Thursday, February 19, 2015

Analor- Chapter One

Keona:
This is a story my little brother, Elijah, and I have been working on for a little while. He's a writer- like me- and so we decided this would be great practice for both of us. Elijah recently requested that I start putting it up, chapter by chapter, on this blog. So, once a week, we plan on posting a chapter of the following story. We have taken turns writing a few paragraphs each, and so you will get samples of both of our work in each chapter.
Hope you all enjoy it!




Chapter One


Keona:
It was a cold, winter day. The snow was half-melted, grey, and slushy. It soaked through his boots and froze his feet. His coat wasn’t quite thick enough to ward off the cold bite of the freezing wind that blew down the alley where he walked. Just ten more minutes of the misery, though; then he would be in the warmth of his school.
“Are you sure you don’t need a new coat?” his mother had asked him a month ago when the cold had first set in.
Knowing how much they were struggling to pay the bills, he had told her no. His old coat would still fit him well. So would his boots. He didn’t want her to have to work more than she already did. Life had been hard since his father left two years ago. They’d had to move into a townhouse. They had fewer luxuries than they had before. It didn’t matter though: they were still together. He and his mom had a special bond ever since his dad left. They had been through so much together.

Still trudging along, the school building finally came into sight. He went to a public school- they couldn’t afford a private one, but he was good with that. He didn’t have a lot of friends, but he had a few. They all called him Analor. That wasn’t his real name- it was the name of a boy in a super-popular movie-series who was a super-genius like him. Analor- not the one in the movie- didn’t brag about his abilities, but he did know that he was smart: supernaturally so. He usually used his abilities to help out his mom, but every once in a while- okay… more than that- he would pull a prank on a friend with it. Most people didn’t like him because he was so much smarter than him. He was a straight-A-know-it-all. Most people used to pick on him, but they gave up after he had made them look dumb with all of his witty responses.

