Understood

Understood

By Ben Brady

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Dedicated to those in need of a book

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Maple Leaf Book Writing Project

Brattleboro, Vermont

Copyright 2013

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Chapter One

When Nick was born at the hospital in his small country town, he was very odd looking, and all of his family looked at him with funny looks. He had short, jagged hair with a dull shine, reflecting from the hospital lights above. His eyes were two different colors, his left one light blue, and his right one light green. His chin was slightly lumpy and his forehead was big and bulky.

“He really looks... interesting!” a nurse exclaimed.

“It’s not interesting,” Nick’s mother said rudely, “It’s horrible!”

“I know, right!” Nick’s older sister Natalie added. “For my only brother, I expected some little pest, but a freak? This will make me look bad in front of all my friends!”

“Please, ladies, be optimistic!” said Nick’s father. “Don’t be prejudice! He might grow up to be the president, land on Mars, or invent flying cars! Who knows? There’s a whole world out there waiting to be explored.”

“Nonsense! There’s no such thing as being optimistic when your only son is terribly ugly!” Nick’s mom interrupted.

“Seriously, can’t we just forget about the bad things and concentrate on the good things? Just listen to me, and maybe you’ll see the way,” said his dad.

“I’d rather jump out the window.”

“Please don’t. You’re weak from just having a baby, and you want to jump

out of a window? It’s bad enough we have to pay the bill for the food and medical service.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“I didn't mean it like that! Please, stay here! Maybe we can talk it out!”

“No, thank you!” And with that, Nick’s mother opened the four story hospital room window, said “Adios!”, and jumped out.

“Mama!” screamed Natalie, “ I’m coming with you!” Then Natalie jumped out to join her “Mama”, and landed in the hospital pool below.

“I’m glad this hospital has a pool!” the nurse said.

Nick’s father asked the nurse, “May I take Nick home now?”

“Only if your wife agrees to it.” the nurse said.

“Dang it!” So, he went downstairs to the hospital pool, where he overheard Natalie and his wife talking about giving away Nick.

“Great idea, Mom! But how’ll we take him there without Dad finding out?”

“Well, you’re the youngster. Why don’t you think about it while I take a nap in this

hot tub?”

“Hello,” Nick’s father said, now revealing himself to his wife and daughter. ”Would

you like some towels? Perhaps something to eat? Or maybe you’ll say why you would go out of your way to dispose of one of our own family members!”

“We didn’t mean it!” Nick’s mother exclaimed.

“No we did,” Natalie interrupted.

“Be quiet, Natalie! Now you’re grounded for two months! No TV, internet,

phones, tablets, or other screens!” yelled Nick’s mother at Natalie.

“I was going to text Anna when I got home!” shouted Natalie into her

mother’s face.

“Both of you, be quiet! Honestly, why would you do such a thing? Well, I know you

hate him, but please just think about another person’s feelings!” Nick’s father said.

“No,” Nick’s mother said, trying to get her husband to listen to her for once

instead of himself.

“Why?”

“Well, think of a group of puppies. There’s always a runt. That puppy makes the rest of the group look bad. That’s why all those pet stores have the big red signs saying ‘50% OFF ON SPECIAL PUPPY!’. They do that because they want to look good, without the oddball.”

“Honey, you have to understand, it only matters what’s on the inside!”

“No, it’s the outside!”

“Inside. You know, maybe we should talk it out at home,” said Nick’s father.

“I’m not letting you take that thing into my house,” said Nick’s mother.

“Your house?”

“Exactly. It’s my house, after all. Look at the purchasing record. It says that I was the

one to purchase the house. Me.”

“I was the one who earned and saved all of the money to buy it! I had a

twenty-four hour shift every single day!”

Then, Nick’s mother cried.

“I’m sorry! I never meant to upset you, honey,” said Nick’s father, “It’s just that I

was proud to have a son and then you tried as hard as you could just to get rid of him!”

“Well, if you didn’t want to upset me, then why did you yell in my face?”

“Umm... lets change the subject.”

Chapter Two

Thirteen Years later...

Nick and his mother were sitting in their living room, which was cramped with

furniture. Nick was working on his science project, and his mother was sitting lazily, watching television and eating cheese puffs. Suddenly, Nick’s mother exclaimed,

“This room is messy! You better clean it. And speaking of you cleaning, your

bedroom is like a pigsty. So start cleaning!”

“Ok, just a minute.”

“No! Don’t wait! These rooms have been dirty for so long!”

“Yeah. Two days is so long,” Nick mumbled.

“Don’t talk back to me, mister! You’re grounded for a month! Go to your room! And clean it, too!”

So Nick walked through the long, narrow hallway, up the long winding staircase,

and right into his sister Natalie, who had recently turned sixteen.

