Running wild in the valley was little Igor Cranston the youngest of three children. Each day Igor awoke with adventure and mischief on his mind. By mischief we mean hiding his two oldest sisters shoes, misplacing his fathers glasses, and making sure mom didn’t have her keys. Igor was extremely intelligent for an 11 year old. He loved to be outside in the fields, always fascinated by the different creatures he would find while he played. Frogs and lizards were among his favorite creatures. He would gaze with wonder at the quickness of the little lizards and loved the graceful moments of the frogs in the streams that he played in. As daylight faded into darkness Igor’s parents would summon him back home, reluctantly he trotted back.
Once Igor walked into the door his family began to gather at the table. The Cranston’s made it an effort to eat their meals together as much as possible. At the table they all began to discuss what they had accomplished throughout their days. Igor’s Father was a scientist and loved to go on rants about the environment. He would talk about how he had a major breakthrough at the lab that would help solve the Earth’s topsy turvy climate. This bored most of the family except Igor! Looking up to his father he wanted to make his own impact. However he just didn’t know what he wanted to do. His sisters were both extremely talented and had already achieved many honors because of their studies, and athletic abilities. Both were preparing to head to college in the upcoming year. The most accomplished of them all was his Mother, she was nationally recognized for her brilliance in the medical field. She successfully created a cured for diabetes.
At times Igor felt that he wasn’t going to live up to the Cranston name. Whenever he had feelings of doubt he knew he could talk to his Mother and Father. They would assure Igor that it was going to all work out! All they wanted for Igor was to be healthy and happy. Each day Igor did his best to make his family proud, however, it always seemed like the cards were stacked against him. For example at school he always found himself on the wrong side of fortune. Igor didn’t struggle to make good grades or excel academically; however, he found it difficult to make quality friends. It always seemed like he was the one who was the brunt of jokes.
That was until Igor met Zac. On the surface it seemed like Zac and Igor were polar opposites. Zac was an average student but was immensely popular. Zac really like Igor for his different way of thinking and knew that others just didn’t give him a chance. Igor loved to hear all of Zac’s stories and the two became great friends. They helped each other overcome their weaknesses. Each day they looked forward to hanging out, nothing came between their friendship. Things seemed to be turning around for Igor! He was still making great grades, had many new friends, and was really starting feel like he was accepted.
An air of confidence could be seen from Igor that his family had never noticed, they were happy to see their son and brother so happy. Igor still craved adventure and wanted to make an impact. His newly found confidence only propelled his desires! Just outside of his home was a vast mountain range that he had studied countless days and hours from his bedroom window. Many a nights he would find himself restless and would stumble to his window, as he looked out in the darkness he could faintly see a flickering light just beyond the mountains peak. He studied this light and his imagination would entertain all sorts of ideas. Was it aliens? Could it be people? A new energy source? As the days passed by Igor knew he had to find out.
At lunch he described to his buddy Zac what he had saw at night. He was careful not to tell many people because he was afraid that they would think he was lying or that he was seeing things. But Zac knew that Igor was telling the truth and wanted to know as well. The two came up with a plan to adventure to this light and find out first hand what was at its source. The following weekend Zac planned to spend the night at Igor’s.
At mid-night the two awoke and gazed out and began to pack for their journey…
Nunc Coepi 