Overly Dramatic

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives but little did they know, it would be their last day on the face of this Earth. And it wasn’t even a particularly happy day.

It was only… kind of happy.

The Johnston family had been planning a trip to the Rocky Mountains, one of America’s most beautiful places to bring your family to. Dan Johnston had been working tirelessly for months, saving up the money for the trip. Mary Johnston planned the route they would be taking and checked the trails they could walk with their kids.

Mary was also the one that spread enthusiasm about the trip amongst the rest of the family, especially her two little kids, Tommy and Suzie. Suzie, a little girl of four, was looking forward to the trip. And so was little Tommy, a boy of six. 

But at the time, they did not know that their enthusiasm would be met with a hard punch that would send their lives in a spiral of unanticipated events.

As the day of the trip crawled ever closer, the anticipation rose in the Johnston’s house. Dan began feeling all the extra hours catching up with him, as he had been working overtime for the trip. Mary’s schedule was filled with talks with her friends, explaining to them what all she was expecting to see in the Rockies, and making sure her plans would be appropriate for the kids. Consulting with other mothers who’ve been in similar situations seemed a reasonable way to acquire worthwhile information… but what Mary failed to realize, was that her friends’ children were all older, and could therefore handle harder trails. Little Suzie was only four, while the youngest of the friends’ children was a whopping six and a half.

A major difference that would spell disaster.

Little Tommy was unaware of his mother’s plans or his father’s overwork - being a young boy he spent his days sitting on the floor in front of the TV and watching Japanese cartoons, called anime. After a while, he became convinced that he had acquired powers that the boys in the cartoons possessed and had decided to put them to the test once he got an opportunity. And little did he know, he would soon get one.

When the day of the trip came, Dan slept in. He was tired from working overtime and had to be shaken awake three times by his wife Mary, who rose two hours before schedule, to prepare everything. By the time Dan got up with dark circles under his eyes, Mary was already filled with adrenaline and enthusiasm for the upcoming trip - her vibrant energy contrasted that of Dan’s like the black and white colors of the Jing and Jang sign.

But there would be no harmony for the Johnstons that day, as when little Suzie woke up, she decided she didn’t want to go on the trip. Instead, she stated that she would spend the day playing with her dolls and walking her imaginary unicorn down the street to get his legs stretched.

It was the first test to the plan’s framework stability and Mary dealt with it as only a mother could. She tricked Suzie into believing they would be taking her unicorn with them to help carry their backpacks on the trail. Suzie agreed to this, but still, she wanted to play with her dolls. So Mary pretended to speak with her dolls and ask them if any would like to come with them. The blonde barbie declined, saying she just got her nails done. The red-head barbie also declined, saying it was her time with Ken that day and she wouldn’t miss it for the world. The brown-head barbie - that was once blonde, but Suzie had her hair colored - stated that she would come. So Suzie took the brown-head barbie and frowned at the other two.

Meantime, Dan dragged himself into the kitchen where he combated his tiredness with a hefty dose of caffeine and cereal. What is normally a healthy breakfast to get one's energy levels rising, turned out to be a challenge for Dan, as he could barely keep his eyes open.

Little Tommy turned out to be Mary’s next challenge. The boy got up on time, made his own breakfast and put on his own clothes. He was growing up into a fine young man. But TV was his addiction. When it was time to get everyone in the car, Mary had found Tommy’s face glued to the TV screen.

She used her motherly repertoire to get her son where she wanted him - on the back seat of a green suburban. But the same tactic as before would not work on her son. Mary had to leverage her authority as a parent to get Tommy to comply. And it wasn’t until she unplugged the TV that Tommy even noticed her. Even though he was looking forward to the trip, he wanted to watch TV instead and began yelling to turn it back on. Seeing his mother a stone monolith of determinism, Tommy switched to crying.

Mary had a weakness for crying. But she was also determined to stick to the plan. So she compromised with the boy and allowed him to take her phone, to watch the cartoons while they drove.

Once everyone was in the car, the wheels began rolling and there was no more turning back, no more stopping the train of calamity that would soon strike this family.

At first, the mood picked up, as Dan’s caffeine dose kicked in and Mary relaxed a bit when the car was moving. Suzie played with her barbie, explaining to the doll what they would be doing that day and Tommy watched his cartoons on his mother’s phone, as he was too young to be allowed one himself. 

But then, the first calamity struck, like a lightning bolt out of the blue. On the highway, a mere hour into the drive, little Tommy got thirsty. He opened the cooler box at the back, placed between himself and his sister, and realized there was no coca-cola inside. In shock, he nearly dropped his mother’s phone.

“I had placed a coca-cola bottle in there,” he stated. “But now it is gone!”

His mother turned and replied that she had replaced it with a smoothie she made herself. Mary watched out for her children’s health as any loving parent would.

But Tommy did not see it like that. He began protesting, speaking up to this perceived tyranny and oppression of his freedom of choice. The argument became so heated that it began to upset Suzie’s barbie and the little girl joined the fray. Soon, the whole car was yelling, while Dan worked hard to keep them going straight, driving 75 miles per hour on the highway, with other cars and trucks driving besides them.

It was a spiral down to hell, but then a shout of mercy in the form of a road construction came to the Johnston’s family, and Dan slowed the car to a crawl. That freed up his attention enough to turn to his son once and gave the boy a proper yell to shut him up. His father’s strong word was all that Tommy needed and he immediately quieted down, as he didn’t want to be ‘thrown under the tires’. Mary didn’t quite agree with Dan’s method of parenting, but she did agree with the silence that followed. 

But it was a mere calm before the storm. 

The Johnston’s hit a traffic jam and began falling behind their schedule. Exhaust fumes from dozens of cars and trucks started filling their suburban and Suzie began to cough. Dan slammed on the horn to try and solve the situation but it was no use. He turned to his wife Mary and demanded a route out, asking her why she led him on this road. It was Mary’s duty to plan for the route they would take and she did so diligently. She blamed Dan for taking a wrong turn and Dan blamed her for being an incompetent navigator. In the back, Suzie began crying that she couldn’t breathe and Tommy watched his cartoons without headphones, as he said his ears were hurting.

The mid-day high summer sun did not help the situation and the Johnston’s family was cooking like a slice of bacon on the devil’s grill. And just as things couldn’t seem to get worse, the air conditioning died. It was Dan’s job to get it repaired before the trip, but the man forgot. He excused himself as being too tired, working overtime for the family, but Mary cut through the excuses and blamed the man for his incompetence.

After what seemed like an eternity in this hell-hole, the traffic began moving again. The family drove in an aggressive silence, passing by road workers who stood around a pothole, wondering what it meant. After a juicy curse from Dan, one that could bring down the halls of heaven, the workers decided the pothole meant it should be filled with fresh tarmac.

The Johnston’s family drove the rest of the way in a heated hunk of metal with no AC and no coca-cola - a scenario straight out of a horror movie. By the time they arrived in the Rockies, it was way past lunch already, and on top of everything, the family was now grouchy for food.

Locating the nearest fast-food stand on the parking lot, Dan bought the family some quick sustenance to combat their empty stomachs. Mary insisted that they find a decent restaurant or at least a McDonalds, but since they were behind schedule, they didn’t have much choice. Time is a hard negotiator and the Johnston’s found that out the hard way, gnawing on some hard, cheap and oversalted burgers from a food stand while sitting on the hard ground of reality. 

Mary insisted that Tommy drank his smoothie with the burger and the little boy resisted. Only after his father intervened, did he do it. A fatal mistake, as it would soon turn out to be.

After their meal, the family finally took the road under their feet. As prepared by Mary, they changed into hiking shoes, put on sunscreen and hats, took their backpacks out of the car and set out on the trail. Little did they know, but they were walking right smack dead center of the eye of the storm. The family’s mood settled a little, enough to give mom and dad time for a small conversation, relieving some of the tension.

But then, disaster struck.

Suzie suddenly remembered that they forgot her imaginary unicorn back in the parking lot, where the poor fellow would now burn in the hot sun. She turned and began running down a slight incline on the gravel road. Her mother noticed her and immediately fell into chase… but she wasn’t fast enough. Little Suze came to a bend and the momentum was too great for her tiny feet to turn. She slipped on the gravel and fell on her behind. In an attempt to catch herself, Suzie injured her hands on the rough gravel of the trail. Mary caught up with her and immediately inspected Suzie for damage. Suzie’s palms were all bloody and the little girl spooked, crying in terror.

