Chapter 1: A Sigh, Supper, Sour milk, a Slip on the Stairs, a Swing of a Sword, a Spell, a Slap, a Storm, and a…Stalker?
Ari was home, sitting at the dinner table, shoving the food on his plate around with his fork. He stared at it, trying to figure out what it was. It looked like ground beef smothered with overcooked slices of onion. His mother, sister, and Marlene sat around the table watching him, impatiently waiting for him to take the first bite.
He stabbed the meat with his fork and reluctantly started to pull it up to his mouth. His hand was shaking, and the hard, sticky, mystery meat slowly crept up to his lips. He took a deep breath and pulled the so-called food off the fork with his teeth. He only chewed it once or twice before swallowing and forcing it down his throat. It was rough going down and didn't taste like any kind of meet he'd had before. He didn't want to ever have it ever again, ever.
He grabbed his glass of milk and drank half of it in one gulp to get the dry bitter taste out of his mouth, but then he spit the milk out on the floor. It was sour.
"Stupid sister," he thought. "The one time SHE goes to town and buys the groceries, she gets soar milk, and just when I need it most." He sighed, again.
His mother asked him, "Is there something wrong, Ari?" Ari didn't answer. Instead, he got up and walked to the basement.
As he was walking down the stairs, he tripped over something and landed on his ass with a thud. He heard whatever it was that he tripped on bounce down the steps, but he couldn't see what it was by the light that leaked through from under the door. He pulled himself up and thought he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. He flicked the light switch, the lights came on, and he looked around, but all he saw was a lit flashlight in the middle of the room that barley gave off enough light to cast a shadow. When he looked down at the steps, he saw Stan's bottle. Someone had placed it in the middle of the staircase for him to trip on.
"…Annie" he thought. "It had to be her. She got the soar milk on purpose, and she knew I'd be the one to down stairs and get a towel to clean it up…brat" He sighed, again.
He walked down the rest of the steps, grabbed the bottle, and placed it on a shelf. Then he turned around and stepped into the middle of the room. He bent down, turned the flashlight off, and stuffed it in a draw. Ari bent down again to open a lower draw and get a towel, which is what he came into the basement to do in the first place, but little did Ari know, someone was watching him very closely each time he bent over.
The pinkish-purple bottle fell from the shelf above him and hit him in the head. "Ow!" he cried. He thought he heard a faint laugh, but he took a glance around and there was no one there. He looked down at the bottle and kicked it as hard as he could. "Ouch!" Kicking the bottle barefoot wasn't such a smart move. His head and right toes were throbbing. "Stupid bottle," he thought. "Stupid Annie, stupid Stan."
Ari put the bottle down on the dresser and took the towel. He slammed the draw closed, and the bottle fell on his sore foot. "Ugh!" He grabbed his sword and swung it at the bottle wildly with all of his strength, but the bottle was protected by a spell, and the sword bounced back even harder then it was swung, sending poor Ari to the ground again, with the sword vibrating in his hands.
His mom called to him from the top of the steps. "Ari, what are you doing down there? Hurry up and come finish your supper." He didn't answer. Ari never answers.
He walked up stairs thinking, "I hate this room. I hate that bottle. I never wanted to have to fight against a jar, or urn, or bottle again." As he turned the knob of the basement door, his train of thought changed. "I'm a looser, an idiot, a wuss and a klutz. Marlene is beautiful. I don't deserver her, and she knows it." He sighed.
When Ari got back to the dinning room, Marlene and his mother were at the table waiting for him. He cleaned the milk up with the towel and started to head upstairs to his room. His mom stopped him and said, "Ari, don't you want your diner?" He turned around. "Um…I'm not hungry."
His mother started to lecture him, as mothers often do. "But just an hour ago you complained that you were hungry enough to eat ice-cold mashed potatoes. What's wrong with you? I never have a problem with your sister. Go eat. I'm sure you haven't been eating well on your journey, and Marlene worked very hard to cook for us. It's the first meal she ever made. Are you going to let her feel bad? God only knows what that nice girl has been through, but it's clear she's had a tough life, so go make your guest feel welcome." She was going to go on, but she was slightly out of breath. Ari sighed, again. He mumbled. "Yes mom."
Ari sat down at the table alone and looked down at the disgusting, and now cold, meal that Marlene had prepared. "Cold mashed potatoes are one thing, but…this…," he thought. He poked his food and muttered, "I'd rather eat roast half cooked yeti covered with slices of man eating onions…or maybe that's what this stuff is."
He heard the sound of a foot tapping from behind him. He turned his head, and it was Marlene. She slapped him across the face. Ari fell off of chair and she stormed off. "What happened to the good girl act?"
His mother came over to him and yelled, well, kind of yelled, she never really yells. "That's it Ari. Leave this house tonight and come back when you're ready to behave. Your father just got home and brought a gray haired man with him, who was interested in seeing the bottle, but when he went into the basement it was a mess and the bottle was all banged up." Ari bowed his head and walked outside, dragging his feet.
"The day I get home I get kicked out…" He sat down on the steps outside his house. It was festival time, but Ari was just too ant-social for a festival, especially without Stan, the only thing that made him cool. And the last thing he wanted was to run into Julia, the snobby wench that was under the impression he was in love with her.
The sky suddenly turned gray and saturated clouds. It started pouring harder than Ari ever remembered. He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned his face in his hands. Surprisingly, he didn't sigh. A loud "mwa ha ha ha" can from behind a tree.
