"Hal! Get up!"
Tom thumped on his eldest son's bedroom door as he ran past, attempting to tie his tie and not crash into anything at the same time. A groan signalled that there was life in the room but no one heard it as they rushed around the house getting ready for work or school. Tom hurried down the stairs and made his way to the kitchen where a plate of toast sat on the counter waiting for him.
"You're going to be late," Rebecca told him. "I thought you want to get in early to get some marking done before your first lecture."
"If I'm lucky, I can still get a couple of papers done this morning," Tom responded as he pulled his shoes on and took a bite of toast. "I'll pick Matt up from school this afternoon and I'll see you later."
With a quick kiss and a goodbye to the two sons at the table, Tom was out of the door. He threw his briefcase onto the passenger seat and, after a brief struggle with the car, was out of the driveway and on his way to the university.
Hal finally made his way downstairs, appearing in the doorway in jeans and t-shirt with an old ketchup stain down the front. A dark look crossed Rebecca's face.
"You get upstairs and change right now," she ordered her eldest, pointing up the stairs. "Try and find a clean t-shirt, get your lacrosse gear and get in the car or you're going to be late." With a frustrated sigh, Hal turned and left. "Matt, the bus is going to be here in five minutes!"
Matt was already spooning cereal into his mouth as fast as he could, milk dribbling down his chin and onto the table. Ben grimaced before checking the kitchen clock and dropping his spoon in his half empty bowl. "I'll see you later, Mom," he said hurriedly as he picked up his schoolbag and ran out the door.
"Why's he in a hurry?" Rebecca asked as she pulled on her black heels. Hal came bounding downstairs, a clean plaid shirt on with his lacrosse bag slung over his shoulder.
"Maybe he's walking to school with a girl," he joked.
"We don't have time for this," Rebecca chided. "Matt; shoes and school bag. Hal; make sure he gets on the bus. I love you both and I'll see you later. Matt, your father will pick you up after school."
Rebecca all but ran out of the door. Hal's gaze fell on his youngest brother, helplessly shovelling cereal into his mouth without pause for breath.
"Okay, you're done with breakfast," he ordered, pulling the bowl away and dumping the remainder of the mushy cereal in the bin. "Shoes, bag, let's go."
It was the middle of third period when Hal found out. One of his friends received a text during English, her phone vibrating on her lap where she'd hidden it from the teacher. As soon as they were split into pairs, she showed Hal the message.
An UFO entered the atmosphere this morning. Definitely not a UN craft and Russia denies anything to do with it. Aliens at last?
"It's probably a prank text," Hal said, pushing the phone back across the table.
"What if it's not?"
"Probably the Russians, then."
"You keep saying 'probably', but there's a definite answer-"
"The definite answer is that it's not aliens," Hal interrupted. "Now, I can't afford to fail this class so can we at least make it look like we made an effort?"