Everyone was back around the dinner table. A bowl of fried rice sat in front of each person. Dad looked tired but not messed up like last night.
"Sorry I missed your match today Basil." He apologized. Basil just shrugged it off letting him off the hook.
"It's alright. With everything going on at the agency it must be hectic over there. Besides you can watch the replay online anyway." He took a bite of the rice. Bridgette spent most of dinner talking about she was the only one who got a perfect score on a math test and how the teacher loved her for it. Not like he was listening to any of it. His mind felt totally blank, like a sheet of computer paper. Everything going in one ear then out the other.
"That's great Bridge. What about your day Matt?" Dad cut her off. Matt looked up surprised. His eyes went looked up at the ceiling thinking while Bridgette complained that she wasn't done.
"Oh I know! We played dodge ball in gym and I won for the whole team. I was the last one in play and the other team had ten people trying to pin me down. But my baseball skills became in handy and we managed to win!" Matt smiled at the memory. How did the moon get in my head during that simulation? And why did it tell what to do? Better question: how did it know what the other guy was going to do? He didn't realize what was happening when Matt kept calling his name.
"Huh?" He looked up for the bowl of rice in front of him at Matt on the other side of the table.
"Anybody home in there?" Matt joked, "I was asking if you wanted to play basketball after dinner." Basil nodded accepting the offer.
"How have you been doing Basil?" Mom asked.
"Fine." He answered. The last thing he wanted to tell them that he had another strange moment. Once everyone was done eating Basil got up to collect the bowls and start the dishes.
"I'll do it Bay you go out and play with Matt." Dad took the two bowls from his hands. He's worried and it's not about time. His eyes are heavy but not from the lack of sleep. He wanted to ask what was going on but he figured best to stay quiet and take his offer. Basil nodded his thanks and head for the front door.
Basketball was always a game they could agree on. They were both fairly good which made the game that more fun. When the sun went down out of sight they went to just shooting. Matt tossed him the ball and he dribbled it around and through his legs before taking a quick shot. It was a perfect swish.
"So what do you think that's going on that Dad so strange?" Matt asked retrieving the ball.
"You noticed?" Basil was stunned.
"You know Basil you have a keen eye for details, but the rest of us have eyes to you know. We're not blind as bats." He tossed the ball up and it circled the rim before falling in.
"What's up with you anyway? You've been more quite then normal since last night." Basil looked at him hard. They always been more than brothers, they were best friends. When they heard that Bridgette was coming they really leaned on each other for support. They were the ultimate team. He always related them to the sun and moon. Two complete opposites but complemented each other. Matt was always smiling like the sun was always out and had a fiery passion. Basil had always been like the moon. Always there when looking for it and a silent listener. They made a pack to become space explorers together and Basil believed him. Matt was never the kind to break promise. Taking a deep breath Basil told him what happened during the match and last night. Yin and Yang.
"You're one of a kind Basil." He flashed a smile. Matt was a master of turning someone's serious problems and turn them positive. Then he turned serious,
"Do you think this has something to do with what dad's work problem?" Basil shrugged.
"At this point anything is possible." He sighed.
"You're more mysterious than the Lil' Owl!" Matt laughed. Lil' Owl was Basil's all-time favorite children's book. It was about a purple owl that lived in the forest and nobody knew he existed because he was nocturnal. But he always had a friend in the moon till the end were everyone loved him because he warned them of coming storm. The book was based actually on him but he never saved anyone from a storm. When he was really little his mom told her friend about him and thus Lil' Owl was created. Of course he didn't know that then, but he would have his parents read it to him every night.
"I guess." He smiled lightheartedly.