In A distant land

"Is you dead?" His eyebrow quirks up as a small smile curves his face drawing dimples. I open the door wider to let him in. He gives me a quick side hug and proceeds to sit on the couch. "Yap," I close the door behind me and follow him in. I draw the curtains letting light in for the first time in a while. "You are not drinking alcohol this early in the morning,"his face crunches up in disgust as he smells the liquid sitting in the glass. I sit beside him and take the glass from him also bringing it up to smell its contents. Smells poisonous. "Its been there a while. "I place it on the coffee table. " I can't really tell since when." "Hmm,thats um nice to hear." His eyes dart around," I like what you have done with the place so far. Immaculate ,if I may say,I'm pretty sure a messy home will be trendy one day. It gives off a homely vibe,I can tell a rat-I mean human has been staying here," he meets my eyes playfully. "Is there a reason you are in my house at this ungodly hour on a weekend?" I fold my hands across my chest. A wave of fatigue washes over me. I yawn. Damn, I need to sleep. " Ok one,its only ten a.m and two its tuesday and three, am here to check up on you, make sure you don't kill yourself or something,"His eyes look at me pitifully. I don't like it. I sigh. " Have you been sleeping?"He asks,folding his leg over the other, holding his knee with his hand. " Yap," I answer nonchalantly. " And eating?" " Not really," " Cleaning?" " Somewhat," " Do you want me to move in? " No," " Lian!"he exclaims. " What? " He sighs. " I'm moving in.No,am not giving you any more space and yes i might or might not have accepted an invitation back to work." He takes the glass to the kitchen and pours its contents in the sink. I follow him. "The invitation was yours by the way, you should really check your mail. " He cleans the glass,"There's no way in hell the last time you ate is when I was here!"His scrawny arms hit the counter loudly. " I ordered some food," I said leaning my head on the counter. For some reason it was throbbing. " Wait, was that you said about an invitation?" " Oh yeah Fable.Org sent an email. Apparently there is an emergency and they asked you to be there." He fetches a glass of water. " And you thought that in this state, I am ready to provide a solution." " Absolutely, you need a break from this hell hole- I mean house. Its been weeks since you left this house." "Seems like hours," Honestly it did. Time just seemed to pass by, uneventful. "Lets try this again, it will be just like the old times." A genuine small curves his features, his eyes pleading silently. "Hmm,maybe they will kill me faster than this hell hole am in."I deliberate. "That' s the spirit!" He highfives me,grinning wildly," you know except the death part. Honestly I thought this was going to be a lot harder. "he sighs. He places a glass of water infront of me and motions for me to drink it. I eye it suspiciously. He scoffs "Honey,you look like a zombie and not the cute kind.Your hair looks like a herd of spiders live in there not to mention your lips are drier and than the sahara desert," he puts the glass in my hand," And I could fit a lifetime of shopping in your eyebags and can I just-" "I get it I look terrible,you dont need to-" "Your hair might fall off," he slaps his hand over his mouth. "-point out everything."I finish. We spend the rest of the day, watching movies and eating and laughing and I don't remember falling asleep, but I did and when I woke up, the apartment looked like a fairy had cleaned it up overnight. A small smile lit my face. I honestly don't know what I would've done without a Zee in my life. Probably die. *** The cold breeze hit my face refreshingly ,giving me even more energy to step on the gas. Zee has his seat leaned all the way ack, singing along to the music. The familiar landscape felt new to look at. "Fresh air is better than I remember," I say as I take a left turn into the tunnelI turn on the headlights for better vision. "It always is," he turns up the volume on the radio and we sing to it. We reach the dead end; a giant rock blocking the entrance. I get out and stride to the few vines hanging around. I move to reveal a scanner and put in my fingerprint. The scanner beeps and turns green. The rock moves to reveal the great city of stories. I walk back to the car and start the engine again. "That rock gives me some major Jesus vibes,"Zee says adjusting the seat back to an upright position. My eyes are welcomed y the beautiful view, noise buzzing around adding to the liveliness of the city. Music, trading, walking, waving, just how I left. Tall buildings and simple stalls litter the area, the stone roads, smooth .Things look as bright and cheerful as I remember. I drive straight toward the fountain in the center of the city,the giant open book of stone looked bigger than I remember. The words floating on top of it was the ultimate summary of this place. STORIES. A city built solely from characters different stories, majorly fairytales. I turn left following the yellow brick road to Fable.Org. A few hellos and a long drive later,I park. My eyes travel up and down the tall familiar building. I adjust my blazer and walk into it. "Meeting room," the receptionist says,giving my file. I tuck it under my armpits and stride towards the elevator. "Have a great day!" Zee screams at the receptionist as we enter the elevator. I press the 5th button,a small smile curving my lips. Zee's energy can be contagious. A wide smile is plastered on his face, he doesn't other to hide his excitement . He winks at me when the elevator dings.He throws his hand around my shoulders,there's a little hop in his walk. We reach the room and he pushes the doors open. " Guess who's back!!" He shouts. I flinch a little from the loudness of his voice. I smile as they look at me. Everybody is settled in their seats lined up on either sides of the long mahogany tale in the middle of the table. Books, pens and a few bottles of water are placed neatly on the tale. The giant pictures of main characters still look glossy on the wall. My eyes linger on Hansel and Gretel, the reason am here. " Miss Gretel,its great to see you again," Felix says as his eyes land on me." Have a seat,we are starting in five," he motions to the empty seats. Everybody goes back to whatever the were doing. "They are happy to have you back,I swear," he puts his hands up in surrender. I walk to my seat. A nostalgic feeling washes over me. I open the notebook in front of me. "I cant believe am back," I say under my breath. Felix walks to the other end of the long table,he welcomes us and thanks us for attending the meeting. He does a few introductions. I started to feel my attention slowly slipping away. " As I said in the emails I sent you the other day,we are experiencing a little trouble. We have been able to maintain a somewhat peaceful environment here in the land of stories but lately its seems as if somebody clearly doesn't want that to happen." His eyes bore right into mine. *First draft... *Vote, enjoy and comment.