I didn't remember getting into a bed when I woke up the next day, and I didn't remember getting into a bed with Heathcliff, who was curled up next to me, hugging himself.
There were no windows in the room, and a lamp was turned on at the far end of the room. I saw that I was still in the same suit from yesterday, it was now crumpled and the dust had fallen off. I got up and looked around the room. Other than the bed, there weren't any other pieces of furniture except for a stool which the single lamp stood on. I wondered what time it was.
Just as I was wondering, there came a knock at the door, the door opened and a bald man in a black suit (like every other one of Mr. Dragon's employees) walked in. 'Breakfast is served.' He said.
'It's morning?' I asked. It did not feel like morning, I had a very strange dream during my sleep in which I was running in slow-motion across a beach, parallel to the waves, and then I saw Heathcliff running next to me, and then Wolfgang appeared running on the other side of me, and then Theo appeared, and then Mr. Dragon, and all of Mr. Dragon's workmen in their black suits. Then we were all bounding in slow-motion across the sand, huffing and puffing, and I could distinctly hear Chariots of Fire blaring across the beach, and the sky was blue, and it looked just like the scene in that movie where the British track athletes run across the beach as the credits roll. During this dream, I was very happy, and I felt I had enough energy to run across the world. Nobody spoke, but I was certain in the dream everyone was happy to be running.
'Yes, seven o' clock, eastern standard time.' He said, 'Now, get ready and wake up the other guy, the Dragon dislikes straggling guests.' He closed the door behind him.
I woke Heathcliff up, who wasn't very happy to be woken up as he was dreaming about some romantic endeavor with Theo before I entered his dream and interrupted him. He saw fit to describe to me the every detail of that dream as we splashed water on our faces in the bathroom, which though I thought was fascinating, I later learned that Heathcliff has many such dreams, making them less fascinating the more you hear them. I did not ask him about his dreams after I learned this the long way, but that will be another story.
Since we were already in our slightly rumpled suits, we did not have to change and went with the bald man to the dining hall, a room at the top of many flights of stairs and corridors. All of this place appeared to be made of the same type of gray cement, making for a dull looking military barrack. I asked the bald man this question and he replied that Mr. Dragon is planning to paint the walls following Theo's wedding to Wolfgang, which sent Heathcliff into a fit and he uttered a string of upper-class insults I still believe are too silly to mention here. I stood Heathcliff while he had another seizure, and we were delayed three minutes, the bald man informed me, tapping his shoe impatiently during Heathcliff's fit.
When we showed up at the dining hall, a spacious room with floor-to-ceiling glass windows looking out into the mountains and the sunny sky, Mr. Dragon was already seated at the head of a long table draped by a white tablecloth. He was sipping a glass of red liquid. The dining room was cylindrical, with another cylindrical room within it that housed the kitchen.
There were five plates and pairs of silverware laid out on the table, I took the seat next to Mr. Dragon and Heathcliff next to me, he didn't say much but I observed that he was nervous.
'Good morning boys, pleasant day it's looking out to be. I assume you enjoyed your first night here?' Mr. Dragon said. He took another sip of his drink.
'Oh definitely, I had a dream-' I began, but Heathcliff elbowed me in the ribs out of sight of Mr. Dragon, and cut me off.
'Wonderful, just wonderful. Now look at the time! My son has always had a bad habit of waking up late. Very well, let us begin without him and his bride.' Without meeting my eyes, Mr. Dragon checked his watch and rung a bell that was on the table. A bald man (a different bald man, I think) came out of the kitchen, balancing three gigantic plates piled high with food on his two arms, and served out breakfast, which included bacon stripes, mashed potatoes, toast with cream cheese, raisins and dessert pastries.
'Dig in, boys.' Mr. Dragon began to munch away at his plate, I did too and found it delicious, Heathcliff sat looking at the food with a bewildered expression.
'What is it?' Mr. Dragon asked Heathcliff, 'Is your appetite not in a good mood this morning?'
'This is a monstrous amount of food, I say.' Heathcliff said.
'Yes it is, I'm known for my extraordinary appetite, do you not remember? I was always the first one to ask for seconds at your father's dinner parties back in the days. To this day I still compliment your mother's cooking, truly beautiful.' Mr. Dragon said, 'Now have a taste, she gave me a few of her recipes and I kept them.' Mr. Dragon resumed eating.
Heathcliff ate a few bites and said, 'I cannot intake all this food! Just by looking at it I can tell there are more calories in there than ten chocolate milkshakes! My body refuses this pile of carbohydrates!'
'Why on earth do? Who cares about the calories when it's wonderful to the taste?' Mr. Dragon said, amused.
'I won't let this into my system! It took me a long time to get this six-pack and I'm not loosing it on unhealthy breakfasts!' At this, Heathcliff lifted up his dress shirt and showed me his abdomen, where six blocks of muscles were barely visible beneath some skin that looked kind of flabby. It was a fine accomplishment to get that far to a six-pack, I'd say a few weeks working on dad's farm should make Heathcliff build the full six-pack, to show him an example, I lifted up my own dress shirt to show him the six-pack I have, and Heathcliff turned white as the tablecloth. Mr. Dragon looked on with the same amusement.
'How did you-' He gasped.
'Aw you boy's are just amateurs!' Mr. Dragon declared, putting down his knife and fork, still chewing, 'This is a real six-pack.' He lifted up his shirt, and beneath was one of the finest abdomen I've ever laid my eyes upon, it was even finer than the ones that belong to guys on football teams. Heathcliff was about to faint in shock. For a mid-aged man, Mr. Dragon had outdone most young bodybuilders. If I were Wolfgang, I'd be extremely proud of my dad on this part.
Just then, Theo walked into the dining room, escorted by yet another bald man. Both the bald man and Theo were quite taken aback by the sight of me, Heathcliff and Mr. Dragon comparing our abdomen muscles in various degrees of fitness. We at the table concealed our upper bodies and tucked in our shirts with haste, and then we said (altogether), 'Er...good morning, eh?'
'Um...good morning.' Theo said, then she hesitated a bit, thinking, and said, 'Wolfgang said he isn't feeling well, and neither am I, we won't be joining you for breakfast.'
'What, is that so? (sigh) Shame, shame, my own boy not wanting to have breakfast with me on the first morning after we are reunited.' Mr. Dragon sighed, 'Very well, go tend to your fiance and yourself, it's a pity you're missing out on this fine meal but I will not voice any further objections.'
Heathcliff jumped at the chance, 'Wait, I'm not feeling well either! As I've said, I cannot eat this food, and I am not hungry, I will escort Miss. Theodora to...Wolfgang.' I thought it must have cost Heathcliff dearly inside to say Wolfgang's name, because he said it as if vomiting.
'I cannot believe this! Nobody wants to dine on this fabulous morning with me? What's gotten into all of you?' Mr. Dragon exclaimed. 'Go ahead, you're all missing out on a meal, one of the few pleasures a human is capable of enjoying, it's a terrible pity none of you seem to grasp this fact.' Mr. Dragon shook his head and went back to eating.
'I don't have anything to do elsewhere.' I said, realizing what I should do, 'I'll finish the food, if you need any help with it.' I said to Mr. Dragon.
'Well, well, well, now that's the spirit boy!' Mr. Dragon gave me a pat on the back, 'You know, you remind me of someone I was very fond of. After breakfast, I suppose we ought to keep our chess agreement, shall we?' He said to me.
'Good idea!' I said, 'And we can do a bit more whistling.'
'I know the perfect tune we can try, I'll tell you about it as we finish this food. The rest of you, you are all dismissed!' He called to the others.
Heathcliff and Theo exited the dining hall quickly, and it was only Mr. Dragon and I left in the dining hall. He asked me whether I know the film The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, which I did, and then we did a whistling rendition of the famous main theme of the movie. This time, Mr. Dragon ordered one of the bald men to brink a tape recorder, so we could record our duel-performance for later listening.
It was a great morning.
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