Challenge Accepted [100 Scene Challenge Entries]

[Merlin's Heir]

My "entries" for ❛ delcie & captain's 1oo scene challenge.
I doubt I'll finish it, let alone finish first, but I think it'll be a fun opportunity to hone my skills with the pen - er, keyboard. Probably just going to make all the characters and so on as I go. And most, if not all, of the settings will be a medieval/fantasy sort of thing. So... here goes.
And please don't post here until it's finished. I'd like to keep everything nice and organized. (:
Finished scenes will have the number of words stated below the title and will be included in the poll. Unfinished scenes will have "x words" written under the title and will not be included in the poll. I will post unfinished (and even not-yet-started) scenes in this thread.



**Note: Changed prompts "Where are your pants?!" and "This ain't that kind of movie" to the first two prompts listed below.
"I got what I came for." // "If you are one of us, you will take it."
“Little by little, day by day, okay?” // “Get. Off. Right now.” // “... That’s it.”
// “So, uh, we should… probably run now.” // “You’re insane! I love it.”
“Hey, I offered to help you.” // “Who’s laughing now?” // “Would you please just be quiet?”
“Whoa, buttercup, whoa.” // "I can’t believe you talked me into this." // “Marry me?”
“Hey! I was gonna drink that!” // “You did all of this for me?” // “This isn’t over.”
“If you die, I’m gonna kill you.” // “Well, this is awkward.” // “It was you who was standing there.”
“That is the stupidest idea you’ve ever had. Of course I’m in.”// “Hey, I’m with you, okay? Always.”
“Uh, she’s gunna punch you, man.” // “BAHAHAHA- ahem.”// “I think I am concussed.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” // “Is it… dead?”
“I’ll just sit here and wait for you to be finished.” // “You wound me.” // “Trust you? PAH.”
“I don’t know who you are.” // “It’s okay. I promise. I’m here.” // “Oh, this is going to be good.”
“Well, I finally got your attention.” // “Like a hole in the head.”// “I'm... okay.”
“Well, are you coming?” // “Help me push it.”
“It’s almost midnight, no way!” // “Positively smashing.” // “Don’t let go, okay?”
“You can’t leave me like this.” // “Say that to my mother.” // “Sing me a lullaby, please?”
“This hurts worse than I thought it would.” // “Hah! - oh, wait, you’re serious?”
“As much as I’d enjoy that…” // -gasp- “The plague!” “No!” “YES.” // “I won’t let you do this.”
“I’ve still got it.” // “I can’t do it. I just can’t.” // "Don’t you ever do that again!"
“I thought I lost you.” // "Teach me?" // "Don’t you dare throw that snowball-"
"It could be worse." // "We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?"
"I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice." // "What are you so afraid of?”
“How did you get that scar?” // “You said WHAT?” // “Can you stop bringing that up?”
“Wait for me!” // “We’ll be dead by morning.” // “STOP TALKING.” // “I do.”
“I don’t want to.” // “What did I ever do to you?!” // “Follow me.”
-SIGH- “I can’t reach it.” // “What are you waiting for?” // “WAIT NO THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT-”
“I don’t need you.” // “You deserve better.” // “If you love something, let it go.”
“Why do I have to wear this?” // “Here goes nothing.” // “Where the heck were you?!”
“I don’t need help.” // “We’re gonna be parents…” // “I didn’t think you knew.”
“I thought those were poisonous.” // “Don’t make me go alone.” // “I’m sorry… I didn’t know.”
“I’d be lost without you.” // “Just leave me!” // “I dare you to…” // “Run!”
“How did you manage that?” // “Liar!” // “I don’t even want to be here.”
“Oh crap, we fell asleep!” // “Is this the life you wanted?” // “GIVE ME THAT.”
“Get back here!” // “Let go of me!” // “I’ll just follow you.” // “YOU DON’T SAY.”
“And yet, you love me anyway.” // “I just thought I’d have a swim.” // “Don’t cry.”

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[Merlin's Heir]

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802 words

_____Ana slipped through the door silently. Her hand hovered near the hilt of her sword and she looked around, surveying the room. Shelves upon shelves of various objects lined the cracked walls. Chests and trucks lay scattered on the floor, some shut and others wide open. All were filled with a strange array of items. Some even had gems and fine jewelry.

___But Ana passed them by. Her mission was not so petty as that. She was on a valiant quest, to rob an untrustworthy man of a very valuable and very powerful artifact. In and out, between and around the containers she silently went, unaware of the presence that had entered the room just moments after she had.

___Then she saw it. A large, wooden chest, so well disguised that most would mistake it for a bedside table. But Ana knew what she was looking for, and this was it. She quickly knelt down beside it and pulled out her lock-picking kit. It took a few minutes of fiddling with the lock before it finally opened with a click. Ana grinned and swung the lid open.

___There it was, her prize. She reached out a trembling hand to gently pluck it from its resting place. It was beautiful, even more so than she'd imagined. The brilliant red gem sparkled in the ray of sunlight that was beaming down from a window above. But Ana's mission was not so easily completed.

___"I think you should put that back," a masculine voice came from behind. Ana whirled around, eyes blazing, to see a young man sitting on a trunk about twenty feet away. She remembered the description she had been given of her enemy, and immediately realized that this was him. He had the same dark, wavy hair and bold, blue eyes that the illustration of him featured, and though his nose and chin were less sharp-looking, Ana could tell this was him.

___"I know who you are," she said confidently, straightening herself, "and I'm not afraid of you." The man stood up and Ana's hand drew nearer to her sword as he slowly sauntered towards her.

___"Oh, really?" he asked in his deep, guttural voice. "And, pray tell, who do you think I am?"

___"I know who you are," Ana snapped, her eyes narrowing. "You're Valder, the evil and powerful man who lives in this castle. But you're not so powerful any more, are you?" Ana lifted the gem on its thin chain, gloating over her victory. "I got what I came for. And I'm not returning it."

___"I wouldn't be so sure of that," the man laughed, crossing his arms. Ana was infuriated by his proud, condescending demeanor and that self-confident tone that lay over his words.

___"I'd rather die than give this back to you," she snapped, tucking the prize into a pouch on her belt. Her hand grasped the hilt of her sword, but she didn't draw it. Not yet, she thought. She had he instructions. But, oh, how she wanted to cleave his miserable head off.

___"Oh, I don't doubt that," the man continued, approaching her again. "But, if I were you, I wouldn't be so sure that I am who you think I am." A smirk crossed his face and a triumphant gleam shone in his eyes. Ana shifted her feet uncertainly.

___"I don't trust you," she stated loudly. "You're only trying to trick me." This had to be Valder. Who else could it be? Then realization hit her. Could it be...?

___"I can see why you think I'm him," the man said casually. "I did, after all, inherit most of his appearance. But father says I'm more like my mother in nearly everything else. I really don't know whether he's happy about that or not." The man, now known to be Valder's son, Agen, seemed so at ease in this situation. It put Ana off. There was an intruder, a thief, in his father's vault of powerful, magical items, and he was chatting easily about his family.

___"But, just because I'm not Valder himself doesn't mean I can just let you go," Agen drew his own sword. "We can do this the easy way, where you surrender quietly and get taken to the dungeons, or we can do this the hard way, and you can die." Ana laughed and stepped back, hand removed from her sword.

___"I don't think so," she smiled. "Like I said, I got what I came for. And now, I'm leaving." She reached her hand up to her throat, pinching a small, red bead from her necklace between two fingers. It began to glow a brilliant red, and the glow grew quickly, encompassing her entire form, until she disappeared with it just as Agen swung his sword.

[Merlin's Heir]

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1,859 words

___Rosalina Elladaughter and Marcus Jorgenson ambled carelessly along the beach, a buckskin horse's reins in Rosa's hands. Tiny waves lapped softly at their feet and little pebble shifted under them with each step. Marcus turned and started walking backwards as he spoke to Rosa.

