Breton Wager

Christian Aubrey

Illustration courtesy of Teepi Guest

Breton Wager - 2

After the Christian’s declaration, Breton lost control of the time and was yanked back to Math class. He hit the chair with an, “Oof!” A girl behind him gave him a look, and then continued punching numbers into her calculator. The bell rang, and it was time to pay attention.

Breton turned to the front of the room to watch the teacher. Mr. Brown crossed to the center of the room with great purpose.

“Today! We shall be learning the equation to time travel! Singular One! Let us begin!” Mr. Brown executed every word with a flourish.

Breton decided he no longer wanted to sit through this and with a wink of his eye, slipped out of time.

Breton began to walk towards 9:08, when free period began. He made it halfway down the hallway when he felt the pain hit his head again. What was he doing in Math class? Well, he would know soon enough. He began making his way to the auditorium.

“I suppose you think you’re too good for Math class, then,” the Christian’s voice floated to Breton’s ears, the Christian floating behind it. “You’re such a special time walker, you don’t need to sit through time travel equations.”

Breton wasn’t sure why, but he found himself waiting for the Christian to catch up with him.

“Well?” the Christian asked, reaching Breton’s shoulder. “Are we feeling special this morning?”

“I already know the equation for time travel,” Breton explained as be continued to progress to 9:08.

The Christian followed him closely. “You know, other people would know it too if they were born with special abilities like you, Breton!” he replied derisively.

“I could tell them if they asked,” Breton offered.

“I could tell them if they asked,” the Christian mocked.

Breton reached 9:08 and snapped back into time. The smack of his return caused him to stumble somewhat down the auditorium stairs.

“Breton!”

Two children Breton’s age, his two friends, were the only people in the otherwise empty auditorium. Nashaadh and Rose waved as Breton made his way towards them.

“There you are!” Rose exclaimed. “We were going to start without you!”

“Rose was going to start without you,” Nashaadh clarified. “I would have waited.”

“What were you going to start without me?” Breton asked.

“We’re making posters with things like, Don’t Touch the Lighting Equipment and stuff like that,” Rose answered.

“Since I’m the Backstage Manager and no one else does anything useful around here,” Nashaadh sighed resignedly, picking up a stack of poster paper.

“Hey! I help!” Rose complained. “Look! I brought markers!”

“I know you help, Rosie. And Breton does, too,” Nashaadh quelled Rose. “Thanks, by the way, both of you. Neither of you are even on stage crew.”

“We were hoping you could do the drawings,” Rose said to Breton. “‘Cause you’re good at that kinda thing.”

Rose handed Breton the markers and placed the poster paper in his hands. Nashaadh headed backstage.

“I only draw with pens and ink,” Breton spoke.

“Oh! Well! Mr. Special over here!” Rose cried out. “Only draws with pens!”

Breton was reminded of something.

“Rose! Calm down!” Nashaadh said orderly, returning from backstage with a box full of costumery. “Breton, I’m sure there are some pens in the Art room I can go find for you.”

“The equation for time travel is ((0 − 273.15) × 95 + 32)K + T over 1s(D) times SE,” Breton declared. Nashaadh and Rose stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

“Um, thank you, Breton, but . . . why, I mean, we already know that . . . I can get you some pens, if you want,” Nashaadh spoke uncertainty, placing the box of costumes on the floor of the stage.

“Yeah, because Nashaadh’s mother invented the equation for time travel,” Rose shared loudly.

“Rose, hush,” Nashaadh muttered, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you go get Breton some pens from the Art room.”

“What? Why me?” Rose whined. “It just started getting interesting!”

“Rose, please,” Nashaadh asked of him.

“Fine, fine, I’m going,” Rose gave in, jumping off the stage and making his way up the auditorium stairs. “But you guys better not start without me!”

The auditorium door slammed behind Rose as he exited the room.

Nashaadh took a seat on the edge of stage and gestured for Breton to sit beside her. He did.

“Breton,” she stated. “Are you alright?”

“I’m being haunted by a B- Art project,” Breton shared with his cousin. There was a pause as Nashaadh looked off into the distance.

“Out of time?” she asked.

Breton nodded.

“Do you want to talk to my mother about it?”

There was another pause as Breton looked off into the distance.

“Not yet,” Breton decided.

“Okay,” Nashaadh finished.

There was a silence.

The auditorium door slammed. “I’m back!” Rose announced. “And I brought lots of pens!”

Poor Margret - 3

The Royal Residence Room was a huge domed ballroom-like space. Beams of light ricocheted off the purplish yellow walls. Mist swirled around the feet of the bewildered Esse and Kennen. Kennen was on his feet because he had lost his ability to fly. “Esse!” Kennen gasped. “I can’t fly!”

“Must be security.” Esse mused. She had busied herself reading the labels by the doors. “Here we are!” Esse said, pointing to a label that read ORDERER GEMMA ELIZABETH’S ROYAL RESIDENCE. She knocked on the door. The door opened. And Orderer Gemma stood in the doorway. “Esse! Kennen!” she said in surprise. “What are you doing here?” Esse explained the idea she had had to come here, and Kennen told about Sir Anerapell and Sir Nek VI. Orderer Gemma sighed. “Those two.” she said, shaking her head. “I’ll give you a real tour.”

After Orderer Gemma’s real tour, Kennen felt better and Esse had gotten over Sir Nek VI’s terrifying ness. They had gone home, and they had told Nurse Moss their adventures, and they had slept, and woken up, until it was Wednesday. On Wednesday, Kennen awoke in his office, which Orderer Gemma had told him and Esse would happen. As Kennen sat waiting for Esse to wake up, he studied the walls. They were, in fact, not covered in scribbles, but in words that were overlapped on each other. Kennen stared harder. There were only three sentences written. The first, over by the window, said

I wouldn’t eat that if I were you.

The second, all clustered around the door, said

Don’t go! Stay! Stay!

Each of these was followed by a number, such as 28, 35, or 57. The highest number Kennen could find was 118. But the strangest message of all was written almost everywhere in the room, overlapped many times. It read

My name is Annaig, look up. ^

Very, very slowly, Kennen raised his eyes up to the ceiling. And he saw them. The two eyes stuck in his ceiling, which were staring at him right now.

Hello, Kennen

Anniag said. And Kennen noticed new messages he never noticed before.

Hello, Davide

Hello, Yam

Hello, Chico

Hello, Leugim

Hello, Luiza

Hello, Aidalac

And many other names, covering the ceiling around the eyes. Which were still watching Kennen. Suddenly, the door opened and in strolled Esse. “Hey, Kennen. Happy Wednesday!” Esse said. “What’s so interesting about the ceiling?”

Weasel Water Lou of the Peace in Carlos

Esse awoke on the lovely morning of November the fifth. Hoping something exciting was going to happen, she stuck her head out the window by the foot of her bed. A breeze was blowing, gently nudging the fluffy white clouds across the sky. The breeze picked up, blowing Esse’s long magenta hair into her face. Esse blew it back out.

A few people walked on the streets below, laughing and talking. Esse pulled her head back into her room. It felt like Spring. That’s how it always felt in The Peace in Carlos. Peaceful weather was always around. Right now it was Autumn, so every day was just the right temperature for a sweater or a light jacket. Esse sighed. November the fifth seemed to be like every other day in November. Nothing exciting.

“Were you hoping for bizarre weather again?” Esse’s older sister asked. As Esse turned around, her sister rolled her eyes. Esse stuck out her tongue. “Stop it, Elian.” Esse said.

They headed down to breakfast. Everyone else was already there. “You two have to work on getting up earlier and faster.” Their mother, Mrs. Iflandoonia said. “It was all Esse’s fault.” Elian said. “It was not!” Esse said back. “You two.” Mrs. Iflandoonia said, shaking her head. “Esse, go put your hair up.” “Mom, I told you, I hate putting my hair up!” Esse complained.

Esse had the longest hair in the school: two feet, three inches. Illtyd said it looked like a chocolate fountain except magenta because of its color. Illtyd liked food, so he described Esse’s eyes as spinach colored. Her skin, he said, was just normal (On Puffolpuddels [The planet Esse lives on] that is bright blue).

“C’mon!” Illtyd called to them. “Mommy is making eggs and roast beef!” Esse sat down next to him. Illtyd smiled. He had always believed that Esse had The Magical Powers of the Bonnet. The Bonnet’s Son was a book that Illtyd was reading right now. Illtyd was six years old, but a very advanced reader for his age.

“Is today a school day?” Ty asked. “Yes, Ty. But it’s Friday, so people can play with you tomorrow.” Mrs. Iflandoonia said. “You’re lucky you’re only three years old.” Demitri, Esse’s ten year old brother, said between mouthfuls. Ty clapped her hands. Mrs. Iflandoonia sighed. Demitri and Sverre Jon (the twins of the family) had taught Ty to do that whenever she heard someone say, “You’re lucky you’re only three years old.”

After they finished breakfast, Mrs. Iflandoonia was moving quickly. “Esse, you and the twins have to be on the bus in twenty minutes. Go pack your stuff. Esse, don’t forget your Science homework. You also have a test today!” Esse rushed upstairs planning to meet her brothers at the door in five minutes. She ended up dropping the contents of her satchel all over the floor, and become late enough that Mrs. Iflandoonia yelled up at her.

Finally, Esse and the twins were out the door. “Bye!” Ty called after them. She was still finishing her eggs.

At school, Esse was mulling over her Science test. She understood the question, but how would she explain it? Oh well. It was just one question anyway. Esse snuck a peek at Price’s paper. Price had written: “The Carriage War started in 809, just after Aliprand Shekhar took power. Esse wrote: “The Wagon War started in 810, just before Aliprandi Sheephair lost power. That should get her at least half credit.

After Lunch, Mr. Oliverst had everyone sit at their desks instead of coming to the large table at the front of the room. “Today, class, I have a special announcement.” he said. “The Museum of Time and Space has selected the top History students to see the first Dental Floss exhibit, featuring dental floss through the years! The special students selected are Miss Winterpegg, Miss Yinyi, Miss Iflandoonia, Miss Sandy, Mr. Herlbemmer and Mr. Lik. You will all be going next Tuesday during English, free time, and the beginning of dismissal. Please note you will have English homework that day. Also, please stay after school. Today.”

Esse groaned, and she heard a few others groan too. Mr. Oliverest ignored them, as he was so used to doing. Esse did well in History because she had to. Mrs. Iflandoonia made her. Not so she could go to a Dental Floss exhibit and miss homework time (not that she liked doing homework, but doing it late was even worse).

After math class, Esse and the others stood around Mr. Oliverst’s desk to hear what he had to tell them. A few people were excited; Mr. Oliverst certainly was. Esse wasn’t. She really didn’t like History.

“You will have partners as you go through the Dental Floss exhibits so you don’t get lost. Here they are: Mr. Herlbemmer and Miss Iflandoonia, Mr. Lik and Miss Sandy, and Miss Winterpegg and Miss Yinyi. Please do not complain, there is no switching partners. Good day.” A few people groaned again. Esse didn’t. She was hoping that her partner, Price, would just ignore her. Price usually did. On the bus ride home, Esse heard Price and Takahiro talking.

“We don’t have to go with our partners. We can just hang out together.” Price was saying. “Yeah, they're just girls. Why would they care?” Takahiro agreed. Esse snorted. Takahiro’s partner, Difgih, was probably one of Esse’s least favorite people. No, Esse was not going to spend two and a half hours with Difgih Sandy even if it meant wandering around by herself. This wouldn’t actually be too hard, because Difgih didn’t like Esse either.

“How was school?” Mrs. Iflandoonia asked Esse at dinner. Elian had just given a long story about how boring and easy the IQ Test for Advanced Students was. “It was good.” Esse said. “I got selected to go to the new Dental Floss through time exhibit before it’s even opened. I’m Price’s partner.” “Which one’s Price?” Mr. Iflandoonia asked. “Her boyfriend.” Demitri said through a mouthful of pizza.

“Price Herlbemmer.” Esse answered. “Remember? You had such a long conversation with Mr. Herlbemmer last PTA Meeting that you had a sore throat for a week. And Price is not my boyfriend.”

“Oh, yeah. Him. Is the kid better than the parent?” Mr. Iflandoonia asked.

“Luc! They are both wonderful people!” Mrs. Iflandoonia scolded.

Breton Wager - 4

Breton went home that day on the bus with Rose. Rose sat on Breton’s lunch twice, and then he sat on Tony’s lunch, and by that point they were home and there were no more lunches to sit on.

Breton entered his house and was pleased. He could hear his mother in the kitchen and his father in the parlor. He had little homework, and he would complete it in the kitchen beside his mother, with his father in view. It would be a good ending to his Wednesday.

Breton took a seat at the kitchen table. His mother was making soup.

“Welcome home, Breton, how was school?” she asked, tossing carrots with a flourish.

“Indeed, Breton! How was you day?” echoed his father from his seat in the parlor.

“May I go to the Masquerade Ball on Friday?” Breton asked his parental unit.

“By yourself?” his mother asked, adding beets to the supper stew.

“I was planning on attending with Nashaadh and Rose,” Breton explained.

“Oh, Nashaadh! How is she?” his father asked. “You know, I haven’t called Ashley in quite a while.”

“And Rose,” his mother added. “When’s the last time we saw Rose? What’s his real name again?”

“Roosevelt,” Breton answered, assuming that this meant his masquerade attendance was approved.

“Ah, yes, named after that old president we had all that time ago!” Breton’s mother continued on.

“I think I shall call Ashley right now,” Breton’s father mused from the parlor.

Breton quietly slipped out of time.

It had been a rewarding but long day, and Breton had gotten about half an hour closer to bedtime when he heard a familiar voice.

“Breton! Breton! Are those your parents?” the Christian floated in through a wall, floppy arm dangling exasperatedly.

“Yeah,” Breton said. He wasn’t certain why, but once again, he found himself stopping his forward progression to wait for the Christian.

“They are adults, you know. Awfully so. Well above the age of eighteen. I shall approve of one parent at a time, please,” the Christian commanded boastfully.

Breton began to continue forward towards bedtime. He felt the Christian’s arms bumping against his head as he walked.

“Your father is the brother in law of Ashley Sonjan, correct?” the Christian asked forcefully.

“Yes,” Breton answered, really only half paying attention to the loud puppet. It really did remind him of the real Christian.

“Nikodemus Bauerbecken, brother of Ashley Sonjan. Patterson and Ashley Sonjan. Two daughters: Nashaadh Sonjan and Naulii Sonjan,” the Christian recited, as if this memorization of facts was even at all worth showing off.

“Interesting,” Breton mumbled distractedly.

“Ashley Sonjan invented the equation for time travel,” the Christian continued. “Are you special, Breton? Or is your aunt the real hero of the story?”

Breton jumped back into time with a smack, hitting his bed with much more force than he meant to. He didn’t sleep well that night.

Weasel Water Lou of the Peace in Carlos - 10

December 2nd was a day of mourning for Luc. They had his funeral and made a grave. They filled a coffin with lots of things to represent him and then buried it deep into the ground. Esse told about their adventure. Kennen told of Luc’s death. Everyone understood that after Luc was dead,Kennen of course could not help him. Luc’s parents and siblings were given gifts. It was safe to say that Luc would never be forgotten. He helped Esse find out how to open the painting. He saved Esse when Ursula Kinns kidnapped her. Luc did lots of other wonderful deeds before Esse even knew him. Luc was truly a wonderful bear. Esse cried through most of it. But Kennen comforted her by gently landing on her shoulder. “Thanks, Kennen.” she whispered in his ear. “Throughout my whole adventure, I’ve had friends. I’m glad you’re here now that Luc is gone.” And that is how Esse survived the funeral of her best friend. With a friend, who will always be there for her. And she will return the favor, and always be there for him.

THE END

Poor Margret - 4

“Yikes!” Esse said, following Kennen’s gaze upward to the ceiling. “Kennen, whose eyes are those? They’re humongous!”

“And they talk to me too.” Kennen told her.

“Really? Kennen, are you insane? Maybe we should call your sister, Heavenly Evenly.”

“No, Esse, look at the walls.” Kennen said.

“Yikes!” Esse said, looking around. “Kennen, did you do this?”

“No.” Kennen answered. “Annaig did.” Suddenly, Esse let out a little squeak. Kennen looked up.

Hello, Essy. Are you a friend of Kennen’s? My name is Annaig.

“Um.” Esse said. “it’s E-S-S-E.” Annaig corrected his mistake. Esse nodded approvingly. “He seems nice.” she told Kennen. Annaig drew a large heart around Esse’s name. “I think Annaig likes you too.” Kennen answered her.

Soon, Esse and Kennen had moved all of Esse’s work into Kennen’s Office. “The floor is too slippery.” Esse said. “Besides, I need more company to work happily.” Kennen’s job that day was to was to go through everyone’s files and see who had a criminal record. Esse’s was to go through the files of the people just moving to The Land of Nimm. “Hey,” Esse said, pulling out a file. “Here’s your sister.” Kennen leaned over to read. It said:

The File of:

Heavenly Evenly likes to eat at elevenly LALALALALA Pie. DODODO, NANANA, Tickle some type of fly Mamamel Pastamaker

“What in the world? Is that really her full name?” Esse asked.

“I never told you?” Kennen answered.

“Does she like pie?” Esse asked. Kennen shrugged. “I would think so. Can’t you look in her file?” he asked. Esse opened it. There on the first page it read:

Likes Pie:Yes/No/Limited

Job: NonDominant Animal Psychiatrist

“Huh.” Esse said. “The pie a bit of a strange thing to put in a file.” Kennen shrugged. “Not if you’re Heavenly Evenly.” he said.

Some time later, Kennen found his first criminal record. “Hey, Esse, did you know that Emelea and her children have a criminal record?” he asked. Esse leaned over to see. “Well, I guess Luc never told me the story.” Esse answered. “Then I will.” Kennen began:

The Story of Emela’s Children

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Emelea Grapis, one of the most criminal masterminds to this day. Emelea’s husband had run away after she threatened to drop 16 bananas on his head, leaving Emela with her two children. Their names were Heteb and Zoeabby. When Heteb was 16 years old, and Zoeabby was 3, Emelea launched the Great Kidnapping Thing. Queen Alissa lived in a beautiful palace on top of the hill, and because Emelea was the evil twin of her sister, Mistress Amelia, she was invited to live with Queen Alissa. Queen Alissa had three children; Aras, Tanyaasha, and Izzy, who were all kidnapped within a week. Here is how Emelea did it: Zoeabby, even though she was only three, could already speak fluently in English, Lithuanian, and German. So every night, Zoeabby would go through the hall outside Queen Alyssa’s part of the castle with her mother’s cloak on, and sing: “Aš miręs nuotaka aš sakau ‘boo!’ jums bus išsigandęs. BOO!” (the spell works better when said in Lithuanian. Besides, everyone there was from New Forkie, and so saying it in a language no one probably understood was a good idea.) Zoeabby would happily knock out anyone who was within three feet of her (this usually got a nosy princess listening at the door). Zoeabby would then grin and run off to get her mother. Emelea would take the cloak from Zoeabby, and go kidnap the nosy princess at the door. After the first three kidnappings, Emelea decided to kidnap all the other children in the building. She started with Queen Eneel’s children; Meuh and Raychell, and then to everyone else's children. Unfortunately, Emelea made the mistake of kidnapping Judge Anna’s granddaughter, and Judge Anna arranged a meeting with Neemzay, the genius of the castle, who was kidnapped soon after that, and working on means of escape. Judge Anna’s daughter, Queen Airuhbelluh, took a wild guess and got Heteb arrested. One of the queens, Queen Avarose, went insane and kidnapped Zoeabby. Emelea knew that she could either give herself up, and help the children, or run away and leave them. Emelea, knowing how a good parent should act, threw square-shaped dogs at anyone who tried to ride an elephant, and ended up escaping with her children as well (the kidnapped children were found two weeks later by Judge Anna and Inspector Ollie).

“Wow.” Esse said. “I had no idea.”

“Neither did I.” Kennen agreed. They continued while talking about Emelea’s children.

But soon after that, Kennen picked up a new file. “Hey Esse, look at this.” he said. Esse leaned over to see. The file read,

File of Lucjusz Bnmq Erty

“Oh.” Esse said. She looked confused and sad. “Luc has a criminal record? What does it say?”

“Yeah. About that. It’s weird because, you know, no one but us a Weasel Water lou are supposed to touch these but, well, I’ll just show you.” Kennen flipped open the first page and handed the file to Esse.

Status: Deceased LIVING!!!

Or else prove that he’s dead!

“Whoa.” Esse said. “So Luc isn’t a criminal. Who would do that?” Kennen shrugged. “Well, he sighed his name at the bottom.” Kennen said, showing her.

Helpful Comments by Ulul Iflandoonia

“WHAT?!” Esse said. “My Great-Uncle Crab wrote this? Uh!” Kennen looked puzzled. Esse explained for him. “My great-Uncle Crabulul is so rude. But somehow he became a critic, and since he’s a quickwolf, he’s made it his business to go everywhere people want him out of.”

“What’s a quickwolf?” Kennen asked.

“Quickwolves can go so fast, that they vibrate through walls and stuff like that.” Esse answered.

“Wow. So he got into our files?” Kennen said, leafing through the others to see if Crabulul had made any other comments. “Hey, um, Kennen, Annaig is talking to you.” Esse said. Kennen looked up.

Are you sure Luc really is dead?

“Well, um, yeah, right Kennen?” Esse answered.

“Well, yes, I saw it happen! Wait, no. I mean, I saw him go all limp but maybe…” Kennen said, thinking hard.

Maybe you should find out. If you go get supplies from Crabulul I can teleport you wherever you want.

“Oh, Annaig! I want to hug you!” Esse said, jumping up and down. “C’mon, Kennen, let’s go to Great-Uncle Crab!”

Breton Wager - 5

Breton was very tired all morning. The first half of the Thursday school day was less than pleasant. He didn’t even bother skipping through any of it.

Breton reached English class at 12:11 pm that day, and he was not feeling in the mood. Sixth period’s job was to write a chronological and sequential paragraph about what they had done so far that day. So far, Breton had tried to sleep and had been interrupted no less than thirteen times by none other than Christian. Sixth period was no exception.

Breton’s eyes were feeling droopy. Very droopy. He could barely keep them open as he rested his head down onto his desk. He was about to drift off into sweet, sweet slumber . . .

“My Day, by Christian Aubry. There! What do you think, Breton? Breton! Breton!” Christian was forcfully shaking Breton to the point where he almost fell out of the chair. “Breton! What do you think of the title of my piece? My Day, by Christian Aubry. Isn’t it studious?”

“Mhm,” Breton agreed tiredly. There were many times when Breton wished he was in fifth period English. This was one of them.

“I was thinking I could start out with the breakfast I had this morning: bacon, with eggs (over-easy), and three ounces of orange juice! A ate it while surveying my vast lawn (which is visible from my dining room window).”

One reason that Breton wished he was in fifth period English was that Rose was there and Christian was not. Even if he didn’t sit beside Rose, at least he wouldn’t be sitting to the right of Christian.

“And then after breakfast, I walked to school. Wait, even better, I’ll say I walked to Field High School! Doesn’t that just sound scholarly?”

A second reason Breton wished he was in fifth period English was that fifth period English had written a compare and contrast paragraph. Breton had the perfect idea for one of those. It could be, The Similarities and Differences Between Christian Aubry and His Puppet Counterpart, by Breton Bauerbecken.

“After arriving at school, the bookish boy (that’s me!) made his way to his first period class, where he used his academic brain to construct an A+ model in first period Science class!”

One similarity between the two entities was their efinity to bother Breton when he very much didn’t want to be bothered. A second similarity was the fact that both creatures were constantly trying to get him to agree with whatever words happened to spill out of their speaking gullets.

“Second and third period went just as well for the intellectual teen, and as he sauntered from class to class, he began to think ahead to Friday, when he would dress as the noblest of birds for the First Ever Annual Field High School Masquerade Ball!”

A third similarity between Christian and his puppet pal was the fact that they only seemed to be around him because he was possibly famous. Neither of them knew that he was actually a time walker, but they both knew that Ashley Sonjan was his aunt.

“At the Friday Masquerade Ball, the learned young man would amaze the beautiful Nashaadh Sonjan and finally free her from the filthy Roosevelt Otterton!”

Really, the only difference between the two was that one was a narcissistic sixteen year old boy, and the other was boastful, sloppily constructed children’s toy.

“What a hero he is, that brainy Christian Aubry!”

Too bad he was in sixth period English.

Weasel Water Lou of the Peace in Carlos

After English next Tuesday, Esse had to sit next to Price on the hour-long bus ride to The Museum of Time and Space. She could hear Mies and We talking happily together. They were the only people on the bus enjoying themselves. Even the bus driver was grumpy. He was constantly telling them to “Be quiet, or you’ll never see those heads of yer’s again!”

When they reached the museum, a tall elderly man led them through the many exhibits, telling them all about Dental Floss. “Dental floss has been going on since prehistory, but in 1815, Dr. Levi Spear Parmly thought of using waxed silk threads to floss teeth!” the museum guide exclaimed with enthusiasm. Too much enthusiasm in Esse’s opinion.

He talked and talked and talked until they got to a pair of double doors with CLOSED FOR RENOVATION written on them. The guide was now bursting with excitement. So were Mies and We. “And here it is students!” the guide said. He threw open the doors. “The history of Dental Floss!” Mies and We oohed and aahed. After about two minutes of walking around, Price announced that he had to use the restroom. And just like that, he was gone.

Mies and We were in a corner, huddled around a photograph of some guy named Dr. Charles Bass. Esse walked into another room. This room contained dental facts, not all of them about flossing. There was a door at the end of the room that also said CLOSED FOR RENOVATION. Esse figured if she was already in an exhibit that was closed for renovation, she might as well go in this one.

The room was lit by a flickering light, coming from a lit chandelier hanging from the ceiling. All was quiet. No one was around. Not even Mies, We, or the guide could be heard from the other room. It seemed that the door Esse had come through was the only way to enter the room. Esse walked farther into the room. Every noise echoed.

There were no exhibits in this room. The floor was carpeted, unlike every other room in the museum, which was covered in hard tile. The walls were lined with wallpaper, instead of painted white. A plastic mat covered some of the floor beneath a tapestry with gold tassels hanging down the sides. Pick axes lay on the plastic mat, as well as hammers and a small bulldozer that fit in the room. The wall around the tapestry was chipped and cracked, as if someone had been trying to excavate around the tapestry. The museum obviously wanted the tapestry gone. Why?

Esse got a closer look. It was very old tapestry, with ancient writing at the top. There was a large multi-colored swirl to the left. To the right was what looked like dogs with waterfalls and lakes on their backs. It was fascinating. In the bottom righthand corner was the artist’s name:

Weasel Water Lou of The Peace in Carlos

It was truly very mysterious. Esse knocked on the wall. Hollow sounds echoed through the room. Was the tapestry a door? Who was Weasel Water Lou? Why was this tapestry in The Museum of Time and Space? Of course, Esse couldn’t spend forever in the little room. But when she walked out of the room, Esse saw something unfortunate.

Difgih was standing across the way from Esse. She was obviously partnerless. Her back was to Esse and she was reading something about dental floss for braces. Esse slowly tiptoed across the room into the one with FLOSS OF THE PRESENT. Hiding behind the biggest dental floss container in the world, Esse got a look at the clock. 4:37. That meant that the bus would come in thirteen minutes to pick them up and drop them off at home.

The bus ride from the museum was possibly less fun than the bus ride to the museum. When Price and Takahiro showed up at the bus late, they got in trouble for abandoning Esse and Difgih. So Price and Takahiro had to sit next to Mr. Oliverst and Esse and Difgih were “lucky” and got to sit in the back of the bus. Together. Esse looked out the window the whole time, and Difgih looked at the ground.

It wasn’t that Esse disliked Difgih, she was just afraid of her. Difgih had this weird telling-the-future thing she was always doing. And maybe Esse just didn’t want to know that she would meet a bear and go on a book worthy adventure. Maybe she just wanted to stay away from Difgih.

Esse got home at 6:43 p.m. Mrs. Iflandoonia was washing the dishes. “How was it?” she asked as Esse came in.

“It was good.” Esse answered. “Price abandoned me to go hang out with his friend. I sort of went around by myself. He had to sit with Mr. Oliverst on the ride back.”

“Aha!” Mr. Iflandoonia exclaimed. “I thought so! Price is no better than his father!”

“Luc!” Mrs. Iflandoonia said with her hands on her hips. “Really?!” Mr. Iflandoonia guiltily slinked away, probably harboring more thoughts on Price’s father. Mrs. Iflandoonia rolled her eyes. “I’ll talk with him later.” she said. “Well, Esse, how was it anyway?”

“I saw this exhibit on Dental Facts, and one of them had the biggest dental floss container in the world.” Esse answered. “But I have English homework, so, bye.”

Esse went up to her room to ponder the questions she had thought of earlier. But who could think with all that racket that Illtyd and Sverre Jon were making? She could hear them fighting over who would be Sidfig. “I’m the one who bought the book first!” Sverre Jon was yelling.

“I know that Esse has The Magical Powers of the Bonnet!” Illtyd yelled back. “That makes me a Verarlium Partosium, and you have nothing to do with it!”

Esse got out of bed and walked out the door. “Where are you going?” Mrs. Iflandoonia asked. She was trimming bushes. Why was she always everywhere she shouldn’t be? “I’m going for a walk.” Esse answered. And so she walked into the forest.

After about 1 ½ miles, Esse rested off the trail. It was so peaceful. Esse usually didn’t like quiet and peaceful. She normally liked things happening. But the forest was her favorite quiet spot. It was meant to only be the sounds of the birds and the deer and rabbits and foxes and… that strange noise from behind her. Esse turned around. There sat a little bear. Well, not little, this was a bear after all. If the bear stood on its hind legs, it would probably be as tall as Esse.

“Oh, hello.” she said. Then thought, Maybe I do hate Difgih. “Hi.” the bear answered back. The bear crawled over to rest next to Esse. “My name is Luc. Short for Lucjusz.” it said.

“My dad’s name is Lucjusz!” Esse said.

“Cool.” said Luc. “Do you want to be friends?”

“I guess.” Esse said. “Just because my dad and you share the same name? But, okay. I think bears are probably better friends than people.”

Luc nodded. “Oh yes, oh yes. We don’t hunt nixies for sport.” Esse smiled. “You’re much better than the kids in my class.” she said. Luc nodded.

“I always thought bears were better than nixies.” he said. Esse tilted her head. “Bears have never actually talked to me.” she commented. “But I think it’s because my brothers are too loud.”

“Oh, it’s not you.” Luc explained. “It’s, an, um, bear thing. We, uh, call it , um, Don’t Speak With Murderers. No offence.”

“Oh, it’s okay.” Esse said. “And you’re an adventurous bear?”

“Oh yes. I am the second bear to talk to a nixie and survive. Nobody knows yet though. The first nixie is you.” Luc answered. “I thought that that’s how I would die, but. . .I guess I die differently.”

“I guess we’re friends then.” Esse said, only a bit weirded out by the last part of Luc’s sentence. Luc nodded. It was decided.

The next day, Esse decided she was going to go see Luc again. If she found him again, she knew she would have made a friend. During school that day, Esse caught Difgih staring at her as if she knew. It was creepy.

Luc told Esse some interesting news. “Esse, you’ll never believe what I heard!” he said. “The Carlosians are closing in on the West Side of Peace, and they just took it over!” “Who are the Carlosians?” Esse asked. “You don’t know?” Luc asked, shocked. “The Carlosians are the people in the country that surrounds us. They are evil, and violent, and deadly, and they’re slowly taking over The Peace in Carlos! Only not so slowly anymore!”

“Wow!” Esse exclaimed. “I can’t believe I didn’t know that!”

“Neither can I.” Luc said. “I wonder who else doesn’t know. The problem is, not everyone has a hiding place, a secret den like my family does, and so they can’t always be safe when they need to be.” He shook his head in disapproval. “They’ll probably all die or something.”

“No!” Esse cried, “We can’t let that happen! What will we do?!”

“You and I can try to find a place for everyone.”

“Oh, yes. That’s a good idea,” Esse agreed, “Do you know any places?” Luc shook his head. Esse started to sigh, then paused, remembering the tapestry. “I might know a place!” she exclaimed with glee, “Yesterday I went to the new Dental Floss exhibit in The Museum of Time and Space, and I found a really mysterious tapestry by someone called Weasel Water Lou. There were pickaxes and bulldozers, and things like that near it. I bumped into the wall, and it was hollow! Also, the room looks like a room in a old house, not a museum room. There’s real carpeting and wallpaper! Maybe they’re making a hiding place for us! I wish I could show you.”

“That sounds nothing like my den, but okay, I’ll take your word for it.” Luc said. “I wish I could get to it.” After a moment, he exclaimed, “Hey! Are there windows near it? Maybe I could get in!” He sounded excited.

“Well…” Esse mused. “There’s a wall of all glass in the Dr. Levi Spear Parmly exhibit. Does that help?”

“Are there any windows that you can open?” Luc asked. “Oh, well, in the recreation of Johnson & Johnson, there’s a window. It might fit you, but I should probably measure it.” Esse answered.

“That would take too long.” Luc said. “Roughly how big was it?” Esse showed him with her hands. Luc just fit. “Good!” Luc said. “Is the Johnson & Johnson recreation on the first or second floor?”

“First floor, but the window is high. I’ll help you.” Esse volunteered.

“Good.” Luc nodded his approval. “See you tomorrow, Esse.”

“You too, Luc.” Esse waved goodbye.

I’m looking for more writeblrs to follow so give this the ol’ reblog and/or like (especially if you write sci-fi) and I’ll check you out