Fan Fiction: Part Seven

This is the last part. See? The torture is over. At least, it will be once this part is done. }:) Read on and enjoy as best as you can. ;)

PART SEVEN: SUNDAY IN WHICH MY GUARDIAN GOES TO CHURCH AND THEN RETURNS TO THE FOURTH DIMENSION

 

            I reluctantly got up early on Sunday morning, knowing that there would be little enough time to have breakfast and make myself presentable without having a late start by sleeping in. Once my usual preparations were finished, I walked out with coffee to see how the Mornelly’s were doing.

            I found Bran looking dashing as usual in a suit and a tie trying to get Ciarán and Damhán to dress nicer than they were. Ciarán, in a black hoodie and black jeans was refusing to cooperate, as was Damhán in a tee shirt and blue jeans.

            “I want us to make a good impression in Rebekah’s church, but the way you are both dressed will only bring disgrace on our family name!” Bran was saying with arms crossed, his back to the door.

            “We’re just fine dressed the way we are!” Damhán shot back. “I don’t think the church will care how we’re dressed…and even if they do, I don’t care!”

            “Worry all you want Bran,” Ciarán said sulkily, “I’m not changing.”

            My presence went unnoticed to all but Breandan who walked over and relieved me of some of the coffee mugs. He rolled his eyes at his brothers’ behavior. “They’re hopeless.”

            “How long has this been going on?” I asked curiously.        

            “I gave up trying to stop them about five minutes ago.”

            “Where’s Aichear?” My next question came after a quick survey of the room revealed the absence of the oldest Mornelly.

            “Taking a shower currently. He’s trying his best to be ready to go to church. If he had been here, all this,” my guardian gestured towards the arguing brothers, “would have stopped long ago. Aichear is the only one who can make Damhán and Ciarán stop when it gets this bad.”

            “When will he be done?”

            “Any minute…I hope.”

            “Do you think I could try my hand at stopping them?”

            “I wouldn’t…you’d just get sucked into the argument right along with them then you’d get in trouble with Aichear. That’s why I gave up. I don’t want Aichear’s anger directed in my direction.”

            “What’s he like when he’s angry?” I asked, my curiosity coming to the surface again.

            Breandan shuddered. “Awful.”

            “Like how? Does he yell or something?” I was hard for me to imagine Aichear yelling…the picture was almost amusing.

            “Worse,” my guardian answered soberly. “He doesn’t say anything. He just looks at you.” Breandan closed his eyes as if remembering a time when he had received the worst end of his oldest brother’s wrath. “His look alone is enough to freeze molten lava. Believe me, you don’t want him mad at you. EVER.”

            I raised an eyebrow. “Well, thanks for the advice. I think I’ll wait here with you.” I paused and heard the shower door close from inside the bathroom. “Where’s Aileen?”

            “I sent her inside shortly before you came out to get some breakfast because I thought it best to keep her away from their fight.”

            “Good plan.”

            Another minute or so and Aichear came through the door. He seemed to take in the entire scene with a glance. The arguing brothers were soon speechless as Aichear’s bespectacled gaze silently smoldered over them. I saw a small shudder pass through each boy and then they gave stammered apologies to the other two. Satisfied, Aichear turned away from them and began calmly brushing his hair. The fire died from his eyes and he even sent a small smile, if a twitch in the corner of the mouth could possibly be called a smile, in my direction.

            “Good morning Rebekah,” he said finally. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

            I shrugged. “It happens frequently in our own house Aichear, arguing siblings is part of life.”

            “Still,” the oldest Mornelly continued, “they should have known better.”

            I couldn’t argue with that.

            “Where’s Aileen, Breandan?” Aichear asked.

            “I sent her in to eat breakfast,” Breandan replied.

            “Thank you, that was a wise decision. It is what I would have done in your place.”

            That was high praise coming from Aichear. I raised an eyebrow and Breandan looked very pleased.

            “When does your church service start?” Bran asked; it appeared that he had recovered from his disagreement quickly.

            “We should get there in about twenty minutes. Is that enough time?”

            “It should be.”

            “Then I’ll leave you to your preparations and head in to eat my own breakfast.”

            “We’ll come in as soon as we’re ready,” Aichear said with a meaningful glance in the younger two boys’ direction.

*◊*

                “Thank you choir.” My dad stood at the pulpit and smiled out at his congregation after the choir sang their first song to signal the beginning of our service. “What a great way to start out our worship on this beautiful Sunday morning! I’d like to welcome you all and thank you for joining us in praising our Savior. Let’s pray now and dedicate this time spent here to Him.”

            While Dad prayed, I tried to ignore the weird feeling that there were strangers sitting in our family’s row and forget the odd looks I got from different people as they watched the Mornelly’s follow me, right to the front of course, where we always sat.