___"So, how's life been treating you, Rosa?" he asked casually, crossing his arms.

___"Oh, you know," Rosa replied with a dismissive wave of her hand, " the usual. Mum's still sore at Pa for the whole Charles thing, and Pa still doesn't like Lena's supposed 'lover.' But, really, I think she and Frederick are just pulling a prank on Pa to get back for him selling Randolph that ill-mannered cow." She looked up at Marcus and smiled. "And what about the great adventurer? How is he liking his new home across the sea?"

___Marcus chuckled and turned to look in the direction he was walking. "It's wonderful, Rosa," he answered. "You wouldn't believe the beauty of this place. It's incredible. There are mountains that stand so tall they seem to touch the sky, rolling green hills crowned with the most brilliant fire when the sun sets, and the glorious crash of the ocean on the rocks always in my ears."

___"It does sound amazing," she nodded. "When do you plan on inviting all your friends over here to come visit you?" She nudged him teasingly with her shoulder.

___"Well, there are a few important things I have to do before then," Marcus replied, "but if all goes according to plan, I should be able to invite everyone over soon to celebrate something big."

___"And what might that be, Mister Mysterious?" Rosa prodded. "Your twenty-second birthday, perhaps? Oh, or maybe you've decided you don't want to study law after all and your real dream is to become the greatest squash farmer in all the land, so you've sold your house on the beach and bought a farm!"

___Marcus laughed again. "No, nothing like that," he shook his head. "As much as I love squash, I think justice is a more important pursuit."

___"So then what is it, this big celebration of yours?" Rosa continued, giving him a playful grin. "Are you finally going to admit that you secretly love my delicious apple pies and you're so happy that the secret is finally coming out that you want to have an entire party for it?"

___"Your apple pies are horrendous, Rosa," Marcus pointed out with a smile, "and you know it. Your calling is nowhere near the kitchen. Now, I'm not going to tell you just yet what it is I might be celebrating, so, please, let's talk about something else for a while."

___"Oh, alright," Rosa assented with a great deal of reluctance. "If you insist." Marcus gratefully thanked her, and then changed the topic of discussion. As they strolled along and Marcus described his new life in exquisite detail, Rosa began to drift off into her own thoughts. Marcus' voice faded into an dim whisper as she slipped from the physical world into the realm of thoughts.

___What was Marcus up to, she wondered. That look in his eyes when he'd first mentioned this mysterious celebration was one she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was something like the way he looked at Rosa's mother's fresh-baked spiced squash dish on Christmas Eve, yet there was something deeper and more meaningful in his gaze than a love of food. A thought popped into Rosa's mind. She considered it ― pondered over it ― mulled and mulled ― and finally wondered if it could possibly be true.

___Could Marcus be in love? He had been living over on the mainland for quite some time, certainly long enough to become acquainted enough with some girl to really be in love. Perhaps he was even planning to propose. Now that would certainly be cause for such a celebration, Rosa acknowledged. An engagement celebration was always a big affair. But Marcus, in love? And ready to propose? Rosa wasn't convinced that this was possible.

___Marcus had never, as far as Rosa could remember, been in love before. There had also been very few pretty girls his age in their little town before he moved away, so she conjectured that this may have had something to do with it. She recalled how, once, long ago in their childhood, a friend of hers had been dead certain that Marcus was quite infatuated with Rosa herself. She had dismissed it as impossible then, and was now still certain of its being untrue. While it was true that Marcus had spent a great deal of time with her and very little with any other girl, it was only due to the fact that they had been friends from infancy. Their mothers were close friends and visited one another quite often, and so their children got very well acquainted with each other and quickly became the beat of friends. The shyness that Marcus developed as he grew out of the toddler stage prevented him from making any new friends, and so he was stuck with Rosa and her siblings, and since all of Rosa's siblings were at least several years older than he was, Marcus preferred playing with Rosa than any of them. That was all there was to it, Rosa decided. There could be no other possibility.

___Rosa was brought out of her reverie by the realization that they had stopped walking, and Marcus was crouching by the water and fiddling with something small and round. Her auditory senses came back to her just in time to catch the last two words of whatever Marcus had been saying, which were "...marry me?"

___Rosa started at these words, and Marcus, unaware of both her agitation and her previous absentness, looked up at her with raised eyebrows and a pleading look in his big, brown eyes. Rosa swallowed and glanced around awkwardly.

