Like Brothers Should Be

To the brave Anonymous who set me straight…

A Little Insanity

A Spin-Off

~Like Brothers Should Be~

*Warning! The Characters May Be Completely Different!*

“Fang! Fang! Wake up! You promised you’d take me fishing! Come on!” a voice pushed its way through his dream, “Please, Fang?”

Fang opened his eyes, slowly at first. His back was to his younger brother’s bed. He felt his brother’s hands pushing against his back, trying to wake him. The sun hadn’t even crested the horizon. There was only the pre-sunrise glow that entered the room through the single window in their room. Fang stayed still a little while longer hoping his brother, Shadow, would end up leaving him alone.

“Fang?” Shadow climbed on top of the bed and leaned over Fang’s body to get a better look at him.

Shadow sighed and sat down on his ankles. Fang could sense his brother’s disappointment. He opened his eyes and pulled his pillow over his head.

“I’m up,” he groaned, “Just give me a few minutes, will ya?”

Shadow smiled again and jumped down from the bed, “Mom made us a special breakfast so don’t take forever, okay?”

Shadow’s foot falls receded out of the room. The door slammed shut and Shadow made his way down the stairs. Fang waited a moment before rolling over in bed. He looked around their room. There were two beds, one on either side of the room, splitting their room, in essence, in half. On Shadow’s side of the room there were toys scattered on the floor. The bed was a mess and the thumb tacks that pinned up hand drawn drawings were in disarray and held the pieces of paper every which way. There was a shelf over the bed. On it was a stuffed teddy bear with only one eye left and a box. The box read ‘Treasure Chest: Keep Out!’ all over it in crayon. There was a picture of a sepia photo of Fang and Shadow. A six year old Shadow took up most of the picture showing off the two gaps in his smile. Fang, ten years old, stood in the background with a piece of string in his hand. One end of the string held the pair of teeth and the other end was tied to their bedroom door.

With effort, a fourteen year old Fang rolled out of bed. He made his bed. Unlike his brother’s side of the room, his was neat and organized. Everything had a place. Any pictures on his wall were in a homemade frame that he built in their father’s shed and were hung with a single nail. All of his toys were organized in their designated boxes under his bed. There was a shelf over his bed as well. It carried a special toy rabbit. It was in perfect condition. He too had a box. It contained only the most perfect things that he found around the farm like leaves that hadn’t been eaten into, or acorns that had the perfect sized top, or even a smooth pebble. There also was a picture of Fang’s shelf. It was a sepia photo of their family picture where everyone was neat and clean and smiling. Fang admitted that he was a bit of a perfectionist for being 14 years old. He also knew that Shadow, his 10 year old brother, was the complete opposite.

“Fang! Hurry up!” Shadow called from the kitchen.

“The fish aren’t going anywhere!” Fang shouted back.

Fang made his way down stairs. There was a small four person table in the center of the kitchen. Their mother wasn’t currently in the kitchen. It was safe to assume that she was out in the garden. There were two bowls of oatmeal. Shadow’s had pieces of fruit in them while Fang’s was simple with a drizzling of brown sugar in it. Fang first took a sip of his water while Shadow nearly downed his class or fresh orange juice. The brothers sat across from each other. They were opposites, it was pain to see. Fang had neat short hair while Shadow’s could house a family of birds quite nicely. Fang’s clothes were simple, a t-shirt and shorts, but they were without holes. Shadow’s clothes had so many holes and stitches that there were holes on top of stitches. Fang ate his breakfast quietly while Shadow was face deep in his oatmeal.

When they were finished, Fang and Shadow walked up stairs to brush their teeth. As Fang brushed, he stared at the broken mirror in front of him. It was something he found incredibly annoying. His eyes followed the crack as it cut across his face from the lower left end to the upper right corner. He looked at his brother’s reflection to distract him from the imperfection. He moved his toothbrush from the right side of his mouth to his left. Shadow looked up at him briefly and copied him, brushing on the left side of his mouth. After that, Fang brushed his front teeth. Shadow followed suit. When Fang was finished, he opened his mouth and brushed the tops of his teeth. Shadow did everything exactly as Fang did. It was amusing, a nice distraction from the crack in the mirror. After rinsing their mouths, Fang exited the bathroom with Shadow close behind.

They walked outside, making sure to put on their tattered shoes on the way out. That was the one thing that Fang couldn’t seem to keep in perfect condition, especially with all the chores he had to do. Two metal lunch boxes sat on the front step.