            I skipped doing choir this morning so I could help the Mornelly’s feel more at home before the service started, but I felt a little guilty after our choir director shot me some quizzical looks. However, I forgot my guilt as soon as our song leader began the first hymn.

            The service passed quickly, and I enjoyed seeing the Mornelly’s enjoy it. I noticed Aileen, Breandan, and Damhán sang their happily even though they were a little off-key, Aichear mouthed the words without singing at all, Bran was too busy looking handsome to sing, and Ciarán sang very quietly, without moving his mouth hardly at all. I was surprised to find that Ciarán was actually the best singer of them all, though I could only hear him because he happened to be sitting next to me.

            Aichear sat on the farthest seat, nearest the aisle, and Aileen sat sandwiched next to him with Bran on the other side of her. Damhán sat next to Bran and on the other side was Ciarán. I sat next to Ciarán with the dim hope that maybe I could keep them from arguing during the sermon. Breandan sat on the other side of me and on the far side of him sat my younger brothers followed by the rest of our family.

            All the Mornelly’s seemed to appreciate the sermon and got a lot of Dad’s jokes he threw into his sermon every-once-in-a-while. It was a little hard to tell that Damhán was paying attention because he was busy drawing gory pictures on the back of the sermon notes and showing them to Ciarán with a smirk, but even he laughed when a joke was made so I had to assume that he actually was hearing what Dad was saying. Pretty soon a whole conversation was going on in pencil on a bulletin.

Quit drawing and pay attention. (Bran started by passing this note to Damhán)

Bran! Passing notes are we? For shame! (This “shocked” reply came with a smirk from Damhán)

You’re still not paying attention…Aichear is not going to be happy if I…

(Here the note was snatched from Bran by Damhán who had been reading over his shoulder and crumpled into a ball before being shoved down his pocket…a new note was started)

Ha! Now he’ll never know! (This was Damhán)

I know all. (These three words were placed in Damhán’s lap by Aichear who had apparently been reading everything from his spot on the other side of Aileen)

You’ve got good eyesight for someone who wears glasses. (I think Damhán was lucky we sat in front, otherwise I think he would have gotten flattened at this moment. Even so, his face went about two shades lighter pink when Aichear caught his eye and he quickly scribbled down an apology) Just kidding… (Yeah, that’s his way of apologizing. One can get used to it. ;)

No more notes. (This order came from Aichear)

May I ask why Your Highness? (Damhán was pushing it here. I was a little scared for him actually. If Aichear could have looked real-life daggers, his youngest brother would be dead.)

(Here Damhán lost his pencil and every sheet of paper within reach. He sulked for the remainder of the sermon.)

            Yeah, life with the Mornelly’s never has a dull moment. Once the service ended with a prayer and final hymn, Bran and Damhán made a bee-line to the cookies; Bran because he was starving, Damhán because I’m assuming he was afraid that Aichear’s wrath would fall on him as soon as the final “amen” left the lips of the song leader.

            The rest followed at a more leisurely pace and I introduced the Mornelly’s to as many of my friends and acquaintances as possible. Damhán made several friends right off, and even Ciarán found some friends who were as reclusive as himself. Bran hit it off with a couple guys and Aichear found some knowledgeable persons to talk with. Aileen had no end of girls around her age to hang out with. Breandan and I soon found ourselves in a mixed group; talking and laughing with several friends of mine who soon became friends with all the Mornelly’s too.

            All too soon it was time to go home. I sadly bid my friends goodbye. Even sadder were the goodbye’s of the Mornelly’s. They knew that no sooner would they leave then most of their friends would forget all about them.

            Lunch came and went and I had Breandan follow me around with a camera to take graduation pictures. Most of them turned out, despite the fact that neither him nor I were professional photographers.

            “How did you keep a straight face with Damhán making all those horrible faces behind me?” my guardian asked in astonishment as the pictures came up on the computer screen for me to check and possibly edit.

            I grinned. “Oh it wasn’t too hard. You know, I do have siblings. Nine of them in fact. If I couldn’t keep a straight face every time one of them made a face at me, I’d never stop grimacing.”

            Suddenly Aichear ran into the house. It was so odd to see him anything but calm, cool, and collected that I immediately knew what was wrong. Breandan and I both jumped to our feet, pictures forgotten.

            “What happened? Is someone hurt? What’s going on?” All three questions were fired at the oldest Mornelly by my guardian and I as he fought to catch his breath.

            “It’s starting!” Aichear gasped out, holding his stomach and straitening his glasses automatically.

            “What’s starting?” I blurted before seeing the look of understanding dawn on Breandan’s face.

            “We’re going to be leaving soon,” my guardian answered in surprising calm.

