Mother 3: Half Heartedly V.1

Thursday. Claus dashes down the stairs to conquer breakfast before Lucas even has time to yawn. Lucas, fore sighting that Claus will eat all of his omelets and leave him with cereal, closely follows his red headed brother down the steps to the kitchen. The table is lined with the usual Thursday fare. Toast piles crispy and firm, a box of cereal performing O shapes on a yellow box, soft pancakes which for some reason no ever seems to touch, and of course, the crown jewel, omelets. The fluffy yellow splendor that leaves both the twins mouths watering. Even though Hinawa may have been gone, Flint sure did prove himself worthy in taking her place in the culinary arts. With a bit of shoving, the two twins were able to get themselves seated and dig into the breakfast feast.

Breakfast went by quickly as it always did. Finishing his breakfast first as usual, Claus sped out of the cabin and into the clean air of the Tazmily Village. Tazmily Village never seemed to change over the course of three years. The houses were the same and so were the people. It was almost like they were purposely trying to stay the way they always were. It was also one of Claus’ pet peeves. He always wished that Tazmily would become a bit more exciting and that each day wasn’t the exact same thing. Thursday, his favorite day, is the day he is able to walk freely around Tazmily and the woods that bordered it. Friday, lesson day, where Flint teaches Lucas and Claus different subjects and things that would be helpful for everyday life such as math and social skills. Saturday, family day, where he has to spend his whole day with Lucas and Flint and visit his mother’s grave at noon. Sunday, Kumatora day, the day he has to follow Kumatora around and help her do chores and other things. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Those three days, he has no memory of what happens during them. Not even a clue.

Flint always explained to Claus that the Drago attack brought him into a coma for the past three years. That’s why he experiences these memory losses during certain days of the week. He was also told that during this three year span, these guys called Pigmasks took over and turned Tazmily Village into a parking lot. The stories of Lucas’ bravery and heroism as he went through all of his challenges always made him smile. That Lucas gained courage while he was in his sleep state. In the end, Porky, the leader of the army, and Lucas settled a truce. The Pigmasks could have their island in the sky and live there while the people of Tazmily could have the Tazmily Village back the way it was and never be bothered by the pig dressed nuisances again.

After about a day of Lucas coming back home, Claus had awoken from his coma to see his brother’s face after three long years. Though that was the story he was always told, there seemed to be something not right about it. Like that there was this big secret that everyone kept hidden from him.

Claus continued his stroll to the edge of town. At the entrance of Tazmily was a sign, a big one at that. The sign displayed a pink box, what Lucas calls a “Happy Box”, with a red circle surrounding it and a red dash crossing it out. Apparently these mechanisms were used by the Pigmasks to make people like them. The sign, almost menacing, told whoever entered never ever, under any circumstances, to bring a Happy Box into the city limits.

He never understood that part of the story either. Claus had even witnessed a Happy Box at work at Isaac’s abandoned house. The Tazmily Villagers must have thought Isaac brought it with him up to the city in the sky. In fact, each Saturday night Claus would sneak out of bed to watch a half hour of its programming. When he watches it, all it shows is weird shows about a trillion different things, most of which are mediocre. But one thing always puzzled him. At the end of the show he watches on Saturdays was this man, a man neither Lucas nor Flint mentioned to Claus about in Lucas’ adventure tale, appears on the screen. He wore orange pants and a fighter jet coat along with a gray mask to cover his face. Claus always had a strange longing to know who this mysterious man was. He never understood why he should care but something deep inside him told him he was the answer as to why nothing seemed right in Tazmily Village since he woke up from his coma. In fact, he wanted to meet the man for himself.

Though it felt like only minutes passed, Lucas interrupted Claus’ train of thought to tell him it was time for dinner.

“Already?” Claus did not notice how much time had passed and that he had even missed lunch.

“Yeah Claus. We are having steak. C’mon! I don’t want dinner to get cold!” Lucas took the lead while Claus followed closely behind.

Back at home, the smell of juicy steak wafted into the air. Back when Claus was ten, he would have devoured the steaks like there was no tomorrow but now, at the age of thirteen, he had questions floating around in his mind keeping him from eating. Claus flinched. The back of his neck had an itch that needed to be quenched but he could not even so much as lay a finger on the irritated skin. Lucas had warned him that there was a piece of plastic there that was from the surgery he had done after he was attacked by the Drago and that itching it could be fatal. Again, Claus had his suspicions about how true the information from Lucas and Flint were.

Dinner passed and so did the other after dinner activities with only one thing on Claus’ mind, why everything seemed so…wrong? It wasn’t just Hinawa’s passing. There was something else. Something he wanted to know since the day he noticed everyone acting strange. Soon it was time for Lucas and Claus to scoot up to bed and rest up for Friday’s lessons.

Lucas, as usual, fell asleep almost instantly. Claus wished he could sleep like that. Then again, he really didn’t like sleep. He always feared that he would close his eyes and he would have forgotten the past three days or had slept through the past three years. All he did was stare at the wooden ceiling of their room, wondering what dark secret the Tazmily Village and Lucas, the brother he was supposed to be able to trust, was keeping.