When thinking of a typical family dinner, most words that come to mind would be "calm" or "peaceful", and maybe even "boring" depending on the specific family in question. But dinner at the Robinson's household was anything but ordinary. From gravy being pulled by a train, to singing frogs on the chandelier, and even the occasional food fight, it was hard not to grin at the foolishness of it all. The Robinsons were certainly no ordinary family and as such they believed that any moment could be taken advantage of to be creative and to have fun. Tonight was certainly no different.

Franny Robinson sat at the head of the table. Her black hair swooped back into an elegant cow lick and her dress neatly folded against the chair. She was the head of the household, and as such looked on with poise and grace while her family chatted before her.

Lucille and Bud, the grandparents of the household, were busy discussing the fine qualities of grapefruits. Joe and Billie, Franny's in-laws, debated how big of a splatter a grapefruit would make if it were run over by a train. Mrs. Robinson's brothers Gaston and Art considered a possible race to see who could save the grapefruit before it was rudely splattered. Meanwhile, Tallulah and Laszlo, the brother and sister in-laws, were fighting over who could design a better furniture set. And who couldn't forget about Petunia and Fritz, parents of the obnoxious furniture-set arguing siblings, who were busy bickering about who was going to stop their children from nit-picking each other.
All in all, there was a lot of noise in the dining room. Which wasn't uncommon on a daily basis. In fact, had the room been quiet, the entire affair would have been very unusual. But Franny wasn't paying attention to the sound coming from her relatives. Rather, she was focusing on the opposite end of the table where a man with spikey blonde hair and round glasses was sitting. This was in fact her husband, Cornelius Robinson. Famous inventor and world-renowned for his latest creation - the time machine. To picture a grand scientist such as he would have one immediately imagining a tall and proud member of the family, sitting up straight and offering all kinds of fascinating theories to the dinner table. But while Cornelius did in fact have days where he acted as such, tonight was not the case. Instead, he slumped in his chair and stared at his food with no particular interest, staying silent and looking rather depressed. Hence, why Franny was focused on him.

As head of the household, Mrs. Robinson was use to understanding when someone tried to hide their true emotions from others. There were plenty of occasions where she had offered advice to a guilt-ridden family member and to ease their pain. It was what she did best. With just one look at Cornelius' face, she could tell something was wrong. But what Franny didn't understand, however, was what exactly was wrong. For Mr. Robinson had, in actuality, been acting strange all week. And not once had he offered any kind of hint as to what might be on his mind.

Twirling her fork between her fingers, Franny's eyes squinted with frustration. She was determined to figure out her husband's upsetting and ultimately, to fix it. But it worried her that he didn't come out and say it first. Their relationship had always been built on trust and whenever one had doubts, they would come to the other for advice. This was the first time in a very long time that Cornelius was refusing to be the first to speak up and it bothered her. Whatever it was that was on his mind must be truly troubling if it meant keeping it from her.

What is it? she thought. What could it be?

After a moment or two or brooding, Franny finally decided she had had enough. Standing up, she walked over to the other side of the table (narrowly avoiding a thrown tomato by an outraged Tallulah) and placed her hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Alright, you've been in a mood for a week now. What's wrong?"

Cornelius appeared to snap to attention as though he had been asleep with his eyes open.

"Huh?" he managed to say, blinking up at her. Finally registering what she had said, the inventor turned his head away with embarrassment and looked around at the table quickly. "Oh, I, uh, well, I was just wondering where Wilbur was."

Franny gave a face of sarcasm as it was obvious that she had caught him in a lie to avoid the real answer.

"Our son is in the kitchen, as he has been all week, cleaning. But I think you know that since we're both the ones that grounded him."

Cornelius grinned sheepishly up at his wife before looking down at his plate and shrugging. It was a bad attempt to avoid the question but at least he had tried.

"You're going to tell me what's wrong after dinner." Mrs. Robinson said.

Cornelius took in a large breath before letting it out slowly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I should. Alright."

Satisfied with knowing she wouldn't be left in the dark, Franny smiled and returned back to her seat to finish dinner, looking ever so forward to what her husband would say.

...

With the plates cleared and having stopped a moment to give her son Wilbur an encouraging word to clean each dish carefully, Franny was finally ready to talk to Cornelius privately. As soon as dinner was over he had taken the liberty of whisking away upstairs before anyone could ask where he was going, which concerned her.

Making her way upstairs, Mrs. Robinson entered her husband's laboratory. It was a giant domed conservatory filled with many types of machinery for experiments old and new. There were machines larger than an elephant and there were machines that could fit in your palm. Colorful or plain metallic, each was unique and each contained the power to do something extraordinary. Tables were spread across the room covered with tubing and random vials filled with liquids. Papers were scattered around with notes here and there on different hypotheses. It was Cornelius' safe haven, a place of intellect as well as play. And because the room was known for its exciting birth of new ideas, Franny was almost startled to see it at night. With only the moonlight and stars bouncing off of the shining surfaces, the room felt heavy with sadness rather than alight with gaiety. But perhaps it wasn't the machinery that drove this mood but rather the man that stood in the center of it all. His hands were shoved deep into his white coat pockets and he stared up at the night sky with a furrowed brow.

