The Quill Pen of Doom (Part 8)
Eli rested his hands on his notebook during English class while scanning the slow turning hand of the clock. He tapped his fingers nervously. Looking into his backpack, he suddenly gained confidence.
Glistening like a diamond in the sunlight was the golden quill pen.
Sitting directly behind him was Tyler, chuckling under his breath while flicking the back of Eli’s ear with a pencil.
“Quit,” Eli snapped.
“What are you going to do about it?” Tyler groaned, slapping the back of Eli’s head.
Eli looked to his right, watching two of Tyler’s friends laughing away. “Just wait and see,” he grumbled, looking at the shining pen resting in his backpack.
***
At the cafeteria, steaming meatloaf and mashed potatoes were served. The chattering of students filled the long line extending through the doorways into the hallway.
Eli took his lunch tray and sat at the table next to the back door. He picked up his spoon, rethinking his thoughts. “I shouldn’t do this. But maybe they won’t mess with me anymore today.”
He was wrong, locking eyes with Tyler and his friends as their narrow grins broadened.
They sat around him at the table after Tyler kicked Eli’s bag over. “What’s up, nerd boy? No stupid comics today?”
Eli slumped his shoulders and stared at the food on his tray. Silence filled the air.
Tyler leaned forward, his dark eyes growing g too big for their sockets. “It’s impolite to ignore others. I said whats up, nerd boy?”
Eli paid no attention. Tyler dug his hands into Eli’s plate, grabbing a handful of mashed potatoes and slapped it on top of Eli’s head.
Eli jumped up from his seat, slamming his lunch tray onto Tyler’s back. Steaming meatloaf burned him as ketchup seeped through his shirt.
He grabbed his backpack and ran out the back door. Tyler jumped up from his seat and ran through the doorway, following closely behind him. His two friends chased after them, hoping to see a good fight.
***
Eli stopped to catch his breath in the parking lot. He stared across the street at the old Baptist church that leaned lazily like a crooked tooth. His heart pounded against his ribs.
Tyler’s footsteps stopped behind him. “You’re dead, geek.”
Eli dropped his backpack on the ground and reached for the golden quill pen. He held it high in the air. “I don’t think so.”
Tyler and his friends gazed in confusion, the exploded with laughter. “Where’d you get that stupid glitter pen?”
Eli smirked. “Yeah, keep laughing like you always do. Now…” he raised his arm. “Watch this.” He started to write on his forearm. His smile broadened. He clenched his fists. “Now you’re gonna pay. Come on out!” Eli looked to the sky.
Nothing but tranquil clouds floated overhead. He was stunned. “What? Where is he? Captain Thrasher?”
“Whatever, nerd,” Tyler said. “Let’s get him.”
Eli shook, now surrounded by the three goons. He closed his eyes and prepared to be outnumbered in another fight.
“Excuse me,” a deep familiar voice boomed.
Eli opened his eyes. Captain Thrasher and Lord Autotune stood alongside him. “Sorry we’re late, Eli.” Thrasher stated. “Autotune couldn’t figure out what sissy jacket to wear.”
“Shut up, you overgrown hedgehog,” Autotune groaned as he curled his mustache.
Tyler and his friends stared silently. Eli smiled, folding his arms confidently across his chest. “Surrender now and I’ll let you leave unharmed or severely annoyed.”
Tyler laughed. “Where did you find these clowns? Do you think I’m scared of this super sissy guy in a glittery purple coat with a cheesy mustache and an oversized roid-rage rockstar wannabe?”
The other two bullies chuckled along, cracking their alabaster knuckles. Marching forward, their shadows wrapped around Eli like claws.
“Okay,” Eli said. “I warned you. Thrasher, make some noise!”
Captain Thrasher raised his guitar and struck a chord. Lighting shot from the headstock and parted the clouds above.
Tyler and his friends screamed, covering their ears. Eli laughed uncontrollably.
“Excuse me, wide-load,” Lord Autotune tapped Tyler on the shoulder.
Tyler looked forward, squinting in pain. “I think my ears are gonna explode!”
“You might wanna start wearing eye protection as well,” Autotune took a pinch of glitter and flicked it into Tyler’s eyes.
Tyler’s eyes shut as he screamed, running around aimlessly until he charged into the dilapidated church across the parking lot.
The other two boys ran towards the school, screaming as their eardrums throbbed.
“Thanks, guys,” Eli bobbed his head.
“Don’t mention it, kid.” Autotune curled his mustache with his fingers. “Now, let’s go pay your dad a visit.”
“Wait,” Eli said. “I have a better idea. Go ahead and go back home. I’ll bring him to you guys.”
***
Eli waited for the school bell to ring while he washed his hair in the bathroom. Afterward, he hopped on his bike and rode home. The breeze pushed his hair behind his ears as he squinted. In the distance, his mother stormed out of the house. Once again, she looked like she had been crying.
