was sticking out this way and that, except for his bangs, they were covered in sweat and matted to his forehead.  Ref loped over to her and held up her hand, a sign that the victor had been chosen.  The boys let out a yell, and then, they all swarmed around her, grabbing at Madison and lifting her up. 

But, as soon as she had been thrust up, she was dropped to the ground.  Madison hit the ground, the wind knocked out of her as her head was slung back and viciously hit the ground.  All she saw was screaming kids and a blurry picture of a man standing over her.  “You’re in serious trouble Madison,” said the man, blurrily shaking his head.  With her last breath, Madison whispered: “Jack,” “He’s fine, we’ve found him,” with those last words from the officer, Madison breathed deeply and then closed her eyes.

Chapter 4

Explanations

Now, I’m going to explain a little about my story.  First of all, as you can probably tell, Madison is the brave, adventurous one while Jack is the kind, nerdy one.  All stories have to explain what the characters look like.  It’s almost like a rule.  I didn’t really explain what they looked like all too well in the first two chapters.  I’m going to have to explain now. 

Madison is thirteen with, long, brown hair (her mom wouldn’t let her cut it short).  Her eyes are a light blue that seem to have some sort of depth to them.  It’s too hard to explain.  Madison has dark, thin eyebrows and medium-sized ears.  Her ears are not too big, not too small.  Madison usually wore plaid shirts that were obviously too big because she had to roll them up.  They always fell down again of course, so she constantly had to roll them up again.  Jeans were her favorite pairs of pants so, obviously, she wore them.  Yes, the Plutonians had jeans and plaid shirts.  I bet you can guess what they’re made of, yes, ice!  The Plutonians work in factories that have special machines called snorfers.  Snorfers have special contraptions that laser the ice and then freeze it while the laser is still working.  Then some other contraptions do some other stuff (please don’t ask me what!  Use your imagination!) So that when the ice finally shatters, it reveals some sort of clothing.  It’s cool, I must admit.  Madison also wore sneakers, or she just was barefoot.  She wore sneakers in school, but she was barefoot when with the guys. 

There, you happy now?  Oh, yeah, you’re probably not happy because I haven’t described Jack, have I?  Fine I’ll humor you.

Jack is the best friend of Madison and tries to get her out of trouble as best he can, though it doesn’t always work.  Jack has short, very short blond hair.  He wears glasses that are always sliding down his nose.  Jack wears shirts with collars in school, they are plain colored.  He wears black pants that look like they would look good with a tux.  He wears that outfit in school, along with a pair of penny loafers.  When he’s just hanging out, Jack wears jeans that fit him perfectly, unlike Madison.  Jack also wears an assortment of shirts that have different pictures or words on each one.  Of course, these fit him perfectly too.  Jack has brown, bushy eyebrows that really accent his bright green eyes.  His eyes seem to glow, even in sunlight.  Sneakers are his favorite shoes.  Jack wears them when he can.

Finally, I’m done describing them.  It really takes a lot out of a person ya’ know.  But, I hope you’re happy.  Yeah, don’t be so pushy, I’ll get back to the story now.  Geez, you’d think that for someone who wanted me to explain all that you’d be a little more grateful.  Okay! Okay!  Sheesh, I’ll do the story now, gosh.  Wait, I lied, just to mention to you that this was about 200,000 years ago.  Also, you might be wondering how humans came to live on Pluto before Earth.  Well, the first living things on Pluto were tiny organisms.  They evolved into aliens who could withstand the cold.  They got tired of the cold though, and built ice domes.  They were able to keep heat in.  The aliens built a community and some of them evolved into humans.  Though some Plutonians are alien, some are human.  One more thing, Earth hasn’t been discovered yet.   Alright, now I’ll continue with the story.

Chapter 4

Big Trouble

Madison first smelled something bad.  It was an overpowering stench that was so revolting, yet oddly familiar.  Madison racked her brain for something that would register. 

Suddenly, her brain popped up a picture that made her belly squirm uncomfortably.  Then, Madison’s worst fear was confirmed as she heard the loud, annoyingly squeaky voice that was talking to the officer she knew so well.  Yep, if you guessed the mayor, you’re correct.  Mayor Slum was having a serious conversation with Officer Brad. 

Officer Brad seemed always to be the one that was assigned to stop her doing whatever bad thing she was doing.  Madison smiled at the recollection of all the times Officer Brad caught her right before she did something really bad.  Of course, she always fought him to the car.  Madison had to fight him; people would think that she was a sissy.  That was the last thing Madison needed: To lose her reputation when she had worked so hard to build it up.

Officer is pretty cool, for a grown-up.  He knows what it’s like for me, since he lived in a poor part of town where he had to fight gangsters all the time.  I guess that’s why he decided to become a police officer, to stop kids from becoming gangsters.  Then maybe kids like me wouldn’t have to fight so much. 

Madison lay still and looked around.  Of course, she was locked up in a flasnog.  Now, a flasnog is sort of like a car.  It is round. With two wheels, it runs on water and can reach past the speed of light.  That is optional of course.  Mostly only robbers and policeman buy flasnogs that go that fast. 

Madison studied the purple leather that covered everything except the steering wheel, the dials, and Madison.  She grimaced at the purple.  It was a little intoxicating with all that purple surrounding her. 

Then, the mayor’s voice caught her attention and Madison struggled to sit up with the ropes that had been tightly secured around her.  Smart.  Well, Officer Brad still isn’t going to take any chances even though the door is locked.  He knows that I can get out of any sticky situation; except this. Madison slowly lowered herself down back onto the plush purple seat after her attempt to sit up was proved vain. 

Her head hit something hard and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from crying out in pain.  Apparently that is where I bumped my head at the fight.  Madison strained to look up enough to see what it was that had hurt her.  Out of the corner of her eye, Madison saw Ref’s bigger than normal whistle lying in the seat.  Madison gasped at the sight.  Ref never goes anywhere without his whistle!   Has he been arrested like me?  But why take away his whistle, it never did any harm? 

Then, the mayor’s mention of her name perked Madison up, and she listened attentively.  “I want her exiled, or something!” The mayor shouted out at Officer Brad.  “We can’t just exile her, she hasn’t done anything bad enough to deserve that punishment,” Officer Brad shook his head.  “Besides, the king would never allow it, he loves children,” Mayor Slum smirked.  “King Rurrord would change his mind if he meets Madison,” Madison stuck out her tongue and cursed at Mayor Slum under her breath after his rude remark.  “That’s not true and you know it,” Officer Brad looked disgusted.  “Besides, Jack helps her out, they’ve become close friends,”

Officer Brad eyed his flasnog with a look that was close to affection.  He wasn’t looking at the flasnog fondly; he was trying to look at the object inside the flasnog.  Madison ducked down quickly to avoid his glance.  Oh, no!  I completely forgot about Jack!  Madison thought herself.  Mayor Slum smirked again, obviously having caught the officer’s glance.  “You’ve grown far too close to that child.  I don’t like it.  You’re going to start letting her off too easy.  I don’t want you giving her any mercy!” The mayor’s enthusiasm grew with each word.  “I want that child to be taught obedience!!  I want her to be the best child and for everyone to think that she is perfect!!!  I want it done now!!!!”

The mayor was literally screaming at the top of his lungs!  It wasn’t pretty because every time he got louder, his face got bigger and puffier.  He started spitting and shaking goo everywhere.  It definitely wasn’t pretty.  In fact, it is one of the most revolting things you will ever see.  It’s disgusting, I’m not kidding. 

Officer Brad got covered in goo during the speech, but, surprisingly, he didn’t flinch.  Officer Brad didn’t want the mayor to think that he was a little sissy.  Madison smiled as she watched.  That’s right, show that no good mayor who’s boss!  Man, I hope something happens that removes him from office.   Her hands came to rest comfortably on her lap.  Madison looked back up, wanting to listen some more to the conversation. 

But, Madison screamed when she saw the slimy face of Mayor Slum starring down at her.  She calmed herself down, the shock of the mayor’s face slowly subsiding.  “Well, I see she’s awake and fine, seeing as she almost burst my eardrum,” Mayor Slum said this as if it was all fun and good, but Madison knew he was seething. 

“Good morning Mayor Slum, I see you haven’t taken a bath since, well, never,” the Mayor was obviously having trouble holding down the anger that was coursing through him, and Madison enjoyed messing with him, so she kept talking.  Have you found a mate yet, since you say you are a chic magnet,” oh, Madison could see that the mayor was about to blow his top.  See, the mayor had a hard time with ladies because of his, ya’ know, appearance.  So, whenever somebody ever asks him about that subject, he will kindly excuse himself from the table, group, pool, etc. and calmly trudge to the bathroom.  If you follow Slum, you will find him shaking with rage and absolutely going bananas.  It’s not pretty.  As you can probably tell, not a lot about Mayor Slum is pretty.  Mayor Slum gave Madison one of his evil glares, but Madison just smiled.  The mayor totally caught Madison off guard when the mayor spit out the very words that Madison was hoping nobody would ever say: “Let’s go pay a visit to your parents.”

Chapter 5

There’s Nothing Worse

Madison’s eyes grew wide with fear and apprehension.  “My parents?” she stuttered out the word as if it was the devil’s.  Mayor Slum nodded his head, a wide smile plastered on his face.  Madison hung her head, defeat was imminent.  “What is it Madison, do you not want to go to your parent’s house?” Mayor Slum’s smile grew wider, if that was possible.  “No,” Madison mumbled out.  “What was that Madison, did you say you didn’t want to visit your parents?” Mayor Slum was now slaughtering (not literally) Madison now with his words.  She didn’t answer Slum’s question, she didn’t have to, the answer was written all over her face (again, not literally).  “Get over here officer,” Brad walked slowly over, inside he felt nothing but pity for Madison.  “I want you to drive Madison over to her parent’s house.  But, I want you to wait for me, this is too good to miss,” Mayor Slum smiled mockingly once more at Madison, and quickly slid over to his sporty flasnog (mayors are not poor (which means they are not lightly paid); no matter how much they are hated by everyone).  The mayor hopped inside his flasnog and revved the engine.  You wouldn’t believe that a slimy, greedy mayor was inside the hot car.  “Meet me there!”  He yelled as the car sped off into the distance.

Madison’s parents are probably the meanest aliens alive, even now.  Yes, Madison’s parents are aliens.  Nobody knows why Madison is human, it was just a malfunction in the machinery at the birthing offices; or else, that’s what everyone says.  I don’t know where I’m going with this, since I don’t have a theory.  But, anyway, Harriet and George are the names of the parents.  Those are pretty nice names for the pair of scumbags that they belong to.  I wish the two weren’t even in the story, and yet, I can’t change the course of history!  Harriet is a wrinkly blue alien that has an octagonal head; but only because she has eight faces, one on each side.  No matter how much anyone tries, they can never seem to surprise her from behind (not that anyone tries).  Harriet to drink beer is stale and hates Madison.  Harriet has a hundred arms; the ultimate multi- tasker.  She wants everything perfect all the time, including the people she talks to.  Usually she has a hard time finding clothes she wants, since they have to be white, made of cotton, and in the size XXXXXXXXXXXS.  Just imagine a needle.  That’s about how skinny Harriet is.  Now enlarge that about sixty times, that’s how tall she is.  When Harriet actually finds clothes that fit her, she likes a white short skirt that she says (quote) “It shows off my feminine curves!”  (Like she has any!) (Un-quote)  She likes white long-sleeved shirts that are sweaters and that are turtle-necks. 