Elijah:
As he arrived at school he met his school-buddy, Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a lot older than him- two years- but they were best friends because they were in the same grade. Analor had been moved up because he was so smart.
”How’s life?” he asked.
“Fine,” Analor replied.
An ear-piercing sound cut through the air.
”Oh! There goes the whistle!” said one of the kids on the playground.
“Can’t wait to start mathematics,” thought Analor. They ran towards the school doors. They went straight to Grade 10 mathematics.
“Hello class”, started Mr. Lyttle, their teacher.
“Hello Mr. Teacher,” exclaimed the group of bullies.
”Excuse me?” Mr. Lyttle asked, wanting a more formal response.
“Hello Sir,” chorused around the room.
“That’s more like it”, said Mr. Lyttle, then he handed out the math pages for the day. The first problem was 25x+37-(-215x)=257.4(-x).
Keona:
“What?” exclaimed Jeremiah, “We’re supposed to figure that out?”
X equals five. Analor thought to himself without a problem. He didn't even have to write the question out. Another one of his nicknames was ‘Human Calculator’ after all.
Math class was only an hour and then it was on to the more boring subjects: Social Studies, Home Economics, and Gym. Analor wasn't a huge fan of these. They bored him. Except for Gym. Gym was just too hard; too… physical.
A few hours more and school was out. Analor was happy to be going home to see his mom. She would need something to cheer her up after a long day’s work and he had just the thing- a report card from the past quarter showing, like always, straight-A’s.
Elijah:
At his house, he went up to his room to unpack his school stuff. He had a report card to give to his mother, his lunchbox, his ‘100%’ marked Mathematics paper, and his pencil, pen, and eraser. He kept all of his school utensils with him because Jeremiah had once returned to school one day to find his pencils and erasers were all missing. After that, Analor kept his with him so that they didn't get stolen. In his room he had a radio, movie posters, a laptop, a computer, a T.V., an iPod Touch, a 3DS, some LEGO, double mini, and his bed and dresser. His mom didn't let him get any of the challenging electric math games, because she didn't like the thought of him being a teenager. She knew he was ultra-smart but she didn't like thinking about it.
Analor had one older sister, her name was Rox, but she was 20 and had gotten married and moved away. His family’s history was half-American and half-Canadian. He had a sign on his door that said, “Only invited humans, dad, mom, or Jeremiah”. He didn't like it when his sister got married to a very rich guy named Michael Roberts, but he had thought about it. Michael actually bought Analor a box full of pieces to make a robot to which he had the remote. It had to work for him, and since then, Michael was on his good side. The robot would say “goodnight” and it cleaned his room for him. It also had its name painted on its side (named after Analor) ‘Daniel’.
He got out his iPod Touch to check on his “Clash of Clans” city, ‘Algebra’, and his clan name was ‘For Dummies’. He was the leader and Jeremiah was a Co-leader. ‘MicRoxy’ was the name of his sister’s city. She was also a Co-leader.
Keona:
While he was at school, he had been attacked several times. Most of the time, his defense had held: all except for the last time, when he got completely burned to the ground.
Oh, well. I still did pretty well.
Analor was the biggest player in his clan. He had quickly advanced in the game and was now in a very high league.
***
“Daniel! Come down for dinner!” his mom shouted. She never called him Analor. She was always her Daniel and he didn't mind at all.
“Coming, Mom!” He went running down the stairs, leaping over the last six and hitting the ground with a loud ‘Thump!’ that shook the house.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?” Analor’s mom asked in a weary voice.
Analor, completely ignoring the question, said, “I got my report card today.”
His mom raised an eyebrow, “How’d you do?” she asked even though she already knew the answer.
“A+ in everything! Especially Algebra.”
“Well, done,” she said, trying- and failing- to hide how proud she was of his and his success.
“Thanks!” he exclaimed. He knew she was always proud of him, but it felt great every time she showed it like this. He changed the subject to the next thing on his agenda, “What’s for dinner?”
“Well, I haven’t done any grocery shopping lately, so we don’t have any dinner foods. Instead, I made-“
“Pancakes!!” Analor interrupted. He loved when his mom made ‘breakfast for dinner’.
Elijah:
In his opinion, pancakes were the best food in the world. He got ready for dinner. He grabbed a fork, a knife, and a bottle of maple syrup. His and his mom’s favorite brand of maple syrup was the Aunt Jemimah. His Mom had made 40 pancakes he ate, ten, his mom only ate four. They saved the rest for lunch the next day.
His sister was coming over at 3:00pm the next day, and he was very excited. He hardly got to see her anymore. They had set two dates every week: Tuesday and Friday. His sister had work at a ToysRus company. She still said he was really young and had gotten him a Mouse Trap board game that he sold for $20.46. He found out that it had sold for more money than usual. Most people thought it was a rip-off for a board game without any strategy. He agreed. It was 5:45pm when they ate dinner. They usually liked eating late: around 9:00 or 10:00pm. He was very thankful that his mother really knew how to cook.
After dinner, he went upstairs to his room. He opened the door to see a mouse trapped in the trap he had made himself. It would take the mouse, and hang it upside down. It would try to eat the trap and eventually it would give up. His robot would check the trap. If there was a mouse or a rat in it, he would take it to a special room that specially made for that. The robot would then take the rodent and clean it from disease, clean everything else, clean all trace of dirt and put the mouse in a cage. The robot would then notify Analor’s iPod Touch, (Michael made a device in the robot that would enable it to send a message to Analor anytime, anywhere) that the trap had worked. Analor would usually (unless he was at school), come and turn on the cage. It would notify an app Analor made for iPod Touches- especially his. The app would make a remote that would hook up a device to the mice/rodents and had a remote for each one. The remote did every kind of care for the rodents. Eventually t was his plan to have an army of mice. He just hoped nobody took his iPod Touch or hacked it. If they did, he would not have any hope of an army for much longer. He also trained the rodents and they loved him and they would also be a family security system.
Keona:  
Most people thought that Analor’s plan for the rodent army was kind of crazy, but he didn't care. It was an interesting way to spend his free time- like a hobby that nobody else had. Yes, he was strange and, yes, he was proud of it.
A few hours later, Analor settled down to read for an hour before he went to bed. He mostly enjoyed adventurous fiction books. Right now, he was sinking deep into a novel entitled ‘Eragon’ by Christopher Paolini. It was an interesting story about dragons and elves. It was deep and very intense- just what Analor loved.
He read a few chapters and then lid down in his bed. His robot turned his light off and he fell asleep quickly.
***
Ten hours later, Analor was up and out of bed. It was Friday and he only had a half-day at school because he had a field trip this morning. To celebrate the beginning of a new term, his class was making a trip to the Toronto Zoo where they would spend the day up until lunchtime. Then they all got to go home early! Analor wasn't much of an animal person so the only part he was excited about was getting home to prepare for Rox’s visit.
He performed all of his morning preparation: brushing his teeth, eating breakfast, and packing his lunch. He was glad to not have to worry about cleaning his room: his robot did that for him.
Most kids took the bus to school but he lied very close so he walked every day. When he was younger, he had some friends that would walk with him but as he got older and his genius began to show more most of his friends forsook him. Now he walked alone.
Elijah:
On his walk to school he met up with Jeremiah.
“Sup?” asked Jeremiah.
“Nothing much,” answered Analor.
“Excited for the zoo?”
“Nope,” answered Analor.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just don’t like animals”
“Okay.”
They walked further and eventually got to the school where they would be picked up.
“I am so excited,” said fourteen year-old Davis.
They got on the bus just as the school bully, Burton got on.
“Watch it,” he said to Davis.
“Watch yourself,” said Analor. Burton hadn't noticed him, and he backed away.
“Laugh out loud!” shouted a random kid. Everyone started laughing. Analor kind of felt bad for him. He also hated being laughed at. He didn't feel bad for long.
“Now you’re up for it,” said Burton.
“Oh-no, I'm so scared!” Analor said mockingly.
Everyone started staring. Burton tensed. His face got weird looking.
‘He looks like the Razac in ‘Eragon’. My imaginary ones, at least,’ Analor thought to himself.
Burton swung a punch at Analor. He had practiced boxing with his robot at home. He ducked.
“Nice try,” Analor stated.
Jeremiah had sat and saved a spot for Analor. The bus driver was used to it: he watched it every time and it happened a lot.
“Charge!” shouted Burton as he did a rhino-like charge at Analor.
“Hello!” exclaimed Analor. He stepped to the side. Everyone on the bus doubled over in laughter. Burton tripped, and smashed his face into a bench. He got up and decided to quit it and sit down. Analor relaxed. He was getting ready to rest his eyes when everything went black and he remembered no more.





No comments:

Post a Comment