Morning Rituals – John

Thunderbirds 5 floated above the dark side of the Earth. The sun was teetering on the eastern horizon, sending the first golden rays to touch the right cheek of a sleep John Tracy. First a slight stir, then one eye opened and John was awake. He didn't need an alarm; John's body knew exactly when to wake up and start the day. John sat up in bed, his usual ginger wave merely a messy flop sitting atop his head. He started to make his bed, something Grandma Tracy had taught all the boys to do. She believed that if you can make your bed in the morning everyday then you could do anything.

A book suddenly appeared into John Tracy's view seemingly out of nowhere and floating in front of his face. He recognised it as the book on game theory he had been reading just last night and realised that he must have forgotten to put it away. Putting it back in its rightful place, he continued his morning routines. John took a shower, space style. It included a closed compartment which sprayed water on you from three directions, liquid soap and then a vacuum that sucked up all the water and soap afterwards.

Putting on a clean uniform, John draped his sash over his shoulder and smiled softly at his mirror. Saving people from impossible situations and hearing their thankful voices and seeing their grateful smiles was what made John proud of wearing his sash and IR uniform everyday.

"Good morning, John" came Eos's playful voice from above.

"Good morning, Eos. Hope you slept well" John said in an equally playful voice.

Floating over to his favourite machine in Thunderbird 5, he did a backflip just for the fun of it and simultaneously grabbed a ready-to-go cream cheese bagel from the compartment. Holding it up to his face, he stared at it with his mouth already watering. John loved bagels. Especially ones that came from a petite little shop in Paris and weren't made by Grandma. He took a bite when a sudden ting when off overhead.

Sighing, John pushed himself off the floor and floated over to his main communications platform. Still with a bagel in his hand, he started reviewing last night's emergency calls. They had all been successfully diverted to other local authorities and there were no current pressing matters to attend to. Happily, John munched on his bagel and went out to TB5's gravity ring and admired the view. The sun was well and truly up now and John peered down into the Pacific Ocean where he knew that Scott and Gordon would already be up and about on Tracy Island whereas Virgil and Alan still wouldn't have stirred.

Slightly smirking to himself, he said, "Eos, would you mind livestreaming Into the Unknown with Buddie and Ellie on repeat to Alan's bedroom please?"

"Alan would love that" was Eos's sarcastic reply.

John grinned almost sardonically, knowing how much his brother would hate it. For a usually quiet Tracy, John could be quite the chaos maker when he wanted to be. He floated around happily, waiting for Alan's tantrum to come. This was going to be a better morning than usual.