George is actually just the opposite.  He likes wine and still hates Madison.  But, he likes things messy so he and Harriet argue all the time about it.  That’s the only time they were ever not yelling at Madison (like she was ever home!).  All of George’s shirts were plain, and, since he was still growing (in the horizontal direction) all those too small in the belly shirts, got handed to Madison.  Before wearing those shirts though, Madison would wash them maybe 30 times before actually wearing them.  That’s why her shirts were always too large; they were made for someone 30x her size.  George made the house a pigsty, while Harriet made the house clean.  George always wore jeans, but he never grew in the waist, so he wore them until they were nothing but rags.  Harriet didn’t have a job, but George worked hard at his job: A herder of the children.  He was immediately good at this job because the children were all scared of him.  They ran in the opposite direction of wear he was coming from; so all he had to do was take a couple steps and the children ran as fast as they could right into the nap area.  These little children were really little; pre-school little.  The parents were always complaining about their little children waking up in the middle of the night, screaming that a big, ugly man was coming after them.  They got nightmares also about how that big man’s face got right up into theirs, that really made them scream; smelling his beer breath.  That’s how scary George is.  Every time Madison came home, that’s what she had to confront.  That confrontation was coming all too soon; for Madison is riding toward that confrontation right now. 

Chapter 6

Madison’s Worst Nightmare

“Do I have actually go to my parent’s house?  Can’t you take me to Jack’s house so I can see how he’s doing?” Madison pleaded to Officer Brad.  “I’m afraid not Madison.  I’ll lose my job if I do.  I’m sorry but if you didn’t get into fights all the time this wouldn’t have happened in the first place,” Officer Brad shook his head sadly.  “Oh, so now you’re blaming this on me, huh?  Everyone seems to blame everything on me!  Even when I don’t do it I hear Madison!  Why’d you knock down Stephen?!  Then I have to prove that I am innocent!  I’m tired of it; yet I enjoy making mischief,” Madison wore a frown that showed she wasn’t trying to be funny.  Officer Brad had to smile at her ferocity. “It was unfair of the mayor to be doing this to you; but I still have to take you to your parents house, I’m sorry,” Madison could tell Officer Brad was being sincere.  “They’re going to murder me and hide me under the rafters, I just know it,” Officer Brad shivered.  “I don’t think they’re that bad,” Madison looked exasperated.  “Well of course you don’t!  You know they’re really bad, but when you’re gone, they’re worse; if you can believe it,” Officer Brad’s smile disappeared.  Before he could say something, he heard a honk behind him. Madison looked and saw that they had been so busy talking they had missed her house.  Mayor Slum had honked at them angrily, thinking they had intentionally passed the house.  Officer Brad glanced back worriedly and turned around.  Madison sighed as her brick house got closer. 

Madison’s house is in a neighborhood of cookie cutter homes that, just in case you didn’t know, are homes that all look exactly alike.  They can be kind of confusing if you’re trying to find the one that’s one of your friends are having a birthday party at.  Unfortunately, Madison was not going to a birthday party; she was going for a meeting with her parents.  Madison’s house and every other house in the neighborhood looked like a cube.  There were four spray- painted windows; I don’t want to say or for you to know what the spray paint said. The four windows were on the front of the dark red brick house and there was a shiny brass doorknob that is the only way to open the door. The door’s paint is peeling considerably and has many cracks running down it.  Occasionally a piece of the grout holding the cracking bricks together will fall and hit anyone who happens to be walking underneath it at that time.  As you can probably see, Madison’s parents don’t really pay much attention to the outside of their house, even the lawn looks like a desert, all the grass white and dead, the flowers straining to survive in the barren wasteland that the Johnsons called their front yard.  That is why Madison tries to spend as much time as possible away from her parent’s house; hey, you would too.

As Officer Brad slowly pulled in to the Johnson’s narrow driveway, Madison took the deepest breath possible and got ready to meet her worst nightmares.  Madison reached for the silver door handle in the otherwise purple interior of the flasnog; she jumped back in surprise as it was flung open enthusiastically by Mayor Slum.  Madison took her time getting out, as did Officer Brad.  She followed along behind Mayor Slum, carefully avoiding his slimy trail.  Officer Brad brought up the rear, looking down at his feet as if he was a kindergartener about to be sent to time-out.  Mayor Slum crawled up the front steps to the door.  Madison held her breath as Mayor Slum reached up as high as he could with his green tentacle and pressed the door bell.  The rings sounded loud and clear inside the house, and Madison heard a curse and the scuffling of feet getting closer.   Madison was running out of breath to hold when the door was opened.  There stood one of Madison's worst nightmares as Harriet opened the door to reveal her blue figure.  A sneer ran across her features as soon as she saw Madison standing there in her plaid shirt.  “George!  You’d better come ‘ere!” Madison grimaced as she heard more scuffling feet as her other worst nightmare appeared.  George looked down on Madison as if she was a piece of trash to be thrown out.  “What are you hear for Madison?” George asked; a forced smile aped to his face.  Mayor Slum gladly replied, “Well, she got into a fight again,” Harriet’s eyes opened wide with indignation, “What!  Madison Harley Johnson!  How dare you get into a fight!  What’s this I hear about another fight?  You are in such big trouble!”  Mayor Slum smiled with satisfaction as Madison shrunk back with fear. “Yes, I’m afraid so.  She has gotten into multiple fights and I personally think it has gone too far,” Mayor Slum said, his voice coated with fake pity. “Well, we’ll take care of that.  Don’t you worry; I know how to work with kids.  I do it every day,” George smiled down at Madison and Madison eyes grew big with fear. 

Suddenly, Madison bolted, the consequences of being left with her parents was definitely a good, hard beating. 

Madison had once gone to the authorities, hoping to turn her parents in on child abuse.  She had used the many bruises that had been appearing on her body from the beating that had happened an hour ago.  After telling the authorities that her dad had beaten her because she had taken all his beer and thrown it out into the dump (after opening each bottle of course).  Madison also told the authorities that George had been seized with a mad rage that took control of his mind.  He had pulled Madison back into the house and whipped the belt that was strapped around his waist and hit her as hard as he could.  Madison had screamed for mercy, she had screamed for her mother to do something; but her mother had laughed.  George beat her exactly twenty times; Madison knew because she counted each blow that pierced her senses.  After Madison's tale, there was a quick pause, followed by hard laughter.  Madison had yelled at the police angrily, not understanding why they were laughing.  One policemen came up and said “That's a good one Madison, you probably got in another fight,” Madison showed the police her arms and back, but to no avail.  The police thought that she had gotten into another fight.

Madison shivered with the recollection.  Looking behind her, Madison screamed when she saw the green face of Mayor Slum racing behind her, followed closely by Harriet.  I’m not surprised that George didn’t come; he’s way too lazy.  Ho can I be talking about George?  I’m being chased by the mayor and my demented mother!  I have got to out run them, or it’ll be the death of me!  Madison snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a gruff yell from behind her and the screech of tires as George came barreling down the road in his old, battered flasnog.  It had more than a few dents in it, and the paint was almost all scratched off in the many different accidents he had been in.  I knew he couldn’t resist trying to catch me!  Oh, now I have no chance!  Well, now I have to at least keep him from catching me as long as I can.  Madison continued to run, even though her lungs were constricting from lack of breath and her side cramped, making her cringe with pain.  Madison kept on running, the pain growing worse with each step.  Yet, with each step, George came closer in his flasnog.  Madison cried out with pain and desperation.  Then, Madison saw her chance.  She felt hope boiling up inside of her as the old alley came into view.  The alley had been nicknamed “Old Witch Alley” by all the kids.  It had been said that 9 year-old Johnny Crew had bet that he could beat his friend Trevor in a race.  Trevor would take the streets, Johnny would take the alley.  Trevor and Johnny had taken off in an instant as Ref blew his whistle.  But, Trevor got to the other side first and celebrated, waiting for Johnny.  Johnny never came out.  It was said that Johnny had been taken away by the beggar Jules.  All the kids said that she was a witch, and they believed she had taken him.  So, nobody ever went down that alley.

That alley was Madison’s only chance.  It was too small for the flasnog, and she could easily outrun George.  So, as the alley loomed closer, Madison looked back at the flasnog and jumped as she saw the front bumper a few feet away from her foot.  Madison jumped into the alleyway as George swerved by.  He tried to turn, but in vain.  The dented flasnog swerved this way and that as George screamed out curses at Madison.  But Madison was too weak to yell back.  Madison slowly regained her strength, the worst was over but the terrifying was still too come. 

 Chapter 7

Another Showdown

Madison sat up, her cramp had subsided and she felt better now that she had rested.  She listened for any kind of footsteps that would tell her if Mayor Slum was coming.  Hearing nothing, Madison grew suspicious and got up, ready for anything.  Madison went to look out at the street, but thought better of it and ran down the alley.  She knew exactly where she wanted to go.  I wonder how Jack is feeling, Madison thought.  Madison felt the pang of the cramp, so she slowed down to a leisurely walk.  Madison was wary of her surroundings.  She looked around every corner for a sign of the witch that took Johnny so long ago.  Madison stopped suddenly, randomly remembering that she had taken Ref’s whistle from Officer Brad’s flasnog.  I’ve got to find him and give him back his whistle.  Madison thought quickly, scanning ahead for anyone who might jump out.  I’ll go to Jack’s house and then he’ll figure out what to do.  Madison nodded her head with approval at her plan. 

Jack always makes the plan for Madison, always making her promise that if she gets caught, not to tell anyone that he had been involved.  Madison always promised, she needed help making the plans for her many adventures of wrongdoing.  To Madison, it was all good fun.  Maybe it was that she enjoyed annoying people, or maybe she enjoyed the thrill of almost getting caught.  Madison always thanked Jack by stealing some candy for him (without telling him it was stolen of course).  Jack and Madison were best of friends after Jack let Madison cheat off him on a test and Madison saved Jack from being beaten up.  Now they always help each other through hard times. 

Madison blinked hard as fake sunlight pierced her vision.  Her vision cleared, Madison looked around her for a familiar sign that would tell her where she was.  Madison fell with a cry as the rocky ground came up to meet her.  Madison looked at where she had fallen and gasped.  Gravel!  This must be the Other Side of Town!  This is where Farver’s gang parades!  Wait a second, I didn’t trip!  Madison got up and swung around to face Bog, Farver’s second in command.

Madison groaned aloud with exasperation.  “Do I have to beat up another of Farver’s gang?  I thought I had taught you guys a lesson,” Bog ran a crooked smile across his face.  “Oh don’t worry Maddie.  This time you can beat up each one of us, at once,” the boys snickered as Madison grew pale in the face.  Goosebumps sprouted all over her body.  She swallowed, trying to think of a good comeback.  “What’s the matter Maddie, speechless?”  Bog spat out at her.  Madison got red in the face from the snickering boys.  Seeing her grow red, the boys just snickered louder.  Suddenly, Madison thought of one, “how’s your dad doin’ Bog?  Is he out of prison yet?” This time it was Madison’s turn laugh, and she did heartily.  All the boys stared at Bog, who stared speechless at Madison.  All the boys knew that Bog’s dad was a very sensitive subject.  Madison watched with satisfaction as Bog’s face went from pink, to red, and finally settled on a very dark purple.  Madison’s smile disappeared though when she witnessed Bog starting his fit of rage.  Before anything further could happen, Madison took off sprinting down the gravel path, dodging or jumping over the obstacles she came up against.  Madison slowed a little, her chest was heaving from exertion.  Looking back, Madison’s eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw that not a few yards away, the huge group of boys was tumbling down the gravel path.  Madison high-tailed it, stumbling in a few places, but she kept going. 

Suddenly, something hard hit her in the back and she tumbled to the ground.  Madison cried out as she skid across the gravel.  She could feel warm blood trickling down her skin in more than a few places.  She rolled over on her back, but was brutally kicked back over.  “So Maddie, you wanna take back what you said about my dad?”  “I was just asking,” Madison said innocently.  That earned her another hard kick in the side.  “Take it back!” Bog screamed with gritted teeth.  “John, Cody, pick her up,” The two boys picked Madison up and held her there.  “Take it BACK!” Bog screamed in a high-pitched voice.  Before he could kick her again, Madison yelled out desperately, “I take it back!” Bog sneered at her, and giving Madison a hard kick, he and the gang ran.

  Madison fell to the ground, weak and bleeding.           “Before I go, I should tell you that the whistle you got sure looks like Ref’s, you got an explanation?”  He didn’t wait for an answer, and went on with his interrogation.  “I’m feeling merciful, so I’ll just tell him you asked me to return this to him,” Bog laughed and ran off after his gang; leaving Madison on the ground.   

When she woke up, she was in the same place that she had fallen earlier.  Madison found that her stomach was bruised and so was her face.  Dried blood was caked on her hands, face, and legs.  She sat up slowly and looked around.  She got up, holding her stomach as the pain came.  Madison groaned leaned heavily upon a rock that was blessedly nearby.  After resting a little bit, she took a few steps forward, and groaned again with pain.  Madison continued forward, taking one painful step at a time. 

Madison was now beginning to wonder when she would get to Jack’s house.  But, as soon as Madison said this, she spotted the looming white that marked Jack’s house.  She started forward with more determination.  Madison looked upon the steps leading to the front door with glee.  She started climbing, taking her time on each step.  Madison reached the front door and rang the doorbell.  The door made no sound when it opened.  As it was, the governess who opened it cried out and ran to Madison, who fell into her arms.  The master of the house came, after hearing her cry.  He picked Madison up gingerly and carried her inside.

Madison opened her eyes slowly and blinked.  There was no mistaking it; she was in a large white room that looked like those in hospitals.  Beside her, Madison was surprised to see Jack beside her.  He had acquired a black eye and a swollen nose, but his personality was still the same; cheery, smart, and funny.  Madison loved that about Jack, he could always turn a depressing situation into okay time.  “Well finally! I thought you would never wake up!” Madison smiled weakly, happy to see that familiar face beside her.  “What happened, did Farver do that to ya?” Madison filled him in on the whole story, from his unconsciousness to her falling into the maid’s arms on the front steps. 

The whole time she told the story, Jack listened to every word intently.  That was another thing Madison loved about Jack, he would always listen to her, even when what she had to say was wacky.  If she said it was true, Jack would believe her; that’s why Madison always feels so guilty when telling him a lie, he will always believe it. 

When Madison was done with her tale, Jack whistled and shook his head disbelievingly.  “That’s one heck of a story Madison,” Madison smiled at her storytelling skills. 

Madison loves impressing Jack.  Whatever chance she gets, she’ll try to impress him.  “Yeah, a lot has happened to me today,” Madison closed her eyes, thinking about all the things that had happened that day was making her tired.  “Get some rest, there’s school tomorrow ya’ know,” Madison groaned and rolled over in the white, soft bed.  Jack smiled again in amusement.  He watched as Madison’s breathing grew deeper and steadier.  Jack looked longingly upon her, and then he got up silently and strolled out of the room.

Chapter 8

The Discovery at School

Madison groaned as she felt something tugging her from her death sleep.  “C’mon Mad, time to go to school!” Madison groaned, but made no move to get up.  Jack pulled the cover off of Madison, exposing her bruise covered body.  The bruises were partly covered by her clothes that she had failed to take off the day before. 

Madison came fully awake as she felt the bed falling away from her.  The ground was unrelenting as Madison fell upon it.  She closed her eyes as she hit many of her bruises as she hit the ground.  A wave of pain washed over her body.  Jack came over to her and helped Madison stagger to her feet.  “What d’ya does that for?” Madison asked weakly.  “I don’t want to be late for class and you don’t need to be in any more trouble with your teacher.  Madison snickered at his outfit.  “Where’d you get your clothes, from Nerds R Us?” Jack ignored the insult and sternly told her to “get her clothes on.” But, of course, Madison had to back talk and say: “I already have my clothes on genius,” “Get the clothes on that don’t have splattered blood all over them,” “But those are the cool ones!” Madison protested.  Jack wouldn’t hear of it.  “No, I want you to get the spare pair of clothes you always have in my cupboard,” Madison sighed as if defeated by a parent, and walked over to the huge, ice cupboard.

       Right now, you might be wondering why Madison would even go to school.  The answer is that Jack doesn’t want Madison to become a juvenile delinquent.  Even though it wouldn’t seem like it, Madison doesn’t want to become one either.  Jack had argued it like a pro, saying: “You’ll probably get into lots of fights, and Mayor Slum will kill you.  Plus, you’ll be with your best buddy!” Madison had smiled at Jack, and laughed.  Jack had worn a goofy smile on his face.

       Madison might have given in, but she hadn’t liked the idea.  Alright, I’ve talked enough; enjoy the rest of the story! 

Madison took her time changing, wanting to be as late going to school as possible.  But, she couldn’t hold off the inevitable forever, and found that she was done changing.  Trudging down the ice stairs to the ice table in the white kitchen, Madison found the whole family already sitting down at the table, calmly waiting for Madison to come down.  She surveyed her surroundings.  There was the fridge crammed up against the wall by the ice stove.  There was an oak cupboard on the other wall.  A back door was positioned by the bar. A table was in the middle of the room; that is where the family sat.  Jack’s two younger sisters stared at Madison, thinking that she was a loser.  Madison avoided their eyes, she never had really liked them or vice versa.  There was an extra chair in between Jack and Mark (Jack’s dad).  She sat down heavily, her eyes still drooping with sleep.  Mark smiled at Madison and went up to get the pancakes out of the holographer that transports them to the microwave.  He pulled out a whole plate full of steaming goodness, already drowned in syrup.  Madison awakened when the smell reached her nose, and her stomach grumbled.  Mark sat the plate down in the middle of the table, and Madison was about to jump in and grab one, when Jack nudged her.  Madison glared at him; but asked politely for one.  The pancake was dropped onto her plate and Madison dug into it with gusto.  Jack and the whole family watched Madison with disbelieve written all over their faces.  Jack’s mouth dropped open. 

Madison finally sat back with satisfaction after finishing her fourth pancake.  Jack looked at her expectantly; finally Madison whispered, “Oh!” she got up and took her plate to the sink.  Jack rolled his eyes and got up to go to the bathroom.  Madison followed him and picked up the spare toothbrush that was labeled with her name.  She gave her teeth a good scrubbing, and then grabbed the spare backpack that is always by the front door.

Jack pulled Madison out of the door as she tried to start a conversation with Mark.  They ran all the way to school.  Madison seeing it as a contest, raced ahead of the wheezing Jack.  Madison stopped in front of the gates of Warm High School, reluctant to step in.  Jack came wheezing up behind Madison and rang the bell.  The gates opened and Madison was pushed in protesting.  Madison broke free of Jack’s grasp and ran back towards the gates.  It was too late, the gates closed just as she ran up.  She shook the gates in frustration, but seeing as it was no use, turned and sprinted to catch up with Jack.  Jack walked up to the front door and opening it, walked inside.  Madison took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

There was pure chaos inside the white doors of Warm High School.  You could see the principal screeching for order.  Madison pushed through the daily crowd to her locker.  Madison touched the finger print pad and said her password.  “Jack,” she whispered softly.  There was a click from inside, and her locker opened.  Madison cursed as several books and a few important papers came crashing to the ground.  “What was that Madison?” Madison froze and turned around. 

Like all the teachers at Warm High School Mrs. Smiley hated Madison (she hated all the kids in the school, but hated Madison more).  Mrs. Smiley flashed one of those smiles that meant you were in big trouble.  She grabbed Madison’s ear before she had time to react.

Madison yelled out in surprise as she was almost literally dragged across the hall.  The principal’s office was at the end of the hall, meaning a very long, painful journey for Madison. 

The Mrs. Smiley led Madison there by her ear.  She closed the door as they walked in.  Madison struggled out of her grasp and tripped over one of the many paper piles that were strewn across the room.  Madison fell into a chair that conveniently stopped her from falling to the floor.

Mrs. Smiley sat down in her squeaky chair after pushing off all the paper that had been thrown there.  She turned around squeakily and put on her frown.  Madison slumped down in her chair as she looked around at the office.  Things are messier than I remember!  Madison shook her head.  She must still be holding off on doing all that paperwork.  This is why I will never become a teacher.  If you hold off on paperwork it doesn’t just go away, it accumulates!  Madison was drawn out of her mind with a sharp word from Mrs. Smiley, “Madison! Pay attention!  This is very important!” Madison looked over at the principal.  “As you know, a new planet has been discovered and The Explorers are going to investigate,” “What?!” Madison sat up in her chair.  “What, you hadn’t heard?  Yes, the new planet is going to be called Earth.  The school is going to watch the take-off of the wee-mode that holds The Explorers,” Mrs. Smiley continued, Madison stared at her.  Madison has always wanted to be an Explorer.  Madison was excited, very excited.  Her dreams were crushed when the principal she hated so much said: “But, seeing that you continue to act badly, you will be refrained from going,” “What!?” Madison said for the second time in that office.  Mrs. Smiley, seeing that she had caused Madison much pain, told her to leave. 

The rest of the day was a blur to Madison.  She only thought about the take-off, the take-off she wouldn’t see.  She was on auto pilot and was walking slowly down the hall with everybody else until suddenly, she stopped.  Madison stopped in the middle of the hallway and smiled to herself.  Madison had an idea.

Chapter 9

The Thinker and Doer

Madison looked up at the clock, ignoring the teacher that was droning on in front of her. 

Finally, the bell rang and Madison was sprinting down the hallway when the teacher called her back; and gave Madison detention. 

Madison sat at her desk while the teacher gave her a lecture on running.  Madison hardly heard a word she said.  Madison was forced to write 100 times, “I will not run in class” on the blackboard.

Mrs. Michum looked up, hearing footsteps pounding, and saw that Madison was gone.  She rushed up from her work and saw that Madison had written the sentence 100 times, exactly.

“Weird,” Mrs. Michum said aloud.  “She must be in a real hurry,” Satisfied, Mrs. Michum went back to her desk to do paperwork. 

Madison cleared the building with no problems, ignoring a yell from an annoyed teacher.  Madison ran across the parking lot, and jumped the fence (she wasn’t supposed to, of course).  There was road that Madison followed.  It was a pretty out of the way road; it wasn’t used much except to go to the school.  Madison had to jump out of the way of a honking car, which almost lost control as the driver tried to avoid hitting her.  Madison received a harsh cursing and the driver flicked her off.

Madison pulled herself off the ground and continued running.  A gravel road presented itself and Madison ran down it.  There was forest on either side of her and Madison kept clear of it, sticking to the gravel. 

Madison picked up speed as she saw the tree house situated in a small clearing.  The tree house was at least 10 years old.  The red paint looked old and brownish; it was peeling off the walls.  Madison reveled at the old thing.  It had seen many discoveries and battles.  The tree house was pretty standard.  It had a roof over a platform that had railings on each side, except for the side that had the red (or what used to be red) slide. 

Madison bounded up the stairs and picked up the walkie talkie that always laid on the platform.  Madison looked off the platform and remembered the first time she and Jack had been here. 

Madison and Jack had been running from a gang of boys; they were both 5.  The road seemed to go on forever.  Jack had spotted the gravel and they had run down it.  Madison spotted the tree house, and with its help, they fought off the bullies. 

Madison turned away from the view and pressed the button on the side of the walkie talkie.  She commenced to talk into it.  “Jack?  Jack come in!  If you can hear me, come to the tree house, I have a new plan!” Madison let go of the button and set the walkie talkie on the ground.  There was nothing more for her to do, so Madison sat down on the ground and waited impatiently. 

Madison was about to try the walkie talkie again when she glanced at the gravel path and saw something moving quickly towards her.  Madison quickly saw as the form came closer that it was in fact Jack.  Madison shook her head and smiled at Jack’s slowness.

Jack finally reached the tree house and leaned over, supporting himself on one of the beams that raised the tree house.  Jack was gasping and holding a cramp in his side.

“Come on slowpoke!” Madison called down to him.  “Hey!  I ran as fast as I could!” “Of course you did; but I could still outrun you!” Madison laughed.  

Jack made his way up the ladder, huffing and puffing as he did.  Madison helped pull him up onto the ladder.  “What you call me up for Mad?” Jack said after he had caught his breath.  Madison stood over him (that was mostly because he was lying down on his back).

