Episode 2

Jett sat at his table and picked up the black queen’s knight. He rolled it over in his hand.

‘I could run away,’ he thought. ‘Grab my stuff and go.’

He had $24.15 in his piggy bank.  Maybe he could take a bus somewhere…but where would he go?

The knight rolled over again and Jett placed it back on its square.

No, he couldn’t run away.  So, perhaps the wisest course would be to do something to make his parents happy.  Maybe they would think that he was contrite – had learned his lesson – and maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t punish him as severely.

Jett began to clean his room.  Books, that had once littered the floor, found new homes in his bookcase.  A large net and bug-home which had moments ago perched on the window sill were tucked neatly into the lower storage of his table.  He even managed to begin the struggle of making his bed (an activity  he did so infrequently that the bed resembled more of a jungle than a sleeping place with the sheets and blankets tied into almost unravelling knots) when his mind began to wander.

Brethdon deserved an upcommance; but how to get him back without bringing their parents’ ire.  Perhaps he could sneak into his brother’s room and – and what? – Mess up his room?  Take his favourite toy? Or maybe break his favourite toy…that red transformer that Brethdon was always playing with….or maybe he should replace the batteries in Brethdon’s remote control car with the ones from his robot dog (the batteries in the robot dog were almost completely dead).  He could take the four of hearts from the deck of cards that Brethdon used to play solitaire all the time. Or wait!  He could take the best of Brethdon’s trading cards and give them to the kids down the street!  No, that wouldn’t do…Jett’s mind moved to more evil thoughts.  What if he went out to the garage and got some of the grass seed that Dad kept to reseed the grass when needed.  If he put the seed on Brethdon’s carpet and then worked it in and watered it, surely something would grow!  Oh! What about adding ink to the shampoo…no, that could back fire on Jett; after all, he used the same shampoo.  And then it came to him, he could sneak into his parents’ room and take something…something small but something that would be missed – like the small glass hand mirror that used to belong to Mum’s grandma.  Then he could hide it in Brethdon’s room.  Once found, Brethdon would have to be in trouble.

As he milled this over in his mind, a sound hit Jett’s ears and his head flew up like a shot! He examined the area where the sound had come.  Nothing… nothing that would have made that sound; just his toys, books and the painting on the wall of the castle with the knights.  And yet, Jett could have sworn he heard… no, that is stupid.  There is no way that he heard the whinny of a horse!  If he lived in the country, perhaps, but Jett lived in suburbia just like most every other kid in his city.

Then he heard it again.  Only this time the horse made a snorting sound and stomped its hoof.  But there was no horse there to make the sound!

Jett looked harder.  Were there such things as invisible horses?

And that’s when he saw it, or at least he thought that he saw it…one of the painted horses swished its tail!

Episode 1

You know, stories are strange things. They can be unpredictable - that means that they can go places you didn't think that they would go. And sometimes the characters in them can be just as difficult to handle.

I know many stories and some of my best friends are the best sort of characters.

So, should I tell you of one of them?

Are you sure?

You see, he's not always the best sort of boy. Well at least not as far as adults are concerned.

He's an ... adventurer.

I don't mean 'explore the deepest part of Africa' type of adventurer - well at least not yet.

His adventures, up until now, have taken place in his own backyard. Little did he know that that was all about to change.

***

Brathdon's plywood sword struck the dirt where Jett had been only seconds before.

Jett laughed at his older brother. After all, he always thought that he was right. Being older seemed to give him some sort of super human power to be faster, stronger, more balanced and so very much more. At least in his own mind. But in one move, Jett had proven that he could hold his own.

'You brat! You cheated!' Brathdon grumbled. 'You can't move like that. St George slew the dragon. The dragon didn't get away.'

'I don't care. My dragon moved and your St George, the goose, didn't slew me!' Jett knew that he shouldn't call Brathdon names, but he didn't care if he got hit. Showing his brother that he was able to win too would be worth it. Besides, the plywood sword would have hurt if Brathdon had hit him.

'I am not a goose,' Brathdon roared. Perhaps next time he could be the dragon; he sounded more like one! 'Take it back before I make you take it back,' he threatened Jett with the sword.

Brathdon was working himself up into quite a state. As his voice got louder, their mother came out the back door. As usual it didn't take her long to figure out the events that had led to what was about to be fisticuffs. Unfortunately for Jett, she had come to the wrong conclusion.

'Brathdon! Stop yelling,' she yelled. 'And Jett, leave him alone. How many times do I have to tell you that you are not to start fights?'

'But it wasn't me,' Jett interrupted. He knew that it was stupid to interrupt an adult, especially his mother, but it was all so unfair. After all, 'Brathdon tried to hit me hard with the sword. Look, you can see where it hit the ground and there's a groove!'

Sure enough, you could see a long, deep line in the dirt where the plywood sword had hit.

'I did not, Mum!' Brathdon retaliated. 'he started this. I was St George slaying the dragon. I never tried to hit him. And then he started calling me names.'

Their mother walked over to Brathdon and hugged him; then she turned on Jett.

'Go to your room right now. I will deal out your punishment later.'

If this same thing hadn't happened before, Jett would have been shocked. After all, how was it his fault that the fight had started? He was the one nearly hit and he only called his brother a goose. By all that was right and fair, he should be getting the cuddles and Brathdon should be headed to his room.

But as we all know: things are not always fair. And so, Jett headed inside.

***

Jett's room was, like him, special. The walls had an English countryside painted in detail on them. They even boasted a high, five-towered castle and an army of knights crossing the drawbridge. He had spent many hours imagining the adventures he would have if he could join them.

Jett's room also held a number of games and toys that you might find in any young boy's room. But his favorite was his stone, handcrafted chess set. He also had a large collection of books. All he needed to do now was find something to do and wait for his parents to come talk to him.

Hey, Nixie, how much longer?!?

'Where's the story?' I hear you say.

Well, it's not long now. I have the outline down and words have been written...so I thought that I would give you a quick update (or more truthfully, I would tell you when you will have a story).

I will be publishing a new episode of the story every Thursday (Australian time). At the end of the story I will have a poll for you to help choose the direction of the story. That poll will close on Sunday (Australian time) and then I will write the next episode to be published on the following Thursday. I think that this will work well, but if it doesn't, I will let you know in another one of these information posts.

My whole objective of this blog is to have fun. So make sure to vote and, if Mum and Dad are okay with it, post comments. I look forward to hearing from you. Oh, and if you are not liking the story, make sure to let me know so that I can write something that you will enjoy.

Talk to you all soon.

~ Nixie