THE VISIT - chapt 2

THE VISIT CHAPT 2

         Before I could protest or ask questions, I was dragged into the room.

         "What's happening?" I was confused. Although I felt a bit angry, my curiosity got the upper hand. What had I done now? Why was I 'the one'?

         I could see now that the second face was the boy who had earlier been tucked in bed by his mom.

         "Sh," he whispered. "I need your help. I'm in big trouble."

         "What do you mean?" I whispered back.

         "Look at this newspaper." He shoved the paper towards me.

         'BOY MISSING. KIDNAPPING IS SUSPECTED ALTHOUGH NO CLUES HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED.'

         I was even more confused. "You mean to say you kidnapped somebody? At your age?"

         "No, dummy. My computer did."

         "Oh. Like it did to me and my friends."

         "Right. Only thing is, you can help get me out of this mess."

         "Oh great," I replied. I couldn't even get my self back home. Was this kid crazy or something?

         "So, what did you expect me to do?" I asked.

         "Well, I saw all the great programs you had on your computer and thought you must be a wizard at computers. I set my program on 'receive' to your computer and here you are."

         "Wait a minute," I said, "I'm not the wizard. My friend, Fred, is. He is the one to put all those great programs together."

         "Oh, fine. Now what are we going to do?" The boy slumped down on his bed.

         "Just a minute." I scooted over to the window. As I had expected, Fred was half way up the tree. I knew he'd be curious and come after me.

         "Fred, I whispered. "Get in here. Quick. And get Susan up here, too"

         Presently, we were all in the boy's bedroom. Quick introductions informed us that the boy's name was Tad, and his friend was Ivan. Tad gave us the scoop on what was happening with his computer.

         "Where did you get the program in the first place?" asked Fred.

         "Just something that came in the mail. A CD with no label and no case. I don't know where it came from." Tad replied.

         We stared intently at the monitor while Fred clicked on 'Help' and started reading the various sections.

         Suddenly, I got a sharp jab in my side. I nearly shouted out, but remembered where I was.

         "Watch out what you're doing, Susan. I got ribs in there."

         "There's someone coming up the stairs," she frantically whispered back.

         "Your mom's coming." I shook Tad's shoulder.

         "Quick, everyone, hide." Tad pushed Fred off the computer chair and sat down himself. The rest of us scampered for hiding places, and I ended up under the bed with Ivan and Susan.

         "What are you doing, Tad? You are supposed to be sleeping. I think you spend entirely too much time on that computer of yours."

         "Aw, Mom. I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. I thought if I worked on the computer a bit, I would get sleepy again."

         "Well, I think you can't sleep because you are on the computer too much as it is. I'm going to have to get rid of the thing if you don't get out more and play with your friends. You need exercise and fresh air. And now, you need to get back to bed and sleep. That's an order."

         "But Mom..."

         "No 'buts'. Into bed - NOW."

         The dust under the bed was beginning to tickle my nose. Hurry up, I thought. Get rid of your mom before my suppressed sneeze makes it's way out.

         I felt the bed wiggle as Tad climbed under his covers. And I could see his mom's bare feet and ankles only a foot away from my face.

         The sneeze suddenly exploded from inside my nose, and I tried to stifle the sound in a teddybear I had found under the bed.

TO BE CONTINUED...The Visit - Chapter 3