(December '16) Prompt #3- "This is my December"

[Kris]

December's 3rd prompt is "This is my December"



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[Cosmicross]

"This is my December!"

The calendar was nearly in shambles as the two horrifyingly enormous cads tugged and pushed each other over its contents. The mess and effort both were willing to inflict on each other was nothing short of inspiring.

Oh, what's a cad, you ask? Who are these bloated, slug-skinned, jaw-japed creatures? Well, simply put... a cad, short for "calendar demon", are the monsters in charge of the dates we remember on the calendar.

Before they were here, all the days of the year just came and went in which ever way they pleased! Thursdays and Saturdays would blindly follow Friday, yet Friday thought to follow both Thursday and Saturday leaving all three in confused circles. Sunday just did its own thing, often hanging in the back checking its Facebook while Wednesday tried in vain to convince Tuesday to play a game of some sort. Monday... well, nobody talks about Monday for various reasons we'll leave you, the reader, to deduce.

So it was not until the cads came along with their "weeks" and "months" that everything began to make sense. Their hierarchy workforce gave the ideal structure for time to flow in a more agreeable manner. The burden of the Months fell on the shoulders of the smartest of cads with their ability to snap all the days and weeks into a formidable order. They give their orders to the lesser, yet reliable, cads in charge of the weeks while they themselves annoyingly micromanage the cads in charge of the days. However, the most dim-witted cads, the ones of whom are exceptionally dull and thick headed, are the ones in charge of random dates like, your mother's birthday, the day that rent is due, and various other Mondays we wish not to speak of. Despite a few hiccups here and there, cads were a reliable way to manage the calendar without erupting into complete chaos, well... that is until now.

"I'M in charge of December!" Shouted, er... lets call him Harold. "Not you! Not ever!" Harold cried.

Harold was not in charge of December, but then again neither was his frothing counter part who will immediately be named 'Norman'.

"Bah!" Retorted Norman, "Bah! I say to you!"

"Don't you 'Bah' me!"

"BAH!"

"BAAAAAAAH!" Both cads then begun to verbally throw themselves at each other, shouting some configuration of 'bah' mixed with other exclamatory sounds including such favourites as "Oof", "Buh" and the ever popular "Guh".

You see, both Harold and Norman were previously in charge of the expiration dates of jam. Neither of them were mentally equipped to take on such a task as managing an entire month. Yet here they are, both grasping at an opportunity as no one else has shown to take charge of the important month. Normally the duties of the year fell on the most important and smartest cad of them all; The one aptly named "The Yearly Cad". Every new year gave new responsibilities, all sorted and decided by the Yearly Cad. Yet, for some strange reason the responsibility of "December" was not yet assigned leaving both Harold and Norman jumping at the chance for a pay raise and possible health insurance.

Norman took out a piece of paper, "It says RIGHT HERE that I'm in charge of December!"

The paper was blank.

Harold however couldn't read, and even still was unable to decipher the non-existing info, "That's a forgery!"

Norman gasped at the accusation, and in his defense a forgery would require some sort of fabrication in which a blank paper did not qualify.

"If it's a forgery then why does it have the Yearly Cad's grand official signature on it? Hmmm?"

The page was still blank, and in fact, was beginning to disassemble itself out of sheer frustration by being used so terribly in an argument.

"That's where it's a forgery. I'm an expert in such things you know." Harold claimed, which was also untrue.

"Oh yeah? Says who?" Norman skillfully responded.

Harold froze. The sheer pressure of being asked the simplest follow up question had stopped him dead in his tracks. There was a lot of 'hmmmmms' and a few 'errrrrs' until finally he replied "Says me!"

"Bah!" Norman spat.

"BAAAAH!"

"GUUUUUUH!!!!"

This argument continued back and forth like this for quite some time until their voices were overpowered by the sound. That sound. Yes, it was the sound of the Yearly Cad's Horn of Deciding Things.

"It's him!" gasped Harold

Norman nodded "It is, it is!"

