Fiction: A Story of Two Protagonists and A World, Chapter 3

But Samantha could not sleep.

Yes, by the way: her name was really Samantha. Yet while it was her more accustomed name, she still found a spark of appeal in ‘Plink.’

She could not sleep because Willy—that adorable, poor man—was sound asleep next to her, completely zonked out like an Abghrjlakhxgnyojurldfao: a creature in their world that slept a lot. Admittedly she knew she was exhausted, but she could not submit to the will of her body. Even a basic yawn seemed miles away while her mind bustled like protons in a microwave. So much had occurred lately. She had been thrown out of Inside and left in a dark abyss of sadness and insecurity. And most of all, she was falling for an idiot—and not only an idiot, but an idiot who thought she was an ogre. How she found herself flailing at this man’s feet left her so puzzled. Perhaps she only liked him since he was the only man in her life at this moment, but she knew it had to be deeper than that. Much deeper. Still, she found herself shamed for falling for a man without a rational bone is his body. And all these crazy thoughts in her head about Willy made her emotions go up and down and up and down and sideways and backwards and off a ledge and into the river and into the mouth of a giant fish. It’s not as though she was a dramatic girl, like all the other girls from her home; Samantha merely had a tendency to easily fret at about 99% of situations she faced—especially, but not exclusive to, the undesirable ones.

At first Willy had seem rather cute, and the realization of his special disadvantage hadn’t come until they started wandering. But idiot or not, Samantha still found Willy jolly and welcome. She could even see herself staying with him for a really long time, even if it meant always listening to Willy ramble about her being an ogre—even if it meant going with him on these pointless quests.

But did Willy love her in return? Is he even capable of loving? And this is where her confusion started flying.

Cracks occurred throughout Samantha’s back as she flopped over to the other side of her body for a good look at Willy’s precious face. Do keep in mind, she hardly did this in the stalker-ish way—she simply did it because it pleased her to look at Willy throughout the night as he slept.

So cute and innocent. Sure, she may never receive gorgeous bundles of weeds or really anything one might receive from a normal lover. –But if he were to love her…

Oh! If he were to love her! Samantha’s moods swapped out as fast as her brain swapped topics –Her brain hopped around from one train of thought to the next as regularly as most women brains do. And to you feminists, trying with all your might to rip any and every story to shreds: this was not necessarily a bad thing. Of course, all you women have under-privileged brains and can hardly help bouncing around in no clear direction of thought, but I will not blame it on that—even though it is the main cause—because this tale is not a sexist tale. But back to the real story:

She fantasized for a long time of the two of them going for walks, looking down on the world from a mountain, kissing in the moonlight, and so on.

It was official. Samantha would talk to Willy as soon as soon the right moment came along. She was—at least to her standards—in love.

Samantha’s vision slowly faded off into darkness as she listened to the snaps, crackles, and pops of the fire while thinking of Willy and all of their wonderful—
And just like that, she was back in panicky attacks of thought. Samantha realized that sleep was no longer a possibility, and she stayed up all night thinking.

But we’ll just let her think for a while and in the meantime move on to our third and final perspective. Fear not: you did indeed read that sentence currently. I titled this tale “A Story of Two Protagonists and a World,” and yet I am now surprising you with a third perspective. This is nothing but trickery at its finest. I did not lie, but I also did not tell the whole truth; for really, if I had named the story appropriately, it would have been called “A Story of Two Protagonists and a World and Also One Conflict.” My tricky self has done it again, and you fools have plummeted head-first into my palms. And yet, in your hearts you will forgive me, for this scheme has ultimately lent this story to more shock; and with this third character, shock in the name of the game. However, the name of this man will not be revealed for suspenseful, eerie, and over-the-top terrifying affect. Even telling you he is a man is already ruining some of his mystery.

The mystery man crouched in the corner of the cave, acting villainous and creepy. So very, very creepy. So creepy that even the fiercest mammal would run to its mother to breast feed. The fiercest insect would hide in its environment.The fiercest sea critter would drown. And the fiercest alga would even be willing to call upon its lesser kind for assistance.

