Outside the farmhouse, it's a warm, sunny morning, just edging on the heavier heat of the afternoon as the sun nears its peak. Leonardo and Raphael lounge on the couch while Michelangelo keeps his eyes trained on the TV set. Diaval sits in the armchair nearest to the window, focused intensely on the clump of black yarn in his lap. There's the soft ticking of knitting needles in the air and every now and then there's a gentle gasp as Diaval stabs his fingers with the points of the needles.
"April, Casey, and Donnie should be back soon, don't you think?" Destiny asks as she walks into the living room, eyes trained on her t-phone. She chews her bottom lip, twisting the black strands of her hair around her finger.
"Eh, probably," Raphael says with a shrug. "Don't worry about it. They'll be back eventually."
Destiny exhales, shutting off her t-phone and slipping it into her pocket. "I can't help it. What with the stuff that keeps happening to us, I'd be more surprised if they didn't get into any trouble."
"Des, you're stressing yourself out," Leonardo says, glancing over his shoulder. "It's a run to the grocery store. How bad can it get?"
"Speaking of which, do you think they bought bandaids?" Raphael asks. He lifts away from the back of the couch with a grunt. "Someone keeps using ours up."
He shoots a pointed glare at Diaval just as the boy stabs his finger yet again. Diaval puts the injured appendage into his mouth, blinking a few times with a questioning look on his face to the others around him. Destiny notices for the first time that most of his fingers have bandaids on them already.
"How'd you manage to hurt yourself like that with knitting needles?" Destiny inquires, lashing her tail as she closes some distance between them. She frowns. "I'm pretty sure they have rounded ends."
Diaval shrugs, staring at his injured finger as a bit of blood wells to the surface. "Dunno..." he mumbles. He sets the lump of knitting aside and heads upstairs to find another bandaid.
The theme music for Crognard the Barbarian plays and Michelangelo shushes everyone despite the fact that no one's talking. Destiny takes a spot on the couch.
"Muurg has the jewel of Koweewah!" Crognard exclaims as his team rides down a wide path.
A centaur with a goat face cackles, cradling a giant pink jewel in his arms. "You'll never catch me, Crognard!" He laughs again as Crognard unleashes his sword as Wizardess uses her powers to create ice over Muurg's hooves. "What's this?" the centaur asks, slipping and sliding.
"Aah!" Crognard exclaims as he leaps onto the centaur's back. He starts tugging at the jewel desperately. "Give me back my mystic jewel! Rah!"
"Dude! That centaur doesn't stand a chance against Crognard the Barbarian!" Michelangelo exclaims. He hops onto the nearest seat and poses heroically.
Destiny leans onto her hand, arching an eyebrow. "Why is the jewel so important anyways?"
"That was explained before the commercial break," Leonardo answers.
The show shuts off abruptly as an announcement appears on screen. "WHYY breaking news! A word of warning for those planning on driving tonight," a female announcer says. A new picture displaying a flaming hot rod appears along with words reading "Lunatic on Wheels". "Stay home! Reports are coming in of a mysterious driver running people off the road."
YOU ARE READING
Forest Mutation (Book Two)
Fanfic"In Saskatchewan, when I couldn't fall asleep, I'd watch the moon and think about how across the country and over the border, you were probably out on a rooftop beneath the same moon. You were the first person I enjoyed the moon with. Every other ti...