Close to the farm house was the enormous barn. Behind the barn was their father’s shed. They waved as they saw their father on his tractor in a distant field. They knew he couldn’t see them but it was just something they did.

Fang opened the little shed. It was used for many things like wood working, father’s tools, mother’s gardening utensils, and most importantly their fishing equipment. Shadow ran past his brother and collected their fishing poles that were made of the longest sticks they could find. Fang had just off any sprouting branches and sanded them until they were without bark and smooth. Their mother gave them some of her strongest string to use as line and their father took time at the end of his day to make them hooks and small weights. Shadow looked at Fang with a huge smile on his face. Fang grabbed their tackle box and fishing net. He set all the items in a deep-seated wheelbarrow. Together they wheeled the barrow out of the shed. Shadow went back in and grabbed a few empty cans and a small bucket.

Being the oldest, Fang took the responsibility of wheeling the barrow to where it needed to be. Shadow walked by his side, rambling on how much fun they would have. Their father had been very merciful in letting them off their chores for the day, saying how kids should be allowed to be kids. They walked down the gravel path that went into the woods by their house. There was a bridge and a small creak where the two boys stopped. Shadow grabbed the empty cans, took off his shoes, and ran down to the moist soil by the water’s edge.

Fang went down beside his brother. He squatted as he fingered as the moist dirt. Shadow was on his hands and knees digging in the soil. Fang found a worm and asked Shadow for a can. When he received it he placed the worm inside then placed some dirt over it so it wouldn’t dry out.

Shadow’s head jerked up. He smiled as he saw a large cricket in a nearby piece of grass. He dove for it, cupping his hands over the insect. Fang waited for the result. Shadow looked back at his older brother and smiled victoriously. He held up the tiny creature by its wings.

“Look!” Shadow exclaimed.

“I see,” Fang said as he started digging in the dirt again.

Shadow looked at his catch then at the open can, “Where should we put it?”

“In a can,” Fang stated, “Just break its legs so it can’t jump. You’ve already ruined its wings. It shouldn’t be able to get away.”

Shadow nodded and did what Fang recommended then placed the cricket in a can. He watched it for a moment at the bottom of the can, “What other bugs are good for fishing?”

“I don’t know,” Fang shrugged, pulling a nightcrawler from the ground, “I’m pretty sure that a hungry fish will eat anything smaller than itself. This one’s a long one.”

Shadow’s eyes widened with interest as Fang showed him the long thick worm, “That’s bigger than the ones we usually get!”

“It’s a nightcrawler. They usually come out after it rains when the dew in on the grass but it’s really wet here and it must have gotten lost or something.”

“Cool!” Shadow said, though he didn’t really understand a word of it.

They dug in the dirt and caught bugs up until noon. When the sun was at its highest, they took a break. Fortunately, Fang remembered to bring the lunches that their mother had made for them. The two boys sat on the bridge, their legs dangling over the edge and at their lunches. They talked about childish boy things like who the best super hero was and how annoying girls were (Except their own mother of course. She seemed to be the only sane girl in the world).

After making sure that they had enough water in their canteens they set out toward the river. The creek that they were currently sitting fed into a larger slower river. It was perfect for fish and perfect for those catching fish.

Fang pushed the wheelbarrow along the path. Eventually they reached the river. Fang showed his younger brother where the best fishing spot was. It was under a large tree. There was an old dock that wasn’t used much anymore. There was plenty of shade and room on the dock for fishing. After they situated everything Fang helped Shadow put a worm on his hook.

“I want a nightcrawler!” Shadow complained.

“You’re not getting one,” Fang stated.

“Why?”

“Because I say so.”

When Fang was ready, he threw his line in to the water. The weight their father made helped the line sail far. Fang sat on the edge of the dock. Shadow had watched him closely and copied everything Fang did before sitting beside his brother. When Fang took a drink, Shadow took a drink. When a fish made off with Fang’s bait, Shadow feigned disappointment and pulled his line in even if he didn’t have to.

“You still have your bait,” Fang said as he re-baited his hook.

“I thought I lost it,” Shadow answered, his eyes watching carefully as Fang used one of their prized insects.

Over all it was a very uneventful day. There caught a few small fishes but they threw them back. That way the small fishes could grow into big fishes and they could catch them later. But other than that, there was nothing to write home about. Fang was a little disappointed. He looked over at his brother expecting to see him upset about the day’s events but to his surprise Shadow had the biggest smile on his face. There was dirt and sweat all over Shadow’s face. His fingernails were filthy from digging in the dirt. There were scrapes and cuts up and down his arms and legs. Fang could almost swear that he saw something move in his brother’s hair and yet Shadow looked like the happiest boy on the face of the planet.

