Bubbles Make Home

“Where are you, Roni?” Mabel called out with a scarf covering her eyes as she heard the little footsteps grazing the floor. “Don't think that because I can't see you I can't hear you!”

Mabel took a step forward, extending her arms, and swiftly closed them but she caught nothing but the air.

“Ha! It seems that someone is more sneaky than I thought!” She exclaimed astonished.

“Hehehe,” He quietly giggled, unable to hide his satisfaction as he saw his mother’s feet wandering around.

“Look what I got here!” Mabel voiced as she closed her arms behind the curtains and pulled Ronan out.

“Roar!” Ronan roared as his mother carried him to the sofa and tickled his belly.

“Oh! Is it a lion what I caught!?” Mabel celebrated, taking the scarf off and spinning it in the air. “Indeed my instinct has not failed me!”

“Roar!” Ronan growled as he sneaked away from Mabel’s embrace and ran to the other side of the room as the tail of his lion costume wagered around.

“You’re not going to escape this time Mr. Lion!” Mabel claimed, putting a foot on top of a sofa and pointing at her prey. “You’ve committed serious crimes against the cookie section of the cupboard! They will not go unpunished!”

“Nooo!” Ronan exclaimed as Mabel acrobatically jumped over the couch and caught him again.

“This moment deserves to be captured,” the home assistant said as Mabel landed on her buttocks hugging her son.

“Click.”

“You did a great job with this photo, Palessa,” Mabel complimented looking nonchalantly at the image.

“I’m glad you appreciate my abilities,” Palessa replied. “It is a lovely photo indeed.”

Mabel decidedly stood up from the sofa and said, “Palessa! Let's check that everything is ready!”

“Alright!” Palessa agreed. “Dinner?”

“Ready just to be heated!” Mabel replied.

“Clean sheets on his bed?”

“Done!”

“A diverse selection of snacks in the cupboard?”

“All of his favorites,” Mabel replied. “Oh! It might be a good idea to take some so he can snack on the way back home.”

“Good idea, traffic can be treacherous,” Palessa replied as Mabel rushed inside the cupboard and stuffed her massive purse with all sorts of snacks. “Mmm, Mabel.”

“Yes?”

“Ronan’s flight will be arriving in forty minutes,”

“What!” Mabel sprinted to the door.

“Don’t forget the car’s keys,” Palessa said as Mabel returned for the keys. “Terminal C!”

The traffic to the airport was luckily fluid. Mabel patiently waited at the Arrivals area. His flight was on time, ten minutes kept Mabel away from reuniting with his son after he had spent a year working in Antarctica.

Ten minutes turned into twenty and twenty into forty. Mabel worriedly looked at the flight board when she saw him passing by.

“Roni!” She called out as she ran behind him.

Mabel didn’t care if he got angry, once she was close enough, she hugged him from the back and said, “I missed you so much!”

The man broke free from her hug and turned with an awkward glance.

“Oh! I’m so sorry Sir,” Mabel apologised turning red. “I thought you were someone else. Ha…ha!”

“We could go and grab a drink while you wait,” the man replied winking an eye.

“Mmmm,” Mabel stammered, finding a polite way to reject the invitation.

“Excuse me,” A woman said tapping Mabel’s shoulder. “Are you Mrs. Mabel Costello?”

“Sorry,” Mabel said to the man as she turned to meet the woman wearing a Pi Corp uniform. “Yes, that’s me. Do you work with my son? Where is he? Are you together?”

“No, Ma’am.” She said, bringing Mabel’s attention back from looking at the crowd. “Unfortunately your son is not coming back.”

“What do you mean? He told me he was coming back today!” Mabel replied shaking her head. “AK2957, it says it right here.”

“It’s her, Boris,” The woman indicated a tall man.

“What’s this!?” Mabel exclaimed as Boris handed her an elegant wooden box and a dusty poster advertising a Serengeti Safari.

“That’s your son, Ma’am,” The woman replied unfazed.

Mabel furiously smashed the box against the floor.

“Those are just a bunch of rocks!” Mabel raged.

“I'm sorry ma'am, but due to the special conditions of your son's passing his remains were declared property of Pi Corp according to his contract.

“Wait, how?!” Mabel stammered as her headache grew.

“That’s confidential,” the woman replied. “I'm sorry for your loss. Here's a first-class ticket for one of our vessels. Your son worked hard to pay for it. It’s a real treat, this exempts you from signing a contract when you embark.”

