Category: Words From My Inner Child Andy

Q: Did you hear the rumor going on lately with peanut butter?
A: Actually, I probably shouldn’t continue to spread it.

For all previous chapters, Please click here for the PDF -> Andy and The Zodiac Crystal (Chapters 1 to 21)

Andy and the Zodiac Crystal – Chapter 22 

“What are you thinking!!!” Chris said, as he ran over and pushed the door back shut and then swiftly pointed at my costume.

“Andy, what’s going on in there? Open this door immediately!” My mother said sounding very perturbed.

“Nothing Mom, we’re just rough housing a little.”

I knew it was a lie, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say at that moment. Unfortunately, the look on Chris’s face as I said it was enough to remind me that he really didn’t approve of me continuing to tell lies, even if they felt more than necessary in certain situations. He then took the opportunity to point again at the costume I still had on.

“If you don’t open this door now young man, you’re going to be grounded for the next month! And that means we won’t be going on the camping trip next week with Chris’s family.”

“Endymasia!” I quickly said the strange word again and watched as my normal clothing returned on my body instantly. Chris then promptly moved away from the door as I opened it.

“I hope you have a good explanation as to why the two of you are still up? You know it is way past your bedtime Andy!” My mother said as she walked in my room and observed that everything appeared in order.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Dawson. I kept Andy up because there were some things I was really concerned about in our friendship.” Chris responded sounding super nice.

Man! How come I can never think of responses like that!

“Well I’m sure it can wait till the morning right Chris?” She said with a slight grin, which was one of those where you knew she was saying she was ok with his answer, but we better do as she says.

“You’re absolutely right Mrs. Dawson. I’m sorry if we disturbed you.”

“Oh, it’s ok Chris. I just know how crabby Andy will be tomorrow if he doesn’t get enough sleep.” She said smiling from ear to ear.

Boy she wasn’t kidding. I usually need at least six hours to feel somewhat normal and it was already going on midnight.

“Well goodnight boys. I’ll have breakfast ready for the two of you in the morning around 8am or so…” My mother said as she walked out of the room and closed the door again.

“If you don’t slow down and let me do my Guardian job, this is never going to work!” Chris whispered adamantly as soon as the door was closed.

“I wasn’t thinking. Geez. Sorry.”

“Look, it’s fine. You just need to be more careful. We can’t have anyone else finding out about your abilities.”

“I know…”

Chris then gave me a high five to let me know everything was cool between us and shortly after that I was laying in my bed and out like a light.

The next two weeks flew by rather quickly and soon the camping trip was upon us. Chris had continued to spend all of my free time up till then practicing the powers of the Zodiac signs I already knew. I was definitely getting much better at all of them. I must say though, I still didn’t like using the Leo sign because of the extreme amplification of my senses, although I was learning how to tone it down a little the more I practiced with it.

As for school, Trevor continued to remain my nemesis. I wanted so badly to use my powers on him every time he tripped me, knocked the books out of my hands, or made fun of me in front of his little gang of annoying friends. I knew with the muttering of Libra or Taurus, I could do just about anything to him, but the more Chris helped me with my Zodiac training, the more I found myself just feeling sorry for Trevor. Chris also helped me to see that I truly had no idea what went on in Trevor’s home. He was right, as they say most bullies are usually just people who have been abused themselves. I’ve also heard that can happen in families where the parents are alcoholics or drug addicts. Thinking about these things each time I landed on the floor due to his outstretched foot helped me to never retaliate.

“They’re here!” My mother shouted from downstairs instantly breaking me out of my frustrating thoughts about Trevor.

I looked out my window to see Chris’s family getting out of their fully loaded vehicle. We were all headed to the Adirondack’s for Veterans Day weekend. I was really excited and hadn’t slept much the night before. Chris had told me the home we were staying in had a whirlpool tub, a stone fireplace, and a huge outdoor deck that overlooked a lake and a panoramic view of the mountainside. I guess we were going to be about 25 minutes north of Lake George Village, which was near a place my family used to go to every year for a church retreat.

“Are you ready or what slowpoke?” Chris said bursting into my room. 

