Category: Words From My Inner Child Andy

Knock Knock.
Who’s There?
Nobel.
Nobel who?
There’s no bell for me to ring, that’s why I’m knocking on your door!

Click here to open the PDF for Chapters 1 to 33.

Andy and The Zodiac Crystal – Chapter 34

“What are you doing here?! Get out!” I said feeling half angry, half scared at seeing the sudden appearance of Assistant Principal Carl Dillard in Chris’s bedroom.

“The real question is…what are you doing here Andy?” said Carl with a sneer and in that same sinister-sounding tone. “Looking for your Guardian I presume. Well it’s apparent he’s not here. Let me guess, he must have gone to the Council to see how you two can stop me.”

“We ARE going to find a way to stop you.” I said maybe a little too overly confident.

The pain began searing immediately in my head.

“You can’t stop me. No one can, especially not from a few 12-years olds the Council thinks so highly of.”

“Yeah, well if you are so powerful, then why do you need my crystal?!” 

“Because with your crystal in my possession, no one is ever going to stop me.”

“So then you’re admitting I actually have a chance to stop you then?” I said catching on to the irony in his words. “You know what I think Carl? I think you’re afraid. That’s why you want my crystal because you’re afraid of losing the only power you have in this world and becoming powerless.”

The pain grew even stronger, like a nail was being driven into my head, but I didn’t stop.

“You think you’re so strong, but actually, you’re weak! You have to control people and instill fear in them just to respect you. That’s why you aren’t a Keeper of a light-based Zodiac crystal and that’s why you can’t stand the Council.” 

Even though the pain in my head was becoming excruciating, I could feel something stronger growing within me.

“You don’t know anything. You’re just a stupid kid who has a powerful crystal with no idea how to use it.” Carl said defiantly.

“I don’t need a crystal to deal with bullies like you. That’s all you are Carl. An adult-sized bully. And that’s what your Dad was to you. And guess what? Now you’re only following in his footsteps becoming just like him.”

“SHUT UP YOU INSIGNIFICANT LITTLE COCKROACH!” 

Something was happening. The pain was lessening in my head and I could tell it was undermining Carl’s ability to control me with his dark crystal’s abilities.

“Am I striking a nerve Carl? You know what’s funny? I don’t care about the pain you’re causing in my head anymore. In fact, you can inflict all the pain you want on me, but that’s not going to change the fact that you’re still just a scared little kid who had an abusive father!”

The pain in my head then suddenly disappeared completely.

“Maybe if your parents had treated you with unconditional love, you might have not become like this. Maybe then Council might have selected you to receive the crystal you want so bad to take from me. Well too bad. You can’t have it because you don’t deserve it!” 

The look in the Assistant Principal’s eyes said it all. He was now the one who looked afraid and if his powers were still active within him, they weren’t working on me one bit. I don’t know whether that was because I had distracted him from what he had been doing to me, or whether me overcoming my own fear had changed something somehow. Either way, Carl Dillard looked like a sad little kid at the moment, like he was about to be pushed down to the ground again by his angry father.

“You may have overcome my abilities this time Andy, but that won’t happen again the next time…” said Carl, as a vortex abruptly appeared next to him, which he slipped through and ultimately disappeared into the night.

I did it! I actually beat him! Man, I wish Chris was here, as I really wanted to savor the moment and celebrate the victory with him. But he wasn’t there and I was becoming more and more concerned with each passing minute.

I decided to sit down on his bed while I pondered what to do next. There were a few comic books nearby that I picked up and leafed through, hoping that at some point, Chris would reappear in that tornado that comes along with travelling to see the Council. But he didn’t and after thirty minutes passed, I decided it was time to head home and hope that I’d see him at the bus stop in the morning.

After teleporting myself back to my room, I sat on my own bed feeling rather excited on the one hand, because I had defeated Carl for the first time. But on the other hand, I was really worried about how long Chris was going to be gone, given the time displacement that happens with visiting the Council.

That worry only grew worse the next morning when Chris didn’t show up at the bus stop or at school. When my home phone rang later that evening after having a very restless day, I had hoped it was Chris saying he was back.

“Andy? It’s Chris’s mother on the line. Can you come downstairs please?” My mother shouted from the kitchen. I had been trying to focus on something else other than my worry about when Chris was going to return by attempting to do my homework, but I wasn’t having much success.

“I’M COMING!” I yelled back as I got up from my desk and headed downstairs.

