"Jeff, you here?"
The questioner walked into the teenager's bedroom without waiting for a response, much less an invitation.
Jeff, still learning the ropes when it came to the techniques for butterfly flight, fluttered in shock to see how enormous his irrepressible 14-year-old brother looked.
"Barney! It's me!" He tried to shout, only to make the discovery that butterflies cannot speak.
That didn't mean he went unnoticed by Barney. Although two years younger, Barney had enjoyed quite the growth spurt over the summer and was nearly as tall as his older brother.
"Where is he?" Barney sounded frustrated. "I need a ride."
Ever since Jeff had gotten his license, he had been more of a chauffeur than a sibling.
Barney, failing to notice the colorful, fluttering butterfly, walked to his brother's desk and sat down at the computer. Staring with no comprehension at the Chronivac screen, he grunted from a complete lack of interest and called up another browser window.
"Get away from there!" Jeff wanted to scream but unable to produce any sound apart from the faint fluttery vibrations from his wings.
Although his brother had called up another screen on top of the Chronivac window, a corner of the program remained visible and Jeff noticed something alarming about the menu. The DNA was set to 100 percent butterfly!
That wasn't what he had programmed. But, in large digital letters, he confronted the fact that that was what had happened. It was critical that he get Barney's help.
He fluttered up toward Barney's massive face. His brother felt something tickling his right ear and batted out a huge hand.
After a mute scream of fear, the transformed teenager flew into place between the computer screen and Barney's face.
"Hey there," Barney said. "Oh no, you need help, don't you?"
Yes! Jeff felt proud to have such a smart brother.
Until the boy spread out his two enormous hands and clapped them together, entrapping his insect body within them.