Morning of the Meteor Crash (Prologue)
Morning of the Meteor Crash
Theodoore ‘Ted’ Foster pulled into his designated parking spot behind the CCRP building and parked his old 2010 tan Lincoln sedan before he stretched and got out of the car. The passenger door opened and his wife of 20 years stepped out. Charlotte Foster grabbed her purse from the back seat and handed Ted his briefcase as he rounded the front of the car.
“Here you go, sweetie.” Char smiled and pecked Ted on the cheek.
“Thanks, Lottie.” Ted grinned as he wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist and they started walking towards the door to the building.
As the couple reached the door, their co-worker Bill Halter approached from the other side of the parking lot.
“Hey, Ted! Hey, Char!” Bill waved as he secured his newsies-style cap on his head, approaching the couple.
“Oh hi, Bill! How are you today?” Charlotte stopped Ted and motioned for him to grab the door as she talked to Bill.
“Good, good. I’m really happy I got most of my work for this week done yesterday. I’m gonna try and get tickets to Mamma Mia! tonight so I can take Alice and Deb. She leaves for Clivesdale tomorrow and I want her to have fun during her last night in town for the month. Plus, Emily took her to Hamilton in New York last month and I want to try and show her up.” Bill talked enthusiastically as the three of them walked into the building and on the elevator up to the second floor, the IT department, where Charlotte and Bill worked full time and Ted spent most of his time.
Ted has worked at CCRP Technical for about 28 years and essentially had free reign of most of the building. He had been offered to run different departments in the company, but turned the offers down because of his random mood swings that Ted knew affected his job and ability to work efficiently. The highest position he had ever accepted, and his current job, was the Assistant Head of the Customer Service Department. However, since Ted had been at CCRP longer than almost anybody and had worked in almost all of the departments, he was given a lot of leeway by the department heads and worked wherever he was needed that day, though he preferred the IT Department, where his friends and wife worked.
Charlotte has been working at CCRP for 23 years, but does not really have the same level of freedom as her husband, but only because she didn’t really care. She was perfectly happy to stay in the IT Department with her friends, Paul and Bill, and work under her kind boss and department head, Mr Davidson. Also, after working in IT for over 20 years, she knew her way around the programs and software really well and she had no desire to have to learn more. Plus, if she had a lot of work in a higher position, Char wouldn’t have the time she wanted to spend at home with her and Ted’s two kids, Lex and Hannah.
As Charlotte sat her stuff down at her cubicle and looked through her email to figure out what work she had that morning, Paul Matthews walked into the department.
“Hey, Paul! How are you? And how’s Emma doing?” Charlotte greeted her friend as she looked up from her computer.
“Hey, Charlotte! Hi, Ted. Hi, Bill. Emma and I are great, we have a date tonight and she’s at work right now. She’s a little mad because Nora incorporated a new policy yesterday where the baristas have to sing for every tip. Emma’s pissed because no one tips that much and she hates singing in front of customers. But she’s hoping Nora will scrap it by the end of the week so she’s pushing through for now.” Paul rattled on as he got himself situated at his desk. He had been dating his girlfriend, Emma Perkins, for about six months now and they were really hitting it off and had moved in together last month. Since they started dating, Emma and Charlotte have become really good friends and have girls night with CCRP’s receptionist and part-time PA, Melissa Tamine, every Friday night. Emma worked at the local coffee shop, Beanies, which was run by Charlotte's mom, Nora Kacèr.
“That’s great, Paul! Sorry about Mom and her out of the blue policies. I have no idea where she got this one from though. But I hope you guys have fun on your date tonight!” Charlotte beamed at Paul and turned towards her desk, ready to get to work now that everyone was here.
Throughout the day, Ted popped in and out of IT to chat with his friends and talk with Char. The couple was worried about their daughter, Hannah, because she was talking to her ‘imaginary’ friend, Webby, more than usual this morning, which sometimes meant a bad day was coming on. Also, when asked if today was going to be good or bad she had replied with, “Not bad yet” which never bodes well. As the two of them discussed the plan should tomorrow end up being a 'bad day', Paul stood up and stretched then went over to talk to Bill.
“Hey, Bill, I’m heading to Beanies to see Emma and get some coffee, you want anything or wanna come with?” Paul asked as Bill stayed focused on his computer page and kept clicking the refresh button.
“I can’t go right now. I’m trying to get rush tickets for Mamma Mia! tonight to try and show up Emily who took Alice to see Hamilton on Broadway. I’m worried Alice thinks I’m not as good as her mom, so I want to take her and Deb to see Mamma Mia! at the Starlight Theater tonight. Say, Paul, do you want to come too? Alice likes you! You could tell her how cool I am, talk me up a little bit. What do you say?” Bill turned away from his computer and faced Paul with a pleading look in his eye.
