My Way!

Chapter One:

Falling to the beginning of the end

 

 

 

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Arlie lived in a very strange world. Things often changed for no apparent reason, written words never said the same thing twice, and places appeared and disappeared at random. But this was normal for all the inhabitants of Eagle’s Wood. Although Arlie had an idea that it should be different for some reason, the notion was so vague that he just played along and acted as if everything was normal.

Our story begins when Arlie is woken up by Birdie, his younger brother’s dog.

“Borf!” it barked with a large piece of bread across its mouth.

Arlie groaned and sat up on the edge of the bed. He’d been dreaming, but he couldn’t remember what he was dreaming about now that there was a large, dirty dog with a sandwich in its mouth wagging his tail at him. Birdie bit the bread to fit it in his mouth and scratched Arlie´s knees with his front paw.

“I can’t eat this.” Arlie complained.

Birdie dropped the sandwich and lay on the floor. He stopped wagging his tail and looked up at Arlie with very sad puppy eyes. He licked his nose and covered his face with his paws.

Arlie’s heart melted a little. “Why do you have to be so cute?” he asked.

Birdie lifted one paw off his face and gave a single wag of his tail. Arlie sighed and got up. He petted Birdie’s head on his way to the dresser and began pulling on some clothes. “Eat the sandwich;  Adi probably has something else ready downstairs.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Good morning, tiny.” Arlie said to Adi as he walked by and messed up his equally puffy hair.

“I’ll grow one day, you know.” Adi replied with a smile. “Think fast!” Adi threw some food wrapped in a napkin at Alrie. He caught it before it could pass over his shoulder.

“Throw better!” Arlie laughed and peeked inside the napkin. “This is a tomato.”

“No, I made eagleberry bread.” Adi said. He walked up to his older brother and pulled the napkin aside. “Check again.”

Arlie looked at the napkin again, there was a small, purple loaf of eagleberry bread inside. “That seems right.” He leaned down and picked up Adi. He gave him a big hug and fixed the buttons of his jacket, which had been done incorrectly. “Sorry for being mean to you, that mirror was messing up again and...”

“Shut up, you’re not being that bad today.” Adi squeezed his brother’s face. “Go meet your friend; the market won’t stay here very long.”

Arlie smiled. “Thanks for putting up with me.” He kissed Adi’s forehead and put him down. “You’re the best, bro!” he picked up his backpack, put the bread in it and left.

As he walked along the forest path, being careful not to step on any bouncing snakes or Technicolor beetles, Arlie felt the weight of the tiny loaf of bread grow heavier.

He didn’t know what made him do it, but Arlie was often spontaneously aggressive and unpleasant. One moment he’d be laughing, but it was a matter of hearing a single word and changing mood completely. Most of the time, he would contain his rage, but then accidentally unleash it on a loved one for the smallest things.

He had many friends, but only one best friend that would tolerate him and help him calm down when this occurred. Aquila, the cobbler’s adoptive nephew, usually took the worst of it. It was up to him to bear Arlie’s explosions, and although what he would say was hurtful, he would let it pass.

Arlie felt so grateful inside that he had tolerant friends and family, he wished he could express it, but just when he was about to show appreciation, a change in the landscape or something else would enrage him, and he’d end up being worse to them.

His eyes were watering with self hatred as he walked. He wanted to be a better person, but lately it was only getting worse.

Without warning, Aquila crashed into him out of nowhere, dressed in a bear costume. They both fell dangerously close to a rabbit dragon’s warren hole.

“Arlie!” Aquila shouted excitedly. Aquila stood and helped him up.

“What are you wearing?” Arlie asked in a flat tone. He looked at Aquila’s bear costume from head to toe; it had fuzzy ears and a tiny round tail.

“What do you mean?” Aquila looked down at his clothes, they changed into a cat costume, with stripes and a much longer tail. “I swear it was just jeans and a t-shirt when I left the house…”

Arlie laughed. “Hey, we should get moving before the market disappears. I really need some new stuff.”

…

“I don’t know.  I’ve always kind of wanted to catch one, but they seem dangerous. Fire and rabbits shouldn’t really mix…” Aquila kicked loose stones on the path while he explained what pet he would choose if he could get a new one. “Dad’s cat is really lazy but at least it doesn’t cause forest fires… most of the time.”

Arlie laughed. “I really like Adi’s dog, but it eats too much! I think I’d get a robot pet if it was my choice. They don’t eat, do what you say, there’s no need for cleanup and they last much longer than real animals.”

“But they don’t feel…” Aquila said sadly. He couldn’t imagine what a pet would be like if it didn’t have feelings. What would be the point of having it around?

Arlie stopped walking. “All the better.”

“That’s cold.” Aquila stopped, too. They were standing in front of the small marketplace that appeared in Eagle’s Wood every once in a while.

It was a clearing in the forest about the size of a medium soccer field. The edges were lined with stalls and in the middle, people played their instruments to earn a few coins. The branches of the pine trees domed over them, creating a natural ceiling. The stalls were colorful and sold many beautiful things. The market was filled with the smell of pastries from a bakery stand and the lively music and singing from those in the middle.

Aquila and Arlie loved it, but heaven forbid one of the musicians dropped their microphone, or one of the artisans cut metal too loudly. It would put Arlie in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

Aquila scanned the stands with his eyes and immediately knew where to go. “Last one to the chocolate stand is a ribbon fish!” He ran off to the wonderful stand at the other end of the clearing.

Arlie laughed to himself and got a shopping list out of his backpack. “Beeswax, socks, wire, flour…” He looked closer at the list. “Who wrote cow poop?!” he turned the list over and looked again. The entire list had changed. Arlie sighed and hoped he could remember what they needed well enough.

By the time Arlie had bought everything he needed for the house, Aquila wasn’t at the chocolate stand anymore, but the shelves were empty and the old lady who worked there was counting her money.

“Arlie!” Aquila waved to him over from a cellist’s place in the middle. His face was covered in chocolate and he had a bag full of candy. He’d put a bird-shaped chocolate in the cellist’s case instead of money.

Arlie sidestepped a bouncing snake and went to stand by Aquila. He gave the musician a few coins.

“Have you ever heard about hyperglycemia?” Arlie tried wiping some chocolate off from his friend’s face.

“Um, yeah…” Aquila laughed and put a tiny chocolate turtle in Arlie’s mouth. “Smile, the worst is yet to come.”

“What do you mean?” Arlie ate his chocolate. It was good, but what Aquila had said worried him.

“It’s what that crazy old moose over there was saying.” Aquila shrugged and nodded toward an empty place. “It was there when I heard it. Trust me.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arlie’s reflection was perfectly still and obedient. “This is what a mirror should be like!” Arlie thought. It followed his every movement; if he blinked his right eye the reflection would blink its left eye, like a mirror should. He looked away and back and it stayed the same. He tried this several times and it kept working.

“How much does it cost?” Arlie demanded. He looked directly into the bearded man’ eyes, they wrinkled around the corners.

“I want one of your friend’s chocolates.”

“Okay,” Aquila said. He offered the old man his bag of chocolates. He chose a very cute chicken-shaped one and almost tripped over his floor-length beard as he walked away. Arlie was caught up in the mirror. He wrapped it in a soft cloth and put it in his backpack.

“Thanks, Aquila!” Arlie squeezed his friend in a literal bear hug; the costume had changed back into a bear. “How much do I owe you?”

Aquila laughed. “The bag has been empty three times already, it keeps filling itself! You don’t have to pay anything.”

“I’m glad this craziness is working in our favor for once!” Arlie’s bad mood disappeared and they began their trip back home merrily.

“So, did you buy anything aside from infinite chocolate?” Arlie asked.

“We didn’t have any shoes at home so I bought a lot of those,” Aquila said seriously. Arlie gave him a confused stare, his eyebrows came together into a frown. “I’m just kidding! Don’t be so serious, Arlie.”

“’M sorry,” Arlie mumbled. He’d almost lashed out on his friend again for making a joke, and it felt horrible. He just wanted to be a good person and stop hurting the people he cared most about.

“Hey, buddy, you didn’t do anything.” Aquila stopped and looked at him with concern.

“Yes, I did. I’m like an unstable chemical; I could explode at any moment and you have to be on guard all the time. I don’t want you to have to worry about me, I don’t want little Adi or you, or anyone I know to be stepping on eggshells all the time because I can’t control myself.” Arlie said darkly. His face was red and tears fell from his eyes. He wiped them away quickly but Aquila had already noticed. He reached for his arm. “Please don’t touch me right now, I can’t stand it.” Arlie whispered quickly. Aquila backed away.

“Let’s keep walking,” Aquila said. He’d decided it was best to drop the subject. They’d had this argument many times, and no matter how often Aquila told him that it was alright, Arlie would still think he was being horrible. The only way to make him feel better was to have him stop thinking about it.

They kept walking, and soon they found an unusual path embedded with square stones. “Do you want to see where it goes?” Aquila asked cheerfully.

Arlie was still down from his last outburst, and on top of it all, he felt bad for being sad now. His peppy friend deserved a happy companion, not a mope.

“Sure.” Arlie put on the best smile he could manage. Normally he would’ve objected, there could be something dangerous on the path, but he felt like he needed to make up for being so bad.

They followed the path; it led outside of the Eagle’s Wood forest. The sunlight came down directly upon them instead of in dappled shadows. Soon the trees thinned out and they came into a sunny meadow full of clover. They could see distant mountains and a stone wishing well under a neat roof with a sign by its side.

“One pewter coin per wish,” Aquila read.

“Mossy goose tails,” Arlie read. The sign had changed.

Aquila read again. “Boots for the mountain… I think the first one was more or less correct.” He ran up to the well and looked down. Coins shimmered in what sunlight reached the bottom. “There’s no water!”

“Be careful!” Arlie called. He walked calmly to the well and looked down, too. They both looked up at the same time.

“Wanna make a wish?” They asked in unison.

“You first!” Aquila said.

Arlie got a pewter coin from his pocket and made a wish. He threw it in and listened to the gentle *cling* of the coin hitting the bottom.

“Now me! Now me!” Aquila jumped up and down, closed his eyes for a moment, and threw the coin into the well. It hit the sides several times before hitting the bottom. “I wished for a kite!” Aquila said happily. His face dropped all of a sudden. “Oh no! I told what I wished for, now it won’t come true! I have to get that coin back!”

He leaned over the side of the well with half his body in, kicking his furry legs in the air and reaching down as far as he could. He began to slip. Arlie sprung into emergency mode and grabbed Aquila’s feet. He pulled him back to the ground and dropped him onto a patch of clover.

“What on earth made you think that you could reach the bottom of that well?” Arlie shouted.

“Maybe the distance would disappear? It happens a lot,” Aquila said. He got up. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Just. Just don’t scare me like that, you could’ve hurt yourself.” Arlie breathed heavily. His heart pumped in his ears and his legs shook. He felt light-headed and weak from the scare. He leaned against the edge of the well with all his weight, not realizing that the mortar holding the stones together was as frail as old bird bones.

“Yeah, that was stupid.” Aquila picked up his bag of chocolates, which had disappeared at some point and now had returned next to him on the ground. Arlie held his forehead and stared blankly. “Arlie, are you okay?”

Arlie nodded, but collapsed. The side of the well wasn’t strong enough to hold him up, it began to crumble. Before Aquila could react, the sides disintegrated completely and a semi-conscious Arlie fell into the deep, dark well.

To be continued.

 

 

 

 

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