The Four

IV: Hansel

The emberologist sat on his over-stuffed couch, flaming, literally. He was thankfully, still in his fireproof vest. If anything around him was not dosed in apódeixilium (a fire proof serum), all of his personal belongings would have been suffering from the unforgiving wrath of the angry, black Fotiá flame.

His flame, what replaced his hair when he is feeling a big load of any emotion, was in a constant color-switching situation. He had just been fired from his job an hour ago. It was too hard to even process his thoughts at the moment.

Hansel stood up from his couch and wondered out loud: "Why is the whole water deal such a big... deal?"

Come to think of it, water is quite an intersting thing. It is too bad that most Fotiá fear the harmless substance. Well, harmless to all other life forms in the Universe. Fotiá are the only species cursed to live in fear of water and anything derived from it.

Hansel was the only scientist from his dimension to want to study water more intensely. All books that our younger generations read from say "Water bad, stay away. Hate it and never be curious about it". Actually, Hansel was just talking to his boss about this an hour ago, about advancing studies and getting more knowledge! But then he was fired. So he blew his chances.

"At least I have my little house to keep me company." He said miserably. Then sat back down and stared at the wall for a solid ten seconds, in complete silence and no thought crossing his mind.

"And you as well, Dr. Burnie." He whispered to his little pet flame as it suddenly appeared on his lap.

"Let's settle in. Not going anywhere different. Let's get fat and never leave the house." He said dramatically. He offered some Second Dimentional eggs to Dr. Burnie. "We won't have to do anything out of the normal."

Little did he know.