Those Crazy 51st Century Kids...
Nov. 8th, 2009 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anonymoose_au9:52pm:
Chapter Four
Grange, Britannia, Earth
5075
It was beautiful, the most beautiful thing Marek had ever seen.
He’d been hunting it for a while now, ever since it had showed up in the village just a couple of weeks ago.
Everyone else had given up on the cause, even Fred, who, that morning had decided the whole thing was a wild goose chase.
“You can go looking if you want, but seriously? I think we were just imagining the whole thing.”
Marek had known better and now here he was right in front of it…he could see his reflection in its gleaming polished surface.
A hover…
A real hover.
No-one in Grange had ever had a hover before – or if they had they’d sold theirs long ago when the fuel prices got too high and a shuttle service had been set up just a couple of hundred metres from the outskirts of town.
But two weeks ago, when he and Fred had been sitting around outside their houses, lamenting the fact that they were now thirteen and had nothing to do, the hover had appeared.
It was almost soundless, just making a humming noise as it glided down the street.
He and Fred had been so shocked, they hadn’t started running after it until it was too late. By the time they rounded the corner it had disappeared.
Thus hat begun the search.
At first several of their friends had been involved, even Theresa although she seemed to be there mainly to tell them how ridiculous the idea of someone in Grange having a hover was and that they weren’t that interesting to look at anyway.
Well, she was wrong, because it was gorgeous!
Only thing was, what to do now he’d found it…
Marek considered the options, he could take a holograph, that’d show ‘em. Or he could round them all up and bring them over to see.
But that just wasn’t…fun enough.
Marek couldn’t suppress the grin on his face…a rather…sneaky grin…
The hover didn’t look like it’d be that hard to start, not for someone whose father was an engineer and showed him all the ropes… And who had all ready bypassed the cloaking system on the car.
Marek takes a quick look around, he’s not planning on taking it for long…and it’d be so cool just to cruise past his friends.
Yeah, it’ll be fine, Mr and Mrs Babcock aren’t even home (in fact none of the adults are, there’s some village meeting on or something like that).
Without a second though Marek leapt into the hover and got to work bypassing the security system.
As it turned out, ‘borrowing’ the hover caused quite the stir in Grange and not just from Marek’s friends.
They’d mentioned something about being at the Village Green, so that’s where he headed, kind of forgetting that the meeting hall was just across the way).
He cut a rather dashing figure if he did say so himself, and for someone who’d never flown a hover before was doing a good job with only minimal swerving. It wasn’t as if there were other cars to run into anyway.
“Hey there!” He called waving, or at least trying to, he couldn’t let go of the control stick for very long unless he wanted to end up putting the hover through a wall.
The effect was what he hoped though, his friends had got to their feet and were staring at him, mouths opened.
“Told you there was a hover in town! Mr and Mrs Babcock got it!” Marek attempts to execute a U-turn so he can pass by them again, which is rather ambitious and he almost ends up tipping the hover right over!
“Marek, what the Hell?!” Theresa looks horrified. “How did you…I mean…Mr and Mrs. Babcock didn’t say you could drive it, did they?”
“”Course not, I’m just borrowing it, s’all.” Marek shakes his head, really Theresa could be idiotic. He brings the hover to a rather jolting stop.
Martin comes over to look it over, giving a low whistle of appreciation. “Amazing…”
Everyone else is rather taken by the hover too and Marek can’t help preening a bit. This was great!
But Theresa suddenly starts waving her arms. “Take it back! You have to take it back! You just stole a hover, Marek Vane! Are you stupid?!”
“Oi, I did not,” he glares, rather offended by the suggestion. “I’m going to take it back, I just wanted you to see it…plus it’s brilliant flying it.”
Theresa remained unconvinced. “If Mr and Mrs Babcock catch you they’ll call the cops, they’ll put you in jail! Put it back!”
Marek rolls his eyes and grins. “So now you believe me?”
“Well, of course!” Chris and Clare chime.