The creep had teeth which looked as though they could bite through steel—eyes that pierced through you like a sword. He had a uvula so sharp that it would slice you in two on your way down his long, long throat.

Now that we know how horrifying our menace is, we may move onto his thoughts… What he thought… The things he thought.

Mwahahahaha. So young these two. So naïve. They don’t know the terrible evil that will cast shadows upon their souls. Hehe. Haha. Mwahaha.

Chapter 1
Chapter 2

Fiction: A Story of Two Protagonists and a World, Chapter 2

Willy and Plink journeyed in many directions of north. They traveled for days, just wandering aimlessly wherever the dust led them. During this time, many interesting episodes occurred. The bucket crook had struck again on another rainy night, leading Willy to conclude those must be his ideal nights for operations, and the time of year came when a few overhead clouds crumpled up and drifted to the ground. Willy hated this time of the year, for the clouds were rather nipping. Also since the time they set off on their adventures, Plink started to view Willy as stupid and insane –but she was only a fatuous ogre, so Willy but snickered at her chuckleheadedness.

One freezing afternoon, they were sitting on a log, doing absolutely nothing but just that. Footprints in the snow drew line for miles, ending where their feet currently shivered. All in front of them stretched a white field, almost blinding them as it bounced sun into their eyes. Behind them a patch of trees stretched above their heads, occasionally poutering some flakes to numb their faces.

“It’s p-pretty cold out,” trembled Plink.

“Yes, I agree.”

Off in the field a gust of wind swept a cloud of snow off the ground and blew it somewhere far away.

“W-we should find a place out of the cold.”

“We could always find a cave.” But as he twisted around to scope out a cliff, he realized there must not be one for miles. “We’ll have to walk quite a ways.”

“Thanks okay. At l-least I’ve got a new f-friend with me, r-right?” And though her lips were spastically shaking, she grinned in his direction—as if to suggest something more.

But Willy quickly snapped to his feet. “Now, wait up just a moment! When did that happen?”

Plink’s eyebrows jumbled. “Huh?”

“When did we become friends?”

“W-well, haven’t we been friends s-since we first started walking around?”

“If that were the case, would I not be friends with this snow? Would I not be friends with those who stalk me?”

“Well, n-no, b-because—”

“—Wait a moment, Plink. I do wish to be friends, but we have not done anything to become friends.”

“W-well then what do you suggest?” She looked most thoroughly befuddled.

A good question. Willy had not yet thought of it. However, it did not surprise him this situation had eventually risen to the surface; it was bound to happen sometime or another. So he trudged back and forth in the thick snow, thumping away at his chin.

“Is it th-that hard of a thing?” Plink questioned from somewhere in the background of his thought.

“I believe I have arrived at a way we may become friends,” he proclaimed as he took his last step into a sudden halt.

“What?”

“I will go hide somewhere in the area, and you will come find me.”

“H-how does that help us bec-come friends? Could we j-just get out of the cold?”

“Soon enough, Plink. We must first finish this. This is important because until we have actually done this, we may not be friends.”

“Wh-why?”

“Is it not obvious? First off, how could you be friends unless you have actually done something to become friends? Also, what better way to become friends than you to actually come find my friendship?”

Plink grunted. “Fine. But you better not make this take long.”

“Does that not depend on how quickly you can find me?” he teased, already shuffling a few steps back towards his hiding spot.

“Oh my. Fine, just go hide. Don’t hide anywhere too hard.”

“What? Do you think friendship is an easy thing?” He bolted off through the snow to search for a place to hide, and Plink waited until it seemed enough time had passed. Then she merely followed his footprints, laughing a bit at how simple this would be after all. While Willy was most likely exerting excessive energy to find the perfect spot, all she would have to do is retrace those exertions. Yet Willy was still way ahead of her, for he had moved quickly and she only walked, but after about thirty minutes she had traced his steps through the snow and ended at more snow: that is, a very large clump of snow. So she shooed off the top layer of the clump, and sure enough there he was, completely purple under the nippy cover. Still cold, but now at least enjoying herself a bit more, she assisted Willy out of the snow with a big pull and then dusted him off.

