NOW ENTERING ALLEN'S MEMORIES:
It was a clear sunny day. It was a little hot but the wind helped create the perfect temperature. A small, black carriage came rolling across a vast plain. "Do I really have to stay in this shitty place?" a small boy asked, "There's not a single town for miles."
"I'm sorry, you'll have to make the best of it," a man next to him said. He appeared to be the boy's father and was around 23 years old. His hair was sticking out and several places and several parts of his bangs were sticking out. He was a relentless, hard worker, but knew no limits to spoiling his son. One time he almost bought a whole store because he thought all the clothes made his son look stunning.
The carriage came to a stop in front of a great mansion. It was clearly very old but had a historical sense of wonder to it. "What is this shitty place?" the boy complained. Some people came out of the door to greet them. Two were small boys, both no more than two years older than the new boy. One hid behind their mother's skirt while the other brought him closer to the new boy.
They came up to the new boy. "Hi, I'm Neah!" The older one said. "I'm Mana," the younger said, holding out his hand. The new boy simply ignored it and looked back at his father. His eyes said, how long am I stuck here?
His father knelt down next to him, ruffling his soft, brown hair. "You have to stay here until you are older," he said with a sad smile. "It's an old tradition that you stay here until you reach adulthood, at age 18." The boy looked down, digging into the dirt with the tip of his shoe. "Be good, ok?" The man scooped his dad into a big hug and in the first time in a long time, the boy hugged him back. Normally he'd never hug his father when people were watching but to him these people were nobodies.
His father got up and went back into the carriage, riding away. After watching his father leave, the boy dumped his luggage on Neah and Mana saying, "Take these to my room." Neah got angry at that but his mother said, "Bennet," motioning to a tall 15 year old boy. "Would you take these in? They seem too heavy for these boys." Bennet smiled and the bags from them.
The moment their mother went inside he threw all the bags but the smallest one back at Mana. "Children should learn to respect their elders," he said snarling. Neah was so close to punching him but Mana put his hand on his shoulder and smiled gently. Just give it up, his eyes seemed to say, you know we never win. Neah said nothing and just picked up as many bags as he could – so Mana would have a lighter load.
Satisfied with his work, Bennet skipped lightly into the house, followed by Mana and Neah struggling to carry the numerous bags. Up ahead, their mother showed the new boy his room. He walked in it and was disappointed by the simplicity of it. It had barren walls and wood floors. The bed was twin size and covered in blankets that had clearly been used before. There was a dusty mirror and an old wooden desk that seemed if something was put on it, it would break into millions of pieces.
He turned around to complain to Mrs. Walker but she had already left. He opened the door to find and yell at her but instead he saw Neah and Mana, smiling nervously. The boy just turned his head away and went to sit by the window, watching them as they brought the bags in. The window was clean on the inside but the outside was so dirty there were clumps of dirt. He put his feet up as he lay on the mat covering the wide window sill.
After carefully putting the bags down, Mana went and stood in front of the new boy. When he finally looked at Mana, Mana bowed. "I was wondering what we may call you; I didn't think it was polite to simply refer to you as the new boy for the rest of your life," he said remaining in his bent over position. "You can call me Walker-sama and nothing else," he said curtly. Satisfied that he got some sort of an answer, Mana walked out, motioning for Neah and Bennet to follow. Bennet looked at the small boy again through the corner of his eye. Fresh meat, he thought.
As soon as they left, Walker-sama quickly got to work, before someone came back in. He opened one of his bags and got several handkerchiefs out. He went over to the window and opened it, to get rid of the stale air. He took out a canteen and poured water on a handkerchief. He knelt on the ground and began to run, with his hands on the cloth as if he was cleaning a dojo. He even crawled under the bed to get out the dust. Getting a new napkin he cleaned the desk, the mirror, the drawers, and even fluffed out the blankets.
He stopped for a moment, looking for what was left and he saw the window. Carefully he leaned out of the window to clean the outside of it. However, since he was so short, he couldn't clean the top of it. He reached out further, trying to clean it, when he slipped. He fell backwards when someone caught his legs. He hung there dangling as the person pulled him up.
When he came up he saw Mana. Embarrassed, he tried to make an excuse but couldn't come up with one. Seeing his chance, Mana said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." The boy looked instantly relieved. "That it," Mana said, worrying the boy, "If you tell me your first name." He carefully considered this. He didn't want either but he finally decided. He whispered something. Mana came closer to hear it. He whispered again and again Mana moved closer, this time putting his hand to his ear. He was so close he could feel the boy breathing on his ear. "It's Allen," he said in a quiet voice. Mana stood back up. Allen was blushing. Mana put out his hand, which Allen took as if there was a gun pointed at his head. "Nice to meet you," Mana said. Author's Note:
Next time things will get dramatic. Don't forget I love reviews so please review even if you only put a smiley face. Oh and I am thinking about uploading chapters as they come along so you get most of the story for that week before Sunday. There will still be a min of 1,700 words per week though. I will change to this policy if I get even just one review supporting it. I am only trying to do what you wish so if you don't review saying you want this new policy I will go ahead and assume you like having a single update per week.
Total words this week: 1,725
Total words with note: 1,844