“Hey, I’ll tell you what. How about I just meet you there. CAPRI-…”

“Wait! Don’t do that!” Chris said rapidly.

“HA HA. I got you!”

“Very funny.” Chris said with a smirk. “Anyway, we’re all waiting on you. It looks like your family’s car is packed and ready to go.”

An hour later we were well on our way there, each budding with excitement. None of my family had ever done a mountain top getaway before, so this was going to be a new experience for all of us. At the moment, my parents were humming along to some 80’s tune on the radio while my sister and I were mostly quiet with each other in the backseat. She had been almost continuously texting with someone on her phone who I could only assume was some boy she liked. While I on the other hand had been spending the majority of the car ride so far reading one of my fantasy books that I had brought along.

“Are you kids hungry? I just received a text from Mrs. Riley letting us know there’s a great place to grab lunch not too far from here.” My mother said, as she looked in the rearview mirror at us.

“I can eat.” I said as my stomach grumbled slightly.

“Me too.” My sister agreed taking a rare breather from texting whoever she had been for the past hour.

It wasn’t long before we were pulling into the parking lot of a cool retro-looking diner in some small town off the highway. Once inside, we all crammed into an oversized booth with a chair added at the end of the table. My father sat there, while Chris and I were all the way on the inside seated across from each other. I quickly started flipping through the titles in the jukebox that was sitting next to me and wasn’t recognizing any of the songs.

“Here let me select a few…” said Mr. Riley who reached over Chris and put a few quarters in the coin slot.

A few minutes later a song started playing on it that felt like it was from the 1960’s. I watched as my parents and the Riley’s all began bopping their head to something about wearing short shorts while my sister and Chris and I all rolled our eyes.

“So what is everyone going to have to drink today?” The waitress said glumly. She appeared to be very sad, almost as if she was about to cry.

“I’ll have a Diet Coke with a lemon.” I immediately blurted out.

“Andrew Arthur, I think I’ve taught you better manners than that. Ladies should always go first…” my mother said rather sternly.

“Yeah, ladies first.” said Chris sarcastically, at which point his own mother lightly smacked him on the back of his head, both of us now turning two sheets of red.

As everyone began to place their drink orders, I decided it was time to have a little fun with Chris.

“Virgo.” I murmured ever so slightly under my breath while Chris ordered a Diet Slice.

Since this was just between the Guardian and Keeper, I figured the Council wouldn’t mind me having a small bit of fun. I then subtly pointed my hand at the salt and peppershakers that were sitting near him and slowly unscrewed their caps by twisting my finger counterclockwise for each. Chris absolutely loved to always put salt and pepper on everything he ate.

As the drinks began to arrive at the table from our waitress, I was brimming with anticipation for my little joke to come to light. But something kept drawing me back to the waitress as she stood there with a very depressed look. I stared at the pretty middle-aged woman intently, pondering what could be going on in her life that would cause her to be so miserable. Suddenly I heard her speak some words I wasn’t prepared to hear.

“I don’t want to live anymore. I hate my life. No one cares about me. Maybe I should just end it all tonight….”

“What? Please don’t do that Ms.!” I shouted out to her.

“Don’t do what? Take our order?” My father said as everyone began to look at me rather strangely.

“Didn’t you hear what she just said?”

“Are you feeling ok Andy?” Chris said, as I looked back at the woman, who now was also staring at me like everyone else with a very puzzled expression…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Q: Why did God only make one Yogi bear?
A: Because when he tried to make a second one he made a Boo-Boo!

Yes, it’s really true. I’ve finally decided to change the title of my ongoing book. From now on, it will be titled “Andy and The Zodiac Crystal”. For quite a number of chapters now I’ve been thinking about changing it solely because it doesn’t represent much of what this story is about anymore. And in all honesty, it’s my hope that this new title may garner more interest in reading my foray into YA fiction! 🙂

Click This Link For The Previous Chapters 1 to 20…

Andy and The Zodiac Crystal – Chapter 21

Chris and I emerged out of the vortex and were once again sitting in the large room with all black walls, the sky and stars still shining in place of where a ceiling would normally be. The Council of the Zodiac surrounded us like before, with Capricorn directly facing us.

