Welcome to chapter 8. This time, instead of a month, the story is only moving forward a single week. Let's read about what's going on, shall we?
CHAPTER 8 – The Start Of A Vacation
(P staying with Marlene) "A vacation sounds great Skipper! But where will we go? What will we pack? What about the kids?" I asked him. "Well, when the kids were born we both agreed we would show them our world before the other world, so can go on a tour via planes and through zoos and aquariums," Skipper said.
"Thanks to us being able to change wherever we want to go and having our phones, we can vacation to wherever we want. As for what to pack, we're animals, so we don't need clothes, which cuts down what we need by a lot. We'll just need our phones and food for when we're in between destinations. We won't even need maps since our phones all have maps," Skipper answered.
"I'm glad our phones actually still work. The carrier doesn't even know they're billing Matthew, who doesn't even live here," I said with a chuckle. "If they ever find out, our phones would be useless without Wi-Fi," Skipper said also chuckling.
"So just us and the kids or everyone?" I asked. "Well, we should all go. The boys and I were, well, forced to leave the zoo all those years ago. We'll make sure to avoid Madagascar, Antarctica, and of course, Copenhagen," Skipper said.
I kissed Skipper. "Definitely not going there. I've looked up the zoo and it looks like there would be no way for us to get near a computer if Annabelle and I got stuck there," I said. Skipper kissed me.
"I am not going to lose anyone on this trip. If I do, we'll have to erase this trip from ever happening by making another Chronotron. Someone will send a note back in time to right this moment saying Do not go on vacation," Skipper said. We both stood there silently looking around waiting for any note to drop in through a Chronotron portal and none did.
"Looks like we won't lose anybody Skipper. When do you want to leave and where do you want to go first?" I asked him. "Let's go tell everyone else first. Then we'll decide that," Skipper said.
We both ran out of the cave and jumped all the way over to the HQ, landing in the pool. "That was a long jump," I noted after we swam up to the platform. "It sure was. That training lately must have helped," Skipper said. "I agree," I said.
We both jumped down into the HQ, where everyone was waiting to see what we had been planning. "What do you have planned for us today?" Annabelle asked us. "Actually, we've maybe got something planned for the next several weeks," I said. Everyone looked at us curiously.
"It was actually my idea. How would you all like to go on vacation?" Skipper asked everyone. "Our last vacation didn't go so well Skipper," Private said, a bit sad. "The other world interfered with that, again. And this time we've got more than our wits to get around," Skipper said. "We've got our phones to stay in contact and we can easily know where to go thanks to their maps. Not to mention, we've all got GPS chips," I said.
"That sounds great! But where will we go?" Samuel asked us. "As your father just reminded me, after you two were born we were thinking of showing you our world before the other one, so we'll vacation all around our globe. We'll easily be able to fake transfers in zoos and we can just roam around, stealthily of course," I answered.
"If we get tired of one country, we'll transfer ourselves to another zoo in a different one. Of course, we'll be avoiding Copenhagen and places that say they want to keep Penguins and Otters permanently," Skipper said.
"Where should we go first?" Kowalski asked us. We both thought for a moment. "Let's head west. We've seen what California looks like in the other world; so let's see what's here too. Some of your family may still be at your old aquarium too Marlene," Skipper said to me. "Luckily for you, my parents took a paws off approach to my relationships after someone told them to," I said to Skipper.
"Do you know who?" Skipper asked me. "I actually don't. I only overheard my parents say that once. But it did work out. It might have been someone like Fred's grandma," I said laughing. We all laughed at the similarity between the strangeness that had been Fred's grandmother during the Golden Squirrel Escapade and what had turned out to be great for both Skipper and I. *
"When are we leaving?" Annabelle asked us. "Well, let's get ourselves transferred out there tomorrow. We should do at least one last day of performances before we leave," Skipper said. (P to 3rd person)
Throughout the day, everyone at their own habitats tried to do the best they ever had. Many more fish were sold than ever before to the boys, along with more popcorn being thrown to the girls. After the zoo closed, they linked up systems from around the world with the phones to control where they would be going and set up a transfer with two crates. One for the family and one for the guys. (P to tomorrow and Marlene)
"Ready to go sweetie?" I asked Annabelle after we had packed everything we would need inside of Rico and were preparing to be shipped out. "Ready Mom. This is a great idea!" Annabelle exclaimed happily. Suddenly we were both picked up out of the habitat and moved to the transfer room. After a few minutes, Skipper, Samuel, and the guys joined us as well.
One of Alice's assistants left us sitting in the facility looking for crates and the truck that would take us. They came back a few minutes later with the crates and placed Annabelle and I into one crate and then used his walkie talkie to ask Alice a question. "Hey, Alice, I don't know about this. The computer says I should put some of the Penguins and Otters together to ship them out," he said.
Alice came over the radio. "Are you questioning the computer? The same one that spits out our paychecks?" Alice responded. "Excellent point," the assistant said. With a puzzled face, the assistant placed Skipper and Samuel into our crate, while putting Kowalski, Rico, and Private into the other crate. After a few moments, we felt the crate move to a truck and start moving.
"Do you think we'll be driving or flying Skipper?" I asked him. "Unless the driver is driving for nearly a week, I'd say we're going to be put on a plane next," he answered. "A plane? Is that like the jetpacks?" Samuel asked us.
"Sort of. Instead of being limited to one or two soda bottles, it has much more fuel. Some can fly for nearly half a day without needing to be refueled," Skipper answered. "And you don't need to worry about controlling your own movements. We'll probably be able to nap on the plane, since there will be nothing else to do," I added.
Sure enough, about an hour later, we felt ourselves being moved onto a conveyor belt from out of the truck. It felt weird, constantly being turned by forces we didn't control, like swimming in a strong current. We felt ourselves again be transferred to another truck from the conveyor belt and then a final conveyor belt onto a plane.
Once inside the plane, we did roll call to make sure everyone had made it. From the other crate, we could hear the guys call in. Suddenly, we all felt the G-Forces of the plane from it taking off and then they leveled after a few minutes.
"Mom, are you excited to be going on vacation?" Annabelle asked me. "Yes, sweetie, I am. It's been over six years since I was transferred. I wonder who from my family will still be there," I said.
"I wonder what they'll think of you and I," Skipper said to me. "Not to mention us," Samuel added. We all chuckled. "Yes, that'll be a bit strange to explain," I said. "Will we finally learn how we're possible?" Annabelle asked Skipper and I.
Skipper and I thought about our response for a moment. "Not yet. Maybe after we return home," I said. Both of our children sighed in defeat, knowing that was the end of the conversation. "So how long will it take to fly to your old aquarium Mom?" Samuel asked me after a moment.
"I'm not sure," I said. "Well, considering any weather, other planes' flight paths, and where the airport is in relation to the aquarium, it could be anywhere between 5 to 6 hours," Kowalski answered from the other crate. "Thanks Kowalski," Skipper said. "It's no trouble Skipper," Kowalski replied
After that, we all decided to try and sleep for the duration of the flight. Samuel and Annabelle feel asleep pretty fast after we decided that. They looked just as adorable sleeping now as they did when we first brought them back into the zoo. "Goodnight Skipper," I said to him. "Goodnight Marlene," he said to me. We both drifted off to sleep, wondering whom from my family we would see when we arrived at my old aquarium.
That's a wrap on this chapter. Remember, they all said they went on vacation in the beginning of Book 3 to me. So now they're on vacation for the next two months. It'll be fun to write some of the scenarios. Please rate and review this chapter. I'll see you in the next one. I've only got one note today.
* This idea just came to me. No idea why. But now I have another idea with that.