★★★★★ Beverly on chapter 12 of Machine Stars at Royal Road – “Pure JH Royal storytelling at its best…
“What a great chapter. I could have been watching it on a screen just instead of reading it and I do NOT have a great visual imagination”
Excerpt – Chapter 1 – The Young Inevitables – Book 2 – Machine Stars
Darius turned his head to the left and right and checked his reflection in the mirror. He still didn’t know if he liked how he looked. Everything was new. The crisp suit, the white shirt, the thin tie, well, all that was cool, really cool, but something was wrong, and he thought it was the new hat. It made him look…
Too young?
No.
Smaller?
It was the hat.
But a hat is supposed to make you look taller.
Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t stop thinking he looked like a little kid wearing a new suit and his dad’s hat.
He snatched the hat off, studied his appearance, then eased the hat slowly back on. He nodded. It was definitely the hat.
He was used to ballcaps. He had been wearing them for years, so he didn’t mind a hat, but this sort of hat was too old-fashioned. It had an old hatband with a little brown feather in it. He hadn’t worn it much since he got it, and now, after finally studying his appearance in a mirror, he knew why. He didn’t feel right in it, and it didn’t look right. He didn’t like that. He definitely didn’t like appearing any more kid-like than he was.
Brock was one sink over, making sure he would be ready to go in front of his own mirror. Brock was big. Tall. Strong looking. They were all in the same sports league, but Brock looked like a man. It was his twelve o’clock shadow that did it. Darius didn’t think he wanted to start having to shave, but still, to look bigger and more like a man, he would take on the shaving that came with it. Darius wished he had a presence like Brock did, and the stupid hat was taking him entirely in the opposite direction.
Darius took the hat off and sat it on the tile shelf between the sink and the mirror.
While they waited, he leaned forward to peer at his jawline, left side and then the right side.
No sign of a beard yet.
He stood back up straight and lifted his chin.
“Do, ah… leprechauns have beards?”
Brock paused in combing his hair and thought for a moment. “Leprechauns? Well, I guess so. Ya. I think so…” Brock canted his head, checked his look, and continued combing. “Ya. I think I remember. A cartoon picture or something from somewhere… like, this little red-haired dude with a red beard, or maybe it was orange.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not so sure about the colour now. And not all of them have beards, I’d think. But that’s just cartoon stuff, so stop worrying about it. You’re not becoming a Leprechaun. Relax. It’s just a hat they gave you. A gift.” He went back to combing his hair and mumbled.
“Cartoon stuff. Ya. Right. Like the rest of the junk we’ve been through… Like the yowler?”
“Hey. Not fair bringing that up.” Brock shot him a stern look then continued combing his hair.
“At least I don’t think you’re becoming a leprechaun.”
email = jhroyal at the young inevitables dot com
