The Joys of Nothings

It was an unusually quiet and motionless morning for the Flynn-Fletcher brothers. 

The sun had just crawled its way over the pink and red horizon, casting squares of light onto the carpeted floor. 

The two were already awake, spending their time idly lounging in the two-bed guest room of Reginald and Winifred Fletcher's estate.

It was a bit jarring for Ferb to open his eyes that morning and not be greeted with the yellow raft bed he had always known, or hear the soft chirrups of their docile monotreme while he nuzzled the creature's head softly. But nonetheless, he was happy to be in England for the week with Phineas.

He could faintly hear birds chirping through the window as they perched on the branches of ash trees in the front yard. The teenage Brit tilted his head to the side to see the alarm clock read 8:27 in a buzzing green hue. An odd sight given that usually he'd be pelted in the face by his sibling's pillow around 7 am. He was also surprised to see the redhead awake and sitting silently in his bed, which only ever happened when—

Ferb's quiet thoughts were halted by the near-violent scratching of graphite against notebook paper, his brother's notebook to be exact. 

It's cover was a faded orange with the words "Big Ideas" scrawled on the front, and it was filled to the brim with brightly colored sticky notes held tightly by the bent pages. The redhead's crossed legs were also surrounded by a plethora of wadded up pieces of paper increasing in size by the minute.

Ferb always admired his drive and passion for inventing. He was an extremely creative mind, never failing to conjure up a must-see attraction or fun-filled adventure for the whole Tri-State Area.

Phineas arched his back and inhaled deeply.

"Well Ferb, this is it, my descent into madness. And it ain't gonna be pretty."

Ferb raised an eyebrow, almost in disbelief.

"..So you're saying you don't know?" 

"Don't know what?"

"What we're going to do today?"

The redhead gave him an annoyed expression and made wild gestures to his scribbles.

"Well of course I know! But if I'm not home, how am I supposed to put these invention drafts to use?"

Ferb shrugged in agreement and returned his gaze to the ceiling.

Phineas blew a raspberry in frustration and flopped backwards onto his bed.

After a good while of laying in silence, the younger spoke up.

"I dunno how you do it, Ferb."

The green-haired Brit gave a confused look over to him.

"You know, like, how you can do nothing for forever and not go completely nuts."

He raised his arms high above his head. 

"Like, you're doing it right now!"

"I'm thinking, that's not nothing is it?"

Phineas groaned into his hands and splayed out into a pose that looked like something out of Romeo and Juliet.

"Tell mother and father I love them, dear brother, I fear i may not make it back to our estate alive."

Ferb chortled at his unnecessary drama and pushed himself up to sit on his mattress. 

"Well, thinking is nice, but it wouldn't hurt to get some fresh air."