The Aftermath of His Hurricane
By Lalika K
Hey everybody!
This is just a little thing I wrote way back, and I just thought I'd put it up. The storyline is the same, except Zero/Hector didn't find his mum. For now, it's a oneshot. I haven't really elaborated on stuff, but suggestions are welcome! Read on!
NOTE: You can skip the preface (the next four or so paragraphs) and onto the REAL story if you like.
Now, onwards!
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Preface/Summary
Well, as you probably already know, Stanley Yelnats (a.k.a. Caveman) and Hector Zeroni (a.k.a. Zero) found Stanley's chest in one of the holes at Camp Green Lake after outgoing over two days on God's Thumb. In this case, they survived the Warden's wrath, and the Yellow Spotted Lizards. In the end, Stanley's lawyers came to pick him up because he was innocent, and he brought along Hector. Another remarkable thing happened at Camp Green Lake; it rained. It hasn't rained there in over a hundred years, and all the Camp Green Lake sboys started celebrating the rain, hugging, dancing, jumping in the air, and giving each other piggy-back rides. It was a wonderful ride back home for Hector and Stanley.
At home, Hector, Stanley and his dad, mom, and Grandpa opened the chest. They were awed by all the things the chest contained. Gold coins and silver cups, and more. Including a journal of Grandpa's grandpa. Stanley dedicated half the box to Hector Zeroni. The Grandfather recognized his last name in relation to Madame Zeroni, and shook his hand. Among the riches inside the chest, were stock shares and company papers from the Telephone and Telegraph Company from 1905 that are now worth millions. Oddly, two of them were addressed to the Yelnats family, and two for Mr. Zeroni.
With the money, Hector hired his own team of private investigators to find his mom, only he didn't find her yet (A/N: I know, this is a little change for the story).
In the end, the Yelnats and Zeronis became next door neighbors in two big mansions, along with the swimming pool in the backyard.
As you all know quite well, Camp Green Lake was closed (and turned into a Girl Scout Camp), and the boys were released for their time served at the camp and sent to actual counselors.
Stanley's Dad came up with a cure to foot odor, and called it Sploosh after the name Hector called the strange peach things in the jars that kept him alive for awhile when he ran away from camp.
Well, you remember how it goes… everybody lives happily ever after.
But what happens after?
…?
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To the Park
"Are you sure you want to do this, Zero?" asked Caveman as the two stepped out the door of Caveman's house. This was the day. The day they were going to see it. The place where his mother never came back. He didn't want to remember the day when she didn't come back for him. But, it was more important, when and where he slept without his mother to comfort him. All those days of uneasiness, fear, and the feeling of loss, were just unbearable to Zero. He debated with himself if he should go there anyway. Even taking the whole D Tent gang there was enough. Zero sighed as he sat on the white stained steps of Stanley's house as Stanley went to gather up the former D Tent members. All those horrid, heartbreaking memories flooded into his head …
It was almost ten, and Hector Zeroni hugged his knees, shivering in the drizzling rain.
'Why isn't she here yet?' he wondered as he looked out to the street to see if she was there. She never was. He pulled himself together and got up. He headed towards Laney Park, which was just across from where he'd be waiting. He spotted a small tunnel beside the swinging bridge. Rain started to pour so much, he could hardly see it.
'I could wait there,' he thought as he ran to it. When he was in, he quickly huddled himself together, and faced the spot where he'd been waiting, waiting to see his mother there. Although the rain blurred his vision, he still kept his eyes glued to the spot where his mother said for him to wait. Even his big blue sweater couldn't keep him warm from the freezing rain and the cold rush of reality. But he didn't want to believe it.
'She'll come back, I know it. She'll come back,' he thought as his eyes got dangerously heavy.
"She'll come back…She'll come back…" he kept reassuring himself. "She'll come… back …" he said as he drifted off into an uncomfortable, cold sleep.
"Zero? Hector? Hector!" said Caveman wile waving a hand in front of Zero's face. Zero snapped out of it, looking at the tall, curly-brown haired guy.
"Oh, yea, yea. I'm fine." He replied as he got up and headed to the white minivan. Magnet, Zig Zag, Armpit, X-Ray, and Squid were already in there.
"I'll drive!" Zero heard Twitch say, who was coming out of Stanley's house.
"No, no, no, no, no," said Stanley, "the last thing we need is a speeding ticket, Twitch."
"Ah, whatever." the car-crazy guy said and jumped into the back along with the other guys. Zero followed suit in the passenger side of the van.
"Hey yo, what's up man?" greeted X-Ray, slapping him on the hand.