The bellowing horn halted its squeal and an emerging light burst forth. Such majesty was rarely seen among the cads, so whenever it occurred they were sure it was for a very important reason. The brilliant light revealed a lone figure, a singular entity, a sole soul, etc, etc... As the bursting light slowly died down the figure was revealed to be...

Tim, the cad in charge of the third week of June.

"Hey!" Harold shouted, "You're not the Yearly Cad!"

"What?" Tim replied, eyes slightly shot from the blinding light, "Who's there? Why are you here? I have a weapon and I'm not afraid to use it!" Tim revealed an office stapler, brandishing it as a sword.

"Where's the Yearly Cad?" shouted Norman.

"Yeah!" Harold concurred, "Where's the Yearly Cad? He's got to decide who's running December n' junk!"

Tim blinked, still slightly blinded, "Who's in charge of... You guys are still here!?"

There was a silence. Tim continued, "We cleared out of here a year ago! We cads got fed up with Time so we've decided to quit the calendar business and go into a more lucrative business. Didn't you get the memo?"

Both Harold and Norman were so unqualified to handle dates that they missed the date posted on the all important staff-meeting Memo last year.

"We're... we're not cads anymore?" Norman asked, quite perplexed.

"We're still cads! Just not Calendar Demons... now we're Chartered Accountant Demons! An idea made by the Yearly Cad himself although these days he prefers to be called Greg." Tim unhooked the enormous spotlight responsible for the blinding light earlier. "I'm just here to pick up some of the final office supplies... were... were you guys in charge of the dates this whole year?"

Norman nodded while Harold shook his head and shrugged.

"Man..." Tim said in disbelief, "No wonder 2016 was so strange."

[m139]

This is my December

She stood behind the tree, hands clenched, eyes closed. Her breathing was slow, calculated. One, two, three, she mentally counted, one, two, three.

On the other side of the tree was the gate. But it was not that that she was particuarly worried about, nor was it the many faces of the people who lived within it. No, it was the opinion of one person within it who she cared about- and that was the opinion of her father.

She had not seen him for years now, not since she left. He had been against it, she remembered. It had been the one time he had really seemed to actually care about her more than her brother, more than anything. Her mother, too, had cried, but that was to be expected. Her older brother, of course, had said it was impossible. And her father had believed him. After all, if Ronald had been unsuccessful, then of course Elisia would be unsuccessful.

She remembered the day he had come back, bloody and beaten. The hero of the village, unable to defeat the monster. And he, one of a party of five, the only to return. They would have to just live with the monster, the leader had said. They would just have to live with its raids in the far fields, and never go to far to the north. After all, it only really attacked every five years or so.

Elisia had seen her opportunity then. This could be her opportunity to escape her brother's shadow! If she succeeded... It would make up for all the times when he had outdid her, maybe by a count of one, maybe my a count of two. And it would prove that those times when she had won- and she had been winning a substantial share of the contests back then- that they had not just been flukes. But she could not do it alone...

Sidera- Sidera would be easy to convince. But Elisia could not tell her at that moment, no- first off, she was not that good yet. Her potential still needed to become an actuality. But she was also a yapper. Tell her, and the whole village would know within days. Elisia smiled to herself with this reminiscence. How much she had changed since then. How much they had all changed!

Fenor, too. Always slow, always cautious. He still was that way. She remembered the months- well more like a year- that it had taken to convince him. But finally, he had decided to come. He was a great addition to their team, and in more ways than expected. Not only was he a great fighter, but he was also a great tactician.

Then there was Amy, her best friend. Not necessarily the best at those warring arts, but very perceptive. It was not two days after Elisia first begin her secretive plans when Amy asked what was going on. And Amy was persistent. Furthermore, once she badgered out of Elisia what the plan was, there was no leaving Amy out of it. And is this, Elisia was kind of glad. After all, this emotional support was just as important as physical back up.

