The Adventure of the Magic Chia Plant

Chapter 5: In Case of Emergency

Brent's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at his brother. "That's your response? The alien wants to drink Mountain Dew?"

Bench grinned sheepishly. "What do you want me to say? I hope it can't digest plastic?  I hope it likes tea more than soft drinks so that it will give us the bottle back?"

"This is not the time for jokes!"

"Then what is it the time for?"

Brent threw up his hands in exasperation. It seemed like he was the only one who realized the seriousness of the situation.  Bethie, sensing the tension, erupted into a tantrum. 

"My bottle!" she shrieked, her tiny fists grabbing sand to hurl at the sea. "That awful monster took my bottle!!"

Bench groaned, put his fingers in his ears, and started humming the theme song to the original Mario Brothers at the top of his lungs. He hated it when his sister cried; her shrill voice felt like a drill boring straight into his head. Brent knew it was only a matter of time before his younger brother lost control of himself and went into a meltdown of his own, which wouldn't help them at all.  He thought frantically about what could distract them both.

"I know what time it is! It's dinner time!" Brent exclaimed in a burst of inspiration.  It was evening where they were, and he would bet his Kindle that his younger siblings were hungry, which would explain why they were both so irritable. At the mention of food, the two younger children calmed instantly.  This was often how their parents smoothed over squabbles at home, too- by bringing out a tasty meal or toy everyone could share.

"What's the food?" Bethie asked eagerly. Bench, who instantly realized what Brent was doing, looked narrowly at his older brother; he remembered that the only edibles they had were the snacks he had grabbed from their merienda bin, comprising some crackers, nuts, and granola bars.  Not exactly a feast.  There was a chance that the tactic might actually backfire.  

"Um," Brent looked back at him in panic, realizing his mistake; their sister was still at the age where routine and consistency were essential. To her, dinner meant cooked white rice and some sort of meat or vegetable dish. Crackers, for her, did not constitute an evening meal. She might refuse to eat or do anything else if they tried to convince her otherwise.

"Uh, Brent made a mistake," Bench said brightly, gesturing at his brother to follow his lead. "He meant that it's merienda time."

Bethie frowned and looked up at the purple sky. "But it's night now.  The stars are already out."

"There are a lot of black clouds covering the sun; that's why we can't see it," Brent explained, crossing his fingers. Knowing this to be untrue, Bench glanced at him in confusion.   Brent mouthed white lie. Bench nodded in understanding and rearranged his expression to appear solemn.

"Oh." Bethie looked unconvinced. Bench suddenly leaned forward and showed her his watch, which was still frozen in its last position. "Look at this, Bethie. It's only three in the afternoon. So, it can't be night-time."

She examined the display for a good ten seconds, then nodded sagely. She wasn't very good at reading an analog clock face yet, but she could understand a digital one.  Fortunately, she was at an age where this was enough for her to disregard all the evidence from her senses. "Okay. It's merienda time."

Brent shot his brother a look of gratitude. "Let's look for a good spot to lay a picnic."

He'd inadvertently hit on the perfect distraction because Bethie started skipping around them, clapping her hands. "Yay! Picnic! We're having a picnic!"