Pines

The city of Pines was full of beautiful parks and forests, but one day, a villain set a glass dome on the city.

The citizens saw a helicopter pulling a gigantic glass dome in the distance. They were terrified when the dome dropped onto their city. The villain, Dr. Malevolent wanted to trap the citizens of Pines and keep the world from seeing their glorious parks and forests. But little did Dr. Malevolent know, when the dome fell, there were tourists in the city. Dr. Malevolent left and would return to check on his evil plan.

A family of tourists, the Morises were driving in their minivan, trying to get out of the city and back home. But the dome fell right on top of the road in front of them.

The father, the driver broke fast. “Is everyone okay?” the Dad asked his wife and kids. “Yeah,” said his daughter as she popped her earbuds from her ears. Her eyes widened as she looked through the window. “

Yes,” said Ricky, his ten-year-old son. He looked up from his video game. “But what do we do now?”

“We go back to the hotel,” the father said.

“But William — -” his wife, Andrea said. “We’re going back to the hotel,” William said as he turned the car around.

At the hotel, people anxiously wait in line to talk to the concierge. He tells every guest, “We are working extremely hard and we will extend your stay for an extra fifty dollars a night.” The guests get in a frenzy and push each other. Some fall to the floor but get back up. Some agree to the “deal”.

Mary was showering in her hotel room when the dome fell. She heard a loud distant boom. She turned off the showerhead and heard screaming and yelling. She dried off, got dressed, and ran downstairs. She saw other hotel guests shouting at the concierge in the lobby. But she more interested in what’s happening outside. She opened the front doors and saw people pointing at the sky. Mary saw it, a dome encapsulating the entire city.

James was on his balcony and strumming his guitar when the dome dropped. He stopped playing once it fell and tried to call his mother. She lived in the next town over. He wasn’t getting a signal, just a busy sound. The dome must have knocked over the cell towers. He was worried he would never talk to his mother again.

Weeks later, the city and its citizens were running out of food, but the forests and parks were still beautiful. Dr. Malevolent again flew his helicopter above the dome to check on their regression. He laughed as saw the people yelling at each other, but he stopped as he saw the parks and forests were still green.

The Moris family sat in the park having a picnic.

“Dad, can I have some juice?” Ricky, the son of the family asked.

“Sure,” the father said in a stressed tone.

“Honey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just stressful raising a family miles from home and under a dome!” he shouted before hyper-ventilating. Andrea, his wife and mother of his children told him to breathe and patted his back.

Guests of the hotel waited in line to ask for more towels, soap, and toilet paper.

Mary travelled to Pines for business, she was the manager of the landscaping company that maintained the city’s parks. She was visiting to check out the parks for herself and talk to the city parks director. But he canceled because of the dome crisis. Now she was stuck and had nothing to do but walk through the beautiful parks and watch TV in her hotel room.

James sat on the couch worried, shaking his knee up and down. He watched the city’s local news. “We’re on day fifteen under the dome. People are panicking and worrying about how long they’ll be stuck. We’ve got Anderson live in the air, right near the edge of the dome,” said the female news anchor. “I’m here at the edge of the dome,” Anderson shouted as the helicopter blades spun. They got in as close as possible to the dome and he tapped the dome with his microphone. It formed a small crack. James turned off the TV and decided to take a bath to calm his nerves.

A month later, Dr. Malevolent check on the city’s and people’s regression once more. The parks and forests leaves were turning brown and falling from the lack of water. The people were still fighting.

The Moris family kids played frisbee in the park and Ricky threw the frisbee hard toward his sister. It landed near Mary’s feet. She picked it up and handed it back to the boy.

“Thanks, lady,” said the boy.

Mary saw the married couple and their kids and walked over to them.

“Hi, I’m Mary Dunn and I’m here appreciating the park.”

“Hi, I’m Andrea, this is my husband William, and our kids, Ricky and Nichole.”

William sat there nervously, looking around.

“Don’t mind my husband, he’s stressed out that we’ve been stuck in the hotel room for months. Honey say hi to the nice woman,” Andrea said.

“Hi,” William said as he glanced at Mary and returned to looking around.

“I understand, I’ve been stuck alone in a hotel room for months. Which hotel are you staying at?” Mary asked.

“The Pines Hotel,” Andrea answered.

“Me too,” Mary said.

“We should work out together in the hotel’s fitness room,” Andrea suggested.

“Sure, I think I’ve seen you there a few times in the morning,” Mary said.

“Oh, are you the woman with the black tank top and grey sweatpants?” Andrea asked. “Yes, that’s me,” Mary replied.

“Well, I got to go. See you at the hotel gym tomorrow morning,” Mary said. She walked away and back to the hotel. She entered and saw a very long waiting for toiletries and towels. She wasn’t going to wait in that line, she would ask the maid later to give her more hotel room necessities the next time she cleaned her room.

James opened the fridge and cabinets and found nothing, but a box of bran flakes cereal. So, he decided to eat it. All his bowls were dirty, so he just ate them out of the box. He sat in front of the TV and watched cartoons.

Months later, the air was dry and thin in the city of Pines. Water and food were scarce. All the leaves on the trees had fallen. The branches were brittle. The power had gone out a few weeks ago. Dr. Malevolent saw all of this and every person he saw through the dome were thin and depressed. He knew it had been long enough, but he thought if he removed the dome the trees would just be replanted or grow back.

The Moris family kids ran downstairs and out of the hotel. They decided to the outskirts of the city to the edge of the dome. Upon arrival to the edge of the dome, Ricky threw a rock at the glass in anger. “I’m sick of being stuck here!” Ricky yelled. A small crack formed in the dome and Andrea shouted, “Did you see that? William help me lift this!” She tried lifted to lift up a small boulder. William walked over and lifted it. They threw at the dome. A deep and large crack formed up to the middle of the dome. “If we get more people, we could completely break this dome,” Andrea said. Andrea called the news station.

Mary ate a bagel in her hotel room, while she watched the city news. “Hello, this is Anderson live from the helicopter near the edge of the dome again, but this time I’m above the citizens and tourists destroying the dome with whatever they could find. Hammers, axes, rocks.” Mary got out of her bathrobe and put on some clothes. She took a taxi to the edge of the dome. She had to see this and help.

James watched the same news report and took his truck to the edge of the dome. Once he arrived, he took out his sledgehammer and started slamming it into the dome. In no time, people were all around the edge of the dome. Eventually, the cracks reached the top of the dome and it shattered. Glass fell to the ground and people ran inside their vehicles and used their umbrellas to shield themselves.

It took a few days for all the glass to be cleared from the streets and around the city, but soon everyone could go back to their lives. They renamed the city Glass Pines after the dome that trapped them and the forests that saved them.