These are the rules of the windmill: Red Hat says that there are other rules, but everyone agrees that they aren’t official, even if they won’t tell him that (that’s why even though they’re on the board, they’re in a different color—Ponytail hid the green marker before he could get to it). Red Hat says he’s the leader too, but he’s not the biggest and he hasn’t been in the windmill the longest either. The only thing that makes him leader is the wrench. The windmill is five floors high, and with round stairs to climb that go the whole way up from the bottom. The first four floors have space for three spots each. It’s full of junk that everyone has brought with them, and also things that everyone thinks were in there already, like the wrench. The whole thing is made of wood and it’s easy to get splinters, so it’s important to hang your blankets and sheets around the walls when you’re not using them, so long as you don’t cover up too many of the cracks. There should also always be a blanket to take out to the tunnels, otherwise you have to take one from your own spot. The tunnels were started a long time ago by Four Buttons, and he was responsible for making a lot of the rules too. Four Buttons would take a blanket and go outside and move really slow, and find things to make the tunnels with. The tunnels are all above the ground, but that’s okay, because they’re closed at the top, and that’s what’s most important. What you do is cover yourself in the blanket, go through the tunnels, get close to something you can use to make more, then slowly go out and grab it and bring it back. You can be out there for a little while if you don’t look like you’re moving. Four Buttons and a few others built most of the tunnels all on their own, but then Four Buttons got rocketed, and that means it must have been pretty early on because they gave up on rockets awhile ago. The only one left at the windmill that was there when Four Buttons was there was Freckles, and Freckles must have been young because he’s not even the oldest here now—that’s Wristband, who was ten before. Now Red Hat is the one that figures out who has to go out and make the tunnels, and find food, and other stuff. One of his rules (that isn’t a real rule) is that if you’ve been at the windmill for more than ten days, you have to go out. Other rules he made up are that someone always has to be awake (which makes sense) and that no one is allowed to talk about before. Everyone does though, when he’s not around. The windmill is in a field that was probably a farm before. There’s not much to see around it, but the top floor, where all of the cranks and gears for the windmill are, also has a window you can look out of. There were other windows, but they’re all boarded up from the outside, so you can only use the one at the top. The sky looks rusted now, it’s orange and grey and smoky, and dry, like there’s just a big scab where the sky used to be. You can still see the sun though, because it’s brighter than everything else. You can see the sun and sometimes you can see them walking around. They look small far away but up close they’re bigger than the windmill. Everybody gets a turn at the window everyday, but One Foot spends the most time in front of it. She’s also the newest at the windmill, and talks the least. Ponytail says he found her in the city underneath a toy shop and brought her back with him. She can stay in front of the window the whole day if someone lets her, just watch the sun bounce from left to right, over and over again. You can let someone else have your turn at the window. Panda Shirt will let One Foot have her turn a lot. Panda Shirt is the nicest to One Foot. Everyone thinks it’s because they’re both girls, but Panda Shirt says it’s because her brother also lost a foot (that’s about before though, so she won’t say it in front of Red Hat). Panda Shirt stands up to Red Hat sometimes though. She’s probably the reason Long Sleeve is still alive. The window isn’t big enough for two to look out of it, but sometimes Panda Shirt will be up there with One Foot just to keep her company. She’ll also let One Foot be in her spot when she’s not there, because One Foot’s spot is at the bottom of the windmill and it’s hardest for her to get up and down the stairs. One day, while One Foot was taking her turn at the window, she started drawing. Red Hat went up to her and asked her what she was doing. One Foot said “I’m drawing,” and you could tell she was scared. Red Hat had just gotten back from the tunnels. He asked her, “What are you drawing?” “Nothing,” she said. “Outside.” Red Hat grabbed the paper from her and looked at it. It had a little girl in it, and two bigger people. He pointed at them. “Who are they?” One Foot didn’t answer him at first, but then he pulled the wrench out of his pocket. Panda Shirt was up there too doing something, but didn’t say anything right then. “Who are they?” he asked again, and his big ears went as red as his hat. One Foot looked down, then pointed. “That one is my mom-” she started to say, but then Red Hat crumpled it up and threw it at her. “That’s from before!” he yelled at her. That’s when Panda Shirt stopped what she was doing. “She wasn’t talking about them,” she said. “She was drawing.” Red Hat showed his teeth. “Drawing it makes people talk about it, it’s the same thing. It’s against the rules!” Panda Shirt said “That’s not a real rule.” Red Hat asked her, “What did you say?”, and he pointed the wrench at her. One Foot tried crawling in front of him, but Red Hat pushed her face away. Panda Shirt didn’t back down though. “That’s not a real rule, you just made that up. Everyone always used to talk about before until you got here.” He walked up to her. They were about the same size, even though Panda Shirt was probably older. “I’m in charge of the windmill,” he said. He poked her chest with his finger. “And I say, no talking about before.” Panda Shirt said, “You’re not in charge of the windmill.” Then she looked at One Foot. “Don’t listen to him-” she started to say. But then Red Hat whacked her across the face with the wrench. Her teeth went flying everywhere and her glasses broke into pieces. One Foot screamed but didn’t move. Panda Shirt was laying down. She lifted her head up for a second, and her face looked like a crushed tomato, the juices and the seeds coming out all over the floor. Then she put her head back down. Red Hat went back over to One Foot and pointed at her with the wrench, which still had bits of Panda Shirt’s cheek on it. He told her “No more window for you,” but she was still looking at Panda Shirt. The others heard the noise and gathered at the top of the steps. Ponytail was in front. He saw Panda Shirt on the floor and asked “What happened?” Red Hat said “They were breaking the rules,” and then One Foot started to cry. “No we weren’t-” “Yes you were!” he yelled at her, and he started hitting her on the arm with the wrench. She tried to get up and run but fell over. The wrapping on her foot came off and blood started getting all over the floor. The others started shouting. Ponytail and Wristband ran toward them and tried to grab for the wrench, but Red Hat started swinging it everywhere. He hit Wristband in the knee and tried to hit Ponytail too but he missed. Everyone was shouting, except for Red Hat who still swinging. Ponytail pulled Wristband by the arm and the two of them went back to the steps. Red Hat was breathing really hard and holding his eye with one hand but still had the wrench in the other. One Foot was on the floor next to him crying and trying to cover her foot. He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and said “Stay back!” to the others, who were all standing there scared. Then they heard a clanging noise. They all turned and saw Panda Shirt standing wobbly near the big pile of gears that was connected to the wall. Her face was dented and purple and red and her mouth was hanging off too. She’d ripped one of the locks off of the gears and had her hand on the other one. Everyone went quiet, except One Foot who was still sniffling. Panda Shirt and Red Hat stared at each other. Red Hat said “Don’t you dare,” but Panda Shirt didn’t move. Then he looked over at the others. “See,” he said. “They’re trying to break the rules!” They all looked over at Panda Shirt, who still had her hands on the lock. She looked back at them, and then at One Foot, who had wrapped her foot back up and was just sniffling. Even though Red Shirt had her by the neck, she was able to nod. Red Hat shouted “Don’t do it!”, and now he finally looked scared. He brought the wrench near One Foot’s face and started wiggling it. Panda Shirt looked back at the others, then pointed her finger downward. After a second, they started running, toppling of each other down the steps. Ponytail looked back for a second but that was it. Panda Shirt took off the other lock. The gears started moving slowly, but they were loud. The windmill was on. Red Hat started shouting and threw One Foot down on the ground, then ran towards the gears. Panda Shirt ran towards One Foot. She wrapped her arms around her and tried dragging her toward the stairs but they slipped in the blood from One Foot’s missing foot and fell down. Red Hat banged on the gears with the wrench, but they kept going faster and faster. Then there was a loud thumping sound. The gears started to slow down, and they all stopped to look at the wall. Then there was a crash, and the wall was ripped off, wood flying everywhere, and the orange sky was there for a second but then it was replaced by a big, red eye, the size of the hole. No one moved. The eye started blinking, and the room went red, black, red, black, like lights were going on and off. Then it left and a claw reached in, huge, black, and sharp. It looked like chunks of coal all pieced together. It grabbed all three of them. The wrench dropped with a dinging noise. The claw dragged them on the floor and swallowed them up like a shadow, then disappeared, and the sky came back. Red Hat’s hat flew out the hole. The others stayed down in the tunnels for a little while but then went back up when they thought it was safe. Eventually they fixed up the wall on the top floor. They put the wrench down in the tunnels and agreed that it would only be used to work down there. They wiped the extra rules that Red Hat put on the board. The window is still there, so there’s still the rule where everybody gets a turn. And taking was never really a problem except sometimes. But the windmill doesn’t work anymore, so they got rid of that rule and made a new one, written in green:
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About MeVekin87 is the author of the Albus Potter Series, a 7-book continuation of the J.K Rowling's Harry Potter books. The Things I Write While You're Asleep |
Photo used under Creative Commons from verchmarco