The title of this first real chapter comes from lyrics for a song by Fun., one of my favorite bands. Even though I only know a few of their songs, I like all of them.

Wing And A Scare has hit 50 views, which I think is a decent start. I want to get it to have a lot more than that by the end, obviously. I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to post, but I couldn't really write too much the way things were.


I am saying this on a recording, after all of this already happened.

Let me tell the story of how my life changed in an extremely weird way. Something that nobody could ever have predicted would happen to me, happened. You might not believe this story, but this is how things went.

My name is Lucas Enfield. I am sixteen years old, and I am going to tell you this tale. I hope that, at the end, you can decide whether you like this policy of the Cornerian army or not, whether you like me or not. It all depends on how deeply you read into this, and into which direction. As I have said, it can be interpreted in multiple different ways.

But, in any case, here is what happened. I suppose that this all started on one December day in small-town Maine, on the evening of my school's holiday ball.


I was lying in my bed when my alarm clock woke me up. I don't like to sleep late on the weekends, so I set it even then. I always figured that if I woke up late, which was from experience occasionally, I would tend to feel lethargic and nauseous for a few hours after. Plus, it was just embarrassing. Many high school sophomores would not see it that way, but that is how I see it.

I looked at my iPad, which is actually what I used for an alarm clock. Since Apple has built in clock apps for each of their devices, you can expect me to take full advantage of that.

Would you expect anything less from someone with Asperger's and OCD? I wouldn't think so.

According to my iPad, it was 7:11 AM. I had wasted a whole minute since the alarm had brought me out of my slumber. What kind of lazy sloth was I?

Well, it wasn't like it mattered too much, anyway. I was far too excited for that, and yet I still hadn't remembered exactly why I was excited.

Somehow, this was supposed to be a day I was looking forward to. One far more than any other, and yet I was unable to realize what made this such an amazing day to look forward to.

And then it came to me. It was the day of my school's Holiday Ball, which was an annual tradition for those in ninth through twelfth grade (the school went all the way up from sixth, much like Hogwarts).

Sometimes, I wished that I could live in the world of Harry Potter. But no, I had to live in a world where humans could not perform magic.

I just wanted something that wasn't normal to happen. I yearned for something extraordinary. And yet, Mama always says to be careful what you wish for, because you never can tell if there is some sort of trap or trick involved.

I just wish that I could have listened to what my own mother told me a little more.


I managed to get through the rest of the day, despite being very excited indeed, and not wanting to have to wait for the ball. Last year, I had not gone to it, simply because I figured that I had better things to do. This year, though, I was committed to it.

Unlike last year, I was going along with a date. Technically, most students went to the ball without dates; it wasn't discouraged in the least. But I had found someone, this year, who seemed to be a perfect match for me. Her wavy, golden-brown hair, as well as her bright blue eyes, reflected perfectly in mine. She was so friendly that, even though she was popular enough to be a member of the school's clique, she never was.

Contrast that to me, and I was one of the geeks of the school. It wasn't as though I was unpopular, or a target for bullies; on the contrary, my stature (six feet and two inches tall), made me very intimidating if I chose to be. Which I rarely did, simply because I never had a particular reason to.

The ball started at eight in the evening, and it was being held only a mile from my house. My date lived halfway between the two locations, by which I mean my house and the venue.

As my mother helped me adjust my tie for the third time, she said, "Lucas, are you ready for your date?"

I nodded. "I am".

"Remember to talk about what Willow wants to talk about, okay? Not just your own interests".

"Yes, Mom".

"Remember to walk her to the door first, all right?"

"Yes, Mom".

"And remember: This is her first time with a boyfriend as well. So, keep that in mind, won't you?"

"Yes, Mom".

"Good. In that case, you are free to go. Love you" she said, before planting a kiss on my cheek.

"I love you too, Mom" I said back.

After that, I stepped out of the door and began to walk, heading for my date's house. It was colder outside than I was expecting, but by walking at a higher speed than usual I was able to keep myself warm.

