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Parlay-Two Brothers (C) to me, please. No stealie my crap.XD |
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Prologue
"Why are you doing this to us!?" "Please don't leave us!"
"We already told you: The one who first makes it out comes with us! Better start on that escape, boys!"
The two older males beyond the chain link fence laughed, much to the dismay of the two young boys stuck behind said fence. The skies were white and grey, completely covered by clouds, concealing the sun that was surely beyond. The heavy, pounding rain echoed all around them, but so few drops landed on the two men or the two boys that it was only added scenery to the men and made the living nightmare worse for the young ones. The two boys looked at each other and essentially saw the same thing reflected in their eyes: they were knee deep in leaves left over from autumn; mud covered their bodies in uneven splashes from their earlier struggle against the two men who had put them there to begin with; their hair was matted with dirt and any rain that had dripped through the thick overhang of dead branches from dead trees that encircled the chain link prison they currently occupied; both were shivering from the cold, as they had been stripped to their underwear and nothing more; and in each other's eyes, both could see that the other was immensely frightened-if not for himself alone, then for the other as well. The leaves were everywhere-they would have to wade through them as quickly as they could. The objective of this cruel game was to escape the prison before his brother could. The first one to make it out of the fencing would be taken home, coddled, warmed, and fed by his father. The other- well, not much could be said for the other. "Listen." The slightly taller boy turned to his younger sibling. "They said they won't take us both, but I don't want to leave you here. I want us to go together." "That'll never work!" Young blue eyes turned to similar young blue eyes in dismay with a shake of his head for emphasis. "They said they won't take us both and they meant it! We'll just have to race as fast as we can to get out, and whoever gets out first will go with them, but whoever lags behind... well... it doesn't matter!"
"Tick tock, the clock is ticking!" shouted the man in the top hat with the thick, greying hair. His stubby nose wrinkled in disgust, framed by his thick, greying beard, while the rest of him-bundles in a thick, warm grey suit, shook in an authoritative manner. "John, go easy on the boys! They don't know what's coming!" the second replied in good humor, a smile on his significantly younger face. His short, jet black hair showed no signs of old age, and his body was strong and tanned, but the smile lines and the light circles beneath his eyes betrayed his age.
"Ah, don't be such a softie, James. They're boys! They can take it! Your father put us through the very same thing, didn't he?"
"He was your father, too," the younger man murmured quietly to himself, taking note that his brother had apparently never forgotten that particular day, same as he.
"Come on, boys, you can do it!"
"On your mark!"
"Please, let's just go out together!" Brian whispered to his younger, identical self.
"Get ready!"
"They'll never let us get away with it and you know it!" Alan hurriedly whispered to the older mirror of himself.
"Get set!"
"The only thing we can hope for is that they will let us both go!"
"GO!" shouted the older male, ending his set. He threw his black gloved hands into the air for emphasis, the grey of his thick jacket spreading out like the wings of a bird readying itself for take off.
At this last shout, the two boys ran, jumped, waded through the thick sea of leaves, gasping for air out of fatigue and desperation. Brian threw himself against the chain link fence and looked up. There was a curl to the top of the iron fence. With a look of sheer determination, he jumped up to reach and managed to get one hand on it. He flopped about the chain before moving his legs against the fence and finally placing his bare feet against it to push it out while the top came down. His strength at that age was as such that the curl in the iron fence bended even more so in his grasp. Meanwhile, Alan, who had fallen behind from the get go, had just managed to get to the point where Brian had gotten. When he saw the progress that Brian had made, his eyes widened in fear, then calmed as he realized what he could do to remedy his situation. As he came even closer to his older brother, he made sure to walk as slowly as he could without letting become a detriment to his plan. When Brian finally managed to pull the chain link fence down as low as was necessary for him to, he tried to crawl out from underneath it so that he could make use of his work, but it was in vain. At that precise moment, Alan jumped on top of the fence, causing Brian to lose his grip on the curl of the fence, which then catapaulted his younger brother into the world beyond the chain link fence. "WOAH!" Oof! Alan lay splayed against the wet, muddy grass, adding to the array he had on him to begin with. He was covered, now, with all matters of earthly things- leaves, muddy dirt, water, and now grass. Brian forced himself to stand amidst the ever moving thigh high ocean of wet leaves, staring in horror at what had happened. Quickly, he brought the fence down once again, and this time managed to get on top before it sprung back. Instead of catapaulting him as it did his brother, however, Brian had gripped the fence as it sprung back, allowing him to simply flip over as he gripped the fence, his feet finding semi solid earth before he let go of the fence and put his arms out in front of him for balance. He, too, slipped and fell to the ground. The exhaustion both boys were feeling was no laughing matter, but the older male fairly cackled as he ran to greet them. As such, he was the first to arrive on the scene, and he had come to get Alan. James trailed off far behind, having gone to get blankets and towels for the boys. He arrived second, and he reached Brian first. He picked up the boy with the too-slight build, and a look of love could not help itself as it entered James's light blue eyes. After having wrapped him up and assuring himself that the boy was secure in his arms, he looked around for Alan and John, finding them a few feet away. He walked over to the two, a slight grimace twisting his mouth. "Well?" The question did not fall upon deaf ears, but the older male still did not hasten to answer the indirectly asked question. "Well? They both got out!"
