Hey 'yall! :)
First and foremost, thank you all for all of the continued support with this ; it means so much!
I'll probably bring this story to a close within the next couple of chapters, so if you want to suggest a chapter, let me know now. :)
Also, one of the main reasons I write on here is so that I can improve my writing, so please don't hesitate to offer constructive criticism. :)
And, without further ado: chapter 10.
Eh, almost forgot: I believe I am required to say that none of the characters but Wegener belong to me (although feel free to use Wegener in your own stories if you really want to- just give me a heads up first :) )
Wegener leaned over the hot stove to reach the knob that would turn on the oven so that he could cook dinner. His mouth started watering; he could practically taste the shrimp already. Shrimp was, without a doubt, his favorite food. Below his arm, the swirled metal of the burner glowed cherry-red, warping the air in front of it. From where he stood though, the heat of the burner merely mimicked that of a very warm day.
"Gah!" Iceland watched, shocked, from the kitchen table.
"What?" Wegener asked, turning around and almost falling onto the stove after losing his balance on the chair he was standing on.
"Wegener, I don't know who's going to die first: you from stuff like this, or me from a heart attack watching it."
Wegener smiled. "Nor says you worry too much about me.
"Yeah, well he also says you need to play and be a kid more."
"Uncle Denmark says that you couldn't stand being a kid either."
"Oh yeah? Well-" Iceland paused, unsure of how to finish that sentence. "well that was long time ago."
"Not according to Uncle Denmark. He says it's still like that." Wegener smiled knowingly.
"You know what?" Iceland stood up from the table and switched off the oven. It was pretty early for dinner anyway and they ate not too far back. To anyone who didn't know him, this action would come across as angry. They were taking care of this now. "Not it!" he suddenly shouted.
"What?" Wegener looked over to where he heard Iceland talking, ready to give him the 'you've finally gone crazy' look, only to find that he was already gone: running out the front door. It took Wegener quite a bit longer than he'd like to admit to realize that he was it in a game of tag, and that his prey was escaping fast.
"Hey!" Wegener scrambled off the chair and chased after Iceland without even bothering to put any shoes on. "Not fair! You got a head start." Iceland was barely within earshot now, and kept running, laughing all the while.
The ground under wegener's feet was soft in rich soil. Though it had been a while since his island's appearance, the soil still had a flaky-fluffy quality from the ash that it used to be. The grass to, was soft, though not yet lush. It was excellent farmland. Somehow, weeds were having trouble making an appearance on the island, leaving the little grass-sprouts to take root and spread.
Wegener was panting heavily by the time Iceland had wound through all of the shops and small houses and led them both down to the beach.
The beach, like the rest of the island, was bordered by rich soil, and tall grass grew right up to the high tide-line, where it gave way to a rockier mix of stones, mainly pumice. It wasn't uncommon for the crests of waves to be dotted with chunks of the rock either, making swimming along the coast a bit of a hazard.
Iceland realized that Wegener, with his shorter legs, would never catch up to him, and slowed down, feigning exhaustion.
Wegener ran on ahead, feet splashing against the frigid North Atlantic ocean whenever the waves came up far enough to lap at his feet. When Wegener got close enough, Iceland spun around laughing, kicking water up in the air playfully so that Wegener got splattered with it.
"Hey!" he shouted, grinning deviously.
Iceland laughed again. "So are you going to catch me or n-"
His sentence was cut off abruptly as Wegener unexpectedly slammed into him, tackling his older brother to the ground. Iceland lied on the beach for the moment, little stones digging into the back of his head uncomfortably, not to mention dazed and with the wind knocked out of him.
"Wow; you're a lot stronger than last time I was here."
Wegener smiled. "You're it." He knew that he should probably run now, but instead, they both lay a few feet apart on the rocky pumice beach, catching their breath.
"That was fun," Wegener panted.
"Yeah." Iceland's typical introversive attitude was slowly returning.
Wegener wasn't sure if their game of tag was over yet or not, but either way, he felt so...content right then. On his island, with the sun turning the sky all sorts of fiery colors, with his big brother visiting. He didn't want to get up.
Of course, a frigid wave had to suddenly come up farther than it was supposed to at this time in the afternoon, ruining the peaceful atmosphere. Wegener sat up, coughing on the water he just inhaled and rubbing the salt out of his eyes.
"Are you okay?"
Wegener felt Iceland's hand patting his back, a bit harder than necessary.
"Yeah," Wegener croaked, coughing one more time. He was more stunned than anything.
Iceland and Wegener were both soaked by this point, with their hair plastered to the sides of their faces and clothes sticking to them.
"Come on," Iceland said, helping Wegener up. "Let's get you back to your house. You'll get sick out here." The term 'your house' still felt wrong in his mouth.
"Worry-wart," Wegener teased, not trying to cause any real offense. Still, he was shivering. Wegener's island wasn't a warm place most of the time.
"Hmph."
Suddenly, Wegener shot forward, racing full speed ahead.
"What are you doing!?" Iceland shouted.
Several seconds later, a reply was yelled in the distance "You're it now, remember?"
"Never grow up, Wegener," Iceland muttered to himself, before breaking into a sprint. He had a race to win.
Hope you liked this chapter :) I wasn't actually planning on writing this one, but I wanted to update with something while I'm working on some other things, so I whipped this up really quickly. All of the views, favorites, follows, and reviews mean the world. Thank you so much! Special thanks to Transformers' BABY and Miss Akiyata for their reviews on chapter 9! :)