The Story of Cieran

Chapter I - The Worst Day Ever (First Edit)

Nathan was sitting outside on the porch his knees pulled up in front of him, and his arms crossed on top of them with his chin on top of that.

He was not having a good day. To start things off he had stuffed in a locker not once but twice during school. He was asking for it though, he did rig the bullies, or goons as school called them; Frogs to explode in their faces.

After getting shoved in a locker twice his mom texted him telling him that he needed to go stay at his grandma's for the day. He hated staying with his grandma. All she did was talk about her days in the armed forces, or fall asleep halfway through them. Which he preferred.

When the final bell rang for school he got on the bus just in time for to rain start pouring. The rain actually helped him relax a bit, until Nathan realised he got on the bus for home instead, and had to walk in it.

When he finally made it to his grandmother's house, he figured he would be home free. He made a break for it, sprinting up the long driveway to her old ranch with ugly brown siding.

Her driveway was long and had a slight curve to it, which made his grandma always back off the side of it into the grass, and get stuck. Nathan remembered one time she got her car stuck so deep in the mud, they had to call a tow truck to get it out.

His meandering thoughts however caused a couple other things to get stuck in the mud that day. Nathan slipped getting his face, boot, and phone stuck right in the mud. Her driveway that was normally a collection of dirt, and stones. Was now a big pile of muck perfect for him to slip on, and into.

Nathan picked himself up, grabbed his phone, and his boot which made a squelch as his slid it on. He tried his phone but no dice. It was dead, possibly broken. He stood a moment. in the rain letting the mud wash off of his face, and hair.

He could still feel mud in it as he ran his hand through his thick black hair. "Nanna it's me, Nathan." He said, knocking on the door. He waited. "Nanna!" He yelled banging harder. 'She's probably asleep' he thought, plonking himself down on the porch.

Ten minutes later his grandmother blue van pulled into the driveway. "Nathan, is that you?" She asked rolling down the window, and peering at him through her glasses.

"Yes Nanna, it's me," he replied, barely hiding his annoyance with her, school, and a few other things.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, putting her car in park.

"Mom texted me, saying she had business meetings until eight thirty tonight," Nathan said, holding up his broken phone.

"I'm so sorry dear, if I had known I wouldn't have gone to the store," she said, getting out and opening the trunk.

"No you go inside, and get cleaned up," she said, tossing him her keys. "If I can run with two grown men over my shoulder I can carry my own groceries," she said, lifting four bags out of the trunk.

Nathan wanted to say she wasn't a old lady when she was in the army, but he kept that to himself as he opened the door. He pulled off his boots doing his best not to track mud everywhere. He pulled off his socks as well since it was his right foot that had lost the boot.

After getting all of his muddy clothing off he tossed his boots onto the porch, and went to the guest bedroom to find some cleaner, fresher clothes. He stayed here often with his Grandma, since his Mother worked for a rather large business firm, and his father had left him when he was very little. So he always had the essentials when he stayed over.

He grabbed a simple blue t-shirt and a comfy pair of athletic shorts. It wasn't even all that warm out. The early spring weather had been sitting in the mid fifties for the past month of April, and extremely rainy. However Nathan hated wearing long pants, so he simply chose not to wear them unless forced too.

Nathan grabbed his clothing and hoped in the shower. He didn't take a long shower, he never did. After Nathan got all cleaned up, and all dried off. He was making his way back to his room, when he noticed a book that he hadn't seen before.

He had passed the bookshelf more than a hundred times, and it had always been the same until today. He pulled the book down looking at it. It was a big book, thick, and leather bound. It had strange runes on the side, and front. Along with a title that was in some strange sort of writing.

"What's this Nanna?" He asked, walking over to her, and showing her the book.

"So you did find it," she said, putting groceries in the fridge.

"Find what?" He asked.

"The book," she replied.

"What book?"

"The one you're holding," she said, grinning.

Nathan gave her a annoyed look. "I guessed that much, what are the contents of this book?" He asked handing it to her.

She took it holding it with care, as if it were made of fine China. "I figured it would be a good book for me to read to you since, you don't enjoy my war stories."

"Who told you that?" He asked, not meeting her gaze.

"Your mother told me," she said putting the book down carefully on the counter.

Nathan had told his Mother about the annoyingly long war stories his Grandmother had continued to tell over, and over again. But he didn't think his Mother would say anything to her.

"Help me put away the last of the groceries, then we can start, and after that we can start reading," she said, closing the fridge.

Nathan nodded intrigued by the mysterious book. They made short work of groceries, and started cooking, which he was pleased to find out was ravioli, and garlic bread; One of his favorite meals.

However his excitement for the new book didn't allow him to enjoy it quite as much. "You're going to give yourself a stomach ache," Nathan's grandmother chuckled. Nathan just kept on eating.

"Mmm hmm hmm?" Which was meant to be "Can we read now?" But through a mouth full of food, it didn't come out that way.

His grandma raised her eyebrow, giving him a look. Nathan swallowed, and tried again. "You may be done, but I'm still eating. Go get comfy on the couch, I'm almost done."

Nathan nodded, going for the couch. "Not so fast young man. Don't you think about leaving your plate at the table," she chided.

Nathan spun on his heels, grabbed his plate, and put it in the dishwasher. Then he flopped on the couch. Waiting for his grandmother to finish.

Not before long she finished. "Well let's start shall we?" She asked sitting next to him.

He smiled, and asked. "What is it about, Nanna?"

"It's about adventure, armies, and battle, magic, and love."

"Love?" He asked making a face.

"Yes love. Well we might have to skip some of the love parts, but we'll see."

"The more love skip the better." Nathan said, not yet fully understanding what his grandmother meant, which was just as it should be for a twelve year boy.

His grandma chuckled. "Well it all starts with. Once upon a time," she said starting to read.