mirrored By two

New beggining

Chapter 9

" we're living in a minivan ?! " stalen asked incredulously ,

he was quite disappointed , because he thought , after

all he went through , he was going to end up somewhere

nice to pay back everything , not a car so old and decaying ,

so faded in colors and cracked , he didn't know where he was

better of , " oh no , it's not what it seems like , don't judge a book

by its cover " Dan chuckled , he opened the sliding door , and

stalen let out a loud gasp , the inside was the total opposite of

the outside , the colors were bright and clear , the furniture were

new and clean , and space looked way bigger than the minivan

could have brought out . " welcome home "

26

Stalen felt weird , it can't be to him that he word home was used to ,

he never actually have a home , he never felt in home ever before , and

no one ever told him he could count the place he lived in as home .

" surprised , aren't you ? Told you it's not what it seems " Dan said ,

smiling . " yeah , but why don't you , like , upgrade the outside or

something , it's not really ..." Stalen bit his tongue , he shouldn't

say anything rude before he even entered . " that trick is probably

one of the oldest in the books , but it's still so good to use , cause

no one bothers to look any further if the outside is not in their taste ,

helps keep away robbers , you know ? , Cause this isn't just a car ,

it has many valuable things inside for me " Dan replied , " smart "

stalen said approvingly , then he grew surprised at himself , he

never really complimented anyone before , and if someone in the

past told him he'd do it someday he wouldn't believe him .

27

Dan smiled appreciatively and said , " well , are we gonna stand outside all

day ? Come on in ! " stalen stepped inside and the first thing he saw were

rows and rows of books on the walls of the van , he was mesmerized by all

the shapes , sizes , colors of all books , not a fan of books himself , he was

quite surprised he was even interested , " err , am I allowed to , read

anything ? " stalen asked , " of course you can , you don't need to ask , just be carful with them . "Dan exclaimed , " oh , thanks , in my old...in the

place I used to live , I wasn't allowed to , so that's why I asked "

stalen said quietly , Danshifted nervously from foot to foot ,

then said " but that didn't stopyou , right ? " a grin came

creeping at stalen's face , and Dan , whowas relieved

at lighting the mood , laughed out loud , stalen joined

in but stopped almost right away .

28

Chapter 10

laughing wasn't a habit he usually has , or does at all all the

years he lived , he always wished he has people or friends to laugh

With , so he always laughs when Stan or his parents , whom he hates ,

gets in trouble or gets injured , he knows that as wrong , but everything

right now was wrong , like not having his parents , for instance , or

living with people like petersons family , and even though he wished he

could laugh for normal reasons like others do , he says that laughing

is for little and unsuccessful kids , a waste of time , but he didn't know

who he was convincing , them or himself , and when stalen realized

he had just laughed for a real reason , he thought joyfully that maybe

He could stay forever , that maybe this is the house for him .

29

Stalen looked over at the wall of books closely once

again , thinking about which one he wishes to read ,

but something caught his eye , there was a book with

a black leather cover and back that had no author , no

title , and no back description , pages old and yellow ,

it was so plain that it stood out , he picked it up slowly

and admired the heavy weight , he flipped through the

pages , but Only a few of the pages were full , and the

words were barely there ,so stalen had to stare at it for a

while to start to see it clearly , and the rest of the pages

were empty , completely empty .

30

stalen knew right away that this was the

right one , he was so curious that he couldn't wait , he

placed it back gently , moving his finger across the leather

cover , it felt surprisingly smooth , it was Weird but pleasant , he was

surprised by his sparked interest and his gentle placing of

the book , that wasn't the his usual type , but he realized that

maybe it's because books now meant something important to

him , he has something he could share , and that was something

that never happened to him before .

31

he heard Dan call him , but

he ignored him , he still didn't now him well enough , he wished

he could just stay a bit Longer , not only to read the book , he

wanted to know everything that happened , and he knew that

only Dan can help him , he gave the book one last glance and

trudged to Dan , " I want to know about everything , now " stalen

didn't care how he sounded , for this long he was kept in the dark ,

relying on guesses , he didn't want to stay a single day like that

ever again . " everything will be explained tomorrow , there is no

need to worry " Dan said , stalen shot him an angry look but Dan

didn't see it as his back was turned , and after a few seconds stalen

was glad he didn't see , because that might have meant the end of

being here . Of the new life . Of HIS new life .

32

Chapter 11

" bed time , now , go on " Dan said merrily , " it's over there "

he pointed at a plain room in the corner , he was so happy he

had a child in his own care , he always wished to have a child

but never found the right woman to be his wife and his child's

mother , so this was the best next thing , he he enjoyed doing

things usual parents hate and take for granted like telling their

children rules they now they won't even follow or talking about

something they know will start a argument , but that made Dan

feel like a father , " but.. " stalen argued , he would have stubbornly

refused but the time he felt so tired , and felt his eyes heavy ,closing .

