[A.N. This is just a short
little fic that I just thought of. It's
kind of stupid, not really funny, but I was bored. Wa ha ha. Ooo, guess
what! I just won the lottery and bought
Final Fantasy and all of its characters!
And then some scary men came after me and made me takes something called
a 'lie detector' test, and I failed so bad that I am now unable to smell out of
my left nostril.]
"All right, children, gather around! That's right, don't be shy. I don't bite…hard. And that's only if I'm really angry—" Selphie broke off as she
saw the frightened expression on the children's faces. "Err I mean…let's just start the story,
ok?" Selphie took out a rather large,
impending storybook from behind her back.
The eager children gathered closer around her, enthused by the idea of a
story. Just as Selphie was about to
begin, the door to the library swung open with untold force and a figure in a
white trench coat stalked in.
The children all gasped in surprise, as did Selphie,
"Seifer, what are YOU doing here?"
Seifer looked at the ground, embarrassed. "Well – uh – I – uh – thought you – uh –
could – uh – use some help reading to the little brat…I mean, darlings," Seifer
spewed.
Selphie's eyes grew wide and a grin slowly spread across
her face, "Wow! Seifer, you're doing
community service! By choice, even!" She squealed in excitement and threw her
arms around Seifer.
"Pft, yeah right.
Squally-boy made me do it because I whooped Chicken-Wuss's ass…" Seifer
stopped self consciously as he saw every child's right hand fly to their mouth
as their eyes dilated in terror.
"…asphalt in the training center."
Selphie scratched her head, confused, "Asphalt? I don't get it. Oh well, I suppose I could use your help, Seif. You can sit by me and turn the pages! Now, let's begin!" Selphie opened her book
to the first page and began to read.
"Once upon a time…"
Seifer snatched the book away from her. "What is this garbage?" he asked
incredulously. "I brought something
much more entertaining." Seifer took
out a book that looked like a novel.
"NO WAY. You are
NOT reading trashy romance novels to the children!" Selphie screamed in the
Diablos voice we've all come to know and love.
Seifer, however, had already taken his reading glasses out,
perching them daintily on the bridge of his nose. "My dear Selphie, you mistook me! I would never read anything horrific to these precious young
ones. This book is a piece of classic
literature!" Seifer held up the massive
book. It looked as though it contained
at least a thousand pages.
Selphie turned her head sideways to read the title, "Les
Misérables? You're going to read Les Misérables
to them? Don't you think it's a little…err,
I don't know, over their heads?"
"Never, my dear girl!
It is never too early to start our youth on the greatest story of all
time! It's a story of love, triumph and
justice!" Seifer jumped onto one of the library tables and began his speech, "This
is the most influential book of our time!
A musical and a movie have been made for it! Millions have fallen in love with Jean Valjean, Cosette, Eponine,
and even tiny Gavroche! We've wept
along with Fantine, we've hated the Thénardiers! We've wished for Javert to get a grip! We've felt all these emotions and so many more! Join me in reading this, the greatest book
ever! Vive la France!" Seifer threw his arms up in the air, and
began to sing several of the more memorable numbers of Les Misérables. This was only ceased when the librarian
indignantly pointed to the "quiet!" sign situated on her desk.
Selphie plopped tiredly onto a chair and buried her face in
her hands. "This is going to be a long
day," she muttered. Seifer had already
begun to read to the children. Looks of
anticipation turned to boredom, which were quickly turned back to looks of
excitement.
"Is she really gonna sell her TEETH, Mr. Seifer?" an empty
mouthed eight year old boy asked.
Seifer shrugged as if he didn't know, and was about to continue reading
when Selphie sprung up from her chair.
"That's IT!" she exclaimed, tearing away the enthralled
children from Seifer's words. "We've
been here for five and a half hours!
And I haven't been able to do anything!
This was MY project! MINE!!!" Selphie flew into a rage, picking up chairs
and throwing them angrily against the wall.
She growled as Seifer approached her, bearing a look of concern.
"My dear, if you don't understand the novel, maybe we could
get you some Cliff Notes that would further your understa…" Seifer stopped as
Selphie slammed a chair leg over his head.
Seifer fell to the ground, presumably unconscious. After panting heavily for a few moments,
Selphie's perpetual smile returned to her, and she turned back to the terrified
children
"Now then! Let's
begin a different story, ok?" Any words of disagreement were out of the
question, and the children all sat stiffly staring at their new instructor. Selphie took out her original story book and
began again, "Once upon a time…"