“N-now we really need to find somewh-where warm. L-look at you,” she said. He was clearly trembling, but he managed to only slowly nod as if perfectly fine.

“Yes. We will find somewhere.”

“D-do you feel like we’re friends now?”

“Well, I have always felt like shared a friendship.”

"Well then w-was that r-really worth it?”

“Yes. Because now I know we officially do.”

“Ok-kay. But l-let’s go find somewhere w-warm.”

They wandered off. At one point Willy peaked over his shoulder for just a moment at his new official friend.

Thankfully, being a vagabond in her ogre days, Plink knew the landscape quite well and managed to find a small tunnel in a mountain. After struggling up the cliff’s edge and resting for a bit at the front of the mouth, they searched for some sticks and set up a fire. The two travelers sat with their backs against the rigid rock wall, gazing into at the spastically dancing flames. Outside the sky had deepened into a dark blue. A soft orange from the fire flickered on their faces.

Neither of the slowly breathing travelers uttered a work for quite some time. But Plink eventually broke the silence. “You know, Willy, I didn’t ever think that I’d like living out of my village.” She sounded calm like the sky outside. Willy felt too close to her, but he did not know why; she was sitting on the other side of the fire.

“Your troll village?”

Quietly under her breath she chuckled with agreement. “Yeah, you can call it that. Can I tell you something?”

Plink had asked many abnormal questions in Willy’s time of knowing her, yet that had to be the strangest. She was already telling him something. If she had honestly wanted to know, she should have asked earlier. At this point, no matter what Willy said, she would have still told him something. He moved on, though, and removed his brain from its analytical tendencies. He had grown fond of this ogre and did not want to spend his time criticizing her. “Yes, you are permitted tell me more somethings.”

“I like it out here with you. I like being away from the monsters of my old village.”

“For what reason?”

“I don’t know, actually. I guess it was alright there, but out here I can…” She paused and took a deep breathe, thinking deeply. Poor ogre must have gotten lost on her words. The human language and the ogre language differed a great deal. But she suddenly recalled the right translation. “I can just do whatever. No rules or judgment. You understand?”

“The translation succeeded.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Do you understand why I kinda like it out here?”

“Yes. ‘You can do whatever,’ was the reason you gave me. I am familiar with the concept. I myself have never experienced your situation, but I have heard derailing accounts of ogre cruelty.”

“Yes, Willy. Ogres are harsh, mean creatures.”

“Then why was it good?”

“What?”

“Not too long ago you took informed me that your old village was good. You stated, quote, ‘I guess it was good there.’ Why was it good?”

“Oh, you know...”

“I am afraid not. I would not have asked if I knew.”

“Well… ‘Cause my family and friends were there.”

“You said ogres were cruel.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“Were your family members not ogres?”

Nothing. No noise except the snaps of flames, which flickered a few inches shorter now. Once again Plink was struggling to find the right words. “Yeah, I guess they were ‘ogres.’ I loved them, though. Even if they didn’t love me back.” And then a dampness fogged in her eyes, which condensed into singular drops of painful tears to drop down her cheeks.

Willy refused to watch her cry like so. He scooted to her side of the fire and placed his left hand on her trembling leg. The leg still twitched and tensed under his palm. And Willy knew very well the pain she felt, for he had felt it many times before: the searing stings of an object stuck in your eye. He brought his right hand up to wipe whatever it was away. Anything—specks of dust, a small chunk of wood—those were all able to irritate the eyes, and nobody should have to deal with that.

On her own she rubbed away the rest of the remains from her eyes and sucked in a great deal of air, trying to calm herself back down. “Say, Willy, I’m feeling tired.”

“I’m feeling tired,” Willy repeated obediently.