“Hey, watch it, shrimp! You almost knocked the snot right out of my nose! I’m

telling Mom about how clumsy and stupid you are!” shrieked Natalie.

“No! Wait! It was an accident! I was just going to my room because I talked back!”

“So you’re in trouble twice in less than an hour? I guess that I’ll have to make sure that you get grounded for twice the amount of time she said! So, how long were you grounded for?” Natalie asked with a grin.

“Um... a week?” Nick lied, not wanting to spend any more time in his room then he

thought he should.

“Really? A week? Mom must be taking it easy on you. Well, two is better than one!” Natalie said, still grinning, knowing that her brother would be stuck in his room for two whole weeks in the summer heat, not getting to go outside.

“Yes, I must be taking it easy on him.” Nick’s mother answered to her daughter,

because she was really listening on to their conversation.

“Mom! I’m sorry! Please don’t punish me for lying!” Nick said.

“Well,” Nick’s mother started, but she was soon interrupted by Natalie.

“Nick, you lied? Mom, make it into six months. Six months!”

“Did I hear a six? Or was it a sixteen? I think it was a sixteen. Sixteen it is!”

So Nick was scheduled to spend sixteen months of his life stuck in his

bedroom, grounded. And, seeing his father was away on a business trip at the moment, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Chapter Three

I can’t jump out the window, I just can’t risk it, Nick thought to himself while sitting on his small bed. I especially don’t want to be like the rest of the family now... all that eavesdropping and now I don’t want to make another custom- of window jumping!

But, of course, nobody would be able to say, “Ha Ha, you’re just like them!” because he would already be gone if he jumped out the window. So, Nick decided to jump anyways. But first he had to pack a bag. He even made a list of what he wanted to take.

• A sleeping Bag
• A pillow
• A canteen
• Twine
• A toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• A few boxes of crackers
• A first aid kit
• An emergency phone

He stopped there. What else could he use? Then he thought of all the nasty

things out in nature that could try to kill him - like bears, wolves and coyotes. He realized that he didn’t just need to defend himself - he also needed to hunt. He quickly jotted down a bow and arrow, bug spray, and a spear.

But that was only what he wanted to take.

Finding a sleeping bag, a pillow, and twine was very easy, because he had them

in his closet and on his bed. He also had a spare canteen on his desk, and an extra toothbrush with toothpaste awaited him on his nightstand. Finding the first aid kit and the crackers was more difficult than it seemed. However, he had a first aid kit in his room because it was also used for storage.

Despite all odds, he managed to check off the whole list - except for a bow and

arrow, and a spear - in less than an hour, without having to leave his room once.

Then, he did have to leave his room. To jump. Out of a window. At night. Lucky for

him, his bedroom was on the third floor - all the way up at the top of his house, near the attic. “Well, here goes!” Nick muttered. Then he landed in a puddle and ran off into the night.

When he finally reached the thicket outside of his neighborhood, the sun eerily

approached through the now thickening clouds. That’s what I forgot! Rain Gear! Nick realized, but it was too late. Soon he would be found to be missing, and going back would be like suicide. So, he walked through the rain, umbrella-less, jacket-less, and homeless, through rivers and forests of all kinds, evergreen and oak and birch, until he came upon a winding mountain path. Nick trudged up the path. Ahead of him was a small temple.

Chapter Four

When he finally reached the temple, it was almost dark. Luckily, the temple was well lit. Inside was a small platform, which had a brass plate on the front and a small ruby lined fountain on top. The brass plate was inscribed with pictures of the sun and moon, the earth, and other planets. I wonder why this temple is here... Nick thought.

Nick called out, “Hello? Anybody home?”, but he was only answered with his own voice, echoing back to him. “Home, home, home.” Home. Home was the only place Nick could turn to, but to be turned away again by his mom and sister again would be a nightmare, and he didn’t want to be grounded for life.

Nick explored the temple. He found diamonds the size of elephants, green jewels

inserted into silver bowls, and chests overflowing with gold. But he didn’t care about those. He only cared about the brass plate. It seemed so intriguing to him, in a place full of treasures. Just brass with pictures. Nick approached to inspect it in more detail. Then he tapped on it, seeing if it was hollow. Instead of being answered by a sound, he was answered by all of the planets and stars set in the plate popping out of the plate and rolling across grooves in the floor. Then each one hit a small sharp bump on the wall and split open.

Nick saw light coming from the rubble. Inside of each shell was a tiny piece of swirling purple and black matter that looked different than the rest. When he held two pieces up to each other, they whizzed together and became one piece. Hmm.. Nick thought. Maybe something will happen when they’re all connected. As soon as Nick set the dark sphere on the floor, it whizzed up into the air and plopped itself at the top of the fountain.

