Installment Two

THE THRESHOLD

installment two

Alexander Black was 15 years old and a bit of an outcast when he first encountered his best friend. The boy was somewhat of a bookworm, and stood sort of in limbo between the geeks and the cool kids on the high school food chain. He was neither popular nor unpopular, and his grades were average. Alex spent most of his time with his head buried in various books, none of which having anything to do with his lessons. His favorite book of all time was an amazing fantasy adventure called The Threshold. He carried this book with him everywhere. It was the sort of story Alex could read over and over and still feel the thrill of the ride, still connect with every character. He wanted to write just like the author, Steven M. Butler.


On a frigid winter day, snow flurries cluttering the sky, Alex was on his way home from the library and decided to stop at the only diner in his little town and get something to warm himself up before the rest of his walk home. He entered the humble establishment and sat at the booth in the back, then pulled out his trusty copy of The Threshold. His journey to the library that day had been in vain, for Alex was in search of some information on the books writer. He was hoping to find more of his works and perhaps even a biography. But, it seemed, The Threshold was Butler’s only published novel.


Alex was flipping through the pages when a waitress arrived at his table. She was wearing the typical diner smock, her hair in a loose bun, and casually chewing bubble gum, annoyingly popping bubbles.


“what can I get ya,” she asked.


Alex didn’t look up form his book but only answered, “Hot chocolate, please.”


The waitress turned on her heel, and went back behind the counter to fill his order.


Alex set down his book and sighed, disappointed that this was the only adventure what’s his face ever wrote. He glanced around the diner, quietly observing the other customers. There was an older couple in the booth a few feet away. The man had thinning hair and a greasy comb-over, Alex could only see the back of his head, but he was gesturing a bit wildly, as though angry about something. With all the noise from the kitchen, Alex couldn’t pick up anything he said. the woman across from him was a slightly over weight lady with her hair in a tight bun. Alex noticed that she had very caring looking eyes, the skin around them wrinkled from years of laughter, but now they looked very worried and a little scared. The boy wondered what crisis the two may have been dealing with.


Sitting at the counter in a stool was young man, probably in his 20’s, in a worn black leather jacket. He smoked a cigarette, and scratched at the stubble on his chin. He looked like a wonderer, probably someone just passing through town, taking a little break from his life on the road. Alex felt a little afraid of him, but also a little jealous of the life the man seemed to be living. If only he could just pick up and leave on a whim. If only his parents weren’t so over-protective. If only he were old enough to leave them behind.


The last person Alex noticed was a middle aged man in the table at the opposite wall from his booth. He had short blonde hair and watery blue eyes. It looked like he hadn’t shaved or even showered that day. The man just sat at the table with a newspaper in front of him, only he wasn’t reading the paper; he was staring at Alex.


Alex, a little uncomfortable by now, simply gave the stranger a polite half smile and tried to turn back to his book. Tried reading the words on the page but found himself glancing back over at the middle aged man, who still looked at him. After a few minutes of trying to ignore the guy, Alex got up the courage and asked, “Can I help you?”