“Can we go for a ride?” Andy wants to know, which causes an outbreak of excitement, everyone wants a ride, except for…
“Are you people listening to me?” Theresa shrieks. “Marek is gonna be in a lot of trouble! And so will the rest of you!”
And as if to prove that point. “I’m leaving, the rest of you should too…” And with one last glare at Marek she ran off.
Marek shook his head, obviously jealous, because come on, as if he’d get in trouble for this! It wasn’t like he was planning to crash the hove or run off with it forever.
“And sure we can go for a ride! Unless you’re all worried about going to jail.”
Everyone laughed and before long Marek was flying around the block with as many friends as could fit in the hover.
It was like some big party and Marek had never had so much fun in his life!
At least until the doors of the Village Hall opened and the adults of Grange started pouring out.
Including Mr and Mrs Babcock.
Who took one look at Marek Vane flying a hoverload of kids around in their precious hover and…it all got rather crazy.
Marek didn’t think it was necessary for Mrs Babcock to start screaming like that, or for Mr Babcock to come over and start bodily removing kids from the car.
Really, people could be so touchy!
And then his parents got involved…and the next thing he knew he was getting told off in the middle of Grange!
Eventually, the Babcocks took their hover back and everyone dispersed, and Mum and Dad led him home between them.
“What’s the big deal?! I was gonna take it back!”
Mum shook her head and pressed her lips together. “You can’t go around taking people’s property, Marek!”
“How’d you manage to take it anyway?” Dad sounded slightly curious and Mum gave him a look.
“It was easy! I just did what you taught me.”
“James!” Mum looked shocked. “You’ve been teaching our son to break locks?!”
“What? No.”
“He hasn’t, Mum,” Marek jumped in. “But I could figure it out.”
“Good work, son!” Dad looks impressed! But off Mum’s look he quickly adds. “But….you shouldn’t have done that, the Babcocks weren’t…um…too happy.”
“Exactly!” Mum gave Marek her sternest look. “Marek…” The look begins to break. “That was very irresponsible and…”
Suddenly Mum starts giggling and not just a little, soon she’s practically crying with laughter.
Marek looks at Dad and wonders for a moment if he’s managed to drive Mum crazy…
Mum managed to pull herself together and attempted to look stern again, but she can only grin. “Goddesses! The looks on their faces! Oh dear…” She laughs again. “You’ll have to apologise,” she tells Marek ruffling his hair. “But…the looks on their faces.”
Soon they were all laughing, because really it was funny!
Mum and Dad did make him write an apology to the Babcocks, which Marek supposed was only fair, though he still thought the Babcocks were been oversensitive about the whole thing. He hadn’t got a scratch on the hover after all.
The Babcocks though, didn’t seem to think an apology letter was enough, so to placate them Mum and Dad sent Marek down to the village police station to ‘get a talking to’. Which didn’t turn out to be all that bad because there was some cool stuff in the station. And Marek was way more interested in that then the policeman’s warning that next time he wouldn’t be let off so lightly.
“How strong is that?” He pointed to the policeman’s side-arm.
“Huh? Oh…low level stunner…it’ll hurt like Hell, but you won’t need a hospital stay.”
Marek admired it the side-arm. “Got any that shoot bullets or lasers?”
The policeman blinked looking rather surprised. “In Grange? We won’t be needing anything like that, son.”
Marek sighed, it was probably true.
After the policeman had finished his lecture Marek’s friends were waiting for him and Martin made quite the show of hugging him.
“How was the clink? Can you adjust to your life on the outside, is the open air too much for you? Just say the word….”
Theresa rolled her eyes in annoyance and stuck her tongue out at Martin. “Oh you’re so amusing, why don’t you go put on a street show? I bet that’ll be the only work you ever get.”
“You’re such a bitch, you know that?” Martin shot back.
“Don’t you call me that!”
“Would you two stop fighting all the time,” Andy stepped in between the two of them. “It’s bloody annoying, you know.”
“He starts it!” Theresa objected, looking as if she’d been accused of a major crime.
“Me?! We all know you can’t keep-“
It was at that point the rest of them decided to head off and leave them to it.
