'Don't look...'

'It's always like this...'

Nick repeatedly warned himself as his eyes concentrated on the Jenga tower in front of him. Apparently, he was trying to search a block he could pull out without causing the collapse of the tower.

'Huff...' He lightly exhaled and extended his hand.

'Dang it...' He cursed at himself as his vision jumped to his side for an instant. Right beside him was a little girl who was staring at him with big eyes which were wide opened and seemed to be tearing up.

The trajectory of his hand unnoticeable changed before it pulled out a wooden block and the entire tower came cascading down.

'Ya!....Ya!.." At the same time, a loud and crisp voice sounded, "Brother you lost...hahahah..."

Nick sighed inwardly and assumed a dejected expression. He opened his mouth but the voice that sounded was that of a female.

"Nice Sarah! Nick, you better not go back on your promise."

"When did I ever do that..." Nick yelled in a slightly annoyed voice towards the kitchen where his mom was cooking.

"Hehe..." The girl, who was next to him, giggled and said, "When I asked you to let me do your make-up after winning the bet that time"

"I would rather die. Anyways, this time, it's already decided. I will only read for half an hour, regardless of anything."

"yes, yes..." Sarah happily nodded, though her expression clearly said otherwise. Nick decided to rebuke her a little when he heard his mother yelling:

"All right, that's enough, dinner is ready."

"Hai...." Sarah shouted and burst out of the room as Nick yelled at her back, "Oi! At least help me in putting this damn stuff back."

"Nick! Watch your language." He instead got a rebuke from his mother.

Helpless, he quickly sorted out the Jenga blocks while cursing himself for giving into his sister's puppy-eye look again.

Subsequently, he joined his mother and sister in the main hall for dinner.

Nick lived together with his little sister and mother. He was twelve while his little sister was nine. His mom worked at a mall nearby. Even though her job didn't pay much, they had a nice house in a good neighborhood and a decent saving left behind by Nick's father. Thus, although their lifestyle was not luxurious, it was satisfying. In Nick's knowledge, they had a few relatives from his father's side who lived quite far away and none from his mother's side. The three of them had been living alone since his father passed away in an accident four years ago.

The passing of his father was a huge blow for the entire family. Especially Sarah; she was extremely close to her father. Her personality, which was extremely lively prior to her father's death, turned extremely silent, and she sort of withdrew herself into a shell. It took two years for her brother and mom just to crack that shell, and further two years to completely get rid of it.

From tomorrow, their mother had to work the evening shift. Thus, she would not be able to read stories for Sarah since she would be coming home past Sarah's bedtime. So, the latter asked Nick. Nick, obviously, flat out rejected her. In the end, they decided on a bet: If he won, Sarah would do his drawing assignments, and if he lost, he had to read out stories to her every night. And the rest was history...

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

After finishing the dinner, Sarah asked her mom:

"Mom, can I pick a new book from the storage? I am kinda bored with the current one."

"All right."

"Mom, can I have more pocket money?" Nick said quietly, wishing to make something out of his situation.

"Sure...on the side note, did you get your report card yet?"

Nick: "Uh...not yet."

...

Nick was watching tv in his room when the door suddenly opened and Sarah entered with a book in her hand. Nick turned his head to look at the watch. It was nine-forty-five. He raised his eyebrows and said:

"There is still fifteen minutes left."

"Yes...but since you are reading out for the first time, we will need to match our pace."

Nick just foolishly looked at her.

" I mean, how fast should you read so that I can keep up and not be bored either," Sarah said shrugging.

"All right...whatever, let's go to your room," Nick said. He got off the bed, turned off the tv, and was about to turn off the light when he felt a slight tug on his arm. He turned and saw Sarah looking down as she spoke in an extremely faint voice:

"Can I sleep here...?" Due to his pre-teen instinct, Nick was about to involuntarily turn her down when he saw her downcast expression. He then knew that she didn't care about the stories at all. She was afraid she would have to sleep alone. Since their mother was going to come back past Sarah's bedtime, she would have to go to sleep alone. He also knew that she was not afraid of the dark....but being alone.

Nick rubbed her hair and said, "All right, you can sleep here."

"Thanks..." She said under her breath, unhearable to Nick. Immediately afterward, her countenance took a one-eighty turn as she threw the book in her hand towards Nick and pounced on the bed.

Nick caught the book and helplessly crawled in the sheets before lying down beside Sarah. Subsequently, he swept his gaze through the cover of the book in his hand while placing it in between the two of them, holding it slightly above their heads. Sarah was also curiously looking towards the book. The cover had a picture of a bunch of beautiful fairies. Nick flipped through the cover and immediately started. Both, right and left, pages of the book only had two headings written on them, nothing else. On the left page was written: The Legend Of The Wolf King, and the right page: The Dwarf Queen.

Nick tried to look towards Sarah but realized he couldn't move his head. He suddenly felt groggy and his consciousness gradually vanished......