Across the Thousand Expanses—Part 1

This is a new story I wrote for a school assignment. More parts and sequel to follow!

It was another boring summer day in the life of Joey Sorton. Joey had just finished his book when his mother walked into the room.
“Joey, we don’t have anything to eat for dinner tonight. We need to go shopping. I’m taking Susie with me, but I can leave you here if you’d rather stay home. But if you stay home, no computer or TV until we get back,” she warned.
“All right,” agreed Joey, who hated shopping trips.
A few minutes later, Joey was bored. He wished he had something to read, but he had just finished his last library book. He couldn’t go on the computer or watch TV, his dad was off at work, and his little sister wasn’t around to mess with. So Joey lay on his back on the couch and looked out the window. He wondered if it had been a good idea to stay home after all.

Out the window, he saw a man walking his dog. The man wore a black sweatshirt with the hood up and a pair of jeans, which was strange in the hot weather. Suddenly the man let go of the leash and his dog ran down the street. Joey wondered where the dog was going. He hadn’t seen any cats or squirrels, and the dog was sticking to the sidewalk, instead of running off into someone’s yard or something. The man began to chase the dog down the street. Joey watched them until they ran around the corner and out of sight. Then he got up and went to check the time. His mom had planned to be gone for about two hours. She had been gone for only half an hour, so he still had a while to wait.

Joey returned to the couch and went back to looking out the window. He was surprised to see the man coming back down the street, this time without his dog. The man walked by his house, then suddenly turned and came up his driveway. Joey ducked, hoping the man wouldn’t see him. He didn’t want to answer the door for some stranger when his parents weren’t home.
Then the doorbell rang. Joey crouched on the couch and waited. After a minute, there was a loud knocking on the door. He heard the stranger yell, “Open up! This is an emergency!”
An emergency? Joey knew that he had never met the strange man and wondered why he wanted so badly to be let in. But he had already failed to open the door, so he knew it would seem strange if he answered it now. So Joey waited for the stranger to leave.
Once again, the man pounded on the door. “If you don’t let me in, I’ll let myself in!” he cried, ringing the doorbell again and again as he continued to bang.
Joey decided that the man was a lunatic, so it would probably be a bad idea to let him in. He crawled off the couch and crept into the kitchen, just in case the man decided to look in the window.

Then Joey heard footsteps coming from the entryway. Somehow, the stranger had gotten in without making any noise! Joey looked around for somewhere to hide. Seeing nowhere else, he ducked under the kitchen table. The footsteps came closer, and Joey saw a pair of hiking boots with lime green socks enter the kitchen. He held his breath, praying the stranger wouldn’t notice him.
“Come right out,” the stranger commanded. “I can see you hiding there under the table.”
Joey wondered if the stranger could really see him, or if he was bluffing. Then he remembered how silently he had gotten into the house. He could have some sort of supernatural ability which might extend to seeing through a table. Joey reluctantly crawled out from under the table and stood up.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Are you Dr. Joseph Sorton?” the stranger inquired.
“Uh, yeah, but why do you care?” Joey was surprised that the stranger knew his name, but figured it went along with his other superpowers.
The stranger looked surprised, but then he grabbed Joey’s hand. “We’re leaving,” he announced abruptly. He pulled a small black rectangular box out of his pocket, which opened up to reveal a set of dials, switches, and buttons. He pushed a button on it.

Joey had decided the man was some sort of evil supervillain. He suddenly broke away from the stranger and ran over to the phone which hung on the wall. He grabbed it and began to dial 911. Then he looked up and saw that the stranger was gone. He hesitated. Suddenly he felt someone grab the phone from his hand. He spun around and saw that the stranger was back! Joey screamed and began to run away, back into the living room. By now he was terrified, the most frightened he’d ever been in his life. He hoped if he could beat the stranger upstairs, he could grab the other phone there and hide while he called the police, but all bets were off with the psycho supervillain on the loose.
Then suddenly the stranger appeared in front of him and they collided. The stranger promptly grabbed Joey and pushed a button on his strange box. Joey tried to break away, but the stranger held on tightly. Then everything went black.

© 2014 Christina Smith. All rights reserved.