The Electron Brothers

John Electron was thirteen years old and had recently started the eighth grade. He had lived in Bermuda all of this life until he recently moved to New York. His black Labrador, named Oxy, was his best friend. When he moved to New York, his parents forced him to leave Oxy behind in Bermuda. The separation was tough, and John missed his dog very much. After he returned home from school one day, he decided that he would go on an adventure to get his dog back. He packed up a bag full of food, clothes, and water, and left without his parents noticing.

Luckily, the train station was only a few blocks from this house, so he didn’t have to travel far. He arrived at the train station, named Complex 1, and had to go through a series of obstacles before he could board the train. When he first arrived, there was a large line for security, with both children and adults filling every corner. He got in line behind another little boy, who looked just like him. He waited for a few minutes, until he realized that the boy in front of him was his brother, Evan Electron.

“What are you doing here?,” asked John.

“John! The real questions is what are you doing here, aren’t you supposed to be home doing your homework?” exclaimed Evan.

Evan was four years older than John and loved to boss him around. After the boys finished asking each other what the other one was doing, they decided to go on the journey together. It turns out that Evan had a similar idea to John, and had slipped out of the house minutes before John did. With the boys traveling together, they started to venture through security. The line started to speed up and the boys arrived at a metal detector. John noticed the Iron-Sulfur 3000 etched on the side of the machine. Both boys had to remove their shoes, empty their backpacks, and walk through the large metal detector. Once they had finished going through security one-by-one, they arrived at the train platform. Both boys, nervous about their journey, boarded the train.

The boys sat near each other on the train and spoke about their parents and their dog. They had gotten Oxy when he was just a puppy, and both boys had gotten very attached. They hoped their parents wouldn’t be too mad when they discovered both their sons had run away. They had run away once before, but they only got as far as the next street before their parents caught them. They opened their backpacks and began to share their food for the ride ahead of them. After what seemed like forever, the train stopped at its final destination, right along the ocean. In order to get to Bermuda, the boys would have to take a boat.

Both boys quickly got off the train and arrived in a terminal. It seemed the train dropped the boys in the same station from which the boat would leave. John noticed a large sign titled Complex III, as he headed toward the food court. Even though both boys had eaten on the train ride, John couldn’t resist the temptation of more food. He started to wander to the food court, until Evan caught him and steered him towards the boat. As the boys walked through the terminal they began to realize how alone they really were. Their home was in New York, and they were about to get on a boat to Bermuda. The boys began talking and wondered whether they should turn around and head back. There was another train leaving in a few minutes. However, after a short conversation, the boys decided to proceed and reunite with Oxy.

Before the boys could board the boat, they had to go through two obstacles. The first was, once again, going through security. John went through first and had to take off his shoes, hat, and coat. Evan followed through the metal detector and also took off his shoes, hat, and coat. John had gotten through the metal detector without any problems, but Evan was stopped by the security guard. Evan had set off the metal detector and the guard wanted to check him out further. John hadn’t noticed that Evan was stopped so continued on towards the next obstacle and the boat.

“John, wait, wait!” exclaimed Evan, “They won’t let me through!”

John turned around at the last second and rejoined Evan at security. The guard asked Evan to step aside. The guard took Evan’s bag and searched through it and found only food and a little bit of money. The guard was mean and told Evan that he would have to leave the station. He had turned away other people, and marked them with an uppercase H so he could keep track of them. Evan panicked and told the guard how he was on a mission to get his dog back. At first, the guard seemed reluctant to let him go, but after much pleading, the guard let the two boys continue on towards the boat.

After that obstacle, the boys were tired and hungry, but kept walking until they encountered their second obstacle. A large, bald man stopped the two little boys and asked where they were headed.

“We plan to get on this boat, sir, the one going to Bermuda.”

“Well you boys are certainly too young to go on a boat, do you even know how to swim?” asked the man.

“Yes of course we do.”

“Well then you will have to show me.”

The two boys were very confused by the request. But if they intended on getting Oxy back, they had to do everything that was asked of them. The bald man brought them to a large swimming pool, filled with people treading water and swimming. A large man in swim trunks approached the boys and asked them to hop in the water. He explained that he had to put them through a series of tests. The first one was to tread water for thirty seconds and the second was to swim across the pool two times. The boys asked why they had to do this and the guard replied that he had to make sure they could swim if the boat sank. This worried the boys, but they started the tests anyways. John went first and was easily able to tread in the water. Then he began to swim across the pool, but was having trouble. Since the boys didn’t have any swim trunks with them, they had to swim in their jeans. John was having trouble because the wet jeans were weighing him down. Evan cheered his brother on, and John was able to finish the swim.

Once John jumped out of the pool, Evan jumped in. Evan was also having trouble because of the jeans, but able to finish both tasks.

“Good job boys, you can now board the boat” said the man in swim trunks.

When the boys exited the swim area they noticed people marked with H’s walking near them. It turns out these people couldn’t pass the swim test and were not allowed to go on the boat. They saw all the people marked with H’s form one group and walk down a hallway to another area. The boys continued towards the boat and were finally able to board. Everyone on the boat was soaking wet from the swim test. The boys found seats in the back, and waited for the boat to leave.

Both boys were very excited to see their dog again. They talked about how they planned on finding them once they got off the boat. They also talked about how angry their parents were going to be. The boat finally left the station and made its way towards Bermuda. The boat ride was long, but the boys found ways to entertain themselves. They played games and talked with other passengers onboard. John looked out the window and saw the island coming up. The boat finally docked in Bermuda and the boys were excited to find Oxy. Evan and John stepped off the boat into a large crowd of people.

“How are we going to find Oxy?” John yelled.

“I don’t know, maybe we can ask someone if they have seen him?” Evan responded.

“Okay, lets walk this way, it’s too crowded here.” John said.

Just as the boys were walking through the crowd, they heard loud barking coming from behind them. Just as the boys turned around, they saw Oxy running towards them. It seems that Oxy had found them. The boys both smiled and hugged Oxy. After the boys were done playing with Oxy, they decided to return home. When they did, their parents were happy to see them, and excited that they had brought Oxy along with them.