Seeing Red

Tord's Rebellion

        During the middle of the year of 2012, Gary drove a small, speed-boat of which he had potentially stolen, toward the island of Madagascar. Tord stood in front of his eldest sibling, wearing his old, black trench-coat as Leila stood beside him. The sun was setting as the siblings all stared up at the tall formation of jagged rocks. Hidden amongst the formation was a large, white, two-story beach-house that use to belong to their grandfather.

        "The only people populating the island are The Native-Tribes; no one will recognize you here..." Gary reassured as he parked his boat on the shore of the island's beach. Tord was the first to step off of the boat, kneeling down to feel the cold, wet sand of the beach. Something about beaches always helped Tord feel more relaxed but he supposed that beaches did the same for almost everyone. Tord inhaled deeply, through his nose, taking in the surrounding smells of the ocean as he clutched a handful of the cool, dampened sand. He was then interrupted from his brief moment of zen when he felt something hard, smooth and cold in the palm of his hand once he had allowed all of the sand to slip through his fingers.

        Opening his hand to view the unexpected object, Tord was pleasantly surprised to see the small piece of ocean-jasper that was now resting in the center of his palm. Gary and Leila watched as Tord placed the semi-precious stone into the front-pocket of his trench-coat before standing back up to then wipe the remnants of wet sand from his hand, onto his coat. Gary took this as a sign to begin leading his younger siblings up the elaborate staircase that had long-since been carved into the side of the massive mountain of sharp rocks. The staircase led up to a tall, black, iron gate that was held up by several, large, white, marble pillars.

        "This was Grandfather's private vacation-home...Our parents don't even know about it...No one will ever find us here..." Gary explained as he unlocked the gate with one of the many, rusted keys that hung from the old, Communist-flag keyring that once belonged to their grandfather. Tord began to speed-walk ahead of his siblings once the gates had been opened, stopping short of the bright-red front-door to stare up at the massive building in awe. Two statues of Loki, the Pagan-god of mischief from the old, Norse mythology, stood on both sides of the front-door as if they were guarding the entrance.

        Gary followed close behind his youngest sibling to unlock the front-door for him with another one of their grandfather's rusted, old keys. Tord was even more impressed by the house's interior. The house was almost completely made up entirely of pearlescent marble aside from the beige carpeting that covered the floor of the living-room, the staircase and the floor of the open-loft that the staircase led up to. The house was decorated with Communism memorabilia as well as more statues of Loki, rendering the house almost completely untouched by time.

        "I mostly left all of Grandfather's stuff as-is but I added a few of my own touches." Gary explained with a small smirk and a wink since he had been on vacation to this house quite a few times in the past; before his youngest sibling's World had completely fallen apart, that is. Gary's added, modern touches of course stood out from amongst their grandfather's ancient decor in the form of a black, leather, L-shaped couch, a black-iron coffee-table with a glass top and a huge, flatscreen television that was mounted onto the wall. Tord also heavily doubted that the open-kitchen beneath the loft always had always had an island in the center of it as well as a modern, double-doored refrigerator. Still in awe, Tord made his way up the stairs to have a better look at the loft where various arcade-game machines lined the back-wall, hanging above the arcade-game machines, was a portrait of Tord's grandfather, in his old, military uniform, glaring intently off into the distance. Tord found himself distracted by the portrait for a moment or two until Gary disturbed him from his trance.

        "This is your room." Gary announced as he opened one of the two doors on the far-right wall. The decently-sized bedroom was decorated with all of Tord's belongings from his old bedroom. Despite the different coloration of the flooring and walls, Tord almost felt as if he were still at home. That was, until he spotted his old laptop resting upon his old desk, the source of all of his trauma, where all of his problems first began. Tord felt himself begin to fill with dread as he slowly approached the laptop. Gary attempted to follow Tord but Leila grabbed him by his arm to stop him.