A Long Quest

Chapter 1: A Most Unwelcome Surprise

Kyle Walker struggled and mused, staring at a blank piece of lined paper. This book report was going to get done, and no obstacle was going to get in his way.

Kyle slammed his pencil onto the pile of notebook paper. That is not right. It's actually far from right. It's time to start over.

And so he did. Kyle grabbed the page of notebook paper and crumpled it up. He threw it towards the garbage bin but it missed. Getting up to his feet with a stomp, he grabbed the crumpled ball and slammed it into the garbage bin as hard as he could. At this rate, I'm never going to get this book report done....

Kyle grabbed a new sheet of paper and plopped it on his bed. He then got up and started pacing the room, like he was looking for something.

"Where's that book...?" He said with a scowl.

Kyle continued looking around his room. His room was starting to get messy again. A small pile of clothes sat sprawled at the foot of his bed - a pair of jeans, a couple of shirts and one pair of underwear. Various toys were scattered around the room, with the Super Nintendo sitting at the top of the entertainment center, away from the clutter.

Frustrated (and Kyle was very frustrated at this point), Kyle ravaged his room, lifting up clothes and throwing them. Pencils were scattered all over the floor. Textbooks were lifted up and moved in a disorderly pattern. Before he knew it, his room was even messier than before. And in spite of all of this, his book could still not be found.

Kyle stood up, all frenzied in a panicked rage. As the frustration began to build around him, a voice was heard in the distance. "Kyle! It's time for your dinner! Don't want it to get cold!"

Kyle shook his head with a quiet sigh. "Not now, mom...." he said.

All at once, the frustration crushed Kyle. He was pinned down, with no place to escape. "Urrr....!" he growled, ignoring his mother's call for a second time. "Where is that book?"

Kyle's frustrated growls continued. They are the kind of growls that a tiger would make, but not a thirteen year old boy. They started out low, but gradually increased in volume. All the same spots where Kyle looked for the book were checked again. A second time. A third time. Even a fourth time.

Finally, Kyle got down on his knees and glanced underneath his bed. There it was. The book sat there, halfway underneath his bed, like it was shoved there by mistake. Either that or it was hiding from him, not wanting to be found. Kyle grabbed the book and sighed with relief. "Dicey's Song," he said, reading the title. It must have fallen out of the backpack when I was emptying it.... "Time to get started on this stupid report." he muttered to himself.

No sooner did he open up the book, that he heard his mother's shout again. "Come on Kyle! Don't make me call on you again!"

The warning, as serious as it was, didn't matter to Kyle right now. What mattered was getting that book report done. "She will not take it late," he sighed. "If Mrs. Ayotte doesn't get this tomorrow, I'll get an 'E'." Kyle knew Mrs. Ayotte well. She was hard, strict and impatient. And believe me. If you had her as a teacher, she would be your worst nightmare. And with the book report due date being tomorrow, she was becoming Kyle's nightmare more and more by the second.

To add to the nightmare, Kyle had two additional homework assignments to complete. One was a map of Africa for geography class. The other was a five minute research speech for speech class. Despite these assignments, the book report needed to get done. It would be worth a 0 if it was not handed in tomorrow.

As Kyle was reading Dicey's Song, he began to hear the sound of footsteps. The footsteps were followed by a loud shout. "Kyle!" his mother shouted. "This is your last warning! If you don't come for dinner, I'm going to get dad!"