The party’s music was bumpin’ but Jamaal wasn’t having any of it. He’d gone to the party to explicitly see Keisha. She was the kind of girl who curved right, was never ashy, and had a big butt and an immaculate smile. More importantly she liked guys who could at least talk a good game. Being that he’d been in debate club and a few other intellectual clubs he figured he had that covered. Besides, she had seemed interested in him back in their math class.
Once he arrived however, he came to the quick realization that Keisha had come to see some other guys. Bigger guys, the type of guys who might not be as adept at the chit chat but could say just enough and back it up physically as well. After a few shouting matches between the other guys Jamaal had decided that the better course of action was to hang back. Maybe things would turn his way later on. He took up space in the kitchen by the beer, waited and helped himself to the beverages he was adjacent to.
After a half an hour and a few beers one of the guests decided to hotbox the kitchen, or at least make the effort to do so. Jamaal tried to leave once it started but a mass of people soon crowded in and left him stuck near the wall by a half dozen or so of his empty bottles. Another half hour passed, and in that time he’d managed to snag another drink or two and pound them as he watched Keisha and one of the bigger guys through the smoky haze disappear into a room off to the right. It was then Jamaal decided to make his move and leave the party.
Jamaal hugged the wall as he slowly waded his way through the crowd. Thanks to the beer and whatever it was that was in that smoke his shoulder remained stuck to the wall until he’d made it to the front door. With what felt like great effort Jamaal launched himself through the doorway and into the cool evening air, free of the toxins within the house. It was a glorious feeling but it wouldn’t last.
No sooner had he extricated himself from the throng of party goers onto the porch that gravity decided to grab hold of him again and jerk him over the railing to the ground below. Jamaal groaned audibly. A few of the guests who were on the porch laughed.
It took a minute but the young black man got up and dusted himself off. He muttered his opinion of the laughter to himself and staggered to his car ignoring anything anybody else said no matter how insistent it was. Once there he leaned against the passenger door and looked back at the cream colored house. Jamaal still wanted Keisha, but it wasn’t meant to be, not against those guys. With a low grumble he made his way over to the driver side door and gave the house one last look before muttering, “Never trust a big butt and a smile.” He then slid over to the driver side and got in.
Jamaal kept the car on the road as he drove. The lines didn’t seem to be all that jumbled as he left the neighborhood. Yet, the further he drove the less familiar the surroundings became. Copious amounts of trees began to appear as he made his way down the street. He tried a left, then another in the hope that one of them would put him back on something he recognized yet the more he drove the less familiar things became. Then the rain hit.
He could feel the wind pick up and push against the side of his car. Once the wind hit so did a torrent of rain that pummeled his vehicle. With the rain, what little light there was retreated behind the gloom of the storm. The occasional flash of lightning and his headlights being the only sources Jamaal had. Even so he pressed on further down the road until the engine stalled.
Jamaal wanted to scream but, instead slumped back into the seat of the car. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. Anytime it had rained the Avenger acted up. Quietly, he noted to himself that the next time he got a car he wouldn’t get one that was triple digits in price and would heed the warning of any vehicle whose company name was a synonym for avoid.
It was time to call for a tow. He thought he’d turned down a street called Dash or Cash Road but he couldn’t be sure. He reached into his pocket and felt around for his phone but only found his wallet. He reached into another pocket then another. It was missing. He sighed, shut his eyes and thought back to the party and his spill off of the porch. He was willing to bet that was where he’d left it. He opened his eyes and the thunder rolled.
Several flashes of light ripped across the sky and in the distance he saw a large house just beyond several trees. It looked like it had seen better days. Jamaal eyed the dark building. There was no way he was going into an abandoned building with spiders, rats, and ghosts as the only probable inhabitants. He’d watched horror movies. He knew that nothing good could come out of his venturing forth into such a place. At least that’s what his rational sober mind would have said.
In his current state however, disappointed by a girl, alcohol and whatever was in that smoke addled his mind. With the addition of a broken down car, Jamaal thought it was a heck of a good idea to see if that place had a phone he could use. So, without a word he pulled the key from the ignition, opened the car door and made a break for the front door. To his credit he was only moderately drenched when he reached the cover of the front porch.
Jamaal knocked on the door several times but there was no answer. He jiggled the doorknob and found that it turned. He pushed the door slightly and it slowly creaked open. With a gulp and in defiance of any logic that movies and the news had taught him over the years Jamaal walked into the spooky structure. He called out and asked if anybody was home and declared his need of a phone. The only reply was silence.
Even in the gloom of the rainy night Jamaal could see that the place was a pit. Several stains dotted the ceiling and the staircase was missing a railing. The floor had scuff marks and grime from years of neglect. He looked to his left and saw a small dining table and chairs, clearly out of place, by the picture window. Jamaal decided to stagger to the left into what had obviously been the living room. A couch covered in a sheet sat in front of a fireplace. In the far corner of the room sat an uncovered mirror near a long wobbly table. He made note of it and carefully checked the rest of the ground floor but didn’t find a soul or a ghost around. He considered checking the upstairs but decided against it not trusting the flight to the next level. Instead he plopped down on the couch.
