Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Elfly Matters ❯ Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This is an original piece of fiction. Any resemblance to another work of fiction, fan or otherwise, is honestly a coincidence.

 

A/N: This is something I whipped up on my two hour-long bus ride home and I liked it enough to post it. I'm not entirely sure where it's going right now, but I have some ideas so I'd like to keep it alive. Enjoy!

 

Chapter 1

 

Ken Sarris woke up on the morning of January 3rd with the reasonable assumption that his day would go as planned, or as close to it as he could manage. He stumbled out of bed at quarter after six, blinking his eyes to clear away the blurriness of the room, and got ready to attend the local senior high school. His favorite shirt was still in the laundry and the shower was a little colder than he would have liked, but as these weren't major catastrophes they were largely ignored.

 

As he headed down the stairs, the smell of scrambled eggs drifted up to meet him. His mother was of the stay-at-home variety and liked to make sure her son started off the day with a decent breakfast and a lovingly packed lunch. As he was now entering the eleventh grade he often insisted that this was really unnecessary, but when he did manage to convince her it usually only lasted a week or two before she caved to her desire to keep to routine.

 

“Morning Mom,” Ken called out blearily, still not fully awake. He had an English paper due today that he had procrastinated on, mostly because he knew he could get away with it. This had resulted in a bed-time that came around two in the morning. Ken thought that perhaps his mother had gleaned this information from his tone of voice as she gave him a look that clearly stated, “You've done something I don't approve of, but I can't control you forever, so I'll let it go for now.” This look had been coming more frequently lately as Ken was becoming more independent since passing his driver's test. He had learned to pick his battles with his parents, compromising when he had to and simply shrugging it off when he didn't.

 

Carrie Sarris placed her son's breakfast before him as she returned his greeting. This morning she had added bacon as a side to his eggs, which Ken was pleased with as he much preferred it over sausage. His father, who usually made his way downstairs just before Ken walked out the door, couldn't understand his son's distaste for the life of him but it was actually one of the few things the two disagreed upon.

 

“Don't forget, you have a dentist appointment today after practice,” his mother reminded him after he had nearly finished.

 

Ken made a face. “Do you think they'll give me fluoride again?” he asked. Dentist appointments weren't bad in and of themselves. He rather liked his hygenist, who had worked on him since before he could remember, and his dentist was a friendly man who had mastered the art of holding a one sided conversation without making his patients feel left out. The only part that had Ken cringing was the fluoride treatment they had started around middle school. It involved a set of trays that would fit around his teeth after being filled with a foam fluoride. Unfortunately, as they had discovered the first time around, he had a very sensitive gag reflex and he always struggled to control his breathing as they slipped in the trays one after another. Putting them both in at the same time was out of the question.

 

“Don't panic and you'll be fine,” his mother assured him as she finished dishing out plates for herself and her husband. “Just remember to call us if you want to go anywhere afterwards. Your Dad has a meeting at four so he'll probably be coming home late anyway.”

 

“Actually, Sam wanted to go see that movie that came out last Friday. He managed to convince a bunch of the guys to come so we were planning on going out for pizza just before.” Ken felt slightly guilty that he hadn't mentioned this fact before now, but they had only finalized the plans at practice yesterday and he had run up the stairs to finish his paper as soon as he came home.

 

His mother sighed. “Alright. Promise me you'll spend some time at home this week, too, though. Dad and I miss you when we don't get to see you. And you're leaving for college soon—“

 

“Mom,” Ken rolled his eyes, “college is two years away. You'll see me plenty before then.”

 

His mother only glared at him as he moved to place his dishes in the dish-washer. “Still,” was all she said.

 

Ken leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek (he was a good nine inches taller than her) before reassuring her. “Fine. I promise, tomorrow there will be no homework, no friends. Just me, you, Dad and a board game. Sound good?”

 

“Did I hear something about a board game?” Inquired the good Mr. Jacob Sarris, more commonly known as Jake, as he walked into the kitchen dressed in a sharp business suit and ready for…well, business. “We haven't had a good game of Sorry in a while. Why don't we play Sorry?” Mr. Sarris leaned over to kiss his wife good morning and was rewarded with a smile and a hug.

 

“It'll have to wait until tomorrow, hun,” replied Carrie, “Ken has plans this afternoon.”

 

Jake Sarris frowned as he reached for the cereal on the table to pour himself a bowl. Sausage, eggs and toast were all well and fine when one was a 16 and a half year old soccer player, but the forty something business man had to watch his weight.

 

“Just as long as we get to see you some time Ken. You are going off to college soon…”

 

“Oh for the love of…” Ken grumbled, rolling his eyes and packing his backpack. “I already said I'd stay home tomorrow. Enough with the guilt trip.”

 

Mr. Sarris smiled to show he was finished teasing and his wife sat next to him to start her own morning meal. Ken took this as his cue to leave for school. It wasn't that far, but if he left much later the road leading up to the parking lot would be so packed with cars that he would be late by default.

 

“You've got your paper? It won't do you any good on your desk,” his mother fussed as he wrapped an arm around her from behind to say goodbye.

 

He answered her as he walked toward the door and began to open it, “Yeah. I double checked this morning, it's in my fol—“

 

Ken stopped with the door open. He stared. He closed the door and counted to three then opened it again. The figure standing on the stoop, or rather, leaning on the door-frame was tall, had short, spiked brown hair, and was wearing a navy blue tunic and black pants. Both were fairly dirt ridden and the left sleeve of the tunic was mostly ripped away. Black liquid ran heavily down the figure's arm, which hung rather loosely at his side, and seemed to be coming from his forehead and mouth as well. The only thing that Ken was aware of at the time, however, was that the stranger's eyes were a bright, glowing orange and that his ears were pointed.

 

“Would this happen to be the residence of Ken Sarris?” the figure breathed heavily.

 

Ken didn't respond. Instead, he closed the door, walked back toward the table and sat down.

 

His mother and father stared at him, expecting an explanation.

 

“There's an elf at our door,” he said with vague wonderment. “I think Middle Earth has invaded South Lauderdale.”

 

 

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