Taking On The Magical World

I broke out in a cold sweat.

"Ahem...." is all I could give as an answer.

I glance at them at the corner of my eyes and see that suspicion is mounting.

s.h.i.t, I have truly been caught with my hands in the cookie jar!

Think about something, anything and quickly, I urge my mind. Ideas swirl around in my head, and then I latch on to one particular idea.

The half-truth is the one that I have decided upon.

I look at them solemnly and say. "I have lied to the both of you!"

"Uh?" The two brothers say. They must be shocked, incensed, and confused with what I have said and the only thing that can sum up all that for them is the simple, UH!

I repeat soberly, "I have lied to the both of you!"

Fred speaks up in a tone that shows he is a bit angry but mostly curious. "What do you mean, Caelum?" He asks with his eyebrows raised.

I peered at him with my most earnest face. "What I have said is what mean."

I put a hand on to both of their shoulders and put on a sorrowful face. "I have let greed cloud my mind! I have let it get the best of me!"

I take my hand back and use it to cover my face, to try to convey genuine sadness. I actually do it so that they can have time to understand what I have truly said.

I peek through the slit of my fingers and see that recognition has dawned upon their face.

Now time to change tactics.

"We have all been in the wrong," I nod my head sagely. "I have tried to lie to you guys, and you guys have tried to beat me up and steal my belonging."

Before they could form a though, I whisk them along. "No, no, do not try to deny it. It is human nature to make mistakes. You guys are not bad people. I am not a bad person. It is just human frailty."

"Now let not ruin a good decade of friendship over some worldly possessions, okay?"

I look at each of them in tow. They both nod their heads slowly, still not having been caught up to what is exactly going on.

"Good, let"s apologize to each other and leave it at that. We will also make sure to never mention it ever again."

I start with the apology, and they quickly pick up with it.

I evilly laugh to myself, when I see that they both have bought the rubbish I spewed out. That will teach both of them, to never have thoughts about daddy"s toys. You two are far too young to play against this one. A good fifteen years to be exact.

If they ever think about it again, they will rationalize it by themselves. We tried to beat up Caelum, who has risked his life and limb to get these magical items. So, it is only fair that he tried to lie to us when he saw that we were ungrateful. Regardless of it all, he was able to admit when he was caught and make amends quickly. We, on the other hand, did not even notice what we did wrong and were only able to mirror his example after he has shown true wisdom.

"Good, now we have apologized to each other, we can get back to picking out our reward." At that, the twins turn to the magical item just waiting to pounce. All though about what went down gone.

"Let do things fairly, first gets the first pick in round one choosing, the second one gets the second pick in round one, and the third one gets the third pick in round one. For the second round of choosing, third get the first pick, second gets the second pick, and first gets the third pick. Finally, for the third round of choosing, second gets the first pick, third gets the second pick, and first gets the third pick. How does that sound?"

The bob their head in agreement. "Good, I am first, who want to be second?" I ask while looking at the two of them.

They look at each other, and George shrugs his shoulders in a gesture meaning he does not care. Fred looks at his twin and inclines his head. "I will be second he says."

"Then pick out your item!"

We start to divide the magical item between ourselves.

Fred takes the caramel colored orb then George takes the lamp. In the next round, George takes the marauders map, Fred takes the mokeskin pouch, and me I take the 8-sided compa.s.s just to be fair since I have no idea what it can do. In the final round, Fred takes the black stone, George takes the green stone, and I take the last stone the blue stone.

"So what do these three stones do," asked Fred.

I am feeling slightly guilty about lying to them about the lamp and orb. And when I say somewhat, I mean very slightly, since they have the looks about them, of wanting to beat me up for my snake chain. I tell them the truth.

"I have no idea, but keep them with you at all times, they might show their true worth in your hour of need. Also, I will ask my mother."

The twins seemed undeterred with the answer I have given them. Might be the preaching, I have done just recently, still running its course.

Fred looks at me and say. "Well, now that we are famous, we could start that joke shop you have always been talking about, Caelum."