Post by setrida on Oct 8, 2008 15:50:51 GMT -5
Soo... this technically is sort of a prequel-type-thingy to my book, but I had fun writing it and I hope you have fun reading it (because Nuri and Zephyr are just oh-so-adorable). Any odd references aren't all that important to the plot of this short, but feel free to ask anyway. It was kind of inspired by the fact that when I was a really little kid we were playing hide-and-seek and I accidentally locked myself in a linen closet. Yeah, I was that smart.
Are You Smarter than an Eight-Year-Old?
They stood, back to back and eyes trained on opposite ends of the hallway, both looking terrified.
“What do we do?” gasped the dark-haired one, his crystalline blue eyes wide and childish face uncertain.
The other, a boy just one or two years older with light wispy hair, shook his head. “No idea!”
“They can’t kill us, can they? I mean, that would be, like, child murder. That’s illegal.” This was said in an unusually high-pitched tone, fear coloring every syllable.
Zephyr’s movements stilled, “Ri; every kind of murder is illegal.”
“Oh, yeah.”
The short exchange seemed the briefly calm the two, who both settled down their nervous searching of the hallways.
Then another shot of panic laced across the younger’s face. “Zeph, what if they lock us up and don’t tell no one and then never let us out and just feed us bad bread and gross water for the rest of forever?”
This time Zephyr turned around to face his best friend, an incredulous look on his face. “I know you’re six, so not as smart as an eight-year-old like me, but even you gotta know ‘Vani and Kali’ll come looking for us. Don’t be dumb.”
“I guess you’re right,” Nuri consented, though his scowl was firmly fixed at the comment on his age. It was true, their two friends wouldn’t just leave them locked away forever. “But still, I don’t even like bread.”
“You don’t know, maybe they’ll feed us soup.”
An echo of footsteps sounded from one of the doors and, falling silent and descending once again into panic, both boys cast the other a short glance and dashed to open a random door and slip inside, shutting themselves in just before the hallway was again occupied.
It was dark. That was the conclusion the pair simultaneously came to in solemn silence as they waited out the voices in the hall.
After was seemed an eternity, the voices outside faded and not a soul could be heard beside the two best friends’ labored breathing. It was only then that they noticed their situation.
“Uh, Zephyr?”
The hesitant voice was only slightly less high pitched than in the hallway earlier.
“Yeah, Nuri?”
“Did we just go into a closet and close the door behind us?”
“Uh… yeah…”
“Don’t closets lock from the inside?”
There was a brief pause in which Zephyr’s breathing seemed to stop, prompting Nuri’s to do the same. “Crap!”
Each sent the other a look that could just barely made out in the dark; what do we do? Then, as if reaching the same conclusion they began pounding on the door. Their voices rose in chorus to scream pleas for help through the wood.
Moments that seemed like a lifetime passed in the flurry of movement before both collapsed against the walls, frowning in distress. “This sucks.”
An impassioned nod answered the brunette’s sullen observation.
They sat apart from each other, pondering their situation and Nuri’s glance finally rose to look at the blonde, his scowl replaced with a sneer and a vicious glint in his eye. “Where’s that smart eight-year old brain now, huh?”
“Oh, shut up.”
Are You Smarter than an Eight-Year-Old?
They stood, back to back and eyes trained on opposite ends of the hallway, both looking terrified.
“What do we do?” gasped the dark-haired one, his crystalline blue eyes wide and childish face uncertain.
The other, a boy just one or two years older with light wispy hair, shook his head. “No idea!”
“They can’t kill us, can they? I mean, that would be, like, child murder. That’s illegal.” This was said in an unusually high-pitched tone, fear coloring every syllable.
Zephyr’s movements stilled, “Ri; every kind of murder is illegal.”
“Oh, yeah.”
The short exchange seemed the briefly calm the two, who both settled down their nervous searching of the hallways.
Then another shot of panic laced across the younger’s face. “Zeph, what if they lock us up and don’t tell no one and then never let us out and just feed us bad bread and gross water for the rest of forever?”
This time Zephyr turned around to face his best friend, an incredulous look on his face. “I know you’re six, so not as smart as an eight-year-old like me, but even you gotta know ‘Vani and Kali’ll come looking for us. Don’t be dumb.”
“I guess you’re right,” Nuri consented, though his scowl was firmly fixed at the comment on his age. It was true, their two friends wouldn’t just leave them locked away forever. “But still, I don’t even like bread.”
“You don’t know, maybe they’ll feed us soup.”
An echo of footsteps sounded from one of the doors and, falling silent and descending once again into panic, both boys cast the other a short glance and dashed to open a random door and slip inside, shutting themselves in just before the hallway was again occupied.
It was dark. That was the conclusion the pair simultaneously came to in solemn silence as they waited out the voices in the hall.
After was seemed an eternity, the voices outside faded and not a soul could be heard beside the two best friends’ labored breathing. It was only then that they noticed their situation.
“Uh, Zephyr?”
The hesitant voice was only slightly less high pitched than in the hallway earlier.
“Yeah, Nuri?”
“Did we just go into a closet and close the door behind us?”
“Uh… yeah…”
“Don’t closets lock from the inside?”
There was a brief pause in which Zephyr’s breathing seemed to stop, prompting Nuri’s to do the same. “Crap!”
Each sent the other a look that could just barely made out in the dark; what do we do? Then, as if reaching the same conclusion they began pounding on the door. Their voices rose in chorus to scream pleas for help through the wood.
Moments that seemed like a lifetime passed in the flurry of movement before both collapsed against the walls, frowning in distress. “This sucks.”
An impassioned nod answered the brunette’s sullen observation.
They sat apart from each other, pondering their situation and Nuri’s glance finally rose to look at the blonde, his scowl replaced with a sneer and a vicious glint in his eye. “Where’s that smart eight-year old brain now, huh?”
“Oh, shut up.”