Wednesday, November 27, 2013

123 Faring Place

Twas a black night when I arrived here at Here. I had no idea how I'd come to be there, nor where to go. I stumbled about in the darkness feeling for something, anything at all to hep me see. I saw a distant glow. With a rush of need I sprang towards it. I had no clue that it was very close to me. Thusly I ran into it. It didn't cry out but it shone very brightly. I studied it and saw it was... well this may sound odd, but it was a star! A round sphere of light.

I asked it, "What's your name? Where are we?" But it didn't reply. It looked at me and shrugged. It had morphed from a ball into a human. He, for it was male, began to walk away from me.

 "Wait!" I cried, "Don't leave me in this darkness!" He beckoned for me to follow him. I readily did so. He lead the way to a path of sorts. We followed it to a large building, he knocked and we waited.
A tall silver haired youth answered the door. His black eyes searched us.

"Ah... You two must be the new ones..." He grinned and called over his shoulder, "Hobbes, I was right! It is a fallen star!"

Another youth with the same silver hair and black eyes came to the door. "Yes, Tiger, but I did say that the other would be an albino. Even?" He asked Tiger.

"Even." Tiger nodded.

"Whose at the door, Tiger?" A voice called. "Is it them? Are they here?"

"Yes!" One of them called.

"Then let them in, they must be informed." the voice commanded.

"Come in." They gestured together for us to enter.

We stepped into a warm hallway and followed Tiger and Hobbes to a sitting room. Inside there sat a girl. She smiled and motioned for us to sit down.

"Welcome to Here, boys." She said.

"Where is here?" I asked.

"Here is here, silly." She laughed. "We welcome you to 123 Faring Place. What are your names?" She asked.

I thought a moment then said,"Kedar... Kedar Christensen."

"Nice to meet you Kedar, I'm Jonni. And what is your name?" She asked the star.

He pointed to his mouth and shook his head no. "Oh, I see! You lost your voice on the way down?" He nodded. "That's common, will you write your name down please?" She handed him a piece of paper and a pen.

He wrote something and handed it back to her. "Why." She read aloud."Because we need to know who you are." She said.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. He took the paper back and wrote, "My name is Why."

"Oh!" She giggled, "Stars do like having funny names, don't they?"

He cocked his head to the side and looked at her questioningly.

"Never mind." She said. "Okay, I think you'll be on the top floor," she pointed to me,"And you'll be in the basement." She pointed to Why. "Hobbes take Why to the basement, Tiger take Kedar to the top floor, please."
I was taken to a comfortable room where I immediatly fell asleep.

That was my first night at 123 Faring Place.


The next morning I woke very much confused. I was sprawled on a twin sized bed in a large room. Looking over I saw a window. I got up and walked over to it. I looked out it and gasped. The ground was very far below me. I kept looking down and I started to get dizzy. Then a flash of grey blurred past. I cried out and jumped backwards. It must've heard me for it came back. It was a boy...Or a teen. He was an odd white grey. He grinned and tapped on the window. I uncertainly opened it, and he lept onto the sill.

"Good morning!" He said in a voice I wouldn't have thought he possessed. It was airy and boomed at the same time.

"Goo...d morning." I stammered.

"Your Kedar, right?"

"Yeaaah. Yes I am. And who are you? What are you?" I asked him.

"I'm Writer. I'm a Cloud." he said as if that would reveal everything to me, in truth it only confused me more.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry!" He laughed," I forgot you're-- new. I'm a Cloud from Sky."

"Then how are you... down here?" I asked.

"You're the same guy who say a fallen Star last night?" He laughed, "Kedar, Here is a wonderful place, lots of things that others don't think can happen do. I for one am permitted by Madam Sun to stay on Here."

"Wha-?"

He sighed, "Don't you know? Every century a Star and a Cloud are chosen to come to protect Here from.. Misfortunes and the like. Do you get it now? Why and I are sorta like the guardians of Here. Understand now?" He looked at me with a eager expression.

"Kind of... So you and Why are a star and a cloud? And your here to protect Here... From what?"

"Well, uh... Ya know whatsit and whosits and um... so on and so forth and what have you." He laughed lightly but his face was worried. "Nice to meet you Kedar, I float by again sometime!" And he shot off.

I was quite concerned about what we were being protected from... I didn't have the confidence then that I now have in Why and Writer.
I made my bed and then looked around my room. There was a rolltopped desk. I went over to it and opened it's top. It had a laptop inside. I smiled and sat down. I opened the laptop and went to notebook. And I began to type...and type....and type. I probably would have stayed on that laptop all day long had it not been for Wiley and Art.

"Gooood evening." They said in unison.

"It's evening?" I asked astonished that I'd been on the laptop that long.

"Yes Kedar, it's five in the evening." One of the youths said.

"Who are you?" I asked, slightly wary.

"I'm Wiley." The teen with black hair smirked and bowed.

"And I'm Art." The other boy was pale and had searching brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you both..." I noticed it was fairly dim in the room, since the sun had hidden her face behind a bank of clouds.

"How are you finding Faring Place?" Wiley asked.

"I don't really know yet. I haven't been out of this room." I said.

"Oh, pity."  Art grinned.

A girl with flaming hair burst into the room, "Wiley! Art! Get downstairs now! Jonni is waiting for you so we can eat!" She ordered bossily.

They glared at her and slunk away.

"You!" She barked at me.

"Yes?" I asked timidly.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Kedar Christensen... and you?"

"I'm Maddy and I'm a Flame. How old are you, Kedar?" She asked.

"Ummm... 18 I think." A flame, huh? Makes sense. I thought.

"You think? Don't you know how old you are?" She was exasperated.

"Yes I know!" I cried indignantly,"I'm 18. How old are you?"

"I'm 1432 years old.  Well if you want to eat today you'll come down to the kitchen." She turned and started to walk away.

I started to put my laptop away and she turned back around and barked, "NOW!" I jumped up and followed her to the kitchen.