“What are you so happy about?” Fang asked.

Shadow looked confused, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, we haven’t caught anything good all day. Why are you smiling?”

Shadow smiled again, “Because I didn’t really want to go fishing,” Fang glared at him a moment, “I wanted to go fishing with you. Hey! I think I caught something!”

Fang looked, “No, it’s just another little one.”

He looked at his brother again. All Shadow had really wanted was to spend time with his brother. It didn’t matter that they were doing just as long as they were together. Even though they were complete opposites and Fang could spot every one of Shadow’s imperfections, they were brothers and that was how it was going to be.

“Hey, Fang?” Shadow asked.

“Yeah?”

“After we’re done, do you think you could cut off the hook on my fishing pole?”

“Why would you want me to do that?”

“So I could put it in my treasure box.”

“Why would you want to put a used fish hook in your treasure box?”

“So I can remember this day for the rest of my life. Forever and ever and ever. Would you, Fang? Pretty please?”

Fang paused a moment, “Fine. But the next time you want to go fishing you can’t wake me up until six in the morning. Got it?”

“Okay!”

As the sun started to set and the boys were growing hungry they packed up their fishing supplies and headed home.

“Can we do this again tomorrow?” Shadow asked.

“We have chores tomorrow.”

“The next day?”

“More chores.”

“The day after that?”

“Chores.”

“How about the day after the day after that?”

“Shadow…”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s ask dad, alright.”

“Okay!” Shadow smiled, “Fang?”

Fang sighed, “Yeah?”

“You’re the best big brother I’ve ever had. The bestest ever!”

Fang smiled, “You too, Shadow.”

You Love 'Em, You Hate 'Em

A Little Insanity

A Spin-off

~You Love ‘Em, You Hate ‘Em~

*Warning! The Characters May Be Completely Different!*

Fang sighed as he fixed the center piece on the dining room table. He was on the brink of exhaustion and he hadn’t even had to do that much this year. Yes, he supplied the house this year and the turkey, easy enough, but he didn’t realize that cleaning and decorating the entire house could take so much out of a man. The table was set for the adults and a smaller table was for the children. In only a few hours, more of less, the house would look worse that it would on a normal day. That’s right. The day of football, food, family and traditions…Thanksgiving.

As was mentioned before, this year the holiday was going to be spent at Fang’s recently bought home. He had just graduated from collage with a doctorate and already had a job as a doctor at the local hospital. A minor position, yes, but everyone has to start somewhere. As a family tradition there was a rotation on who would supply what. For example, the year before Fang supplied the cranberry sauce at his uncle Sage’s celebration. Two years before he was responsible for the mashed potatoes. This year the extended family was going to bring food to him.

The smell of turkey permeated through out the house. It was already in the oven almost an hour longer that it should have been but it still didn’t look all the way cooked. Fang mentally kicked himself for not putting it in the oven sooner like his uncle Undertaker had suggested. But it was too late now, the relatives were coming soon.

It was almost five-o-clock when Fang heard a knock on the door. After centering a tilted napkin, Fang walked to the door. He paused, took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Hey, Uncle Sage! Happy Thanksgiving!” Fang said.

Sage walked in in his usual business suit. He barely even glanced at Fang as he pushed a large yellow bowl of mashed potatoes in his hands. Sage walked into the home. Critical eyes glances at all the surfaces searching for any discrepancies.

“I see you haven’t screwed anything up,” Sage stated.

Fang’s shoulders dropped. As much as he loved his family, he just couldn’t stand them sometimes.

Sage looked at him, “Well, don’t just stand there! Put the potatoes on the stove!”

“Yes, sir,” Fang sighed.

He walked into the kitchen as there was another knock on the door. When Fang walked back to where his uncle stood, he expected to see someone else standing at the doorway but Sage hadn’t even touched the door knob. Sage stood at the foot of the stair case centering a slightly tilted picture frame. Fang went to get the door.

The two of the youngest members of the family, Arisa, age 10, and Blue, age 11, ran past Fang’s legs. Arisa in a pink dress did her best to out run Blue who was chasing her for his action figure. Fang’s brother, Shadow, and his wife, Raven, stood in front of him. Shadow looked embarrassed about their children’s rudeness while Raven simply stood silently holding two dishes in her arms: cranberry sauce and their signature gravy.

