Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 The sounds of Super Squish Squids 3 rang out from Sadie's video game console. Super Squish Squids was her absolute favorite video game, made even more fun for her due to the fact that it was also Michael's favorite. The two shared a friendly rivalry in which Sadie always seemed to remain a couple of levels ahead. Sadie let out a sigh as she conquered level 12. Now that Michael was out of the country for who-knew-how long, the game didn't feel quite as fun. "Sadie, time for bed!" her mom's voice called from the study.

Much to her mom's surprise, rather than bargaining for a few more minutes of playing time, which is what pretty much every kid does when told to turn off their video game, Sadie replied, "Yes, ma'am," and turned off the game. "Is everything okay?" Her mom peeked around the corner into the family room, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah..." Sadie sighed again. "I think I'll wait until Michael gets back before I start on the next level." Her mom smiled warmly before popping back into the study. "I'll be in to tuck you in and pray in a minute." Just then, a text alert chimed on Sadie's phone. She looked down to find a text from her friend Maddie: Adorable. Maddie was a big fan of cute animal memes, so Sadie clicked on the link, fully expecting to find an adorable animal. A video popped up. "Dancing ferret on flight to Haifa!" the caption read. Sadie squinted at the looped footage of a small, furry animal doing the Dougie on an airplane seatback table. A small, furry animal wearing a tiny string of pearls. "What?!" Sadie shouted out loud. "I said I'll be in to tuck you in and pray in a minute," her mom repeated. Sadie immediately texted Maddie.

Sadie ran to the study. "Mom! Can I use your computer?" "I thought you were going to bed?" her mom said, turning around from her keyboard. "Just for two seconds, please!" "I knew it was too good to be true." Mrs. Henderson smiled as she offered Sadie the chair. Sadie googled Haifa. "Haifa— the third largest city in Israel— after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv," she read. "Oh my goodness, they flew in to a different airport!" "Who did?" her mom asked. "Michael and his dad!" Sadie picked up her phone to forward Michael the link from Maddie. M & P flew into a different airport! she added before hitting send.