The Tale of the Two Siblings | An OCTale Prequel

Bravery

2065

"Hey, did you hear about that kid who disappeared?" A girl whispered across the classroom, during what was supposed to be a quiet reading lesson.

"Yeah...Name was Coral or something." A boy whispered back, "A decade now, right?"

"Some say that one day she walked home from school and was never seen again. Apparently she went to this exact school!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. And she just...mysteriously disappeared."

"Did the monsters in the mountain get her?"

"What?! Nah, the monsters aren't real! That's just a creepy bedtime story."

Suddenly, the bell rang, signifying the end of school.

A boy with short brown hair, cropped to his shoulders, sat in his chair, head absorbed in his book. It was an adventure novel, which detailed the life of a smart man who came up with ingenious ideas, who worked for a top-secret organisation, and he was journeying to find his father.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." A boy chuckled ominously from behind, shocking the book-absorbed boy out of his seat.

"AH! Justin! Don't scare me like that!" The younger boy giggled. The two boys looked oddly alike, despite their different fashion styles and hair colours.

Justin had black hair, and wore a yellow striped shirt, whilst the other, Timothy, had brown hair, and wore an orange striped shirt. The somewhat elder boy donned a pretend cowboy hat apon his head, whilst the younger wore a bandanna around his neck, which had abs drawn on it.

"'Sup, Tim?" Justin giggled, heckling his twin brother as he laughed along.

"I'm okay, Justin. Just listening in on conversations, and catching up with The Adventures of Alex McNamara."
Timothy explained, releasing himself from his brothers' weak headlock.

"Ooh, any juicy tidbits?"

"Well, I don't mean to eavesdrop-"

"Aw c'mon! Eavesdropping's in your blood, Tim! Once an Altava..."

"Always an Altava. Okay, so they were talking about that lost kid again!" Timothy explained, gaining a surprised look from Justin, then fading to a grimace.

"I don't care what everyone says, there's no way Coral could have just disappeared into thin air! The only explanation is that the monsters are real, and she fell down there!" Justin growled, conviction in his tone of voice.

"I know, right? That's why I've decided to be brave." Timothy announced, packing his things away, and putting his coat on.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Justin replied, anxiety in his tone of voice as he followed his brother out of the school.

"It's nothing, Justin. I just...have to go somewhere. Tell Mom and Dad that I'm sleeping at a friend's house tonight, okay?" Timothy asked, courage resonating through his body as he took some gloves out of his coat pocket and put them on.

"Uhm...okay. Promise you'll be back by tomorrow?" Justin replied, shivering slightly from the cold.

"I promise."