"Yea man, we heard this thing about you and you're little tunnel, dude. We thought we'd just come along for the ride out of the counselors' office to assist our little Zero in a friend-like way," said Armpit. The rest of the gang said their greetings, but Zero didn't hear them. With Stanley at the wheel, they began driving. As the guys in the back began joking around about something, sad flashbacks began reeling into Zero's mind. Looking out the window, Zero wasn't seeing the scenery, the dark clouds, the taxies, or the druggies, but just those certain memories…
"Hector, I'm so sorry I can't bring you with me, honey. It's just that I just want you to be safe." Hector's mom said, hugging him tightly and putting her hands on his shoulders. She was dressed up real nice, and Hector wondered why. He suddenly tensed.
"But mom, if that place where you're going isn't safe for me, it isn't safe for you. You know how many dangerous people there are, and they might take advantage of you being alone." He said to his mother. Mrs. Zeroni's eyes began to redden.
"You sound like my dad," she softly said, hugging him again and kissing him on the forehead. Hector didn't feel anything, because worry and concern for his mother gripped him like an Anaconda that wouldn't budge.
"Just wait for me here, okay?" she said. Hector frowned.
"Okay, but you'll be back by ten, right?" He asked. Mrs. Zeroni sighed.
"Well, I'll try. Okay, I'd better get going, or I'll be late. Bye!" she blew him a kiss, and left.
As Hector followed his mother with his gaze before seeing the crowd engulfing her, he sat down by the hard cement wall across from Laney Park and waited.
"We're here. Okay, everybody out!" Caveman shouted. Everyone reluctantly did, as it started raining. 'Oh great,' thought Zero, 'pleasant weather to go with pleasant memories.' He got out of the car, as Caveman locked it and walked beside him. They were about halfway there when Zero stopped.
"No. I can't do this!" he shouted. He knew he was being foolish, being scared of a tunnel. Scardy cat, what a loser.
"What?" Caveman said in disbelief. "Dude, this was your idea."
"Yeah, Man," chimed Magnet, "I know you got some bad mems with this place, but it's just a tunnel. A little kiddie tunnel. The ones my little hermanos used to play in. Dang, those kids were like rabbits in there—"
"Yeah, well Zero isn't your hermanos, Magnet." Caveman snapped, "you'd feel the same way if it happened to you." Magnet threw his hands up in a defensive way.
"No hard feelings…" he said, as he ran off to where Armpit and Zig Zag were climbing on the jungle gym. Small raindrops fell and reminded Zero about that day…
When Hector woke up it was almost dawn, even though the sun barely shone through the dark clouds. He got up hastily, but banged his head on the top of the tunnel and cursed. Rubbing his head, Hector ran to the opposite side of Laney Park back to where his mother said for him to wait.
'Why'd I fall asleep, why'd I fall asleep...' he accused himself. As the morning traffic started, Hector couldn't stop blaming himself for not staying put…
"Is that it?" X-Ray asked Zero, who pointed at the small yellow and purple tunnel near the road. The gray spray painted letters and inappropriate body parts were a new addition, but besides that, the tunnel was exactly like Zero remembered it.
"I guess so," he said numbly. He didn't even know why he was doing this. It was such a dumb idea, such a girly thing to do. It was like something Dr. Phil or Oprah would document. Zero laughed as he could hear Dr. Phil saying "Let's watch this clip of Hecter reuniting with his tunnel." What a show.
It wasn't until they got closer to the tunnel when they heard a whimpering sound. It sounded like a small dog's whimper.
"What the hell is that?" Squid thought aloud. They got closer to the tunnel and peered in. A little girl, not more than eight years old was hugging her knees and crying. Her long blonde hair almost covered her face as tears streaked down her bruised, dirty face.
"What the hell is that?" X-Ray said. Zero didn't know what to do. All he knew is that he saw the same thing in the eyes that he saw in himself. The way she was curled up, the way she wept, and just the way she breathed reminded Zero of his past of loss, hopelessness, and hurt.
Zero crawled into the tunnel beside the girl.
"Are you lost?" he asked. The girl was silent and buried her face into her knees.
"Where are your parents?" asked Zero. Silence answered.
"Were you left here?" Zero asked. The girl's head slowly turned to look at him, her crimson eyes full of worry. For a moment, Zero thought he could use his own experience to help this girl out. Sure, he had a bad start to life. His mom left him, and he got sent to Camp Green Lake. But look at him now! He was living the life his mom wanted him to live: a life filled with happiness and great friends.
And for once, Zero recalled and told his past experience to another person with the same situation. This time, the memories didn't give Zero a heartache; it gave him a way to comfort the hurting, to tell even the younger people that "Shit happens, but life goes on," and that bad things could turn into good things. Like a story in some old religious book, a guy got taken away from his parents by his own brothers. Life seemed to suck for him, but it worked out in the end. Zero hoped that he could help this little girl, Stacy, too. Everything happens for a reason, and even when you don't think life gets any worse, it gets better…
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Well, how was it? I know, kinda cheesy…but hey, inspirational, non
Feedback welcome!
Yours sincerely,
LK.