Radical Origins: Mako

Aquarium

Draken bit into his second corn dog. He looked around the kitchen. His sister Abby came up behind him carrying a bus schedule. Draken collected them, and almost every night he would either study sharks, or draw fake schedules.

"You left this in my room," Abby sassed, handing him the small folded paper. Draken pulled it away and slapped her with it. He took a quick glance, and then went back to his corn dog. He pulled out his ePhone and turned to music. He stared at the words of his favorite song: Radioactive Uncut by Imagine Dragons. He smiled at Abby, and began playing the song at full volume.

"Radioactive!" He laughed, and placed his phone on the counter. Abby scrunched her face in disgust.

"I hate this song," Abby remarked.

"How can you hate Radioactive: Uncut Version?" Draken asked, standing up to take his plate to the sink.

"Cause it's just bad," Abby argued. She smirked, and left the kitchen. Draken sighed and took his phone. He turned off the song and went to the Internet. He googled 'Mako' and found a Discovery Channel news letter about them. He pressed the button with his finger, and instantly a huge website page devoted to mako sharks popped up. Draken smiled and began scrolling down and reading everything. He wrote down all he read on a notecard titled: Mako.

It had been three days since he found the new interest in mako sharks. Draken had looked at all his train maps and bus schedules, and counted the number of stops it would take to get to the aquarium by subway. He normally took the bus, five busses in fact, so riding there by train would be a new experience. Seven stops, and three train transitions. He would start at the Harvard Station, and ride the Red Line to Downtown Crossing and hop on the Orange Line. He only took the Orange Line because he was afraid he would end up like Charlie, who couldn't get off the Green Line due to not having enough money. Ever since he was five years old that story haunted him, so he would take the Orange Line anywhere. He would take the Orange Line one stop to State, and get on the Blue Line to the aquarium.

"Mom, I'm leaving!" he yelled as he walked out of his room.

"Where are you going?" she asked him.

"The aquarium. I've been on the subway by myself before."

"Draken, when have you ever been on the subway before?" His mother was confused, and couldn't remember a time when he had been on a subway alone.

"When I went to Hewson and Vicrum's house." Draken informed her calmly.

"Ok, whatever, be very carful." His mother watched him leave the house with two Charlie Cards and a subway map. The rest of his stuff was in a small backpack.

"Where is Dray going?" Abby asked their mother when Draken had almost closed the door. He paused and looked at her in the kitchen.

"The aquarium. And don't call me Dray, or I'll pop your ears out." Draken closed the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. From there his house looked big, or at least tall, but it was actually two houses put together. The Befars lived upstairs, one of them Draken's age. He stared up into their window, but soon began to refocus on his goal. The 72 Bus would take him to Harvard Square, where he would transition onto the Red Line. The bus would be here in two minutes, so he waited on the sidewalk and stared up at the wires that the bus was connected to. He loved living in Cambridge, being so close to the city of Boston, but so far from it as well. He smiled and watched the bus pull up. 72 was his second favorite line, with the 73 to Waterfront being his first. But he loved all busses, trains, and sharks. Draken stepped in the bus, and looked for a seat. His mother would always tell him not to touch the poles because people put boogers all over them, or scratch their butts and then touch the poles. He found an open seat near the back, and rushed to sit down.

Draken was in Harvard Square about ten minutes later. So far he was unharmed and untouched. He was inside the big red cylinder that was Harvard Station. He took another bus schedule from the stand outside the escalator, then walked down to the train section.

"Red Line southbound to Ashmont or Braintree arriving in six minutes!" the station monitor screeched, then shut off. Draken sat on a hover bench and pulled out his phone and checked his Youblog and the news. 'Rapid Zombie Attacks In Western England And All Of France' had been the headline for weeks, Europe had been blocked off from the rest of the world and turned into a huge asylum due to an escape of chemicals that turned humans into some sort of zombie. Draken knew this, and whenever he thought of it, a chill would run down his spine. It was scary to know zombies do exist somewhere in the world. He dismissed his fear and watched the big, bright yellow lights of the subway burst into the station. The train slowed down, and came to a stop. The doors opened quickly, and what seemed like thousands of people came swarming into the station. After everyone was off, people began pouring on. Draken gravitated to the back, where he always sat on the subway. He looked at the walls of the subway car as he sat down. Swears lined the walls and sat on the back of the chairs. Draken closed his eyes as the train took off. He thought about seeing the mako shark again. Would he even be able to get in. He would just have to wait and see. He was just glad he was alive!

Radical Letter: Hello, this is Radical. We would just like to let you know that so far. A ten year old kid is on the subway going to an aquarium. Duh. Feel free to give any feedback, cause this is Radical's first drafts, before it goes BIG! Have a nice day. And Smile!or don't.