The Golden Apple ( Book 1 )

My mother loomed over me making sure that everything was perfect. As she took the time to fix my bow tie and I complained

“Why do they have to stay here?”

Today was the day my mother’s side of the family would celebrate the holidays and I hated it. They were loud, smelly and ugly. I would have never guessed my mother the beauty that she is now would ever be with a family of overweight, uneducated slobs.

I kept to myself the rude comments rolling and bobbing in my head as my mother looked me over once, twice, three times and smiled satisfied. Her dazzling red hair and sea green eyes looked happy and over joyed.
“You play nice with your cousins, you hear?” She instructed.

The doorbell rang and she turned and fixed her hair one last time before opening the door. It was like a horror movie as they stood in front of the door, huddled together, and my mother hugged and kissed their horrible faces.

My eldest cousin Harris who was blessed with Good looks like my Mother gave me a once over and a stupid smirk sat on his lips.

I wanted to punch his pretty face in. His sister Sally who has long red locks that swung as she walked into the house had on a new dress that looked as if a toddler had his way with it. She gave her best fake smile her crocked piranha teeth was not as dazzling as she though they were.

Frankly, I wanted to take wires and make my own set of braces for her. She stormed past me like I didn’t exist but I didn’t mind; she wasn’t someone I wanted to look at for the next two weeks anyway.

Followed by Jude and his overly populated bug collection, his beady eyes looked at me like I was some type of new bug that he wanted to collect as he trodden off to his room. Ginger stormed in her face glued to a mirror as she recited Shakespeare. She had done her own make up today and it made her look much worse than she normally looked. She glanced at me once as if I was a critic and then scowled before going back to her mirror as if I was never there in the first place.

Last my Aunt and Uncle walked in.

They were the size of overly grown pumpkins. Their faces were covered in sweat. My Uncle patted me on the head like I was some kind of dog while my Aunt whipped a delicate handkerchief across her face and planted a warm kiss on my cheek. She was the only one that wasn’t on my hit list and I enjoyed her company, then they both followed my mother into the living room.

This left me alone with Harris, Oh joy.

“We’ll my bags can’t sit by the door forever!” he spat as I trotted over already annoyed.

He walked up stairs and I followed behind tripping over myself as we finally made it to the top. Harris was always my roommate and I loathed it as we finally entered my domain. I dropped his bags as he made himself-comfortable in my bed.

Did I mention I wanted to punch him in the face?

Ginger’s voice could be heard followed by Sally playing her loud ballerina music as she practiced in the guest room. Jude stumbled by my door his face in a book on The Glories of Undiscovered Insects. I wanted to scream as I turned to see Harries unpacking his belonging in my dresser, the dresser that all my clothes were in but now thrown all over the floor.

“You can move your stuff to the attic,” he commanded as he waved his hand to shoo me away like I was some kind of servant.

“This is my room, put my clothes back,” I spat.
Harris stopped what he was doing and looked at me as if what I just said was unimportant.

“I need this space, so put your stuff in the attic” he barked.
“No,”

I replied and he turned around again his arms crossed his small chest as he continued,

“You have no choice. It’s not my fault your mothers a housemaid and the only thing she can afford is this raggedy house and her second hand clothing-”

He didn’t get to finish as my fist met his face.
A scream left his lips as he covered his pretty face now covered in blood. Tears swelled in his eyes as I charged and nailed him again and again as he screamed.

“My face, My Face, Aunt Patricia!”

My rage was all that consumed me as I kept swinging my knuckles now bloody as my Uncle hosted me up. He put me down followed by a slap to my face as Harris cowered in my Aunts fat arms. I glared at my Uncle as he loomed over me like a walking donut. His face red as he looked at Patricia my Mother, then at me and pointed to my clothes.

“To the attic!” He roared.

I stormed off to the attic my fist clinched as I pulled the cord that concealed the stairs. I climbed up the screams of my idiotic cousin filled the house as his brother and sisters came to figure out what the entire hubbub was about.

I on the other hand didn’t want to hear it my satisfaction was fulfilled as I closed the entry to the basement and silence filled my ears as I looked around. My mother’s warnings about the attic meant nothing to me now as I opened box to box that was left deserted. I explored every inch of knickknacks and oddities a like, finally I got to the last box. It was large and full of dust as I blew on it. I coughed as the dirt particles hit my nose and then finally I lifted the old lid.

It glowed like a star in a night sky as my eyes grew wide. For a moment I wondered if my mind was playing tricks on me as I picked the fruit up.
It was a Golden Apple.
An Apple that shouldn’t even exist but it did and as I stared at it, the thing glowed more.

“Whoa…” I said out loud to myself as I sat Indian style on the dusty covered attic floor. I could see my reflection through the Apple as it then gave out a pulse.

Startled, I dropped it.

The Apple pulsed again and again like a heartbeat almost as it rolled back to me. Instinctively I picked it up once more, wondering where it came from.

Thoughts began to cross my mind, thoughts of showing it to my mother. Then I shook my head and laughed,

“No, I found you fair and square…”

I said to the Apple and it responded with another pulse. I popped it into my vest pocket. I now focused down at the box wondering what other things I could find just as amazing as that Apple. What I found instead was a ratty leather book about the size of three textbooks in thickness as I picked it up. It was quite heavy as I dropped it on the floor.

I sat down once again, and opened the massive book the name: James Blackwell greeted me in fancy writing and one word left my lips like a whistle.

“Dad,”

My heart skipped a beat as my fingers touched the delicate handwriting that belonged to my Father. The pages were old and smelled funny as I began to turn the page. The thought of this being my father’s Journal made me nervous. Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door, irritated I stood up and dusted my dress pants making sure no dust was visible. Satisfied I walked over and once again and opened the latch to see none other than Jude.

“It’s time for supper Logan," he stated then paused and looked behind him as if he was being followed then continued.

“Oh, by the way, nice punch to Harris’s face. It was thrilling"

He smiled and I couldn’t help but return it as I and walked over to my Father Journal and picked it up and shoved it under my arm pit, then I turned back around to the stairs. Jude eyed it curiously but said nothing as he climbed down first and for the first time I actually liked one of my cousins.

“Do you think you can nail him in the face more often?" Jude asked, "a sly smile on his face.