“Well, surprise, surprise. Look who is alive and well but too self-centered to let his own mom know he’s alive.”

Pepper paused from getting the items set up to make pancakes. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Don’t take it personal, don’t take it personal. “Sorry.”

“I bet you are, Pep… I bet you are.” His mom skirted around him and grabbed her glass from off the counter.

“I figured Dad had told you last night when he got back inside.”

“Nope… but pretty sure a mom would much rather hear it directly from her son. Especially seeing how the block just down the street was destroyed last night.”

Pepper balled his hands into fists out of view of his mom’s prying eyes. He started to go back to making pancakes for Meg but took another deep breath and turned towards his mom. “Would you like some?”

“No. But at least it is nice of you to ask. I just wish it happened more often.”

He ignored the backhanded compliment and poured the pancake batter onto the griddle. His gaze landed on his dad’s coffee cup. It was then that he realized this was the normal time his dad enjoyed the warm bean juice. “Where is Dad?”

“He got called into work.”

Pepper shook his head. “They can’t keep doing this to him. He has already given more to that grocery store than anyone else.”

“They’ll probably work him into an early grave. Might as well, since everyone else around here seems to be dying on me.” Courtney paused, and he caught her nodding out the window. “You remember Miss Higgins?”

His brow scrunched slightly. “Wasn’t she one of my teachers?”

“Your first-grade teacher to be more specific. I would think you would remember her. Seems like the only thing you remember these days are just golem details and facts.”

“That isn’t true,” he countered.

“Well, maybe you can prove me wrong and take a vested interest in this family. But I won’t hold my breath.”

Pepper piled the pancakes onto a plate and went to deliver the breakfast to his little sister. When he returned to the kitchen, he started to prepare his own breakfast. “So what about Miss Higgins? What is going on with her?”

Courtney huffed. “Well, nothing, cos she’s dead.” Pepper snapped his head towards her, and she raised her eyebrows at him. “Yeah… she lived just down from us on the road that was destroyed in the attack last night. She is just one of the many victims.”

Pepper turned back to his breakfast and flipped his cakes over on the griddle. “Well, I guess that sucks to be her, then, huh?”

“Well, it could have easily been you, Pepper. You need to think about these things.”

“Can I just get a break?”

Courtney’s eyes widened and she had a sarcastic look on her face. “Oh, you need a break? Take a number there, Pep. We all wish we could catch a break. You think life is hard now? Try losing two children and surviving the constant threat of demons pouring into your neighborhood.”

“That’s not what I meant, Mom, and you know that,” he countered.

“Oh, and what did you mean?”

“You tell me to get a job. I get a job, but you always want me to be home. You tell me to have a career. I choose my career, but it’s a waste of time and money.”

Pepper didn’t get a chance to finish, as his mom cut him off. “The golem games are not a career, they’re a fantasy!”

“It’s the Golem League, Mom, League… for the ten thousandth time.”

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“Well, some of us wake up to our realities and work to earn everything we have in life. Others… such as yourself… well, I guess I will take a number 7 ultra-mega size.”

He grabbed his plate and didn’t hesitate as he turned to leave. He called back over his shoulder as he headed out the back door, “That isn’t even a size option!”

“Now where are you going?” she yelled back.

“I have martial arts training with Nate!”

Pepper had only made it about four steps and two bites when his heart skipped. He turned the corner to see his neighbor Ryan standing at the fence facing him. Pepper had to take a second not only to get his heart settled back down but also to swallow his bite without choking.

Ryan was wearing a bright red tie, but rather than being around his neck, it was tightly wrapped around his forehead. The ends of the tie were dangling beside his face and his hands were firmly pressed together. He bowed towards Pepper in the traditional martial art form. “You have chosen an honorable path, young grasshopper.”

Pepper shook his head. “I’m assuming you heard all that?”

“Oh yeah. I don’t think your mom there realizes just how much her voice carries. Specially when she leaves that there kitchen window open.” Ryan motioned with his head.

Pepper looked over his shoulder and then shook his head. “Well, guess there is no need to fill you in on the details.”

“I mean, I love a good gossip just as much as any teenage girl, you know.”

Pepper narrowed his gaze at Ryan. His neighbor now had a thousand-yard stare and a concerned expression on his face. “Yeah, yeah… you know, I feel really bad for Miss Catherine. She just doesn’t see how Mr. Daniel Berback is playing her like a fiddle, you know? Toying with her heart like a three-dollar yo-yo.”

“Where do you get this stuff, Ryan?”

The question brought Ryan back into the moment and he rolled his eyes. “Oh, you know, it’s all on that there League Chat. I swear you kids just have no sense of privacy and you just post the most insane things. Sure do, you know?” Ryan paused and then amplified his expression of concern. “You are all crazy.”

Pepper looked down at his feet and noticed a pebble on the sidewalk. He shoved it off to towards the base of the fence they now stood at. He didn’t look at Ryan when he asked, “What do you think?”

“Oh, wow there, Pep. That sure be a loaded question now, ain’t it? Let’s see here…”

Pepper realized his error and quickly intruded to correct his question. “Wait, let me clarify. What do you think I should do? You know, about wanting becoming a Golem League Gladiator and one day, hopefully, a Golem Master..”

Ryan smiled. The look on his face told Pepper that he knew the original intent of the question. His kind confidant was merely playing with him. Ryan took a deep breath and tilted his head from side to side. “Pepper, did I ever tell you I was an athlete?”

Pepper had to think for a second. “You might have mentioned it before, but I can’t recall all the details.”

“Sounds fair enough there. I didn’t listen much to my elders when I was growing up, you know. Well, let’s just say… I had the pleasure of being an athlete.”

“Basketball?”

“Oh goodness, no; I played a real man’s sport. Volleyball.”

Pepper continued to tilt his head and let out a small chuckle. “Okay.”

“Yeah, you know. I am practically as tall as one of them golem things you talk about, so I figured I would put the height advantage to good use, you know. Well, there were many people that doubted me.” Ryan returned to his thousand-yard stare and slowly drifted into a quiet state for a moment.

“Well… did you get to play? You know, professionally?”

Ryan had pressed his tongue against the side of his cheek. His eyes widened and he nodded. “That I did, young Pep… that I did. You know… I got hurt, though. That was what caused it all to end. The dreams, the passion, all of it. A screeching halt like a car running into a brick wall. I don’t know if you know this, but, uhh, brick walls don’t flex.”

Pepper wasn’t ready for the quick transition. He didn’t even know what to say at that point. “Gosh, Ryan… I am sorry to hear that.”

“Me too. But you know what, Pepper? Though my career didn’t really go the way I thought it would, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. There are some people who try for their whole lives to make it. Make it to the big show, so to speak. The thing about it is that they can look at themselves in the mirror and know that they gave their all towards the effort. Sometimes life deals us a bad hand of cards to play in the big game. For me, I didn’t take it for granted and savored every second that it lasted.”

“Okay …”

“Pep … close your eyes.” Pepper did as his neighbor asked, and soon Ryan’s voice continued. “Now I want you to imagine the tunnel. It’s dark, a little gloomy, smells like rotten food and motor oil.” Pepper cracked his eye open and showed a confused look to Ryan. “Hey now, don’t be ruining the vision there. Just go with it, just go with it.” Pepper closed his eyes again and let out a long sigh. “Okay… now you start to take your first steps forward. There is a bright light awaiting you at the end of the tunnel. You begin to hear the roar of the crowd—the cheers that are calling out your name and that of your clay statue thing. You enter the arena to see yourself standing before thousands of people. All there to see you become the Grand Champion of Dragons.”

“Golem Master.”

“Yeah! That too, aye.”

Pepper laughed and opened his eyes.

“Hey, I wasn’t done there! You still have to see your face blown up on the jumbo screen for it to really set in.”

“I think I got the picture, thanks, Ryan.”

A serious look washed over Ryan’s face. His eyes locked onto Pepper’s and he leaned slightly forward. “Pep… the journey is worth it. Don’t give up.”