Late like always

Corrillion is in a pickle as he wakes up late for school.

“Wake up Corrillion! You’re not sleeping past anima today!” Tuki tugged on her brother’s ear relentlessly. She might have been small and meek, but when no one was looking this little blonde hair blue eyed angel became a brute and could yank an ear so hard you wished it would fall off. Well rather her brother wished it would fall off since he was the only one that she would beat on.

Thud! Corrillion rolled onto his side trying to catch his breath. “cough, cough, Tutu, cough, cough, ugh I mean Tuki, what are you doing! Cough, cough.” He rolled on his back slowly catching his breath.

“you are not shorting me on sleep today! Yesterday I lost half my sleep cycle to you!” She rolled over to face the ground even though it was too dark to see. “you going to quit being a baby and get up? I can hear you panting all the way up here.”

Corrillion rubbed his forehead, “I don’t know what your talking about, cough, cough. When I woke up you were asleep next to me.” He rolled onto his stomach and made it to his hands and knees wheezing, his head was pounding. “you knocked the air right out of me.”

“serves you right for what you did to me! I was scrunched so tight I thought I was going to burst!” which she wasn’t lying, the poor little girl had to climb into a space already too small for Corrillion. she plugged her nose and cringed at the thought. “It’s not easy squeezing past that bulbus head of yours and tunneling past your stomach while trying to keep enough space to breath just to curl up to those smelly feet of yours!”

He stood up finally and rested his arm on the sleeping chamber his sister was in. “My feet aren’t stinky, are they?” He paused “or was my head stinky and my feet bulbus?”

She slapped him across the face trying for the back of his head, but assumptions were not the best in the dark. “just shut up and move so I can sleep!”

“Ok” he knew it was just a matter of ticking her off just enough to make her stop talking. “and easy on the slaps, your really getting strong.” He rubbed his face and let go of the wall.

“Quit messing with my sleep and I’ll quit slapping you.” She smiled knowing her brother couldn’t see and rolled back over to go to sleep. “Have fun getting out of here.”

“yeah thanks for the torch sis.” He said sarcastically.

Barley able to see he fumbled around hand over feet searching the ground for the torch that his sister ever so politely left him on the floor. Finally and very anticlimactically he tripped over it, stumbled and recovered it all in one ungraceful move. This was an improvement from the usual concussion he got from the cave wall. The truth was Tuki knew it would go out just in time. She had plenty of chances to practice over the 3 elapses of the 6 she has been alive.

Corrillion continued feeling along the wall trying not to bang his head or run into the wall. He felt his way around the corner revealing a dull lit hall, he sped up to get around the corner knowing he was probably late to meet his girlfriend.. Crack! He fell instantly in pain as he tried rounding the corner.

“ouch!” a familiar voice rang out.

“Akili, is that you?” Corrillion asked still a little dazed from colliding heads.

“Corrillion what are you doing running down this hall with no torch?” she began to regain senses and got up. Embarrassed he crawled for the main chamber and didn’t speak. “Your mom said your sister was still trying to wake you up. Why have you been sleeping so much?” Akili was genuinely concerned knowing it had been weeks since her and Corrillion had hung out, he hadn’t been to school either, before that they were almost attached at the hip as best friends. He kept silent and crawled around the corner into the light. “Don’t think I didn’t see you!” now ferious she whipped around the corner and pinned him to the floor and grabbed him by the throat. “What too good to answer me!” she had a smirk of satisfaction which made her appear to be joking but inside she was raging and crushed.

“No, I was going to talk to…. you I just wanted to…. scare you first.” He managed to gargle out in between breaths. He was lying of course but getting choked made it hard to come up with a good one. “Please…. Stop…. Choking….”

She loosened her grip, “oh is that so, well that doesn’t explain anything about why you haven’t been in school.”

“I haven’t been well.” He said after a minute of catching his breath.

“So I guess that’s why you have been staying up through vigi and letha like your supposed to. Then continuing through langui and assen which just leaves anima. You know that’s not enough sleep to run off of.” Her face went from rage to concern.

“I don’t know what your talking about.” Corrillion nonchalantly protested.

“Yeah and I suppose Chaya is just making it up!” She took her hands off Corrillion and got back on her feet. Hear concern was now rage again and the piercing glare she gave him sent shivers up his spine, his face went pale and he froze up. “I said are saying Chaya lied!” the voice that came out was almost demonic.

“You t-talk to Chaya?” he stuttered in fear to ask such a question.

“No, I talk to her sister or did you forget she is in our group!” Her head tilted and mouth lay slacked in aww, unable to comprehend how someone he has been school with since, well since 3 elapses ago could slip his mind! The very idea of this enraged her more.

“She has a sister?” honestly dumfounded he scrunched his forehead in thought to no avail.

“Yeah she has a sister and she damn near talks my ear off about you!” her face reddened with a hint of jealousy.

“she is probably talking about Krillon, I mean it kind of sounds like Corrillion.” A last ditch effort for sure but he was hoping she was bluffing about her having a sister. After all Chaya never mentioned having a sister. Then again she never really talked about her family.

