Thursday, June 28, 2012

C.L.O.W.N.

CRACKERS AND INTERRUPTED NOTIONS

  3 years had passed, and things have changed in the village called Thornton, although the townspeople can't decide whether it was for the better or the worse. Most citizens didn't even notice it. In a modest cottage in the suburbs of Thornton, Quinton Kingsleigh and Ivy Azure were discussing that very issue while they were eating their afternoon snack, blue cheese and saltwater crackers. The two had just met at the beginning of the school year, yet they have treated each other as close friends and had enjoyed each other's company very much.
    The two had discussed that very issue at a great length before, and now had found it boring. Ivy was watching Quinton eating blue cheese with disgust and amusement. Ivy had always thought blue cheese inedible, and Quinton (who quite liked the taste) tried to convince Ivy to at least take a bite. "Oh, come on Ivy," Quin had said. "How can you know you don't like it if you don't even want to try it?" he asked, flashing his signature lop-sided smile at Ivy as he tried to make the blue cheese look as appetizing as he could. Ivy raised her eyebrow and giggled. "Quin, I really can't digest that," Ivy said. Quin finally gave up and he ran his hand through his rumpled flaxen-blond hair. Quin was 13 (14 by the end of the week), and was quite popular in his school. Quin had an athletic body, and he was the star-player in his school's wedgehog team (wedgehog was similar to basketball but more ancient). Many girls in his school adored him(he was thought to be good looking), many boys wanted to be him, but he was often found alone contemplating things that others had missed. Quin had a rare gift of figuring things out by himself. In other words, he's clever. In fact, Quin was the smartest in his school and undoubtedly smarter than most adults. Many thought that Quin liked being alone, but the truth was no one would join him.
  That was until Ivy Azure came.She was 13 years old, with copper red hair (which she often tied back into a ponytail), a tan complexion, and (her most recognizable feature) sparkling emerald green eyes. Ivy used to be home schooled and taught by Yuri Gotchski ( a famous tutor), until a couple of months ago when she was transferred to Quin's school, The Berkenz Academy. Quin found Ivy interesting, for Ivy was not the lovely, fragile, pixie-like girl she appeared to be. Ivy mastered many art  of self defense known to man at that time, and had unbelievable physical strength and abilities. This Ivy had never told Quin before, but Quin had figured that out. Ivy preferred to keep things to herself, but with Quin, it's impossible. Quin found out that Ivy was taught self defense by her father, Desmond Azure, who was a former conman. Quin had figured Ivy's dad was a conman right when he met him.
   Desmond had just went home from his new job as a lawyer, and Ivy had asked how it had went. Desmond had grunted and said that he liked his old job better, when the adrenaline had caused him to use his brain better. Desmond's cautiousness (he had a habit of locking things securely and leaving no trace of himself wherever he went) and Ivy's confession that her dad's old job worried her had supported Quin's inference. Desmond was about 35 years old and had been living with his daughter and wife. For his family's sake he had quit his "job" and found a decent one.Quin had asked Ivy about her dad's "occupation", and she had sighed and said "That's why I don't bother telling you stuff Quin, you'd figure it out in split seconds."
  Desmond had taught Ivy the art of self defense, despite her mother's disapproval.  Ivy's physical strength and abilities were pure talent, though. Quin had assumed that Ivy was trained in 125 ways to hurt people (in spite of protecting herself, that is), and Quin was rarely wrong. Despite her abilities, Ivy was proven to be a friendly, good natured girl and won't cause unrepairable harm to anybody. Ivy was quite logical and curious about many things, and she couldn't ask for a better company than Quin. They can always find interesting things to talk about, and that day, after the two had discussed the changes in Thornton, Quin had thought of something that had been on the back of his mind for quite sometime.
  "Speaking of changes, I heard that the downtown theater is closing down," Quin said, locking his sky blue eyes with Ivy's.
"Yeah, I heard about that too from Gertrude, that woman who sells milk," Ivy replied, munching her share of saltwater crackers.
"It's a shame, I had a friend there once. He was an entertainer, performing magic tricks every weekends. He goes by the name Zappidy Doodle on stage," Quin watched Ivy's amused expression at the mention of the silly name. "Off stage he was better known as Charlie Browning."
" I've never heard of him. What happened then?" Ivy asked, genuinely curious.
So Quin eagerly told her about Charlie's sudden disappearance. Charlie and Lucy have disappeared six months after Lucy's pregnancy.
Ivy thought to herself for a moment. "Dead relatives can cause people to go and visit the family, which will look as if they disappeared suddenly," Ivy said then she shrugged.
"Very unlikely. I doubt that Charlie and Lucy have any relatives. Even during the celebration of Lucy's pregnancy, only the townspeople came. No trace of relatives," Quin said, rubbing his chin (an old habit of his). Quin began thinking to himself, muttering things.
"Um, Quin? Not to interrupt you, but we need to get going," Ivy said, pointing to the orange-colored sky outside the window.
"Hm? Oh, okay then," Quin replied as he stood up and brushed the cracker crumbs off his shirt. The cottage was neither Quin or Ivy's home. The cottage was a gift from Jacques Pepperfield, Quin's old friend. Jacques and his family had moved to the mainland and can't seem to sell the cottage at a good price. So, as a farewell gift to the Kingsleigh family,the Pepperfields had given the cottage to the Kingsleigh. Mr and Mrs Kingsleigh didn't know what to do with the cottage, and they had given Quin the right to do anything with it. Quin had never set foot on the cottage until Ivy came, though. They had found it as a suitable place to gather, with a fireplace, nice oak furniture, and cabinets which the two had used to store food incase they got hungry. The two had promised their parents that they will be back before nightfall, and Ivy and Quin knew that it won't be good to disobey their parents (although they both could easily outsmart them).
 Quin, rubbing his eyes out of fatigue had risen from his seat and put the chairs back to its place. Quin was extremely tired (last night he could barely sleep because of the street cats "singing", and this morning he needed to run lots of errands).
Ivy cheerily skipped to the front yard where her white horse, Artemis, had been tied to the fence. She was about to climb up the saddle when Quin looked at her disappointedly. Ivy, who had already climbed up the saddle nudged Quin with her knee. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I thought I'm supposed to ride Artemis. You rode him the way here and I had to sit on the back, and trust me, that was quite embarassing. People were staring at me, wondering why the girl had to ride," Quin said.
"Oh, so now you're saying that men are far more superior than women?" Ivy asked pointedly.
Quin only shrugged, and they both laughed. Ivy did let Quin ride this time, and Ivy wrapped her arms tightly around Quin's stomach as she muttered, "Quin, please don't kill us both."


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