Suddenly, the water turned dark and purple and the rubies melted away into a blood-like liquid. When the liquid reached a rat near the fountain, the rat burned away from the acid and died. Nick was confused until he saw that he had missed a piece of the sphere - it was laying on the ground, oozing crimson liquid. Now the overflowing fountain liquid reached the ground and soon stung Nick’s feet, even through his shoes, and smelled acidic and vile. If I don’t get out of here soon, he thought, I’m going to die.

On the walls were tapestries. When the acid reached their level, they sizzled, popped, and turned colorless. One tapestry that depicted a sheep had fallen into the acid because the ceiling of the room was also oozing acid. Oh great, Nick thought, an acid waterfall. But as he looked more carefully, he noticed that there was a door behind the tapestry. Nick swam through sludge, his legs burning with searing pain from the acid below, until he reached the door. Nick followed a tunnel behind the door to a large drop above a lake. Nick dove in. The water had a soothing effect on Nick’s burning legs. Finally, Nick came to the surface. He was free of the dreaded temple.

Chapter Five

After wandering for a while, Nick found a small patch of sand that looked like

a desert. But when he reached it, it turned into a small forest, then an ocean, then finally into a small platform with a glowing orb on top. Cautiously, Nick approached it. Out popped a large man in a dirty green suit who picked up the orb.

Nick asked, “Who are you? What is this place? What is that orb?”

“My name is Gimbo , the great and powerful. This place is called the Serpent

Land. Legends say that once there lived three serpents, each more disagreeable than the last. One day, they heard of an approaching army, coming to claim the serpent’s land for themselves. One wanted to move to the southern deserts and live in the sand. Another wanted to go off and live in the coniferous forests to the east, and the other wanted to slink off to an underwater cave in the north. They couldn’t come to an agreement, so they went their separate ways. The place where we stand was their home.”

“That doesn’t explain the orb. Finish the story.”

“Then, they all realized that they couldn’t live without each other, and wished that they were together again. However, they just died very painful deaths. This orb is the essence of their wishes. All who come here get to choose their wish, and if they are sinful like the snakes, they die, and if they are pure, their wishes comes true.”

“Do I have to make a wish if I come here?” Nick asked.

“Not necessarily, but it’s better to die magically than to die of exposure. And if

you’re pure, you will have benefit from your wish.” Gimbo replied.

Nick wondered, thinking if he ever did anything bad besides lying. In his mother’s

standards, Nick was a very naughty boy. Of course, nobody liked her anyways. Then Nick realized that he had done something bad - not bad in the sense that it was not the right thing, but just not what he meant to do. Nick had dropped his survival bag back in the temple. It was probably gone by now, dissolved by acid. But he didn’t really need it anyways. Now he was either going to live or die, be happy or exiled. He decided that Gimbo was right and that he should take his chances. So Nicholas Charleston was about to test his luck in the biggest way imaginable. He stepped up onto the platform and asked Gimbo, “So how do I make a wish?”

Gimbo replied, ”Rub the ball, say your wish, and tap your heels together, three

times!”

“Really?” Nick asked.

“No. Not the heels. Just the ball and the wish.”

“Okay...” Nick said, then paused, still thinking about what wish he should make. He wanted to be appreciated, despite his looks, so that he could be happy with his family, although his dad loved him anyways.

After a few minutes, Gimbo said, “Just rub the stinkin’ ball already!”

So, feeling rushed, Nick rubbed the ball and wished that his family wouldn’t

always be mad at him. Then, Nick found himself sitting at home with his family. His wish had worked!

Nick’s mom and sister didn’t react to him being there at all, or yell at him for not being in his room. His dad didn’t have to yell at Natalie and his wife for yelling at Nick. Eventually, Nick got up and walked into the bathroom, wanting to see himself right then. When he looked in the mirror, he saw nothing like his usual self. Instead he saw... nothing! Nick was invisible! He frantically ran upstairs. His bedroom door was covered by caution tape, which Nick quickly dove through, while the rest of his bedroom was covered with sticky notes written about evidence. Nick did get his wish - he wasn’t yelled at... because as far as everyone knew, he was gone.

Chapter Six

Nick poked his sister multiple times, but it didn’t work. He tried speaking, but no one seemed to hear. Going back upstairs, Nick frantically jumped out the window. He would’ve bumped his head on it but his head passed right through. I wonder why... Nick thought. Also thinking about what could have happened to change his wish, Nick retraced his steps to Gimbo. He thought back towards the missing piece of the purple ball in the temple. Then Nick came to a conclusion. The purple ball was like my life. Without one piece, it was all worthless, like I couldn’t live without it- literally, I almost died because of acid. And the snakes. They didn’t know they needed each other until it was too late. Nick realized that he couldn’t live without his obnoxious family.

Gimbo eagerly explained that he always taught travellers lessons whenever