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The Long Road Ahead | Shook Chapter 5 Part 2
Dyan's headed to Maya's house. She didn't expect what she found once she got there though...
Dyan was having a lovely time writing. She wrote down everything that popped into her head as she listened to the thrilling hum of the highway. For now, all ideas were good ideas.
The kind alien led Spirit to her huge family of aliens, who lived in a mansion spaceship complete with a pet … hm. A pet bear! A huge brown bear! The aliens explained to Spirit that they were traveling to the milky way to find the perfect planet to visit. Currently, the family had found a planet with great weather south of the solar system! Dyan smiled as she scribbled her ideas down. This family would be the most exotic, most adventurous group of aliens there ever was, to match Spirit and her need for adventure!
That’s enough writing for now, Dyan thought as she closed her notebook. She sensed they were nearing their destination, as Mr. Bue turned off the highway and drove down a junction of restaurants and stores.
Mr. Blue drove into a small neighborhood containing stores and whatnot, and parked at a nearby truck stop. The three then got out of the truck and started to walk.
Gosh, I bet the great butterfly migration is a shorter trip, Dyan thought to herself. She tried to look on the bright side. At least she had a place to sleep for the night.
Eventually they reached a neighborhood street. It was a single road with a small stone brick wall in the grass beside it. A yellow sign on the wall read in peach letters: Adventure Ridge.
The houses around here were all two stories, some people had fences, others didn’t. Some people had decorations in their yard, such as light-up reindeer silhouettes and dark green wreaths on the door.
Then there was a yellow house with dark green shutters. Some of the window blinds were broken, and the mailbox’s paint was peeling. There was a huge bluish-green van parked in the driveway that reminded Dyan of what hippies would drive in on TV.
Maya put a hand to her mouth and yelled, “I’m home!”
The house was silent.
Maya rolled her eyes and yelled even louder. “DAD’S HOME!”
Dyan had never heard so much rumbling from one house.
Out flowed a bunch of people of all sizes and ages.
“Dad’s home!” yelled one little girl with two afro puffs as she ran across the yard. Dyan noted that the girl was barely taller than her knees.
“Dad! Dad! Dad!” yelled a boy holding earbuds. He yelled over and over as he and a boy who looked identical to him jumped around Mr. Blue.
“Wow, you guys were really late. Traffic was bad or something?” A tall skinny girl asked Maya who simply shrugged. She wiped her doughy hands on the apron she was wearing.
Then Dyan heard a loud bark, so deep it made her heart jump. For two seconds she thought she saw a bear crawl out of their house! A big, brown fluffy dog trotted out of the house, and straight to Mr. Blue, Its deep barks echoing throughout the street. The dog jumped up on its hind legs and put its front paws on Mr. Blue’s shoulders.
“Woah, woah, Bear! Down boy,” said Mr. Blue. The dog gave a low bark, then jumped back to all fours.
All of the Blue family was talking and hugging, complete with an enormous brown dog weaving around the family’s legs. Sure, Dyan had seen lots of children live in one home before, but never so many with different shades of blue in their hair. Each one of the children had their own shade of blue hair, whether it be really dark like the night sky, or light and faded like chalk candy, or more one the greenish side. Dyan noticed out of all of them, Maya had the brightest and most vibrant of blue hair, more vivid than even Mr. Blue’s hair. The woman Dyan assumed to be Mrs. Blue, however, didn’t have blue hair. She had hair the color of ink.
Dyan was only dully surprised. Somehow, Dyan expected Maya to have this many siblings. If Maya truly was Spirit, then her life would play out the same way, but instead of Maya meeting aliens, she was reuniting with her family. Dyan just didn't expect the pet bear part to be real, even if the Blue's seemed to only own a bear-like dog.
One by one (or two) the family began to notice Dyan standing outside their circle until Dyan had nine pairs of eyes on her. She felt incredibly weird, not wanting to move or look anyone in their eyes.
“Who’s that?” asked one of the little boys who smelled like grass.
“This is my friend, Dyan,” Maya answered.
They must have been used to people coming to their house, because after Maya said that the kids went back to talking and playing. Some chased each other, some began to talk.
“I didn’t know you had any friends,” said the short girl, to which Maya replied, “Shut up, True!”
The tall girl grabbed Bear’s collar and began to drag him inside.
Mrs. Blue placed the baby she had been holding in the yard and immediately the baby began pulling grass out of the ground.
“I’ve never heard of a Dyan. Does she go to your school?” Mrs. Blue turned to Maya.
Maya turned and eyed Dyan for a second who stood quietly. Dyan didn’t know what to say. Should she go along with what Maya said earlier? Should she give them the truth?
“Not exactly…” said Maya.
“What!? You told me Dyan was a friend from school!” Mr. Blue said.
Mrs. Blue looked at Maya sternly. “Maya… you better explain yourself.”
Maya looked at her parents “Well, she- first off, don’t freak out but-”
“-I’m an orphan. My foster home burnt down and I have nowhere to go. Maya said I could stay here. You know, for a while, since well, I haven’t got anywhere else to go.” Dyan broke into Maya’s sentence.
Maya’s parents stood silent for a moment.
“Don't foster kids have a foster parent or guardian or something looking after them? Where is yours?” Mr. Blue asked Dyan.
“I don’t know,” she answered in a low tone.
“Aw,” Mrs. Blue looked at Dyan sadly, her hands clasped in front of her chest. “Poor thing. Tell you what, you can stay with us while we find your foster parents. Get yourself settled in, it might be a few days before we can figure out where your foster parent is and how to reach them.”
A feeling bubbled up in Dyan that got even more intense when Maya smiled at her. Was it excitement? Relief? All she knew was that it wasn’t a bad feeling!
Maya then turned to face her siblings, or at least the ones that were still outside. “Attention everyone! My friend Dyan will be staying at our house for the next few days!”
It was silent until one of the older Blue kids said “Um, okay,” and everyone went back to doing what they were doing. While Maya frowned at this, Dyan was happy no one paid that fact any mind. She never liked being the center of attention. Spirit did however.
Maya tapped Dyan’s shoulder. “C’mon!” She began to run to the house towards the open door. Dyan didn’t hesitate to run after her.
“Maya, get your room ready for a guest!” Mrs. Blue yelled after her.
Find out what happens next in the next part!
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Hey there! I’m Shila! I’ve loved books since I could read, and decided I would write books I wanted to see written for others! Check my children’s book Imagination on Amazon!
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