Dan, too, joined without being invited. Elisia had considered asking him, but had decided against it because she was certain he would just decline. After all, he was practically her brother's second- the only reason he had not gone on the previous expedition was a major illness at the time- and anything her brother said he was likely to listen to. But Sidera had had no qualms, and no fears at that time, and had asked for her. And he had said yes. Furthermore, he may have been the reason for the last addition on the team...

Her brother- yes, her brother had come, too. She was surprised he had come, after all the protests he tried to get her not to come. "It's impossible! Don't" he had said. But when she snuck out of her house on that morning, now years ago, he had followed, unobserved. When he revealed himself, one day later, she had at first been angry. And to that, he had said, "Look, I know you want to do this by yourself. But if you can't even recognize that someone has been following you for two days, how do you ever expect to have a chance at defeating the monster? I know you won't turn around, so I am going to help you stay alive the best you can. And you know you will not convince me to change my mind- I'm every bit as stubborn as you." And so, he had come. And, he actually helped and did not just annoy her the entire way.

They had all helped. Now, with it all over, she could not imagine taking out the monster without the others by her side. She had been slightly afraid then, as she assumed they all had been. But, putting aside their fears, there had been that collective, contagious bit of courage which had spured them on in that battle. Now almost home, they should feel victorious.

But this is where Elisia faced her greatest struggle yet. She breathed in and out slowly, trying to control her rapidly beating heart. This is my December, she thought to herself, This is my December, when I show just how much I-we have become. I have waited for this my entire life-

The voice of doubt came into her mind. But what if your father thinks it is just all Ronald's doing. He never thought anything of you, and still won't think anything now-

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and her eyes opened. Her vision slowly focused, and she looked at the face in front of her. Ronald.

"Come on," Ronald said, "You defeated the monster, what more is there to fear? We are almost home."

"Father..." the word slipped out of her mouth, without her willing it. Indeed, if time could be taken back, this second would have never existed.

Her brother smiled, "...will be so proud of you." He finished her sentence, then continued, "After all, you defeated the undefeatable monster and reopened all the northern trade routes."

"But I could not have done it without you."

"No," her Brother countered, "We would not have done it without you."

He pulled her out from behind the tree and gestured towards the city. "Come on Elisia," he said, "Let the city welcome its new hero."

[ArtisticVicu]

The glass clattered against the counter sharply but Marcus didn’t overly care much. He rubbed at his face as Derek settled beside him at the kitchen island.

“So this is where you ran off to. Though you were avoiding the party.”

Marcus chuckled. “No, not avoiding the party. Avoiding the small talk that comes with said party.”

Silence settled over the pair of them and, for once, neither strove to break it.

“This has been one hell of a month,” Derek finally uttered, rolling his own glass against the counter.

Marcus snorted. “No kidding. First your accident–”

“Then the natural disasters–”

“Followed by the sudden war–”

“On top of the invasion–”

Marcus gave a bitter laugh. “Who would have figured that all we had known would blow up in our face in less than 30 days?”

Derek didn’t join in his dry humor. Marcus downed his drink.

“Think we’ll make it out of this alive?” Derek asked softly.

“How can we not?” Marcus muttered darkly. “We have people relying on us. We cannot let them down.”

Derek gave him a pleading look. “But how are we supposed to cope? All of this in less than 30 days and they’re requiring us to give up what we know for something out of a science-fiction novel? Marcus, I don’t know if I can handle that.”

Marcus placed a heavy hand on Derek’s shoulder, his gaze hard. “Derek, do you know what Zoe is doing?” Derek shook his head. “She’s taking this in stride. She’s working hard to make sure that her friends and family won’t be left behind. She’s trying her darndest to make it through to become a liaison between us and them because she believes she can protect all of us.”

“Zoe?” Derek asked in disbelief. “Our kid sister?”

“Our kid sister who is only two years younger than you,” Marcus reminded him. “And yes, Zoe. She’s doing everything she can to help us all and what are her two older brothers doing? Getting wasted at a New Year’s party.”

“She isn’t here?”