“Hey, Shadow,” Fang said, “It’s good to see you again. You too, Raven.”

“Likewise,” Raven stated. She walked in, her black boots clunking as she walked, “Hello, Sage.”

“Hello, Black Bird,” Sage said without even looking at her.

“How’s it going, Fang?” Shadow asked as he walked in.

“Everything is going well,” Fang said sarcastically, “Sage is here and the turkey isn’t done yet.”

Shadow laughed, “I’ll go see what I can do about the turkey. You’ll have to deal with Sage yourself.”

Fang smiled.

“Oh,” Shadow said, “I saw Alister and Zorah outside fighting again.”

With a sigh, Fang went out to make sure his brother and sister were still both alive. They fought more often than the sun rose. They used to live next to each other until a series of disturbances and police visits got them a restraining order from the court. They could only see each other at family events.

Fang looked outside. Zorah had a two pronged serving fork in her hand as she dangerously pointed it at Alister. A holiday salad lay in a nice bowl on the grass. Alister on the other hand held a rather strange salad utensil. It looked like a pair of rather large scissors but on the ends where the sharp points should have been was a spoon head and a large spork. He held it in front of himself in self defense. A long glass pan of baked ham was tucked under his arm. Fang cautiously stepped forward.

“Stay back, Fang! This man ‘ere is a thief! A tong thief! He took ‘em on purpose! As if I wouldn’t notice that this here prong wasn’t for my signature salad! Why I ought to…!”

“Now, wait one bloody minute!” Alister interrupted, “Why in the world would I want this! I have no use what so ever for it!”

“A likely story you piece of—!”

“Now, now, you two!” Fang raised his voice, “It’s the holidays, can’t you two just get along once a year?”

“Sorry, I thought that day was for Christmas,” Alister looked at his sister, “Wasn't that day for Christmas?”

Zorah shrugged sympathetically to Fang, “Sorry, Love, but I ‘ave’t to agree with him. He’s right, Mate. Christmas is our truce day.”

Fang sighed, “Fine, then make it the second day of the year! Can you both do that?”

“I don’t know, Love,” Zorah said with regret in her voice, “You should have given us warning.”

Alister nodded, “A week would have been nice.”

“I haven’t even had breathing exercises yet.”

“But we could try.”

“That we could.”

“But there aren’t any promises we'll succeed.”

“That’s true,” Zorah glared at Alister, “He pulls somethin’ like this again and all bets are off!”

“Then you’d better watch the stuffing, Missy! Last year you nearly had the whole bowl!”

“Oh, yeah? I wonder where the rolls went? Oh, that’s right! You stuffed your face with them! I didn’t even get one by the time you had thirty!”

“Alright,” Fang shouted, “Starting now! Whoever is able to not cause trouble gets twenty bucks! Now hand each other those serving utensils and get into the house!”

Grudgingly both Zorah and Alister did as they were told. Fang was able to catch his breath when something caught his eye.

“Did I miss the brawl all ready? What a shame,” a voice said.

“Hello, Uncle Zero,” Fang said through clenched teeth. He looked around his Uncle, “You too, Rose.”

Rose, Zero’s son, held fruit salad and sweet yams in his arms. He barely gave Fang a glance before moving on to the house.

Zero patted Fang on the head, “I hope you didn’t screw up the turkey.”

One more figure came running from Zero’s car. The red headed girl named Flare ran after her father and brother. She held out a bowl of strawberry fluff. Flare smiled at Fang. She was about to wish her cousin a happy Thanksgiving greeting when her father called her at the door. With reluctance, Flare just bowed slightly and ran to answer her father’s biding. Exhausted and exasperated, Fang walked wearily back inside.

When he finally made it inside, Fang was surprised to see another addition to the company that he hadn’t seen go through the door. His cousin twice removed on his father’s side Shifter was there chatting away with Sage, a glass of red wine in one hand. Shifter was the family detective. Fang walked up to him.

Sage was in the middle of spouting insults at the quirky detective when Fang interrupted.

“Oh, hey there cousin! The wine’s in the fridge. Don’t worry I brought soda for the kids too. So when do we eat?” Shifter went on cluelessly.

“When did you get here?” Fang asked.

“A few minutes ago,” Shifter shrugged, “Why?”

“How did you get in?” Fang pressed.

“I heard that that bird brain gave him a good ‘wack’ with that upper cut of hers when he crawled through the bathroom window,” Sage paused, “The one on the second floor.”

Fang sighed heavily.