The first snow in interior Waldo County had hit hard, and yet it had also melted within a day. I love snow personally, but I can see why some people don't. Maybe, when I'm an adult and have a place of my own, I will feel differently about these things. The town of Swanville frequently closed school in the winter when it got too bad, and yet we were more prepared than most places.

After about nine minutes, I reached the house of Willow Foster, a girl in my English class, as well as Spanish and math. I was looking forward to that moment when I would be able to take her hand in mine and walk to the ball together. Although I had started to sweat a little from walking so fast, but when you have such long legs as mine, who could really blame you for going a little faster than deemed socially acceptable by most people?

Finally, the front door opened. I expected to see Mrs. Foster at the door, but instead it was the girl herself.

Willow was adorned in a long-sleeve, burnt-orange dress. It wasn't my favorite color, but it did go well with her skin. Luckily it wasn't transparent, or else we'd both be expelled from the school, probably.

"Good evening, Miss Foster" I said.

"Good evening, Mr. Enfield" she replied, clearly looking as though she saw no need to be so formal.

"Really, you can just call me Lucas, you know" I said. "It's not like I really want to be known by my last name. Yeah, it's cool and all, but I prefer my first name. Is that okay?"

"Yes, it is, Lucas. And you can just call me Willow, then. I don't mind it any more than you do".

We shook hands, even though I hate doing so. It's just an unnecessary way to spread germs, in my opinion. But my mother had told me that I really needed to act "normal" during the date. It wasn't as though she didn't have my best interests at heart, it was just that she wanted me to have my own best interests at heart.

After another twelve minutes of walking, making sure that I didn't get too far ahead of Willow, we finally arrived at the location of the ball. It was being held at the Swanville JCC, which I was familiar with. I had gone to a bunch of kid's groups there even though I am a Gentile, simply because this place was inclusive of everyone. The school, even though they barely had enough money to stay afloat in their current building, had managed to reserve the space of the gym for the dance floor.

"Let's see how this is" I said, before opening the door into the JCC's lobby.

As soon as we were inside the building, Willow gasped. I couldn't blame her, either. The setup was so amazing that any teenage girl in her right mind would be just as enthused as Willow was at that moment.

The lobby, which had a ceiling extending thirty feet above us, had been completely transformed. Since it was the JCC, there was a large ice menorah stuck into the ground. And by ground, I mean fake snow. I remembered reading that fake snow was made out of paper, but it wasn't cold. This snow must have been frozen ice cream, because I saw no other way that it could be so solid, and yet so cold.

"Hey, Lucas?" she asked me.

I looked over at her. "What were you going to tell me?"

"Do you want to go to the gym now?" she asked me.

I was so busy admiring the ice sculpture that I didn't notice that Willow was tugging on my arm. I realized that, whether I wanted to go to the gym or not, she was going to make me.

"Okay" I said, before she could take me there against my will.

We strode into the gym of the JCC. As soon as we walked in there, two pairs of blue eyes lit up, although I barely managed to notice Willow's. I could barely contain my own awe at the scene that had been set up.

It looked like something from a fairy tale involving a winter wonderland, something like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, or The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe. The place was just far too expansive for its own good. I remembered the JCC gym being very big, perhaps thirty yards square, but this scene did make it look a little smaller.

Christmas trees had been set up all over the floor, forming what could be seen as walls of forest. The ground itself had been painted an ice blue color, as if it was ice itself. If I wasn't careful, I could almost convince myself that I was going to fall and break my back. Fake snowdrifts covered the areas with the trees, and it definitely looked convincing to an outsider. The ceiling was probably being reflected by a disco ball or something, because it sure looked like there were fake stars on the ceiling of the gym. Despite the natural darkness due to the winter night and the fact that the lights were off, the whole place was somewhat visible due to lanterns being set up perhaps ten feet apart, much like street lights. A refreshments table had been set up in a central area, surrounding a massive pot of hot chocolate.

In short, it looked like the school had blown its entire math and science budget on just this one event.

"Do you want to go straight to the dance floor, or do you want something else to eat first?" Willow asked me.

