FicWad

It was early morning when Gizmo peeked out from under the blankets. Hearing only the steady dripping of the roof, he hopped off the bed and glanced around. Joy was fast asleep again, curled up deep under the covers beside Chris who looked up sleepily and gave Gizmo a curious look. Gizmo stared at them for a second before looking annoyed. “Just admit she’s your girlfriend already!”he hissed before tip toeing out the door leaving Chris staring after him in bewilderment and surprise. A few minutes later the phone beside the bed started ringing wildly. Chris immediately grabbed it, set it in the drawer and closed it. He glanced at Joy looking slightly worried but was relieved to see she was still asleep. Meanwhile, Gizmo had stomped downstairs and out into the yard where he was met by disaster. Tree branches were strewn across the street, leaves were everywhere and the lawn chairs had been blown onto the neighbors fence. Gizmo pulled one onto the porch and sat down in it with an exasperated sigh. “Gizmo? What are you doing out here? Everything okay?”he heard someone ask. He opened one eye and saw Joy looking at him, anxiously. “I’m fine” he retorted, flatly. “Suit yourself” Joy replied, calmly surveying the yard. “Is Chris still awake?” Gizmo asked. Joy just glanced at him. “No. Why? Was he earlier?” “Yeah. Like ten minutes ago” Gizmo said, looking up as a phone started ringing inside. A few minutes later Chris came outside with the phone. “Here, Joy. It’s your mom” he said, handing the phone to Joy who gave him a grateful smile before he went back inside. “Joy? Oh thank goodness! You don’t mind staying at Chris’s house until you guys leave on vacation do you?” Joy’s mom asked, sounding frantic. “No but why? What happened?” Joy asked. “Nothing. Nothing at all. I just thought it might be a good idea since you’re leaving tomorrow and all.” Her mom sounded cheerful but Joy could tell that she wasn’t telling her something. “Mom? That’s not the reason” Joy said. “No questions. Just do it and I’ll see you.....soon.” With that, Joy’s mom hung up abruptly. Joy glanced down and saw Gizmo giving her a questioning look. Joy didn’t say anything. Instead she stood still, staring at the devastated yard for a moment before heading inside, Gizmo close behind. Chris was just coming down the stairs and taking one glance at Joy’s worried look, automatically knew something was wrong. “What did your mom say?”he asked. “She told me to stay here until we leave tomorrow” Joy explained, softly. “Did she say why?” Chris sat down on the couch and looked up at her. “No and that’s what worries me” Joy replied. “She didn’t say when she expected us back or anything. Just hung up.” Joy sat down beside Chris who gave her a confused but sympathetic look. “Are you three ready to go?” Joy, Chris and Gizmo looked up and saw Chris’s mom setting a backpack on the kitchen counter, suitcase in hand and facing them questioningly. Chris and Joy glanced at each other, confused. “Go where? Aren’t we leaving tomorrow?” Chris finally asked. “The schedule changed. Now both of you hurry up and get ready.” Chris’s mom motioned for Gizmo to help her load the car, gave them both a reassuring smile and headed out the door. After they left and had been in the car for an hour, Chris noticed how fast his dad was going and asked him about it. His dad didn’t say anything and only glanced at his mom. Chris sat back and stared out the window. Something wasn’t right, he thought. “....when we reach camp, tell the kids to go exploring while we make the dinner.” Chris looked over at his mom who was talking softly to his dad. “And then they won’t suspect a thing?”his dad asked. His mom nodded. “Are you sure you want to do this? Deadly food sounds just as bad as a killer asteroid.” Chris’s dad looked uncertain as he watched the road ahead. “Remember, dear. We’re all in on this. You, me, Joy’s parents, the Robinsons, everyone. Nobody is dying by asteroids on our watch” Chris’s mom replied, firmly, not seeming to notice that Chris had just heard everything. Suddenly his mom turned around and saw him staring at her. For a moment she looked worried as she asked if he was ok. “Yeah. I just...forgot something is all. Nothing important though” Chris replied, frantically. He focused outside again. More like you forgot something. To leave us home and out of this crazy plan. What am I going to tell Joy? Chris thought, a million ideas swirling in his mind. “....Chris? Chris! Can you hear me?” Chris looked over at Joy who was giving him a weird look. “What?”he asked. “Finally! What was so important that you just couldn’t hear me?” Joy asked, with an amused smile. “Uhhh..listen. I can’t tell you here but I’m going to have to tell you today otherwise...” Chris glanced around then lowered his voice. “Otherwise we won’t be alive tomorrow” he whispered much to Joy’s shock. “What?!”she exclaimed. “Shhhh!!! Not so loud. We’re not supposed to know this. We weren’t even supposed to know this until it was too late!” Chris warned. “Sorry but what do you mean ‘won’t be alive tomorrow?” Joy asked, anxiously. “I’ll tell you everything when we get to the campsite.” Chris gave her a reassuring smile before turning back to the window. Both of them were quiet for the rest of the trip. When they reached the campground Chris immediately jumped out of the car and motioned for Joy to follow him. “Have fun you two! Be back by dinner time” Chris’s mom called. Yeah. Sure. We’re not ever coming back, Chris thought. “Ok. So what happened?” Joy asked as soon as they were deep in the forest. “I heard my mom saying she’s going to poison the food or something because she doesn’t want us to be killed by some asteroid. My mom also said that all the parents knew about this and were doing the exact same thing” Chris explained. “But we’re not going to be hit by an asteroid!......are we?” Joy looked worried and confused. “I have no idea what they were talking about. All I know is that we can’t go back there” Chris said. “What about...” Joy started. “Hey! Where do you think you’re going?”someone interrupted. “...Gizmo” Joy finished. “What are we going to do about him? He’ll try to stop us!” Joy said. Chris didn’t answer. “Gizmo? Are there, by any chance, any asteroids heading for earth?”he asked. “Umm...oh yeah! There is a very large deadly asteroid approaching earth and will hit sometime in the afternoon tomorrow.” Gizmo looked up at them with a smile that quickly faded when he realized what he just said. He started freaking out and was about to alert Chris’s parents when Chris stopped him. “They already know. They know too much so we can’t go back.” He explained everything to Gizmo who immediately went into survival mode. “Well let’s get as far away from here as we can” he announced and headed deeper into the woods. Chris shrugged and both he and Joy followed Gizmo.