Billy, Bobby, and Binny started their school day like any other. As Bobby prepared breakfast, Billy tied his shoes. Binny, still in bed, struggled to even open his eyes. “We don't have all day!” yelled Bobby at the top of his lungs. Annoyed, Binny responded, “Coming!”. As the three boys got ready for middle school, the boys’ mom kissed them goodbye. “Be good. . Remember to NOT step off the sidewalk. Last thing I need is for you guys to be late AGAIN.” “We know mom, it won't happen again, I'll make sure of it.” responded Bobby.

             The boys exited their house, making their way to school. Ever since their mom lost her job, they had to move to a house way up north, isolated from everything else. Because of that, the boys had to wake up an hour before school everyday to get to school. “I hate this. Why can't we just buy bus passes? I smell like a wet dog by the time I get to the first period.” said Binny. Binny, being the youngest of three, always had something to complain about. “Less prattling, more moving!” answered bobby. Bobby is the oldest sibling, always keeping everyone in check. “You forget, we are kind of broke right now. I had to bring a single piece of stupid bread and an apple for lunch today.” Billy said. He was the middle child and the one with the worst attitude. Despite their traits, the boys were inseparable, and only a year and a half apart from each other. “You're right. I guess I just wish things were different.” said Binny. Trying to lighten the mood, Bobby said, “Don't worry. Mom just got a new job uptown. We will each have bus passes in no time, you'll see.”

            Thirty minutes went by and the boys have now reached their halfway mark. They walked in silence, too tired to talk. As Billy stared off into the plains amongst the sidewalk, he started to notice something. A dog-like figure stared at him from afar. “Guys! Look over there! I think I see something.” said Billy as he pointed to the distance. They all looked to where he was pointing, just to see nothing was there. “Stop joking around Billy. You're going to make us late.” Bobby said. “I think all this walking has turned him into a lunatic.” joked Binny. They decided to ignore him and kept walking. 

      Suddenly, a loud clack started behind them. The boys stopped. The clacking stopped. They slowly, at the same time, turned around. “Oh my god. What is that? Why is it so…green?” Binny said. “Stay here. I'm going to check it out. Maybe it's hurt and needs our help.” said Bobby. The two boys nodded as they stood there, watching their brother make his way to the mysterious creature. As Bobby got closer, he noticed it was an abnormal creature. The creature seemed abstracted, or out of place.  His skin, slimy like a slug and bright green like a neon marker. He was small, no bigger than a cat, but was very long. “Hello there. Do you talk?” said Bobby to the creature. For some reason, he didn't fear it. “Help. Lost. Find Family.” said the creature, with watery eyes. “Guys! Come over here, he's harmless, I think” Bobby said. Binny and Billy made their way towards them, carefully. “It said it needed help to find its family, should we help?” said bobby. “What even is IT? Looks like an alien!” said Binny. “Hi. Do you have a name?” Billy asked, kneeling down to pet it. “Nova.” said the creature. “Okay Nova. How can we help?” said Binny. “Wait. Are we sure we even want to help? That means we will be late for school and we would be in so much trouble if mom found out!” Bobby said, hyperventilating. “Calm down Bobby. Look, if he's here in the first place, that means he doesn't come from far. We could help him get back to his family, and get going. School is less than twenty minutes away, meaning we have a few minutes to spare before the bell rings. We can make it work.” said Binny. “Fine. We better hurry.” said Bobby. “Help. Family. YAY!” yelped Nova. 

         Billy picked up Nova and the boys began searching around for any clues that could lead to where he came from. “I think I found something!” yelled Bobby. Billy and Binny ran to him, discovering what seemed to be a portal of some sort. “What is going on today? First an alien now a PORTAL? I'm going to faint.” said Binny. “Hey Buddy look! Is this where you came from?” Billy said, putting Nova on the floor. “Family. YAY!” squirmed Nova. The little creature eagerly ran to the portal, but before he went in, he paused. “Thanks,”  Nova said, smiling, entering the portal and leaving them behind. “What. Just. Happened.” Binny said. “I have no idea, all I know is that if we don't get going right now, we will never make it to school on time. Whatever happened stays between us. Understood?” Bobby said.  “Yes.” agreed Binny and Billy. The boys ran the whole way to school as fast as they could. As they arrived at school, they looked at each other. “What a day.” Said Binny, as they  waved at each other, entering the school.