His father's face went from white as a sheet to a deep red in seconds. He grabbed the boy by the straps of his parachute and lifted him out of his seat. "How dare you ruin my plans!" he'd screamed. "I won't have a freak living under my roof! Get out! I challenge you to find any place that'll accept a misfit like you!"

It took Tennyson a few seconds to gain his bearings after being roughly dropped back into his seat. Full of fear, he hit the "forward" button on his dashboard and raced out of the house as fast as he possibly could. His heart pounded hard and tears gushed out of his eyes.

Tennyson remembered racing blindly through the air above New London for several minutes before finally stopping and hovering in mid-air.

The boy sobbed for several minutes. He had always had a secret dream that his father would accept him as he was, but that hope was now dashed.

Where could he go? There was only one place. Propelling his hoverchair forward, he headed toward the edge of town.

He felt a strange mixture of comfort and fear as he lowered himself in fromt of his aunt's gate. He know the little cottage had two bedrooms, but he couldn't possibly....

Tennyson moved forward, the hoverchair pushing the gate open. He paused after he got through, listening to the gate creak as it swung shut behind him.

What would he say? Aunty, Father threw me out because he thinks I'm a freak?

He leaned over and knocked on the door.

"One moment!" came the pleasant voice from inside.

Tennyson's heart began to pound. Whatever was he going to say?

The door opened suddenly--he had been so lost in thought he had not heard the footsteps. His aunt's blond hair was tied back with a dark blue ribbon that matched her eyes--he could see one tail of it sticking out from behind her ear.