Chapter 2 (Craig)
Holding his white and brown guinea pig extended in front him, he squished and rubbed her fluffy face with his thumbs. The small rodent let out chirps and purrs of contentment as it's chubby face was given a well deserved massage. Then again, Craig would give Stripe a massage every day of the week if it meant he'd get to hear those cute sounds she always made. He'd never admit that to anyone though, it would be considered taboo coming from someone with his personality, thee Craig Tucker, gushing about his guinea pig and actually showing signs of being human. Wow, unbelievable. But now, with his parents gone for an entire week and his annoying sister over at Kyle's house with Karen for a sleepover with Ike, he was free to legitimately be happy about whatever he wanted. Setting Stripe down on his desk he went and got the bowl of lettuce that was in her cage and set it in front of her to eat while he finished the last bit of math homework he had for Monday.
Yes, it was Saturday but he planned on simply relaxing in his room rewatching a bunch of Red Racer episodes tomorrow, and nothing was getting in the way of that. Is what he thought as he caught glimpse of a seemingly large object falling from the starry sky outside his window. He shot up from his desk chair, startling the spotted rodent beside him in the process, and stared out into the reddish skies above. He planted his hands on his desk and leaned over the wood to better see outside, squinting his eyes as the fuming object flew downwards, leaving a trail of dark smoke behind. He gawked as it dove through and behind the trees, landing somewhere in the forest that he could get to from his backyard. He quickly tapped his desk repeatedly, not knowing how to properly express how excited he was with how much time he spends bottling up his emotions. He made some quick humming noises before lowering down to eye level with Stripe, who was still on his desk, and loudly whispered "This is it" then looked back at the now fading plume of smoke. It merged with the clouds and fazed into the redding backdrop of the setting sun, hurrying Craig further.
This was it. This was it! What could possibly be a meteorite from the stars just crashed into what was basically his backyard at this point. With his known love for space he'd be crazy not to check it out. Of course he knew of the safety precautions he'd have to take to actually get up close to it but just seeing an actual rock from outer space would make his whole week. Scooping up his guinea pig and gently placing her back in her pen with her now empty lettuce bowl, he grabbed his iconic blue jacket from the hanger on his door and made his way down the stairs. The only noise besides his hurried footsteps was the chatter from the tv of the overly dramatic characters of whatever show his sister had been watching before she left. Just like Trisha, Craig didn't bother to turn off the living room television and headed straight for the door leading to his backyard. Swinging the door open, he adjusted the ends of his sleeves before turning back around and continuing his trek to the gate that lead to the woods. He undid the latch that held the wooden gate closed and after going through, made sure to securely lock it behind himself. Carrying his feet through the tall, untouched grass, he patted his coat pocket to reassure himself that he had picked up the spare flashlight on his way out. The sun hadn't completely set yet so there was no use for it right now. Trudging through the uncut weeds and overgrown plants, he took one last look at the milky clouds to confirm he was going in the right direction before entering the thick dense of trees.