"It's cool, I already ate. How about you?"

"I've had dinner as well. Let's dance, Lucas".

I hoped that my face wasn't turning red. "Dance, you say? I'm...not the best dancer, sorry about that".

"It's no problem" Willow said.

Just then, I noticed that three of my friends, all of whom were single, were standing together by one of the lights. They all looked as though they didn't want dates, which was okay with me, and probably Willow as well.

I'm not the best at social cues, but I could tell that she liked me as well. The question was whether or not she loved me.


Shane, Eric, and Chase were my three best friends at school. They all stood there, casually chatting. None of them seemed too dismayed by the fact that one of their best friends, who also had a date with him, seemed to be crashing their party.

"These are my friends, Willow. Is it okay if we hang with them for a little while?"

"Yeah, it's fine" Willow said.

And so, we stood over with them, and I quickly began to make small talk.

Shane was from a poorer family, who lived in one of the seedier parts of town. His parents were divorced, and his father had fought for custody with a vengeance, while her mother had done the same. In the end, the judge had awarded both parents 50-50 custody, essentially meaning that they both lost. I guess that's what happens. Besides that, though, Shane was a pretty cool dude. He had straight black hair, and always had a hand on his recorder, willing to play any song that one of us suggested, be it popular or otherwise.

Eric was from an upper-class family. He was very much into chess, and he always creamed me whenever I played him during lunch. Maybe I focused too much on my food, but by that logic so did he. He ate just as much as I did, and he wasn't fat, either. We both loved video games, especially Nintendo, and we often discussed one game or another when we weren't playing chess.

Chase was more middle-class, and he was very concerned with his appearance. He was always wearing some sort of pop culture-related shirt or other. Today, he was wearing the Coldplay album cover, with the New Age Flower Of Life design. He was always worried about what he was going to wear tomorrow, as if he didn't have enough shirts already. Of course, he had no shortage of shirts. However, he was so compulsive about it that he might as well have. There were rumors floating around the school that he was a closeted gay male.

Right now, I was going to have a five-way conversation with the three of them and Willow.

"So, Eric, have you beaten Super Mario RPG yet, for the seventh time?" I asked. We both loved that game.

"Not yet, Lucas. I'm still at that boss with the boobs that you hit. Man, I can't believe that they allow that in a Mario game".

"You mean Valentina? She can be hard, but you've got to remember to use those Kerokerocolas to your advantage" I said.

Eric nodded. He was still committed to beating the game without the Lazy Shell. And you didn't even get the Lazy Shell until after you defeated Valentina, so it was kind of futile, his quest to do so.

Just then, another song started up. This was one that I loved, by one of my favorite girl groups on the planet. It was "Shout Out To My Ex" by Little Mix.

"Let's dance!" I said.

We got to the dance floor just as the first stanza was nearing its end.

I took Willow's arm in mine and began swinging her around. I hoped she wouldn't mind this song to dance to. It wasn't like I could control it, but I hoped that she would not become my ex-girlfriend anytime soon. I could see other couples around the room dancing as well.

"I love Little Mix" Willow said.

I felt the same way. I didn't like all of their songs, but I liked the way that they sounded. For the most part, they seemed to be highly catchy girl power anthems. Which I had nothing against, although I have heard that there is a secret formula to how to make a catchy tune.

Right now, even though I was not going to sing it out as flamboyantly as Perrie, Jesy, Jade, and Leigh-Anne did, I was feeling pretty much exactly the same way. My evening was going perfectly so far. I didn't know what, if anything, could possibly go wrong. Perhaps this was naïve of me, but hey, that's just what happens.

Willow was still dancing, and she was looking me in the eyes even more now. I didn't want to kiss her just yet, since I didn't feel ready, but that seemed to be all right, because she wasn't looking too eager to kiss me yet already. We weren't at that stage in our relationship yet.

We'd only been together for about a week, and during that time we had not gone on any "official" dates, be it to a restaurant, to the movie theater, or to anywhere else for that matter. Even so, we were dancing more confidently than many of the couples who had been together for months on the floor. I could tell that they were getting a little jealous of my skill.