She smiled at him, then said goodnight, nestling up onto the wall to ease her eyes shut. Willy did the same.

Chapter 1

Fiction: A Story of Two Protagonists and a World, Chapter 1

Once upon a time – or so I feel myself forced to say since this is a tall-tale; but, for the record, I do not know in which “time” this story occurred, if it occurred, or if this world even holds my same concepts of time – there lived a boy and a girl.

Many others also lived, but I find it terribly inappropriate narrate their lives, for this is not about them; it’s about the boy and the girl. The others would fit smashingly into another tale, but lousily into this one. Perhaps I will explore the others’ endeavors on a different day, for I know they too probably lived some very tale-worthy lives. But at this time I need only tell of a boy and a girl.

They lived in a distant world.

I could effortlessly tick away time explaining this world, such as its magical whereabouts or how to stumble across it - whether by wardrobe or rabbit hole - but I wish for the reader to cherish our time together, and so I will not. This world existed somewhere, evolved somehow, and our own world exists somewhere else. Enough said.

A peculiar thing which separated their world from ours is a name. Nobody, neither I nor the dwellers, named this wonderful world. However, contrary to what most of you would assume, this is not because I am lazy; in fact, I deliberately debarred the world from having a name. If the world deserved a name, I would have delighted in selecting one. But this world did not deserve a name. And even if I had seen this world fit for a name, who is to say for sure its dwellers would have seen the same? Am I in such a position to force thoughts into their minds? Of course not! The dwellers lived in their world, and they loved it, but none thought to call it anything because they never talked about it, nor to it. And let us imagine one did talk about it or to it: couldn’t he just use the words “my world?”

I hope I have addressed any question which might discredit this story’s setting.

Now, the districts in this world, for people did talk about them, had names – but please note, the inhabitants originally used alien tongues. I took the time to translate the original names so that any dweller of Earth could read this tale. The districts were called ‘Inside’ and ‘Outside,’ named by the powerful influence of logic, for one lied inside, and the other lied outside. A massive and unbearably orange fence divided the village of Inside from Outside, and Outside was any land outside of Inside. The smart and socially accepted idled about in cozy cottages and bustling town squares of Inside while the dumb, disapproved, and delirious did whatever such people like to do, and they lived in Outside. Their two districts never clashed - or, at least, they never clashed in the fantasies of the foolish dreamer. In reality, only half or less of Outside accepted their hilly home. The rest, as we say in our world, always saw the glass as half empty. Instead of accepting their Outside, they spent their days revolting without real reason. They wasted their lives yelling at the citizens of Inside, declaring how unfair and rude they were to deny them entrance: that all men and women should be able live wherever they want. -Yes, their uproars were regrettably as ironic as the word ‘sesquipedalian.’ These rioters tried with all their power to reside amongst the very people they spat on.

As stated, all dwellers of Outside were either dumb, disapproved, or delirious, but who I forgot to mention were the ones too dumb to know places called Inside and Outside even existed. And that brings our story to the first protagonist: the boy.

Willy sensed nowhere in life to go, nor a resolute thing to do, and so he tag-tailed wherever the wind took him – or, no, not the wind; I find the word “wind” too fierce and frigid. For the purpose of painting a narrative picture and winning awards, I must be careful to always use beautiful words for such a beautiful world. So I will instead say “breeze.” Willy let the warm, whooshing breeze lead him wherever it wanted. The wind suffused through green valleys which glittered as if glowing from within, over towering mountains which overtopped the valleys like enormous, nippleless beasts, and occasionally blew through deserts which, of course, were deserted. Willy enjoyed every moment of tittuping through the tulips and savoring every day -except for the ones he didn’t. Always he philosophized fervently about the birds, the beautiful skies, and nearly everything else.

Surely an artist, Willy reflected, created such a masterfully sculpted world. This inspired Willy to also create, and so he gifted the world with great ideas.

However, his daily wonts which he had grown so accustomed with suddenly changed one day as the wind guided him to a new and weird life full of socialization and co-existence.

