742 Evergreen Terrace, 3:00 a.m.
"Hey, Barney, you wanna invite Duffman over to Moe's?" Homer mumbled in his sleep, dreaming that he was drinking ten-gallon barrels of beer.
"Bleeding Gums, is that you?" Lisa reached out and grabbed thin air.
Bart was lying face down on the bed. "Maggie, remember to keep quiet until the time is right. Got it?"
Maggie didn't move a muscle in her crib.
However, Homer woke up early, feeling the urge to pee. As he rubbed his eyes, he found that Marge wasn't on their bed.
"Oh, maybe she just stayed up doing some work or something." Homer shrugged it off and went to the bathroom.
When he left the bathroom, he found Marge pacing the living room worriedly. "What're you doing? It's 3 in the morning!"
Marge sat on the couch. "I haven't been able to sleep since I had that dream a few minutes ago."
"Can you tell me about it?"
Marge looked around for a pen and paper. She turned on the lights and began drawing a large room, with a table in the center and six chairs surrounding it. A TV, VCR, and large speakers lay in the back of the room. Marge added sheets of paper on top of the table and finally people. Only five were in their seats and the last person was sleeping in the corner.
"I dreamed I was in a meeting with these people." Marge examined her drawing. "I don't know why. The only thing I can remember about them are their clothes."
So Marge drew details on the people. One was wearing a tuxedo, another had on a long dress. Yet another had a jacket slipping off her shoulders and still another was wearing a coat and kimono. Marge gave her own hair and dress to a figure and a nightgown to the one in the corner.
"Wh—what happened after that?" Homer stuttered in his attempt to grasp what was going on.
"We talked for a while. Then the one with the jacket—" She pointed to the person matching her description. "—stood up and talked about getting a free pass if any of us finds the orientation film."
"And what did you do?"
"We fought for the tape. Eventually, I got it and put it in that VCR. Then everything exploded and I was startled awake."
"A meeting..." Homer walked around the room thinking. "Meeting, meeting, meeting—aha!" He snapped his fingers. "It must be in the Springfield Meeting Center!"
The Springfield Meeting Center was a rectangular gray building with five floors, four of which were accessible without a VIP pass. It was built a year ago to solve the residents' problems of not having proper meeting places for their discussions.
Each room had a different design. There were some that looked like actual conference rooms while others only had chairs and TVs.
The boss was Samantha Crandall, a deaf middle-aged woman who began using hearing aids three months ago. Her employees knew her to be stubborn and hard to work with.
"So when do you think we'll go to that place?" Marge put the drawing on the dining table.
"I heard they send letters to each person invited to a meeting. You have to consult the boss first in order to choose a room." Homer fumbled for his MyPhone and typed "springfield meeting center" on Google.
"Here." Homer clicked on the official Springfield Meeting Center website and handed the phone to Marge, who scrolled around looking for a time to book a meeting. She eventually clicked February 9th.
"Homie, thank you so much!" Marge stood up from the couch and kissed Homer. "Now I just have to wait for the mail."
They went to their room together.
742 Evergreen Terrace, 6:00 a.m.
"Okay kids, you better be good! Remember what I said about the lettuce and the bread!"
Bart and Lisa wore their backpacks. They each kissed Marge goodbye and headed for the school bus, which was waiting for them outside.
"Yo, Bart-dude, what's the news?" Otto excitedly looked at Bart.
"Eh, nothing much. Although I think there's been something wrong with Mom lately." Bart sat next to Milhouse.
Lisa looked out the window and stared at their house. "Gee, you're right! I only noticed that now."
Bart shuddered. "I hope those men didn't curse her or anything," he mumbled under his breath.
Lisa raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"
"Nothing." Bart thought of that night, the night when everything went wrong. He thought of Maggie, who was likely at a daycare center fighting that one baby with the unibrow.
Springfield Elementary School, 7:30 a.m.
The kids glumly walked inside the school, slouching and moaning. Only Lisa, Martin, and a few nerds were the only ones genuinely enthusiastic when they stepped through the door.
Everyone went to their respective classrooms. Bart and his classmates waited until Ms. Peyton arrived. Five minutes later, the tardy bell rang.
"Okay, class, today we are going to learn about World War II!"
For the first time in forever, the kids cheered.
Meanwhile, in Lisa's classroom, Ms. Hoover was undeniably bored. Her voice had become a monotone drone and even Lisa was starting to get fed up with it.
"And that is why the flag of the United States has thirteen stripes only. Any questions?"
No one bothered to raise their hands.
"Our next lesson is on how to convert between the metric and English systems."
Everyone groaned.
742 Evergreen Terrace, 3:15 p.m.
Bart and Lisa scrambled off the school bus and opened the door. However, no one was there to greet them.
They found a calendar on the table. February 9th was encircled in red marker.
"What would Mom and Dad encircle this date? Does it have any actual significance?" Lisa said.
"Maybe. I mean, she's been waiting for mail lately."
"Mail?"
"Maybe it could be something important." Bart looked at the calendar. "And I think it has something to do with February the 9th."
"Kids, we're home!" Marge and Homer came through the door carrying bags of groceries.
"Mom, we need to ask you a question." Bart sheepishly walked forward.
"What is it, Bart?"
"What happens on February the 9th?"
Marge looked at Homer, who frantically shook his head. "That's a secret. You'll see when it happens."
The two laid out the groceries, filled up their food stocks, and went to their bedroom. They then closed the door.
"Bart, this is too suspicious." Lisa sat on the couch. "Why would Mom keep any secrets from us? Usually, she'd spill the beans right after we ask."
Bart joined Lisa on the couch. "It could be something really important."
"Maybe it could."
"Anyway, let's just forget about it and—"
Then the two heard a voice coming from Maggie's room saying "Mom?"
For the first time in his life, Bart actually cursed. He ran upstairs and stared at Maggie.
"What did I tell you about talking?" he asked through gritted teeth.
Bart heard footsteps coming up the stairs and hurriedly picked Maggie up.
"Bart, what was that?" Lisa noticed Bart lulling Maggie to sleep—or so she thought.
"Wait a minute—Bart, why're you chanting in Latin?"
Bart and Maggie looked at each other.
"We're dead," they said in unison.
AN: So Chapter 2 is here! I'm trying to make way for the conflict and kick off the plot. I'm still open for suggestions, so put those down in the comments!
This story was originally published on AO3, so the most of the characters Marge meets in her dream were created by my collaborators A5tr4 (rats) and Kylie B., who unfortunately cannot be credited on FanFiction.