"Cornelius?" Mrs. Robinson whispered, afraid to speak any louder lest to disturb the quiet room.

"Hey..." he responded with a heavy heart, turning to look at his wife.

"Cold up here." she said, rubbing her arms absentmindedly.

"Yes, a little." the inventor agreed, nodding his head slightly. They shared a moment's silence, staring at each other.

"So..." Franny began. "Will you let me in on what's going on?"

Cornelius smiled weakly before nodding again.

"It's funny... I had always looked forward to this week."

"This week?"

"Yeah... This week." Mr. Robinson turned and slowly moved towards one of the tables littered with books. "You know how it was only a week and a half ago that Wilbur caused the whole time machine loop hole involving my past self? And I told you all about how I remember being twelve and experiencing that big adventure."
Franny nodded. She did know. He had sat her down and explained the entire thing. Boy, was that a long conversation. Fascinating to say the least. She stepped forward, following him to the table and letting him continue talking.

"I told you everything that happened from beginning to end from my point of view. But what I didn't tell you was what I did after the big adventure. What I thought in those next few days after I left Wilbur on the rooftop of that orphanage. You see, I remember going back to the past that day when I eventually won the science fair with my memory scanner. I felt so happy. I looked so forward to the future, when I would live with my wonderful family and be able to invent great things for good people to enjoy them. But what I looked forward to the most was this specific week."

"Why this week?" Franny asked with a confused tone.

"I knew that if I planned my cards right, I would for sure be able to live with all of you. Have the house that I dreamed of. Live the life I always wanted. It was never a mystery to me because I had seen it with the time machine. I knew it would happen so I didn't have to worry. Life was, in a way, set up for me. But there was still one thing I wasn't sure about. Just one thing I didn't have an answer for. And that was this."

Cornelius reached forward among the books on the table and pulled forth a pink binder. The face of a white unicorn was on the front along with hearts and sparkles.
"What is that?" questioned Mrs. Robinson.

"This belonged to my roommate. Goob. Michael. You see, that day a week and a half ago when I met my past twelve-year-old self, Goob was there earlier. Before I came back from my trip, my younger self stood alongside Wilbur and instructed him to invite my roommate to live with us here in this house. But before I knew it, Goob had disappeared, having dropped this before he ran. I always wondered what had happened to him. Where he went and what he did with his life. I thought for sure that once I had grown up that I would find out. That perhaps a few days later he would show up on our doorstep, wanting to reconsider my offer to stay here. But... it's been more than a week, Franny, and I haven't heard a word. I'm worried about him. He doesn't have a family to go home to. I'm not even sure if he has a real home at all."

Mrs. Robinson stared up at her husband's face. It was etched with sadness and she could tell that this was important to him. Reaching forward, she took the binder in her hands and opened it. Inside there was written a checklist, most of it having been scribbled out. The last unmarked checkbox, however, remained untouched with a question mark next to it. Franny's heart sank slightly at the sight of it before closing the binder and setting it down.

"Honey, you can't let this get you down. He chose his path. It wasn't your fault."

"I know it wasn't my fault." Cornelius said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just feel like he's out there somewhere lost and confused. I was so sure that he would come back and he hasn't. What if he's still stuck on the past? What if he blames himself and will never be happy? What if-"

"Cornelius..." Franny interrupted, staring up with pity in her eyes. "You've always been sure of yourself because you had a time machine to tell you what to look forward to. You knew if you took the right measures, you'd have a bright future ahead of you. But honey... Not everyone has a great adventure like you got to have. Not everyone is sure of themselves in such a strong way that they can keep moving forward without guidance. Some people can't move forward. Sometimes they're just... stuck." She put her fingers gently on his arm.

A deep pang of guilt flowed through the inventor's heart. He winced as though the pain he felt were so strong that he could physically feel it. Franny sensed this and immediately continued to speak.

"But... If you feel that badly about it, why don't you find him? Perhaps he really does wish to stay here but feels too shy to come back and ask now that he has already denied it once."

Cornelius tilted his head in thought. His eyebrows relaxed as he mulled the idea over. It wasn't actually half-bad. Finding him might be difficult but, well, wait. Would it be difficult? If he had to guess one place where Goob had gone after having disappeared that day, where would he guess?

Mrs. Robinson smiled at the expression on her husband's face. It had changed from melancholy to curiosity in just a matter of seconds. It was the same smirk he gave when an idea for an invention came to life.

"What?" she asked him.

"Franny..." Mr. Robinson said, turning to look at her. "I'm going to need a box."