The wind blew north, or at least where Willy assumed was north. To him, since north was straight ahead, and he was always looking straight ahead when walking, he therefore always traveled north. Each day, Willy found out which direction of north he would set his trails to by throwing his magical dust. This dust, when thrown like so, would always knowingly drift towards whichever direction his destiny called. The pointing power in this dust was so strong that even the wind longed to follow, and so Willy always explained he went “wherever the wind blew.”

His wandering never swayed, and so he bragged on his undivided devotion to the dust’s wishes. And Willy knew he was special to the dust. Not even the wind followed as loyally; it would easily bore of dust’s direction and, with a wintery chill, whoosh off another way. But not Willy. Willy stuck with the dust until the very end.

So the dust loved Willy, and Willy loved the dust. Whenever Willy whipped the last handful of grains into the air, he never worried he lost a friend, for the dust always skipped right on back and it hid itself under a layer of grass for Willy to dig out as the dust seemed to shout “Take me back! Take me back!” Chuckling at his loyal companion, Willy would always scoop it up in a loving handful and bring it home to its bag.

However, this all changed forever.

One blue and misty morning, Willy had been yodeling about in his yard when he noticed something strange. He took a slow step and another careful look. Without a doubt, he beheld a cactus growing, green and grizzly. Although for some suspicious reason, this cactus did not look like a cactus. It instead looked like a tree. Not every day did Willy spot such a suspicious trick, and so he knew something strange was coming.

It came that afternoon.

Willy busied himself, hunting for that pesky pest who filled his favorite bucket to the brim with water during the past night’s rainstorm. Unbelievable, Willy grumbled. Just one night he forgot to bring his bucket in, and this menace mauled it. The indecency! By waiting until a rainstorm, this murderous menace hadn’t even given Willy the chance to defend his poor bucket. For Willy had been inside, hiding from the rain. It was like forcing a limbless cripple into a sword duel.

But Willy suddenly forgot the bully. A new adventure lumbered his way: An unsanitary, muddy, and unbearably ugly ogre with teeth the size of large, sharp teeth, which were the size of a four-foot rock, which was the size of the most towering mountain. Guarding his ground, Willy never trembled at its terror. This ogre failed to even phase him. If anything, Willy swooned. For just as the cactus had been disguised as the tree, this ogre had disguised itself as a beautiful woman, blatantly trying to bombard him with trickery. Willy smirked and snickered to himself at the ogre’s schlocky attempt.

Yet fortunate for the feebleminded ogre, Willy decided not to slay it. He always kept his mind wide open, giving all creatures a fair chance. “Good afternoon, ogre. How goes you on this…” Willy forgot the rest of his sentence.

The ogre stiffened, seeming both offended and confused. “I’m already having a bad day. I’m in no need for insults.”

“Insults?”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“But I never knew my words as capable of offending. What hurtful slanders did I say?”

“Think about it.”

“I am.”

“Forget it.”

“But I cannot!” Willy then scratched his chin and thought. He knew this would not give him an answer, but was simply a useless habit. “I stretch with this guess, but when I called you an ogre… did that cause the offence? I did not consider that able to hurt, but it seems the only part of my speech which might have offended.”

“I said forget it,” she snapped.

Very strange. For the first time in his life, Willy met an ogre who was humble about its ogre heritage – not boasting on its sickening stench and slimy tongues as ogres normally do. In fact, this ogre had openly spilt its emotions – something which would make most ogres steam red. To the uneducated public, this ogre would have come across completely human. But Willy knew better. He always anticipated the abnormal, and he knew that a better explanation always existed. Even now many possibilities paraded Willy’s mind: maybe these sorts of decent ogres had always existed and he had simply never met one; perhaps it was the most normal obnoxious ogre in every way and merely a marvelous actor; or maybe - just maybe - even though the possibilities were improbable - even though its chances were slimmer than the possibilities, and the likelihood slimmer than both the chances and the possibilities - perhaps this was a pure-hearted ogre.