“I- I’m sorry, Bill, I can’t. Emma and I have reservations tonight at a nice restaurant and, well. You know I can’t stand musicals, Bill.” Paul cringed a little bit and gave Bill an apologetic look.
“Yeah, ya I know, sorry I shouldn’t have even asked. I knew that would be your answer.” Bill sighed dejectedly and turned back to his computer to click the refresh button continuously.
“Hey! I’ll get you something from Beanies, on me. Iced Caramel Frappe, right? Nothing better!” Bill nodded despondently and Paul sighed, feeling bad for hurting his friends feelings, but not regretting it all that much. He really hates musicals.
After Paul returned from Beanies with Bill’s Frappe, the rest of the office day was pretty normal. Mr. Davidson, the IT Department head, popped in every so often to make sure they were all doing work, or at least looked like they were. Melissa, who doubled as the CCRP receptionist and PA to whoever was most busy that day, popped in every once in a while to hand out memos or just chat when she got bored and the front wasn’t busy.
Just after six pm, Charlotte had finished her work for the day and Lex had already texted about a couple of hours ago that she and Hannah were home and that Ethan, her boyfriend, was staying for dinner that night, which neither Foster parent had a problem with. Ted popped by her cubicle with a “You ready?” and the couple left the office and headed home for the day.
As they pulled into the driveway of their home, Charlotte reached over and grabbed Ted’s hand, causing him to look over at her with concern as he parked the car.
“Lottie, you ok? Something wrong?”
“Yes, honey, I’m fine, but, I don’t know, something just feels off ya know? Like when we know Hannah is gonna say that it’s a bad day before we even ask. It’s got me worried.” Charlotte bit her lip and looked up from her lap over at Ted, who was rubbing the back of her hand.
“Hey, everything’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna go inside, see Hannah and Lex and Ethan. We’ll ask Hannah how her day was, and if she said it was a bad one, or that tomorrow will be a bad one, we will deal with it from there. Everything will be okay, Char, because we are together.” Ted reached over with his free hand and cupped Charlotte’s face tenderly.
Charlotte leaned into her husband’s touch and sighed, “I love you, Teddy.”
Ted smiled slightly, relieved that his pep talk worked, at least for now.
“I love you too, Char.” Ted leaned across the center console where their hands laid, still clasped together and kissed Charlotte tenderly and she immediately reciprocated.
The couple parted and gave each other a smile, hopping out of the car and grabbing their bags before heading inside to greet their kids.
Ted unlocked the front door and pulled it open, gesturing for Charlotte to go first. She giggled at his chivalry and curtsied before stepping into their home. The Foster’s house is a 1.5 level home with a relatively open floor plan. The stairs were just past the entryway and led up to Charlotte and Ted’s room. There was a hallway across from the stairs that led to Lex and Hannah’s rooms and a guest room. Past the entryway and to the left was the Family/Living area with two couches, a small coffee table, an armchair, and a TV. Across from that was the Kitchen/Dining area with a breakfast counter to fit 4 and a small dining room table to fit 6.
On the smaller couch sat Lex and Ethan, curled up together and chatting as the TV played a random Nickelodeon show in the background. Lex turned her head and untangled one of her arms to wave at her parents as she heard the door open.
“Hey Mom, Dad! How was work?” Lex asked as her parents set their stuff down by the stairs to move further into the house. Charlotte smiled at her daughter and walked over to give her and Ethan a kiss on the forehead.
Lex was 18 years old and in her final year at Hatchetfield High. She had been dating Ethan Green for two or three years now and they have known each other since Middle School. Lex wanted to be an actress in California, but Charlotte and Ted couldn’t afford to send her to school there on their own, so she was striving for academic and talent based scholarships. Her younger sister, Hannah, was 10 and autistic. Her sound sensitivity was very extreme, so days can be bad or good. Her bad and good days are also affected by the mood and warnings of her friend and mentor, Webby. Webby was a deity from the realm known as the Black and White, a world in between worlds. Webby was Hannah’s best friend and closest confidant, though Lex is a close second.
“Good, good, no new workplace drama today I’m afraid.” Ted responded from where he sat at the bottom of the stairs, pulling off his shoes.
“How’s Hannah doing? Is she in her room?” Charlotte asked with a tinge of worry to her voice.
Lex sighed, “Ya, we got home and she had a snack then went to her room. She hasn’t come out yet, even when I said you guys were on your way home. I tried asking her what was up, but she wouldn’t say anything. I thought it was better to let it go and wait until you guys got here.” Lex slumped a little into the couch and Ethan rubbed her shoulders to comfort her as Charlotte and Ted froze and shared a worried look.