" fineee " he said , but secretly he was happy , because no one ever

bothered to tell him any rule or anything before , he usually jeers at

others and tells them that they were wimpy for listening to their parents

and sleeping early and not eating ice cream before dinner , they always

looked jealously at him , which he liked , but he always wished there was

someone to care for him and give him rules like any other normal child ,

so when he pretended to grumble and mumble while going to bed , he

had a tiny jump in his steps that he was trying so hard to hide .

33

When he opened his bedroom door . He was hit by sudden

disappointment , the room was white , plain and empty except

for one tiny chair and a Tiny bed , no better than his other room ,

he thought that if everything changed for him then so would this ,

but he knew he should be grateful anyway , but he could barely

hide his disappointment , " oh yeah , I know , it's not that colorful

like the other rooms , sorry bout that , it's because i didn't know

your coming , I was still looking for you , I didn't know you that well ,

I wasn't sure if your coming with me or what exactly would happen ,

so this room was just a guest room , sometimes if I'm really tired I

sleep here , but usually I don't sleep , I just take naps , so I take my

cat nap outside on the couch , i don't really need full sleep , I'm usually

either driving to somewhere important for my work , or working online

on my laptop , if I'm bored I just read. You know. I think you noticed ,

I'm kind of a book person , my only company " Dan chuckled , tho

there was something quite the opposite in his eyes .

34

" maybe one day we can go shopping and get some stuff to decorate

your room " Stalen nodded and looked at the bed , he didn't know why

he didn't notice that before because even though it was plain , it looked

warm , nice , and Inviting , unlike in his other room , were he just had a thin

teared blanket that was a really old and dirty hand-me-down , and a

pillow stuffed with crunched up paper balls ,he jumped it to bed

and looked at Dan , he gathered the courage to utter the single word

that he only ever heard people use but never imagined or guessed he

ever would , " night " , Dan smiled at him and replied with twinkling

eyes " goodnight , stalen " he closed the door , feeling like he just

did a huge achievement , only children tell their parents these

words , or people they really love , ' I can really count stalen as mine '

Dan thought , and before stalen fell asleep in front of all that happened

that day , he he gave a smile of pleasure , he didn't know that just a

word can make someone feel that way , and then he fell almost instantly

into deep sleep . Deep sleep ....

35

Chapter 12

The next morning he woke up , feeling refreshed , and

stared at the ceiling , a bit confused , he forgot what

happened and was thinking, why does this room look

so different , And then everything hit him , and to let

out the strong emotions welling up inside him , he jumped

off the bed and ran outside , Dan was sitting the the couch

" good morning sleepy head , it's already 3 o' clock in the

afternoon , I thought you'd wake up tomorrow , " Dan

laughed , " well , I need the bathroom but decided to wait

for you , I'm going now , then I'm going to get breakfast

ready , you must be hungry " stalen nodded , feeling his

stomach rumble and went inside the kitchen to check it

out , and once again he was , against his will , impressed .

36

even though it was small in size , the kitchen was full of all

the things you could need , and even though stalen didn't

know so much in this kind of thing , he noticed that they

all were on the latest version , looking more luxurious than

the things in petersons house , and that was something as

they were always extremely interested in showing off and

getting the best things , stalen looked around , the kitchen

was brown-black color , that showed how clean and neat

the kitchen was , there was a chair in the middle of the room

and a window at the side of the wall , the view was great ,

But stalen was a bit surprised they moved from the parking

lot to a office building , then he remembered that the house

was a minivan , stalen went outside just as Dan exited the

bathroom , stalen went inside and locked the door ,examining

the dark blue color of the bathroom , it looked good because

almost everything ,concept the toilet paper . As in the same

color , even the seat , " take a bath , I got some cloth ready for

you in your room " stalen nodded , not aware no one will see it ,

he heard the sound of a door closing and wondered what door

was being closed .

37

Stalen wondered wich door could it be , but lost interest , soon , he was out and wrapped in a towel. Shivering , the water was cold and stalen didn't take long , and the water couldn't really be enjoyed , he went inside the room and changed . He heard Dan saying "I hope the cloth fit , I drove to the office building because that street had a cloth shop , but I didn't now if was your size , I'm hoping it is " stalen chuckled and went to the bathroom again to look at his bizarre appearance , he cloth were fine but they were a bit short and tight , when he went out Dan said " well , it could last a few days. Maybe one day i can go get some cloths and take you with me to choose " stalen smiled and sat at the table , the food smelled great and stalen heard his stomach grumble again , he picked up the fork and spoon but found it hard to eat that way so he placed it down and started eating the way he always does , with his hands , gulping down the food noisily , he was so hungry . But unlike Peterson , Dan didn't criticize him . " did you make this food ? It tastes good " Dan laughed and said " I'm glad you think so. But I'm no THAT Good at cooking , on , i think I'm not good at all , I bought this " both laughed and continued stuffing chicken legs , fries , and drinking soup .

