Posted by BC on 3/6/2008, 4:09 pm, in reply to "decided to do the edit before I post, here's the first three chapters in much better shape. "
24.207.121.197
No doubt it was Adam with one of his bully friends, probably waiting to tie him to the lowest branch again like they had Theodore’s last birthday. He still remembered how embarrassed he had been when Matt had come out the next day to find his younger brother hanging from his favorite tree half upside-down with ‘book worm’ scrawled across his face in purple indelible marker.
It had taken a week to get the ink to entirely disappear.
There was no way he was going to let them do it again. Now back up to the same branch upon which he had been sitting for the better part of the day he cocked his ears in an effort to catch some of the conversation, looking down he saw their dark silhouettes, he had been right about one thing, there were two of them.
“Are you sure this is the same boy?” one of them asked, gesturing wildly up at the branch upon which Theodore was situated
“Oui Master, zer can be no doubt!”
Theodore almost choked, these were not boy’s, these were men, the first one he had heard had a very deep, noble, yet sinister sounding voice and a British accent he towered over his companion, who had a very thick, whiney sounding French accent they had to be talking about him. Theodore gulped again; they knew he was up here.
“And your equipment? What does it say?” he could hear the menace in the taller ones words.
“I am right in every particular master! zees ees zee night ee was transported! eet says so right ‘ere, and I saw ‘eem fall just where zees says a few days later weeth uh….Heem he must ‘ave been transported zere first before appearing een our time” said the short one, even in the half light of a crescent moon Theodore could tell he was shaking.
“Do we even know how he got to the nineteenth century in the first place, why didn’t he go directly to the twenty-second?”
“I don’t know master, eet only says zat ee transports tonight, eet does not even geev any clues as to ow zee leap was triggered” the fear in his voice was becoming more and more pronounced.
“Very well then, let’s shoot him and he done with it”
Theodore remained perfectly still as the two men turned their faces up towards him, he tried to hide, but the reason he had chosen this branch earlier that day was that it was a great lookout spot, no branches in the way to cut off his view. So as a result, this part of the tree provided no cover.
he closed his eyes so tight they hurt, ready to risk getting killed by jumping if he had to, subconsciously he held the muddy book up to his face, trying with all his might to keep from making any sound which would give him away, although he knew they had already spotted him.
He could hear something being charged up, why were two lunatics he had never met before trying to shoot him? He thought desperately And what did that French guy mean when he said he’d seen Theodore before? And why was he talking about appearing and being transported? They were obviously both insane. This day just kept getting worse and worse.
A million other questions buzzed through his mind. He opened his eyes again, and some words on the soiled page dominating his vision caught his eye, ‘My skin went cold under my clothes.’ ha! Good old Dr. Watson, always ready with pencil and paper to describe the situation at hand, if this was the end Theodore wanted his last thought to be a happy one. He had had enough sadness for one day.
So, pushing aside all the horrible memories of the morning, and clutching tight to his book - which he was still holding in front of his face - his fingers digging into the red leather of the cover, he thought of the one thing that he loved above all others.
Just then, a thin beam if vibrating light shot through the branches, hitting the book, which slammed into his face knocking him out of the tree, down he fell, and hitting the hard ground, he felt something snap and heard the rushing of two pairs of feet racing toward him.
“You idiot! You shot a BOOK finish him off before someone comes!”
“Oui master!”
“WHAT’S HAPPENING FENWICK!” The taller one yelled out in surprise.
“I don’t know master!”
“We’re too late! He’s transporting!”
“No master! I think zee ionizer triggered eet!”
Theodore didn’t know what an ionizer was and he didn’t care, pain was convulsing his entire body, he screamed as a blinding light filled his vision, voices and pictures and emotions all swirling into some horrible nightmare, he seemed to be suspended in a starless sky.
“HELP!” he croaked
Then suddenly he was falling for the second time, falling faster and faster from thousands of feet in the air. he could see streets and farms and buildings, getting closer and closer by the millisecond, he was falling too fast, careening toward his death, air rushed past his face, he couldn’t breath, he couldn’t think, he couldn’t move. He was slowing now, just the tiniest bit, but he was still going to die if he hit anything hard.
He was still screaming with the pain, clutching the book in his burnt fingers. His voice drowned out by the smothering torrent. Closer and closer, the ground reaching up to meet him, he could no longer see farms, just stony streets, and old wooden houses one stuck out from all the others, it’s roof seemed to race towards Theodore, getting closer and closer, he was going to fall right through it!
Five seconds until he would die, he wasn’t even scared, he just wanted the pain to end, he just wanted to stop falling, and if hitting the ground at a million miles an hour was the only way to do that then so be it.
Four seconds: His poor mother would never recover when she saw the news tomorrow.
Three seconds: His father would blame himself and never speak to anyone again.
Two seconds: Poor Matt would hate himself; the memory of the last time he was with his brother would haunt him forever.
One second: I’m really sorry guys.
Theodore collided with the roof, and mercifully, knew no more.
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