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 Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 5:50 am
|Tristan+Kenny| [introduction solo]The Freeman attic was always something of a myth. It had been so many years since it had been last cleaned out, and so much of the odd bits and pieces they'd accumulated was stored up there, that the boxes stacked all the way to the roof, and the cobwebs went as far as the eye could see. It was utterly inevitable that some day Tristan would gather his courage and climb up there to dig through it. Until now, the stories his father told of a ghost protecting the stuff up there had more than kept him away; tall tales of the previous owner of the house who would turn little boys who snuck into his attic to stone. Although smart for a boy his age, Tristan had always bought the story without question. It was on this day, however, dragging his fragile younger brother along with him, he had decided that what treasures may be hidden up in the attic was well worth the possibility of being a statue for the rest of his life.
"Tris?" Came Kenny's quiet, uncertain voice. He was clinging very tightly to Tristan's arm, unseeing eyes blinking fearfully in the direction he knew his brother was in.
Tristan gave a small grunt in reply. As he lead Kenny along, he kept a sharp eye out for their parents, and their older brother. He knew if any of them spotted the two youngest Freemans heading for the attic, the adventure would be over long before it began.
"I don' wanna..." Kenny protested meekly, though he did little to pull away or turn back.
In response, Tristan did very little too, continuing to lead on to the door which hid an old wooden stairwell to the attic. Upon reaching the door, Tristan shot a last backwards glance down the hallway to check no family members were following, before yanking the door open and dashing inside, pulling Kenny along with him. Once inside, the heavy musky air surrounded both the boys, causing Kenny to cough a little, and Tristan to wrinkle his nose. They both knew there was no turning back.
Climbing the staircase was almost agonizing for the pair; the anticipation of what awaited in the attic filled every inch of them both. For Tristan, it was an intense curiosity and excitement that, along with the smell of the place, almost overwhelmed him. For Kenny it was the burning fear of the ghost who supposedly lived in the attic, and, more importantly, how upset his parents would be when they found out he and his brother had been up there.
One step...two steps...three, four, five...the last few steps loomed threateningly, but Tristan was determined to see the forbidden and unknown room of their house, and climbed the remainder with all a manner of determination. At the very top of the stairs, the two boys stopped still, Kenny clutching in terror at his brother's arm.
"Are we dead?" Kenny choked out, terror in his voice.
"No..." Tristan responded, his tone low and unimpressed. "And we're not stone either. Here, I'll get the light," He yanked on a small chain that dangled at the top of the stairway, and the attic was illuminated by a dim orange glow.
"Wh-what does it look like?" Kenny whispered.
Tristan looked around for a long moment, taking it in. There were boxes, most announced what they contained in their father's messy handwriting, (Things like "X-MAS DECOS" and "JOSH'S JUNK" among others) the rest were stacked so that the writing wasn't visible. There was an old bicycle, an umbrella, a chest of drawers, a stuffed bear that Tristan recognized as one of his baby-toys, and other rather uninteresting and dusty garbage.
"It's really boring," He complained, taking a step forward to look around. "It's like, old junk that we don't have room for!" There was no disguising the disappointment in his voice, but as a self-appointed man of science, he sure as hell was going to investigate.
With a gentle tug, Tristan lead Kenny over to one of the boxes with the labels turned away, and peered around to look for what was written on it. On the very furthest side, he found a small, neat handwriting that said simply; "Memorabilia". It was immediately clear that this was their mother's handwriting, and Tristan wasted no time pulling the top of the box open. It wasn't taped shut, nor was there any effort to keep prying little hands out. Of course Taylor hadn't anticipated little hands attached to an unfortunately curious little body, but it was all the same to Tristan.
Kenny let go of Tristan's arm, standing aside as his brother bent over to dig around inside the box. His toes were turned in, his hands fidgeted with one another, and his eyes were big and round with nervousness. Despite his brother's obvious discomfort, Tristan always deduced that it was better he dragged Kenny along then leave him behind to tell his mother and father what he was up to out of sheer worry. It had happened once, and never again.
From the box Tristan unearthed a photo album, a small silver trophy, a pair of old shoes, a stack of letters tied together with twine, two baby blankets with "Tristan" and "Kenny" embroidered onto the corners, three more photo albums, and finally...a small, thin picture book.
Tristan lifted it out and squinted at the very faded old cover. He blew on it, attempting to dislodge some of the dust, but found that did little to reveal the book's title. The drawing on the front had almost all of the color faded, and was barely visible. What little Tristan could make out made little sense.
"There's a book," He told Kenny quietly, curiosity overwhelming him once again.
"What's it about?" Kenny responded, keeping his voice quiet in return, expression rather uncertain.
"Its," Tristan opened the book to the first page very carefully, as though it was made of brittle clay, "A picture book, I guess." On the first page he found no title either, though there was a much clearer version of the illustration. A girl in a dress peering up at a cat in a tree. The cat was grinning cheekily.
Tristan made a face at the cat, before turning the page.
"Alice in Wonderland," He read aloud, as he discovered the words printed neatly onto the next page.
"Like the movie?" Kenny asked hopefully. He had been allowed to listen in on television and movies from a very young age, and happily sat and 'watched' them together with the rest of the family. Alice in Wonderland was something the boys used to watch together, until the old tape it was on broke, and the obsolete VCR player they'd watched it on was replaced. The tape was not replaced, and it had been at least six years since they had seen the film.
"I guess so..." Tristan eventuated, turning the page to find a rather large block of writing. He was surprised for a moment, having mistaken the book for one with many pictures, but examined the page with no diminished amount of interest. There was a small black-and-white one beside the text, but nothing like a picture-book. He took a peek at the next page, before turning back and beginning to read.
After a long moment standing in silence, Kenny took a hesitant step forward, eyes making a vain attempt to seek out his older brother. "Tris...?" He whimpered.
Tristan, who had made it half-way down the fifth page by then, looked up and closed the book. "Ah, sorry Kenny. Let's go downstairs huh? I'll read it to you in our room." He tucked the book under one arm, and took Kenny by the hand with the other. It was only when he turned around to close the box he'd been digging through that Tristan saw the boy who had been standing behind him.
The shriek of surprise was instantaneous, Tristan yowling in fright at the sight of the silent stranger, Kenny yelping in shock at the sound of his brother screaming. The other boy, however, gave no scream; only the faintest of sly smiles in response to the terrified reactions from the two brothers. After a short pause, in which Kenny clung to Tristan, and Tristan clung to Kenny in return, both of the boys realized that they had not been turned to stone. This was not the ghost they'd been expecting when they first entered the attic, but a rather more mysterious (and brightly dressed, all pinks and purples) stranger. This did little to comfort the boys, and the very moment Tristan regained the use of his legs, he dashed from the scene, down the stairs, out of the attic and into his room, all the while leading a startled and rather confused Kenny alongside.
As Tristan would phrase it much later, when he tried to explain how the boy had looked to Kenny; "It was all VERY curious."
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