Marcus sighed. “I haven’t seen her but that doesn’t mean anything. The entire family is here for whatever reason, meaning there’s almost 100 people in this godforsaken house with all the cousins and kids and grandkids and grandparents.” Marcus groaned. “When did we all get so old?”

“About two years ago after you turned 27,” Derek chuckled. Derek raised his glass as if to drink but he lowered it, asking, “Is your girlfriend here?”

“We broke up about a week ago.”

Derek gave him a blank look. “Seriously?”

Marcus shrugged. “Our relationship was already strained. I’m not surprised it finally snapped after all that’s happened.”

Derek shook his head. “Man. And I thought you two were going to get hitched.”

Marcus chuckled. “Dude, we had only been dating for four months.”

Derek gave him a wide eyed look. “What, seriously? I thought it had been four years!”

Marcus shook his head. “That was Samantha.”

“I liked her.”

Marcus sighed heavily as he refilled his glass, muttering, “So did I.” He threw back the drink before refilling his glass. Derek took the bottle from him to refill his own glass. “I had a ring and everything but she was suddenly gone with only a note that said, ‘I’m sorry’ and every item she had ever owned gone from my house.”

Derek threw back his own refilled glass. “That’s harsh.”

“Very.”

Silence settled as chatter and laughter spilled in from the other room, the sound of children squealing and playing adding an upbeat undertone. Derek looked to his older brother, a sad smile on his face. “Can you believe we’re the oldest out of our cousins to not have kids yet? Paul is expecting his first kid and he just graduated from high school back in May.”

“When did he get hitched?” Marcus asked in disbelief.

“Some time in November. High school sweetheart or something sappy like that.” A goofy grin settled over Derek’s face. “She’s sweet but not much in the attic. Fits him perfectly.”

Marcus shook his head. “Sad when our kid cousins are having kids before us.”

“No kidding.”

The two men turned, looking at the figure standing in the doorway. The pair stood up but the young woman shook her head, smiling. “Sit back down, you two. I just came to see if you drank all the booze yet.”

“Not yet,” Derek assured as Marcus reached out and pulled her close. Her arms wrapped around his neck briefly before she reached over and dragged Derek into the embrace. There was the sound of a familiar song playing in the other room.

“Already almost midnight?” Marcus asked, frowning as he glanced at the nearest clock.

She nodded. “About five minutes out.” Her grip on the two men tightened.

Derek had settled completely against her side, his head happily resting against hers even though his expression was just as sad as hers was. Marcus, not being the overly affectionate type, merely kept his arm around her, his other hand finding the back of Derek’s head and rubbing at the short hair there, a gesture of comfort for both of them.

“We’re going to be alright, right Zoe?” Derek asked in a soft voice.

Zoe seemed to curl in on herself even though she didn’t physically move. “I don’t know.” Marcus’s hand stilled on Derek’s neck. “I hope so but I just don’t know for sure. The majority of the nations are all up in arms even though there has been nothing but peace between us and the invaders.” She pulled back enough to look at the analog clock in the kitchen. “That’s why, come the new year, those that have agreed to go along peacefully will be pulled away from the areas of war. I’ve made arrangements for all of us to be picked up at midnight.”

Marcus tightened his arm around her as he turned his gaze to the clock as well, watching the seconds in their last minute tick away.

“We’ll make it through this,” he assured his two younger siblings even though he couldn’t remove his gaze from the clock.

Derek chuckled, bringing his head up even though he was clearly avoiding looking at the clock. “Of course we are! I told you, after all, that this was my December and, since I wasn’t able to make it my December, I’m going to make this new year all mine and it’s going to be great.”

There was cheering from the other room as the clock struck midnight. Marcus gave Derek a smirk, stating, “You made that promise at the top of the month. You better hold true to this one.”

A light filled the room as Derek nodded and Zoe spoke up, “We’ll all hold true to it.”

The light made the area appear white before suddenly disappearing. What had once been a full house was now empty and quiet. Not a single soul was left behind.