“So what exactly are we gonna do?” Chris asked. “I mean, it’s annoying watching those two fight, but what else is there?”
Marek grinned. “I’ve got something we can do.”
There were some exaggerated groans from his friends.
“Oh Gods you’ll have us all in jail next!” Andy laughed.
“No, it’s OK, I own this.”
And he did, for his birthday Dad had got him a rocket, one that he’d specially modified.
It had to be a least a foot taller than Marek was, painted in red and had the name RV Vane written on one of its fins.
There were whistles of appreciation all around, it was one spectacular looking rocket that was for sure…
“Dad says this’ll definitely break the Earth’s gravitational pull,” Marek could barely contain himself. “And it’ll send information back too! To this,” Marek showed them a small holo-recorder.
At that moment, Theresa and Martin joined them in the yard.
“Hey, nice work leaving us, guys!”
“How rude are all of you?” Theresa folds her arms.
Marek exchanged looks with his friends and the burst out laughing, Martin and Theresa glared at them but eventually they end up laughing too.
“Wow,” Once Martin got a hold of himself he noticed the huge rocket. “What are you planning to do with that?”
“Expedition to Mars,” Marek announced, bouncing on his toes.
Even Theresa looked impressed.
But after a moment or two Clare looked slightly concerned. “Don’t you think that’s a little dangerous…I mean how much power does that thing need to lift off?”
Marek shrugged. “Well, Dad gave it to me and I doubt he’d tried to blow me up!” He giggles. “Besides we’re not going to stand right next to it, its remote controlled.” He pressed a small button on the side of the rocket and a panel opened, revealing the remote.
“You think we should set up here?” Fred looked a little unsure. “I mean, what if something goes wrong and it explodes, it’ll take out your parents’ back fence.”
Marek looked at the rocket thoughtfully, Fred probably had a point… Beyond the back fence though there was a wide expanse of field, if they set the rocket up there, half a mile away or something, that’d probably work.
“Good point, help me move it then?”
In the end he, Fred, Chris and Martin had to work together to haul the rocket over the fence and across the field a good distance away.
Once it was set up again Marek gathered everyone on the top of the back steps to his house which afforded a perfect view of the rocket.
“OK everyone! We’re gathered here to witness an historic event, the launch of RV Vane into the great beyond!”
A cheer went up from his friends.
Marek wondered if he should wait until his Dad can come and see, since it was his rocket…but he couldn’t wait now that everything was set up!
“T-minus one minute to lift off!” Marek announced, hitting the appropriate button on the remote. “Fifty-nine! Fifty-eight!”
Everyone took up the countdown. “Fifty-seven! Fifty-six!...”
Twenty seconds into the countdown the back door opened. “Marek…kids…what’s all this?”
“Just launching the rocket, Dad,” Marek said over his shoulder, before turning back to watch the rocket, which was beginning to smoke. “Fifteen…”
“Really? Where is it?” Dad’s was looking far into the distance.
“No, it’s there,” Marek pointed. “It’s going to Mars just like you said.” Marek gave him a big grin. “Ten…nine…”
All of a sudden Dad shouted at everyone to move it and get the Hell inside and when they didn’t move fast enough, he started pulling them inside one by one.
Once Marek and all his friends are inside Dad slammed the door close button hard.
“Daaad,” Marek tried to see out the window beside the door. “We’re gonna miss –“
It was the loudest noise Marek had ever heard, it almost knocked him off his feet! The walls and floors of the house shook, smoke poured in from underneath the door.
The noise, a loud echoing booming sound repeated itself three more times and then finally died away and everyone looked at each other, blinking in surprise, except for Dad who wiped his brow as if he had just avoided something horrible.
Marek pressed the door release and when it slid open it revealed…
A huge mess…
The back fence, or what’s left of it was blackened, there appeared to be woodchips all over the yard and one of the walls of Dad’s shed had fallen in.
Marek’s eyes followed the trail of smoke, up, up, up…and there was RV Vane, it was heading up into the sky, becoming a tiny speck.
“It worked! Look!” He pointed and then took a hurried look at the holo-recorder, which was registering everything was A-OK with the rocket.
He looked over his shoulder a huge grin on his face and saw Dad shaking his head. “You blew up the yard…”
Marek turned back, blinking a few times. “Oh…yeah…” But still, that was so cool! Too bad he didn’t get to see it!
“The clothesline,” Dad continues.
Marek hadn’t noticed the clothesline, or rather the lack of it…he’s not sure where it’s gone. Clotheslines are hardly necessary now, but Mum seemed to like them and half their clothes had been hung up out there.
He turns back to his father. “Whoops…”
When Mum saw the damage “Whoops” seemed even more of an understatement.
She took in the sight of the backyard, opened mouthed and for ten whole minutes she didn’t speak at all, which for Mum was a really long time and obviously meant that there was big trouble…
“You blew up the yard?! What were you thinking?!”
“Sorry Mum,” Marek really did feel bad, “I though I’d moved it far enough away, the scanner said it’d be safe.”
Mum turned to Dad. “Let me guess, you didn’t update the scanner when you added your modifications?” She folded her arms.
Dad scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture. “Well, I figured he’d wait for me before launching it.”
Mum rolled her eyes. “When has Marek waited for anything?”
“Well, the house is fine at least.” Dad reminded her.
Which didn’t pacify Mum at all, she narrowed her eyes and snapped. “Oh, well, that’s good, I mean, a person certainly can’t expect to find their house still standing when they go out for the day!”
“I’m really sorry, Mum, I’ll help clean up!”
Mum gave him a small smile. “I should hope so! But honestly, dear, next time you use something your father’s modified get his instructions first.”
“’Course Mum!”
As it turned out it was pretty fun putting the yard back together again, all of Marek’s friends helped out as well (they may have been ordered by their parents, since the rocket launch had gathered quite a bit of attention, what with the noise and all…).
In the end the yard was as good as new, or better! Marek even made sure to buy all of Mum’s favourite flowers to replant in the garden, which earned him a hug.
They were, though, a bit short on clothes for a while.
Word Count: 2,804
Onto Chapter Five
Chapter Four
Grange, Britannia, Earth
5075
It was beautiful, the most beautiful thing Marek had ever seen.
He’d been hunting it for a while now, ever since it had showed up in the village just a couple of weeks ago.
Everyone else had given up on the cause, even Fred, who, that morning had decided the whole thing was a wild goose chase.
“You can go looking if you want, but seriously? I think we were just imagining the whole thing.”
Marek had known better and now here he was right in front of it…he could see his reflection in its gleaming polished surface.
A hover…
A real hover.
No-one in Grange had ever had a hover before – or if they had they’d sold theirs long ago when the fuel prices got too high and a shuttle service had been set up just a couple of hundred metres from the outskirts of town.
But two weeks ago, when he and Fred had been sitting around outside their houses, lamenting the fact that they were now thirteen and had nothing to do, the hover had appeared.
It was almost soundless, just making a humming noise as it glided down the street.
He and Fred had been so shocked, they hadn’t started running after it until it was too late. By the time they rounded the corner it had disappeared.
Thus hat begun the search.
At first several of their friends had been involved, even Theresa although she seemed to be there mainly to tell them how ridiculous the idea of someone in Grange having a hover was and that they weren’t that interesting to look at anyway.
Well, she was wrong, because it was gorgeous!
Only thing was, what to do now he’d found it…
Marek considered the options, he could take a holograph, that’d show ‘em. Or he could round them all up and bring them over to see.
But that just wasn’t…fun enough.
Marek couldn’t suppress the grin on his face…a rather…sneaky grin…
The hover didn’t look like it’d be that hard to start, not for someone whose father was an engineer and showed him all the ropes… And who had all ready bypassed the cloaking system on the car.
Marek takes a quick look around, he’s not planning on taking it for long…and it’d be so cool just to cruise past his friends.
Yeah, it’ll be fine, Mr and Mrs Babcock aren’t even home (in fact none of the adults are, there’s some village meeting on or something like that).
Without a second though Marek leapt into the hover and got to work bypassing the security system.
As it turned out, ‘borrowing’ the hover caused quite the stir in Grange and not just from Marek’s friends.
They’d mentioned something about being at the Village Green, so that’s where he headed, kind of forgetting that the meeting hall was just across the way).
He cut a rather dashing figure if he did say so himself, and for someone who’d never flown a hover before was doing a good job with only minimal swerving. It wasn’t as if there were other cars to run into anyway.
“Hey there!” He called waving, or at least trying to, he couldn’t let go of the control stick for very long unless he wanted to end up putting the hover through a wall.
The effect was what he hoped though, his friends had got to their feet and were staring at him, mouths opened.
“Told you there was a hover in town! Mr and Mrs Babcock got it!” Marek attempts to execute a U-turn so he can pass by them again, which is rather ambitious and he almost ends up tipping the hover right over!
“Marek, what the Hell?!” Theresa looks horrified. “How did you…I mean…Mr and Mrs. Babcock didn’t say you could drive it, did they?”
“”Course not, I’m just borrowing it, s’all.” Marek shakes his head, really Theresa could be idiotic. He brings the hover to a rather jolting stop.
Martin comes over to look it over, giving a low whistle of appreciation. “Amazing…”
Everyone else is rather taken by the hover too and Marek can’t help preening a bit. This was great!
But Theresa suddenly starts waving her arms. “Take it back! You have to take it back! You just stole a hover, Marek Vane! Are you stupid?!”
“Oi, I did not,” he glares, rather offended by the suggestion. “I’m going to take it back, I just wanted you to see it…plus it’s brilliant flying it.”
Theresa remained unconvinced. “If Mr and Mrs Babcock catch you they’ll call the cops, they’ll put you in jail! Put it back!”
Marek rolls his eyes and grins. “So now you believe me?”
“Well, of course!” Chris and Clare chime.
“Can we go for a ride?” Andy wants to know, which causes an outbreak of excitement, everyone wants a ride, except for…
“Are you people listening to me?” Theresa shrieks. “Marek is gonna be in a lot of trouble! And so will the rest of you!”
And as if to prove that point. “I’m leaving, the rest of you should too…” And with one last glare at Marek she ran off.
Marek shook his head, obviously jealous, because come on, as if he’d get in trouble for this! It wasn’t like he was planning to crash the hove or run off with it forever.
“And sure we can go for a ride! Unless you’re all worried about going to jail.”
Everyone laughed and before long Marek was flying around the block with as many friends as could fit in the hover.
It was like some big party and Marek had never had so much fun in his life!
At least until the doors of the Village Hall opened and the adults of Grange started pouring out.
Including Mr and Mrs Babcock.
Who took one look at Marek Vane flying a hoverload of kids around in their precious hover and…it all got rather crazy.
Marek didn’t think it was necessary for Mrs Babcock to start screaming like that, or for Mr Babcock to come over and start bodily removing kids from the car.
Really, people could be so touchy!
And then his parents got involved…and the next thing he knew he was getting told off in the middle of Grange!
Eventually, the Babcocks took their hover back and everyone dispersed, and Mum and Dad led him home between them.
“What’s the big deal?! I was gonna take it back!”
Mum shook her head and pressed her lips together. “You can’t go around taking people’s property, Marek!”
“How’d you manage to take it anyway?” Dad sounded slightly curious and Mum gave him a look.
“It was easy! I just did what you taught me.”
“James!” Mum looked shocked. “You’ve been teaching our son to break locks?!”
“What? No.”
“He hasn’t, Mum,” Marek jumped in. “But I could figure it out.”
“Good work, son!” Dad looks impressed! But off Mum’s look he quickly adds. “But….you shouldn’t have done that, the Babcocks weren’t…um…too happy.”
“Exactly!” Mum gave Marek her sternest look. “Marek…” The look begins to break. “That was very irresponsible and…”
Suddenly Mum starts giggling and not just a little, soon she’s practically crying with laughter.
