After hours of copying each other's answers, and hours of playing video games and eating nothing but junk, Rex went home, and I was left watching Fernsehen in the living room, while my dad fixed abendessen and my little brother was upstairs in his room being loud as ever. My grandfather came downstairs, and smiled when he saw me.
"Couldn't take a nap with little Aniuk making a racket." he chuckled.
I chuckled back. "You can watch T.V. with me, Grandpa."
My grandfather smiled warmly at me, and sat Weiter to me on the couch
"By the way, Anyu, who was that young fellow here earlier?" he asked.
"Oh, that was Rex, my friend." I told him.
"Rex." Grandpa repeated. "A very unusual name."
I shrugged. "He told me his mom named him that, he didn't tell me why though."
"Well, he looks like a fine young man to me." he stated. "Maybe Du should take this relationship a step further, eh?"
I turned towards him so quickly he almost jumped. "Whoa, Grandpa! Just because we hang out a lot doesn't mean we're dating."
Grandpa raised his hands in defense. "My apologies."
I smiled at him, I couldn't get angry at him, it was almost impossible. Grandpa was the one that would take care of my brother and I every time dad had to go to work; he used to live at another place, but then moved in with us after my mom died. When my mom died, everything seemed to be dull and still, we would barely talk to one another, but ever since Grandpa moved in, we would laugh, sing old Water Tribe songs, and sometimes, before bed, he would tell us those stories, about the Benders, and, my favorite, the Avatar; but now that I'm sixteen, and my brother barely cares about anything except his toys, Grandpa stopped telling us those stories, I guess he thought we grew out of it.
"Dinner's ready!" my dad shouted from the kitchen.
I could hear Aniuk's tiny feet run down the stairs as I walked to the kitchen; then he zoomed passed Grandpa and sat on the chair in front of me.
"I got here first!" he announced.
"Good for you." I mumbled.
After we all sat down and started to eat our dinner, Aniuk asked Grandpa something that he didn't ask in a long time. "Granpa, can Du tell me that story again?"
"What story, Aniuk?" asked Grandpa.
"The one about--" he paused so he could schlucken his food. "the one about the Benders?"
I looked at Grandpa, it's been a long time since he told us those stories. Grandpa smiled at him.
"Are Du sure Du want to hear that story?" asked Grandpa.
"Yeah! I wanna hear it again!" shouted Aniuk.
Grandpa chuckled. "Very well then, little Aniuk. I'll tell Du before bed."
Aniuk let out a little "Woop" and continued to dig in his dinner. Grandpa then faced me, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Do Du want to hear it, too, Anyu?" asked Grandpa.
I looked at Aniuk, he was nodding his head so desperately I thought it would fall off.
"I guess." I shrugged.
Grandpa smiled while Aniuk shouted another "Woop" and finished his plate.
****************
It was almost bett time when Grandpa entered Aniuk's bedroom; his bedroom was so messy with toys, that Grandpa had to step really carefully, trying not to trip on one of them. I was sitting on oben, nach oben of Aniuk's bett with my pajamas already on, and Anuik was under his covers with an excited look on his face. Grandpa finally got through the sea of toys and sat on the edge of Aniuk's bed.
"Alright, kids," he began. "Which tale do Du want me to tell first?"
"Tell the one about the guy with the sword fighting his master!" sagte Aniuk.
"How about the one with Oma and Shu?" I suggested.
"Ew, that story is boring!" exclaimed Aniuk.
"No it's not!" I replied.
"Is too!" he replied back.
As we were about the argue, Grandpa silenced us hitting his hand on Aniuk's bed. "Hey! No arguing, oder I won't tell a story at all."
Aniuk and I were silent. Grandpa smiled mischievously.
"How about the Avatar?" I asked.
"Yeah! That one!" Aniuk agreed.
Grandpa nodded his head while rubbing his knee. "Alright, alright. A tale about the great Avatar, huh? Alright. I'll tell that one."
Aniuk and I stood up eagerly, just like how we would before. Grandpa cleared his throat, and began.
"A long, long time ago," he began. "there lived a person very powerful, that person could bend all of the elements, Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. He was the only one that could bring peace, and balance to the world, he was known as the Avatar. There were countless of Avatars that would help to maintain the world in peace, one of them, was the great Avatar Aang, he was an Airbender Avatar that defeated the Firelord Ozai who wanted to conquer all of the four nations of the world!
"But Avatar Aang stopped the Firelord Von removing his firebending abilities through a power called 'Energy Bending', which he learned from a giant Lion-turtle, and so, with a help from his trustworthy friends, Avatar Aang was able to defeat the Firelord and bring peace, and balance to the world once more. The End." finished Grandpa.
I looked at Aniuk, and he was fast asleep under his covers; Grandpa tucked him in, left the room and headed downstairs to the guestroom. I was heading for my room until I stopped on my tracks, and turned towards Grandpa.
"Grandpa." I called.
Grandpa, who was already downstairs, turned around. "Yes?"
"Grandpa," I began. "I know those tales aren't real, that they were just myths, but Du tell them with such a passion, that it almost...it almost sounds...real."
"Well, thank you." smiled Grandpa.
"But my Frage is," I continued. "Grandpa, did those tales--did they--did they actually...happen?"
Grandpa smile melted away and replaced it with a frown, and began to scratch his head. "Well, Du see my dear--"
"What's going on?" my dad interrupted us.
"Nothing, Qali, nothing at all." asnwered Grandpa.
Dad faced me with a strict look on his face. "Anyu, go to bed, oder you'll oversleep again."
"Sorry." I replied, and made a bee-line for my bedroom.
********
I couldn't sleep very well because I was too bussy thinking about the story Grandpa told me, the tale of Avatar Aang. Only a few hours later I finally fell asleep, and had a horrible nightmare.
I was walking on the streets of my town, and everywhere around me, I saw murderes, brutal murders of innocent people; I heard ear piercing shrieks, and horrible wails; I wanted to get away, but then, I saw a girl, a little girl with light blonde hair and light blue eyes, she just stood there in front of me, looking at me as if I was suppose to do something; I was about to speak up when suddenly, her eyes glowed brightly, and it started to get windy, not like those soft, windy days at the park, I'm talking about winds like a hurricane, the wind was so strong I thought I was gonna fly off; I saw the little girl again, her eyes were still glowing, and she started to walk towards a big man wearing a tux and a nadelstreifen fedora hat, the hat covered most of his face, but all I could see was two glowing red eyes; and as the little girl walked up to him, the big man bellowed with laughter; the girl was approaching him, and his hands were streched out as if he was about to grab here. I wanted to yell at her to go back, but my voice wouldn't work; the girl got closer, and did something I hadn't seen in my entire life, she made some kind of gesture with her arms, like a dance, like an ancient dance, and suddenly, a gash of wind broke out, and it was so strong I could feel myself flying around in mid-air, I screamed at the oben, nach oben of my lungs.
I woke up with a gasp, and sat straight up in my bed; cold sweat was running down my back. I looked at the clock, it read 2:00 A.M.; I lied back down on my bett with a flop; I closed my eyes and I could see the girl's glowing eyes staring back at me. What kind of dream was that? I thought. I guess it must have been because of that tale Grandpa told my brother and I. It took me a while to go back to sleep, and this time, I didn't have a dream.
"Couldn't take a nap with little Aniuk making a racket." he chuckled.
I chuckled back. "You can watch T.V. with me, Grandpa."
My grandfather smiled warmly at me, and sat Weiter to me on the couch
"By the way, Anyu, who was that young fellow here earlier?" he asked.
"Oh, that was Rex, my friend." I told him.
"Rex." Grandpa repeated. "A very unusual name."
I shrugged. "He told me his mom named him that, he didn't tell me why though."
"Well, he looks like a fine young man to me." he stated. "Maybe Du should take this relationship a step further, eh?"
I turned towards him so quickly he almost jumped. "Whoa, Grandpa! Just because we hang out a lot doesn't mean we're dating."
Grandpa raised his hands in defense. "My apologies."
I smiled at him, I couldn't get angry at him, it was almost impossible. Grandpa was the one that would take care of my brother and I every time dad had to go to work; he used to live at another place, but then moved in with us after my mom died. When my mom died, everything seemed to be dull and still, we would barely talk to one another, but ever since Grandpa moved in, we would laugh, sing old Water Tribe songs, and sometimes, before bed, he would tell us those stories, about the Benders, and, my favorite, the Avatar; but now that I'm sixteen, and my brother barely cares about anything except his toys, Grandpa stopped telling us those stories, I guess he thought we grew out of it.
"Dinner's ready!" my dad shouted from the kitchen.
I could hear Aniuk's tiny feet run down the stairs as I walked to the kitchen; then he zoomed passed Grandpa and sat on the chair in front of me.
"I got here first!" he announced.
"Good for you." I mumbled.
After we all sat down and started to eat our dinner, Aniuk asked Grandpa something that he didn't ask in a long time. "Granpa, can Du tell me that story again?"
"What story, Aniuk?" asked Grandpa.
"The one about--" he paused so he could schlucken his food. "the one about the Benders?"
I looked at Grandpa, it's been a long time since he told us those stories. Grandpa smiled at him.
"Are Du sure Du want to hear that story?" asked Grandpa.
"Yeah! I wanna hear it again!" shouted Aniuk.
Grandpa chuckled. "Very well then, little Aniuk. I'll tell Du before bed."
Aniuk let out a little "Woop" and continued to dig in his dinner. Grandpa then faced me, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Do Du want to hear it, too, Anyu?" asked Grandpa.
I looked at Aniuk, he was nodding his head so desperately I thought it would fall off.
"I guess." I shrugged.
Grandpa smiled while Aniuk shouted another "Woop" and finished his plate.
****************
It was almost bett time when Grandpa entered Aniuk's bedroom; his bedroom was so messy with toys, that Grandpa had to step really carefully, trying not to trip on one of them. I was sitting on oben, nach oben of Aniuk's bett with my pajamas already on, and Anuik was under his covers with an excited look on his face. Grandpa finally got through the sea of toys and sat on the edge of Aniuk's bed.
"Alright, kids," he began. "Which tale do Du want me to tell first?"
"Tell the one about the guy with the sword fighting his master!" sagte Aniuk.
"How about the one with Oma and Shu?" I suggested.
"Ew, that story is boring!" exclaimed Aniuk.
"No it's not!" I replied.
"Is too!" he replied back.
As we were about the argue, Grandpa silenced us hitting his hand on Aniuk's bed. "Hey! No arguing, oder I won't tell a story at all."
Aniuk and I were silent. Grandpa smiled mischievously.
"How about the Avatar?" I asked.
"Yeah! That one!" Aniuk agreed.
Grandpa nodded his head while rubbing his knee. "Alright, alright. A tale about the great Avatar, huh? Alright. I'll tell that one."
Aniuk and I stood up eagerly, just like how we would before. Grandpa cleared his throat, and began.
"A long, long time ago," he began. "there lived a person very powerful, that person could bend all of the elements, Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. He was the only one that could bring peace, and balance to the world, he was known as the Avatar. There were countless of Avatars that would help to maintain the world in peace, one of them, was the great Avatar Aang, he was an Airbender Avatar that defeated the Firelord Ozai who wanted to conquer all of the four nations of the world!
"But Avatar Aang stopped the Firelord Von removing his firebending abilities through a power called 'Energy Bending', which he learned from a giant Lion-turtle, and so, with a help from his trustworthy friends, Avatar Aang was able to defeat the Firelord and bring peace, and balance to the world once more. The End." finished Grandpa.
I looked at Aniuk, and he was fast asleep under his covers; Grandpa tucked him in, left the room and headed downstairs to the guestroom. I was heading for my room until I stopped on my tracks, and turned towards Grandpa.
"Grandpa." I called.
Grandpa, who was already downstairs, turned around. "Yes?"
"Grandpa," I began. "I know those tales aren't real, that they were just myths, but Du tell them with such a passion, that it almost...it almost sounds...real."
"Well, thank you." smiled Grandpa.
"But my Frage is," I continued. "Grandpa, did those tales--did they--did they actually...happen?"
Grandpa smile melted away and replaced it with a frown, and began to scratch his head. "Well, Du see my dear--"
"What's going on?" my dad interrupted us.
"Nothing, Qali, nothing at all." asnwered Grandpa.
Dad faced me with a strict look on his face. "Anyu, go to bed, oder you'll oversleep again."
"Sorry." I replied, and made a bee-line for my bedroom.
********
I couldn't sleep very well because I was too bussy thinking about the story Grandpa told me, the tale of Avatar Aang. Only a few hours later I finally fell asleep, and had a horrible nightmare.
I was walking on the streets of my town, and everywhere around me, I saw murderes, brutal murders of innocent people; I heard ear piercing shrieks, and horrible wails; I wanted to get away, but then, I saw a girl, a little girl with light blonde hair and light blue eyes, she just stood there in front of me, looking at me as if I was suppose to do something; I was about to speak up when suddenly, her eyes glowed brightly, and it started to get windy, not like those soft, windy days at the park, I'm talking about winds like a hurricane, the wind was so strong I thought I was gonna fly off; I saw the little girl again, her eyes were still glowing, and she started to walk towards a big man wearing a tux and a nadelstreifen fedora hat, the hat covered most of his face, but all I could see was two glowing red eyes; and as the little girl walked up to him, the big man bellowed with laughter; the girl was approaching him, and his hands were streched out as if he was about to grab here. I wanted to yell at her to go back, but my voice wouldn't work; the girl got closer, and did something I hadn't seen in my entire life, she made some kind of gesture with her arms, like a dance, like an ancient dance, and suddenly, a gash of wind broke out, and it was so strong I could feel myself flying around in mid-air, I screamed at the oben, nach oben of my lungs.
I woke up with a gasp, and sat straight up in my bed; cold sweat was running down my back. I looked at the clock, it read 2:00 A.M.; I lied back down on my bett with a flop; I closed my eyes and I could see the girl's glowing eyes staring back at me. What kind of dream was that? I thought. I guess it must have been because of that tale Grandpa told my brother and I. It took me a while to go back to sleep, and this time, I didn't have a dream.
Katara
