Most likely the beginning.

          Easy.

This is not frightening at all.

No.

No reason to be afraid.

You are safe.

I looked up from the little piece of paper. The anxious thoughts were almost gone now. Writing calming things down really did work. Maybe Ethan wasn't that dumb after all. Tough, I think I'd known that from our first meeting. Well… I just liked thinking of him as my crazy uncle: Not my homeschooling teacher. I didn't want to think as myself as one in homeschool.  

"So, Elise, how was that?" Ethan asked. His graying hair was all messy today, and I wondered why. Maybe it was that "thing" he was going to show me. That thing he had jabbered about for the past month. 

"It was…" I considered my words carefully, not wanting to make that irritating, knowing smirk appear on his face. "Well… it was okay."

"Okay?" Ethan scoffed. "It was genius. I could almost see all the anxious disappear from your body."

I looked down at my slender frame, not really getting what he meant: I looked exactly the same as before. My jeans-clad legs were still shaking a little and my fingers were still twitching in weird ways. 

"How?" Finally looking him into the eyes, I got to my feet. "How did you even know what to do?" The thought had first occurred to me that moment. Ethan looked down"the sign of he being uncomfortable with something. "Lets just say I know how it is to be anxious." 

I could have swore that I saw the glint of a tear in his left canthus. After seconds of awkward silence, he said, "Now let's go." 

"Where?" I asked a little stupidly, because I knew he wasn't going to say where. 

"Just follow me." 

Ethan walked swiftly toward the ladder leading up to the capsule of the sewer.  Of course this sewer hadn't been used to transporting waste. No, it had in the past ten years, or so Ethan had told me, been acting as his own personal, secret lab. Crazy? yes. But genius? Decidedly. Since his real work wasn't approved my most people,  and especially not the halflings, it was a perfect hideout. 

"Ethan!" I exclaimed as I reached the top of the ladder. He was nowhere to be seen. All in sight were old industry buildings and a whole lot of dumpsters. I could feel the anxious thoughts sneaking in on me. What if something had happened to him? What if someone had seen him coming up? What if one of the halflings had seen him? Nausea curled up in my stomach.

"Over here!" I heard from behind a nearby dumpster. This place had always given me the creeps, and not only because of all the muggers that were known to hang out in these quarters. I dashed to the waste filled thing and had a surprise: Ethan was standing there, holding a sword. A sword. The only place I had ever seen such a thing was in a history book. Those things were ancient, and claimed to be long gone. In the history book it was said that those were last seen in the beginning of the twenty-first century, and that they had been destroyed when the halflings had taken over. How could Ethan possibly have gotten his hands on one now, one hundred years later?

When he saw my face expression, one of his all too known smirks came across his stubbled face. "Never seen one of these before, huh?" I shock my head reluctantly, too confused to come up with something to say. "Yeah," Ethan said. "I hadn't either. Not until ten years ago, when they found me." The way he said they sounded a bit… Proud. His deep gray eyes even seemed to ignite with gray fire. 

"What is going on?" I asked. He was starting to freak me out, and that was apparently to be seen, because Ethan hurried to ask, "Are you going to be okay?" I nodded slowly, my curiosity weighing far more than my fear. 

"Come with me, then," he reached out for my hand. "I have to show you something." 

I grabbed his hand hesitatingly. 

After having lead me deep into a nearby alley, Ethan came to an abrupt halt. "Around here," he muttered, more to himself than me. I wasn't really focusing on his words. I couldn't: this place had the odor of a cat's excrements. In fact, there was a cat lying in a nearby cardbox, yawning. Ethan scrambled though a pile of garbage and apparently found something he was looking for, because he made a loud noise of satisfaction, stuffed the thing in his pocket, and beckoned for me to follow him deeper into the alley. If the smell had been bad before, it was definitely unbearable now. I had to retain a gag. "What are we doing in here?" I asked him while bringing a hand to my nose. 

"Just wait a little longer, then you'll see." He mumbled, removing a dirty blanket from a door-frame on a brick wall. "Tada!"

Looking at the frame, I didn't really get his excitement. "What is this?" He leered. "This, my dear, is a portal."

"A portal?"

"A portal." he stated. 

"What do you mean by portal?" I asked, beginning to take him for a crazy fool.

"Do you want the long or the short story?" 

I looked at him. Sure he knew that I wasn't exactly happy to stand in this smell. He jumped right into the explanation, excitement radiating off of him. "You know that year, 1919 I think, when the moon disappeared?" I nodded, knowing he meant concealed by a big veil of evil  by disappeared. "Along with the halflings, other things also developed on the earth. Such as," he gestured at the door-frame, "The portals."

"And this," he fetched the thing in his pocket and held it up. "Is kind of a remote I have developed to control this specific one." 

Controlling my urge to gasp, I managed a, "Where to?" Another irritating smirk turned op upon his face. "You'll see." 

"If you think I'm following you into that thing without even knowing where it leads, you really are crazy." 

"Huh… Maybe you're right." He looked as if he really turned that idea in his mind. "Maybe you're not. You trust me, don't you?" I considered the question. How well did I really know this man? I had only known him for three months, and I had always thought of him as a bit odd. But maybe I really did trust him. "I guess I do." 

"Smashing!" he remarked, looking, if possible, even more thrilled. "Then let's go." He took my hand into a firm hold. "You have to know this though: you can't let go of my hand, or you will possibly end up some in a very different place. The remote is the only thing that keeps us from being sucked into the Ministry." My stomach twirled. The Ministry was the nightmare of any human. Even worse than any hulave-center.  "I won't let go." I whispered. 

"Excellent," he uttered. "Then let's go!"

He touched the brick-wall behind the frame. At first nothing special happened, but after a few seconds the bricks started fading, transforming into pure white. It looked beautiful. Like the clouds on a summer day. 

Author's Note

What do you think?

Reviews

[Sukylola]

Brilliant. This will be amazing when it's finished!

[Rob Santana]

I think this is well written. You are a creative writer.

[de_maruf]

described nicely and its fantastic

[Amanda J. S.]

Thank you! :-)

[soliloquy]

You are good at the dialogue part.....definitely!

[Amanda J. S.]

That is something I have worked on! Thank you! :-)

[soliloquy]

I'll keep reading your stuff!

[Amanda J. S.]

thank you! :-)

[soliloquy]

you are a new writer? Very well done!

[Amanda J. S.]

thank you! :-)

[Amanda J. S.]

And yes, I am a new writer :-)

[soliloquy]

You have undeniable skill.

[Natalie Elle Tyler]

I love how u described the story.

Good stories like always Amanda. :D

[Amanda J. S.]

Thank you very much! :-)

[RYDER]

its really good

[Amanda J. S.]

Thank you :-)

[Hamza]

i think this is the best fiction story ... i'm eager to read more of it to avoid "nausea developing in my stomach"...
one word for this --> best !!

a slight confusion that held me was in paragraph 11 .. Evan ??

[Amanda J. S.]

Thank you very much! I first called "Ethan" for "Evan" I just have missed it :-)

[Hamza]

yes, i went through the introduction later and i got it cleared that there are some changes .. otherwise it's perfect ... good luck .. !!

[Amanda J. S.]

Thank you! :-)