“Get up lazy!” Madison looked stern.  Jack sighed and got up.  “The reason I called you is because I am not going to be allowed to go to the take-off of the Explorers,” Jack looked exasperated.  “What did you do this time Mad?” Madison looked sheepish as she answered, “Well, I cursed, and Mrs. Evil caught me saying it and took me to her office,” “Mad, her name is not Mrs. Evil, it’s Mrs. Smiley,” Madison rolled her eyes.  “Anyway, I was thinking.  I said, Madison, you could easily still see the take-off on your own, but it would be more fun to stow away! So I- “Wait!  You want to stow away on an Explorers wee-mode?!  Are you crazy!? If you get caught the consequences will be so severe, nobody will be able to save you this time Mad.  Think about what you are doing!  It’s not worth it,” “Jack, with you planning I won’t get caught!  This is my time to be an Explorer, to see things nobody has ever seen before,” Jack’s expression was somber as he said this, “I will help you plan, but I will not take part in stowing away.  Madison tried to protest, but Jack silenced her with a wave of his hand. 

Madison sagged her head and sighed a long, heavy sigh.  Jack pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket, sat down, and commenced to scribble on it.  The Thinker was in action, while The Doer waited for her chance.

Chapter 10

It’s Good to Have Connections

It was late in the night when Jack finished the plan.  “This plan is complicated, but workable.  If anything goes wrong though, it would be horrible,” Madison smiled. “That’s just how I like them!” Jack pulled a weak smile.  “Anyway, I’m tired from all that work, and I told my parents I would probably be spending the night,” Madison, as if in response, yawned and lay down on the hard, wooden floor.  “Come on Madison, there are blankets below the slide!” Jack turned around, but to his surprise, she was already asleep.  Jack propped himself up using one of the four support beams that held up the roof.  He let his head drop and his eyes close.  Five minutes later, Jack was asleep.

It’s kind of ironic, but Jack was actually awakened by Madison!  He turned over from where apparently he had slipped down from the support beam.  “Time to go!” Madison hauled Jack up from the floor.  “We’d better go to the lab, the take-off is tomorrow,” Jack rubbed his eyes and loped toward the stairs.  Madison pushed her way past him and jumped from the balcony to the ground.  Jack rolled his eyes and climbed down.  Madison had already proceeded to run down the trail.  Jack rolled his eyes again and sprinted after her.

Madison ran down the trail and took a right.  The asphalt road came to meet her feet and she looked behind her.  Jack was struggling, his chest heaving with exertion.  Madison passed the school.  She stuck out her tongue at it and continued on.  The lab is very close to the school, so she had turned into the drive-way and up to the front door in no time.

Jack had soon come gasping up.  She opened the door for Jack and smiled at him; meaning for it to be insulting.  He returned the favor with a well placed curse (which I will not tell the name of). 

Madison let the door swing shut, creating a creak and a resounding “bang” that was to let people know that they were there.

It worked well enough, for soon a stubby, round, red-faced, huffing and puffing secretary came waddling towards them.  “How-“gasp”- may I- “gasp”- help you?” “I want to see Thomas,” Madison waited for the reaction that happened every time she asked for him.  “W-W-What?!” The secretary stuttered. “Why, he is busy, you know how scientists are!  Or perhaps you don’t; anyway, he is an intern, and is working with his mentor,” Madison gave the secretary a hard stare.  He stuttered over his words anxiously, “I suppose I could ask him when it would be a proper time to see him,” Madison’s hard stare turned into a smiling gaze, and the secretary relaxed a little bit. 

He turned and hurried away to find Thomas, obviously wanting to get away from the stare that was now boring into the back of his head.

Madison turned to Jack with a smug smile imprinted on her face.  Jack stuck out his tongue at her and crossed his arms.  “You don’t have to be so stuck up about it,” Madison smirked. 

She turned her head around but jumped as she found that the secretary was right behind her.  “He’s ready for you, surprisingly,” Madison smiled and walked past him, purposefully knocking him with a shoulder.  He stumbled back, letting out a cry of surprise as he fell to the floor.  Madison walked right on by, ignoring the secretary who she had knocked down.

Jack helped the secretary to his feet muttering under his breath “sorry”.  He walked quickly down the hall, turning left after Madison.

Jack thought to himself with exasperation; I know that Madison has to be tough, or she’ll get eaten alive, but I wish sometimes she didn’t have to be so mean.  Then again, that meanness can sometimes get us out of sticky situations.   

Jack caught her turning into a small lab.  He walked up to the doorway and peaked inside.  He saw a young man in a loud conversation with Madison.  Jack stepped in to the room and was amazed at what he saw: viles, jars, bottles, cases, shelves, and all manner of other objects.  Some were pink, some red, some purple, some green.  There was a particular cabinet that had weird, blue viles in them.    

He turned to find Madison and what he assumed to be Thomas in what looked like a staring contest.  Jack got a chance to get a good look at Thomas.  He was a golden-haired, lanky, cool kid.  Jack could hardly believe he was an intern.  The kid had a lab coat that was green and black tennis shoes.

Thomas broke his stare and sighed one of those sighs, “Man, I’ve been practicing and everything, but I still can’t beat you in one measly staring contest!” Madison smiled in triumph and said: “You can’t beat the champion!” She struck a daring pose and Thomas laughed.  “Yeah, yeah, come off it,” Madison hugged him.  Jack opened his mouth- well, scratch that, it more fell open- he had never seen Madison hug anybody that affectionately.  “So, what did you come here for?” Madison looked down at her shoes in embarrassment.  “Well, I sort of got in trouble with Mrs. Smiley, and I can’t go to the take-off.  I want to stow away on the ship, and think things over,” Thomas now looked dead serious.  “I think this is really risky, you know that, don’t you?” Madison nodded gravely.  “I need to, think things over a little bit, I haven’t been one of the best children, and I want a new beginning,” As if in answer, Thomas looked over at the cabinet that held the same blue viles Jack had been staring at earlier.  Madison followed  Thomas as he made his way over to it and opened the big, ice door with a key that was hung around his neck.  He grabbed the nearest bottle of blue liquid and handed it carefully to Madison. 

“Why are you an intern, you don’t look the part,” Thomas looked over at Jack in surprise.  This whole time, he hadn’t noticed Jack.  “Well, I got this job because I got interested in science when I found I could make explosions, and I know that Madison won’t get a good job,” Thomas looked at Madison with a smile.  She gave him a playful punch in the arm.   

Jack went up closer to inspect the bottle, looking at it with interest.  Probably seeing that he was the smart one, Thomas directed his speech towards Jack.  Jack listened with fascination as Thomas told him the instructions.  “When you are about to get on the wee mode, take a tiny sip of this, and it will immediately turn you small.  This is also the antidote, take another small sip when you want to go back to normal size, and you will.  Don’t drink too much the first time, or you won’t have enough to get back,” Thomas now turned his attention to Madison.  “I still can’t believe you are going to do this, it’s way dangerous.  This is the craziest thing you have done yet,” Thomas shook his head. “You are going to come back, right?” “You’re my brother, I couldn’t leave you for long ya’ know,” Jack was now staring at Thomas, in disbelief that Madison had a brother. 

Madison thanked Thomas and pulled the still staring Jack out of the room.  They went back the way they had come, past the secretary who mumbled under his breath as they past, giving, particularly Madison, a dirty look.  Opening the door, Madison gave a triumphant yell that resounded off the marble walls of the lab.  “How come you never told me you had a brother!?” Jack yelled at her, now angry that she had kept a secret from him.  Madison frowned at him.  “Well, it never really came up, and I didn’t want you spending all your time with him, like I know you would, if I had told you,” Jack’s glare softened and he sighed.  “Alright,” that is Jack’s way of saying, I forgive you.  Madison smiled and hopped down the steps.   She turned back to Jack, still smiling a big smile, “It’s good to have connections!!!” She yelled, knowing that there was only nothing left between her and the last step of the plan, except to wait.

Madison had a restless night.  Jack went back to his house, leaving her alone at the tree house.  Not that she was mad, Madison loved the tree house, and she spent a lot of time in it.  Unfortunately, like the night before every mission, Madison couldn’t get to sleep.  She was going to be trying to stow away on the Explorers official wee mode!  Madison lay on the floor, looking up at the ceiling, though it was so dark, it could have been a starless night.

Madison was just too hyped up, so she got up and went to stand on the balcony, looking out at the field.  A tear came to her eye.  Jack isn’t coming!  How can I do a mission this big without him?  I love him for Pete’s sake!  Madison looked out at the sky, hoping that Jack was thinking about her too.

Indeed he was, for Jack could not sleep either, so he was also looking out his bedroom window.  I can’t believe I’m not going with Madison!  I love her, but I don’t think she loves me.  Before she goes, I’ll tell her how I feel.  But- it was then, suddenly, that Jack knew he had to come with her.  He had to be with her till the end.

So it was, as Jack, and Madison had a very sleepless night.

Chapter 11

The Doer in Action

Madison hadn’t slept at all, though she wasn’t tired.  As soon as the sun had risen, she had gone down the stairs, said good bye to the tree house, and walked toward the take-off site.

Jack had given her all that she would need for the trip.  Food, water, extra clothes, and a toothbrush were all there.  Madison knew because she had double checked everything at least twice over. 

Jack was the same way.  He had made himself a pack and had checked it many times over.  He had said good bye to his parents, and had headed to the take-off site.

Jack made his way right to the school.  Kids were already being organized into two groups: aliens and humans.  Jack got into line with the humans.  The teachers counted off all the kids, and then they all headed to the take-off site. 

Madison saw the group coming.  She hid behind a bush.  Making sure they couldn’t see her Madison looked for Jack in the crowd.  Madison spotted him and stuck her head out from behind the bush.  Jack immediately saw her and made his way from the crowd.  Luckily, no one saw him. 

Madison smiled at him and said, “What are you doing with that pack?” Jack looked sheepish.  “I was thinking that I might come with you,” He paused, drew in his breath, and said the one thing that Madison had always wanted to hear, “Madison, I love you,” Madison drew in her breath sharply, and suddenly embraced him with all her might.  “I love you too!” Jack kissed her and continued hugging her.

Madison broke away and looked toward the ship.  “So, this means that we’re going on another adventure together?”  Jack nodded.  “Come on then.  You sure took your time deciding whether you were gonna come,” Jack pushed her forward toward the ship.  They crept along the ground, careful to avoid anybody that came to close. 

Madison rolled behind another bush, Jack rolled along behind her.  “The ship is over there!” Madison whispered as loudly as she could.  It was mostly out of excitement.  Jack looked where Madison was pointing.

Now, you’re probably wondering how Madison could see a wee mode.  Well, the answer to that question is, she couldn’t.  She could see the general vicinity that it was in though.  See, so scientists could make the preparations, they put the wee mode under a microscope.   

“There are body guards there, and what about the potion, you got that, didn’t you?” “Yeah, yeah, don’t be such a worry wart,” Jack gave her a skeptical glance.  Madison pulled the potion out of her pocket.  “If we become small, we’ll probably be able to sneak past the guards,” Madison tugged at the cork, but it wouldn’t budge.  “This is just what we need!” Madison yelled, frustrated.  “Shhhhh!” Jack put his finger to his lips.  “The guards will hear you!  It will look really bad if we’re caught hiding behind a bush,” Jack warned.  Madison looked down at the stubborn cork.  “How are we gonna get it out then?” Jack reached into his white bag and pulled out a corkscrew.  Madison opened her mouth as if to insult him, closed it, and asked him: “Why in the world do you have a corkscrew in your bag?”  Jack reached back in his bag and pulled out a glass bottle that was curved and orange.  “I have medicine that I have to take every day, to keep me from getting an allergic reaction from everything.  Madison opened her eyes wide in surprise.  “Wow!  Well, it’s a good thing that has a cork, or you never would have brought the corkscrew!” Jack smiled and laughed, hugging her again.

