An Incident at the Hopscotch House

None of the guests at the Hopscotch House could have predicted the fall. Though, notably, this said more about the guests at the Hopscotch House than it did about the incident itself, which all in all was rather predictable. Ms Cavenworth was three glasses of chilled white wine in when she threw her decorative scarf off casually, attempting to glimmer with laughter as she descended the stairs. Four of the lanky gentlemen she was hoping to inspire were markedly not watching her, but rather the magnificent white chocolate fountain as it poured and rippled over and over. The sister of host, herself a miraculously tiny and generally inconsequential woman, had been darting from the upstairs balcony to the chocolate fountain, carrying with her several chocolate dripping strawberries each time. Mr. Elton, the host himself, had spared no expense in ornamenting his affair as lavishly as his overeager secretary dared suggest, but had spared himself the trouble of hiring someone to fix the loose bannister which cascaded round the stairs like a fatigued boa constrictor.

So, you see, many non-guests might have predicted the fall when Dr. Amesworth, a tremendously pompous history professor, startled at the sound of Ms Cavenworth’s exaggerated laugh, grabbed the bannister, which gave under his weight, slipped on a large drop of shiny white chocolate, bounced down a few steps, and planted his humongous foot on a just-rested silk scarf, sending him flying into the wall, where he smashed a mounted vase and fell loudly to the floor.

This was when my hiding spot was revealed. I, like my aunt, am very small, and fit neatly under a table of strange, bite-sized, salty food. I had eaten a few of the offered bites, stealthily grabbing them when no one was looking. I am a very stealthy spy. But when Dr. Amesworth flew into the air, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I knew someone would fall!

Mr. Elton stormed over to me immediately.

“What are you doing down here? Get upstairs this instant! And be QUIET.”

I knew better than to respond. I just had to stifle my laughter as he escorted me past the huddle of concerned guests at the foot of the stairs.

“I have to get back downstairs,” he said as we walked towards my room, his hand pushing me along. “That was quite a bad fall, not a laughing matter at all.”

I could have walked the rest of the way alone. I know where my room is. But he kept striding along the long dark hallway. I hated this. Mr. Elton had the best parties. Not because they were any fun for me, but because watching them was always so funny. The strange food was always tasty. Tonight, I didn’t even get to try the white chocolate fountain, and I knew whatever chance I had at a leftover plate was ruined. As we approached my room, his hand clenched my shirt.

“Now, what did I tell you this morning?”

I was quiet. I wasn’t sad about missing the party but I felt myself start to cry a bit.

“I told you to please stay in your room, and work on your model plane! I used to love model planes. I wish I had a quiet evening to myself to play!” At this he smiled at me so I think he wanted me to smile back. I did.

“Okay,” I said.

“There’s a good lad! Alright, Daniel, I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.”

My room is plenty big. Lots to do really. No need for extravagant parties and luscious white chocolate and sparkling dresses with silk scarves to match. I turned on my light and set to work on the model plane.

“Ugh!” I threw down the tiny pieces I was holding. This isn’t playing! This sucks! I wanted to go back downstairs and see what was happening with the history professor and Ms Cavenworth and the lanky men. Suddenly the room felt too large and empty. I was so far away from the party that I could only hear very dim music, and I hated to hear it without being there.

I climbed into my large, square bed. My emerald sheets were smooth and long and excellent for forts. But they were cold and too crisp. They get changed twice a week.

Without the sheets over my head I could still hear the music. It was still playing so I guess the history professor was okay, or they probably would have stopped.

“Hmmm,” I said, looking around “where else could I hide from that awful sound!” It didn’t really sound so awful but this was all part of the game.

        In the back corner of my room there was a large closet for my winter coats. That would do perfectly! In I went. Yes! I won the game. No music to be heard in here. The heavy furs slid around my shoulders like they were asking if it was winter already. They were itchy and probably had cobwebs all over them, so I pulled the string hanging from the ceiling to light the closet, shut the door, and sat down under the coats. Immediately I felt a small lump under my leg.

        I thought it was likely something from a coat pocket, but upon inspection, it was like nothing I’d ever held or even seen before.

        Lying on the floor of my closet was marble snake. It was coiled around some dark red jewel, and its eyes were gleaming yellow. It seemed to look at me, right into my eyes, and in my mind I heard it say, “hello Daniel.”

        I tried to throw it back down but my hands didn’t move. It was heavy in my hands, and more I stared at it, the more I felt the fur coats drape over me and the heavier it felt and the more it looked at me.

        “H-Hello?” Yes, I spoke out loud to snake. But I thought it was speaking to me. It didn’t reply, it being a marble snake, so I decided I had just gotten a bit carried away. I was just about to stand up and put it beside my bed so I could ask the Hopscotch House secretary to get rid of it when I heard, again, “hello Daniel.”

        It spoke again. “Hello Daniel. Why are you hiding in your closet.” The voice was velvety smooth, a deep, somber tone with a slight tilt upwards when he said my name, almost like he was winking at me with his words.

        It felt ridiculous to speak out loud, but then giant white chocolate fountains are ridiculous and there was one just downstairs. “Well, there’s a party downstairs but I’m not invited and I don’t want to hear the music anymore because, well, because it reminds me that I’m not invited.” The words came out without thinking. I kept going, “and, and, Mr. Elton, who’s my dad, made me come in here to play but I’ve got nothing to play with, and everything is so FUNNY downstairs and I want to play there and try the chocolate.”

        “Yes, that would make you sit in the closet, wouldn’t it?” I was relieved it agreed with me, because I hadn’t explained that I was just playing a hide-from-noise game. I wasn’t really hiding.

        “Yes.” I said, boldly.

        “Daniel,” it said, in a slow whisper, “I can help you get downstairs.”

        “No, no, I’ll be caught again if I make any noise and I’ll be in trouble.”

        “Oh you won’t be caught. You can make the biggest scene in the world and no one will know you’re there.”

        Now this was something to consider. Some of the kids at school said they had encountered magic but I never believed them, because I’ve heard plenty of adults talk at plenty of adult functions and none of them bragged about magic. And I think they would brag if they had seen any. But it was too tempting! Even though Mr. Elton said he didn’t want me downstairs, I don’t think he’d mind if I were there in secret.

        “Um,” I replied, “Okay. But make it really secret. Like no one will ever know and I won’t get in trouble.”

        “Of course.” It said. I smiled at my snake friend.

        Suddenly, I was at the top of the stairs, staring straight at one of the guests of my father’s party. He was looking right up at me! His moustache was crumpled slightly as he tilted his head in confusion.

        “I’m, um, I’m terribly sorry!” I said terribly because I heard adults say that, so I thought it might make me seem less out of place. The man continued to stare up at me, and I realized, he was looking up! I looked down at my own feet and saw humongous black loafers. What? I looked back at him.

        He said, “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand your contention, professor.”

        “Uh, yes, uh, it is hard to, uh...” I was racing through my mind, fumbling in my pockets, hoping to find the snake and ask it what was going on, when, suddenly, I heard a shrill laugh, and I stumbled over my huge feet.

        “Whoa!” I yelled, my body was heavy! The image of the stairs was coming right at my face and I heard gasps and a dropped glass and a child’s laughter and a huge bang as I slammed my head into the wall by the stairs, and fell to the ground.