%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
Original stories/poems before word count and/or prompt adherement revisions. |
Entry for "Monthly Calendar Contest"  'Original' "Cinder Klause" Word count: 1216 Cinder "This is it!" Cinder bounded up the steps, joy clear on his face. "Oook, maybe we should...," before Serelle could suggest looking up the phone number and calling or at least coming back when the weather was better, Cinder was banging on the huge oak door. "Cinder, stop!" Serelle yanked the overly enthusiastic boy back just in time. The door swung open with enough force to draw a chilly gust of wind off the street, through the four kids piled on the stoop and into the surly face of an older man. He may have been in his sixties but could just have easily been early to mid-fifties. He had a distinguished look about him that made anyone he came in contact with want to make their best impression. Awkward silence reigned as everyone stared at each other. Unsurprisingly, Cinder recovered the quickest? "Mr. Krangle?!" The man fixed Cinder with a steely gray gaze, but made no attempt to respond. "My name is Cinder, Cinder Krangle. I was adopted from this city 18 years ago and I think..." Cinder gulped and took a big steadying breath, "I think I was born here." A new look entered the door opener's eyes. Was it surprise? Fascination? It was hard to tell, his mature features barely changed.Only reason they knew the man had heard Cinder was because the corners of his mouth twitched and his eyes softened the tiniest bit. The steel grey irises from a moment ago glistened a dark blue. Was that a trick of the light? A car with bright headlights had just drove by. "There is no one here by that name." The moody eyed man went to close the door. "Please!" Cinder pushed on the door, preventing the man from shutting it in their faces. The man's eyes widened in obvious surprise. His shock matched that of Cinder and his friends, who were surprised at his forwardness. Cinder quickly removed his hand but stepped forward making it impossible for the man to shut the door without pushing Cinder aside. "I don't mean to be a bother but I've traveled all the way from the states and have to...I need to know." Moody Eyes stared at Cinder for what felt like a full minute. Finally he replied, with what could have been admiration, though his voice was a bored monotone, "Come back tomorrow, noon, don't be late." On that surly invitation the man shut the door with finality, making Cinder leap back or risk a broken nose. "Oooook," Diamond drawled after she felt they had stared at the cold oak door for long enough, "now what?" Cinder sighed and faced the street, turning his back on the one place he truly wanted to be at the moment. "I guess we go back to the hotel." "What hotel? I told you guys, that 5-star was only for the night." "Aw c'mon sugah mama, you know you can afford it." Serelle teased, swinging an arm around her neck and leading their group onto the sidewalk and off the Grinch's doorstep. "That's beside the point 'Relle and you know it." She attempted to sound annoyed but couldn't keep the smirk from her face. "That's ok," Cinder chipped in, regaining some of his cheerful vigor, "That 3-star down the line from here didn't look so bad." Diamond grimaced. "No making faces, Madame Bigshot, if Cozy Inn isn't good enough for the Smile Queen there's always--" "Always what?! I should just leave you slubs to it and see ya in the morning." "Heck no Dee! Orphans that lay together stay together. You're not ditching us Pillow Princess." "I'll ditch your butt if I want! You don't own me Buck Tooth Rogers." Diamond and Serelles banter faded from Cinder's attention. He couldn't say what, but a sudden change in the weather captured his mind. There was no name for it though Cinder felt it in his stomach and to his very core. Something big. Something bad. He gazed at the sky, it had been overcast all day and bits of frost had started falling right before they had got to 1111 Stonewall Pl. and Cinder had his past slammed in his face. His eye caught on to something falling. Too big to be snow, too fast to be rain... Cinder grunted as he crashed to the ground, his lungs crumpling under Findley's weight. "What the hell Fin?!" Diamond cried, "You trying to kill him? This is no time to play in the snow." "Whoa, what is this?" Serelle held a smooth sphere of ice, the size of a baseball. Cinder looked at the ice ball that nearly cracked his skull then back to Findley. The sleepy eyed boy was staring at him with intense meaning. "You saw that? Knew what it was." Fin nodded. Suddenly the loud pop of heavy glass breaking on cement sounded barely five feet to their left. "We better go." Cinder said while dragging himself and Findler to their feet. Without another word the four friends began to jog toward the train station at the end of the street. By the time they reached the safety of the railway awning the four were in an all out sprint to escape the barrage of monster hail raining down. Diamond was bent over catching her breath when Cinder heard the whistle of air. Instinctively he reached his arm out parallel to the ground and caught a baseball ice cube identical to the one Findley had just saved him from. His hand was mere centimeters from Diamond's face. Serelle grabbed Dee's arm and pulled her onto the waiting train. Cinder and Findley followed suite, narrowly escaping the next round of ice balls that collided with the trains steel doors. For a few minutes no one said anything as they fought to catch their breath. "What, what was that?!" Diamond whispered, shock and trauma clear in her voice. "Hail." Serelle said grimly. "Hail doesn't fall sideways Serelle!" Diamond shrieked. "It's windy out!" "Not that windy!!" "So what then Dee? What do you think happened? You think the ice is after Cin? That he was able to keep you from getting beaned in the head because he's some sort of cross between Sinterklaas and Jackie Robinson?!" Diamond scowled, not willing to let Serelle goad her into another argument. One of Dee's favorite pastimes was to fantasize about who their birth parents were. 