            I began to frown, then realized with a jolt what they were talking about. “You’re returning to the fourth dimension?”

            Aichear and Breandan both nodded. A wave of sadness came over me. “I’m going to miss you all,” I said simply. My eyes widened. “I need to say goodbye to the rest of the family!” I yelled.

            Aichear nodded shortly. “They’re all outside, waiting for you. The first symptoms came rather unexpectedly.”

            “I noticed,” I answered wryly, somehow managing to keep my wits about me even with everything happening around me. I followed the two brothers outside and found the rest of them standing hopefully in the sunshine. “How much longer do you have?” I asked Aichear quietly.

            “Five minutes at best,” he answered. “Better make it quick.”

            I wrapped Aichear in a hug suddenly, before he had time to react. A startled look came into his eyes, but it was quickly followed by one of his small smiles, so I knew I wasn’t in trouble. “I’m a little jealous of Aileen…you’re a pretty awesome older brother to have around.”

            “Thank you,” he said quietly.

            Aileen came up to me suddenly and wrapped her arms around my waist. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m going to miss you so much!” she wailed. “I wish we never had to leave!”

            “I’ll miss you too,” I assured the weeping girl. “You’ll always be an honorary little sister to me.”

            Damhán gave me an embarrassed side hug and wiped his eyes muttering something about his allergies, but he quickly returned to his old self when I socked him in the shoulder playfully. “Hey!” he exclaimed rubbing his arm. “Watch it! This is my sword fighting arm!”

            “Sorry,” I said, my grin belying my half-hearted apology. “I’ll miss you too,” I added laughingly.

            Bran came up and gave me a hug too. “I hope we can come back here soon.” He cocked his head at me. “You know, you’re not a bad cook really. Breandan’s good, but you almost have him beat.”

            “Thanks,” I grinned. “You’d better all be for my graduation. I’m counting on it.”

            Before Ciarán knew what was happening, I gave him a hug too. “Whoa!” he shouted in surprise. Jumping backwards out of hugging range, he tripped and landed in the dirt. He glowered up at me. “Look what you did to my brand new black pants!”

            I hugged him again, just for good measure…even though hugging Ciarán was like hugging a tree dressed in black.

            At last it was time to say goodbye to my guardian. I knew I couldn’t put it off forever, or the goodbye would never happen…I hated to say it, but wanted to say it at the same time.

            “Well,” I looked up at him after a hug. “You know…”

            “You’ll be seeing us again,” Breandan said. The ever hopeful, the ever optimistic.

            “When though?” I demanded even as he started to fade from my sight.

            “We’ll be at your graduation.” His voice sounded like he was speaking through a tube of metal. “That’s a promise.”

            “I’m going to miss you most of all,” I said finally, sadly watching his features fade into the background.

            “Hey, not cool! What about us!” I heard Damhán’s voice as if from far away.

            I saw a faint grin on my guardian’s face. “I’ll be here. Whenever you need me, I’ll be here.” And then he was gone.

            For a moment I stood in stunned silence, staring at the wall where Breandan had stood five minutes ago. Snapping out of my trance, I took a shaky breath and willed the tears not to fall. There was no doubt about it. I missed them. Already.

            But I had my guardian’s promise. A promise I knew he would keep. I straightened my shoulders with a confident smile. They would be back.

            *◊*

            After finishing my school for the day, I left the house to walk around outside. My mind wandered back to the week I had spent with the Mornelly’s. I hadn’t forgotten, though my family had. Now I was writing it down to share with them. They would see it only as another of my stories. A funny one, maybe a thought provoking one, but only a story nonetheless.

            “Oh well,” I sighed to myself and continued typing.

            Suddenly, from behind me, I heard a chuckle. I spun around and saw the vague outline of a familiar figure. “Breandan??” I squealed, nearly knocking him over with my hug.

            “Yes, it’s me. You’re writing about our visit huh?”

            “Yeah! Are you all back in the third dimension then? Is that why I can see you?”

            “Actually,” my guardian had a hint of surprise in his voice. “I’ve been here ever since our visit. You just didn’t see me.”

            A puzzled frown sat between my eyebrows. “How come I can see you now?” I asked.

            “I…don’t know,” he answered slowly.

            “Can I See now?”

            “I guess so!”

            “But how?”

            My guardian paused for a moment…unsure what to say. “I think,” he began finally, “I think because you believe we exist.”

            “Didn’t I before?” I demanded hotly.

            “Apparently not enough. But since you’ve written about us, told the story of our visit from your perspective, you finally have showed that you believe enough.”

            “So…” I tried to wrap my mind around what he had said. “Because I wrote about you I can See?”

            “That’s the basic idea of the complicated reality, yes.” My guardian’s eyes were twinkling.

