Chapter Two - The Falling Sky

March 5th, 2013

 

The next morning, Tom and Annabelle started playing in their home's backyard but every once in a while Tom would feel uneasy. He felt like he had butterflies in his stomach, especially when Annabelle would smile at him or laugh when he made a joke that didn't involve a certain color. After realizing that he needed to talk to someone, Tom left the playground, telling Annabelle that he wasn't feeling well at the moment. 

Tom's first visit to discover the truth behind his feelings was to Annabelle's adopted brother John's room, who was at the moment playing a video game with Tom's own cousin Scarlett. Tom began to tell his story on what was wrong. 

"I feel uneasy, and I don't know how to fix it. I've never felt this way about Annabelle before. I figure you're the smartest person I know, so I thought I'd ask you..."

John didn't respond.

"Hello? Hello?! HELLO??!!"

John, still engulfed into his game, said "Yeah yeah, something about Tom and whatnot. Gotcha." 

 Infuriated, Tom walked across the room and stood by Scarlett, saying the same thing. But she too was too much into the game to give any kind of response as well. 

He even waved his hand in front of her face, but that didn't seem to phase her much, even someone as hot-headed as she was. John and Scarlett were just too into their game to be bothered with, so Tom walked out of the room upset, still unable to figure out his feelings.

 "Did you hear something?", John asked.

"Something about tacos?", replied Scarlett, and they went back to their game.

 Tom then walked into his other cousin Kelly's room. She too was too entranced in a book but managed to say something to Tom after he told her about his feelings for Annabelle.

"Ask an adult."

Walking into the front room, Tom saw his uncle Elliot sitting at the couch watching a news report on some meteor shower.  Realizing that Kelly was right and that an adult could help him on his feelings, he walked up to Elliot and sat down next to him.

  "Uncle Elliot, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure Tom, what do you need?"

 "Well, there's this girl... it's just that lately, when I look at her, I feel uneasy. It feels like there are butterflies fluttering around in my stomach and I can't say much to her. Why is that?"

"Do you like this girl?"

"Yes of course, she's one of my best friends, of course I like her!"

"Well Tom, your butterflies are probably telling you that you like-like this girl. I know you think you're not old enough to like girls in that way, but it's true. You have feelings for her."

Tom looked at his uncle like he had just told a joke, and he may as well have. "Seriously? I don't think so."

 "Yes, Tom, it's true. And the butterflies you feel in your stomach are telling you that you like her, and you are unable to tell her because you are worried about what she'll say. I am not gonna tell you to tell her what you think right now, but if you want my advice, it is to tell her when you're ready. When you're ready, pick a nice area for the two of you to go to, maybe a nice green garden, and tell her what you're heart says."

 "Oh, okay. Thanks uncle Elliot... I'm gonna try that now! I know I'm ready!"

 

 Elliot heard Tom running down the hall, then he heard someone else walk up next to him. It was his wife, Mei. She sat down next to him and they cuddled on the sofa.

  

"So you gave Tom romantic advice?"

"Yeah. It was only a matter of time. This day is probably going to change his life if he goes through with it."

"Probably?"

"I don't know if she'll like him back: too many green jokes have been made... but I think those jokes are his way of hiding his own feelings. Who knows."

 

Tom had found Annabelle outside playing in the sandbox, and the words of his uncle came back to him. Suddenly, he felt uneasy again, but managed to crank out the words "Hey, you wanna go to the beach and make some real sandcastles?"

 "Sure, I'll just tell my mom where I'm going." 

 Annabelle and Tom stopped by and talked to her mother, Maria, who told them they could go as long as they got back by dark. Annabelle said they would and they were off to the beach in no time. 

 Tom was uneasy still but being close to Annabelle gave him some sense of comfort. Still, despite the advice his uncle Elliot had given him, he was still unable to tell her how he felt.

 

 Tom looked over at Annabelle and realized that maybe this WAS the time to tell her, because he didn't know when else he could say it.

He stood up and walked over to her."Annabelle... I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Annabelle asked, standing up.

"Lately I've looked at you and I really think that I... I ... I don't know. I think that I li-like salad. Something about the greenness of 'salad' really makes me feel happy. 'Salad' right?"

 Suddenly, Annabelle's eyes widened as she looked to the sky. She then turned and ran back towards the interior of the beach. Tom, unable to see what she had seen, ran back with her. 

  "Annabelle... I was trying to say that I like-" Suddenly, they heard a whistling sound, then a massive explosion. 

Tom and Annabelle turned around to see a column of smoke rising from a crater formed not fifty feet beside them. Then they heard another whistling noise, this one more collective.

  It was a meteor shower, and Sunset Valley was the bulls-eye.

 A group of protesters at City Hall were yelling so loudly that they didn't hear the incoming danger. In a sad sense of irony, they were protesting a new space-age radar system that would warn the town of danger because it was too expensive on the tax payers.

 The impact shook the land, knocking out windows and instantly vaporizing the protestors. 

A meteor smashed into a home, killing the people inside, as another volley hit the main center of town. 

 Annabelle and Tom turned and ran down the street, heading back to their home. 

 The meteors left nothing standing in their wake as they relentlessly fell, strangely only within the town center. 

 The town would never fully recover.

-------------------------------

 When the chaos had settled, Annabelle ran to the park to see if there was any hope that her favorite place in town wasn't too terribly damaged, unable to come to terms with the loss of fifty seven people. Unfotuntately...

...wishes sometimes never come true.

 

 Annabelle stayed where she was for hours until Tom showed up, worried sick about her. He started the day hoping that he would finally be able to tell her how he felt, but now the only feeling he had was deep sadness for what had happened. 

Suddenly, the gravity of the situation hit Annabelle hard, and she started crying over the events of the day. Tom did his best to comfort her.

Tom and Annabelle stayed where they were until the fires went out, and then they went home...