“Hey, it isn’t your fault, Babe. I’m sure Hannah’s fine. She’s probably doing her homework right now and chatting it up with Webby. I’m sure she’ll be okay.” Ethan glanced apologetically at the Fosters as he whispered in Lex’s ear, trying to get her to calm down or at least de-stress a little bit.
“I’m gonna go check on Hannah. Ted, honey, can you get dinner started, or find out what everyone wants to order from the pizza place? It might be that kinda night.” Charlotte talked as she turned away from the couch to head down the hall.
She barely heard Ted’s worried “Yes” as she hurried down the hall, the five second walk felt like it took an hour. Charlotte approached the door to Hannah’s room at the end of the hall and knocked on the door in their ‘secret code’: tap-tap-pause-knock-tap.
“Hannah, sweetie, Lex said you’ve been in your room all afternoon and I’m a little worried, Banana. Can I come in?” Charlotte pressed her ear up against the door and held her breath as she waited for Hannah’s response.
There was some shuffling around the room and what sounded like Hannah’s closet door opening and closing before a muffled “Yes” made its way to Charlotte’s ears. The concerned mother sighed in relief before she slowly opened the door, trying her best not to scare her daughter any further.
The sight that met Charlotte’s eyes broke her heart. Hannah was curled up in the corner of her be furthest from any window or door, wrapped in one of Ted’s old flannels from his college days, her hands clamped over her ears, and her head tucked between her knees.
“Oh honey, was today a bad day, or is Webby telling you something bad’s gonna happen?” Charlotte practically whispered as she slowly made her way towards Hannah’s curled up form.
Hannah whimpered and shook her head before taking a deep breath and answering. “I-its about to get real bad, Mommy. Tomorrow is going to be a really bad day. Webby says so.”
Charlotte nodded seriously and took note of the last sentence - Webby says so. Webby’s warnings were rarely ever good, and if its warning about tomorrow was making Hannah react this severely, Char knew she had to be extra careful.
“Can you tell me what Webby is saying, Banana? I might be able to help. And if I can’t help, I can at least prepare.” Charlotte said as she sat on Hannah’s bed and held out her hand so her daughter could initiate contact if she wanted it.
Hannah took a deep breath as she heard Webby’s voice: It’s ok Hannah, tell your Mom, tell her Meteor, Bad Singing, Blue. Go on and tell her. Hannah nodded in response and whispered “Ok”.
She glanced up at her mom and said, “Meteor, Bad Singing, Blue. Meteor, Bad Singing, Blue. Meteor, Bad Singing, Blue.”
Hannah shook as she repeated Webby’s warning that filled her with such dread. She felt her mom’s feather light touch on her back and immediately shot up and uncurled from her ball, falling into her mother’s arms.
Charlotte winced internally as she watched her precious little girl break down in her arms, sobbing wildly. “It’s ok, Banana, let it all out. I’ve got you, and I heard the warning. We’ll be okay. Your dad and I will be extra careful tomorrow all right? Hey, you can even come to work with us, how ‘bout that? How does that sound, honey?” Char rocked her daughter back and forth as she waited patiently for her answer.
“Y-yeah. Th-that sounds good. Thank you Mommy.” Hannah sniffled and burrowed into her mom’s chest, feeling inexplicably better with her reassurances.
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of neon blue light that shot through the windows throughout the entire house. The flash was immediately followed by a ‘BOOM’ and what felt like the entire island shaking. Hannah let out a piercing scream in response, clenching her eyes shut, covering her ears, and shaking even harder than before. Charlotte winced at the bright light and loud sounds, gripping her daughter tightly.
“Shhh, shhhh, it’s okay honey. Everything will be okay. Does Webby know what that was?” Charlotte whispered nonsense to Hannah and rocked her back and forth.
Her head shot up as she heard the door to Hannah’s room bust open and saw Ted in the doorway, worried.
“Is everything okay? We saw the light and the crash and heard Hannah scream. Are you both okay?” Ted slowly walked towards his wife and youngest, talking just above a whisper, trying not to scare Hannah.
Charlotte hesitantly nodded. “Webby was giving her warnings and I just got her to calm down some when the strange light and crash happened. She screamed and started shaking worse than earlier.” She looked down, concerned for her daughter and what was happening.
“Tomorrow. Bad. Meteor, Bad Singing, Blue. Blueblueblueblue. BAD BLUE.” Hannah started at a mumble and kept repeating the phrases running through her head until she screamed again. Ted and Charlotte shared a worried look.
Tomorrow was not going to be good. Not at all.