            I grinned. “Well, since you’re here, I have something I want you to help me with…”

 

 

                    The End

 You lived through a seven-part fan fiction story. Congratulations! I'd like to shake your hand!
Was it really that bad? Be honest, WAS it?

Which Mornelly sibling was YOUR favorite?
Which part was your favorite?
Have you ever written fan fiction?
If so, who's characters/story was it based off of?
Did you ever secretly think YOU'RE fan fiction was better than their original story? (Mine has never been better than the original. It's hard to get it even good enough to be considered good fan fiction!)
I look forward to hearing what you think! :)

Fan Fiction: Part Six

Almost done. ALMOST DONE. I will soon stop plaguing you with fan fiction parts. I promise. You only have to live through the next two parts...including this one...and then it'll be over.
I think you're going to like this next part. No, really, I think you will! :)

PART SIX: SATURDAY IN WHICH MY GUARDIAN HELPS ME WITH BOOKS AND PLANNING

 

            Saturday mornings are the only mornings of the week that we get to really sleep in on, so I didn’t wake up until past eight. When the sun finally managed to find its way through the blinds and across my eyes, I woke up groggily.

            I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the alarm clock said it was 10:47, but then I checked my phone and it told me the correct time (8:14) and figured out that the power must have gone out sometime during the night. I could have figured out when, but my brain didn’t want to work full time yet…and besides, I didn’t really care anyways. After my pulse returned to it’s normal tempo, I was very awake and ready for the day to begin.

            Breakfast, thanks to a little preparation between my guardian and I, was blueberry coffee cake. After bringing out come freshly brewed coffee to the Mornelly boys, (Aileen didn’t get any this time, though she did her best to manipulate Aichear into letting her again…nothing worked) and we played another round of riggamarole.

            Breandan kept pestering me to show him my stories, so at last, and with great reluctance and some embarrassment, I pulled up my stories on my computer and showed them to the siblings.

            While the Mornelly’s were reading over my shoulders, I quickly gave my stories a once over; changing mistakes as I found them before the Mornelly’s discovered them. It became almost a game, but I won over all because Aichear was the only one who could find mistakes… and I didn’t expect to be able to edit faster than he could read.

            After a few hours of this, we stopped and they began giving me advice, helpful in some cases, and not so helpful in others. I’ll let you guess which brothers were helpful and which ones weren’t. Aileen simply said that she loved them all.

            “Which was your favorite story?” I asked them all. That was a mistake. They all started talking about different stories all at once. I stopped them all by holding out my hands in front of me. “Whoa guys!” I exclaimed. “One at a time, please. You go first Aileen.”

            The youngest Mornelly sighed. “I really can’t choose a favorite. I love them all…but I do like the elf story. I love magical fairy tales.”

            Damhán snorted and rolled his eyes at his sister’s answer. “I like the story with all the sword fighting in it… but I really think you should have more gore in it. So far it’s ok, but not nearly bloody enough to attract an audience.”

            “Not your type of audience and any rate,” Bran remarked drily. “My favorite is also that one, but I didn’t think there was any need for more blood. You did a fine job. Maybe you could add a little more about the types of clothes they wore and describe more of the medieval styles. I think that would be interesting.”

            Ciarán shook his head violently, causing his hair to fall over his eyes and hiding them completely from view until he pushed it behind his ears again. “Please don’t make her ruin perfectly good stories to satisfy your ridiculous love for style.”

            “It’s not a ‘ridiculous love’!” Bran exclaimed hotly. “You’re just jealous that you can’t pull off a suit and tie look as flawlessly as I can.”

            “I’m not jealous! I like wearing black. It’s cool.”

            “No it’s not.”

            “Is too.”

            I rolled my eyes and stood between the arguing brothers. “Guys, stop this arguing or I’ll make you both go stand out in the rain.”

            Their mouths snapped shut and they carefully ignored each other for an hour.

            Breandan told me his favorite story was “Beyond the Galaxy” and Aichear said his favorite was “Alice & Alyssa”. As they told me their reasons, I closed the various story folders.

            Suddenly, Breandan pointed to a folder on my desktop. “What’s that?”

            I frowned and opened the folder. Recognition lit my face when it opened and revealed the document’s title. “Oh, this is graduation stuff. I forgot I had that on here.”

            “Graduation stuff?” Breandan asked. “What are graduating from?”

            “High school.”

            “When?”

            “Early this summer along with three other home school students.”

            Aichear squinted at the small type through his glasses. “Who are all these people?” he asked.

            I sighed. “They’re people I’m hoping to invite to my graduation…but I’m afraid to send out the invitations in case I accidentally forgot someone.”

