The Reverie of Bobby Martinez

Chapter 1: Cracks in the Floor

The sound of small footsteps echoed as Bobby ran towards the door. He jumped left and right, avoiding small cracks on the wooden floor. He had a light blue backpack on that was filled with heavy books that shook violently as he made his way. To Bobby, he was avoiding large fissures that opened up to a dark abyss thousands of feet below. He didn't want to get trapped. His heart raced as he stumbled, almost dropping in one of the cracks on the ground. He saw a clear patch of land and as he ran forward, he jumped as high as he could.

"Bernardo Daniel Martinez!" A woman's voice said sternly.

Suddenly, the fissures disappeared and became cracks again. Bobby's face was flat on the ground and he could feel a sharp throbbing pain on his cheek. He felt two hands wrap around his waist and bring him up. He felt his mothers rough skin as she rubbed his cheek with her thumb, kneeling in front of him.

"Anak, be careful." His mother's brown eyes gazed at his as she hugged him tightly. "You have enough bruises already." She shifted her gaze to the purple spots that covered Bobby's arms and legs. She let out a sigh and brought out a small box with Band-Aids from her pocket. She wiped his cheek that had turned red and placed a blue bandage on a wound that was right below his left ear. She kissed his forehead, "Papa will bring you to school, now hurry." She stood up and opened the white wooden door behind her which led to a porch. Bobby made his way to their small white car where his dad was waiting for him.

After his dad had placed him on the car seat and pulled the seat belt on him, he drove him to school. Bobby leaned his cheek on the car door and gazed outside the window. He didn't like going to school because school was just too boring.

Bobby's gaze softened as he watched the different city buildings pass by. As the car got on the highway, the sky seemed to become more vast and the hues of blue and white seemed to blur in his vision. Bobby placed his fingers on the cool glass window.

Suddenly the sky had turned into a mass of water and the distant city seemed to look like the ruins of Atlantis. The car he was riding had turned into a small white submarine that swam against the seafloor current.

As Bobby watched bright colored fish pass by the window he felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned his head back and saw a boy with curly brown hair smiling and sitting next to him.

"Tommy!" Bobby said with a smile on his face. Tommy looked at him and patted his short black hair.

"We goin' on an adventure capt'n?" Tommy winked at Bobby. He pointed to outside the window and as Bobby looked he saw cars and people turn into whales, sharks, and even giant squids. Bobby was so fascinated with everything that was going on around him. He watched little crabs walk on the sea bed as dolphins spun around above the submarine.

"Wow." Bobby said as he pressed his face against the glass. The submarine seemed to move closer to the ruins that seemed so far away just moments ago. Bobby's eyes widened.

THUD.

The submarine suddenly stopped and Tommy flew forward as Bobby gripped tight on his seat belt. Tommy fell to the ground and as Bobby reached out to him, in a blink of an eye, he disappeared. Suddenly the inside of the submarine transformed into an interior of a car. The water had turned to sky and all the sea creatures turned back to people and cars. The sound of the ocean floor was replaced by the sound of children laughing and running around. The door beside Bobby opened and his father's face came into view.

"Come, anak, we're in school." Bobby's eyes were still heavy after being woken up so suddenly.