“Andy, have you seen or talked with Chris today? Mrs. Riley says she hasn’t heard from him and he was supposed to check-in around 6pm.”

 I didn’t know whether to lie or to tell the truth. I knew that Chris didn’t like me lying, but shouldn’t I cover for him somehow? What would I say though if I did try to cover for him?

“Andy?”

“Ummm, no I haven’t seen or talked to him today Mom.”

 I actually told the truth. Maybe being a Keeper really was changing me for the better?

 “He wasn’t at school today Andy?” 

“No. But maybe it was because he felt sick and chose to stay home? Maybe he’s just trying to sleep it off? Or maybe their home phone isn’t working for some reason?”

I know that was a lot of maybe’s, but at least it wasn’t me lying since I was only posing some questions. Unfortunately, I knew the real truth though and I was as concerned for Chris as much as his mom was. I shuddered at the sudden thought of all those years that went by with me in that cave for just several hours of time there.

“Linda, I’m sorry, it doesn’t appear that we have any information for you. Would you like us to stop over at your house and knock on the door?”

My mother paused while she listened to Mrs. Riley and then wrote a number down.

“Ok, I will call you back in a short while. I’m sure he’s fine Linda…. Ok … Goodbye.”

“Andy, we’re going to take a quick walk over to Chris’s house to see if he’s there.” 

“That’s fine Mom.”

It wasn’t fine though, because I knew he wasn’t going to be there. After all, I know he would have called me already if he had returned from visiting the Council.

The trip to his house seemed to be as quick as one of my journeys through those vortexes. But I’m sure that’s because my mother had walked there extremely fast. I think she was feeling overly concerned for Mrs. Riley, given what she had gone through with me when I had disappeared for all those years.

Once we reached Chris’s front door, I rang the doorbell a few times and waited.

After what seemed like a very long time, my mother reached for the doorknob and tried to turn it.

“Mom, what are you doing?”

“I’m seeing if it’s unlocked.” She said nervously.

And oddly enough it was. I had wondered if Chris had forgotten to do that before leaving to visit the Council or whether it was Carl Dillard’s doing the previous night. I didn’t have time to think about it though because my mother had just opened the door and was now poking her head in.

“Chris? Are you here? Your mother is a little worried because you haven’t checked in with her yet this evening?”

My mother waited a second and then yelled his name even louder.

“CHRIS? ARE YOU HERE?” 

Nothing. Which of course I knew was going to happen.

“I’m going in and taking a look around.” My mother said adamantly.

“Mom, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

I was trying to stall, knowing she wasn’t going to find much of anything.

“Of course I’m sure Andy! Chris is missing and I know what that feels like, when your child goes missing.” 

Her voice started to waver and for a moment, I thought she was going to cry.

“Mom, it’s ok. Let’s go take a look together.” I said reassuringly.

We spent the next ten minutes wandering throughout the house and as expected, we found nothing other than the heavy mess that was left behind in Chris’s room from the tornado that comes with going to visit the Council of the Zodiac.

“I’m calling Mrs. Riley right now Andy. This isn’t looking good at all.”

She then pulled out the slip of paper with the number Mrs. Riley had given her and picked up a cordless phone sitting on the kitchen counter.

She was right. This wasn’t looking good at all, but not for the reasons she and Mrs. Riley were thinking. But I had one idea that I think could prevent a bad situation from growing any worse and I truly hoped it would work.

“Libra…” I whispered the word, knowing that I could still use my crystal, even with Chris having it in another dimension.

WHOOSH.

My mother’s hand remained paused in mid-dial, phone cradled within it.

If time existed differently in Council’s realm, then pausing time here shouldn’t affect Chris’s return. At least that was my hope. I wondered though, just how long I was going to have to wait with the world being frozen in time to see if my hunch was correct…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Q: Why was the nose feeling sad?
A: Because he was tired of being picked on!

(Click HERE for the PDF of Chapters 1 to 32)

Andy and The Zodiac Crystal – Chapter 33

It felt as if the rest of the school day went by at a snail’s pace. I had deactivated the Virgo ability on my way back to class and my head was now totally swimming with nothing but fears and worries about Carl Dillard. How long had he been watching me? How was I supposed to stop him? And how am I going to prevent him from hurting my family or Chris’s?

