Rhythmloid

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

Corrine brushed her fingers over the books in her bookshelf, indecisive as to what to read. A navy blue book caught her attention. She pulled out the book and took a good look at it. The gold words "Cendrillion" was in cursive on the cover. A small round carriage was at the bottom of the book, covered in vines and something red.

Corrine had sworn she had read every book in her personal library. Overtaken with curiosity, Corrine decided to give it a read. She could have just taken it from Wilson or Oliver on accident. She sat in her desk, turned the lamp on and began to read. She flipped to a random page towards the beginning to make it interesting.

The poor girl knew she had no choice, for the curse would kill her and the rest of her family. She stepped into the castle and began her search for the prince. The ballroom was full of elegant women and handsome men, all enjoying themselves and dancing in the marble hall. The was a buffet near the window full of exotic foods the girl had never seen before.

She needed to work fast, for the curse would take affect at midnight. She asked around the ballroom for the prince yet no one had seen him either. Some said that he ditched the ball to have his own fun. Others said that he was ill and wanted to rest. Whatever the reason was, the girl needed to find him fast. A short time remained for the girl to break the curse.

Finding no information on the prince, the girl decided to find clues in the castle. She snuck away from the ballroom and into the prince's room. Nothing was there except for a few clothes on the ground and messy bed. The girl closed the door and continued her search.

Corrine yawned and skipped ahead a few pages.

The girl weeped on the balcony. The curse would soon kill her and her family, and there was nothing she could do. She only had a half an hour left until she would rot away.
"Whats wrong?" A voice called out behind her. She turned around to see it was him! It was the prince! Her heart skipped a beat.
"Are you lonely? Would you like to dance with me? I hate to see a pretty girl cry." Said the prince. The girl nodded and took the prince's hand, waltzing around the balcony. The prince and her talked and danced and laughed, enjoying each others company.

Her nice time was interrupted by the gongs of a bell chime. It was midnight!She knew what she had to do. But did she have the strength to do it? It was the third gong. She had to decide fast! Was she going to do it? It was the seventh gong. She had to or her family would perish! It was the twelfth gong.

The girl let her body move on its own. It took her a few moments to realize what she had done. She layed there, crying. A bloody knife in her hand and a dying prince next to her. The prince couldn't understand why the girl had done this. He spent his last moments looking into the girls eyes, wonder what he had done to deserve such a fate.

The girl took the knife and tossed it-

Corrine slammed the book closed. She couldn't bear to read anymore. She crept down the stairs and placed the book back into the family library. She climbed back into her bed and nearly cried herself to sleep.

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

Oliver was in the kitchen trying to catch up with all of his orders while Wilson was taking orders as fast as possible. For some reason, after lunch time was the busiest time for the diner. And the two must unreliable brothers were working there. They were lucky their father wasn't here to see this mess.

Wilson's hands were full of food trays. He placed two down infront of a family of costumers. He was on his way to deliver his next batch when a rather rude customer stuck his leg out. One minute Wilson is walking and the next he's flat on his face covered in milkshakes and maple syrup. A few of the customers laughed at Wilsons fall.

Oliver left the kitchen to help Wilson clean himself. He felt so bad for his younger brother. He was always treated worse than the other kids his age. Always pushed around and beat up because of his weight or asthma. Oliver took Wilson to the bathroom and cleaned him up. Although sticky and maple syrup smelling, Wilson was all clean.

Oliver returned to the outside and felt that something is off. He felt that he was forgetting something. He took a few big whiffs and smelled smoke. He turned around to see the kitchen was on fire!

"OH GOD NOT AGAIN." Oliver rushed into the kitchen to put out the fire.

Lenny and Charlie were returning from the super market with ingredients when they noticed the smoke billowing from the board walk. They sighed and wondered how the two boys messed up badly this time.

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

Lenny stood at the doorframe of his fathers room. The room was gloomy and covered in dust. Their father had been gone for about a month now. Ever since they moved, he took the first chance he got to go to his home town in Germany. He said something about visiting his family for awhile and making sure they were safe. Or something along the lines of that. Lenny knew he just wanted to get away from the stress of runnning the restaurants.

Lenny took a deep breath and stepped inside his fathers room. It smelled of German beer and cologne. The bed sheets were a traditional style of German. Everything was German with this man. From his accent to his the way he walked, he was German.

He took a seat on his bed and sighed. Lenny pulled out an old box from underneath the bed and took out an old family photo album. He opened the first page. Four pictures with the words "our newest addition to the family!" Written in the middle. His father was crying in the background while his mother smiled happily. He flipped the page. There were pictures of Lenny as a toddler, covered in spaghetti and meatballs, while another picture showed him banging pots and pans on the kitchen floor.

He flipped the page. His mother was in the hospital again, holding another baby. The caption at the bottom said "Meet your new baby brother!" Lenny was holding a sleeping baby Charlie. Another picture of the two together was them sleeping on the couch. Then there were picture sof just Charlie, eating ice cream while half asleep. Charlie did sleep a lot as a child.

Lenny flipped the page again. This time a picture of Lenny, Charlie, and now Antonio sleeping in a hospital bed. Lenny had broken is arm the day before Antonio was born from slipping and falling in the kitchen. "Our three (tired) boys!" Said the caption at the bottom. The next picture of Antonio was him covered in red nail polish and his mothers make up from head to toe. He looked rather confused as to why the camera was on him.

Lenny turned he page. Oliver was in his crib, fast asleep. "Our family keeps growing!" Said the caption. Lenny felt face his eyes sting. Oliver was playing in the old houses library in the next picture. His eyes were cross eyed, with one eye a more green color. The picture below showed him with his thick, round glasses.

Lenny turned the page. His eyes were red and puffy. Two babies were next to eachother holding hands. One was smiling while the other not so much. "Two bundles of joy!" Read the caption. The two were in every single photo together. One smiling and one not. Always hand in hand. Jacob and Andy were always togther, no matter where they were. They were probably off causing mischief right now.

Lenny turned the page. A much chubbier baby was in his mothers arms at the hospital. His fathers face seemed happy, yet disappointed. "Our new munchkin!" The caption read. There were no other baby pictures of Wilson except for a picture with his new glasses, reading Sherlock. His face seemed so concentrated on his book. The picture next to it was him siting next to Oliver, asleep reading the a book together.

Lenny wiped his face and turned the page. Everyone was arounf their mother, staring at the baby girl in her arms. Their father was crying. The caption said "Our princess." The photo album was filled with pictures of Corrine playing with her dolls and coloring. Her parents were holding her tightly while she played with hand-me-down toys. A family picture of everyone was smack dab in the middle of the photo album. "The Kelley's" was written at the bottom. Everyone was so happy.

Lenny flipped the page. There was nothing left excpt for blank pages. He turned and turned and turned but there was nothing left. He got to the last two pages. There was another family photo except their mother was missing. They weren't as happy as before. Corrine smiled on like nothing was happening while everyone wore black clothes. Each of them holding a marigold flower and a which lily. Corrine's were in her hair.

Lenny couldn't stop crying as he flipped to the very last page. It was a wedding photo of his parents. His mother was wearing traditional garbs while his father wore a plain suit and tie. Both of them were happily kissing. "Adler and Mawi. Together forever, until death do us part." Was on the bottom of the photo. Lenny closed the book and went back to his room, sobbing. What happened to their happy family? Why was everyone so distant? Lenny couldnt help but cry harder. Charlie heard the noise and came into Lenny's room. He sat next to him and gave him a well deserved hug. Poor Lenny needed some comfort anyway.

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

Antonio stood in the junkyard, waiting for the slicks to come. It was nearly midnight and no one had shown up for him. It must have been a hoax. There was no way a gang would leave him hanging. He decided to leave and forget that it never happened. Until he heard a clang. He quickly turned around to see a group of misfits standing in a row, holding bats and metal poles.

"Took you long enough." Antonio said. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Hushed whispers filled the junkyard.

"Welcome. Are you ready for initiation?" One said, walking forward.

"Uh, ok." Antonio walked toward the boy with the eye patch.

"Now, listen closely..." The boy whispered into Antonio's ear. Antonio was taken back by what the boy said. He had to do that in order to be an official member? Normally, this wouldn't be a challenge for him, but after what they said about him, it might be. He was going to have to train again in order to win. He nodded and left the junkyard.

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

Corrine looked at Rolo confused. Why were they talking about Ralphie and Spoon having sex? And what was with the two birds thing? Corrine started out more confused than when she started. But she didn't want to be late for her class. She pondered while walking to her next class.

While sitting in her algebra class, she strayed away from her work to figure out what Rolo was talking about. Two birds... Ralphie and Spoon.... Birds and Bees.... oh no. Everything made sense now. This whole time Rolo thought Ralphie was a girl. Boy, did she have some news for him. After school she would have to tell him.

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

The couple bid them a farewell and let the cafeteria, making their way to their next class. They were seen holding hands and laughing at eachother. Most people would call them a perfect couple.

Meanwhile Corrine was trying to think of what her three friends were talking about. Something about how something worked. Was Rolo making something? She tugged on Rolo's shirt.

"Rolo, Rolo, what were you talking about with Ralphie and Spoon?"

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

Ralphie looked at eachother and back at Rolo.

"You know, like it normally does? Don't you know how it works?" Ralphie stated matter of factly.

Spoon nodded in agreement. They didn't know what Rolo was thinking about. Did he really not understand how it worked? Ralphie decided to educate poor Rolo until they saw Corrine sitting there with a very confused look on her face. She had no idea what they were talking about. Keeping their trap shut would be the best idea to preserve her innocence.

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

"Well, back in fifth grade, I fell flat on my face during lunch. I landed right in my pudding and became a laughing stock. Then Spoon came along and helped me clean up. After a while we started to talk, and now she's officially my girlfriend! It's been... two or three years now? Since freshmen year I think. I wouldn't have any other girl in the world!" Ralphie kissed Spoon's cheek and her face went hot like fire.

"Aw~, how cute!" Corrine sighed. They were quite the couple.

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

Corine was curled up into a ball squealing. She couldn't believe he said all of that! In perfect detail too! Ralphie sat there, giggling to themself. Spoon seemed satisfied with the story.

Ralphie whispered into Spoon's ear, the two of them giggling. Corrine cocked her head but shrugged it off. Corrine gently leaned against Rolo and sighed happily. She kept her affection as subtle as possible. It was hard to keep their relationship a secret. But it was worth it to have a boyfriend like Rolo.

The Battle of Sea Salt Bay

"Y-you do it... I'll just mess everything up..." Corrine stuttered. As if things weren't embarrassing enough. Although it was a rather cute story, she didn't want to say anything. She removed her curly hair and and took a deep breath.

"Well, we first met at their clubhouse. Then I couldn't stop thinking about him. Then, um, we walked up to ghost rock. Um... then we uh... and that's how we got together!" What in the world was she saying?! What possessed her to say something?! She felt even more embarrassed than before. But somewhat relieved. Something in her just floated away.

"Aw~! Corrine that's so cute! But I want details. Rolo, why don't you go?" Ralphie asked again. Spoon sat there, enjoying the entertainment that the three brought to the table.