Marek looks at Dad and wonders for a moment if he’s managed to drive Mum crazy…
Mum managed to pull herself together and attempted to look stern again, but she can only grin. “Goddesses! The looks on their faces! Oh dear…” She laughs again. “You’ll have to apologise,” she tells Marek ruffling his hair. “But…the looks on their faces.”
Soon they were all laughing, because really it was funny!
Mum and Dad did make him write an apology to the Babcocks, which Marek supposed was only fair, though he still thought the Babcocks were been oversensitive about the whole thing. He hadn’t got a scratch on the hover after all.
The Babcocks though, didn’t seem to think an apology letter was enough, so to placate them Mum and Dad sent Marek down to the village police station to ‘get a talking to’. Which didn’t turn out to be all that bad because there was some cool stuff in the station. And Marek was way more interested in that then the policeman’s warning that next time he wouldn’t be let off so lightly.
“How strong is that?” He pointed to the policeman’s side-arm.
“Huh? Oh…low level stunner…it’ll hurt like Hell, but you won’t need a hospital stay.”
Marek admired it the side-arm. “Got any that shoot bullets or lasers?”
The policeman blinked looking rather surprised. “In Grange? We won’t be needing anything like that, son.”
Marek sighed, it was probably true.
After the policeman had finished his lecture Marek’s friends were waiting for him and Martin made quite the show of hugging him.
“How was the clink? Can you adjust to your life on the outside, is the open air too much for you? Just say the word….”
Theresa rolled her eyes in annoyance and stuck her tongue out at Martin. “Oh you’re so amusing, why don’t you go put on a street show? I bet that’ll be the only work you ever get.”
“You’re such a bitch, you know that?” Martin shot back.
“Don’t you call me that!”
“Would you two stop fighting all the time,” Andy stepped in between the two of them. “It’s bloody annoying, you know.”
“He starts it!” Theresa objected, looking as if she’d been accused of a major crime.
“Me?! We all know you can’t keep-“
It was at that point the rest of them decided to head off and leave them to it.
“So what exactly are we gonna do?” Chris asked. “I mean, it’s annoying watching those two fight, but what else is there?”
Marek grinned. “I’ve got something we can do.”
There were some exaggerated groans from his friends.
“Oh Gods you’ll have us all in jail next!” Andy laughed.
“No, it’s OK, I own this.”
And he did, for his birthday Dad had got him a rocket, one that he’d specially modified.
It had to be a least a foot taller than Marek was, painted in red and had the name RV Vane written on one of its fins.
There were whistles of appreciation all around, it was one spectacular looking rocket that was for sure…
“Dad says this’ll definitely break the Earth’s gravitational pull,” Marek could barely contain himself. “And it’ll send information back too! To this,” Marek showed them a small holo-recorder.
At that moment, Theresa and Martin joined them in the yard.
“Hey, nice work leaving us, guys!”
“How rude are all of you?” Theresa folds her arms.
Marek exchanged looks with his friends and the burst out laughing, Martin and Theresa glared at them but eventually they end up laughing too.
“Wow,” Once Martin got a hold of himself he noticed the huge rocket. “What are you planning to do with that?”
“Expedition to Mars,” Marek announced, bouncing on his toes.
Even Theresa looked impressed.
But after a moment or two Clare looked slightly concerned. “Don’t you think that’s a little dangerous…I mean how much power does that thing need to lift off?”
Marek shrugged. “Well, Dad gave it to me and I doubt he’d tried to blow me up!” He giggles. “Besides we’re not going to stand right next to it, its remote controlled.” He pressed a small button on the side of the rocket and a panel opened, revealing the remote.
“You think we should set up here?” Fred looked a little unsure. “I mean, what if something goes wrong and it explodes, it’ll take out your parents’ back fence.”
Marek looked at the rocket thoughtfully, Fred probably had a point… Beyond the back fence though there was a wide expanse of field, if they set the rocket up there, half a mile away or something, that’d probably work.
“Good point, help me move it then?”
In the end he, Fred, Chris and Martin had to work together to haul the rocket over the fence and across the field a good distance away.