            “Try putting them in alphabetical order,” Breandan suggested. “It’ll be easier to see who you might be missing if they’re organized.”

            I looked at my guardian in amazement. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

            Breandan grinned. “Probably because you’re not the most organized person in the world.”

            “That’s true,” I agreed ruefully, beginning to switch names into the suggested order.

            Breandan brightened suddenly. “Hey, I know that person!” he exclaimed. “ ‘Emily McConnell’. She’s our author!”

            I grinned. “Yes, and also a very good friend of mine.”

            Damhán came over and looked over my shoulder again. He had been swishing an imaginary sword around and stabbing Aileen and Ciarán in turn, all the while making horrendous faces at them. This made Aileen squeal in terror and Ciarán’s face turn darker and darker as his glower settled deeper. I was glad to stop the torture, even if it was temporary and let him point things out as much as he wanted.

            “Hang on a sec,” he said slowly; going over the list one more time in it’s completed form. “Where are we?”

            I gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”

            “Well, we’re your friends, right? Aren’t you going to invite us to your graduation?”

            I thought a moment. “You’re welcome to come of course, but I thought it might be difficult since you can’t really control when you come into the third dimension.”

            “We could come and be invisible,” the youngest Mornelly boy said.

            “To all but the kids and those who still have active imaginations,” I pointed out.

            “We’ll stick by Emily and not cause any trouble,” Damhán begged, turning to Aichear. “Please say that we can come and watch her graduate!”

            “It’s not every day I can see one of my charges graduate from high school,” Breandan said, putting in his two cents.

            “We could all dress up for the important occasion,” Bran added suddenly. This comment was greeted by a unanimous grown from his younger brothers.

            I grinned. “Really the only people who need to dress up for a graduation ceremony is the graduate and the graduate’s family. You’re welcome to wear something nice if you want to, but it’s not required.”

            Damhán gave an exaggerated sigh and wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead, which earned him a glower from Bran.

            Breandan continued to read the stuff I had written off and on in preparation for the ceremony. “‘Remember to pick two or three favorite snacks for refreshments after the ceremony’,” he read out loud.

            Bran perked up. “There’s going to be food?” he asked.

            I nodded. “Yep. And good food too, if I do say so myself.”

            “Which snacks are you going to have?”

            I frowned thoughtfully. “I haven’t really decided yet…but they’ll be good,” I added with a grin.

            Breandan suddenly pointed a little lower on the screen. “‘Choose a song for graduation slideshow’,” he read. “Have you done that?”

            I shook my head. “I know which song I want, but I haven’t found a favorite version yet.”

            “What’s the song?”

            “The hymn Take My Life and Let It Be.” I smiled. “I don’t suppose you have any suggestions?”

            Breandan returned my grin. “Actually, I do.”

            Bran groaned. “Don’t ask…please don’t ask.”

            Aichear explained when I shot him a puzzled look, “It’s one of Breandan’s many country songs he plays over and over again to our great annoyance.”

            “Oh,” I answered. “Well, I would like to hear it…if you guys don’t want to you could go out until it’s done.”

            “I’m leaving,” Ciarán said with a scowl.

            “Me too,” Damhán said. “I’ve heard that song waaaay to many times.”

            “It’s a good song,” Breandan replied with an insulted air. “I think Rebekah is going to like it.”

            “Dream on Breandan,” Damhán snorted.

            “Let me hear it before you all come to any conclusions,” I said finally with a roll of the eyes. “Remember, I haven’t heard this song as much as you have, so it won’t be annoying to me.”

            “Don’t say you like it after he’s played it even if you do,” Bran warned, “or he’ll play it continually.”

            “Shh!” I ordered. “I want to hear it first, then decide whether I like it or not.”

            Breandan grinned like a happy dog and lovingly pulled out his much-used MP-3 player. The rest of the Mornelly’s left the room with groans, lamentations, and loud snorts of disgust. (Excepting Aichear, he just left.)

Here's the song! I found it! :)

 

            At the first few guitar chords, I was hooked. When the touch of country twang was added, a pleased smile began to spread across my face. A young woman’s voice began to sing and I looked over at Breandan, who was watching my reaction. “I love it,” I said simply.

            The song continued and Breandan smiled. “I thought you would,” he replied triumphantly.

            After the last chords died away, I gave a satisfied sigh. “It’s perfect. Type down the name of the album and artist so I can look it up and have it for my slideshow.”

            With an obliging nod, Breandan took my computer into his lap and typed out the information I had asked for. This done, he read the rest of my graduation planning.

            “Have you designed your graduation invitations yet?” he asked curiously.

            I nodded. “Yeah, but I have some touch-up to do before I send them out. It would be embarrassing to send out invitations that had typos in them.”

