Kid Colter

Hello, Justin. This is the Oracle.

What is your question for today?

Yes! No... probably.

Doubtful.

Ask again later.

Justin, come on, honey. Please finish your packing.

We have to get going soon.

Well, there's the taxi.

Okay, now here's your train ticket. Please don't lose it.

How come I have to take the train?

Why can't I just fly?

You know I don't like to fly. It scares me.

But you're not going, mom.

Don't confuse the issue.

Well, shall we go?

What do you have in there? Bricks?

I tossed in a couple books.

Right, the entire Boston public library.

I'll get it.

...track train number seven,

the Empire Builder, leaving for Seattle

with intermediate stops at Syracuse, Toledo,

Chicago, Milwaukee,

St. Paul, Minneapolis, Fargo,

Spokane and Portland,

is now boarding on track number 12.

Well, you be careful out there.

And don't do anything dangerous.

Don't go... go climbing any tall trees

or falling off any cliffs.

And don't get eaten by any bears.

All right, mom. I won't.

And don't fall in any rivers and drown.

- And don't... - Okay, mom.

Now tell me, what can I do?

Well...

Have a wonderful time. Enjoy yourself.

No, I mean it. This teacher's strike isn't going to last forever.

And when it's over, your father's going to send you right back here.

And then it's back to the old grind.

It's all right, mom. You don't have to cheer me up.

And tell your father

that I...

That I send my love.

All aboard!

I will.

What's wrong?

Don't look now,

but those people over there...

They're spies.

Right.

Spies.

Hi, dad.

You're looking good, pal.

So are you. What you been doing?

Oh, nothing much. The usual, just hanging out.

How come you're all wet?

Oh, I just jumped out of the shower.

The shower?

Hey, you keep getting bigger all the time, don't you?

Actually, I think I got smaller last year.

Smaller?

Yeah, by a couple inches.

I think I might be turning into the incredible shrinking kid.

This sounds serious, son.

Maybe we better get you a burger, some fries and a chocolate shake?

Good idea. Before I disappear completely.

I'll get your suitcase.

- Bricks? - Books.

Big books.

Heavy reading.

Computer camp?

What do you do there? Take long hikes with your printer

and sleep out under the stars with your floppy disc?

It's not really a camp. They just call it that.

- How long? - Six weeks.

Practically the whole summer.

- What's that? - Oh, what?

That building over there with the high fence?

Oh, that's the TS.C. Lab.

Tomar-Southridge corporation.

They make photo reconnaissance satellites.

Satellites? You mean like spy satellites?

Yeah, I guess something like that.

It's supposed to be very top secret,

hush-hush stuff going on there.

But everybody around here knows that's what they're doing.

Cool.

This is great, dad.

Just like you described it.

Yeah, it's got everything... running water, electricity, you name it.

Wow, what a lake.

Oh no.

Yeah?

Hi, Bill, it's Amelia.

Oh hi, Amelia. Yeah... it's your mom.

Did Justin get there okay?

Yeah, he got here fine. Yeah.

Well, I just wanted to be sure.

Bill, what's going on out there?

Oh nothing, I... I just...

I just dropped something.

It sounded like something broke.

Huh? Oh...

Oh that's... that's...

That's... we're trying to make dinner over here.

Do you think I could call you back just...

Okay, well, call me back later.

- Tell Justin that I... - what?

I said, tell Justin that I send my love.

- Yeah. - And for him to be careful.

- All right? - Yeah, I will.

- Okay, bye. - Bye. Bye!

How do we... Get 'em out of here?

Oh, that's easy.

First you got to get their attention.

Hey, you guys...

Now, raccoons like to eat in my kitchen.

But coyotes like to eat raccoons. Watch this.

Sure is a nice place, dad.

Thanks. It's home.

Not quite as good as mom's home cooking, huh, son?

It's good.

Really is.

You're not just saying that now?

I mean, it could be better, right?

I really like tuna fish.

Well, tomorrow we're gonna go into town

and restock our food supplies.

I gotta pick up some stuff for the kayak trip anyhow.

Really? Kayaks out on the river?

That's where they work the best. We're gonna go kayaking,

we're gonna go camping, hiking, climbing.

We're gonna do it all.

Now would you like some more...

Water?

No thanks, dad.

I'm really stuffed.

Coons broke in again?

Yeah, they sure did.

I can't figure it out. I don't see how they get in the door.

Brought my son home from the boat,

we walked in and there they were... boxes ripped open.

Okay, that's it. Let's go.

Come on, son.

Dad, do you know who...

- that... - Who the girl was at the store?

How'd you know?

Well, to tell you the truth son, I...

I saw her checking you out.

Well, who is she?

Her name's Gail Halloran.

She lives just outside of town with her folks.

Her dad's with the sheriff's department

and her grandparents are up there visiting them.

You must know everything about everybody in this town.

Well, if you're a writer, it pays to know your neighbors.

Everybody's got a story.

Hey, dad, what's that thing for?

Oh, the breath-taker.

Well, this is just a little thrill ride I rigged up

to... Well, to see if I'd ride it.

You wanna give it a try?

No thanks. I was just curious.

Well, that's okay, son.

That's the kind of thing you shouldn't do till you want to.

But I'll tell you something about courage...

This is something you're gonna find out for yourself anyhow.

There ain't nothing in this life as bad as you think it's gonna be.

Fear has a way of exaggerating everything.

It'll make you clutch up, freeze up,

run away and hide.

But if you just ignore the fear and go ahead,

it's always easier. It's always a lot less scary

than you think it's gonna be.

Thanks, dad.

I needed that.

Go ahead.

One for you. Watch.

Let's do it the hard way. Remember... remember?

Yeah.

- One, two, three! - Two...

You know something, son?

We're gonna have to go to bed pretty soon.

You know, we got to get up at 5:00 am.

5:00 am?

Yeah, 5:00 am.

We gotta hit the river by 6:00.

But 5:00 am, dad, that's awfully early.

Yeah, it is awfully early.

But I remember when you used to get me up at 5:00 am.

4:00 am, 3:00 am...

- I did? - Yeah.

You were about this big.

You would pick the craziest hours to holler at us.

You wanted to talk.

You wanted to play.

You wanted to poop your pants.

You'd just have a wild time in the middle of the night.

Do you remember any of that?