Madison held up the blue bottle.  It was now opened thanks to Jack’s corkscrew.  “Who should drink first?” Jack puffed up, trying to show that he was brave.  “I will,” Madison looked relieved, though she tried not to show it. He took the bottle from Madison and put it to his nose.  After smelling it for anything toxic, Jack put it to his lips.  Madison could see the liquid inch toward Jack’s lips.  The moment Jack got the tiniest of drops; he moved it away and gave the bottle back to Madison.

 A few seconds later, Jack started convulsing and Madison stifled a scream.  Then with cry, he shrank down in the blink of an eye to a tiny size.  Madison took a tiny sip, not wanting to squash Jack, and started convulsing like Jack.  She too, shrank down. 

Looking around, Madison ran towards Jack, who sighed with relief.  “Alright, so you’re okay and I’m okay, that means we can continue on with the plan,” Madison pointed ahead and yelled, for they were so small no one could hear them, let alone see them. 

They could see the wee mode!  Jack and Madison ran, hand in hand, toward it.  They ran between the guards’ legs, and ran on. 

“Wait!” Jack stopped Madison right before they stepped under the microscope.  “We’ve got to make sure that no one is watching as we go under; or else we’ll be caught!” Madison looked around before dashing under the microscope.  “Madison!” Jack called after her. 

Madison made it to the ship and opened one of the doors.  The looked back at Jack and motioned for him to come too.  He took a deep breath, and sprinted forward.  He jumped onto the ship, and not a moment too soon, for a scientist came and looked down on the ship. 

Seeing that the door was open, he muttered something about “lousy cargo men” reached down, and closed the door.

Madison and Jack were now in the dark.  They felt their way to what they thought was a sufficient hiding place, and sat down.  They had done it!  Madison and Jack were going to the new planet, the planet they called Earth.

Chapter 12

A Journey of Devastation

Madison and Jack listened as hard as they could for the sound of the Explorers.  Jack and Madison heard at the same time cheers of excitement, then footsteps. 

The door opened, and Madison and Jack closed their eyes to the blinding light that exposed their surroundings. 

Looking around, they saw that they were not hidden too well, so they scooted in enough to hide themselves.  The Explorers stepped onto the wee mode.  Madison tried to catch a glimpse, but Jack pulled her back with a warning glance. 

Jack cocked ears as he heard the engine starting, and a voice saying: “Everyone ready?” Jack and Madison looked at each other in apprehension. 

Madison almost fell over when the wee mode gave a lurch.  They both felt gravity pulling down on them as the ship lifted.  The engine of the wee mode almost covered the roaring of the crowd. 

Suddenly, the wee mode shot forward and the boxes of supplies pushed against Madison and Jack, crushing them.  The Explorers laughed at the successful take-off, excited to be going to explore the new planet.

Madison started trying to push the boxes off, but Jack stopped her.  “Don’t let the Explorers hear you!” “I can’t take these boxes crushing me!”

In the background, Jack heard “Only half a mile left!” “Wait, Madison!  There’s only half a mile left!” “I don’t care!  The boxes are hurting me!”

As Madison pushed the boxes out of the way, she pushed them right at the button that was the emergency stop.

The button was very neon red.  One look at this and you would know it’s important.  I don’t really see why they would make it that color; it would just want to push it.  I don’t think it would really matter that it strictly said: Do Not Push in big, black letters.  It just so happened that the boxes were pushed right into the button and everything stopped.

There were cries of “What was that?!” or “What’s happening!?”

The head Explorer was the first to check it out.  “It looks like the emergency boxes were pushed here!” He turned to look at the other boxes and saw a head poking out at him.

“Look at what we have here!  A stow away!”  The other Explorers came forward to look.  “Hey, there’s another one right here!”

Jack stood up, only to fall back down again when the wee mode began to plummet.

“AHHHHHH!!!!!” that was the only thing that was heard when the ship fell.  “Everyone, get onto the floor!”

The ship seemed to fall forever.  Suddenly, Madison saw her life flash before her eyes.  Everything seemed to come to a standstill.

What about Jack?  He’s my first boyfriend and now we’re going to die!  His parents will be devastated!  They were so good to me, and now I’ll never see them again!  There’s no hope!  To make it worse, I think I’m the cause of this!  The stupid boxes must have hit the button.  I’m sorry Jack, I’m sorry Explorers.

Suddenly, the universe seemed to explode.  Boxes tumbled down from their precarious perch.  The contents spilled and broke, covering the floor that was now dented in by the landing. 

Madison covered her head with both hands, praying that nothing had happened to Jack.  There were cries of dismay and there was an explosion that rocked the ship.

All that time Madison cowered, not daring to raise her head.  She felt a tug on her hand.  She looked up slowly, wondering what she would see. 

Jack stood there above her, his face bloody and scratched.  Madison smiled a weak smile, tears of relief rolling down her pale cheeks. 

Madison almost fell back over; her legs were shaking so badly.  She took Jack’s hand, at that moment; she wanted nothing more than to hold him.  She wanted to feel like nothing bad could ever happen to her. 

There was no time for that, and Madison knew it.  So, still holding Jack’s hand, she made her way to the exit, looking out into the sunny skies of the new world.

Chapter 12

The News Discovered

Back at Pluto, the news had not yet reached the Tracker Scientists that the unfortunate wee mode had crashed. 

Well, actually the news had reached them; they were just all off partying.  The Trackers had been very excited when they had received a signal from the wee mode.

See, the Trackers wanted to be able to know where the wee mode was at all times.  Of course, they couldn’t just wait around for the thing to appear; so naturally they began building it.

The reason I’m using the term it for – the machine – is because it always takes a very long time for the Trackers to find out a name for it. 

There’s always the problem that they always come up with different names, and they just won’t agree on any one name.  Last time this dilemma occurred, it took the Universal Court to figure it out.

It had come down to two names: Edna, and the Freedom Blaster.  (Oh, and the thing they built was a blaster, it was a way to get out the ice from the ground without all the hard work)

The decision was made, and the blaster was named Freedom Blaster (I don’t think anyone wanted the blaster to be called Edna (much to the annoyance of the other crew) which I think was a good choice)

One crew had gone home victorious, the other depressed and dismal.

Why did I even go off on this story?  Way off subject, sorry.  Oh, great, I’ve totally forgotten where I was!  Aha!  I remember now.  Okay, here’s the story.

The Trackers haven’t named the device, but I think it is going to be called Track 300, Googler 700, or Edna (what’s with the name Edna?!). 

The Trackers had been trying to find a mechanism that would allow them to track the Explorers.  It had taken years of un-tracked Explorer wee modes until they finally gotten it right. 

There was also a bonus; the tracker gave the status of the ship. 

At this very moment, the status graph was on the lowest degree: red.

This red was dark, darker than blood red.  It was also blinking, which made it light up every few seconds.

The graph has different sections on it.  Light green, green, dark green, light yellow, yellow, dark yellow, light red, red, and finally dark, blinking red are all the colors on the section.  Each section is a different color.  The light is on dark red, which means something is wrong; terribly wrong.

Unfortunately, the Trackers weren’t there, so the rest of Pluto was in peace, innocently unaware of the tragedy that had erupted on Earth.

“This is awesome!” Kyle, the Master Tracker said excitedly.  They were at a dance club and had been there all night.  Most of the Trackers were drunk, and some had said they were going to sit down and had totally collapsed, asleep, in a chair.

Pretty much only the Master Tracker was in his right mind, seeing has he is totally against drinking.

His dad; the Master Tracker’s dad that is, was a very messed up man.  He had to go to rehab, and luckily for his wife and only child, he disposed himself of the habit.

But, Kyle never forgot how much his dad was a mess, and how much work it had taken to get him better.

Now, as an adult, Kyle never drinks, smokes, or does any other type of thing that might get him addicted, or turns him into a man like his dad.

Kyle suddenly realized that he was the only one conscious.  He stopped dancing; realizing also that the DJ had fallen asleep.

He turned slowly around, aware of all the bodies around him. 

Kyle was very frustrated that they had done that to him.  “Well, let them sleep here for the night.  I’m not going to break my back trying to wake these guys up and drag them to the hotel, when I have better things to do,” Kyle is best friends with his colleagues, but sometimes they drive him crazy.

So, as punishment for their bad behavior, Kyle walked out of the dance club, leaving the drunken Trackers sleeping peacefully in the club.

Kyle walked down the deserted streets.  The pavement felt good and firm under his feet; cool to the touch from the cold autumn wind.

Kyle breathed it all in, the smells of the nighttime wafted through the air.  Kyle took a deep breath of air, and then slowly exhaled, loving the night. 

Kyle loves night time; it feels so right to him.  He also loves the quiet, which he can’t get in the day.

Kyle drew in his breath sharply, but gasped it back out, the cold night air assaulted his throat and lungs.  “The totally forgot about the lab!” He whispered, as if he would wake the night. 

Kyle continued forward, a purposeful stride that told you he had somewhere to be.  Kyle continued down the pave road, but, seeing as it was a shorter distance, quickly crossed through the park.  

The grass had just been mowed, and Kyle felt bad about crushing it.  That was overcome by the feeling of anxiety; so Kyle continued on.

The park ended and Kyle came back to the paved road.  There were houses on either side, the lights turned off.  Nobody was awake, for the windows were dark, and Kyle felt a little scared as they loomed over him.

Blinking rapidly, Kyle stared straight ahead, casting glances every now and then behind him to make sure no one was following.

The Master Tracker rounded a corner and came to the iron gates of the school.  The white marble walls of the lab were just visible behind the school.

Finally, Kyle came to the driveway that led to the lab.  He practically ran up the front steps to the building. 

Kyle muttered under his breath as he tried to wrench the door open, but found to his frustration that it was locked.

He pulled out the necklace of keys he always wore around his neck and busied himself with trying each one.

“Darn it!  I can never remember which key goes in the stupid lock!”

Kyle finally heard a resounding click from inside and pulled the door open, peeking inside.

Satisfied, he stepped inside and closed the door softly behind him.

Kyle always feels like an intruder when he goes into the lab at night.  It’s so deserted and ghostly.

Kyle creeped inside and made his way down the hallway, past the secretary’s office.  His footsteps made a resounding boom in the quietness as he turned into yet another hallway, this time past the different labs that were positioned on either side of the hallway.

Kyle saw Lab 613 and turned into it.  This lab is special, for it is the lab of the Trackers. 

The lab doesn’t have all the bottles and viles and jars.  It only has cabinets and desks that are piled high with models and machines, each with labels.  There’s also a motherboard that has the status and all that.  In the cabinets were trophies.  Every kind of trophy imaginable for mechanics is probably there.  Trophies for best prototype, best prop, and I don’t even know what else.  I just know there are a lot of trophies.

Kyle cried out in dismay as he saw the blinker on red, and he knew something was wrong; terribly wrong.

Chapter 13

Sal Lungo

When you think of reporters, you probably think of helpful, nice, brave, news spreaders, and you’re probably more creative than me; which means in this case that you can think of some better names.

These names would not fit one reporter.  These names would not describe Sal Lungo in the least!  You want to know why?  Sal is the exact opposite of those words; except for news spreader.

Here are the names that will give you a sufficient idea of what this man is like. 

First of all there’s deceitful, sly, cunning, liar, snooper, and, well, if that doesn’t give you an idea, you must just be plain stupid.

Anyway, these words all describe Sal.  Don’t worry, if you have the question of how in the world did Sal get such bad reputation; well, this should give you a clue.

Sal smashed his alarm clock down onto the hard, wooden table.  “Darn it!  Stupid alarm clock!  I’ll have to get another one,” Suddenly, Sal remembered what he did every morning.  He yanked open one of the drawers, ignoring its shriek of protest. 

Sal pulled out another alarm clock exactly like the one he had just smashed.  The alarm clock is black, except for the red button that says SNOOZE in big black letters on it.  The clock is digital with the time being in fluorescent green numbers.

