The Challenging King

1-Obvious

The family sat in the IHOP across from eachother. Hale, a boy with a face that seemed a bit like it was made of clay, sat there picking at his plate. He didn't like the burger that much. However, his mom and dad, Alice and Tim, seemed to like theirs. Two professors at the university in upstate New York, Alice and Tim both wore glasses, where both overweight and both very loving to their child. It didn't matter to them that Hale was adopted. Alice was head over heels for Hale, like she was his own flesh and blood. Tim was proud of his boy who could kick a soccer ball as well as if he made him himself.

Also, both Alice and Tim looked nothing like Hale. However, it was more than that. Hale was a lot better looking than his two adoptive parents. Hale could , even at this young age of nine, model. People would often look over their shoulders at the beautiful child, and wonder what this beautiful kid was doing with these two people who where the total opposite in the generics department. Even worst, people wondered who would give up this beautiful kid to these two people who look like they won the looks department at a comic book convention.

That didn't matter to Alice and Tim, however, because they loved Hale. It didn't matter if they made him (which the doctors told them they weren't blessed with the ability to do), but sometimes, Alice and Tim figured, God had a special way of making one road hard so a deserving person already here could have a easier one. Well, Alice believed that anyway. She was a professor of English, so beliefs in the supernatural could be something that she could buy. Tim, who was a professor of biology, not so much but he loved Alice more than he loved logic, and together they loved Hale a whole lot.

However, this evening, Hale wasn't having it and Tim and Alice fought with him a bit.

"Eat your burger" said Tim, was was tired from driving all the way from the Poughkeepsie to Buffalo, New York, where they both taught.

"No" said Hale.

Alice, seeing her husband Tim was starting to lose it, looked over at Hale, and tried to make the situation kinder as women often do with their kids.

"Honey", said Alice, "eat your burger. It looks great. Cheese, heck, cheddar cheese, they gave you the special cheese you want. Give it a bite, Hale."

"No" said Hale again.

As they sat there, Tim looking a bit teed off, but not enough to raise his voice, and Alice, just rolling her eyes at the antics of her two boys, both respectively forty four and nine, that they all failed to noticed the man outside the IHOP they sat in. He was wearing a jacket, looking at the boy directly through the window, eyes never leaving him. No one could see what exactly was in the coat he wore. No one could see if it was a guy or girl, but he stood there, blowing out smoke from inside the jacket cover.

However, he wasn't smoking. He was actually puffing smoke out of his mouth without the aid of a cigarette. To anyone passing by on the freeway, he looked like just another weirdo on the roads of America. However, anyone with knowledge of the supernatural, knew it was something else.

Meanwhile, inside the IHOP, they all sat there trying to get Hale to eat the burger. Sometimes Alice worried about Hale. He didn't seem to gain weight too much even as they ate. Childhood obesity was a problem for most kids but not him.

However, Hale wasn't most kids.

Hale, unaware of it even himself, wasn't quite the kid he thought himself to be.

Unknown to Hale, Alice and Tim, their family was unusual in the way things would turn out. Right now, however, Hale wasn't eating the burger and that was all that mattered. Well, Tim ended up paying the check and they went out to the family car. Everything seemed normal even as that man stood in the parking lot. They got up, collected their coats and Tim paid the check and tip.

When they got to their car, Tim noticed the odd man in the coat looking at them, and decided to take action.

"Hey!" yelled Tim, "Can I help you?"

He got a uneasy feeling at the darkened man in the coat standing there. So did Alice. Hale, however, was too busy thinking about the new video game he had waiting for him at home. As far as his nine year old mind was concerned, this road trip was a waste of time when he could be on a adventure with Mario.

However, Tim nudged at Alice. Told her to get into the car with Hale, parental instincts kicking in. Alice looked over at Tim, saying without words, lets just go and not create a problem here.

They got in the car and pulled out the parking lot. The man looked at the car as they left, darkened face looking at the car leaving.

"Fairies", said the man to himself, "another one".