“Welcome Keeper and Guardian of the Zodiac from planet Earth. We are very pleased with your progress and understand why you have returned to us,” said Capricorn who spoke in the same soothing female voice.

“Christopher, you question whether you need to go on hiding Andy’s identity,” said the deep masculine sounding Aries.

“You wonder if the world will hunt him down if you don’t,” said the equally female soothing voice of Taurus.

“And you are feeling concerned that you won’t be able to handle whatever darkness might come your way…” boomed another deep masculine voice from behind us, that being Leo.

It appeared as if Council ultimately was all-seeing and all-knowing with them asking our questions before we even had a chance to. And while I was still completely amazed at their omnipresence like I had been the first time I sat before them, I secretly wondered why they wouldn’t just tell us exactly what we needed to do to better prepare us for the inevitable, especially if they already knew what our future held.

“Yes…to all three questions…” Chris said slowly, as he interrupted my random thoughts.

“As for you Andrew, we know you are frustrated and wish to have us better prepare you for what your future holds…” began Pisces, who too spoke with an angelic sounding female voice.

Chris looked at me with the same puzzled expression I now had on my face. Are they really reading all our thoughts?

“Yes, we can read your thoughts and as we mentioned to you the last time you were here. There are many things we cannot say, as doing so could alter the entire time-space continuum. While we can see the possibilities that your future may hold, your ability to use free will can alter that at any point in time.” Pisces continued.

The expression on Chris’s face looked as if he already expected that answer.

“As for whether to hide Andrew’s identity, that is for the Guardian to determine. Not concealing it will lead many to covet Andrew’s abilities, while concealing it will only cause just as many to seek out his true identity. Each choice has its own set of risks and outcomes, but regardless of whichever path you choose, the Zodiac abilities can help you in any situation that may arise.” Pisces finished and the room was suddenly immersed in complete silence.

I honestly did feel a little frustrated. What was the point in coming here if the only answers we were going to get were ones we could have figured out ourselves?

“Again we acknowledge your frustration Andrew and want you to understand that we have sat here before many other Keepers and Guardians over thousands of years who each felt the same way as you do right now.” said Pisces.

It did creep me out a little knowing they could read every one of my thoughts.

“What we can say is that if you continue on the path you already are on, then you will fare just fine as most of them did.”

“Most?” Chris said sounding somewhat concerned.

“There have been a few over time who decided to use the abilities of the Zodiac for their own gain and glory. This only led each of them down a very dark path that ended in destruction. As we mentioned the last time you sat here before us, the crystal was never designed to be used in darkness and doing so will only cause it to cease working. The outcome of this for all those who ventured down this path never ended well either.” said Aries.

I knew I didn’t want to go down that path, but it did make me wonder how someone could go so far astray.

“There is one last thing we wish to offer you before you go, as time is passing quickly in your plane of existence.” Taurus said as I continued to ponder what would cause someone to abuse the crystal’s powers. “There is another ability that does not appear on your crystal, but can help you with at least one of the questions you came here with. By saying the word “Endymasia”, a Zodiac uniform will appear on you immediately, and will entirely conform to your own body’s size and dimensions, as well as to whatever Zodiac symbol you might be utilizing at the time.”

I breathed a slight sigh of relief knowing that our journey to the Council wasn’t totally in vein, but I did wonder if the costume was going to look too corny. Nevertheless, it was time to go and both Chris and I knew it.

“We wish you well Andrew and Christopher and we trust you will do everything you can to continue protecting both the crystal and the Light,” said the Council of the Zodiac in unison.

“We will…” Chris and I said both at the same time.

“Zōidiakos!”

As the crystal once again flew out of Chris’s hand with that mesmerizing hum and started spinning in mid-air between us, I felt thankful that Chris had taken us here. Soon, the cosmic room became nothing but a blur, eventually fading completely away until the vortex returned us to my bedroom. Thankfully, a quick glance over at my alarm clock saw only 2 hours had passed since we had left.

“I totally have to see what this Zodiac costume looks like!” Chris said excitedly once the presence of the vortex was fully gone.

“You know they left that choice up to us. I really don’t have to use a costume remember?”

“I think we should. I don’t think our planet is ready for an unmasked super-powered hero.”

“You don’t know that…”

“Remember they placed me in the position as the Guardian and it’s my job to assess these things isn’t it?”

“I guess so?”

“Well come on, let’s see this costume then…”

“Whatever. What was that word again? Oh yeah, Endymasia!”

Suddenly almost in the blink of an eye, the clothing I was wearing disappeared and was replaced by what I could only describe looked like a wetsuit. Although I had worn one of those once when rafting down a river, this felt nothing like that. In fact, the costume conformed to my body so well that it almost felt as if it was a living, breathing part of me. In the center of it was the Gemini symbol in a bright white color. The color of the suit though was glowing the same eerily purple glow as the crystal itself.

“You really need to look in the mirror,” said Chris looking even more excited.

“What? Does it look stupid or something?” I said as I glanced over at the mirror on the back of my bedroom door. “Holy crap!”

There was a mask now conforming to my face that covered part of my nose and both of my eyes. I had no idea it was even there. It didn’t obstruct my vision like one of those Halloween costumes usually do. And it was shining in the same cool purple glow. Contrary to what I thought the Zodiac costume was going to look like, it actually looked pretty amazing on me.

“Andrew Arthur Dawson, it is way past your bedtime and why is your bedroom door locked? Open this door now young man!” My mother said rather sternly on the other side of the door I was now standing in front of.

Almost on impulse and without thinking, I quickly unlocked the door and began to turn the knob…totally forgetting that I still had my Zodiac uniform on.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

Q: What did the pirate say when he turned 80?
A: Aye Matey!

Andy’s Woodsy Adventure (Chapters 1 to 19)

Andy’s Woodsy Adventure – Chapter 20

“You know you’re going to need to teleport yourself back into your room from here right?” said Chris once we had reached the front of his driveway.

“Yeah, so my parents don’t see my costume all messed up with holes in it right?”

“Exactly. And you really need to destroy it as well.”

“What? How am I going to do that when my parents are probably going to ask at some point where it is?”

“Look, if they do, you tell them you left it at my house because we were going to use them again for another adventure.”

“Hey, that’s lying and I thought you were trying to set a good example for me?”

“Hmmm, you know you’re right. Ok, I have a better idea. Teleport yourself home right now and change into something else. Then teleport back over here and give me the costume. Then you’re actually not lying,”

“Ok sounds good. Capricorn!” I said as I pictured my bedroom.

VAVOOM…

I quickly entered and exited the vortex and was now standing by my bed. Thankfully my door was already closed upon arrival, as I had left it that way before leaving to go trick-or-treating. After setting my bag of candy down, I rapidly began taking off my costume, but unfortunately, it seemed to be taking me much longer than I expected. Parts of it had adhered to my skin where the intensity of the fire and heat had melted it onto me. I had to peel it off in those areas and all I can say is that it was a very unpleasant experience doing so.

“I knew I heard you in here! You used your powers to get home didn’t you?” My sister said suddenly barging into my room.

“Shhhh! Be quiet! Yes, I used one of my powers to teleport home.” I said hoping my parents didn’t hear her.

“You can do that? How cool is that! Oh, and you don’t have to be so quiet. Mom and Dad went out to dinner and left me in charge of giving out candy.”

“Phew! That’s a big relief!”

“Well, you might not feel that way after you see what’s all over the local news…”

“What do you mean?”

“Just meet me downstairs after you get done changing. And if you can somehow teleport Chris here as well, you might want to do that.”

 My sister then left the room and headed downstairs leaving me to finish peeling off the rest of my costume. I hadn’t the faintest idea as to what Laura was talking about, but by her tone I could tell she was pretty concerned.

After placing the now mostly destroyed superhero outfit in a bag and changing into some clean clothes, I teleported back to Chris and gave it to him. I then proceeded to tell him about what my sister had said and asked if he might be able to stay over for the night. He didn’t know and told me to wait on his front porch while he found out whether he could or couldn’t. Ten minutes later he re-emerged in his normal clothes with an overnight bag and said it was fine. I wasted no time and swiftly teleported us back to my bedroom. Once there, I quickly deactivated Capricorn, as I didn’t want a repeat of what happened last time I didn’t deactivate one of the signs.

“You know we should teleport ourselves to somewhere really cool sometime don’t you think?” Chris said as he set his bag down on my bed.

“Wouldn’t that be abusing my powers? Remember what the Council of the Zodiac said about that.”

“I honestly don’t believe that’s what they meant. I think you’re just not supposed to ever use your gifts to gain power or prestige, or to abuse another person on purpose.”

“Ahh. That makes sense I guess.” I said as we headed downstairs to where the main television and my sister were.

“…again what you have been seeing here is amateur footage taken from a cellular device.” said the news anchor on channel four as we entered the family room. “We’re going to go live now on the scene with Heather Sampson in Scenic Hills.”

“Thanks John. Yes, if you’re just tuning it, firefighters have been on the scene here for almost an hour now trying to fully put out a two-alarm fire that reportedly started from some faulty electrical wiring. As you can see there are still a few flames they’re trying to take care of.

The camera then moved off the newswoman and onto the charred remains of the house.

“Sadly not much is left of the once beautiful two-story home owned by Kathleen Johnson. Thankfully, both she and her two children were unharmed and are now safe. That wasn’t the case though a short time ago when the fire trapped her two 8-year-old boys upstairs in their bedroom. By the time the firefighters arrived on the scene only she had escaped and the flames had reached such intensity that any rescue of her children was initially not possible. What can only be described as a miracle at this point is the mysterious costumed person who ended up being the one to actually save her two boys. We’re now going to show you the amateur footage again, taken by Billy Tilden who was able to capture their amazing rescue.”

Chris and Laura both looked over at me at the same time to see my reaction as I watched the shaky footage play out. My heart was completely racing, as this was something neither Chris nor I had anticipated would ever happen. First it showed me breaking in the rear door and running straight into the blazing fire. Not too long after I saw myself jump out the bathroom window and then catch the first twin. And finally the video showed me doing the huge leap up to the same window, pulling the other twin out, and then landing on my back while holding onto him. It even showed me getting up off the ground without a scratch and fully disappearing into thin air once the two kids had safely run towards the street.

“The identity of the individual who did this nearly impossible feat is unknown at this time and the only information the two children gave was that a costumed boy had been the one to save them. They indicated it was too smoky to see anything else and as you can see by this video taken on an Iphone, it was shot too far away to make out anything else…”

The female reporter then droned on about other aspects of the fire including how hot it would have been in the house when I stormed into it and how many feet the second floor window was that I jumped out of.

“Well the good news is that it seems as if your identity is still safe.” My sister said as she turned the television off.

“Yeah maybe, but I think those twin boys could have described a lot more about me. I wonder why they didn’t say anything else?”

“Maybe they’re in shock and really don’t remember much?” Laura said.

“Or maybe they know how important it is to protect the identity of a superhero?” said Chris.

“Regardless, as much as we agreed to never wear costumes Chris, I think I’m going to have to get one that protects my identity don’t you think?”

“Unfortunately yes, which means I need to start brainstorming on what that should be.” Chris said scratching his head.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

The automatic opening of the garage door abruptly halted any further conversation on the subject. It was apparent my mom and dad had returned from their dinner. I didn’t feel much like talking with them, as I was quite exhausted. Fortunately, Laura said she’d cover for me by letting them know Chris was staying over and that we had already turned in for the night. And with that, Chris and I sprinted back upstairs to my room.

When the door was safely closed, I watched as Chris immediately locked it. Before I had a chance to ask him why, he pulled my crystal out of his bag and said something that was the last thing I ever expected him to say at that moment.

“Zōidiakos!”

As the crystal began to give that mesmerizing hum once again, while also spinning in mid-air like before, I looked over at Chris somewhat in alarm, wondering why we were returning to the Council of the Zodiac.

ˆAndy, in light of everything that happened tonight, I really feel we need some additional guidance from the Council on how to deal with you helping others. I’m hoping a quick visit to them will provide us some much-needed answers”. Chris said as the blur of the vortex grew bigger and several of my comic books began flying around my room.

“I really hope you know what you’re doing!!!” I said, hoping this time we wouldn’t return days, weeks, months, or even years later…

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson