Mike v2.0 (A Firesetter Short Story) Read Free Page B

night, as
in this eternal darkness, I really couldn’t tell, my door opened
and something was rolled into the room.
    “Ach, there you are little one. Lucky you.
You’re to room with the Crown Prince.”
    This statement was followed by some more
noises as machines were attached to my new companion and blankets
were adjusted on his bed.
    “Goodnight then, boys,” the nurse called, her
footsteps once again taking her to the hall, followed by the door
closing softly in her wake.
    This was odd, I thought, my ire rising like
the hair on the back of my neck. I had a roommate, something I had
never had before, and didn’t necessarily want. After all, I was the
Crown Prince, born and raised to believe I was far too precious and
too important to share my air with any old common child.
    On the other hand, all this cuddling and
coddling had left me with exactly zero friends. In fact, I had no
clue what a friend was or how one went about dealing with
one.
    At any rate, I figured, being that I was stuck
in this bed, it wouldn’t hurt to attempt to converse with my new
companion.
    “Hello,” I said, and instinctively held out my
hand for the requisite kiss of respect and obeisance. “How do you
do?”
    No response came, save a soft intake of
breath, giving me pause to consider how my hearing had sharpened
even while my eyes had failed. I could appreciate that, even if I
didn’t like it. However, I was less appreciative of my sense of
smell and the faint scent of fire which emanated off the
boy.
    Drawing my hand back, especially as no
introduction was forthcoming, I feared the lad might have suffered
tragic burns. I imagined him encased in gauze, a veritable mummy
covered in weeping and oozing wounds. Not wanting to blindly touch
or disturb this poor and even more unfortunate child, I decided a
friendship was not in store.
    Turning my back to him, I tried to sleep, yet
an odd sensation coursed down my spine. I grew cold despite the
warmth of the room. My head, already fuzzy with both my injury and
the strong pharmaceuticals pumping through my veins, felt like a
blanket had been thrown over me.
    I coughed and gasped for a breath, trying to
shake this suffocating feeling away, and a moment later, it
cleared, leaving me with a sensation I could only describe as joy.
For a moment, I felt inexorably happy. I felt as if just this
second, I had been reborn. I still couldn’t see, and my head still
ached, but somehow, I was renewed.
    Was it my roommate that caused these feelings
in me? I didn’t know for certain, but inexplicably I attributed
them to him.
    “Tell me your name,” I cried jubilantly,
turning back and extending my hands, determined to declare him a
knight, or at the very least, a squire in my future
realm.
    Before he could speak, the door opened again
and Steve’s shuffling footsteps hurried through.
    “Ready to go, buddy?” my grandfather called.
“Your chariot is parked in the back lot. It only took me the last
seven hours to service the transmission and plug the leak in the
hydraulic cable. We’ll make it to Planet Rozari in no time flat.
I’ve still got it, Mikey-boy. This old man can still fly. Ach!
Kari-fa!”
    “Ach!” I shrieked, echoing Steve’s shout,
minus the obscenity, fearing I knew not what in my darkened
world.
    “What in the hell are you doing here? Did
someone unlock the door to your prison cell? Get out! Kari-fa!
You’re the last one I want to see.”
    “Steve?” I gasped, and then, sighed as I
realized my grandfather was having one of his fits. He had gone off
his rocker again, his ancient mind mistaking now for long ago. In
addition, did I smell a bit of alcohol on his breath? Was he
smoking something other than his usual tobacco?
    “Are you okay, Mikey? He didn’t hurt you, did
he?”
    “Who?”
    “Him, of course,” Steve snapped, his breath
coming hard. Probably, he was waggling a finger at my roommate, the
fire-burned kid.
    “Now Steve,” I said, sounding amazingly like
my