By the time the school day ended, I had no answers to any of these questions and hadn’t retained much of anything that had come out of my teacher’s mouth, not even during one of my favorite subjects, that being Math. After getting my jacket out of my hall locker and leaving a few books within it that I didn’t need for the night, I headed out to where the buses were beginning to line up and saw Chris was already there waiting for me.

“So I see you survived a visit to the principal’s office?” Chris said with a jovial smile, obviously having no idea what happened to me while there.

Our bus had just pulled up and opened its doors for everyone to board. As I began to walk up the few short steps, knowing I had a lot to fill Chris in with on the ride home, I suddenly felt that icy feeling head up my spine and my head began to throb again. I immediately clasped my hands against the sides of my skull, hoping it might help somehow, and then turned around to look for the Assistant Principal.

“What’s wrong?” Chris said from behind me, seeing me in apparent distress.

I pointed when I located him. He was standing directly in the center of the throngs of kids who were filing out to their buses, hands on his hips, glaring at me with a menacing stare.

“Hey kid, you’re holding up everyone from getting on the bus!” The driver said sounding slightly irritated.

I turned around and swiftly headed towards the very back with Chris following from behind. The pain began to subside as I took my seat.

“What the heck was that all about?” Chris said, as soon as he was seated next to me.

“Do you remember that prophecy I told you about, the one that Delilah had given me, up in the mountains?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“It’s all true.”

“What do you mean it’s all true?”

I spent the next ten minutes telling him everything from the strange feelings I had that someone was watching me back at the cabin, to the man who was sitting in the diner on our trip home who kept staring at me, to the pains I got in my head when he was, to the assistant principal who was actually the very same person, to the powers he demonstrated when I couldn’t move, and finally to what he promised he would do if I didn’t give him the crystal willingly.

The bus was beginning to pull away from the school’s parking lot. I made sure not to look out the window, as I didn’t want to see Carl Dillard still staring at me with that awful look on his face, nor did I want to have any more of that icy feeling running up my spine.

“He wasn’t there in case you’re wondering.” Chris said, seeing how afraid I was to even look out the window.

“I don’t know what to do Chris? If we don’t give the crystal to him, he said he’s going to harm you and your family and mine as well.” 

“We can’t give it to him. You know that.”

“I know, but I’m not strong enough to beat him. He’s had years to master the use of his dark crystal. I can’t believe this is happening! Up until just a few days ago, I was rather enjoying learning all the ins and outs of my crystal, but now I feel like it’s a curse.”

“I understand how you’re feeling, which is why I think it’s time I pay another visit to the Council of the Zodiac.” 

“What are they going to do? They’re probably just going to speak in ways that don’t make any sense and tell us we need to figure it out on our own.” 

Chris could tell I was totally frustrated and speaking out of fear.

“Look, I know you’re upset and afraid, but we need to work together. And we will make it through this.”

“I don’t know how you can have such a positive attitude about this…”

“Well, a negative one is only going to make it seem all the more impossible to overcome.”

“Yeah, I know. Well I hope you have something in mind to ask specifically to the Council. Remember there’s that time lapse that happens while we are there.”

“I know, but there’s no ‘we’ this time. I’m going alone.”

“What? What do you mean you’re going alone? Don’t I have to be present to activate it?”

“I don’t think so. And I’m going alone because I don’t want your parents freaking out if you were to disappear again for a period of time.” 

“Well what about your parents?”

“Well you see that’s the thing. I don’t have to tell them anything because they’re heading out of town for a few days. My mother got a call last night from her parents. I guess her father had a slight heart attack and is in the hospital. They say he’s going to be ok, but my grandmother thought it would be a good idea for my parents to come anyway.” 

“They’re going to leave you alone all that time?”

“Of course, they trust me. I’ve never given them any reason why they shouldn’t. It’s not like I disappeared into the woods for several years you know.” 

“Ha ha, very funny. So when are they leaving?”

“They already did this afternoon. I just need to check in with them tonight and then I won’t talk with them again until tomorrow night.” 

“So you’re planning on visiting the Council tonight and hoping to be back before then? What about school?”

“Well I’m hoping I’ll be back before then, at least that’s the plan…”

“You have no clue what you’re doing, do you?” 

“Well do you? We certainly need some help and I know of no better way to get that than to visit the Council again.”

We spent the rest of the bus ride home brainstorming some questions Chris could ask the Council, with the biggest one being how could we better protect ourselves from Carl Dillard. I also personally wanted to know how this dark crystal came into existence and asked if Chris could get the answer.

Once the bus had dropped us off at our stop, I wished him good luck and said I’d hope to see him the next morning there. He agreed and then headed towards his house.

The walk back to my house felt different today. I kept looking over my shoulders, thinking I’d see Carl Dillard watching me off in the distance. I also thought some strange person or animal might unexpectedly show up and say or do something to me, being manipulated by his powers. But thankfully none of that happened.

The rest of my evening sped by pretty quickly. I received a phone call from Chris just before he planned on attempting to use the “Zōidiakos” ability. I wished him good luck once again and told him to call me back if it didn’t work.

It was hard to focus on anything after I hung up. At first, I waited by the phone for a bit, thinking he was going to call back and let me know it didn’t work, but when he didn’t, I decided to start my homework. I completely struggled through it and by the time dinner came, I didn’t have much of an appetite. I managed to eat a small portion of the lasagna my mother made before heading to my room for the rest of the evening. As I laid on my bed and tried to read a book, I watched as the time went from 8:00pm to midnight in the blink of an eye. I was so wired I couldn’t fall asleep and finally decided I’d use my powers to check in on Chris. Maybe he was already home and just didn’t want to call because it was so late.

“Capricorn” I said the words while thinking about his room at his house.

VAVOOM! 

When I came out the other side of the vortex, I immediately saw Chris wasn’t there. While the lights were on in his room, there were pieces of paper scattered everywhere showing clearly that the ability had worked for him. I must admit, it felt kind of weird being in his house without him there. And although I knew he wouldn’t be upset about it, especially with his family out of town, I still felt like I was breaking and entering somehow.

CREEEAK…CREEEAK…

A strange noise broke the silence of Chris’s house and came from downstairs. It sounded a little like footsteps. Was someone there or was I just imagining I was hearing things?

I listened for a few more minutes in complete silence and heard nothing more but my breathing, which was slightly erratic given my heart had started racing again.

Man, I really am on edge aren’t I? I decided it was time to teleport myself back home before I got any more freaked out by strange noises.

“CAPRI-“

“Leaving so soon…Andy?” A sinister-sounding voice interrupted me and was unmistakable.

The brooding figure of Assistant Principal Carl Dillard then abruptly emerged through the entrance to Chris’s room…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Q: Did you hear about that huge explosion at a cheese shop in France?
A: Yeah, I heard the entire area around it was covered in De Brie.

Click here for the PDF document of all the previous chapters.

Andy and The Zodiac Crystal – Chapter 32

“You’re, you’re… that guy from the diner.” I said, as I choked up the words in fear.

“That’s right Andy, and I’ve been watching you for a while now.” The assistant principal said in somewhat of a sinister tone.

My heart was racing and I suddenly wanted to run. My head was pounding and I had no idea why.

“Your head is pounding Andy because I’m probing your brain, just like I was at the diner.”

“Stop it! How are you doing that?”

“How am I doing what? Reading your mind? You should know, you are a Keeper of the Zodiac aren’t you?

“Keeper of the what?” I said, trying my best to play stupid.

“Do you really think I’m that dumb Andy?”

 My head then immediately started to hurt even worse.

“Let’s see, you discovered your crystal in a cave that only you could see and three years passed in the short time you were in there. Chris is the Guardian of your crystal and he hasn’t even fully taught you how to use all of its abilities. You’ve also visited the Council of the Zodiac twice and your sister is the only other one that knows of any of this. Should I go on?” 

“OK I GOT IT! PLEASE STOP IT! YOU’RE REALLY HURTING MY HEAD!” 

Thankfully the icy feeling then dissipated and the pain in my head quickly began to reduce.

“What…do you want from me?” I said nervously, once the headache was mostly gone.

“It’s pretty obvious isn’t it? Didn’t you have the pleasure of meeting Delilah and Vernon and their cub Martha?”

The prophecy that Delilah had told me had started flooding through my head the moment I walked into the assistant principal’s office and seen this man, but I honestly had hoped it was just a story and nothing more and that I was simply overreacting.

“So…it’s true? That prophecy she told me about?”

“Well duh. How else could I have known about the Council and read your mind Andy? Poor, poor Vernon…”

“What about Vernon?”

“Poor Vernon, let’s just say he was taught a little lesson that was pretty painful for him.”

“What do you mean?!!!”

“Andy, I honestly don’t have time for this. The fact is I want your crystal and you’re going to give it to me as soon as possible.” 

“I’m not giving you anything!”

“Do you realize how easy it would be for me to hurt you right now? 

“But you won’t, because I’m in school and they would know you did it…”

“You’re so naïve Andy. You have no idea just how powerful you are with the abilities your crystal has. I could remove you from the face of this planet and make sure no one would even remember you. But unfortunately, I can’t take your crystal unless you give it to me willingly.” 

“Well you can forget about it. I’m not giving you crap!”

“Oh, you will. And things are about to start getting a little interesting in your life. By the way Andy, you’re little training sessions back there in the woods were pretty comical, with you almost killing Chris that one day. You don’t even know how to use your powers properly. I’ve been using mine for a long time and know every little in and out of each of the signs.”

“How is it that the Council hasn’t taken it away from you? What about the rules that the Zodiac crystal can only be used for good?”

“Council and ALL their RIDICULOUS rules!” He then pulled out his crystal and slowly studied it in his hands. It was glowing dark black and the signs were all of a gold tint.

My mind was racing and I felt like a prisoner at the moment. I knew if I tried to get up and leave his office, he probably wouldn’t let me by using some power to prevent it.

“Andy, you couldn’t even begin to fathom how far back this all goes. Why the Council would bestow a crystal to a 12-year-old boy I have no idea. But it makes my job all the easier.” 

“Virgo…” I whispered the sign as quietly as possible, while he continued to ramble on with his disapproval of the Council of the Zodiac.

I was angry, really angry and wanted to know more about this man, who I didn’t even know his name at this point. I looked at him, well scowled would be more like it, and began to penetrate his mind like I had with the waitress accidentally at the diner. An image slowly appeared in my head, like a mist clearing somewhere within it. There was a young boy who appeared to be around my age and he was playing in a yard with a soccer ball when suddenly he flew backwards through the air and landed on the ground extremely hard, yet no one had touched him. A much taller and older man with dark eyes and black hair then came into view and was holding a glowing dark crystal. I watched as the boy cried, while the man told him to stop being a baby and to toughen up, as one day he was going to be the keeper of the crystal. But then, as he walked over to the boy, looking as if he was going to rough him up some more, a huge bank vault type of door immediately closed over the image.”

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”

“Doesn’t feel so good does it?”

He then muttered something I couldn’t quite hear and got up from his desk. As he approached where I was sitting, I tried to squirm in my chair but couldn’t move. In fact, I wasn’t able to move any part of me or even speak a single word.

“Andy, you can make this painful as you want, OR you can do what I ask and I’ll leave you and Chris and the rest of your friends and families alone…”

He was now standing over me and took one of his knuckles and began pressing it into a part of my neck that shot pain up and down my entire body. I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do anything except feel the excruciating pain.

“Don’t ever try to get in my head again Andy. This is your only warning.” He said sternly and then pulled his knuckle away from my neck and muttered something again.

Thankfully, the ability to move my body then returned and I began to regret ever getting this crystal.

“Such a fair fight. Just like your father, pushing you down with his abilities and bullying you. Guess you’ve become just like him haven’t you?” I said angrily.

“You know nothing! Don’t even begin to think you know me! What you saw means nothing!”

I obviously had hit a pretty serious nerve in him.

“You’re right I don’t know anything about you. I don’t even know your name or how long you’ve been watching me or how you manipulated your way into this assistant principal position or how your crystal became dark or why you even want my own crystal.”

“The name’s Carl, but you will refer to me as Mr. Dillard from now on and that’s all you need to know for today. So I will ask you once more, are you going to make this easy and hand over the crystal or are you going to make this far more difficult than it needs to be?” 

“Go screw yourself…” I said quite heatedly, surprising even myself given how unfair of an advantage he had over me at the moment.

“Suit yourself. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’m sure Vernon wishes he had listened to me when I gave him a similar warning. Oh by the way, did you think that whole rock over the cave event with Martha inside was purely an accident? Did you think of yourself as a hero Andy? You were just a puny pawn in my game. Now get out and do yourself a favor and try not getting yourself sent to the principal’s office again, especially when I can control anyone like I did Clyde…” 

The door then swung open behind me unexpectedly and my chair immediately moved away from under me, landing me with a thud on the floor. I quickly got up trying desperately to act brave, but the tears had already started creeping out of the corners of my eyes.

As I slowly walked out of the principal’s office and headed back to the locker room to change for my next class, which was already in session, I felt something I don’t think I’ve ever felt before…totally helpless…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson