GEN II: Chapter 18

Hayden jumped into the hole ready to take on anything.

The first thing he noticed in the cave, was everything seemed to be damp. There must have been a water source somewhere down there. Hayden touched everything he could, to try and get a feel for the place. He could see, which meant there was a light source as well. Then he thought that maybe the light initially came from the hole he dug, and reflected off of the watery surfaces, which in turn lit up the whole cave system. There were multiple tunnels leading off of the main cave, and also many levels.

At one point, attempting to climb down from one level to another Hayden lost his footing and fell. He landed on a surprisingly soft surface below. Looking around this new area he discovered many gems, one of them pretty rare. There were very odd creatures down here as well. Species of which Hayden had never seen, only read about in school books. One of them was a giant mushroom looking creature and he looked at it. When it blinked at him, Hayden realized it was looking at him too. Apparently this mushroom saw Hayden fall, then made some kind of sound. All of a sudden the soft surface that Hayden had landed on, began to move. That is when he noticed that he had landed on one of these creatures. The animal he had landed on began to fly Hayden back up to where he came from.

Hayden paused for a moment, to take in what had just happened. Then he yelled downward "Sorry!" Though he was unsure the creatures understood him, he felt better knowing he apologized for falling on them. Hayden looked around again. He found a seed on the ground, he was no gardener, so had no idea what it was but pocketed it anyway.

POP!

Hayden heard a strange sound, that sound was followed by some rumbling. Before Hayden could move, or even think, a rock slide began. It was a cave in! Hayden started to run toward his man made entrance to escape, but the rocks were quicker than he was. A small rock rolled past Hayden and stopped in front of his feet, Hayden stepped on it an fell. Within seconds he was covered in heavy rocks. Then the rumbling stopped. It was over, but Hayden was stuck. This couldn't happen, he couldn't end here. He thought of his boys, and their tiny hands as little babies. Then he thought of giving high-fives for doing home-work when they were kids. Now they were teens, they had grown so much. He thought of tossing a football with his children. Then realized he hadn't done that yet. Thinking of this gave him strength beyond himself and he pushed with all his might to remove the rocks that hindered him.

After what felt like an eternity of digging, and just about to give up, Hayden pushed one rock out of the way and saw a glimmer of light. This gave him new hope and he struggled to continue. All the sudden he was thankful to his father for teaching him to exercise and working out all the time. His strength was finally paying off.

He broke free and climbed out of the hole. The cave was completely destroyed. Hayden thought of those animals, he hoped the lower levels were still safe.

Hayden began to shovel dirt back into the hole. He was going to cover it so no one else got hurt.

Even after what he had just gone through, that did not stop him from starting up that miner again and digging for some more treasures. It seemed like Hayden was obsessed.

Inside, Cedric and Charlie had gotten home from school, and brought a friend. They ate a piece of cake from the fridge after doing their homework. This house always seemed to have leftover birthday cake. Charlie and his new friend sat down to a game of chess while James when upstairs to play video games.

Isabel had been talking with Jenni all day. Jenni told Isabel of Hayden jumping into that hole he had dug. She said she stood there as long as she could, but he had been gone for hours. They did not yet know that he had come back out, and was digging again. Isabel then invited Jenni to play catch with her.

"Sure, I should go out and see if Hayden is okay anyway." Jenni replied.

As Jenni rounded the corner she saw Hayden on his miner drilling into the ground. Knowing he was out and okay, though dirty. She and Isabel began their game of catch. At one point Isabel through the ball a little hard at Jenni, and hit her in the stomach. Jenni looked at Isabel.

"Sorry Jenni, that stupid miner is so loud its distracting me, I'm sorry." Isabel admitted. "Let's go find something else to do." Jenni agreed, she did not really like the sound either, so they went inside.


**Meanwhile**

Cedric and Starr had been getting along really well at school. That afternoon Starr had invited Cedric to her house after and he accepted. They did their homework together and began to chat.

Cedric had finally gotten up the nerve to ask her what her star sign was and if she was single. He was happy to find out that she was a Taurus, which was a sign compatible with his own. He also learned that she was not seeing anyone at that time. When Cedric heard that he started putting his own moves on. He was really interested in her, and wanted to get to know her a lot better.




Cedric flirted with Starr for a while, and complimented her often. She seemed to invite his advances. Apparently she was just as interested in him as he was her. Pretty soon he asked if she would be his girlfriend.

"Look, I'll understand if you don't want to take this to the next level, but .. I would really like it if we were seeing each other exclusively." Cedric stuttered.

Starr giggled internally at Cedric's obvious discomfort at addressing his feelings. Then gave him a quick kiss. "I have already thought of us as boyfriend and girlfriend for a while Ced. I know you haven't been interested in anyone else, don't try and hide that. I'm glad." She gave him another peck on the cheek and giggled.



Back at the house Hayden had stopped digging in that area and was covering the hole when Isabel came out to him. She had this look on her face that meant she had to tell him something, and he better stop. So he stopped shoveling and turned to his wife.

"What is your problem Hayden! You are never with the family anymore! You have become so involved in your inventions, you are missing everything! You need to snap out of it, whatever it is! I'm getting SICK of going to bed alone, and waking up alone! Do you even come to bed at night?"

Hayden was stunned by Isabel's outburst.

"Yes, I come to bed, mos..."

"I DON'T CARE ANYMORE." Isabel interrupted. "This has to stop, no more inventing for a while got it?! You need to get your priorities in order! You have a family that needs you Hayden, get with it." Isabel glared at him for just a moment before turning on her heel and leaving him standing there.