Chapter Text
Josh
I've got sea stories
They're all true
Might seem a little bit far-fetched
But why would I lie to you?
Memories of ink forever stained
Still got salt running through my veins
I've got sea stories
And my shellback, too
- Sturgill Simpson
He looked to his brother with incredulous indignation and addressed him by name before asking, "Where's the doorhole?"
Confused, he pointed to the wooden wall and nonchalantly explained, "I drew it over with a magic marker."
He seethed and squeezed his own fingers, "You were supposed to cut it open with a powersaw."
His brother declared in his defense, "Dude, I'm gonna."
"Oh really?!"
"Yeah!"
Deciding that it was time for his brother to see reality, he dared his brother's delusions, "So go get the powersaw."
"Fine, I will,"
He walked across the recently finished treehouse interior to the magic marker door. But instead of passing through solid matter, he struck the slab of wood and bounced off.
He faced his brother and shamefully admitted, "I see the problem."
Not satisfied with his acknowledgement, he sought to bear his resentment and irritation with the full brunt of sarcasm, "Oh, DO YA?!"
Either choosing to ignore or unable to acknowledge his brother’s fury, Drake still asked how they would leave. Josh decided to poke his head out and scream for his stepsister for help. The window was narrow and his head couldn’t squeeze through, leading to his face barely passing the frame. Unfortunately, their sister was not going to comply with their request for freedom.
“I’m gonna get a snowcone,” she said after hearing their pleas and plans to date twins. She left the backyard while her brothers traded places in the wooden frame to scream her name.
The California sun heated the newly finished treehouse. Josh was sweating against the walls attempting to think of a way out. He was still incensed by his brother for sealing themselves inside, but he was doing so to keep from getting angry at himself. He should have noticed the doorless wall or found a way to nail the walls from the outside. As upset as he was, he knew he was at fault.
“Dude, are you alright?”
“Why didn’t we set off the rocket outside? I mean, we burned down a treehouse, but we could’ve burned our room or even our house,”
He shrugged, “I mean you did put in the restrictor plate.”
“LISTEN! To what I’m saying. If we just, thought this through, none of this would’ve happened,”
The lesson Josh ruminated on went unappreciated by Drake, “Yeah.”
Josh blinked, “Yeah? That’s it, just yeah?”
Drake shrugged again, “Well what do you want from me? We messed up and-”
Josh scoffed and turned his face away, “Forget it.”
“Dude! I’m finishing what you’re saying. We made a mistake and we learn a lesson, and we move on from it,”
“Wow. So, where does forgetting to put in a doorhole fit into learning our lesson?”
“Are you still on about that?”
“YES!” he practically screamed, “I am STILL on about that! We are trapped here because of you! You can’t say we learned a lesson when we’re still tripping over basic facts like a house needs a door to walk out of!” he shook his head, “At least we remembered to nail the house to the supports.”
Drake stared at his brother, but he nodded to acknowledge that out of all things, they did nail the house to the ground.
A light surrounded the treehouse and it shook violently. At first Josh thought this was an earthquake. Living near a fault line meant they were common, but he caught sight of the world through the gaps in the wood panels, and saw nothing else was shaking. He stumbled to get a footing inside and peered through the window. A light was beaming down from above and he thought he heard a whirring or buzzing of some kind. The blinding light prevented a great study of the thing above them and he pulled back and stumbled backwards into the opposite wall.
“What’s going on!?” Drake screamed.
Josh peered at the window a second time and saw a greater view of their neighborhood than their perch previously supplied. A moment later, he could see over roofs into backyards. One more and he saw the surrounding neighborhoods.
“We’re flying? We’re flying?!!?”
Drake pushed him away and looked out, “Dude! We’re really high up!”
The last thing Josh said in his world before their captors abducted them through a portal was, “I WANTED TO KISS TWINS!”