Sal pulled the broken clock cord out of the outlet and stuck the about to be working clock’s cord in.  He also pulled out the piece of ice that actually made the clock come to life (unless it’s broken) and put it in the working clock.

Sal, satisfied that the clock was working, set it to 7:34 am.  He set it none to gently on the already scratched surface of the night stand, and got up from the fluffy bed. 

This bed is from Percusia and was made from tree fur.  Therefore, if you have ever gone to Percusia and felt a tree’s fur, you would know that a tree’s fur is one of the softest things on Pluto.

One of the things that scientists probably don’t know about the tree that the Plutonians do is that the inside of a tree has wood, no dit.  But, if you looked inside the wood with a microscope (even then it would be hard to see) you would see brown things that look like hair. 

These are actually the tree’s fur.  Sadly, they are only in fir trees.  Yes, that is why people called them fir trees.  Since they only develop in fir trees, the fur is very expensive and can only be bought in specific hologram shops.  Even then they are few.

So, the only way anyone could get one is if they are lucky, they inherit it, they find it, they buy it, or they are on the shady side of the law.

This last option is the option that fits Sal Lungo.  So, Sal got out of his tree fur bed and stretched, showing his very hairy chest, which he refuses to shave (I will not share the details on that story.  I will save you the nightmares I now possess.

After scratching himself and taking a very long, hot shower, Sal went to his wardrobe.  His wardrobe is made of beautiful opaque ice. 

He yanked the metal door handle, only to find to his dismay that it came off in his hand.  Sal threw the door handle across the room.  It ended up smashing against the night stand, knocking off the new alarm clock.

Sal roared with anger, lumbering over to the smashed alarm clock.  He picked up the door handle that had caused all his anger, and threw it back across the room.  It just so happened that the direction that Sal had thrown the unlucky door handle, was in the general vicinity of the window. 

The door handle, being metal and all, smashed through the window without a moments hesitation, though, I don’t really think it had a choice. 

Sal watched in horror as the broken glass and the door handle flew out the window.  He cringed as he heard a scream and shouting from below.  Sal ran over to the shattered window and peered tentatively out of it, afraid of what he might see.

When Sal looked out, he almost screamed himself; there, on the street, was the body of a woman.  She was lying on the sidewalk, blood covering her head and dripping off.

Sal looked for the thing that would prove he had done this terrible crime; and yes, he saw it, the door handle lying on the sidewalk a few feet away.

Sal turned away, misery at his crime overwhelming him, until, he realized something.  I could make this into a story!  A great story, one that will blow everyone away! 

Sal smiled to himself, turning back to his wardrobe to put his business suit on.  For Sal had realized something: It was going to be a good day.

Chapter 15

Possibilities

Sal raced away from the window, only to race back and slam it closed.  He scurried over to his closet and pulled open the door.  Sal jumped out of the way just as an avalanche of things tumbled out of the enclosed space, spreading over the floor in a mass of doohickeys and nabobs.  Sal gingerly stepped over them, pulling out an old-fashioned phone. Sal ran through the bedroom to the doorway, and flung it open.  He raced to the kitchen, flipping open the phone, which quickly came alive and beeped. 

“My boss.” Sal spoke into the phone with slowness and diction, making sure to pronounce each syllable carefully.  The phone beeped in recognition and pulled up a 3-D hologram of Sal’s boss, and Sal nodded.  “That’s the one.” The phone beeped again and began ringing. 

“Hello?” The bored voice came on of someone who has seen and heard too much.  “Hello sir, I have come upon a great story I think you will enjoy!” Sal watched the hologram of his boss as he pulled open the refrigerator door, pulling out an egg carton.  Laying the egg carton on the table, Sal paused just as he was in the act of pulling a couple eggs out of the container.  Sal noticed that his boss was not in the sickly green light that was emanating from the phone.  Getting worried, Sal called to his boss, “Boss, sir, um…are you okay?” 

“Fine, I’ve just called the cameraman, he should be at your house right away.”

Sal jumped as his boss reappeared, but, as his boss said those words, he could have jumped for joy. 

“Thank you sir…I will get right on it.” But as Sal smiled, he noticed that his boss had already gone offline.  Mumbling to himself, Sal took off the fake polite attitude and resumed grumbling to himself about how his boss never treated him fairly…blah…blah…blah. 

Ding dong ding dong ding dong ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding!!!  Getting entirely fed up with whomever was so rudely ringing his doorbell, Sal shouted out, “Shut up the dang doorbell!  I’ll be there in a minute!” Grumbling murderously to himself (in case you haven’t noticed, Sal grumbles a lot) he made his way to the door. 

As he opened the door, Sal dropped the eggs he was still carrying (after failing to put them on the counter, because he was so excited about the news from his boss that he could do the story).  For there, coming straight at him, was the cameraman, being chased by none other than a boxer. 

This didn’t seem to Sal like any ordinary boxer, this boxer was huge.  It also just happened to be frothing at the mouth.  Sal took a step back, about to slam the door in the cameraman’s face, when he slipped on the cracked, gooey eggs he had dropped.

“Ahhhhhh!!!” Sal cried out as he fell backward, right onto the eggs.  There was nothing he could do about the cameraman, who ran right through the door, slamming the door in the dog’s face, and also slipped on the gooey mess. 

Chapter 14

The Good Day

Sal tightened his bow tie and pulled on his white socks and black shiny shoes that he had just waxed. Sal ran into the bathroom, slipping on the wet tile floor (he had gotten it wet when he was drying himself off after his shower). 

Sal cursed as he came crashing to the floor, his fall broken by his big butt.  He scrambled up, checking to make sure he hadn’t gotten his suit wet.  There were only a few spots, and Sal knew they would dry quickly, so he didn’t consider it much.  Sal slipped again as he made his way to the reflector, which just in case you didn’t know, is a wall of ice that is almost exactly like a mirror, except the picture is a little bit distorted. 

Sal threw out a small drawer that was almost invisible against the rest of the bureau.  He sifted through the many different products that he had previously purchased at the holographic store.  The products had various advertisements scribbled across the metal surfaces. 

Picking one up, he inspected the cologne, making sure it would make him smell good and erase the smell of eggs from him.  Sal smiled a grim smile, remembering the incident, he’d taken a shower straight away, pushing, (none too gently I might add) the cameraman off him. 

Tugging the cap of the bottle, Sal realized that he’d never used it before.  Trudging back into the kitchen, Sal looked at the distraught cameraman.

“I’m so sorry!  Oh, I didn’t mean to fall on you!”  Sal could tell the boy was young, maybe fourteen or fifteen.  With his scrawny build the dog must have thought he was a bone to chew on!

Sal stifled a giggle, putting on a smirk instead.  Looking over the cameraman, Sal shook his head at the cameraman’s dark blond hair, wrinkling his nose as the smell of eggs wafted from the teenager’s corduroy pants. 

“What’s your name kid?” Sal growled out, wanting to know his name when he was reported to the boss.

“Name’s Sam sir.  Sam McGuffey Kilmoor sir.”

“I didn’t need to know your whole blinkin’ name sir, er, Sam!”  Looking down sheepishly at his feet, Sam replied in a small voice,

“Sorry, sir, I overdo the name thing, so proud I am of it!  Did you know-

“I don’t care you nincompoop, like I would ever want to care, which I never will!!”  Sal huffed angrily, his good day quickly going downhill. 

Running a hand through the hair he had on his head (which wasn’t much), Sal looked down at the cameraman, a picture of disgust.

“We’d better get going now, all the chaos will be gone by now.”  Turning to walk away, Sal stopped dead in his tracks.

“The toast!  I put toast on and I haven’t taken it out of the heater!” Rushing to the kitchen, Sal yelled to Sam, “Get over here, and bring that fire hydrant over by the wall!  Hack-cough-cough-hack!!”   Sam, being the lanky, long-legged (or, really, long everything would fit the description better), teenager he is, scrambled up from the couch, wanting to please Sal as much as possible, and tripped on his shoe-lace. 

While running out the door that morning after getting an urgent call about a cameraman being needed, Sam had forgotten about tying his shoes.  Well, he sure was regretting it now, as he dragged himself to the ground in a mass of tangled body parts. 

“Well hurry up!” Sal had a mixture of anger, exasperation, panic, and anxiety 

“Sorry, sir!  I’m on it, sir!” Sal extricated himself until he was sitting on the floor, feet straight out in front. 

Being so tall, his parents had a hard time finding clothes that fit him, so his pant legs were a little bit too short.  That was why, sitting straight- legged, Sam shoed off pink and purple polka-dot socks.

Sal was distracted for a moment by the girly socks Sam had on, staring down at them, totally weirded out.

“Why do have those socks on?” Sal was still staring at them, the question forming in his mind.

Sam looked ashamed and sheepish. “Well, today is my birthday, sir, and my grandma got me these socks, and my mom has made me wear them,” Sal nodded, glad that Sam hadn’t gotten into the story of why his grandma thought he was a girl, or even how old he was. 

Sal, averting his gaze from the socks, realized that while he had been standing and staring at the socks that probably had a long explanation of why they were on the feet of a teen-age boy; the fire had spread, starting to engulf the stove.

“Quickly boy! Fetch that fire extinguisher now!” Sam looked from the fire that had now completely covered the stove, to now look at Sal, then back to the fire, then to Sal, then the fire, then Sal, before finally realizing that Sal had been talking to him.

“Oh, right away, sir!” Sam stood up hurriedly, pulling down his pants in the process, thereby covering up his birthday socks. 

Sprinting over to the counter, Sam fumbled with the glass case holding the extinguisher in it.  Looking for the latch, it slipped through his sweaty fingers, the heat from the fire really heating things up.  It crashed into the round, the glass breaking into a thousand shards and scattering all over the floor, making, Sal take a step back. 

Sam picked up the fire extinguisher, and finding that he was on the other side of the room where the fire was, lobbed it in Sal’s direction.

Well, one thing Sam didn’t know was that when Sal was a kid, he had tried baseball.  That’s when he learned that he possessed no hand eye (or any other part of his body for that matter) coordination.  Quickly giving up baseball after having gotten many bruises and a couple black eyes from not catching the ball, Sal had looked for things he could do that didn’t require catching at all.  He tried soccer, and got kicked and when he tried to kick the ball, he either kicked someone else, or missed the ball entirely and fell on his butt.  So, as you can see, Sal was not and never will be good at sports, particularly catching sports.

So, you can understand that when Sal made a wild grab for the fire extinguisher, he missed it completely and had it land on his toe.

“Ow!!!” Sal screamed out, his face scrunching up in pain.  Fortunately he still remembered that his house was slowly being eaten by the fire, so he picked up the fire extinguisher, and after briefly looking at the instructions, commenced to spray himself in the face. 

Sam gasped, thinking Sal would ruin it because his temper would get the best of him, and he would smash the fire extinguisher into tiny indescribable bits of metal. 

Instead, Sam was surprised to see Sal turn it around and sprayed the fire.  Sam got worried again when the fire sizzled and went out, showing bits of charred metal and plastic.  It hissed, determined to eat up the whole house, though that was clearly impossible.  No, Sam got worried because the black was quickly covered by its closest yet farthest friend, white.

Sam bit his lip, stopping himself from suggesting to Sal that he should stop spraying.  Being too scared for his job and dignity though (Sam was afraid that Sal would take his silent anger out on himself; therefore spraying him with the fire extinguisher), so he decided to let Sal take out his silent anger on his house, which, Sam thought, was weird, because his house had done nothing wrong.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the fire extinguisher spluttered, coughed, and hacked up the last bits of white foam, before dying.

 Sal held the fire extinguisher in the ready position, as if still spraying.  He put the fire extinguisher on the counter and walked out of the kitchen silently.

Sam watched him go, raising one eyebrow and biting his lip again.  Sam started when there came a crash and cursing.  It sounded like a rush of objects tumbling out of something, with the clanging and banging.  Sam even heard some tinkling, and shuddered as laughter erupted from the bedroom.

“Um, sir? Are you, um, okay? Um, sir?” Sam took a hesitant step towards the bedroom, fearing that Sal had lost his mind. 

“Oh, I said it was going to be a “good day” but that all changed because of you!” Sal pointed towards Sam, and he retreated hastily form the reporters blood shot eyes. 

“Are you okay sir? You, um, don’t look so good,” Sam raised his hands, as if surrendering to an enemy army. 

“I’m fine, just fine! Why shouldn’t I be fine, eh?  I slipped in a gooey egg mess, my house was set on fire, I sprayed myself in the face with a fire extinguisher, and then I got covered in junk from my closet!  But, oh, I’m fine, fit as a fiddle!” Sal was yelling, and that’s when Sam saw what he was carrying: An ax.

“Um, Sal, sir; what are you doing with that ax?” Sam was nervous now, wishing that he was away from here, that he hadn’t picked up the phone and taken the job.

“Oh, just taking care of a little problem, you know,” Actually Sam didn’t know, but he watched with growing tension as Sal raised the ax and brought it down with all his might, on top of the fire extinguisher. 

Sal raised it again, leaving a dent in the red metal.  Grunting, Sal slammed it down on to the fire extinguisher again. 

He did this again and again, slamming the ax down onto the innocent fire extinguisher, then repeated the process. 

By now Sam was edging towards the door.  Taking baby steps, he reached the door and slowly moved his hand to the door handle.  He had forgotten his camera and video recorder. 

Right then, Sal’s phone went off and Sam jumped, shaking with fear.  Sal stopped what he was doing and looked at the phone. 

Dropping the ax, Sal meandered over to where the phone lay.

“Hello, this is Sal Lungo,” It was as if his day was going peachy and he was just relaxing. 

Sam heard yelling over the phone, and saw Sal smile disappear.

“Sir, I was just on my way to-

“I don’t care! They’ve taken the woman away on the ambulance and our arch nemesis, NPLuto has taken up the story, they beat you to it!” Sam could hear the boss’s voice clearly. 

“Sir, I was having some difficulty with the reporter and-

“If you don’t find a good story by tomorrow you’re fired!!!” Sam tried to keep himself from laughing, for he had come to dislike Sal. 

Sal pressed the off button, and watched as the screen went black and his boss’s figure disappeared. 

Shock was the deepest expression on Sal’s face.  He was in a daze and quietly walked into his room and shut the door. 

“Can I leave, sir?” Sam waited for the answer, afraid Sal would get mad and come storming out and hit him. 

“Yes, go ahead,” Sal’s tired reply stopped Sam short, but not for long.  He sprinted over to his camera bag and picked it up. He slung it over his shoulder and sprinted to the door, only to slip on the eggs and fall.

Sal looked out his door.  “Leave! Can’t you see I’m meditating?!”  Sam scrambled up from the mess, shouldered his camera bag once again, and disappeared out the door.  From outside, there came barking and yelling.  Sal chortled as he heard tearing of fabric.

His moment of mirth over, however, Sal sat on his grass couch and thought.  What am I going to do?!  Sal put his head in his hands, contemplating his fate.  Where am I going to find a story good enough for me to keep my job and impress my boss?  Sal wished that he had taken up his dream to be a ballerina, instead of a stupid reporter.

Dad always said to be a ballerina, it pays better if your famous.  Sal straightened up, a scowl replacing the tears that still glistened on his cheeks.  Rubbing his butt, Sal felt a wet spot.  “Oh, no!” Sal howled as he ran to the bathroom. 

“My best pants, they’re all wet!” Sal remembered when he had slipped on the floor and fallen in the water from his shower.  “Aww, this is great!  I can’t believe my favorite pants are totally wet, and I broke my dryer a week ago!”

Groaning and mumbling to himself, Sal went into his cupboard and pulled out another pair of pants.  Changing silently, Sal tripped on his pants’ leg, and fell over, barely managing to bring his arms up the stop himself.

Not even cursing, Sal trudged to the kitchen and picked up the remains of his burnt toast.  “Well, maybe I’ll go the laboratory, there’s always something going on.”

Chapter 15

Still A Bad Day

Sal opened the door, only to find a crowd of reporters waiting for him.  As soon as they saw Sal, the reporters began talking.  They began talking, then shouting, then screaming.  The reporters got louder, each trying to be heard above the other.  “Quiet! Quiet!!!!! Everyone just shut up!!  Would you just leave me be, this is my house, and you are trespassing!!” The reporters looked at each other and backed up to the sidewalk, where they began interrogating him again. 

“Sal, what did you see of the woman who got hit by a doorknob?”

“Some people say the doorknob came from your window!” Before Sal had a chance to answer, another question was fired off.

“What about the cameraman, Sam, who got attacked by the dog?” Sal caught his breath, “Sam?!” Before Sal said anymore, he thought about the consequences if people thought he knew the cameraman.  More questions would come, he’d be taken into custody by the police, and they’d make him spill everything.  Then Sal got a more repulsive thought: What if the police search my house? They’ll take everything.  They’ll find out that a lot of the stuff I have is illegal.  I’ll lose everything!  I can’t afford to go to jail! My reputation will be lost, and I’ll be shunned by the entire community, that is, if a got out of jail. Sal shuddered and came back to the present, all too aware of the crowd of reporters.

Composing himself, Sal finished his sentence: “No I’m afraid I don’t, but if I did I wouldn’t be very empathetic.  That kid was probably throwing rocks at it or something.  Teenagers, in my opinion, are stupid,” Sal prided himself on being very frank and honest (when it benefited him) about everything.  Right then, it benefited him to see the dumbstruck faces of the reporters.

That moment of silence allowed Sal to slip past the crowd, hastily pushing past them. Sal, chuckled at the reporters stupidity.  “How could my boss want to fire me when I’m so much smarter than any of these buffoons?” Sal looked behind him, only to see the crowd quickly converging to form one big group.  And they were all coming towards him.

Sal’s eyes bugged, and he took off.  Now, you must remember that Sal is not athletic in the least.  This I hope you get, because I have underlined it.  When he failed at all the sports he had attempted, Sal vowed never again would he attempt sports.  So, instead of getting good, healthy exercise, Sal decided on a different, more pleasing route to him. Sal sat on the couch and watched TV.  So, I hope you realize that when I said Sal took off, he was still walking, just faster than usual.

Sal was walking as fast as he could, but the reporters were still gaining. How can they be so fast? I’m walking as fast as I can, but they’re still gaining on me!  Sal kept going, his stomach cramping painfully.  I wish I hadn’t had those eggs for breakfast! Sal pushed on, hoping that the reporters would stop after awhile.

A block later, Sal was doubled over.  His whole body hurt, and he felt like vomiting.  He had only dared stop when he had looked behind him and seen no reporters following him. That was the farthest Sal had ever run in his entire life. No joke. Sal had run for three blocks and was on his knees, begging for the torture to end.

“Please! I know I’m not that nice of a guy, but I can make up for it somehow! Just make the pain end, please.  I never beg, but right now I am begging you!” Sal fell flat on his red, chubby face.  He moved up and down on the ground to the rhythm of his breathing.

Sal had no knowing of this, but at that moment, not a block away, a commercial was being shot.  The director was shouting frantically at everyone, his actor having left. 

“We need to find someone who is in desperate need of some water, so we can get on with the commercial!” The director needed this money for his family; he also needed to win the BEST COMMERCIAL OF THE YEAR! award. This would award him accolades that were sorely needed. Hopefully they would be enough to launch his career.  But I first need to actually make the commercial. How am I supposed to make the commercial when I have such a low budget? One of my actors has just quit because he said he wasn’t being paid enough! How am I supposed to tell Good Water that I can’t do the commercial? This was my last chance to get the commercial right! The director put himself in more and more of a huff, until he was pretty much cross-eyed with worry. 

“Boss. Boss? Boss! Yo, BOSS!” The worker, Jared was his name ended up having to shake his boss to finally get his attention.  The director looked forlornly at the workman.  What’s his name again? I can’t even remember.  I hired him yesterday and I’ve already forgotten.  I’m a failure. I shouldn’t even have taken this job… That started the director back on his forlorn train of thoughts. 

“Boss! Jeez Boss, you would think that you were in a dang coma the way you’re sittin’ there.” Jared mentally slapped himself. 

What am I thinkin’? I insult the director of the whole dang commercial.  He even hired me after the deadline, and I insult him to his face! I’m a doosh-bag!

Jared was snapped out of his reverie by the director speaking to him. “Sorry, I’m just thinking about, um, stuff.  Have you come to tell me more bad news?”

Jared suddenly saw how sad the director looked.  Jared saw the purple bags under his eyes, and saw how he slumped sown in his chair. Man, this guy doesn’t look so good.  It’s a good thing I’ve brought him some good news.  If I didn’t, it looks like he might lose his dang marbles!

“No sir, I’ve come to tell you that we’ve found a guy for the job!” An immense change came over the director at that moment.  Color rushed to his cheeks, and, Jared wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw some of the purple bags recede from under his eyes.

“Well what are you waiting for? Get everyone down to where that man is! You’re getting a promotion for this Jim!” Jared turned red in the face; his happiness was immense; until he realized what the director had just called him.

The director was too busy scrambling down from his chair and shouting orders at everybody to notice, “Jim”. The director left Jared spluttering, his smile having jumped off the Empire State Building. 

I’m here for one dang day and he’s already forgotten my name!? I can’t believe the nerve of this guy!  My name’s not that dang hard to remember! Dang director, dang commercial, dang set, dang water, dang dang dang dang… Jared stomped off, feeling very indignant.

The director caught sight of Sal when he came around the block.  Sal was by this time trying to crawl along the ground.  “Get him some water and start rolling!” Cameramen bustled along, trying to obey the director’s orders as fast as possible.

Chapter 16

Dying

Sal was convinced he was dying.  There was obviously something wrong with him, seeing as he is lying on the ground, dragging himself along.

Why, do I continue to try to live when I’m just prolonging the inevitable?  The sweating won’t stop, and I’m all hot and I know I’m red. Why does the world have to be so cruel?! I’ve hardly lived.

Sal went on like this, unaware that a whole tech crew was running to him.  Sal cocked his head as much as was possible, seeing as he was on the course dirt.  He smiled, hoping with all his might that the pain would end, and that these were the reporter angels. 

See, Sal believes that when you die, angels come in the form of your favorite hobby or people.  For example, if you love collecting rocks, the angels would come in the form of rocks, luring you through the Gates of Death.

“Take me away Angels, my time has come.” Sal closed his eyes, only to find himself being shaken. His eyes opening, Sal saw a cold water bottle being thrust into his face.

“Take this, now, just take a drink when I say so- There was no need for the director to say anymore, for Sal was already struggling to get the bottle cap open.

“Roll’um!” The director shouted at his crew. The crew members shouted that down to the tech people, who shouted it to the cameraman. The camera flared up, life being given in the form of a button being pressed.

Sal took a drink, reveling in the coolness as it ran down his throat.  He sighed, “This is the best water ever.” Taking another drink, Sal could feel the strength returning to his legs, his arms, his head.  The redness was receding from his face.

The director breathed a sigh of relief. This man is good.  I’ll offer him a job, an actor like that is needed. Yes, I think I will! Things are turning around for me, finally, I’m definitely gonna win that award.

“What’s your name, I would love to have you as an actor for me and the company I work for.” The director waited patiently as Sal chugged down the rest of the water.  Sal composed himself, and, back to his old nastiness, he replied icily to the director: “I would rather lick the ground, and then not eat for five months, then work for you.” Sal pulled himself off the ground, and brushed himself off.

The director had his mouth hanging all the way down to the ground (actually, he didn’t, but if he had been laying on the ground on his belly, his jaw would have literally touched the ground). Not quite understanding why he had just been insulted and rejected at the same time, the director tried to yell out a reply.  All that came out, however, was an incoherent splutter.  If you could have been able to understand it, it would have sounded like this: “Yeah, well, I don’t want you to work for me anyways!” (I know, it’s pretty lame, but it’s better than the spit and splutterings that were coming out of his mouth at that moment).

