The Post Sunday Experiment | COMPLETED 2020

Chapter 4

Awkwardly shifting from one leg to the other, Ody stared into the girl's familiar, round, brown eyes. Her rosy cheeks and pudgy figure smiled at him, and the two of them attempted to muster up a word to break the ice of the room.

Looking her up and down, it didn't take Ody long to acknowledge her strangely colored outfit. Her overalls were frayed at the ankles and were covered in many painted sunflowers. Her plain mustard-yellow undershirt matched the scrunchies that held her long, brown braids that fell to about her mid-back.

"Ody, I... didn't expect to see ya here." Penny, Ody's sister, stared at the boy in the dark jeans and black sweatshirt.

The brother and sister had been polar opposites since birth—Penny with her colorful, homemade clothes, Ody had his dingy, plain outfits.

"Uh, yeah," was all Ody found to say as he looked at the sister he had not seen in two years. She was taller—maybe 5'4" now—yet besides that detail, she looked very much the same. Her features just like Mae's.

"Well... we should probably go downstairs." Penny wrung her hands in awkward discomfort. Ody knew his sister was going to be here at the house even before he climbed aboard that bus. He had simply not given much thought to the idea. Even when the thought had crossed his mind a couple of hours into the drive, he chose to ignore it for, after all, he never genuinely liked Penny.

The thing with Penny was... she simply was always bright and happy like sunshine . All adults and small children who knew her adored her pipped spirit and unique mind. They found her fascinating and miraculously distinctive in attitude and style.

In the eyes of Ody or any other public school child, she was an outcast. She simply never gave a thought to the trends or ways of others. Yes, she did love everyone and was an amazing counselor for such a young middle-school girl, but she'd always been teased by those close to her in age because she didn't care about their opinions. She spoke her mind, wore what she liked, and the word 'embarrassing' was not in her vocabulary.

"Yeah, they'll be looking for you," Ody replied, his mind rushing back to the reality of his situation.

"What about ya?" she replied with slight inquisition in her tone. Tilting her head slightly she looked into his eyes so softly yet directly that he was forced to drop his gaze to the floor before she drowned his mind with pity.

"No, they won't." It was all he could choke before turning to sit on his old bed.

Picking up his cue to leave him alone, Penny turned and closed the door behind her as she headed downstairs and into the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone, he wanted to strangle her. How could she seem so gleeful and unbroken? Had Devlin meant nothing to her? Why was she not in pieces like him? How could she manage to be that sweet to him still?

Laying back on his bed, his eyes drifted up to the paper stars that still hung above his pillow; they were a little faded and dusty, yet still there. Letting all thoughts of Penny or Mae go, he just stared up at the paper stars and their faded colors.

The longer he watched them hang there, the heavier his chest felt and the lump in his throat grew so large that he found it hard to breathe.

He had made these stars as a homeschool project back in the fifth grade when he was learning about astronomy with his father. His mother had devoted herself to teaching both Penny and Ody reading, writing, and arithmetic yet the two children would wait eagerly for three o'clock when Devlin would come and show them stories of science and demonstrate. He used to allow Penny to sit on one knee and Ody on the other, all the time sneaking the two children the caramels he took off his friend's candy dish at work.

Sitting up in order to breathe leisurely, he opened the drawer next to his bed in order to see what other memories he could find. Yet as soon as the drawer hung open, he froze. All the color drained from his already pale face as an object free of dust sat on top of all else. In the familiar, curvy letters sat an envelope with the words 'To Ody' swirled on it. It was Devlin's handwriting.

The room seemed to flash cold for Ody as he looked over the letters. Pulling the envelope out of the drawer, he examined the parchment—crisp and new as if it had been placed there only days ago. Tearing the corner of the envelope, he pulled a piece of paper out. As he swallowed the lump in his throat and prepared for some 'last letter' that would make him sob, he unfolded the paper.

"My dear boy, I can feel it happening. In all my time attempting to understand it, I had missed the warning signs and have ignored the protection. Ody, I do not have much time. I want you to know before it happens: It is not what it looks like. The whole situation is vastly bigger than that. You must find Ammon, he lives at 3151 Aldrich Dr, Cazenovia 473324. Bring him this letter and tell him you need to know about The Post Sunday Experiment (the PSE). Ody, this is huge. It needs to be finished and I cannot think of a brighter mind with more road ahead. Please, Ody, finish it. Finish the first PSE."