“If you do that enough times you decrease your life expectancy, you know,” Sage said without feeling.

There was no moment unlike then where Fang saw himself strangling the life out of that man. But with amazing self-control, Fang refrained himself. He walked into the kitchen. Shadow was bringing out the turkey, a satisfied smile on his face.

“I hope you don’t mind I take credit do you? I really want to prove Sage and Zero that I know what I’m doing.”

Shadow laughed, “I don’t have a problem with that as long as you give me more of the leftovers tomorrow.” Shadow winked.

“Consider it done,” Fang had to smile.

He and Shadow had always been fairly close. Fang was much closer to Shadow than his other relatives or his other brothers and sister. The both of them carried the turkey out onto the dining room table where the other things that the relatives brought were placed neatly. For a moment, as he worked around the table with his brother, he was at ease. But the night was still young, and not all the relatives were there yet.

The doorbell. Fang ran to the door, realizing very quickly that no one else was going to get it. Several bags of peanuts were shoved in his Fang’s face.

“Here,” a dull voice said. The girl before him didn’t even look up from her blackberry thing and her fingers sped across the keys at blazing speeds.

“Peanuts?” Fang asked, “I think you were assigned chestnuts.”

“Whatever, they’re nuts, get over it,” she said.

“Now, now, Penelope, greet your cousin a happy Thanksgiving.”

“Sup, happy turkey day, gobble gobble, marry Xmas, what? What do you want me to say? Are you going to let us in?” Penelope walked past Fang, “Whatever, this is so lame.”

Undertaker, who stood behind her, smiled, “She’s quite the handful.”

“I’m sure it’s a phase,” Fang said, “Her parents did die about a year ago, didn't they?.”

“That they did,” for a moment Undertaker sounded somber but his attitude picked up again, “Reighn? Come on out. This is your cousin Fang. You remember Fang from last year, don't you?”

The little adopted boy stepped out from Undertaker’s shadow. He held a pan of rolls and another one for stuffing. The boy was a little older than six years of age. He smiled up at his cousin. Undertaker reached into his jacket and pulled out a bag of chestnuts.

“I told her she should have bought chestnuts,” Undertaker laughed, “But all she said was—”

“They’re both nuts.” the three people at the door said.

After that they couldn’t help but laugh. Fang was happy to see the younger boy was taking a liking to his adoptive father. The two were practically inseparable now.

“Hey, you’re Reighn, right?” Arisa called from under Fang’s legs. She was barely and inch from the boy’s face, “I’m Arisa, and that’s Blue! You’re playing with us! Come on, we’ll give that stuff to my dad. He always knows what to do with stuff like that.”

With a quick glance back at his own father, Reighn was dragged off with a petrified look on his face.

Undertaker simply mused at the sight, “This will be interesting. Happy Thanksgiving, Fang.”

“You too, Uncle,” Fang responded.

After Fang closed the door, he stood and looked in at all the conversations and personalities that were mixed in one room. He didn’t like all of them but they were family. You have to be able to at least tolerate family. There was one last knock on the door. Fang turned and opened it.

“Happy Thanksgiving!” squealed the overexcited Edonya. Another cousin and her boyfriend, Thae said in more calmly from behind a pile of pie boxes. And in between them was…

Fang stared at the man for a while. He thought he recognized the man form somewhere.

“We brought pie!” Edonya continued, “Apple pie, cherry pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, rhubarb pie, and some other pie that I can’t pronounce. I think it’s Indian. But it looked good so I bought it. Pie, pie, pie!” She skipped around happily.

“Who is that?” Fang pointed to the black man in between them.

“Tristan,” Edonya answered matter-of-factually.

“Who’s Tristan?”

“You know the corner of Main and Don?” Thae answered, “He found him there. In a box.”

“He had a sign and everything! He was so lonely! Oh, Fang, he has no home for the holidays! Please let him in! Please, please, please!!!!!”

Fang hesitated.

“We brought cornbread too!” Edonya added.

“Fine,” Fang sighed.

“Yay! We’ll need to use your bathroom, shampoo, conditioner, a suit that you aren’t using, socks, and shoes!”

“Is that all?” Fang asked his cousin.

“Oh, and an extra tooth brush,” Edonya jumped around like she needed to go to the bathroom with excitement.

Fang stepped aside. Thae handed his items to his girlfriend then took Tristan upstairs for a makeover. Edonya went around talking about her pies and how it was so hard and a hassle to buy them all in time.

