I lounged up on the roof with my knees pulled up to my chest as close as they could get. My arms wrapped around them so I was hugging them. Today was going great until of the events of earlier. I was so ready to just spend the day just riding my solar surfer with Jim. However, being reminded of my time in the slammer twice in a row. Mom knows I hate talking about it but she brings it up anyway as if she doesn't care. Jim also knows of this and he doesn't bother with asking me about it because he knows how personal it is for me.
I use the heel of my right hand to wipe away the oncoming tears that started to flow down my freckled cheeks. They've been stuck inside me for as long as I can remember. These tears were ones of pain that I haven't felt in a long time. Not only did my rebellion cause me to go to juvy twice, but it made me put the blame on our deadbeat father. He had left when I was 9 and Jim was 7. I don't want to get into detail of when he left us but I can tell you of how he was when he was around. Distant. That's the only word that I can describe him as. There were times that he did pay attention to us however, they were only for a very short time. Jim and I grew closer the more we grew. We had to come together. What choice did we have?
"Jen?" Jim's voice called, getting me to snap back into reality. My head turned to where his voice came from. He was coming onto the roof as well. He had a look of concern on his face as he looked at me. "Oh… hey. I didn't hear you come up." I said, sniffling. He didn't hesitate to sit down on my right side. When I'm feeling upset like I am now, he does what he can to help me with said problem. "You okay?" he asked. I didn't want to lie to him about being fine. "No, I can't think straight Jim. All I wanted to do was just spend time with you on our solar surfers. I feel so… pathetic." I say, looking at him. "Don't say that, Jen. We've been through a lot in the past few years. Those cops took the last bit of fun we have left on this boring planet." Jim replies, looking up at the sky. Man, he wasn't wrong about that.
The sky was starting to become grey and I could hear the sound of distant thunder making it's way over to us. It would be raining soon from the looks of it. Just then, I could hear the voices of Delbert and Mom talking. "I don't know how you manage them, Sarah. Trying to run a business while raising felons- like Jim and Jen." Delbert said, getting me to roll my eyes. Thanks Delbert. Just what I needed to hear. "Managing them? I'm at the end of my rope with them. Ever since their father left… they have never recovered." Mom replied, getting me to close my eyes in anger. I don't need to hear about him. "And you know how smart they are. They've built their solar surfers when they were 8 and 10! And yet they're failing in school. They're constantly in trouble, even Jen has been to juvy twice already. It's as if they're strangers to me." Mom said, making us feel much worse than we already were.
Jim and I exchanged looks because we were feeling the same thing. However, before we could say anything, the loud sputtering sound of a air ship falling out brought us out of our melancholy stage. My eyes widened all the way as they followed the sputtering ship. The ship crashed landed on the edge of the Inn with a loud bang. The two of us slide down the roof and land fast on the ground. Whoever was in there could be hurt bad based on how they landed.
Jim was right behind me and our footsteps were mixed together as we run to the ship. "Hey mister?!" Jim called. When we get there, I pound the glass with a clenched fist. "You god in there right?" I call. As if on cue, the hand of a salamander hit the glass. "Agh!" I yell out and jump back from being startled and my heart jumped into my throat. I ended up falling on the ground. The door to the ship pops open and smoke accompanies it. Then, a large salemadar falls out in a cape and what I can assume to be a captain's hat. A chest falls out with him. Jim helps me to my feet and once I got my balance I brushed myself down.
The salamander then jumps up and grabs Jim and I by our jackets. I start to resist by how tight grip. "He's a-coming. Can you hear 'em?" the old salamander said, looking up at the sky a moment before he started to stretch his neck out to look at us dead in the eye. "Those gears and gyros clickin' and whirrin' like the devil himself!" he said in a raspy voice. Jim and I give each other equal puzzled looks. He let us go and I rub the back of my neck. "Um… Did you hit your head on the way down?" Jim wondered, rubbing his temple. "Yeah, I think it was pretty hard cause I don't follow at all." I say agreeing with him. All of what this lizard was saying wasn't giving me any insight on what was going on.
The lizard walks from us and goes to his chest. "He's after my chest. That fiendish cyborg and his band of cutthroats." he grunts, putting the chest on his shoulder. "But they'll have to pry it from Billy Bones dead fingers before I- argh!" he suddenly drops the chest and falls into a band of coughing fits. I backed up a bit with widened eyes and my arms held up a bit. "Oh my…" I whisper, unsure of what to do to begin with. However, the only logical thing to do was to help this salamander inside the Inn. I rush over to the poor guy and quickly wrap his arm around my shoulders. "Jim, help me." I say and he does so without argument. He carried the chest in his free arm. The lizard rasped in our ears but I couldn't make out what he was saying.
