1-2

A little adventure.

I sat in the overwhelmingly decorated bedroom with Sam, me on the bed and him in a red plush chair. We both looked like dwarfs in the ridiculously large furniture.

“I think this wins for the tackiest room ever created.” I said, staring at the gold-embroidered sheet laying atop the bed.

“Amen.” Sam said absentmindedly to me.

“Father would give you a dirty look for using a religious term, especially here,” I half-joked.

“I don’t care. F**k him.” I smiled and thought to myself ‘yeah that would be another dirty look’, but I didn’t say it on account of Sam’s tone.

“How long have they been gone?” I say instead.

“Two hours.”

“Not their longest,” I yawn and stretch. It was true; three hours and fifteen minutes was the record.

“Probably having a feast, while we’re trapped in here.”

“You’re forgetting Father is there. I’m sure it’s boring.”

“Not as boring as this,” Sam said as he got up, the chair creaking under him. He walked to the huge chestnut door and opened it slowly, peeking into the hallway.

“Sam…” I protested, knowing where he was going with this.

“Just a stroll,” he said nonchalantly.

“Let me come with you. To keep you out of trouble.”

“Yeah sure,” he laughed, and I jumped out of the suffocatingly-snug bed. We shut the door quietly behind us, and Sam quickly took the lead. We walked the halls, with our footsteps echoing quietly on the gray tile. The walls had gold trim, with intricate designs carved into them. Birds, delighted suns, pyramids, and unfamiliar animals from distant lands led us along our similarly unknown path. The walls themselves were a royal red, to match our bedroom. Every ten or so feet we encountered strangers with painted with grim faces. A woman here, man there, God here, Goddess there. I recognized no one.

Sam didn’t pay attention to any of it. He was on a mission, but I had no clue where. I don’t think he really knew either. He just likes to feel important.

When approaching the entrance to another hallway, we heard people; living people, that is, not portraits. Sam jumped back against the wall, so I followed. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, only that it seemed important.

Their footsteps seemed to be approaching us, so Sam pointed in the direction we came from, signalling to me to turn around. We walked side-by-side, and Sam whispered to me to walk like I was supposed to be here. I wasn’t sure exactly what that was supposed to look like, so I just stood up straighter and focused on not looking behind me.

We were halfway back to our room when we heard a man shout something, but I looked at Sam and he just kept walking, so I did too. I heard him running towards us, and I wanted to run, but Sam didn’t even change pace. So I didn’t either.

I felt a large hand on my shoulder, and I instinctively turned around and closed my eyes. Sam stopped too.

The man was yelling at us, but I couldn’t understand a single word. I opened my eyes slowly, and saw that it was mostly directed at me. Me and Sam just stared blankly, not sure what to do.

When he was done with this spiel, he just looked at us angrily and expectantly. We stared back for a few seconds before he said in a very thick accent: “You speak Arabic?”

We shook our heads.

He rolled his eyes. “Who are you?”

I spoke up. “We were just going for a walk.”

“No. Who are you?”

We were silent for a few seconds before I tried again. “We are the children of the White’s.” He looked shocked for a moment, then furrowed his bushy black brows.

“How do I know this?”

“Uh,” Sam started. “We promise?”

The man snorted and grabbed my arm. “Hey!” Sam yelled. “Don’t touch her!”

The man ignored him and led us down the hallway, my arm firmly in his grip. We decided to just go with him.

When we passed our room, me and Sam tried to stop and tell him we were staying there, but he yanked me along and Sam didn’t stop either. So we passed it, and walked further and further into uncharted territory, away from where we were supposed to be waiting for Mother and Father. We turned right, then left, then right again, blindly led by this beast of a man. I only hoped Father could find us.

We passed a set of doors, and it sounded like a huge party was going on inside. Me and Sam looked at each other. That must be where our parents were.

He led us past there, but we weren’t completely gone before the doors opened, releasing the full volume of chaos that was occurring within the grand room.

“Sam?” I heard my mother’s voice, and both me and Sam turned around.

“Priscilla.” My father said, and I hated to hear the disappointment in his voice.

“Sir White,” the man bowed, letting go of my arm to fully do so.

“Those are our children.” Mother said, and we walked speedily over to her.

“My apologies.” The man’s face got red, and he turned away, marching to some other destination.

My moment of joy quickly ceased as the hallway grew silent and I had to face my parents.

“What exactly were you both doing?” Father asked. I answered for both of us.

“We just wanted to walk is all. That room was suffocating.” Mother chuckled, but Father did not.

“Did you think about the consequences of your actions, other than temporary amusement?”

“No I did not.”

“Sam?” My father directed his attention to my brother.

“No,” Sam said sullenly.

“Great. So now I get to explain to Mr. Jabar what my children were doing sneaking around his house, which he graciously allowed us to stay at. That will surely improve our relations.” Father walked away, clearly frustrated. I looked at Mother for support.

“Don’t worry, it was just kinda rough for him in there. What did you guys see on your little adventure?”

“Nothing much,” Sam said, perking up and ignoring Father’s obvious anger at the situation. “Unless you count paintings of dead people a ‘sight’.”

“Better than what I saw in there,” Mother laughed lightly. We all walked together outside, with the exception of Father, but Mother seemed to know the palace by heart. The bushes were trimmed to resemble animals, trapped in cages that took the form of peach colored stones encircling them.

Sam and Mother talked and laughed. I couldn’t laugh, but only think about the trouble we might be in.

Author's Note

Anyone picking up personality and/or family traits?