38

When they were done , stalen washed his hands quickly and helped with the Washing up . Dan was coughing suspiciously unrealistically and stalen knew it was fake " errrr ... You want something ? " he asked , " oh no . I mean .. Yes .. Soo ... So I was going to say that I'm going to leave for some hours to do .. Err .. Something.. I mean ... Do some work and .. Yeah , so .. Err .. Yeah .. And you can do anything you want until I come and then we can talk about anything you'd like " stalen was growing suspicious by every word but the last sentence cleared things up . A little . " oh no . You promised to talk after I woke up , I'm awake , then you said after I take a shower and change and eat and I AGREED , now your telling me after you come !! " " I'm sorry .. Really . My Mail.. I mean my work can't wait , but the talk can .. I won't forget my self in those few hours . Haha..ha.h..a..h...." He laughed nervously , and the went hurriedly to the drivers seat . Avoiding eye contact .

39

Chapter 13

After Dan left , stalen groaned , looking around , trying to familirize himself

With his new surroundings , after some time looking around , he got bored and slumped back on the couch , his eyes closing . When he woke up he decided to check out the books more carfuly , he stretched and stood up , walking towards the book wall , he eyes slowly serched for that book , the one book that really caught his eyes last time , but after what seemed like a long time he still couldn't find it . He was about to give up when suddenly at tye corner of his eyes he caught sight of something " read me .... read me " it seemed to say it was dark - brown , old , big , heavy and ... blank .

40

Stalen stretched his hands and pulled it slowly put of its

shelf , gently trying to make the other books stay still ,

as he went back to the couch and opened the book

really carfuly , stalen was surprised by how he was

treating the book , but he felt like he should , a gut

feeling . " just be carfuly with them " he heard his

mind tell him , he shook his head and tried to ignore

all his feelings , something he didn't know existed

till know , and Finally , finally he got to know what

this book talked about ! He shifted a little , trying to

get himself into a more comfortable position , and

placed the book on his lap , he slowly began to

read .

41

Chapter 14

' this is a myth , a legend, a story that went on

for century's farther than you can ever imagine

but most people forgot it , all except my grandma ,

she used to tell me this story all the time , and I

loved it plot , so that i always asked for it again , this

is the story I would like to share to you , but be aware , this not

just any old story , keep that in mind . Let's start at the

beginning , as my grandmother used to say . At the

very beginning . It all started with this...

42

There was this old man who had once saved the life of

a young lady from drowning and always reminds her

of it , " what can I do to pay back what I owe

You , good man ? " she always asks

whenever he reminds her " there is nothing

now you could do that I can't do " everyday was

the same , until the young lady felt that finally

he forgotten her great dept and started to

breath a tiny bit more freely , one day the man

called her over , and when she came , he told

her " remember how I saved your life ? "

and the poor girl looked down and nodded ,

' he had far from forgotten ' she thought .

" well , I have something for you to do

that will pay back your dept " .

43

" if you didn't know , I'm a principal at a ... Let's say ... umm

.. unsual school , and I had unuckly been , cursed ...Err. ..

I mean , diagnosed , ..yeah.diagnosed...with cancer ... so

i'm sure to die soon , I want you , when I die , to come

out to take a place as a teacher in school and then meet

your brother , who I know he and his g**g will take over the

school to ruin just out of spite , tell him that I kidn*pped you

and when you died you came as quickly as possible to them ,

to anything to convict them your with them , I don't think it will

be hard , he adores you , your job is to protect students , but

don't let anyone k ow , not even the students .... " the woman

was so confused and puzzled but promised to do her best .

