Prologue Two
Thud!
Falling out of bed—again. After so many years he thought he'd be over this. So much for that notion. Now that he was thinking about it, not adding in the elevated platform with steps to set his bed on was a very wise decision. Yes, definitely one of his best moves. Even better than his fantastic dance moves. It was a good thing no one was there to witness his taking an o-so-graceful topple out of his cozy berth. Especially, his brothers. If they had seen it he would never hear the end of it.
Yawning, he sat up on his knees, resting his right arm on his bed. He sighed, realizing he had absolutely nothing planned for the day. At all. No shows, no rehearsals. No nothing. How boring. He needed to figure something out.
Standing up, he stretched and headed for the washroom. As he passed the window, a sea of golden leaves swirling in the wind caught his eye. He stopped and stared out the window, watching the leaves as they danced. His mind was taken back into his past. Every season held special memories. The fluffy, white snow in winter. The colorful flowers in spring. The fireflies in summer. The crunchy, golden leaves in autumn…. Heh. Fireflies. Fireflies were always fun. He closed his eyes, imagining himself back home with his brothers, watching the fireflies dance around them. He could remember all three of them grinning like idiots as they watched. Of course, there was always one of them that could only stand it for so long before he began chasing the insects, trying to catch them.
Opening his eyes, he was immediately distracted by his reflection. Bed head. Great. He tried to smooth out his hair. Nope. Not gonna work. His hair still stuck out everywhere. The fact that it was flattened on top didn't help any. Only a shower was going to cure this mess. Sometimes he swore this mop of his had a mind of its own.
Sighing, he headed into the washroom, dragging his fingers across the doorjamb. Looking into the mirror, he noticed something strange on the edge of the door. Something was wrong. As he walked towards the door, he felt a sudden rush of adrenaline.
His eyes widened.
"It can't be."
His ears perked at the sound of something rapping at the window. Turning towards the window, he saw a large raptor perched on a tree limb, staring into the room.
"I know you," he said under his breath. What do you want?
The bird called as it sat perched, staring at him. He stared back as if in a trance.
A sudden knock at the door jolted him from his stupor. It was followed by the voice of a child.
"Mr. Jace?"
Jace opened the door to a young boy. "Pyrros?"
"Good morning, Mr. Jace," the boy cheerfully greeted.
"Good morning," Jace replied, tousling the boy's shaggy, brown hair. "What are you doing here?"
"Just delivering a message."
Jace raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Is that so?" He turned and walked back to the window with the boy following.
"Kleon and Eugenia want to talk to you about your next show." The boy looked up at Jace. When the man didn't reply, Pyrros followed his gaze out the window. His eyes widened. "Whoa…. It's a hawk. I didn't know hawks came down here."
"They don't," Jace said flatly.
"Do you think it belongs to someone?"
I know it does. He looked at the boy. "It is possible." The hawk called out once more and then flew off with Jace's gaze following.
Pyrros grimaced, watching the man. "Are you okay, Mr. Jace?"
"Huh?" He looked back at the boy. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." Pyrros smiled at him; he smiled back. "Go on. I need to get ready for the day."
"Okay. See you later, Mr. Jace."
As the boy ran off, Jace took one last look out the window. So, you finally found us. He smirked. We'll see who wins this time.
Xena: Warrior Princess
And there you have prologue number two. Of course, who has prologue three is obvious. His is going to be quite different though.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter.