Teddy and Raven

Chapter 1

Earth, 2013.

Eleven year old Teddy and six year old Raven stood at the end of a very shabby cracked up asphalt driveway. On the other end of the driveway was a one story house in a small neighborhood.

"Well, what do you think?" Asked Da as he walked up to his kids.

"I like the nature in the area." Said Raven.

"It's quieter than our old neighborhood." Said Teddy.

The siblings looked at the house they would be living in now trying to figure out what to make of it. It was a bigger adjustment than the last move because this time they went from the east coast to the midwest.

"Come on inside and have a look around." Said Da.

Da led the kids into the house. The empty home looked like it hadn't been updated since the 70s.

"Go on, explore. Take a look around." Said Da.

Teddy and Raven walked further into the house and saw the hallway with the bedrooms and main bathroom.

"The bedrooms are on the same floor as the living room and kitchen. That's different." Said Teddy.

Raven looked into one bedroom that had blue flower-like wallpaper.

"Oh, this room is mine!" Said Raven.

Teddy looked into the room and saw the wallpaper.

"You can have it." Said Teddy.

Teddy looked around and walked into the other bedroom that wasn't the master knowing it would be his.

"Alright then." Said Teddy.

Raven walked up behind Teddy.

"Isn't this exciting?!" Asked Raven.

"I guess it's something." Said Teddy.

"Something wrong?" Asked Raven.

"It's just going to be an adjustment. I got really used to our old home." Said Teddy.

Raven nodded.

"Hey, look on the positive side. We get to live really close to Mimi and Pipi now!" Said Raven.

Teddy nodded.

"Yeah. It's just gonna take time." Said Teddy.

"Come on! I wanna see the backyard!" Said Raven.

Raven ran down the hallway and Teddy followed keeping his eye on her. Once back in the living room, Da was looking out the large windows and sliding glass door the led to the main backyard.

"I can't wait for the moving truck to arrive! It's gonna be so fun to live here. And look at that view!" Said Raven.

Da opened the sliding door.

"Go on out for a minute. I've got something for you two." Said Da.

Raven ran out the door and ran around the backyard. She stopped to look over the fence to see the flats below.

"All this is ours?!" Asked Raven.

"It looks like it." Said Teddy.

"Cool!" Said Raven.

Da walked back and sat on the step up to the sliding glass door.

"Why don't you two come over and spend some time with your old man?" Said Da.

Teddy and Raven turned to look at Da. Da held up a paper plate with cheese and crackers and placed down three bottles of Vernors.

Teddy sat down next to Da and Raven jumped up and sat on his lap.

"After this, we'll take a look at the basement." Said Da.

"There's a basement too?!" Said Raven.

"Yep." Said Da.

Da popped open the bottles of Vernors and handed two of them to Raven and Teddy.

"Cheers." Said Da.

Da took a sip while Teddy and Raven sipped a bit themselves. Both kids exhaled with tears in their eyes from the bubbles in the drink. Da laughed a bit.

"You two need to improve your tolerance." Said Da.

Raven snuggled into Da.

"This place is gonna be great." Said Raven.

After the three enjoyed their snack and drinks, Da put Raven down.

"Now that you're done, let's go see the basement." Said Da.

Da led the kids to the basement door.

"Careful going down. The stairs are slippery. We're gonna be putting grippers on them today." Said Da.

Teddy and Raven followed their father into the basement. Once in the basement, Raven took in the space.

"There's so much space down here." Said Raven.

"I guess this is where all that stuff Mumma never unpacked from our last house will go." Said Teddy.

Da went upstairs to get the grippers from his car. Raven started running around the basement because of how much space there was.

"Raven, be careful!" Said Teddy.

"Come on! It's fun!" Said Raven as she ran around.

Suddenly, Raven slipped on the hard slippery surface of the basement floor.

"Raven!" Yelled Teddy.

Teddy lunged toward Raven and caught her to keep her from hitting her head.

"You gotta be more careful." Said Teddy.

Teddy hugged Raven tightly.

"I know. But you'll always be there to protect me." Said Raven.

While Teddy and Raven were hugging, Da went and got the grippers to put on the stairs.

"Hey. Wanna help me put these on?" Said Da.

"Sure." Said Teddy.

Teddy and Raven took some of the stick-on grippers and started putting one on each step.

"The moving truck should be here at most in a couple days." Said Da.

"Awesome! Then this place will really start to feel like home!" Said Raven.

"We'll see, I guess." Said Teddy.

Raven looked at Teddy with sympathy. Raven knew why Teddy was upset about moving, but she knew she could show him the positives about living here.