Josh Adwins

Liza gets knocked out and is carried out of the house by a man with a mask and a hoodie. Her children, Tyler and Laura can’t sleep because of the noises they hear.

“Hey Laura, “ whispers Tyler. “What d’you think is going on?”

“I don’t know. I heard a sort of thud,” replies Laura.

  The twins climb out of bed, switches on the lights and slowly opens the bedroom door. All is quiet. A little too quiet.

“Mom?” says Laura cautiously.

No reply.

“Look!” says Tyler. “She must have gone out. The door is open.”

“But why would she leave the door open?” wonders Laura.

“Hmm…” says Tyler thoughtfully.

“Look!”

“What?”

“Look at that green paint splatter!” says Laura pointing a finger at the ground.

“And that is supposed to mean…?”

“What if The Artist made that?” says Laura, half-scared and half-excited.

“Oh come on,” says Tyler, rolling his eyes. “It was just a story.”

~~

 Meanwhile, the kids’ mother is taken prisoner by The Artist. She is in a small cell and having to listen to Josh Adwin as he brags about his paintings is torture.

  The Artist gently fingers his paintings that are placed all around his Headquarters as he talks about the picture he painted that won first place in the National Art Championship.

“I painted a picture that had a- well you can’t really describe it. It was a real masterpiece. If I show it to you, you wouldn’t understand it. Only dedicated painters like me would,” says Josh. 

“Shut up,” groans Liza from inside her cell.

“How dare you,” says The Artist, shaking.

“You’ve been taking for an hour. Give me a break.”

“When I come back, you are going to die. I have to most amazing and painful weapons, you know.”

“They’re going to come for you.”

“Who? Your children?” Josh laughs. “Yeah right.”

  The Artist smiles at her and leaves the room.

~~

“There are paint splatters leading away from the house,” says Laura. “Should we follow them? What if we find Mom?”

“Okay, we’ll follow them,” agrees Tyler. “We should also pack a few stuff in case.”

  Tyler and Laura go back into their bedroom to pack. They shove packets of chips into their backpacks. Laura grabs two juice boxes from the fridge and hands one to Tyler who pushes it into his backpack. 

  When the twins are ready, they step out of the house and follow the trail of paint splatters after locking the house door carefully.

  The trail leads to a cave. The cave is, unfortunately, blocked by a huge boulder. 

“Oh great! Now, what do we do?” says Laura.

“Let’s try and push this boulder away,” says Tyler.

“Are you crazy? That thing is huge!”

“Yeah but I’m strong. I beat everyone in wrestling camp.”

“I wonder why you wanted to go there,” says Laura.

“I wanted to be a wrestler like The Redman in the Villan Comics.

  Serious eye-rolling from Laura.

  Tyler pushes. Nothing happens. Tyler spots a blue envelope among some bushes.

“Hey look!” exclaims Tyler as he grabs the letter and tears it open. There is a piece of silver paper inside. His eyes flicker side-to-side as he reads what’s on it.

  He then goes back to the boulder and pushes. It rolls away without difficulty.

  Laura stares at him with an open mouth. 

“That- that’s the envelope in Mom’s story! The one The Artist read!”

Tyler turns to Laura slowly.

“Don’t turn evil!” says Laura.

  Tyler laughs. “I’m not going to. Why would I want to turn evil? I think you should read it too. It might give you powers.”

“No,” says Laura who puts the letter in her backpack. “But I’m going to keep it for when the time comes.”

“Okay,” says Tyler, scratching his head.

  The two children walk inside the cave.

  There is absolutely nothing in the cave except a metal box with a big red button. They go to it and examine it closely. 

“Should we press it?” asks Laura.

“From all the movies I’ve watched, nothing’s ever good when you press a red button,” says Tyler.

  Laura presses the button. A portal appears. 

Tyler and Laura hold hands and jump inside.

  They appear in The Artist’s headquarters. 

“Intruders!” scream The Artist looking away from Liza.

  Tyler steps forward confidently and punches The Artist who flew away in such force. He then goes to the cage and pulls. The bars come out in his hands and Liza is free.

“How did-” begins Liza.

The Artist stands up brushes off the dust on himself and advances to Laura who quickly whips out the letter and reads it. 

“What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back?” says Laura.

The Artist pauses. “I don’t know.”

“A stick.”

“HA HA HA HA!”

  The Artist goes into a fit of laughter. Telling jokes was Laura’s speciality.

  Tyler brings out the box with the red button he had kept in his backpack and presses it. The portal reappears. Tyler carries Laura and jumps through with Laura following him.

  The Artist recovers quickly and grabs Laura’s leg. He is pulled through the portal before it closes.

“Now, let’s settle this, shall we?” says the Artist.

Tyler and Laura share a grin. “Let’s do it.”