            Breandan’s eyes twinkled appreciatively. “That would be embarrassing. Any way I can help with them?”

            I brightened. “Actually, yes! I would love it if you could take some graduation pictures of me outside and then we could load them onto our computer and then I could put them into the slideshow album and the invitation and then we can work on checking the invitation over for mistakes and see if…” I trailed off when I saw the blank look on my guardian’s face. “Sorry, I was talking too fast, wasn’t I?”

            Breandan shrugged. “I got about every third word.”

            I groaned. “Never mind. Ignore everything I just said. I’ll repeat it one step at a time.”

            “Good idea.”

            “First, I need you to take some graduation pictures. Can you do that?”

            My guardian smiled. “Sure!”

            Just then, Damhán poked his head cautiously around the door. “Is it safe to come in now?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.

            I looked over at Breandan, who rolled his eyes. Smothering a grin, I nodded at the youngest Mornelly boy. “We’re not playing the song anymore if that’s what you’re asking.”

            “Oh good,” he said, letting out his breath with a whoosh. “I’ll let everyone know.” Before he did however, he looked at me closely. “Don’t tell me you liked the song!”

            I grinned. “You’ll just have to come to my graduation to find out!”

            With a parting groan, Damhán returned with his message to the other Mornelly siblings.

            I looked at Breandan. The knowing smirk on each other’s faces sent us both into gales of laughter.

            “I’m going to miss seeing their reaction at the ceremony when they hear the song!” I exclaimed, wiping the tears of mirth from my eyes. “I probably won’t be able to see their faces from where I’ll be sitting.”

            “I’ll leave a note giving every detail,” my guardian promised.

            I closed the computer with a smile of relief and looked outside. “Currently it’s raining…but tomorrow will probably be sunny enough to take pictures.”

            “Probably. Until then?”

            I shrugged. “Let’s go get some lunch. Bran’s undoubtedly famished.”

            Breandan grinned. “Undoubtedly. What shall we make?”

            I returned the grin and cocked an eyebrow at him. “Let’s surprise them.”

            “I’m all for surprises,” my guardian answered.

           

 

 

Fan Fiction: Part Five

Another part. I know. I hope SOMEBODY out there is enjoying this...I mean somebody who hasn't read the whole thing on Emily's blog. Obviously. ;)
Hope this next part brings a smile to your face. :)

PART FIVE: FRIDAY IN WHICH MY GUARDIAN AND I DISCUSS WRITING AND IMMORTALITY

 

            I was at a loss about what to do with the Mornelly siblings. After an almost sleepless night, tossing and turning over what to do, I finally gave up and promised myself I would talk with Breandan the next morning and decide what to do with his help.

            “Breandan,” I sighed, plopping myself down on the ground beside him helplessly. “I need your help.”

            “It certainly looks like you do!” he answered, his eyes twinkling in good humor. “What do you need my help with?”

            After breakfast the Mornelly’s had all dispersed to different parts of the property. Damhán and Ciarán decided to have a swordfight with my brothers and even Aichear and Bran had put up their books for the morning to join in the fun. Meanwhile, the rest of us were sitting around on the grass, enjoying the beautiful weather that had finally decided to show up after the previous days of rain.  Thankfully, this weather gave me the much-needed extra time to figure out what to do with the Mornelly family next.

            I leaned back in the grass, not really caring how wet it might make my clothes, and stared at the fluffy clouds above me that flitted across the sky. I couldn’t decide how to approach the problem in order to discuss it with him properly.

            Breandan seemed to understand. That’s why I was so glad he was my guardian. He understood me. “Are you having trouble coming up with appropriate activities for us?” he asked finally, his eyes on the swordfight in front of him.

            I nodded in relief, but then realizing he couldn’t see it replied, “yep.”

            “How can I help?”

            I sat up and crossed my legs. “Do you have anything you really want to do?”

            The question seemed to take my guardian by surprise. There was a short silence before he answered slowly, “Well, you know I’ve read a few of your stories, and I’d love to eventually have you give me some of the background to them. You know, you could tell me how the original story idea came to you and why you decided to write a whole book about it.”

            Now it was my turn to be surprised. “You’ve read my stories?” I asked in astonishment.

            Breandan raised his eyebrow. “You didn’t know that?”

            “No!” I said, and then smiled. “That’s cool though. Which story was your favorite?”

            My guardian chuckled. “It’s hard for me to say…I like them all for different reasons.”

            Which one did you like for the characters?” I asked in genuine interest, eager to hear his opinion.

            “Probably your story Alice & Alyssa had my favorite characters in it.” He grinned. “Alyssa was my favorite of the twins…but I liked Raynold a lot.”

            “Which one had your favorite plot?”

