Blood Slushies
Sleepless Nights in Everest House
Cold, white light illuminated Caleb Everest's room from twelve lamps and one overhead light. Each one shone like a miniature star captured in a fishbowl.
Even though the sun would come up in a few hours, Caleb continued fighting sleep and read away his lonely hours with Thoreau, Golding, and King. He spent most of this night on some faraway beach spearing pigs and making fires with Jack Merridew, but he also enjoyed riding in the back seat of Tac's cop car in a dusty little town called Desperation.
Stacked untidily on Caleb's desk, shelves, and television were books of every size, shape, color, and genre. He had history, philosophy, horror, science, poetry, fantasy, even biographies. Some were signed, seven hundred paged novels and others ninety-nine cent copies he had stumbled upon while scavenging McKays. Twelve copies of Return the Innocent Earth, three of them hardbacks, lay forgotten under other books and in various nooks and crannies of the room.
Caleb unconsciously chewed the end of his orange-rimmed galsses while he drank in Simon's appearance and committed it to memory. He's a lot like Catrina, he observed. Maybe not in appearance or manner, but in... What would she call it? Gumption.
He sighed, shutting The Lord of the Flies after bending one of its corners to keep his place. His blonde hair fell like a veil over his eyes to shield them from the room's brightness. Lately reading led to thoughts of Catrina, which got his mind excited, which exhausted his body and made him very sleepy.
But he knew it was useless to resist the image of her now. Fondly remembering the last time he saw her (she was Jane the Ruthless, an elven theif from the city of Holsted, as she tossed the twenty-sided die at Bryan's house), he switched the overhead lights off. Next came the desk lamp, then the various other lights he had on to illuminate every angle.
After turning the last lamp off, Caleb didn't stumble over books or put his hand out to pinpoint his location. He knew the way around his towers of books better than he knew the lines on his hands.
God I'm tired. No more Dr. Pepper after four in the morning.
Even though the sun would come up in a few hours, Caleb continued fighting sleep and read away his lonely hours with Thoreau, Golding, and King. He spent most of this night on some faraway beach spearing pigs and making fires with Jack Merridew, but he also enjoyed riding in the back seat of Tac's cop car in a dusty little town called Desperation.
Stacked untidily on Caleb's desk, shelves, and television were books of every size, shape, color, and genre. He had history, philosophy, horror, science, poetry, fantasy, even biographies. Some were signed, seven hundred paged novels and others ninety-nine cent copies he had stumbled upon while scavenging McKays. Twelve copies of Return the Innocent Earth, three of them hardbacks, lay forgotten under other books and in various nooks and crannies of the room.
Caleb unconsciously chewed the end of his orange-rimmed galsses while he drank in Simon's appearance and committed it to memory. He's a lot like Catrina, he observed. Maybe not in appearance or manner, but in... What would she call it? Gumption.
He sighed, shutting The Lord of the Flies after bending one of its corners to keep his place. His blonde hair fell like a veil over his eyes to shield them from the room's brightness. Lately reading led to thoughts of Catrina, which got his mind excited, which exhausted his body and made him very sleepy.
But he knew it was useless to resist the image of her now. Fondly remembering the last time he saw her (she was Jane the Ruthless, an elven theif from the city of Holsted, as she tossed the twenty-sided die at Bryan's house), he switched the overhead lights off. Next came the desk lamp, then the various other lights he had on to illuminate every angle.
After turning the last lamp off, Caleb didn't stumble over books or put his hand out to pinpoint his location. He knew the way around his towers of books better than he knew the lines on his hands.
God I'm tired. No more Dr. Pepper after four in the morning.
♠ ♠ ♠
Finally! The end of the introductions!