Right now, I could tell that we were definitely doing the best of any other couples that night so far. In fact, we were putting the others to shame. The dance floor began getting less and less populated as a result. They just couldn't compete with us. Maybe that sounds a little arrogant, but that was the truth.

In fact, the rest of the song played out over the next two and a half minutes, and the whole time there could not have been more than two or three other couples. Willow and I were really controlling things over on the dance floor, and I was very happy about that. I felt in the zone, like I was made to do this. As if God Himself had decreed that I, Lucas Enfield, was to be a dancer. And yet, that wouldn't have made too much since, because I tripped over my own feet a lot when attempting to do a samba routine.

Maybe, instead of lacking rhythm, I had too much of it.


Finally, the evening was over, and they were going to announce the title of King and Queen of the ball. This award was only available to those who were at the ball with a date. I had some hopes that I might have won it with Willow. In fact, that was an understatement.

Barring something absolutely ridiculous, I had won the title of Ball King. I could picture the crown on top of my head.

Finally, the principal of my school, Mr. Hartford, was standing in front of a podium, about to give out the award. I could feel my heart pounding very hard, and once again hoped that my skin was its usual tan color instead of turning crimson or pink.

"Voted for by the judges, the winner of Ball Queen and King...is a couple from right here, in Swanville".

Willow clasped my hand in mine so hard that you might have thought she was trying to crush it.

"This couple is none other than Willow Foster and Lucas Enfield. Congratulations to those two!"

The others clapped, although a cluster of the popular clique, the group that Willow prided herself so much on not being a part of, looked pissed. This was not completely justified, in my opinion. Not all of them had brought dates, so I had little or no sympathy for them. You might call that cruel, but I considered them to have brought this entirely upon themselves.

Mr. Hartford presented me with a crown and Willow with a tiara. He placed them squarely on our heads, and we looked at each other, very happy with what we had just done.

I pulled Willow into a bear hug. This night had just gotten even better.

If only my luck could have lasted.


It was as we were walking home, taking the usual route, that it happened.

"Did you hear that?" Willow asked nervously.

"I didn't" I said, and that was the truth. I don't exactly have owl ears at night.

"I thought it was...some kind of truck, or something".

"Willow, how many trucks are there in Swanville, really?" I asked, a little exasperatedly.

"I don't know, but that's what it sounded like!" she hissed. Then, without warning, she pushed me into a snowbank. Considering I had not been wearing snowpants, I quickly became very wet.

"Why-" I began to ask, but she clamped a hand over my mouth.

"Lucas, they're coming for us. We need to hide".

"Oh" I said. I had thought, oh, I don't know, that she was trying to mistreat her boyfriend?

Suddenly, I heard it, too. A chopper was coming in, and I saw that it had a logo on the side. It appeared to be a flying pig of some sort, but that made no sense. Pigs don't fly.

I had only seen it in one place before, and yet I had no reason to believe that it would turn up in real life, too.

"Lucas, what is that?" Willow asked.

Those were the last words she spoke. That is, before she collapsed into the snow. I tried to tap her shoulder to see what had happened, but it was no use.

"She won't wake" a voice said. "And neither will you, if you don't come with us".

"I-" I began to say, but I was cut off by a tranquilizer dart being shot into my lower leg.

I keeled over and lost consciousness.


I hope you guys like the cliffhanger!

This chapter took a little more than two hours to write, not including proofreading. Yes, I proofread this chapter. It might be only 4,000 words long, but it is nearly ten times longer than the last one, so I consider that a good start. I think that the chapter sizes will be different based on what is going on in the plot.

With that, I highly encourage you to review and PM me with any questions you might have. Also, new characters/ situations would be highly appreciated as well.

This update came the very day I wrote it. I'll try to keep at least 4 days between updates if I can help myself, though. If I learned any lesson from Bounding Through Time, this is it. If you update too fast, your story is not going to be that popular.

Credit goes to Peytonhungergameshaymitch for Willow. I really want more characters, guys.

SnowLucario out.