Eli stopped his bike at the edge of the driveway, throwing his backpack over his shoulder, and ran to his mother. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” she pinched the bridge of her nose, shutting her eyes. “He’s just drinking again. I’m sure he’ll calm down.”
Eli bit his bottom lip, clenching his fists in anger. “Calm down? He never calms down!”
She rested her hands on his shoulder. “Everything’s going to be alright. I’m going to go to the store.” She scanned his hair. Bits of it was dried and sticking upward. “What happened to your hair? Did you get into another fight?”
“Don’t worry, mom. It was just an accident.”
His mother frowned. “You know you can tell me these things.”
“I know mom, but it’s not important.”
Silence lingered. Her pale face glimmered in the sun as the breeze pushed her hair over her shoulders. “Just…” she stopped, listening to her husband shouting at the tv from inside. “Don’t let him get to you. He’ll cool down after a while.”
She leaned forward and hugged Eli. “Love you.”
“I love you, too.”
She closed the car door behind her and drove away.
Eli smiled, gripping his backpack with his right hand. “It’s my turn, old man.”
He marched up the porch and closed the front door behind him. Staring across the living room, he narrowed his gaze on the grinning man throwing a crumbled beer can at the tv.
“What are you staring at,” his father groaned. A loud burp erupted.
Air hissed from behind Eli’s teeth. The room was quiet except for the distant voices from the tv. “Why are you like this?”
His father laughed. “Like what?”
“Why do insist on hurting others that you know can’t defend themselves against you?”
His father grumbled, cracking open another beer. “When did you start becoming such a wuss?”
Eli didn’t know what to say. He knew that he had the power to change the situation now. “Things are going to be different around here?”
“Oh, yeah,” his father slurred his words. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees. “How? I’m me and you are you? This is my house.”
“It’s our family’s house. Not just yours. You should’ve treated your family better,” Eli grumbled, straightening his shoulders.
“My family should’ve been better,” his father sneered.
Eli reached for a couch pillow across from him and threw it at his father, spilling his beer on the floor. He ran upstairs, listening to his father’s footsteps pounding behind him.
“Get back here!”
Eli reached his bedroom and closed the door. He stared across the room and gazed at the comic he had drawn at his desk. Reaching into his backpack, he retrieved the golden quill pen. His breaths were heavy. Staggering to the desk, the sounds of his father’s footsteps rang through the house. “I sure hope this works.”
***
“Get back here, you little brat!” His father slammed the bedroom door behind him. He stood still, glaring from across the room. Eli was nowhere to be found.
“Where are you,” his words slurred as he stomped towards the bed.
He looked underneath. Nothing was there.
“Hey, beer gut,” Lord Autotune’s whiny voice sounded off.
Jumping to his feet with his fists drawn, Eli’s father swayed back and forth in a drunken haze. “Who said that?”
“Over here, doofus.”
Surely Eli’s voice hadn’t dropped that low. His father staggered to the small desk, staring down at a bunch of drawings. “What’s this?”
“Your new home,” Captain Thrasher’s arm reached through the paper and pulled Eli’s father into the comic strip.
***
Falling flat on his face, Eli’s father grumbled. He nodded, attempting to wipe the haziness from his eyes. He scanned his surroundings, admiring the hand-drawn buildings and surrounding stick figures with great confusion. There were dozens of them. “What the…where am I?”
“I told you,” Captain Thrasher stepped forward. “Your new home.”
Lord Autotune stepped forward and tossed a handful of glitter into the air. “You look a little pale. Here’s some blush for you.”
Eli laughed aloud, raising the golden quill pen in his right hand. “It’s time for a change, dad. You like to bully others. Now it’s time for you to get a taste of your own medicine.”
The stick figures grinned menacingly, circling around his father. There were hundreds of them now. “What’s going on? Get me out of here!”
“Enjoy your stay,” Eli smiled. “Make sure he has a great time guys”
“We will, Eli,” Captain Thrasher said.
Eli turned his back as the stick figures jumped on top of his father, punching him with their thin arms. Writing on his firearm again, he popped from the comic and stood in his room. He laughed, listening to the distant screams of his father within the comic strip. He folded the paper and placed it in his desk.
Leaning back in his chair, he exhaled. “It’s finally over.” Looking at a small framed family portrait he had taken from downstairs, he laid it flat on the desk.
Staring at a version of his father that was long forgotten: a man in a suit smiling. He couldn’t think of what might’ve happened to turn his dad into such a menace. But regardless, he and his mother deserved better.
Eli grabbed a sheet of paper and started to write all of the qualities of a good father and husband would have. He also added memories that he once had of his father and things that this new man should know, like his wife and son’s name. Perhaps a few more details as well.
Soon these words formed into a man. A man in a suit that looked exactly like his father.
“Hey dad,” Eli said. “How’s it going?”
“Great, Eli,” his new father boomed. “How was school?”
Eli’s smile widened. “Great!”
***
(Eli’s journal entry)
This past week has been great! I’m not picked on anymore. In fact, Tyler and his friends are scared of me. They know that I drew up a button that will allow me to summon Captain Thrasher whenever I need him. That pen really can do anything!
As for mom… she hasn’t even noticed that my drunken father is trapped inside of a comic getting tormented by loud music and stick figures day and night. She’s actually smiling when she walks through the door now! No more screaming or getting pushed against the wall by a man three times her size.
I haven’t seen her this happy in a longtime. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this happy. For the first time dad took mom out for a nice lobster dinner. He fits this role perfectly.
Dad was a real estate agent for many years, but hasn’t sold squat in a long time. Now… he (or should I say my new dad) is back on top! It’s as if he was never rotten in the first place.
Things have changed drastically, but I can’t take all the credit. Adam Bishop allowed me to use this pen. I have to go see him. He deserves all the thanks in the world! But this pen is too powerful for me to keep forever. I’ve done enough I suppose. It’s time to pay a visit to The Storyteller himself.
***
Thunder roared overhead as rain poured from the sky. Eli stood across from the dilapidated building that housed Adam Bishop from the storm. “This is it,” he said. “Where it all began.”
He looked around, watching as scraggly trees waved towards him in a clawing motion. Taking a step across the dirt road, his feet sank into the mud. Pulling his feet forward, he leapt onto the tiny steps at the bottom of the porch. Each creak was louder than the last as he came closer to the door.
His chest was heavy and his breaths were shallow. Just as he reached for the door knob, the door opened.
“Welcome back, Eli,” Adam’s voice crept across the room. “I’ve been expecting you.”
Eli stared into the green eyes that glowed in the darkness in front of him. Lightning flashed, covering Adam with a brief glimmer of blue light. He stood in the center of the room with his briefcase in hand and a hat neatly resting on top of his head.
Eli stepped forward, looking through the brief light that the lightning carried. The desk and bookshelves were gone!
“Where…where is everything?” Eli stammered.
Adam smiled, tapping his briefcase.
“In there?!” Eli couldn’t believe it.
“How did you enjoy your gift, young man?” Adam’s voice was coarse like gravel.
“It’s absolutely incredible! Everything I wrote came true.”
“I know. It is a lot of power.”
“Sure is,” Eli shuddered in the cold wind. “Too much. I lost it once. But luckily it was a big doofus that grabbed it. I couldn’t imagine if a real bad person had it.”
“Nothing good would happen, I imagine. You are wise to understand its power.”
“Thank you for lending it to me. There is so much that has changed!”
“Indeed,” Adam chuckled. “By the way. Why didn’t you just write that your father would be a better man instead of imprisoning him?”
“How did-“
“I saw everything.”
Eli stood silently, looking down at his feet. Raising his head, he stared into Adam’s eyes. “Because he needed to be punished somehow. I couldn’t let him just change like that.”
Adam smiled, inclining his head in the darkness. “You did better than I expected honestly. Did you learn anything from wielding such power?”
Eli shook his head. “I honestly haven’t thought of it. Everything was so crazy! I just couldn’t help but get absorbed in the chaos.”
Glowing like fiery emeralds, Adam’s eyes expanded in the shadows. “Our decisions affect those around us immensely no matter how small they seem. Physical and psychological abuse carry within others through life as you and your mother know. It’s important to understand the weight of our actions. And I see that with all the power you had, you did pretty good. Your father may pay for his deeds for a long time. However, I know that you had a good reason for imprisoning him. Even if it is for a short while… or longer.”
“Could I…” Eli stammered. “Could I bring him back if I wanted?”
“Of course. Just use the button you created that will bring your creations back into the real world to fetch him for you.”
A brief moment of relief crept over Eli, taking a ton of weight from his shoulders.
“Now, boy. I must take my pen back.”
Eli bobbed his head. “Of course,” he grabbed the pen from his pocket. It’s good shimmered even in the darkness, lighting the way like a candle.
Adam gently pinched it and tucked it away in his jacket. “Thank you. It was nice meeting you. But I’m afraid I must be on my way.”
“Where will you go?”
Adam stepped past Eli and entered the rain. Surprisingly, the rain didn’t fall on Adam, but only fell around him. “To another town.”
“Thank you, Adam. You changed my life a lot.”
“No I didn’t,” Adam smiled, turning to Eli. “You did. I only lent you the power to make your heart’s desires come true.”
Lightning crashed overhead. Clouds circled and lowered towards the ground. Eli blinked and the storm was gone. He shuddered in fright, looking around to find that the building had disappeared along with hit. He stood all alone in the dirt road. Lying on the ground was his shiny red bicycle. He lifted it from the ground and took a seat.
“Thanks,” he said under his breath. He looked at the bright blue sky and smiled. “Time to go home.”
(Thanks for reading, everybody! A new story is being worked on as we speak!) 👻