Sal laughed at the director and walked away, confident once again. I think that I’ll continue my walk to the observatory, one that I would have finished long ago if not for the rude interruption.  Hopefully I’ll get there without anymore, um…incidents. Sal was already pushing the memory from his mind, though it was only a couple minutes ago. Hmmmm...Now, where is the observatory again? Oh, yeah! This way…

The News

Chapter 17

“Here we are.” Sal was looking up at the observatory. Walking up to the doors, Sal stopped just short.  On the door was a sign:

DO NOT COME IN, URGENT BUSINESS GOING ON INSIDE, ALL VIOLATORS WILL BE ARRESTED!

Sal rubbed his hands together, anticipating him barging in. Then, Sal saw the rest of the message. “Arrested?! So it’s this serious, huh?” Sal rubbed his hands together, happy that he was going to redeem himself.

Boss will be so happy when I tell him I’ve found something! Now, I wonder if there’s a window… Sal proceeded to crouch down and slink around the building.  His head swiveled left, and right.  First to the road, to make sure no car was rumbling along. Then he checked to see if there were any windows along the rock wall.

There!  Sal slowly got down on to the ground, and did and army-style crawl in the direction of the window.  Sal inched along, having to work hard to scrape his belly along the ground.  When he was right under the window, Sal looked up, and slowly pushed himself up. He groaned with all the pressure he was putting on his arms to lift himself, as if performing a push-up.

Sal got up right beside the window, checking to see if the window was open, or closed.  It was open.  Perfect! Now I can get in; unless there’s someone in there already. Sal took a quick peek inside the window, and quickly pulled his head out. There was no reason for it, though; the room was empty, for now.

Sal rubbed his hands together like he’d seen people do in movies, it had looked very menacing.  Sal liked looking menacing. “Now for the hard part.” Sal looked the window up and down skeptically, as if sizing up a person.  “You shall be a worthy opponent, but you shall be defeated!” Sal puffed up is chest, with only made him look fatter.

I know, Sal is talking to a window, so you might be saying that he’s crazy. Sal just wanted to make himself think it’s a human.  I don’t know why he would do that, it’s just how he makes himself feel better, I guess. Anyway, Sal put his hands dramatically on the window sill, preparing to hoist himself up.

“Hrrrrbrrrrughhhhhh!” Sal strained his arms, hoping that they had enough strength to pull himself up. But it was all to no avail. Sal’s muscles could take no more, and they gave out.

Sal fell to the ground, slumping against the wall, breathing hard. Looking to the right and left, Sal saw the log.  It was a big log. Sal picked up the left end of the log, and started lugging it across the grass. Coming to the window, Sal dropped the log, none too gently.

Hah, now I’ll be able to climb into that room. I will not be defeated this time, oh, no sir. This log will catapult me to victory.

Sal smiled to himself, sure that he would win this time. By this time, Sal had wasted a lot of time. Sal checked out the log, and put one foot on it. The log held, thankfully, or Sal’s leg would have gone right through. Actually, it would have been a good thing, because he wouldn’t have been able to find out about the secret.

Sal put his other leg onto the log, making it groan in protest. He hoisted himself up painfully, and found he was waist high with the window. Sal lifted his leg with one arm (his leg is too fat and heavy to lift by itself). This made the log wobble. Sal dropped his leg, it crashed into the side of the log, and everything went wrong after that. Sal lost his balance, using his arms as windmills to try desperately to keep himself upright. This just made the log shake. This was too much for Sal’s husky (he prefers being called husky, and not fat (though he is fat) so I’ll humor him (even though he doesn’t know I’m humoring him) just this once) body.

“AHHHHH!!!” Sal screamed like a little girl, arms flailing. Sal crashed to the ground, groaning. That’s when he heard the voices. He knew he didn’t have much time. Sal looked like a cockroach.  He was on his back, trying hard to flip himself over. Finally, he succeeded in flipping himself over.

Sal scrambled over to the log, and hurriedly climbed up on it. He didn’t stop to see where he is on the window, nor the color of the room, or anything else. He grabbed hold of the sill and pulled himself up.  Sal found himself hanging half in-half out of the window, his legs kicking uselessly. The voices are getting closer. With one desperate burst of strength Sal pulled himself up and slid down onto the floor.

The voices are now dangerously close. Sal looked around for a good place to hide, and saw a table that would hide him from other people’s view. Sal scrambled under the table. A split-second later the door opened, and a Tracker came through the door, followed by a second Tracker.

This is good, two Trackers. Sal quickly listened in. The two Trackers wore white lab suits and white pants. They were barefoot and looked like they both had just gotten out of bed. Their hair wasn’t brushed, but what interested Sal the most was the fact that they looked very agitated.

“I wonder what the boss has called us out so early for.” The Tracker had golden hair that was ruffled with bed head.

“I dunno Thomas, but it must be important, the boss sounded very scared.” The second Tracker had black hair that fell lazily down his back and to his waist. Thomas looked at the lab equipment around him, then shivered.

“Hey, Kyle, didn’t you turn the heat on? It’s freezing in here.” Thomas looked around, his eyes flickering to the air vent, and then to the open window. Sal grimaced, realizing that it was cold in there, but he was fairly well insulated within the tiny space.

Thomas, Sal noticed, was very lanky, and was able to cover the distance in tow easy strides. He slammed the window shut, shuddering as the last of the wind was shut out. That’s weird, the wind must have just started blowing, I don’t remember walking here with the wind. It’s not even that early, it’s  

Just then, the lead Tracker came in. Sal could tell because across his shirt were two words in huge letters: Lead Tracker.  Sal had to stifle back laughter. He knew that this would be a great story. The Lead Tracker looked totally disheveled. His hair was wild, obscuring his face and making him look like he was wild. His clothes looked like they had been put on hastily; his lab coat was buttoned wrong. His shoes were tied together, and his pants were torn.

Huffing back breath, the Lead Tracker looked from Thomas to Kyle. “Thomas, Kyle, there is a huge problem. The wee-mode has crashed.” Thomas and Kyle looked aghast, covering their faces with their hands.

“No, George, that can’t be! We made that wee-mode carefully and very securely!” Kyle shook his head in disbelief. Thomas looked at Kyle, then back at George.

“Is there something else, boss?” Thomas looked warily at George, who was looking anguished. George looked at Thomas, an apology clear in his eyes.

Thomas closed his eyes, already knowing the answer to his question. “It’s Madison, isn’t it?” George only nodded.

Thomas sank to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks, tracing paths down his face. They fell onto the floor, each splattering on the hard, cold, merciless floor. George now had tears rolling off his cheeks now, as did Kyle. There was nothing to say, and nobody wanted to break the silence. Sal sucked in his breath, and closed his eyes.

I can’t believe this, my story will be so emotional.

Chapter 13

Exploring the New World

Madison opened her eyes, expecting to find herself on Pluto, away from that scary dream of Earth.  That wish didn’t come true, for Madison saw herself looking into Jack’s scratched face.  He looked relieved. 

“You fell unconscious as soon as we got out of the wee mode.  You must have been unused to the air.  I felt a little woozy myself, actually,” Madison sat up, and then sat back down.  “I feel dizzy,” Jack kissed her forehead and then stood up.  “Take your time getting up Madison.  The Explorers and I are going to explore Earth,”

Madison sat up, shaking her head with dizziness.  She got to her feet and struggled to move her feet one in front of the other. 

Jack helped her walk.  “Come on.  I knew that you wouldn’t be able to resist coming to explore with your boyfriend,” Madison punched him playfully in the arm.  “So, the Explorers survived the crash?” “All but two; the second in command and the Mapper,” Madison shook her head.  “The mapper was so nice, I hope they gave him a proper burial,” “Yeah, they were buried during your unconsciousness,” Madison looked ahead, contemplating what all had happened.

“I was the cause of this, wasn’t I, Jack?” Jack looked at Madison with pity in his eyes.  “There’s always a way to redeem yourself,”

Suddenly, Madison screamed, pointing at something sitting in the grass.  “Madison!  Don’t worry! The Explorers said that they’re organisms like us, they’re just not as smart, and don’t speak our language,” Madison gulped and stared at the tiny thing.  “We saw one of those; the Explorers are naming them and writing it down.  I think they called that a rabbit,” Madison looked at it.  It was brown and covered in hair.  Madison stared at the floppy ears and small thing hanging out the back of it.  “What is that thing hanging out the back?” “The Explorers named it a tail.  Isn’t it weird how hair covers every part of it?” The rabbit saw them and scampered off into the woods.  “Hey!  You two!” Madison and Jack turned to see the Explorers coming from the forest that loomed ahead of them. 

The leader of the Explorers walked up to them.  “We’ve seen other organisms and have watched them eat things growing on bushes.  We named the food berries and the organisms birds.  Here, try the berries.”

The leader held out his hand.  Purple, round things rolled around in his hand.  Madison picked one up and found that it was squishy.  She popped it in her mouth and chewed slowly, tasting it.  “Wow!  This is wonderful stuff!” Madison took two more.  “That’s why we picked a whole bunch,” He held up more berries. 

“Also, we saw an animal we called a wolf eating a rabbit.  That means that we can probably eat it too,” He held up a limp rabbit.  “We took a twig from a tree and hit it over the head,” “Come, let’s head back to the camp,” The leader looked at the new Mapper, questioning where to go.  “Oh! Sorry sir.  Uh, I think that the camp is this way,”

The Mapper started to lead, but the leader stepped in front.  “I can do the rest,”

They all began following him towards what they thought was the direction of the camp.  The head Explorer turned around as he walked and began talking to them about Earth. 

Suddenly, the head Explorer seemed to fall in place.  Madison screamed and rushed forward, leaping towards the leader.  She landed heavily on her side, but caught the Explorer’s hand.  The other Explorers and Jack rushed to help them, pulling the head Explorer up.

The head Explorer got up and said: “That is definitely not the way to the camp.  He turned to Madison: “You saved my life; I forgive you for the crash. I’m in your debt,” Madison teared up, finally realizing that she had saved his life.

“You’re not in my debt, knowing that I’ve been forgiven is all I want,” the head Explorer nodded his head in respect.  “Well, I think Madison has proved herself worthy of my forgiveness, and the worthiness to be an Explorer,” Madison looked surprised, also mixed in with a little bit of shock too.  “Me, an Explorer?” Madison took a step back and looked at all the Explorers.  A smile broke through her face, this time, it was a sincere smile.  Jack saw a change in Madison, she seemed finally happy.  She has proved herself, and now she can just, be.  She doesn’t have to fight for a place. 

Jack contemplated this as the leader, showing the Mapper that he had held the map upside down, led them back to camp.

The Explorers figured out that if you hit a, what they called rock, against another rock, it made fire.  The head Explorer found some parts of trees that were strewn by the forest to sit on.  The group sat around the fire, discussing the past events.    

Madison had had a question nagging at her during the discussion, “I don’t think there’s a dome around Earth, so what’s giving us light?” The Explorers looked at each other, as if mentally asking the question to each other.  The leader looked at Madison.  “We’ve done some research on this, and we think that we all revolve around a center planet, one that gives off light and heat.  We’ll have to find out more,” The Explorers seemed satisfied with that answer, and Madison took the answer, though she made a mental note to look into the subject. 

“So, everyone, we’ve got some decisions to make.  We’ve got to make camp, since we’re going to be here a while.  The trees look good enough to use for houses.  We’ll have to map out the land, we have mapped out a little, but there’s much more to see of the land.  Also, you remember that crack in the ground I almost fell into?  Well, I have called it the Grand Canyon. Now, I know you kids are young, but we’ve got to reproduce.  We’ve got to keep the society going, once we start it.  It’s going to be hard, but we’re tough.  Madison, Jack, are you okay with working this hard?” Madison looked at Jack; they both knew the answer to that question.

THE END