The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 55: The Bodyguard

Part 4/4

As Samuel stepped inside the home, he was greeted with the waft of sugar. He looked around the place. There was a fireplace tucked away in the corner of the home, and a rickety dining table and three rickety chairs. There was another table to the side with a mortar and pestle and a pot.

“Welcome to my home. Tiffany built the whole place, if you’re wondering. That talented lady! I feel bad, I wish I could’ve done more than just gather stuff for her. Well, I can, actually, I know how to make this brew!” Andres walked over to the pot, grabbing it with his bare hands. There was a sizzle, and a red mark appeared on his palms. Andres hurled the pot over to the table and set it down. He let go of the pot and began to blow on his hands.

“Whew, that’s quite hot! Take a seat, Samuel!” Andres said. Samuel pulled the chair to the side and sat down on the chair. As his eyes wandered the room he saw there were two doorways leading to bedrooms.

“Hmm, if there’s two people living here, why are there three chairs?” Samuel wondered. Andres grabbed a drinking glass made of crystal and dunked it into the brew. He slid it over to Samuel, and Andres got some brew for himself.

“Cheers Samuel!”

The two clinked glasses and took a swig of the brew. As the liquid touched his tongue, he couldn’t really taste anything. But, there was a hint of sweetness to it. Andres let out a refreshing sigh and set the glass down on the table.

“I love it so much. I’m lucky enough to have made it out of the blue. Well, those blue berry things do taste sweet, so I thought, why not make a drink out of them?” Andres laughed. Samuel gave him a soft smile.

“So, did you want to be a bartender when you grow up or something?”

Andres raised his eyebrow.

“No, not really. I actually wanted to be a writer.”

“A writer? Hmm,” Samuel thought as he took another sip of the brew, “I thought he’d be in the Book Club.”

“Well. I WANTED to be, but I never got to it… The last time I wrote a story, nobody liked it, and I don’t want that feeling again,” Andres softly said, looking down at his glass sadly.

Samuel felt a bit sad for the guy. He didn’t seem like the type of guy to be hated on…

Did he really deserve it?

“Well when did you write the story?” Samuel asked. Andres looked up, his eyes looking up to the ceiling. He scratched his chin.

“Uhh, I think when I was eight?”

“What? That was ten years ago! Why don’t you give it another shot?”

Andres laughed, giving Samuel a bright smile.

“I guess you’re right. I should! Hmm, maybe when we get out of this place. Tiffany said that we’d escape as soon as YOU come.”

“Huh?”

“Tiffany will talk about it when she gets here, she didn’t tell me much,” Andres explained, “That’s why she’s not here right now. She is out collecting food for us. I’m not worried about her, she is even stronger than me!”

“Even stronger?” Samuel thought as he scratched Star’s head. He looked out at the table that had held the pot. There was a book with the emblem of a dodo. Was that the book?

For a second, Andres’ words began to drown. Samuel considered just grabbing that book and making a run for it… Did he really need Tiffany’s help? All he came for was the book, after all.

But that wasn’t the right thing to do.

“Samuel? Samuel!”

Samuel blinked his eyes and looked back at Andres.

“Huh? What’s up?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Uhh, no, sorry. I was spacing out.”

Andres nodded his head toward the open window. Samuel looked out of it to see two Triceratops marching up to their home, and a woman riding atop one of them. Bags were strapped to the saddles of the beasts of burden. The woman had short black unstyled hair and a somewhat skinny stature. She had a spark in her eyes that was undying, and there was a small scar on her eyebrow. She gave the two a grin and gave them the peace sign.

“Hey Andres, has our guest finally showed up?” she called out.

“Yes, he has!” Andres shouted back with a grin, “Samuel, say hello to Tiffany! Tiffany Originals!”