"And on his farm he had an Osioenspiralaltilulifarum. Ei-ih-ei-ih, oh." The bushy mustached man sang softly to the infants surrounding him. A red light on the control panel began to fade from a red, to an orange, them finally to a dull gray, and Nigel Thornberry stood to take a look. He sucked in a sharp breath, and tried his best not to alert the little ones. The meter of that told him the oxygen level was pointing to the left, almost reaching the bottom of the area. Their oxygen was low.
One of the older ones, Susie, stood also and walked up beside him. Her sad eyes glimmered with fear.
"Can we go home now Mr. Strawberry?" She asked, using the name the little adventurer, Tommy, called Mr. Thornberry. Nigel turned away from the meter, looking down. He met the eyes of eight little children, and opened his mouth to speak. The hopelessness showed prominently in the babies' eyes. Words caught at the back of Nigel's throat. A bright light shone, and washed over the children and Nigel, illuminating their faces.
The children gasped, and smiled, feeling hope again. But the feeling passed as they realized it was just a football fish, passing by, hunting for its dinner. The youngest of the group began to sniffle and cry, tears openly streaming down his face.
"Oh Dill… Don't cry. We'll be alright." His brother Tommy calmed him, using their baby language, unbeknownst to the only adult in their radius. The blonde one, Angelica, stood and walked over to the brothers, tears also popping into her eyes. In a selfless moment, the usual cruel girl kneeled beside them, and gathered them into a hug.
Susie began to cry, and the rest of the babies followed suit. Phil and Lil, the twins of the group, held onto each other tightly, and join the hug. Chuckie looked to Kimmie, and the red head gasped lightly. The adventure that usually lit up the small Asian girls eyes was gone, replaced with a grim sadness. They embraced tightly, and Nigel came over to kneel behind them all, holding them closely.
Lil wheezed slightly, pulling away from the group. The moment was gone and the babies all separated to different areas of the miniature submarine. Nigel gulped and ducked his head as a tear appeared on his cheek, and dripped down onto the floor. Tommy gasped in horror, as he saw his hero, once tall and proud, fierce for adventure, now weak and hopeless.
Angelica, who was resting her head on the wall on the submarine, lolled it over to look at Susie.
"Carmichael… Um, Susie… I'm sorry for all the times I was a brat."
The dark skinned girl chuckled lightly. "It's okay Angelica. But we should save our air for breathing." The five year olds nodded at each other.
"I want to go home now. I miss my mommy." Phil said, holding hands with Lil. The female twin looked to the girls.
"What's happening Angelica?" She asked. The blonde looked to her friend, closest to her in age. Susie shook her head lightly, and turned to the twins. "Well, we're gonna go to a place that's much better than this dark submarine. "
"Will our mommies and daddies be there?" Chuckie asked, sitting next to his step-sister. Susie frowned and then smiled to cover it up. "Eventually. We'll all end up there at some time." A silence fell over the group, lasting short period of time before Angelica's eyelids fluttered and closed. Susie sat up, and looked to her.
"Angelica, wake up!" she whispered harshly, and squeezed the girls hand." Horror masked her face as she realized what had happened. The girl turned to Nigel. "Mr. Strawberry… I'm scared."
"She's just sleeping. That's all. Sleeping…" Chuckie muttered to himself, and began rocking on his haunches. The Australian man frowned softly. "Oh, children… We must remain hopeful." His face showed quite to opposite of that though. However, he looked past the submarines roof, past the deep, dark ocean water, past the night sky, and beyond to something greater.
"Marianne. Please, come and save th-"He wheezed softly, trying to keep it as silent as possible. His voice dropped to a whisper. "The children." The man's eyelids dropped shut, resting on his cheeks.
"Ni-Nigel?" Tommy asked in a whisper. Although in baby talk, the man could understand it, for it was his name after all.
"I'm alright children. I'm only resting." He responded, and the bald boy toddled over to him and snuggled into his lap. His tears soaked the oldest of the "Wild Thornberry's" shirt. Dill, the youngest, yawned and toddled over to him and rested his head on his brother's thigh.
The silence lasted longer this time.
"LIL!" The male twin shrieked, and grabbed the front of his sister's dress, and shook it violently, accidently banging her head against the submarine wall. The girl was unmoving, unbreathing. Salty trailed streamed heavily down his cheeks, and a snot bubble formed in his nostril. Susie hurried over and grabbed him by the armpits.
"Phil! Stop! You're going to hurt her!" She shouted to the young one. She carried him over to Nigel, Tommy, and Dill. They sat together, leaving Lil and Angelica over in their places. Kimmie and Chuckie joined them.
Tommy looked up to his best friend. He met his eye, and in a voice barely above a whisper, he told the red headed boy,
"Be brave Chuckie."
The silence was permanent this time.