Willy was intrigued.

“I am greatly sorry. I will no longer refer to you as ‘ogre’ if that is the honest desire of your heart. I will call you ‘ma’am,’ for that is indeed your form, and a ravishingly beautiful one, at that. Whatever ogre lies within may be dismissed since the radiance of your beauty blinds it.”

“Oh, I get it. ‘Ogre within. Radiance of beauty.’ You’re just being poetic.” She swept out her tension in one long and soft breath. “Sorry for actin' all snappy. I actually needed a compliment like that.” Willy did not see how her jabbering had much to do with his apology, yet he ignored his puzzlement, hoping to extend the peace just formed.

“What brought you to these lands? –other than your feet, of course.”

“Just going where the wind blows, I guess.”

So the wind had brought her here, too. Was this a coincidence? No, it couldn’t be. The chances were too slim to be a coincidence. And so Willy knew he had finally found his destiny. The wind had loyally lead him. And finally face to face, he studied this strange womanly ogre – this unlikely destiny.

“This is joyous news, ma’am.”

“What is? That I’m wandering?”

“It is joyous news that the wind has blown you in this direction. I, too, have been brought here by the wind. We have been directed into each other’s path. You must somehow be my destiny, and I yours.”

She chuckled. “You know what? On second thought, you’re kinda cute.”

Once again, she spoke of odd matters. It was as if she always grabbed her gab from a hat. Ogres were the dumbest race.

Why had he been brought to an ogre?

“Perhaps we were supposed to find each other,” the stupid, ugly, beautiful ogre continued. “Wanna stick together and find out? Also, can I ask you what your name is?”

“You may.”

Even though Willy told her she could, she did not. Instead, she oddly stood there, looking as if she expected something, and Willy wheezed, so annoyed at her stupidity he could have exploded right there. He knew it would be a task to adapt to her manner.

And after more silence and staring it became apparent she meant to keep her mouth shut, so Willy finally spoke. “I am called Willy. That, however, is only my real name. But please feel the freedom to label me under whichever name you please. I will call you Plink.” Willy thought of what a Plink was, and although he could not remember if he had ever heard the word, he knew it meant something extraordinary since it was the name of such an interesting figure.

“Do you wanna know my real name?”

“I do not.”

“Why?”

“To me you are already Plink.”

At that Plink laughed yet again, this time more merrily than ever. It seemed possible now to Willy that ogre laughter could indicate something much different than human laughter. Remembering the times Plink laughed, Willy decided ogre laughter probably expressed agreement. For this reason alone, Willy laughed along.

“So in which direction do you assume the wind shall blow next, Plink?”

“I don’t know. Wanna find out?”

“I do.” Gripping a fistful of magic dust out of the bag, Willy flung it to the air. It blew nowhere but forcefully into Plink’s face. Willy’s jaw dropped as he saw that she really must be his destiny. And she was now completely unraveling in laugher, so she must have agreed. 

“Well it appears to be a-fish that the wind is blowing us together,” said Willy.

“You mean a-fish-hole?”

“No, not unless you shot the fish.”

As Plink returned to her rips of rioting laughter, Willy began to bloom inside. Never had one person agreed with him so much. Ogre or not, he might learn enjoy her company.

“So where do you want to go, Willy? I’m ready to go anywhere. I don’t belong anywhere else, so I’ll just follow along wherever you want to go.”

Willy did not have to think at all before he brightly grinned and said, “We will travel north.”

Book Preview

Here is a preview from my latest story, which still goes without a name:

Why is the door so hard to open? Turn already, you stupid knob! Turn, or else I’ll rip you out! Oh great: my brand new house is broken. My first real house in seven years, the first real house I’ve ever had, and somebody was mean and broke the knob. Now I can’t go in.

“Hun, it’s not going to turn.” She steps out of the car and walks down the sidewalk.

“Who broke it?”

“Nobody broke it.”

Her hand chills me like ice as she brushes me aside. Sifting through her collection, she finds the right key.