“What do you mean!?” Mabel sobbed bewildered as the woman closed her hand around a golden coin.

“Have a nice day, Ma’am,” The woman ended and walked away.

Mabel’s knees gave way as he held the coin tightly against his chest. Tears sprawled down her face as she gathered the rocks from the floor and carefully placed them back inside the box while the clanking noises grew in volume.

“Where are you, Roni?” She asked as the box faded into an athletic man waving a pickaxe against two dreadful red crabs.

The headache persisted as she stood up.

“Roni, is that you?” Mabel joyfully asked.

“Stay back, Mabel,” He ordered, nimbly sliding under one of the crabs and hitting one of its long legs with the pickaxe.

“Roni, watch out!” Mabel screamed as the other crab pierced through the crumbling mass of coral and sank its pincers between his ribs.

“Argh!” He wailed as the pincers deepened.

Mabel lunged forward automatically. With a single blow of her pickaxe, she destroyed two legs of the crab, making it fall to its side but it didn’t let go of its victim.

Mabel analyzed the terrain and glimpsed a fraction of the nerve peeking from one of the hind legs.

“Slash!” The crab waved its spare pincers as Mabel sprinted down its body.

“Crack!” Mabel cut through the leg and the crab scattered into pieces. She still felt a little dizzy but the headache had diminished. She picked up the glowing pod and tied it to her belt.

She rushed to help her sidekick as he struggled to stand up. At least a dozen pods hung from his belt.

“How is it?” She asked concerned, looking at the piece of coral sunk in his left ribs.

“It could be worse,” He complained.

“It’s dangerous to keep it inside,” Mabel said, thinking about another attack. “On the count of three. One, two…”

“Yow!” He wailed as she hurriedly gathered slime from the inner membrane and pressed it against the wounds.

“Hope it works,” Mabel murmured.

She turned startled by the upcoming steps of two more guarding crabs.

“I’ll take care of them!” Mabel assured, balancing her pickaxe on her hand.

All of a sudden their earpieces issued a deafening alarm, “The zkwich is a hundred meters from impacting with the Amelia! Take immediate action!”

“Go! I’ll take care of them,” He urged pointing at the cluster dangling on top of the cavity.

“But, your wounds…” Mabel replied, looking at his weakening stance.

“Go!”

“The sooner you cut the picorium, the fewer he’ll fight,” KeyWee assured through the earpiece, lighting the best climbing route to the goal.

She looked at his tired breathing, pressing his spare hand against the wound. Her feet faltered for a second, the next she was climbing halfway towards the apex.

“Clank! Clank!” The noise of the pincers against metal flooded the room.

“Don’t look down!” KeyWee ordered. “Watch out, ahead!”

Mabel swung her pickaxe right in time for it to collide against the pincers of another crab, guarding the nucleus upside down.

“Twenty meters for impact! Take immediate action!” The alarm warned.

She lunged forward, slicing one of the legs, taking the crab out of balance. She jumped to the abdomen of the crab and glimpsed the nerve sticking out from one of the front legs.

“Five meters for impact!”

She glanced down to see how five crabs surrounded him. “Not again.”

Mabel jumped to the nucleus and slashed it apart from the membrane.

“Aargh!” One of the pincers sunk deep in her back, trapping her as she fell.

“Mabel!” He screamed as the crabs surrounding him started to crumble, she felt how she resumed her fall.

He caught her in the air.

“Mabel, don’t worry,” He anxiously assured. “You’re going to be fine. What’s next KeyWee?”

“Ensemble the two pickaxes in drilling mode,” KeyWee urged and he moaned in pain. “It’s the bracelet, first you have to secure the picorium harvest!”

Mabel heard him curse as he arranged the drilling-out process she perfectly knew.

She extended her hand, he ran to pick her up in arms.

“Thanks for coming back for me,” Mabel sobbed as she felt the drill pulling them out of the zkwich. “I brought some snacks.”

“You’re going to be fine,” He reassured, looking ahead.

“Hey, hey! Look at me,” she said, kindly grabbing his chin for their eyes to meet. “I was wrong about what I said about bubbles. There are some people who are worth chasing them with. I'm glad I caught many with you.”

“You’re going to be fine, Ma…” He replied, gagging, containing his watery eyes.

She cuddled in his warm embrace, listening to his heart pound, “Are we going home, Roni?”

He dearly replied, “Yes, we're going home.”