His mind began to wander and before too long he began to feel a bit cold due to his wet clothes. His eyes, having fully adjusted to the darkness, allowed him to see that the fireplace had kindling and a set of matches by it. He thought it was weird but, if this was the first bit of good luck he had tonight he’d take it.
With the fire lit, an orange light slowly filled the room. He sighed again as he sat back on the couch, his gaze drifted around the room as the shadows danced on the walls. Since this place was abandoned he figured he’d just stay the night and in the morning, once it had stopped raining, he’d take off. As he sat exhaustion from the events of the evening crept over Jamaal and he yawned. It wasn’t long before Jamaal laid back on the couch and allowed sleep to overtake him.
It wasn’t long before something roused him from his slumber. Jamaal opened his eyes and noticed that the fire place was giving off much more light than it had when he’d nodded off. He blinked and rubbed them. From the corner he saw what looked like a horse standing in the corner staring at him. Yet, it was too small for a horse. It was a light grayish green pony with a cyan mane. At first Jamaal wanted to question it but figured it was just some toy he hadn’t seen in the gloom and still feeling tired nodded back off to sleep.
A crack of thunder roused Jamaal again. He sat up his eyes immediately locked on the spot where the pony had been standing only now the pony was propped up on a table its front legs wrapped around the table’s. It looked over at him and this time it wasn’t alone. Next to it was some sort of creature. The front half was like a bird but the back half was like a lion.
Jamaal was locked in a staring match with the creature and began to say, “The…”
“So, should we do it now,” asked the creature.
“No,” said the pony, “Let’s wait until Pinkie comes.”
Jamaal blinked and yawned. “I must still be stoned. Whatever they were smoking in there …” said Jamaal, his voice trailing off as sleep overtook him again.
The thump of something heavy falling startled Jamaal back to consciousness. He looked over at where the two had been before only this time there was a third. This one was orange and scaly. It looked like a big lizard but it had wings. Jamaal wasn’t a fan of lizards. Not since Nina stuck one down the back of his hoodie in first grade. He stared at the lizard which now stared back at him.
“Guys,” said the lizard, “He’s awake again. Are we going to do this now or…?”
“No,” called the voice of the pony from another room, “Wait until Pinkie comes.”
From under one of the table’s legs there was a flash and some sort of strange for legged bug thing appeared next to the lizard. The table immediately shifted to one side. “I can’t keep that up all night guys haven’t you found…”
“It’s a ghost!” shrieked Jamaal as he shot up from the couch.
The bug thing shrieked as well and took off for the kitchen. Jamaal wasn’t sure what the lizard or the other two were doing but the amount of clattering was enough to add some speed to his retreat. He was almost at the door when it flew open. Standing in the door way was a smallish super fluffy, musky cow type thing. “Yona finish drink run! She got soda and cider but shop owner want card. Yona not know …”
Jamaal turned skidded to a stop. A part of his mind wanted to know why this animal was talking and how it had managed to get several bags of the beverages over its horns. However, a larger part was in pure flight mode. He turned toward the stairs when all of a sudden the lights turned on. He saw another creature at the top. It was half bird and half horse. “The switch was up all these stairs!”
Blinded, Jamaal staggered back passed the doorway into the table and chairs. His mind wildly jumped about as to what was going on. Then a quick realization came. First, he’d almost been seduced by a temptress, but while he’d waited for her to ply her wiles on him he’d indulged in various intoxicants and now beasts were here, with more intoxicants. They spoke in a language he understood. There was only one thing that it could be.
Jamaal reached behind him and grabbed one of the chairs tightly in his hands, “Not today Satan!” he shouted as he chucked it through the window with which sent glass flying everywhere and startled the beasts.
“No wait,” called the bird horse thing, “You don’t understand! There’ll be cake!”
“Everybody knows the cake is a lie,” shouted Jamaal as he jumped through the window and ran into the storm.
Yona, Silverstream and Sandbar, who had emerged from the kitchen, watched the strange creature run through the night. “Well, that was weird,” said Sandbar finally.
“Who’s Stan?” asked Yona as she set her burdens onto the table.
“I think he said Satan,” said Sandbar, “Maybe one of us looked like him. Sounds shady anyway.”
“But there is cake,” said Silverstream, “Is this the way they react to surprise parties in this world?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care,” replied Smolder from the kitchen doorway, “We surprised him and soon with our teacher’s help there will be a party. That should be good enough for extra credit.”
“But Pinkie Pie wanted to be here for it and I don't think its who we were supposed to surprise,” answered Sandbar.
Smolder ignored Sandbar and opened one of the bottles of Angry Orchard. She took a drink and instantly made a face of disgust, “Should have picked a happier orchard.”
“Listen while you four are busy chit chatting about the whatever it was that was on the couch, Ocellus has hidden herself in the pantry and I’m going to need one of you to help me convince her to come out of hiding.”
“Yeah yeah we’re coming,” muttered Smolder as the quartet followed the griffin back into the kitchen.
