Meet the Future Robinsons

Chapter One - Elementary


He was cute.

He was extremely cute.

Okay, he was really, amazingly, my white prince kind of cute. He was much more so than a baby frog.

Let's not misunderstand. I thought he was cute in a different way than the girls in my grade thought he was. He listened to me. He said he thought my science project in elementary was right. I'd never forget that.

His words and his faith in me had warmed my very soul, not to mention my heart...

But I never saw him after that.

The day I met Lewis he had became a hit sensation. News reporters had been all over him, teachers swarmed to have their picture taken with him, and he was adopted soon after. He then transferred to a private school closer to his home.

Jenny heard from Roger, who was friends with Dean and Rebecca, who overheard Lewis' new mother explaining to some adult that Lewis wasn't taking the transfer idea well.

But still, he left.

How I wish we had time to talk after that science fair. Who knows? Maybe we would have been friends.

Golden hair, blue eyes- I drew him once, trying to commemorate him to memory in one of my older journals. Of course, my artistic abilities at age ten didn't really do him justice, but I kept it all the same.

Time ticked on and days passed, yada yada. Every once in awhile I would see him on the television, or hear about him over the radio. It seemed everyone was obsessed with him. So obsessed, in fact, that it began to annoy me. Soon I was the one who turned off the tv whenever his face appeared, the one who walked away whenever his name was mentioned. And I had forgotten about him, for the most part.

No, seriously, I did! Cross my heart!

I focused on other things, such as catching more frogs, taking karate classes, and keeping my big brothers from the ego plague that seemed to be going around... This went on for years and I quickly moved on to jujitsu and Kung fu. Piano lessons had turned into percussion and horn instruments. And of course, I still studied my frogs. Mom and dad believed my "green phase" would pass, but the joke was on them. I was never going to give up my dream.

"Francine!" My mother's voice bounced off the walls of the stairs. "Delilah got out of the yard and is going after your frogs again!"

My face snapped up from the journal to see the reflection in my mirror turn horror stricken. "No!" I raced down the stairs and bolted out the door to the covered patio. Off in the distance, I could spot the golden retriever as she chased my babies around their pond. Two trees stood near the water, a tire swing hung from one of the branches. The pond water was murky and the size of a large pool. Big dragonflies floated above the overgrown grass.

"Delilah!" I screeched like the little girl I was. I darted for the dog. She was about to bite Franky when I tackled the huge pooch to the ground. Cold mud soaked through my pants. I knew they were most likely ruined. "Bad dog! Very, very bad dog," I gripped her by the collar.

After returning her to the fenced yard, I jogged up the steps to my white country house. The two-story old house was the only place I had ever known. With a father that was a farmer and a mother that was a homemaker, we didn't have the need to move around much. The drought for the past three years had been tough for us, but we were fine. My father had said so.

My steps creaked the worn floorboards beneath. Mom stood in the entryway, waiting for me. Her face contorted as she handed me an orange and white checkered towel.

"Honey, those were your church clothes."

"I'm sorry." I was unsure of what else to say. I knew I had done wrong, but if I had to choose between my frogs and looking fashionable, I would have chosen my babies every single time.

"Honey," dad was in front of the television, "did you know that Robinson's kid is already in the 7th grade? And he's Franny's age."

He's two years older, I wanted to correct.

"Interesting. Francine, didn't he go to the same school as you?" Mom's hands flatten her apron as she headed for the yellow tiled kitchen.

"What do I care? All boys have cooties." It was with worn hands that I rubbed the towel against my arms.

"I see," Mom paused to send me a backwards glance, "Someday your opinion on that might change."

I wholly doubted that.


Super happy for this new story about Franny from an

angle we all have been waiting for. We all know who

she ends up with, but was that fate? We will soon find

out. Please stay tuned and enjoy the read of this Disney

film fanfiction! Thank's for your time and feel free to review.