Oh… I see. The door was locked.

Inside, I survey the room, and what a great place! My mom must devote her time to tidying each inch. She sorts out every speck, then polishes the specks themselves.

“Not much of a place, but I think you will enjoy your time here.”

“Living here?”

“Yes, living here. Oh, and here are your siblings.”

My gosh, I've never beheld a pair so odd. Are they even children? By their looks, they must be children. Their heights don't peak much higher than around four feet, and their faces appear to me so far from finished. And now they strut towards me with sophistication. They don't break out with excitement or skipping or joy; I bet they've never even dirtied those clothes. But, under their form, I really do hope that they're at least jumping to meet me inside their hearts.

Now, I do admit, I don't fancy their clothes much; at least not for me. But I also admit that they model them very nicely - the girl in a blue and frilly, flowing dress, the boy in a button-down shirt, tucked in his slacks. Did they dress in these fancy clothes just for me?

“Arthur, Beatrice,” my new mom gestors. “This is Gregory.”

“Hi!” I cheer. Do I look silly right now? I feel my cheeks on my ears. “It’s great to meet you!”

They nod, and I don’t quite know what that suggests, but I guess that means it’s great to meet me too. They strut off the way they came, like a movie set on rewind.

“We are glad to have you here, Gregory.”

“You know, you could just call me Greg and not Gregory, if you want. I like it that way.”

She twists her nose a bit. “Okay. If you prefer that.”

My attention teases me with its tongue when I ask it to quit bouncing all over the room. Honestly, how can it quit? How can it quit when somebody has crammed a ship into a bottle and placed it onto a table? How can it quit when an ancient vinyl player in the far corner hums groovy rhythm and tunes? How can it quit when somebody has decorated the walls with every painting I can imagine of war generals in blue jackets and kepi hats, and girls sipping Coca-Cola? How can it quit with that giant globe of earth that I just want to push with my fingers and watch it spin? The place is a treasure-trove!

“You have a lot of great stuff here. Where’d you even get all of it?”

“Well, the majority of these things are left over from when your dad – who you’ll meet later, of course – and I were kids. And a lot of the other things are from our parents: your grandparents. Shows a bit of history, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it’s all so old!”

She chuckles to herself. “You know, most things the inventors ‘invent’ these days aren’t as innovative as they think. They’re really just improvements and combinations of all the old junk that already exists. You can never kill the old times; a bit of them always exists in everything, because everything comes from them.”

Wow, this is boring. I tap my toes a bit, and I play and dance somewhere else in my head. How can talking progress so slowly? But I gift her with a smile and pretend she rivets me; I feel I must because she treated me so nicely: She let me live in her house as her son.

But I intend to never mention the decorations again

Her lips curve to a smile. “Do you want me to show you where I set up your bed? I’ve been putting your room together all week.”

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

“I hope you like it.”

I trail behind her as she walks. She leads me far away from our boring conversation. She leads me to my room in the basement.

Later that night I stretch on the floor, centered in the room my mom made me. She decorated it so prettily. She gave me a bed to grow into, in the corner she placed an old dresser, she hid the floor with a rug, and painted the walls light brown. The bed hides under cozy sheets, the dresser is so old it might crumble at a poke, little x’s are stitched on the border of the rug, and the brown walls are painted just ordinary brown. She also put in a mirror, wrapped shelves around my walls, filled the shelves with models, and hooked some hooks on my doors. It’s a great room.

I push myself up onto my feet and shimmy out of my worn-out blue jeans. Why did I dirty them so much? I hope my new mom doesn’t mind. Maybe she wants me to dress like Arthur in his button-down tucked into his slacks. I pull my flannel off my arms and yank my undershirt over my head, both as filthy as my jeans.

Yawn! I’m tired. Maybe I’ll get some sleep. One day has felt like five.


Was I really playing this morning with twenty kids my age?

Am I in bed? How’d I get here?

What a pretty room.

A great house.

I’m going to close my eyes just for a mome…..........