Nevermore

Meet the Madlens

Minkah was once again seated in the plush green chair of Alexander’s living room. The scent of apple pie and cinnamon buns filled his nose. Minkah didn’t know how Mrs. Flemings combined the two, but it worked. At the moment Minkah wasn’t concerned with the fragrance. He just wanted to get out of there as quick as possible. He caught sight of a flash of red as Alexander peered at him through his dark shades.

Leaning closer, he said, “I know that was strange, but it’s not what you think.”

Minkah stared at him in disbelief. Over the years Alex had told some pretty outrageous lies, but this was complete and utter bullshit. “Are you trying to tell me it wasn’t a giant swirling vortex of doom that I saw in your closet?”

Alex cocked his head to the side. “If I told you it was a hallucination brought on by my mom’s lemon chicken would you believe me?”

“No.”

“Then there's no point in having this conversation.” Alex grinned.

Minkah just shook his head. As best friends he thought he knew everything about Alex. “Aren’t you concerned that you have a portal to hell in your room?”

Alex shrugged, “You weren't suppose to find out.” Before Minkah could stop him, Alex had him pinned to the floor. Minkah flailed, trying to get away from him. It shouldn’t have been possible for Alex to pin him like that. He 5’3” and blind, for Christ’s sake.

“I’m sorry to do this, Mink,” he moved his hand to Minkah’s temple. He struggled harder as a sense of drowsiness overcame him. The last he saw was of Alex smiling at him before his world faded to black.

Minkah shot up with a gasp. His entire body was drenched in sweat. He tried to recall the dream. When he did, he found it gave him a massive headache. The only thing he could draw from it was a sense of panic and an eagerness to escape. Just what exactly had he been dreaming of?

Rolling over, Minkah shut off the alarm clock that had been going off for the last five minutes. God that thing was annoying. “Ugh, I don’t want to get up!” Minkah shouted. He regretted it as his headache worsened. He slowly clambered out of bed, his head throbbing. He pulled on a pair of discarded jeans that smelled moderately cleaned and a blue t-shirt with the words “Alcohol and calculus don’t mix. Never drink and derive” written across the front.

He was barely out of the door when his foot caught on something. Pain exploded in his head as he collided with the brass doorknob. He groaned, rolling over to see what had caused this newest injury. He was greeted to the sight of large brown eyes and whiskers. The small tabby cat nudged Minkah, perhaps to see if he was still alive. Angry, Minkah shoved the cat away. Glaring at it, he said, “What else do you do besides trip people?” The tabby meowed, tilting its head to the side.

Minkah rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, be cute.” Sighing, he stood up. Immediately a wave of nausea washed over him. He gripped the door to steady himself. The cat meowed again and rolled over, demanding to be rubbed.

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m not patting you↼”

“Minkah! Are you being mean to Charles Montgomery again?” A snappy voice cut him off. Minkah tried to calm his breathing as he looked up. Standing in front of him was a girl of fourteen years dressed and ready for the day. She flicked a strand of black hair out of her face. Minkah thought it was ridiculous that a fourteen year old could hold that much disdain on her face.

He talked lowly. “I thought I told you to keep that menace out of my room?” He sneered at Charles Montgomery, who of course replied with another meow.

His sister, Lacey, huffed. “Charles Montgomery just wanted to say hi! Isn’t that right, Charles?” She cooed, picking up the cat. Charles Montgomery squirmed in her grasp, desperate to escape. Minkah always found it funny that, as much as she loved that cat, it didn’t return the favor. Well, it was obvious to everyone but her. He couldn’t blame the cat either. Who named a cat Charles Montgomery?