"Mom's going to love this." Jim said to me as we started making our way to the Inn. The rain then begin to fall on us, quickly drenching us. "Guaranteed. There's no way we'll get in trouble for this." I utter back to him. By the time we got to the door, Delbert proceeded to open the door with his paperwork in his arms. Jim and I stood at the doorway looking into the house with tired looks on our faces. Mom sees us with a large lizard hanging off our shoulders. "James Plaedies Hawkins! Jennifer Sparrow Hawkins!" Mom exclaimed, getting up from the dining area to rush to us. Delbert joined us on the right side being observant.
"Mom, he's hurt!" Jim exclaimed as we set the lizard down on the floor. "He crashed on the deck!" I add, kneeling down to the lizards height. Jim didn't hesitate to join me. "Me chest… lad." he said, stretching his arm to reach the chest. Jim looks over to it and pushes it towards him. Once we got it to him, he begins to press buttons to open it. "He'll be comin' soon." he seethed, taking out a covered sphere, "Can't let him find this!" "Wait, who're you talking about?" I question. The lizard proceeded to quickly grab me by my jacket and he pulls me down to where he was next to my ear. "The cyborg! *gasp* Beware the cyborg!" he rasped in my ear. My skin lost its color and my eyes widened at this. I felt sick…
His grip on me loosened and I pull back with that same look on my face. Jim had the sphere in his hands and we watched at the lizard died in front of us. Jim and I gave each other a concerned look. The color in his face was also drained. He was just as stunned as I was. What did he mean by… beware the cyborg? Then, a sudden white light illuminated into the confined space of the Inn. We all turn and stand at this. Jim carefully walks over to the window and opened the blinds partially to look outside. Then, he quickly rushes away from the window with a look of panic on his face. "Quick, we gotta go!" he cried, quickly grabbing Mom and I by our hands. "What?!" I exclaimed as Jim started pulling us upstairs. The front door was blasted with a large laser, getting Delbert to shout.
"I believe I'm with Jim on this one!" Delbert exclaimed, following us up the stairs. I felt scared by this time because I heard more than one invader in our house. There shadows begin to rise along the walls of the stairs. My heart jumped out of my chest and my teeth gritted tightly. My head twisted around and I saw Mom and Delbert on the window sill. Jim also could see them coming. Delbert started rambling on about something that I didn't care about at this moment in time. We needed to get out of there. Jim and I rush over there to them. "Go!" I shout, pushing them off the window sill. The four of us fall out of the building from the second story window. We all landed in a carriage that had an alien strapped to it. The top popped up to cover us from the rain. I land in between Jim and Delbert.
We begin to move out in a fast manner. The adrenaline that coursed through me weared off and I let my head lean against the back of the carriage and I let my eyes shut for a moment. However, the glow of something made my eyes reopen. It was coming from that sphere that Jim held. I also noticed that it had a weird design on it. What was it about this sphere that that lizard wanted to keep secret?
Minutes roll by and we make it to Delbert's house. Mom was sitting in the living chair that rested in front of the fireplace. It had stopped raining by the time we had got here. Jim found a blanket and covered mom with it. She was genuinely upset about what went down back there.
"I just spoke with the constabulary. Those blaggard pirates vanished without a trace. I'm sorry Sarah. I'm afraid the old Benbow Inn has burned to the ground." Delbert said forlornly. I rubbed the back of my neck and I walked away from her to give her some space. Our home was gone… those pirates burned our house to the ground. My stomach started to twist and I needed a moment to breathe. Our home was gone… I sit on the desk with my hands holding me up. This didn't go unnoticed.
"You okay, Jen?" Jim asks, putting his hand on my shoulder to get my attention. I turn my head and push some of my bangs behind my ear. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little shaken up is all." I answer, letting out a sigh, "I no choice but to push you guys out of there. Those pirates were going to…" I said, putting a hand on my forehead. "You had to do what you had to." Jim assured. I sigh again and look back at him. "Yeah… you're right." I said, giving him a smile. He looks at the sphere and picks it up. He tossed it in his hands a couple times before he started pressing the buttons on it. "What do you think that does?" I ask, being observant. It looked like some sort of puzzle of somesort. The sphere made some noises as Jim fiddled with it.
The sphere then did something, getting both Jim and I to jump back a bit. We glance at each other before Jim bites his lower lip. He twisted it about three times before the sphere opened and river of green light suddenly flew out of the open sphere. I raised my hands a bit and my mouth hung open a bit as I kept my eyes locked on where the light was going. It didn't take long until the light turned into a large orbital cage that illuminated the room into a light green color. I kept turning as I looked at the strange cage in awe, taking small steps in the process.
"Why, it's a map!" Delbert said in amazement. He walked by us and looked around. There was little, transparent planets floated around us and Delbert walked up to one of them. "Hold on, this is us! Planet Montressor!" Delbert exclaims, pressing the transparent planet. We gasp loudly as the various particles fly by us with a single gust of wind. I cover my face with both arms for a brief moment before lowering them. "That's the Magellanic Cloud! Whoo! The Coral Galaxy!" Delbert pointed out. There were a few others that he mentioned but I tuned him out. The transition then came to a halt and the room became dark.
There was only one thing that stood out from the darkness. Jumping for joy inside, I knew exactly what that was. A familiar planet with two rings crossing each other made me smile in a giddy way. "Treasure Planet!" I say, feeling so excited about seeing this planet actually existing. Mom had always told Jim and I it was nothing more than just a legend. Jim came to my side with the same smile that I had on my face. "That's Treasure Planet! It's real!" Jim says excitedly. My eyes were locked on the transparent planet. It made me feel like a child again. "Flint's trove? The loot of a thousand worlds? Do you know what this means?" Delbert asks, intrigued. That's an easy question to answer.
"It means that that treasure is only a boat right away." Jim said, tossing the map once in the air. Delbert was saying something but being absent minded most of the time, I tuned him out and was focused on what we could do to help Mom with the Benbow. The lights then turn back on to show that the map closed. That treasure was just enough to get us back on our feet.
"Mom, this is it! This is our answer!" Jim said, putting the map in his coat pocket. Instantly, Mom started disapproving with our full proof plan. "Jim, Jen, there's absolutely no way!" she started, waving her arms to show her disagreement. I put my hands on her shoulders with a smile. "Don't you remember those stories that you told Jim and I when we were kids?" I say, trying my hardest to change her mind. However, she pushes my hands off her shoulders. "That's all they were, Jen. Stories. And nothing more." she said blankly. My smile dropped and I thought I couldn't get through to her.
"But mom, think about it! With just a handle of that treasure, we could build the Benbow over hundred times over!" I urge, putting a hand on my head for a second. How could Mom expect us to change if she won't let us do this. Mom was flabbergasted by my response and she stumbled on her words. "Delbert, can you please tell them how ridiculous this is?" she said. Jim and I sigh at what she said because she was trying to get Delbert on her side of this. That's just dumb. "It's totally preposterous. Going up into space alone." Delbert agreed. "Now at last we have some sense." Mom replied. What Delbert said next made Jim and I smile happily.
"That's why I'm going with you two." he said, picking up a duffle bag. Mom shouted his name in disbelief. He was going with us and that couldn't have made the two of us more happy. We exchange happy glances. My little brother was just as happy about this as I was. "All my life I've been waiting for an opportunity like this and here it is screaming, Go Delbert! Go Delbert!" Delbert chants, doing a little dance to go with it. He had filled his duffle bags with different things that could fit in it. "Okay, all three of you are grounded!" Mom shouted out of frustration, shutting Delbert up. I gaze up at her with a sympathetic look. Even though I'm a person to tune her out half of the time as well as Jim, she was still our mother and it upset me to see her like this.
"Mom, look, I know that Jen and I keep messing things up. But… can't you let this be our chance to make it up to you? Let us set things right." Jim said, trying to convince her to let us go. She turns from us and speaks to Delbert about this. I look down at my feet.
She then walks to us with a saddened look. "Jim… Jen… I don't want to lose you two…" she said, running her fingers through our bangs in a motherly way. I smile and hug her in a caring way. "You won't mom. We'll make you proud." I say, pulling away from her. Jim holds her hands together as she warmly smiles at us. "Yeah, mom. We'll keep our promise to you." Jim assured. The smile she gave us went to show that she approves of us going. "Plus, I gotta keep my eyes peeled on Jim here. Make sure he doesn't get into trouble." I said, grabbing Jim and putting him in a headlock. He yells out and grabs my clothed arms. "You're not getting into trouble too! You better watch yourself." Jim teased, getting himself out of my hold.
I always like putting my brother in a headlock whenever I get the chance. That's how we played together. We share a simple laugh at this. "Well then, we'll make preparations at once. Jim, my boy and Jen, my girl. Soon we'll be off to the spaceport!" Delbert says, standing by the window where the moon was, a.k.a. The spaceport. This adventure would forever change our lives for the better. And it felt amazing.