Planet Expo: Origins [Book One]

Chapter Two

[A.K.A. The Stormy Welcome] 

  Lisa and Nathneial shared a look of enthusiasm and eagerly turned towards their mother, who went back to preparing the meal. “Awesome!” They said while Lisa was still petting Ares, and Nathaniel was walking out of the kitchen to start his homework; he wanted to finish his assignments, so he could at least be productive as he waited. Lisa stood up from her position and decided to see if she could help out in the kitchen. 

“Thanks, sweetie, but it’s ok. Go, do your homework instead. I don’t want you to get hurt on the stove or anything.” 

“Ok, Mom, if you’re sure.”

    With that, the teen gave Ares one last pat on the head before heading off to her room, which was adjacent to Nathaniel’s. Stretching from his bed, Ares let out a yawn of sorts and went to follow Lisa, in search of more affection. Sighing, Lisa opened her room, and Ares was quick to slip in before she closed it. Lisa gasped, not realizing the lovable Golden Retriever was tailing her. Noticing that the door didn’t hurt Ares, a sigh of relief escaped her mouth as she shook her head in disapproval towards the reckless actions of Ares. 

    With her back against the closed door, she took a good look at the Golden Retriever. “Aree, how many times have I told you? Stop doing that. You could’ve gotten hurt.” Ares then paddled over to Lisa and rubbed his head against her leg, as if he was asking forgiveness. Or affection. “Alright, alright. I’ll forgive you.” With that, the young dog, who only recently turned five years of age, then jumped up on the orange-clad bed. Lisa then sighed as she saw him make himself comfortable on her bed, already so used to his behavior since he was a puppy. Opening up the curtain slightly so they both could enjoy some sunlight, Lisa logged onto her self-built laptop to start some of the homework that was assigned as well as to do some light studying for the dreaded finals coming up. It was barely 20 minutes into her typical studious habits and she was already being interrupted.

    Knocking too loudly for Lisa’s liking, Nathaniel begged Lisa to help him with his math homework. “C’mon Lissy, please!” Getting up from her comfortable seating position at her desk, Lisa opened her door. “Yeah, yeah. You owe me ice cream.” Nathaniel huffed, “as I expected from my sweet-tooth sister.” Lisa glared at her brother, “Yeah, well, you want my help! Just get me a bowl of it from downstairs.” Nathaniel rolled his eyes by nodding in compliance. “So, will you help me now?” Lisa sighed and nodded her head to indicate to him to enter into her beloved room. 

    “Anyways, what are you confused about?” Nathaniel sighed, “I know the teacher went in-depth teaching it, but I just get kinda confused about how to apply it.” She nodded and looked over the jet black laptop with the blue-lit keyboard he placed in her hands that opened up to the digital assignment that was due tomorrow before math class started. “Well, first off, do you even understand the definitions and formulas?” Nathaniel nodded. “Well, I suppose that’s a good start. Well, first off, what you did so far isn’t incorrect, but you missed a step here and there,” Lisa said while pointing to where he made his slight mistakes. 

    “And since there are two variables, you need to find this one first by using that formula. Then you plug in and continue doin’ what you were doing.” Taking back his laptop, Nathaniel nodded in understanding. “Oh, that makes much more sense. Thanks, Lissy,” he said while smiling. “Yeah, yeah, don’t mention it. But-” 

    “Yeah, yeah, I know. Your precious ice cream.” Lisa giggled. “You know it, Nattie.” Groaning, he complained with his sister over her use of his most dreaded nickname. “Oh, so you can call me Lissy, but I can’t call you Nattie? Hypocrite.”   

    “I AM NOT! Nattie sounds girly, and I am not a girl. Lissy sounds cute. It’s like sister and Lisa combined” Lisa rolled her eyes, “I fail to see your logic in that argument. Anyways, just get me my promised ice cream.” Lisa then turned away from her brother before jumping on her bed, careful to avoid hurting Ares. Reaching over to her nightstand to turn on her television, which was just a projection on the wall, there was no screen involved, just a little yellow box that projected light. Closing her eyes, Lisa felt stress build up as she barely did any work. Hearing that the T.V. started playing the last playing channel she watched, Entertain4U. 

    Ares then crawled on top of Lisa, sensing that she needed some comfort. She then brought her hand up and soothingly massaged the top of his blondish head. Sighing in content, she didn’t even notice the footsteps that approached her room. “Here’s your dessert. Mom said not to spoil your dinner, so made me only give you scoopful.”

    “Aw man, but she probably made one of her awesome homemade cakes for dad anyways. Thanks, bro.” Nathaniel smiled, “anytime, sis.” She then went back to focus her attention to find a good show as he left the room to finish his math assignment. Noticing that he fell fast asleep on her stomach, Lisa opted to eat and watch one of her favorite programs, Intergalactic: Heroes of the Universe! It was a show about superheroes being stranded in space and battling against the forces of evil in the hopes that one day they can go back to their home planet. 

    Finishing up her ice cream, she was careful to sub in a pillow for her stomach so Ares could continue to sleep while she finished up her schoolwork peacefully. She didn’t realize how fast the time flew as she completed assignment after assignment, made study guides after study guides, trying to get as much done as possible so she could spend the weekend with her dad and not worry about the assignments later on. She just hoped Nathaniel followed suit, knowing that he would beat himself for not doing it sooner and regretting it later on when dad had to go on another business trip again. 

    She finally realized how late it got when she was called down by her mother. Ironically, both she and her twin brother opened their door at the same time and raced down the stairs. As if they were little kids again. Running down to get to dad first before mother could scold them for doing something so reckless. Their mother said, ‘some things don’t change, I suppose,’ she thought as she saw her twins skid to a stop beside her. They all waited by in front of the door, just waiting for the man to enter. After all, how could they not be excited? It’s been almost a month since they have seen him in person. This time around was by far the longest business trip he went on according to the twins’ memory. 

    The family held their breath as the doorknob turned, as the door creaked, the silhouette of a man holding a briefcase entered the house against the almost blinding light of the beautiful sunset, which glowed and shimmered behind him. As the man walked in, the family was stunned at the reality occurring at that moment, as if they were the bunnies stunned by disbelief as a ferocious dog merrily walked by. 

    With huge grins, the twins took in a huge breath. “WELCOME HOME DAD!” Their mother giggled at their cuteness as she walked up to him and spoke with a much softer voice, yet filled with the same amount of love. “Welcome home, honey.” The man with dark sandy blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a tall frame chuckled as he saw his family there, his heartwarming at the sight since he missed them all so much. “I love you all, but I’m starving. Let’s go eat Mom’s phenomenal cooking!” The family laughed at the returning man’s words as they made their way toward the dining area of the kitchen. 

    Despite the impending storm, despite the heart-wrenching news that was softly playing in the background (Mrs. Archer had forgotten to turn it off when she finished cooking), despite any school-related anxieties or social worries the twins had, the family was able to relax and enjoy a lighthearted meal filled with laughter. 

    It was a relaxing dinner so far. The soft winds that hit the window added to the calming atmosphere as the family ate their dessert, enjoying each other’s company; the family dog, of course, eating from his dark red food bowl, filled with one of the best dog food brands available. Ares only occasionally made a mess from his water bowl, resulting in small puddles on his food mat.  “Man, this was really good, Ma,” Nathaniel said as he patted his belly, finally full from his massive dinner of 3 plates and two servings of dessert. “Aw, I can tell, sweetie. You barely left any for the rest of us.” Both Mrs. Archer and Lisa giggled at Nathaniel while Mr. Archer stepped in defense of his son, after all, it was his enormous appetite that he inherited. The family continued to laugh, eat, and enjoy each other’s presence; all of them feeling complete now that they were all united once again under the same roof, at the same table.

     However, the storm raged, the winds increasingly roared, and it seemed as if the storm was trying to shake the very foundation of the Archer’s family house along with trying to blow away any sense of peace and joy the family had at this moment.  

    The peaceful and playful atmosphere that the family once enjoyed came to an end as they followed the procedure for another storm, the winds being too loud to ignore. It was typical for storms to happen on this planet, especially in the government-issued section that they had to live on.