After a few minutes, Fang was finally able to sit and watch part of the football game. Dinner was ready shortly after that and everyone gathered around the table. Since the dinner was at his home it was up to Fang to make a before dinner speech.

When everyone settled into their seat, Fang stood: "Thanksgiving is an important holiday in our family. Because no matter what when wrong throughout the year, we come to Thanksgiving and we temporarily forget the hardships of the year while we drown ourselves in gravy and cranberry sauce,” Fang glanced at Alister and Zorah, “Or not. But either way we all get together year after year. We may be at each other’s throats, or stabbing each other in the back but none of that matters during Thanksgiving. We all drop our grudges and for at least one day of the—”

“Two,” Alister muttered, holding up two fingers, “There’s Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year. Two.”

“Whatever,” Penelope said as she punched away at her blackberry, “Just get it right, gawd.”

Fang sighed, “Fine, We all drop out grudges and for at least twice a year and get together for the family’s sake.”

“And the food,” Zorah muttered.

“And because we truly love each other as a family,” Fang continued.

“Yeah-no, it’s more the food,” Zorah insisted.

There were some mutters of agreement.

Zero laughed, “Just admit it kid, you aren’t cut out for being in the spot light.”

Fang sighed.

“One of these days you’ll drop dead in the middle of one of those,” Sage said as he sipped his wine.

“A speech?” Shifter asked.

“No, you idiot! A sigh!” Sage hit the man in the back of the head, “I’m surrounded by a bunch of incompetent people.”

The chatter grew louder and again Fang sighed. He raised his glass.

“To family,” he said.

“And Tristan!” Edonya said in a loud whisper.

Fang nodded to their unexpected guest, “And Tristan.”

The poor host downed his entire goblet as Alister kicked Zorah under the table. The three youngest children at the children’s table were throwing mashed potatoes at each other. Zero rubbed his temples trying to sooth a growing headache. Rose looked disgusted with the goings on while his sister, Flare, laughed at the hysterics. Undertaker was having himself a hearty laugh as well. Penelope rolled her eyes frequently while typing away on her phone, stopping temporarily to pop a peanut in her mouth. Thae seemed to shrink in his chair, hoping not to be unseen. Edonya, the sweet girl, tried to stop the madness. Tristan was helping himself to food already. Raven stood took her plate with food and walked away. Shadow managed a smile to Fang, but it was obvious he too was uncomfortable. Sifter complained to Sage why he had to hit him at the back of the head while Sage sat in his seat indifferent to the rest of the group.

Fang placed his empty cup down. He grabbed the wine bottle and looked inside. It was near full. He poured himself another glass, almost to the rim, and set the glass aside.

He raised the wine bottle, “To a messed up family who can’t make it through one dinner with out everything going wrong but can last the whole year without seeing each other. To a messed up family that loves each other in a hating way and hates each other in a loving way. To a messed up family who doesn’t listen, misunderstands, ignores, and yells. To a messed up family who hears what you have to say, understands everything, listens, and whispers. To a messed up family who has ups and downs, highs and lows, pros and cons. To a messed up family who isn’t perfect in any definition of the word. To a messed up family that you wake up thinking about and go to sleep dreaming about. To a messed up family that no matter how much you hate or love them, you love them more and more. To a messed up family where there are so many opposites that you can’t even count. To a messed up family with children or with none. To a messed up family with no home or live in a mansion. To a messed up family with power or with none. To big messed up families and to small ones, good and bad ones, and all the other messed up families out there.”

Fang drank straight from the bottle but he stopped mid sip as if he had forgotten to say something.

“And to Tristan.”

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

The Faulty Furnace

A Little Insanity

A Spin-off

~The Faulty Furnace~

*Warning! The Characters May Be Completely Different!*

The house always looked abandoned; no lights coming on in different areas of the house, no sounds to annoy the neighbors. Although on Halloween a large smiling jack-o-lantern would appear on the rotting front porch.

The house had seen better days. The garden was overrun by thistles, the window sills were on the brink of falling off and the trees were all well past their life. But on every Halloween the porch was swept and the lantern placed there to replace the broken porch light that had fallen off during a storm. The lantern would smile at the coming children in their costumes; giving them enough light to see where to walk.

This Halloween was no different. The decorations went up around the town, children were as picky as ever when choosing their costumes for the year and then the pumpkin was set out on the lonely porch.

The evening wore on and children started to walk round the neighborhood. They quickly passed the frightening house and went on to the next one. With each child that passed by without a man sighed inside the house.