In the meantime, Dan and Tommy took a few more steps before realizing what had happened. Dan wanted to go after Mary, but he then noticed something was wrong with Tommy. The boy stood hunched forward, hands on his knees and stared at the ground. The hot sun, inclined hill, four-hour drive and a mix of solid trans-fats in the burger and vegetable smoothie did not go well for the young lad.

Little Tommy vomited on the trail, covering the rocks with his stomach’s insides. Dan cursed and didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t decide which child needed him more urgently. His eyes were aching from lack of sleep, he had a headache ever since he woke up and his mind was sluggish. 

Not knowing what to do, he placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. The stench of vomit was repulsing.

Mary returned with Suzie, the girl still crying with nasty cuts facing the sun. It was Dan who carried first aid in the backpack and Mary came to collect it - and noticed her son vomiting on the road. She jumped at the boy and asked him what’s wrong.

With a mouth full of bile, Tommy couldn’t speak.

Little Suzie sniffed the vomit and her face grimaced. The chunks of undigested burger, floating in green bile of undigested smoothie reminded her of what she had eaten - and she hurled too. 

Dan's mind phased out, overwhelmed by the chaos around him. Mary shouted at him to get the first aid out, to take care of her daughter’s hands, while she searched for tissues to wipe clean her son’s mouth. The boy had emptied all he had.

Suzie’s throwing up burger bits amidst her sobs, coupled with bits of dirt and sand lodged in the cuts on her palms, was too much for Dan. His own stomach turned, his body overwhelmed with stress. He turned away from Suzie and threw up on the side of the trail. Seeing her father sick made Suzie cry louder, her tiny stomach emptied.

Doom hung over the Johnston’s family like an overhanging granite bulk of the Rockies and the sun began evaporating the bile gathering on the rocks. The pungent smell reached Mary’s nose, but she resisted it. She decided she couldn’t throw up herself, as the family needed someone to remain strong.

Mary cleaned her son’s mouth and told him to sit down in the shade and get some air. Then she spilled water over Suzie’s palms and wiped them clean, picking out bits of sand from her cuts. When cleaned, she sterilized the wounds and put a bandaid over them. Next, she wiped clean her mouth and sent the little girl in the shade with her brother.

Finally, she turned to Dan and gave him a water bottle and a napkin. The man cleaned himself and washed his mouth, spitting out the last ick. He joined his children in the shade.

Mary gathered everyone’s backpacks and sat with her family, under the overhang of a rocky granite cliff. There they rested, cooling in the pleasant shade, far enough away from the trail that they did not smell the bile. They observed other hikers as they reacted to the vomit on the trail. Some people were repulsed, others didn’t even see it. A man running, oblivious to his surroundings, stepped right in.

The family recuperated enough that they could joke about it. They watched people walk over or past the vomit and commented on their reactions. Mary and Tommy had the most fun, and even Dan and Suzie joined until they were all laughing.

It seemed the day had been salvaged.

But little did they know of the danger that lurked overhead.

The ancient granite stone overhang that the family was resting under had been formed 300 million years ago, some kilometers underground, where it had solidified from a rising magma column. Millions of years of erosion and tectonic uplift had washed away the surrounding rocks, exposing the great massive batholite of the Rocky mountains to the light of day and the dark of night. These ancient rocks had witnessed countless thunderstorms, earthquakes, endured wind and rain, sun and frost. They had been chipped at by men making the trail and by geologists inspecting the rock’s composure. 

And now, the Johnston’s family sat underneath, unbeknownst of their impending doom.

Just as everyone was laughing at an older man who cursed the eagles for creating such a mess on the trail, the rocks above gave way. The older man noticed this and he shouted to the family to jump away. 

Tommy extended his arms in an attempt to exert his anime-given powers. 

Suzie commanded her imaginary unicorn to come to their aid. 

Mary hugged her family, while Dan tried to push them away.

Even Chuck Norris appeared on the horizon and God descended from heaven to help...

But by then, it was too late.

Tommy had already stopped the rock with his superpowers. 

The very next moment, black SUVs drove up the mountain and helicopters swarmed the area. Men in suits came and they took little Tommy with them, never to be seen again by his family.

The family tried to persuade the government to release Tommy, to instead focus on the even more miraculous thing, such as Chuck Norris traveling thousands of miles in an instant, or God coming down from heaven. 

But by then, it was too late.