Precious Time
By Literate Freak 690
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The clock on the makeshift nightstand started to go off with a very loud beep. From under a blue, patched blanket came a moan of dislike in the highest power. A skinny, muscular hand bashed down on the alarm clock until it broke into two. Then it went back under the blanket from whence it came. Twenty minutes later, however, it returned from under the blanket, but so did the whole body. If you looked at him, he would probably be no more than eighteen to the eye of some. He had a skinny, yet slightly muscular body almost similar to that of his arm. A four-pack of abs could be seen, and his legs were hairy, yet it was blonde, so if you were to see his legs from a distance, they wouldn't look hairy at all. He got up, and started to walk on the dusty floor. He stopped at a closet. He opened it, and an avalanche of dust made him sneeze. Brushing that off, he looked at his choice of clothing for today. In the way back, he saw a wire hanger marked with a tag. "Saturday." That was the one pair of clothing he had never worn, and it was his best pair of clothes, probably the only clean item he had next to his teeth. That is what he would wear. About ten minutes later, he was out the door with a paper cup of coffee in hand.
He passed three houses, each looking better than the next, and at each house, he would turn back to look at his. It's not what you would call "Home", but at least it was close. His coffee was finished down to a drop. A wastebasket across the street was open for a shot. He shoots, he scores! The No Parking Any time sign made a great backboard. With that, the neatly dressed figure went down to the card shop owned by his best friend's grandfather.
He suddenly stopped in front of the card shop to take a look at it. Every card game ever created was held in there. Duel Monsters, Wizards of the Coast, Harry Potter, Duel Masters, and even your common playing cards. He sneezed again. His eye then caught sight of something shiny on the ground. It looked like a steely marble, but it wasn't. upon closer inspection, it was just a marble-sized shiny spherical figure made of silver glass, yet it felt like metal. There was an inscription. Precious time was engraved on the ball in black, bold italic letters. He brushed it off of dirt on his jeans. The dirt fell away and disappeared into thin air. He decided not to share this find with anyone until he thought the time was right. At this, he walked into the shop and closed the door behind him.
He walked through the shop, looking at all the wonderful pieces of paper that people could choose from. The walls were stacked with outdated cards, newer cards, and cards that were old, but were still manufactured. On the counter was a 20Q game that belonged to his best friend, who was probably still up in his room. He heard footsteps coming from behind the beaded doorway, and finally another figure came into view. "Hi Joey!"
"Hey Yuugi. ya wanna hang out?"
"Sure! Where do you want to go?"
"How 'bout we go ova to da Park?"
"Alright! Lemme go see if Grandpa's alright with that."
-Jou's Point of View-
I waited fa ten minutes when finally I was rewarded wit da' presence of Yuugi once more. He had a backpack on 'is back, and a couple o' fishin' poles in 'is hand. I guess he wanted ta go fishin', so dat's wat we were gonna do.
"C'mon, we don't have all day Yuugi!" I sed as we went down da sidewalk. He stopped an' had me carry da backpack cuz it was too heavy fa him. Dat made life go a bit fasta. We was at da park in ova ten minutes with the poles in da lake in five. Yuugi didn't have his pole in for a coupla seconds when he gots himself a bite. It was big, I'll tells ya that. And ta think I almost wasted my day in bed...
-Third Person-
About three hours later, Joey was up inside Yuugi's room eating a nice yellowtail lunch. It was amazing how such a big fish was caught with such a little pole. Yuugi looked at Joey. "Wanna have a sleepover?"
"Nah, dat's alright," Joey started, I have otha plans tonight. Besides, It's like I can't come by tomorra."
"Right. So, anyway, I heard you're finally getting cable TV. Are you excited?"
"You betcha! Cable is gonna change my life! I can finally watch The Sopranos on Home Box!" He sounded a little too excited. The sopranos was his favourite TV show on Cable next to Law and Order coming in fuzzy on channel four.
The clock struck one-thirty.
"I gotta go, Yuge. See ya tomorra?"
"Alrighty!"
With a couple more words said closed with the secret handshake, Joey was off to wander the streets. Or, at least to wander home. He was about a block away when he could hear sirens behind him, coming towards him. Up ahead he saw thick, black smoke coming from a spot near his house. Joey started to rush, hoping it wasn't his home on fire. He finally reached his block. Three houses down, a very rich-looking lady with brown hair ran out of her house. Two houses down, however, a blaze could be seen in the window of his neighbour's house. He, thank heavens, was outside. The neighbour lived by himself, and the only other living thing in that house was his pet cat, Pockets, who was clenching onto the neighbour's pant leg for dear life. Joey decided that it was just a one alarm blaze, nothing for him to be worried about and was probably caused by bad wiring. He once had that problem, but spent all his money on getting the house re-wired and fixed up so many years ago that he had almost no money to pay the bills. He was lucky enough to be getting cable TV.
Joey opened the door to his house. He closed it shut, and looked around. Still pretty quiet, just the way he left it. He also noticed he was stepping on the mail. Getting off, he picked it up. Bills, bills, bills, junk mail, and more bills. He turned on the lights and started to walk. He lay the letters and bills on the kitchen table to sort them through. Water bills, electricity bills, all bills on the right side. All other stuff to the left of that pile. He then spied a dandelion-colored envelope in the back of the pile. This, o course was the first to be opened. It was sealed shut with a red stamp, probably from someone important. He peeled very slowly, so not to harm this piece of art which he was holding. Then, a knock came from the front door. Joey quickly put down the envelope to go see who it was.
---End Chapter One---