‘Come in,’ Mr. Benson said and in came Simon.
Brendan’s heart skipped in excitement. It actually leapt for three reasons: One; Simon was still on his side, two; the action was about to happen, and three; what would be the repercussions to this daring act of retribution?Trying to avoid suspicion, Brendan slightly moved his desk from Angus and Thomas, at least about eleven inches from them. Simon was now talking to Mr. Benson.Did he maybe want to sell him out? Brendan abandoned this thought immediately. He knew his friend too well to have him stab him in the back. Brendan removed his backpack from his desk and placed it on his lap. He could feel the snake wriggling, fighting to escape.Suddenly, Simon started gasping for breath like he was drowning. ‘I…need…’ he kept repeating these words over and over again.‘What do you need, boy?’ Mr. Benson had stood up trying to find out what Simon was trying to say.Simon kept gasping for breath and as he did so, he threw aHe saw Simon sitting at their table, the same table where they had hatched this wild plan. ‘That was brilliant,’ Brendan said whispering and putting on a smile that ripped across his whole face like a slit on a puppet’s face.‘Did it bite him?’ Simon was eager to know the outcome.He sat in front of him. ‘You bet it did! Didn’t you hear him scream?’‘Of course I did. The whole school must have heard it. I was just thinking that maybe he just saw it and managed to get away.’‘No way, Simon, it bit him. I just didn’t stick around for the chaos.’‘What type of snake was it?’‘I don’t know but I’m pretty sure it was poisonous.’ Brendan was still smiling with satisfaction now beginning to eat. ‘How did you think of a plan like that anyway?’ he asked Simon.‘Well, when I left you yesterday…’‘You mean ran away?’ he corrected him, fixing his eyebrows and mouth into a friendly frown.‘Okay, okay ran away..,’ he admitted.Brendan noticed that Simon was chewi
He realized that she really was desperate for forgiveness. That feeling of hard worn triumph was beginning to turn against him. But he was not ready to fold. He sighed, ‘At this point I’m afraid it’s impossible, Samantha.’ He looked at Simon’s table and saw him wearing a smile of contentment. ‘You made me feel worthless, as if I was a disgrace to everyone. You absolutely have no idea how much pain you have caused me, personally. I’m sorry but I don’t think you deserve my forgiveness.’‘I know sorry doesn’t begin to count for the heartache I’ve caused you both. Its just that when my brother disappeared, I tried to find a way to forget about him…’‘And insulting two innocent boys seemed to be the best way, right? How pathetic is that? You should have known what you were doing was wrong not wait for someone to tell you.’‘I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness but at least just try to understand. I may come from a rich family but I do know that I’m far from perfect. I just wa
‘You doing anything tomorrow?’ he changed the subject realizing changing Simon’s mind was impossible.‘What did you want to do?’‘Well, there’s something I saw in the forest that might just interest you.’‘Does it have anything to do with magic?’ He looked excited. Anything supernatural was Simon’s best subject when it came to conversation.‘It’s something that has got something to do with that,’ he responded.‘Great. I was supposed to visit my mother but I can go today, so…what time?’‘I’ll meet you at our crossroads at ten-thirty.’‘Okay,’ he agreed.Brendan moved his eyes towards the entrance of the cafeteria and saw Thomas pacing straight towards them, a sea of students following closely behind him.There was a scar on his lip and a bandage on his finger and he was breathing heavily in fury. He stood bes
When he got into the house, he headed straight for his room and threw himself on the bed and began sobbing softly into his pillow. Tears of rage. He kept replaying the whole fight; how he had tried to fight back to no avail. Did Samantha talk to him just to keep him seated until Thomas arrived? Had they been working together all along? Samantha did have an unpredictable character. And to think he had almost forgiven her! Or maybe the nickname he had picked for her had no effect on her at all? He removed his face from the pillow and stared at the cupboard beside his bed, the same cupboard that had the purple liquid. The Oxygen potion, Howard had called it. His eyes had become red from crying. He reached over and opened the cupboard and took out the glass container. He remembered Howard’s words; “Do not take more than the smallest of sips”. Brendan did not even believe Howard’s words, that this liquid could make one superhuman. Without thinking, he opened the container and
‘You see, Eriksson? Dat’s what happens when you mess with a madman with a temper. I came here to conquer pathetic weirdoes like you.’Brendan felt like punching him in the face but he knew what would follow so he remained as cool as a cucumber and as quiet as a church mouse.In the beginning of the third period Brendan began to feel a burning pain in the left side of his chest. At first he thought it was just temporary but it worsened by every second and restraining himself from showing it was becoming even more difficult. When Mr. Price came in on the last period for the Physics lesson the pain had now moved to his head. It was as though his brain was vibrating. He made a slight groan and Mr. Price noticed it.‘Something wrong, Brendan?’ he asked him.‘No, I’m fine, sir. Just a slight headache.’‘We all know where dat came from,’ Thomas whispered to Angus from behind Brendan’s back and they b
Everyone in the school was talking about what had happened. The story began with the snake on Thomas’ desk, then it became the snake on the floor. One boy clarified that the snake had been in Brendan Eriksson’s bag and yet still, someone argued that the snake had been in Thomas’ desk. Anyway, the cobra bit Thomas. But if it was a cobra, how is it that Thomas was still alive? another one argued against this theory. Anyway, the “cobra” or “mamba” had its head bitten off by the black belt who proceeded to chew the reptile’s spine. And, so where does Brendan come in? one asked. He planted the snake for Thomas. No, that can’t be true. Brendan was not that type of guy. He was quiet. It’s always the quiet ones, another said. But what about the fight? Oh, yes, the fight. Brendan parried five Bradley punches before unleashing a fury of blows no one knew he were capable of.So, Brendan Eriksso
‘I’m just a guy looking for someone,’ the stranger answered. He looked about a few years older than Brendan, if not the same age.‘Who are you looking for specifically, kid?’The stranger chuckled, ‘Do I really look that young?’ he asked Brendan as he walked towards him.The stranger’s face reminded Brendan of someone. The smile was cold as if it knew no laughter or love at all and his body looked starved thin. He had never seen him before so who was he?‘Today I’m nineteen,’ the stranger said.‘Well, you look my age or just a year younger.’‘And looks can be deceiving…anyway, scrap that, it’s my turn to ask questions. What are you doing here and how did you manage to throw that tree like it was just a pencil?’‘I didn’t throw anything…you must be drunk, man we don’t live in “La La Land”, do we?’&ls
He finally arrived by the “magical” tree. He slowly immersed his hand inside it, followed by his whole arm, then he paused still for a moment in hesitation. He took one long breath and then, without thinking it through, he pushed his whole body into the tree.Brendan found himself exposed to what looked like some kind of unknown dimension. Behind him, where he had used as an entrance into the tree was only a vertical black slit, like a cut, which meant he could still use it as a door when he needed to leave. He did not think he would want to stay there too long. One madness at a time, he thought. He exercised as much caution as possible. The temperature there was much cooler. There were trees and vegetation everywhere, but more beautiful and more colorful than the Bradwield forest itself. Nearby were a small stream and a hundred yards to the north of the stream was a small cottage with brick walls and a thatched roof. It looked as if no one had lived in it f