___"I...er..." she stammered, unable to compose herself after such a shock. Marcus stood up and took her hands in his.

___"Come on, Rosa," he tried to persuade her. "We've been friends forever. You're the only person I can ask or tell anything and everything. You're the only one I could ever ask something like this." Rosa withdrew her hands and stepped away from him, still silent in her surprise and confusion. Marcus pulled something shiny out of his pocket, and when it finally registered in Rosa's mind that it was a ring, she let out an inaudible squeak.

___"See, Rosa," Marcus continued, "I've already got the ring and permission and everything. All I'm missing is your answer. Please, Rosa, you can't say no. I know this must come as a surprise, and I've never asked you anything this big before, but ― please, oh, please say yes!"

___"I-I... I really don't think I should," Rosa managed haltingly. Marcus' eyebrows furrowed in confusion and his expressive eyes showed a trace of hurt in them.

___"Why not?" he questioned her. "I'm not asking much of you. It's hardly any sacrifice on your part, Rosa. How can you refuse me this?"

___"Not asking much?" Rosa exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock and her voice tinted with anger. "Hardly any sacrifice? Have you any idea of the significance of this question, Marcus? Have you any idea what you're asking me to do? I'll tell you how I can refuse: very easily! Now tell me how you could ever ask me something like this, because I can't fathom it! We were best friends, Marcus. Why did you have to go and ruin everything?"

___"I'm ruining everything?" Marcus retorted angrily. "You're the one who's trying to crush my dreams! I can't believe how selfish you're being. This is so unlike you, Rosa. I thought that, of all my friends, you'd be the one who'd understand best, and want me to be happy. But now here you are sabotaging my life and refusing to give me something that will do you no harm to give!"

___"Do me no harm?" Rosa shouted. "Are the people of the mainland so twisted that they've begun to corrupt your mind, too, with their horrible ideas? If I agreed to this I'd be throwing away everything I've ever done to pursue the life I want! I'm shocked that you'd be so insensitive as to consider for even a moment that this isn't what I want, no matter how much you want it."

___"Oh, so that's it, then, is it?" Marcus said in a low, resentful tone, a look of realization growing on his reddened face. "That's what you've always been after. Not the independent, carefree life you always claimed to want. No, that was just a trick, wasn't it? A ploy to get what you really wanted. You think I'm being selfish? Take a good long look in the mirror, Rosa. You're the one whose being selfish. And what's more, your methods of trying to get what you want are repulsive as well as unsuccessful. How could you ever think that would work on me? You know I despise deceit, so why did you think playing such a stupid little game would ever make me fall in love with you?"

___"What on earth are you talking about?" Rosa demanded. "You know I'd rather die than tell a lie. I do want the life I've always said I wanted. You're the selfish one, asking me to marry you even though you know that's not what I want!"

___"What in the world are you talking about?" Marcus shot back. "I never asked you any such question! All I asked for was for you to give me some advice on how to propose to Felicia!"

___They both fell silent. Rosa was beginning to understand the horrible mistake she'd made. Those words she'd heard weren't a plea for her to marry him, but to help him marry someone else. Great waves of relief, shame, and foolishness swept over her as she realized this. She sheepishly explained her blunder to Marcus, whose anger quickly subsided.

___"So... let me see if I've got this right," Marcus said after he'd listened to her explanation. "You were lost in your thoughts, and came out just in time to hear only the end of my question, which led you to believe that I was proposing to you."

___"Exactly," Rosa confirmed.

___"And everything I said after that..." Marcus trailed off and then let out a loud burst of laughter. "I can see how you thought that. Without knowing what my question really was, it did rather sound like I was asking you to marry me."

___"It really did," Rosa nodded, joining in on the laughter. "And when I said no and claimed that you were being selfish and hadn't thought about what I wanted, you thought I was refusing to help you propose to this girl because I was secretly in love with you. Oh goodness, I've never heard of such a ridiculous misunderstanding!"

___"If nothing else, it'll make a great story," Marcus grinned.

___"No doubt about it," Rosa agreed. "We'll still be laughing about it when we're old and gray. Now, tell me about this Felicia of yours."

[Merlin's Heir]

_____



1070 words

_____"You said what?"

_____Ah. I see. Is it too confusing to begin in media res? Yes, I imagine it would be. Well, in that case, I suppose I have enough time to backtrack a little. Just a little. Oh, an introduction as well? If I must. For the sake of your understanding my little tidbit of a story here.

_____I'm Angela Karethine Price. Wondering about my middle name? It's Katherine, but with the "r" and the "th" swapped. My parents liked the name Katherine, but thought it was too common, so they switched it up a bit to make it more unique. I'm twenty-two years old, and was twenty-one at the time that this story takes place. I have, as my mother likes to describe it, a "headful of blond poof." My hair is bright blond, poofy, and crazy wavy. My eyes are ― nope! not blue! ― turquoise, and my eyelashes are really long, but they're blond, so I love my mascara. And lipstick. My lips are scary pale, and I love vivid red. I don't have lipstick of any other color.

_____I suppose I should introduce you to my world as well. See, I live in a totally different world than yours. Sort of. It's really more like a mix of several different time periods from your present and your history. See, we've got plumbing and heating and air conditioning and that sort of thing. And our language is pretty modern-sounding, too. But we don't have your fancy technologies, your computers or cars or telephones. For transportation, we use bicycles or carriages. Our clothing is something of a mix as well. Women can wear pants and all that, and our clothing style isn't super archaic, but not exactly like your "modern American teen" as you call it. It's more like what your professional or rich men and women would wear, I believe. As for our culture, our way of living, it's a bit "old-fashioned" as well. It's ― well, you'll see what it is.

_____Anyway, on to my story. I was visiting my friend in Sparrou ("spar-oo"), basically our version of your England but without the to-die-for accents and a few other things, when the story began. By began, I don't mean the very beginning of it. I mean that first paragraph, way up there, was spoken when I was visiting that friend of mine, who asked that question. The story really starts before that, but I think it's as good a place as any to begin telling the story, since all the important parts of it are summed up in the conversation I was having with that friend. So I'm going to start it there. But be warned; I'll likely have to interrupt it at various times to explain various things or people or events or whatnot.

_____Back to the story. I was visiting my friend, Leah Eliza Annabelle Harmon (her parents also like to be original ― see, her initials spell "LEAH"), and telling her about what had just happened earlier that morning. She was, at the time of this story, one year older than I was, which means she was twenty-two. Leah has caramel blond hair, dark blue eyes, and a funny-looking smile. I've heard it described as "quirky" on several occasions. Like me, she always wears mascara and lipstick, though her collection of lipstick is more varied in color. On this particular day, she was wearing magenta lipstick that matched her sparkly eye shadow.

_____"I hear you met Robert Dawson when he was visiting Gerdt?" Leah asked. Gerdt is essentially our version of your America, where I lived. Robert Finnegan Dawson was Leah's neighbor, who was, at this time, twenty-five years of age. He's tall, has curly black hair, and dusty brown eyes.

_____"Yes, I have," I replied.

_____"What did you think of him?" Leah inquired. She herself didn't have a super high opinion of him; she claimed he was always too serious and reserved, though she did admit he was quite handsome.

_____"He wasn't what I'd expected," I told her, "after all your criticisms of him. He was actually a pretty nice, friendly guy, I thought."

_____"Really?" Leah asked, raising her eyebrows. "I never thought I'd hear him described as 'friendly.' He never came across that way to me, anyhow."

_____"Well, I got along with him quite well," I stated.

_____"Perhaps you met him on an especially good day," suggested Leah.

_____"I would have thought so, too," I said, "if he was any less friendly all the others times I met him."

_____"You ran into him more than once?" Leah questioned, eyebrows once again raised high.

_____"I did," I informed her. "In fact, I happened to run into him almost every day throughout his visit."

_____"Did you really?" Leah asked. "And he never showed any less friendliness than on the first meeting?"

_____"No, not at all," I confirmed. "He actually grew more friendly each time we met. Maybe we just sort of 'clicked,' you know. Like when you and I met, and we somehow just knew that we were going to be best friends forever. Something like that."

_____"So, what, he's your new 'bestie?'" Leah laughed.

_____"No, no, nothing like that," I chuckled. "But maybe he just found me easier to get along with than the people you've seen him interact with."

_____"Well, it's too bad he doesn't move over there," Leah said, preparing to move on to the next topic of discussion, "where he could be around people he 'clicks' with."

_____"I think he might be, actually," I put in, not ready to close the subject quite yet. "Or, perhaps I will be moving over here."

_____"What on earth are you talking about?" Leah demanded confusedly. Now I had her attention.

_____"Well, as you know," I began, "Rob―"

_____"You're calling him 'Rob' now?" Leah asked suspiciously.

_____"Please don't interrupt," I bypassed her question. "Anyway, Rob was over in Gerdt for about three months. And, as I saw him nearly every day, we got to know each other quite, quite well. Anyway, on the last day before he was going to leave to come back here, he came into the coffee shop where I go every Tuesday morning, and he proposed to me."

_____"He did what?" Leah exclaimed, jumping up in shock.

_____"He proposed to me," I repeated. "And I said yes."

_____"You said what?" Leah screeched, her eyes and mouth open as wide as dinner plates.

[Merlin's Heir]

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x words

___Whenever she was in the room, his eyes were always on her. Wherever she moved, whatever she did, his gaze followed, with one exception: whenever he thought she would notice. But as soon as she was looking at something other than him, his eyes returned to their usual focus.

___It is hard to say exactly why she in particular was his favorite. She was not unusually beautiful, nor even unusually pretty, though she could neither be called plain. Her manner and personality were of no uncommon sort, and so she did not stand out in that area, either. Great fortune or importance she certainly did not possess, though neither was she poor or entirely inconsequential. She was not the exact opposite of him, nor an exact copy. They were different enough, and similar enough, for it to be certain that any differences or similarities between them were not the cause of his admiration for her.

___Perhaps, then, as the cause could not have been any of these things, his love must be attributed to fate, or coincidence, or some other such thing. But, regardless of why he loved her, he did love her, and had been in love with her for a great deal of time. He never made any attempt to inform her of his partiality; nor to make her believe the opposite, that he disliked her. He only ever thought of her, and never spoke aloud, even in the confidence of his solitude. Quite possibly he wished that his love remain unknown to all, until he could find some opportunity and some courage to make it known to the very lady in question.

___Unbeknownst to him, the time when he would reveal it was rapidly approaching, for she had been well aware of his intent gaze upon her whenever she looked away from him, and had begun to suspect the reason for it. All she lacked was his confirmation of her belief, and that she was soon to acquire.

___Neither of them could have foreseen the coming of such a fateful meeting. She was walking home across a meadow, and he was walking to his brother's house across the same meadow, and so they most unexpectedly met in the middle of that meadow. He was delighted, as he always was when she was around. She thought it a perfect opportunity to confront him with her theory, but found that it was much more difficult to summon the courage to do so with him standing right before her. And so their pleasant greetings and inquiries about one another's well-being passed without any unusual words or glances.

___But as he was about to take his leave, and was, in fact, beginning to walk away, she quickly forced the words from her mind to her mouth and abruptly announced, "I have seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice." His reaction to this was to halt mid-step and turn around to stare blankly at her.

___"You cannot deny that your eyes are often following me when we are in the same room," she repeated her accusation. "I have only one guess as to the reason for this; that which is usually the cause of this sort of action. You would not look at me so often if you disliked me, nor if you were merely bored of your company, so I can only assume that―"

___"If you would please be so kind as to allow me the explanation of my actions," he interrupted hastily, "I will explain them immediately." After a nod on her part, he collected his thoughts as quickly as possible and prepared himself to admit a truth that he had long concealed.

[Merlin's Heir]

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[Merlin's Heir]

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[Merlin's Heir]

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[Merlin's Heir]

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806 words

___Tommy looked down the hill. Its steep slope was blanketed with a thick, heavy snowdrift that stretched out all the way to the edge of the trees. The snow looked light and fluffy, but Tommy knew that this appearance was a deceit. Beneath the layered snowflakes was a sheet of hard, slick ice. One misstep on that dangerous surface would lead to a grand disaster.

___"C'mon, Tommy!" a squeaking voice piped up behind the young boy. "Pwease? Pwease, pwease, pwease?"

___Tommy turned to look at his younger brother. Johnny was five, had long eyelashes framing dark, wide eyes, and was possessed of an unruly but endearing mop of curly golden locks. He was the baby of the family, and thus got away with a lot more than he should've, but who could resist those sweet brown eyes?

___Tommy fidgeted. "I don't think you should, Johnny," he told his brother. "Mom wouldn't like it."

___"But I wanna swed!" Johnny argued, crossing his arms in an attempt to look mature. With his baby fat, multiple layers of clothing, and puffy snow jacket, the effect was more comical than anything else.

___For a moment, Tommy looked uncertain. It was difficult to resist the cute voice and determined little face. But as he glanced over his shoulder at the hill again, his right mind was returned to him. "No, no," he shook his head. "It's not safe."

___"It's onwy snow!" Johnny contended. "What's a wittwe snow gonna do? Make me cowd? I'm not scared. I'm a big boy."

___"I know that, Johnny," Tommy nodded, "but it's too dangerous, even for big boys like you and me."

___"You're just a sissy!" Johnny yelled. "You're a sissy! You're too scared of a snowy hiw! Tommy is a wittwe baby sissy!"

___"No, I'm not!" Tommy frowned. "I'm just more intellgent because I'm older." He pointed his chin upwards and crossed his arms, the picture of childish superiority.

___Johnny just stuck his tongue out and made a face. "Not intewgent 'nuff to say I can swed down a nice hiw," he sneered.

___Tommy sighed and suppressed his growing frustration. Sometimes it was surprisingly difficult to be the big brother. "There's ice underneath the snow," he explained in a tone of strained patience. "If you hit the ice instead of the snow, you'll end up in the trees. If you got hurt, I'd be grounded until forever."

___"I'll tew Mom it was my idea," Johnny bartered. "She tan't ground you if it isn't your fauwt."

___"She'd find a way," Tommy muttered under his breath. A little louder, he said, "No, Johnny, I'm not going to let you go down this hill. Why don't we find a safer one for you to sled down?"

___"No!" Johnny screeched and stomped. "I want to swed down this hiw! I wike this one! The other ones aren't any fun! They're not big enough!"

___"But this one's too dangerous," Tommy pointed out, holding his ground resolutely. "Come on. If you sled down a different hill, I'll give you extras marshmallows in your hot chocolate."

___"But I don't want a different hiw!" Johnny screamed, his little voice soaring to a higher pitch with every word.

___Tommy groaned in exasperation. "I'm sure there are other big hills that aren't icy," he tried to convince his brother. "There are probably hills even bigger than this one."

___These words seemed to have a positive effect on Johnny. His eyes lit up, and he tilted his big head to one side. "Reawwy?" he asked incredulously. "Bigger than this hiw? And I can swed down them? For reawwy?"

___"Yeah," Tommy nodded. "For really." He turned and started to walk away. "Come on, I'll show you. We'll sled down some big hills and then go inside for hot chocolate."

___"Yeah!" Johnny crowed triumphantly. "But first I gotta do somethin'."

___"What?" Tommy inquired, turning around. His heart bashed itself against his ribs as he saw Johnny placing his little sled on the snow. He took a frantic leap toward the boy, but Johnny had already jumped onto the sled and was sliding down the hill.

___Johnny turned his head and stuck his tongue out at Tommy as he slid downwards. "See?" he cried. "You aren't intewgent! You're just a wittwe sissy! But I'm a big boy!" He shot one fist into the air and almost overturned the sled.

___"Get back here!" Tommy yelled, anger in his voice but fear in his eyes. He jumped to his feet and chased after the swerving blue sled, waving and shouting at the top of his lungs as it sped toward the trees. "You little twerp! If you die, I'm gonna kill you!"