Once it was set up again Marek gathered everyone on the top of the back steps to his house which afforded a perfect view of the rocket.
“OK everyone! We’re gathered here to witness an historic event, the launch of RV Vane into the great beyond!”
A cheer went up from his friends.
Marek wondered if he should wait until his Dad can come and see, since it was his rocket…but he couldn’t wait now that everything was set up!
“T-minus one minute to lift off!” Marek announced, hitting the appropriate button on the remote. “Fifty-nine! Fifty-eight!”
Everyone took up the countdown. “Fifty-seven! Fifty-six!...”
Twenty seconds into the countdown the back door opened. “Marek…kids…what’s all this?”
“Just launching the rocket, Dad,” Marek said over his shoulder, before turning back to watch the rocket, which was beginning to smoke. “Fifteen…”
“Really? Where is it?” Dad’s was looking far into the distance.
“No, it’s there,” Marek pointed. “It’s going to Mars just like you said.” Marek gave him a big grin. “Ten…nine…”
All of a sudden Dad shouted at everyone to move it and get the Hell inside and when they didn’t move fast enough, he started pulling them inside one by one.
Once Marek and all his friends are inside Dad slammed the door close button hard.
“Daaad,” Marek tried to see out the window beside the door. “We’re gonna miss –“
It was the loudest noise Marek had ever heard, it almost knocked him off his feet! The walls and floors of the house shook, smoke poured in from underneath the door.
The noise, a loud echoing booming sound repeated itself three more times and then finally died away and everyone looked at each other, blinking in surprise, except for Dad who wiped his brow as if he had just avoided something horrible.
Marek pressed the door release and when it slid open it revealed…
A huge mess…
The back fence, or what’s left of it was blackened, there appeared to be woodchips all over the yard and one of the walls of Dad’s shed had fallen in.
Marek’s eyes followed the trail of smoke, up, up, up…and there was RV Vane, it was heading up into the sky, becoming a tiny speck.
“It worked! Look!” He pointed and then took a hurried look at the holo-recorder, which was registering everything was A-OK with the rocket.
He looked over his shoulder a huge grin on his face and saw Dad shaking his head. “You blew up the yard…”
Marek turned back, blinking a few times. “Oh…yeah…” But still, that was so cool! Too bad he didn’t get to see it!
“The clothesline,” Dad continues.
Marek hadn’t noticed the clothesline, or rather the lack of it…he’s not sure where it’s gone. Clotheslines are hardly necessary now, but Mum seemed to like them and half their clothes had been hung up out there.
He turns back to his father. “Whoops…”
When Mum saw the damage “Whoops” seemed even more of an understatement.
She took in the sight of the backyard, opened mouthed and for ten whole minutes she didn’t speak at all, which for Mum was a really long time and obviously meant that there was big trouble…
“You blew up the yard?! What were you thinking?!”
“Sorry Mum,” Marek really did feel bad, “I though I’d moved it far enough away, the scanner said it’d be safe.”
Mum turned to Dad. “Let me guess, you didn’t update the scanner when you added your modifications?” She folded her arms.
Dad scratched the back of his head in a nervous gesture. “Well, I figured he’d wait for me before launching it.”
Mum rolled her eyes. “When has Marek waited for anything?”
“Well, the house is fine at least.” Dad reminded her.
Which didn’t pacify Mum at all, she narrowed her eyes and snapped. “Oh, well, that’s good, I mean, a person certainly can’t expect to find their house still standing when they go out for the day!”
“I’m really sorry, Mum, I’ll help clean up!”
Mum gave him a small smile. “I should hope so! But honestly, dear, next time you use something your father’s modified get his instructions first.”
“’Course Mum!”
As it turned out it was pretty fun putting the yard back together again, all of Marek’s friends helped out as well (they may have been ordered by their parents, since the rocket launch had gathered quite a bit of attention, what with the noise and all…).
In the end the yard was as good as new, or better! Marek even made sure to buy all of Mum’s favourite flowers to replant in the garden, which earned him a hug.
They were, though, a bit short on clothes for a while.
Word Count: 2,804
Onto Chapter Five