'Relle always enjoyed mocking her by saying they were probably the illegitimate offspring of fictional characters and famous people who were long deceased. "No doubt, and my dad is the Easter Bunny, your mom is the Tooth Faerie and the Findley twin's uncle is the Sand-Man. Really Dee..." Diamond was near tears. She was about to lay into Serelle when Findley cleared his throat. Dee and 'Relle quieted. The three of them looked over to Cinder. Cinder stared at the ice ball still gripped tightly in his hand. Something about this wasn't right. It looked like ice, felt like ice, but wasn't ice. Least it wasn't like any ice he'd ever seen. "Cinder," Dee said his name softly, carefully. Cinder stowed the ice ball in his coat pocket and looked at her. "What do we do now?" Cinder assessed his childhood friends. He saw the fear in their eyes, the confusion, and the determination. "We get a good nights sleep, we come back tomorrow, and we don't leave until we get answers. ------------------------ The next day was much like the last, dank, dreary and dark. The clouds formed one thick grey blanket over the city of Moscow. The fluffy texture of multiple gray shades was anything but comforting. Though it wasn't raining or hailing Diamond insisted on buying a sturdy plastic umbrella before returning to Stonewall Pl. "I don't know what you think that thing's gonna do." teased Serelle "If it starts hailing again like yesterday all that will do is keep your scalp from getting too cold when the ice ball connects with your head through the plastic." Diamond didn't bother responding, another sign that told Cinder how worried, and annoyed, she was. Serelle picked up on her mood also and didn't speak the rest of the way there. At 11:55 they were standing on the door stoop. Cinder hesitated at the heavy ornate door. "What are you doing? Knock already," said Serelle. "He said come at noon, we're early," Cinder surmised. "You're kidding right? You were all Gung Ho yesterday, couldn't wait and now you want to just stand here for five minutes?!" Cinder bit his lip. "For crying out loud." Serelle reached over and rammed on the door. Before Cinder could adequately rebuke his best friend the door was opened, not with the same force as yesterday but with just as much gusto. Mr. Moody from the day before looked down on them from the raised doorstep. He took a second to assess their group, as if he were mentally calculating their worthiness. The apparently passed muster because he stepped aside as if to beckon them in. Cinder gave his friends one last nervous glance then walked over the threshold and into the foyer. In inside was delightfully homey with a muted relaxation feel to the atmosphere. The foyer in which they stood had a deep cherry hardwood flooring. To the left was a sun room, usually used to display a family's "good" furniture and entertain guests. The entry to this sun room was crowded with rows upon rows of books. Straight ahead was a circular room, soft stone pillars and more books flanked the entrance. Puffy red furniture surrounded a crackling fireplace set into the far wall. Cinder's view of the rooms on the right were obstructed by Diamond, Serelle, and Mr. Moody as he held the door for Findley. The ever dozy Fin took his time as usual. Nothing seemed to faze him, one would think they visited strangers homes on the regular the way he carried on. Moody looked out the door and checked up and down the sidewalk. "It's just the for of us," Moody snapped his head around, fixing Cinder with his hard grey eyes. Cinder's mouth went dry. "sir." After a final cursory glance at the street, Moody shut the door, an ominous click and deafening lock ringing the sound of entrapment. Moody walked past them and down into the room with the fireplace, leaving the friends to gape at each other in question and incredulity. The man would have rammed straight into Cinder and Diamond if they hadn't leapt out the way as he walked past. Obviously his spirit hadn't warmed any at the prospect of guests. Once again Cinder led the group into the bowels of the town home. Taking care not to slip on books, they walked down the two steps separating the fire room from the foyer. Moody was sitting on a small round ottoman, the same warm red as all the furniture in this room. He stoked the waning fire back to fully flame, completely ignoring the presence of the four teens he had just let into his home. Cinder looked at his friends for guidance. Serelle shrugged and plopped down onto an oversize sofa set against the right wall behind them. Diamond sat next to him and Findley fell into the seat on her other side, leaving Cinder as the last man standing. He cleared his throat. "Excuse me. Mr...." "Kingsley, my name is Kingsley." The soft baritone of moody Kingsley sounded tired but strong. "Mr. Kingsley, do you know the Krangles?" ---------------- Image Credit: Pixie-Tenshi of DeviantArt - http://rahwia.deviantart.com/art/Jack-Frost-349511026 --------------- Name pronouncians: Serelle = suh-rail -------------- Notes ▼ -------------- Full Prompt: Sinterklaas (read Santa Claus - originally celebrated on Dec 5) is bringing along storm Xaver. You are visiting somewhere in Europe in a country where Sinterklaas/Sant Niclaus is celebrated. Are you sitting the storm out with friends or relatives, or got stranded on a train station? Write down your adventures! "Invalid Post" |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