"But Alan escaped first," John proclaimed. "He's the one who goes home."
"But it was Brian who would have gotten out first, and you know it!"
"The facts don't change the truth, James. Alan got out first. Brian would have gotten out first, if Alan had not taken advantage of the situation. Look, they're both okay in the end: They're both sleeping!"
"Yes, after we kept them up all night with our talk of 'who's going to be the first!?' Just let them be, John."
"Ah, James, you know we can't let them be. Our father didn't let us be, nor his brother, and look how we turned out!"
"Right," James murmured once more in his uncertain manner, while overhead the thunder clapped, completely disfiguring his words to any human ears.
"But what about your daughters? And your son?" James shot back as they walked back to his black van. "Bah! You know they can't go through with it! The first born son and his second born brother. It's always been that way, as far as dad and uncle Thomas told us."
"I know, I know, but it's just such a cruel, strange practice, don't you think? Don't you think we're above all this archaic nonsense?"
"Haha! Only the English major would spout that kind of nonsense! Don't be silly: Brian will be fine."
"Wait, BRIAN? Brian would have gotten out first and you know it!"
"Aye, but it was ALAN that made it out first!"
"Look, why don't we face the facts? There's no way an argument will win it for either of them. Brian was going to make it out first, but Alan took that chance first. Alan got out FIRST. He DID get out FIRST."
"But Alan would not have gotten out first if he had not taken Brian's way out!"
"There's no rule for HOW they escape, or what methods they use. They just need to get out, and Alan got out first!"
"You know what? Here's how we settle this: Alan can go with you, and I'll take Brian!"
"What? That's insane: Alan should have gone to you and I was supposed to take Brian!"
"Yes, but with this situation, I think that would be the best. I think Brian should have been the winner of this, and you think Alan should have been the winner."
"So says the boy who lost."
"Don't bring that up, John. Take Alan with you. He'll be happy, I think. I'll take Brian."
John leaned in close to his accomplice and in a low voice, commented: "You know, I don't think our father would approve of this..."
"Nor uncle Thomas, but they're not here to judge how we handle this situation. It's a father, sons, and uncle ritual. No grandfathers."
"Yes, but... they're going to want to know who the winner is. What should we tell them? Alan did win, James. He should be with you-not Brian."
"Yes, but it is my own personal feeling that Brian would have gotten out first if Alan hadn't brow-beaten him as he did. I swear, I never knew the child had it in him."
"Brow-beaten him? James, the boy did no such thing! He simply took advantage of the situation!"
"Hmmph. Just like someone I could mention?"
"Oh, don't go bringing that up again, James. You lost and you know it."
"Certainly, but I'm taking Brian and Alan goes with you. That's final."
"Oh, fine then, but you know what I'm going to have to tell the boy?"
"Go ahead, I don't care... so long as he doesn't wind up hating his older brother..."
"Mm."
20 Years Later...
So what happened to me? I... can't tell you. Some say I'm a guardian, others say a helping hand. Detective, Private Eye, Secret Agent Man, whatever. It's all the same thing: I'm trying to help people. Even so, I always think back on that day, when my brother and I were so afraid... wait... brother?
"Hey, Brian, wake up! We have a call!"
 Sakura Moonflower · Sat Sep 09, 2006 @ 11:26pm · 1 Comments |
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~ Artist in hiding ~