            “I liked the plot you had in Thistle & Friends, but also I liked the plot of Alice & Alyssa.”

            “What do you like about The Silver Flower?”

            “The characters. But all your books have fun characters. It’s what you’re best at.”

            I felt my face get red. “Thanks. I still feel that my characters aren’t as good as they could be though…I wish I was a better writer.”

            “Good writing comes with practice,” Breandan assured me wisely. “The more you write, the better you get…but only if you take the criticism others give you and apply it.”

            “I’ll remember that,” I said. After a thoughtful pause I added, “No wonder Emily is such a good writer!”

            Breandan gave me a puzzled look. “Why do you say that?”

            “She has all of her character’s advice!”

            “Don’t you?”

            I sighed. “Sadly, no. I’ve never had the privilege of meeting my characters except in my mind. Things like that don’t happen to me. I’m too ordinary.”

            “I bet if you really wanted, you could meet a few characters.”

            I gave him a look of disbelief. “How would that happen?”

            “The same way we Mornelly’s came into your life.”

            I shook my head woefully. “But I don’t know how that happened.”

            A sparkle appeared in my guardian’s eye. “Exactly.”

            Just then, while I was still working this out in my mind, Damhán came up with a smirk on his face. “Do you think I’m a good swordsman Rebekah?” he asked.

            Immediately I saw Breandan stiffen and was on my guard. “Why?” I asked carefully.

            “Well, I just thought you might tell my older brothers what a good swordsman I am since they don’t seem to think much about my skills. You know how good I am. After all, you took some lessons from me, so you know some of the things I know now.”

            “Just because she took lessons from you doesn’t mean you’re better than any of us,” Bran said, coming up behind him with a glower.

            “She didn’t want to take lessons from you I noticed,” Damhán shot back.

            “That’s because she was trying to be nice and let you teach her. She knows I could have taught her every bit as well as you. I was just busy with other things and she didn’t want to bother me.”

            “Well, I beat you today in a duel…doesn’t that make me better?” The younger Mornelly demanded.

            Bran’s eyes flashed. “Absolutely not. You cheated.”

            “Using superior tactics is not cheating.”

            Bran made a noise that was very similar to a snort. “It was cheating. Those ‘superior tactics’ are just another version of your ‘Damhán always wins’ game. There are no rules like the ones you were using.”

            “Rebekah, was I cheating?”

            The question startled me. “I-I wasn’t really paying attention…”I started.

            “See? She knows I wasn’t cheating!” Damhán interrupted.

            I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache beginning to arrive. “Guys,” I began.

            Bran and Damhán didn’t appear to hear me and continued their argument. I stood up and shook them by each of their nearest shoulders. “GUYS!” I yelled, leaving all quiet ladylikeness in the dust.

            The two arguing brothers looked at me with wide eyes. “Guys,” I repeated more calmly. “Arguing isn’t going to solve any of your problems.”

            “She’s right,” Breandan added, coming to my support. (Bless his heart!)

            “You both should be ashamed of yourselves,” Ciarán put in with a grimace towards the arguing brothers.

            “Yeah, like you never argue!” Bran retorted smugly.

            A glower darkened the already darker face of Ciarán. “I’ll make you eat those words you-you…”

            I gave each of the arguing ones another shove, a frown on my face now. “I said stop it,” I reminded sternly. “Now, Damhán let me answer that question of yours.” I waited until all the boys stopped glaring at each other and gave me their full attention. “I have no doubt that you are a very good swordsman, however,” I added seeing the youngest boy shoot his older brother a smug look, “I also know your tendency to brag and strut around like you’re the owner of the universe. To help you steer away from that fall that happens after pride, I’ll help you deflate that big head of yours: in a different setting or context, Bran could have won you easily.”

            “She’s right,” Breandan said again with a nod of his head.

            “How does she know the difference between a bad and good swordsman?” Damhán grumbled.

            I smiled. “Let’s just say I’ve done some research.”

            Breandan perked up. “For a book of yours?” he asked.

            I nodded. “Yeah.”

            The argument was forgotten. Immediately, the Mornelly boys began asking me questions about my book.

            “What’s the title?”

            “What’s it about?”

            “Do you have it with you?”

            “Can we read it?”

            “How long is it?”

            I laughed and held out a hand to stop their waterfall of questions. “I can only answer one of these questions at a time!” I exclaimed. “First, I’ll answer Breandan’s question: it’s called The Princess & I.”

            Damhán and Ciarán both gave me looks of disgust. “A girl story?” The youngest Mornelly asked; his voice was filled with repulsion.

            I chuckled. “I wouldn’t call it that.”

            “How come the title then? The Princess & I sure sounds like a girl story to me,” Ciarán said.