He sat on a dusty old couch. A child ran to the next house without giving his a second glance. The man let the faded grey drape fall back into place. His yellow/gold eyes glittered from behind his long grey hair. He walked around the living room; his long tattered cloak was torn in many places.

The furniture in the living room was covered in a thick layer of dust. Cobwebs hung from almost every surface. He walked barefoot through the room. His gaze stopped at a picture over the fireplace. A thin smile parted his lips.

Then there was a knock at the door. The man jumped. There was another knock.

“Excuse me? Trick or treat! It’s Halloween. Hello?” a muffled childlike voice said from the other side of the door.

The man stared at the door for a long while, but slowly he relaxed and went to get the door. He opened the door.

A little Dalmatian stood on the front porch with a used pillowcase in paw. The man smiled.

“Trick or treat,” the Dalmatian said.

“And what are you supposed to be?” the man asked with a smile.

“A wolf,” the boy looked at his paws, “My mom got the wrong costume.”

“Well, you look like a fine canine none the less,” the man laughed, “What is your name, boy?”

“Fang,” the boy said, “What’s yours?”

“I’m Undertaker,” the man said with a grin.

“Hello, Undertaker,” Fang said, “No offence but can I get some candy now?”

“I don’t have any candy.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Fang shrugged, his large dog ears flopped as he did so, “Did you run out?”

“Not exactly,” Undertaker smiled, “How about you come by tomorrow and I’ll give you a treat, hmm?”

Fang shrugged, “Okay.”

His parents called him from the edge of the cracked walkway. Fang turned back to face them. He looked over his shoulder.

“I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodbye then,” Undertaker laughed.

The boy walked back down the walk way, his tail hanging awkwardly to one side. He met with his parents and walked off with them to the next house. Undertaker closed the door.

“What a nice boy,” he said to himself.

His first visitor of the night. Actually, his first visitor in a while. Undertaker smiled to himself. He walked around the house.

The home was fairly average. Beside the living room was staircase going up to the second floor. Another staircase going to the basement had a door that shut it off from the rest of the house. Beside that there was a small hallway and then the kitchen. Undertaker walked into the kitchen. He stood at the small island and looked out over the small kitchen.

The sink was full of old dusty dishes. Above the sink there was a small window that looked upon the front yard. Undertaker’s gold eyes looked at the trees swaying in the Halloween breeze. Another child started walking up to the path. Undertaker smiled and walked to the door. There was a quiet knock at the door.

“Trick or treat,” a little kimono girl said when the door opened.

The little girl wore a dark purple kimono style dress. Her green eyes looked duly at the pale man before her. She held out a purple bucket, her eyes expecting candy at any moment.

“Well, hello,” Undertaker said, “What’s your name, milady?”

“Raven,” the little girl said, “Do you have candy?”

“I’m afraid I don’t,” Undertaker smiled. The girl’s shoulders slumped a little at the news, “However,” Undertaker continued, “I will have a treat for you in the morning if you come to visit again.”

“Is it candy?” Raven asked.

“Maybe.”

“Is it cotton candy?”

“Maybe.”

“Is it ice cream with candy on top?”

Undertaker laughed out loud. It took him a few moments to get himself back under control. The girl just stared at him with thin bored eyes. When he finally stopped she sighed.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Raven sounded disappointed, “How about chocolate candy?”

“Maybe,” Undertaker snickered, “you’ll just have to see for yourself.”

Raven shrugged, “Fine, whatever. See ya.”

She turned and walked to the next house. Undertaker watched her go before closing the door. He smiled to himself. What a strange little girl.

He stood with his back against the wall, his eyes looking over everything in the home. He smiled. Something in his eyes seemed lonely. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock.

Another visitor, that would make three visits already that night.

“Sup, trick or treat,” a ninja said at the other side of the door.

“That’s an interesting costume,” Undertaker smiled, “So what is your name?”

The boy raised his plastic sais, “Red Dagger,” he said.

“Well, even a ninja has to have a real name,” Undertaker smiled.

The boy shifted, “Shadow.”

“What a fitting name,” Undertaker chuckled.

“What’s your name?” Shadow asked.

“Undertaker,” Undertaker answered.

“Cool,” Shadow said, “Soooooo…”

“I’m sure you want your treats, don’t you?” Undertaker said, “But I don’t have any tonight.”

“Darn.”

“But if you come back tomorrow I’ll have a treat for you.”

“Sounds cool,” the little ninja said behind his cloth mask. He turned around, “I’ll see you tomorrow then!”