“Yeah right you’re so full of it! I’m sick of trying to chase you down, if you want to hang out come find me!” she stormed off before he could answer and kicked one of the glowing mushrooms by the door sending fluorescent goo everywhere.

“Thanks Akili” he said quietly and sarcastically knowing she wouldn’t be able to hear him anyway.

He sat up and peared around the room realizing one of his family members could have been awake. The living chamber had few amenities, there was a dressing table made of stone for preparing food, under the table were several varieties of fungus that fed on the stone. They were mutually beneficial because they were all edible and added great flavor to meats and food in general. Around the table were pillar like stone stools. To the left of the table were 2 couches made from the leathery hide of a maggot like creature called a slackworm. There were various stone tablets with different games scribed in with a leather satchel full of various pieces in between the couches.

Many varieties and colors of fluorescent mushrooms canvassed the whole room. There were big red chandelier like hanging mushrooms and yellow tube like mushrooms growing out the sides of them spaced around the ceiling. Cup like orange and green ones were growing on the walls in various designs along with blue ones coming out of the corners. On the ground there were various colored stool like mushrooms put in convenient places, like the one Akili kicked by the door. None of these were here by mistake, they were bought and placed in there positions as a slime that you slap on and let grow.

It didn’t seem like much, but it was enough to get by with and all the fun happened in the main chamber of his township anyway. Exus wasn’t a big sprawling metropolis in any sense of the word it was quite small. In fact it was the smallest township in Lebnon only consisting of about 10,000 people. The 12 other townships in Lebnon had at least 35,000 people. Corrillion had never been to any of the other 12 because of the danger of traveling but he learned about them in class.

He walked over to a sub- chamber by the main entrance grabbing some cloth and wetting it down with some water from the natural aquifer that came up in there cleaning room. He wiped himself down and pinched a fluorescent tube like mushroom growing in a cluster at the edge of the water. Out came a strange metallic gel that he put on cloth and began scrubbing himself with it, making sure to get under his pits and scrub his hair, he sat on a carved out cave rock to get his feet.

Ugh, today is going to be a long one he thought as he slipped back into his clothing. He sighed and walked to the door. Only to see the fluorescent goo still running down the wall, quickly he turned back around and grabbed the cloth he cleaned himself up with and began wiping up mushroom goop.

His hand began to burn from the goo “not again!” he yelled out loud in frustration. Quickly he ran back to the room and began rinsing his hands knowing full well it was too late to stop it. His hands began swelling till they were too swollen to even move. Now sitting he thought to himself how stupid he was for once again cleaning up poisonous insides of the swol. This mushroom looked almost identical to the calf which was a non- poisonous cousin that grew in the same conditions and was far more common.

He got up and fought with the door, using his now impressively swollen fingers to grab the latch. The problem was even his smallest finger could not fit in the handle. Not to mention trying to push the latch up with the other hand. Just when he was about to give up the handle wedged between two of his massive fingers just enough for him to open the door.

Already late he hastened down the dully lit corridor to the main chamber, the chamber was a huge dome hundreds of feet tall covered in inscriptions and symbols from the ancient peoples that were here when it was settled by the township of Exus. There were very few symbols deciphered so no one knew what they even meant. In the center of this massive dome was an equally impressive mushroom stool that stood 100 ft. tall and 100 ft. wide. It glew in all colors and was a sacred symbol of the town believed to be thousands of elapses old.

As he made his way towards the center of town the hustle and bustle of the markets that surrounded the giant stool could be heard. His eyes wondered the many exotic items that laid out on the merchants tables, from hand made clothing and leathers to jewelry and healing creams, if it wasn’t here you weren’t going to find it. On the walls of the stool were built in apartments and various walk ways carved through.

He took one of the passages it was covered thick in a grass like moss that gave off a dull blue light. The passage seemed to go on forever but it didn’t help that it was packed full of people and it slowed movement a lot. “Why aren’t you in school?” Corrillions aunt was heading the other direction and spotted him quickly.

He turned red and quickly put his hands behind his back “well umm I am on my way right now.”

She rolled her eyes “well your lucky I am in a rush otherwise I would be walking you there myself” she stayed fixed on him as she past by.

“I love you too auntie.” He gulped, that was close he thought. Now the edge of the tunnel needed to come, his nerves were shot wondering if he would see someone else he knew to lecture him. Combing the line of people heading the opposite direction. He locked eyes with many of them all of which had blue eyes in fact other colors were rare and it was so hard to see in the first place since the pupil almost took up the whole exposed part of the eye allowing them to gather light better but be more sensitive to the amount of light at the same time. Everyone was also the same pale white color having no real sources of light has made there skin very sensitive to it. Hair color on the other hand could go anywhere from mossy green to blonde.

Face after face of acquaintances and strangers, good enough for me, he thought on his was out of the tunnel. Quickly he shot to the nearest vender to take cover. He really didn’t want Chaya to see him, Akilis display of anger had swayed him to accually go to school. Not to learn but just to figure out what she was so upset for. Slowly he peaked his head up seeing nothing he bolted to the next stand.

