DISCLAIMER: Howl's Moving Castle does not belong to me. Although it would be nice to have a miniature model of the movie version and have it march around my desk. OH WELL.
INTRO: Constructive criticism is greatly accepted as long as 'OMG UR STORY SUX!1111 ONE ONE' is not in there somewhere. This is based entirely from the book with my own additions or slight changes. I might forget certain details too from the real book, so you could... review and tell me?
This chapter is short.
Chapter One
In Which Howell Opens His Bedroom Door
Howell Jenkins was late for school again.
Megan was no longer in the same room to wake him up so he relied heavily on the alarm clock beside his bed (which could not match up to Megan's annoyingness as it failed to wake him). Clothes littered the floor and somewhere beneath the chaos were his school books. His legs tangled with pants that were not fully on and he had to hold on to the edge of his desk for a second to balance himself.
His father called impatiently downstairs and he could hear his half-deaf, nearly crazy grandmother screaming: 'What? Speak louder!'
He felt incredibly uncomfortable that morning because he did not spend as much time as he would have liked in the bathroom so his hair was slightly unkempt. It was a terrible sin, but alas! School was first priority! He grabbed a comb and attempted to tame a rebellious lock of hair by his eyes and pulled his last text book from under several sheets of paper on his desk.
His grandmother continued to yell that his father should speak louder.
He stumbled towards the door, twisted the knob and fell pathetically into an unpaved street. His first reaction to rub his now sore elbow as it tried to prevent his fall but the sight around him helped him to immediately forget why he was even rubbing it in the first place.
It was not busy street, but an old man nearby watched him with curious eyes. The sky above his head was a healthy morning blue in contrast to the grey and cold pitter patter on the window behind him in his bedroom. The buildings on this alien world beyond this door loomed above him, though very modestly. No structure was more prominent than the other beside it and each was very small. In the distance, the ocean calmly carried several fishing boats and seagulls cried as they disappeared when they flew below white clouds. At the end of the street, a horse was heading towards him, cuing Howell to hurriedly pull himself back into his bedroom where all things sane and normal resided and quickly shut his door before his poor heart could explode in his chest.
There would be days after that where he would open and shut his door repeatedly and peak into a tackily decorated hallway, wondering at what he really witnessed that day.
AUTHOR'S RAMBLE:
It would be very funny for Howell's dad to be walking and looking at Howell open and close his door for no reason. I like the idea of Howl's first encounter with magic and such was a complete accident and his interest in such things would grow from that accident.
About Howl's/Howell's name:
For stories about his past or whatever is in Howl's mind, I will use Howell as it seems more personal. For stories about his present/future and life with Sophie etc I will use Howl. I hope you do not get too confused.