            “I’ll help out your confusion by telling you a little bit more about it and answer…I think it was Bran’s question: It’s narrated by the main character, a girl named Megan,” I began.

            “I thought she said it wasn’t a girl story!” Damhán exclaimed, interrupting me.

            “Just be quiet and listen,” Aichear ordered, speaking for the first time since Damhán and Bran’s upset.

            I cleared my throat after giving the oldest Mornelly a grateful look. “It’s narrated by the main character who is a girl named Megan,” I repeated. “She lives with her brother, Malcolm, in a cottage by themselves. Their father, who was a noble, and their mother, who was the daughter of a noble, both bought the land and cottage because they preferred to live simply…but they died of a disease they got while travelling. Thankfully, Megan and Malcolm were busy at the time and therefore escaped the trip and the fatal disease.

            “After their parents death, Malcolm is promoted to the role of advisor in King Frederick’s court because the king and his father had been good friends and because Malcolm had proven himself a few times in the battlefield as a knight.

            “Megan gets a job as a lady-in-waiting to the princess, but she manages to convince her brother to let her get lessons in swordsmanship from a retired peddler. I can’t say much more without giving too many plot-spoilers…but, long-story-short, there’s a war, and Megan has her hands full protecting the princess while the king and her brother are away fighting because all sorts of things happen to them while they’re away.” I stopped abruptly and took a deep breath.

            “How does it end?” Bran asked. “Or should I ask?”

            I grinned. “I’m not going to tell you how it ends because that would give every thing away. See, now you’re curious and you’ll read it. If I had told you EVERYTHING about my book you wouldn’t.”

            Breandan laughed. “She has us there.”

            Turning to my guardian, I asked a question that had been nagging at the back of my mind. “How can you read my stories in the fourth dimension?”

            He winked. “It’s a bit hard to explain, so I’ll leave it a mystery. Revenge for not getting to hear how your book ends.”

            I laughed. “Alright, fine. Have it your own way.”

            Damhán was sitting with a frown on his face. “So, this book of yours has sword fighting in it?” he finally asked.

            I nodded. “Lots.” Then, after a pause I added, “mostly because I have always loved watching sword fights in movies…I always thought it would be cool to learn how to do it…so I figured the next best thing would be if I wrote a book about a girl who learned how to fight with a sword.”

            “I’ve always wanted to learn how to use a sword,” Aileen piped up, appearing next to Aichear suddenly, “but my brothers won’t let me. They say I’m too little.” She frowned at them and crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s not fair.”

            “Life’s not fair little sis,” Damhán said airily.

            “Especially not if you are banished into a dimension where you can’t age,” Breandan added. “So many people wish they could be immortal…few realize how little fun it is to be immortal.”

            I shuddered. “I can only imagine. I know I’m thankful to be a mortal and that’s for sure!”

            “If you could do one out-of-the-ordinary thing in your life before dying, what would it be?” my guardian asked. At my confused look, he smiled. “I know that’s sort of a random question, but us talking about our immortality made me think of it. I am curious what your answer is.”

             I took a few moments to consider his question. “Well…” I began slowly. “It would be cool to see your house…to go where you and your siblings make your home. I’d love to go into the fourth dimension, though only for a short time, and see what it’s like.”

            The Mornelly’s looked at me in a strange way.

            I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. “What?” I asked finally.

            “That’s really your answer?” Breandan said.

            “Yes,” I replied. “Is something wrong with that answer?”

            “No…” my guardian answered with a smile. “Actually, I was just going to say how nice it was to hear somebody say that.”

            My mouth dropped open. “No one has said that to you?” I squeaked out in disbelief. “I don’t think you’ve been reading enough comments on your author’s blog! I bet a bunch of others would love to see a glimpse of how you live with their own eyes.”

            I got a dubious look from Ciarán. “You mean to say that people are interested in our life?”

            “Um, absolutely! I could spend all day reading about you guys. And I know I’m not alone in that.”

            “Told you our fighting was entertaining,” Damhán said with a wink.

            I pursed my lips. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say your fighting is entertaining…but the way you interact with one another certainly is. You’re not always fighting.”

            “I hate to interrupt this deeply interesting conversation, but is any one else hungry?” Bran said suddenly. “Or is it just me?”

            I grinned. “You’re not the only one. Let’s go cook something up for lunch.”

            After a lunch of peanut butter and jam sandwiches, we played some games, read, and talked for the remainder of the afternoon and early evening. Breandan convinced my mom to let him cook dinner and made up a favorite Mornelly family dish that was quite tasty and filling.

            Everyone went to bed early with a full stomach, and I fell asleep right away…a rare occurrence indeed since most nights were spent trying to think about what to do next. I figured, as I nodded off, that tomorrow would bring something for us to do. Why worry about it, right?