He peeked up again this time he saw her quickly he hid his head again. Unsure if she saw him he sat and waited. “Hey kid get away from my stand!” a heavy set shop keeper was now towering over Corrillion smacking the back of his cleaver into his hand.

Corrillion gulped “please give me just a minute sir.”

The shop keeper smirked for a moment, “ok, your minute is up!” he put his foot on Corrillions shoulder and pushed him.

Corrillion quickly dove to the next stall, Chaya almost caught him seeing something low to the ground out of the corner of her eye. She shrugged and kept scanning the market. He peaked his head out quickly to see if he could spot her. Unable to he froze up not knowing if she was just going to pop up from behind the corner. He took a couple deep breaths to calm his nerves.

“hey what are you doing?” Corrillion felt a tap on his shoulder. “Your going to get caught that way. Trust me on that one kid.”

Corrillion turned only to see a boy about his age standing next to him. “kid? I’m not much younger than you, if I am at all.” He looked at him puzzled.

The boy pulled back his matted brown hair revealing a really dirty face. His eyes were strange to Corrillion, he had never seen diamond shaped pupils, nor has he seen a green iris before. “You know I believe your right, my hair tends to limit my sight.” He chuckled. “My name is Arwin, and you look like you could use some help.”

Corrillion was still extremely confused, “help with what?”

“Well I thought you would start with my name but that works too.” Arwin laughed again.

“Oh yeah sorry, my name is Corrillion.” He was about to stand up when he remembered why he was crouched behind a market in the first place. He peeked around the corner and quickly ducked back again unable to see her still. “You know what Arwin, there is something you can help me with.”

“Great so what are you trying to lift from this guy?” Arwin looked at the venders table. “Seriously what are you trying to get? All he has is second hand crap.” He looked at Corrillion with a disgusted expression.

“What are you talking about? I” then he paused finally realizing what Arwin meant. “No, I’m not stealing I’m hiding!” he shook his head and flung his arms out shrugging.

“Oh, ok so who did you take from that caught you? I can’t say I’m surprised..”

Corrillion cut him off, “I didn’t steal, I don’t steal.” He took a deep breath. “I’m hiding from a girl and trying to get to class.”

“Wow” Arwin’s eyes opened really wide and pointed at Corrillion. “You really have all your priorities messed up don’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” Corrillion put his hand on his forehead and shook it in frustration.

“Well you have to be the only guy I have met that would skip the girl for class.” He patted Corrillions shoulder and chuckled.

“Ha, ha very funny, so can you help me or not.”

Arwin crouched beside Corrillion “Ok I’ll help you but only because I already offered my help already, normally I don’t help with good deeds ok.” He smiled and stood back up. “So what does she look like?” he looked around clueless for a while before he realized he was face to face with what appeared to be the shop keeper. “well this is awkward.”

The shop keeper grabbed Arwin by the caller and let out a low audible growl. “What have I told you about being near my shop! Ahhh!” the shop keeper threw him like a piece of paper.

Corrillion stood up quickly “hold on, hold on” he blocked the shop keeper from Arwin. “What did he do to you? Now I’m sure there is a way we can work this out.”

“yeah I could break both of your faces in!” he cocked his arm back and Corrillion shielded his face with his swollen masses for hands.

“Corrillion duck!” Arwin jumped up and threw sand in the shop keepers eyes, then quickly pushed Corrillion to safety.

“Ahh! You little b******s! I’ll get you for this!” the shop keeper flailed wildly.

Arwin grabbed Corrillions arm who was still in shock and began guiding him through the crowd to a safe place. Breathing heavily Arwin collapsed into a corner of the chambers wall. “Ha, ha, ha, well that.” He inhaled to catch his breath again. “that was close!” he smiled at Corrillion.

Corrillion leaned against the wall putting both his hands on it. “What, ..” he too had to inhale and catch his breath. “what was that about?”

“well lets just say me and him had a discrepancy over a missing item.” Arwin began to stand back up using the wall as a balance point.

“So you stole from him?” Corrillion looked at him with disgusted.

“Well yeah but it sounds so ugly when you put it that way.” Arwin still couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Well how would you put it?”

“I prefer to say I relieved him of the burden of having too much.” He laughed.

“You are quite delusional aren’t you?” Corrillion smirked a little.

“Well delusional or not we need to keep moving.” Arwin turned towards the outer chambers.

“We don’t have to go nowhere. I am going to class!” Corrillion ordered.

“OK, ok I’m not going to let your rudeness get to me.” Your only being like this because of what just happened. So you go to class and I’ll catch up with you later.”

Corrillion didn’t even respond and began walking towards class. “Oh and what happened to your hands?” Corrillion still didn’t answer.

That guy is crazy he thought, what does he think were friends now or something. He came to the hall that led to the classroom. He inched to the door dreading what Mrs. Mara would have to say to him for missing so much class and being late on top of it. Once at the door he attempted to use his hands on the latch bumbling around it was a challenge. He stopped for a minute, took one last breath, and worked his palms to open the door.

Author's Note

Does the dialogue flow? Do you like the characters? Are you interested?