The boy crept, ducked and crawled to the next house.

Smiling, Undertaker closed the door. He walked up the stairs. The second level was a simple hallway with doors leading to rooms that haven’t been lived in for ages. He walked into a child’s room. Pictures of dinosaurs decorated the walls and toy ones were placed on shelves. Toy robots were scattered on the floor. Trucks were on the streets pictured in the carpet on the floor. Undertaker smiled as he looked around. The bed was made and covered in dust. There were two windows in the room. Undertaker glanced outside.

A little fox walked up the walk way wearing red clothes.

“Trick or treat!” a girl yelled.

Undertaker went down and opened the door.

“Hello, Mister!” the girl chimed.

Small white dog ears poked out of her head and a ling white tail.

“What is your name?” Undertaker asked

“Penelope Periwinkle Patience!”

“Now isn’t that a mouth full,” Undertaker muttered behind a smile.

“What?” Penelope asked.

“Nothing,” Undertaker said, “Who are you supposed to be?”

“Inuyasha!” she jumped, “but I didn’t have enough savings to buy the wig…but oh, well. Do you have any crystal shards?”

“I’m assuming you mean candy?” Undertaker smiled.

Penelope nodded.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any,” Undertaker stated.

“But you have an evil plan don’t you Sesshomaru!” Penelope jumped back and posed.

“As a matter of fact I do,” Undertaker smiled, playing along, “If you come by tomorrow I’ll have something for you.”

“I will have your head yet Sesshomaru!” Penelope ran off back down the path, her tail trailing behind her.

“Fascinating,” Undertaker said to himself.

Again the door closed and he walked to the back of the house. There was a back door and he walked out into the back yard. And old swing set swung eerily in the night time wind. He sat in the old swing for a few minutes he looked up at the full moon. A wisp of a cloud did little to stop the flow of silver light. A sand box was overrun by plants that deemed the soil worth of inhabitation. A large backhoe and dump truck were hidden in the dense jungle. Eventually he stood up and walked back inside.

“Trick or treat!” came the all too familiar call.

This time a white bed sheet ghost stood at the door. Undertaker failed miserably in hiding hid amusement.

“What a wonderful costume,” Undertaker said.

“Boo,” the boy said.

“What is your name?”

“Boo.”

“Knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Boo.”

“Boo who?”

“There’s no need to cry. I won’t hurt you.”

The boy looked at him through two slits in the sheet, “That isn’t funny.”

“What’s your name?” Undertaker asked again.

“Alister.”

“Nice to meet you, Alister.”

“Can I have candy?”

“Sorry, but I don’t have any.”

“That’s bull.”

“But if you come by tomorrow I will have a treat for you,” Undertaker smiled.

“You’d better,” Alister said as he turned and walked away, “Or I’ll egg your house in the morning. I’d probably improve the place a little.”

Undertaker shook his head as the boy walked off, “He seems like a trouble maker.”

He closed the door then went to the living room and sat down. The night was coming to a close and he wasn’t expecting any more visitors. His eyes were growing heavy when there was one more knock at the door.

This time a blue prince and a pink princes.

“Hello! Trick or treat!” the princes said, her prince said nothing.

“Hello, you two,” Undertaker said, “What are your names?”

“I’m Arisa!” the girl said, “This is Blue!”

“Hello Arisa and Blue,” Undertaker smiled.

“Can we have candy?”

“Sorry,” Undertaker said, “There is no candy here today.  But if you stop by tomorrow, there will be treats.”

“Yay!” Arisa grabbed Blue’s hand and ran down the path dragging the poor silent price behind her.

Undertaker watched them go before picking up the pumpkin and brining it in side. He stopped at the door way. He looked out at the town in front of him. With a smile he faded into the darkness of the house.

“I guess it is time to move on,” he whispered.

The morning came and the children went back to the house. On the porch was seven small pumpkin pies for each of them. After enjoying their morning meal they began to wonder where their guest was so they could thank him.

The door was opened a crack so they cautiously walked in. They noticed that one of the pictures, one of a boy with a smiling face and gold eyes, wasn’t covered in the layer of dust that covered everything else.

One of the children walked into the basement and naturally the others followed. There was one couch in front of an old television set. Three skeletons sat there staring with empty eyes at the black screen. Two were adults, one slightly smaller than the other and the other was a child. An old furnace stood ominously in the corner.

“Hey look,” one of the children said, pointing at the smallest skeleton.

The skeleton looked like it was smiling that same smile they had seen the night before.