" Your best is not enough , I want you do save every student ,

every single one "

44

So the young woman did as told , and lucky manged

to convince her brother , who , shamefuly , was a

member of a g**g , A murderer .And got a job , she

saw things in that school , that she says was like

magic , but she never said more , and every time

a child gets sent to the g**g member she tells

them she'd like to punish them instead , and she

gives them the most severe punishment to not

arouse suspicion but the lest physically harmful

one she can find , she never manages to save

them all , but she did do a great job , and no one ,

no one ever knew her true identity , and the children

would called her " the worst bratty teacher " and

way worse things behind her back , and she knew

it , but was forced to hide her identity , all her life

wasted pay g back the old man , she liked to help

students , she really did , but she died hated , known

as " the evil Mary queen 3" on the papers of all the

old police cases as must be found , while she spent

her life protecting the kids . '

45

stalen turned the next page , there were lots of other

pages , but they all were empty . He placed the book

back and thought on what he read , he felt aomething ,

a new feeling , something he never felt before , and

then he realized what it was , it was pity , " it's just

a stupid charcter " he told himself , but he couldn't

help it , before he could think more about it , he heard

the door open and looked up to see Dan coming in ,

" hey stalen " stalen didn't answer , 'you just remembered

to come home ' he thought sarcastically .he went into his

own room , sulking , then remembered that he was just about

to know the truth he wanted , waited for for too long , in no time

he had zoomed out of the room and to Dan , who was sitting

the table , already changed . " are you going to tell me now ?

Or do you have another stupid excuse " he bit his tongue ,

noo , he was not supposed to be that rude , and , reading

the expression Dan had , he knew he was going to be on

the streets...again " I'm sorry , stalen , I" stalen couldn't hear

any more , he knew he was about to be kicked out right that

moment " ok .. I'm going ...I. ..yea..fine...err. .ok...whatever...

I'll leave...Its ok.... " and out of the door he went .

46

" wait " he felt a iron grip on his arms , and

stalen didn't bother to lift his head , and

even if he did , he wouldn't , because he

doesn't want anyone to see him crying

' boys don't cry ' that's what everyone a

lways tell him , thats how it all started ,

that's how he stopped feeling . " yeah ,

ok , I know , I don't want my stuff , I don't

have much , they're not important ,

they're mostly yours in the first place "

he croaked m trying to pull his arm

free but his grip was to hard . He was

pulled back inside , stalen felt his

face must be dry enough and looked

up he saw Dan looking incrediously

at him " what in the world has gone

wrong with you ? " .

47

stalen didn't know what type of

game he was playing " your..your

the one who told me to go.. go out "

" told you what ? You kidding me right ?

Since when ! " stalen was getting

frustrated " you just said so , you

said I'm sorry stalen .. " stalen

couldn't countinue , he didn't

know what else to say " oh my

god , are your ears still working "

chuckled Dan " I said , I'm sorry

Dan for telling you late , let's sit

down and I will tell you everything "

stalen looked stunned " really ! "

he asked , Dan nodded , chuckling

stalen breathed a quite sigh of

relief and Dan made a sercastic

bow , hands outstretched " may

you " stalen forced a chuckle

and walked to the table , Dan

right behind him , they both

pulled and chair and sat down ,

stalen finally satisfied that the

answers he and ways seeked

is finally here.

48

Well , as you alread'y know , I'm your uncle , and ,

well , your father died when your were one ,

after the incident , the one were you pushed

your father towards the shot..look . I'll tell

you something , you were only one , really ,

it just was a wrong movement at tge wrong

time , when I think about it , it's so odd that

people think of you that way when your just

one at the time , but it's just that your father

was someone famous , really famous , he

was in the army at 13 years when the world

war two started and he helped win it , leaving

unharmed . He was then promoted general

and , among other things he did for the people ,

he , he was just really loved amongst his people

And people were shocked that he manged to

survive many many things and gets beaten by

a single push of yours , they thought you must

have some sort of evil power .

49

they really weren't that sure , but they

thought it's better just to avoid you to be

on the safe side ... so .. your ... Your mom did abandon

you and she went to marry another man , and they

married and got a child , who's name is Mike sandew ,

because the mother insisted to name him after your

father and your step dad .so you see ? You do have

a mother , even though she reqlly isn't that nice ,

and you do have a stepdad , me , and your

half-brother , you do have family , you

do .

50

The next day stalen woke up , a bit more

used to the house , he remembered all

that Dan had told him and asked himself

" are answers really what I wanted , or did

I just want lies as long as therye good news ?

" stalen shook his head and went out , we're

he found a plate of scrambled eggs in front

of him a part of it black and burned , stalen

remembered what Dan has said " I'm not really

that great a cook " stalen chuckled quitely and

started eating .

51

when his plate was finished he went in

and changed into proper cloth , as Dan

had told him they were going to go out to shop

for cloth , and stalen was secretly very excited ,

after changing he went into the bathroom and

brushed his teeth with thz nez toothbrush dan

got for him , and then went out to find Dan out

of his bedroom , all ready , and driving "

goodmorning stalen , you already up and

ready ? good " soon Dan stopped and

practically jumped right out of the van ,

stalen right behind him , for stalen , he

felt like he'll have the best day

ever .

52