(Inspired by Del's post here)

"Dominic... Right?" I ask the eight year old that looks remarkably like an eight year old version of myself.

"Yup!" he says, fiddling with a ball that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Wana play catch?"

"Uhh, sure why not." I grin as I remember my original description of him that praised his cleverness and wit. Yup, some things just never change.

"Catch!" he yells and beams the bouncy ball in my direction. "Haha you missed it!" He grins as I scramble after it. For the first time, I actually begin to take note of my surroundings. It seems that somewhere in the process of recalling Dominic I decided the Demi's backyard was a good place to set the scene. That's odd.

"Yeah, it kind of just happens sometimes. Weird right?" says Dominic as fidgets with his buttons.

"How?" I begin.

"I'm a detective genius. Remember?" I toss the ball toward him, throwing it well over his head so that he too has to scramble after it. I facepalm as I remember Dominic's detective identity. He may not be as smart as I thought back in the day, but he's still pretty brilliant for an eight year old.

"Hey now, you're a catch without inviting me? I feel terribly offended." I turn to the voice and see some dude dressed in hipster clothes approaching me. He is probably just under six foot, he wears a sweater vest and dress shirt sleeves and skinny jeans. His blond hair is swept across his face, accentuating his delicate clean-shaven features.

"Who's that!" Dominic yells from the other side of the yard.

"I have no idea." I admit, shrugging my shoulders.

"You mean you don't know me? The essence of exceptional speech, the king of managing the tongue. The master of eloquence and chivalry. Your most prized and treasured creation!" He then swept into a low bow.

"Oh yeah, I know who you are." I grin. "Silvertongue right?"

"He talks funny. Are you from England?" asks Dominic, which is a perfectly logical assumption for an eight year old to make.

Silvertongue mutters something about simpletons and the annoyance of small children. Despite his uppity attitude, he has always been one of my favorite characters. "Throw me the ball," growls Silvertongue with a scowl that didn't quite belong on his features.

I look Silvertongue up and down again. "Why are you dressed like someone from my school on a spirit day?"

Silvertongue follows my eyes to his clothes, "I haven't the slightest idea." Silvertongue says sarcastically. "You're the author, shouldn't you know I just got back from shopping?" I roll my eyes. Of course. Shopping. "Speaking of you being the author what happened to my story?" Luckily, just then Dominic threw the ball at Silvertongue, distracting him. Roy hops over the fence. Whoa, Roy. That's a throwback. I rub my eyes to make sure. The one thing I'm beginning to notice is that I didn't finish any of their stories.

"Hey Stevie," he says and joins the circle.

"Wait, why does he get to call you Stevie?" asks Dominic, crossing his arms crossly.

"For once the boy makes some sense!" chimes in Silvertongue.

"Did I say you couldn't?" I ask them.

"I suppose not," says Silvertongue, and does a backflip just for kicks. Whoa. Forgot about that. I look at Roy, curious as to whether or not I forgot something about him too. He's never one to disappoint.

"Want a piece of gum?" Roy offers...

"Ooh, thanks," I say reaching forward to grab a piece. Before I knew it, Dominic was there and grabbed it instead of me. When did he get so fast?

"YOUCH!" he yells and jumps a good foot into the air. I laugh till my sides hurt, nor am I alone. Roy had tears streaming down his face from laughing so hard, and even Silvertongue was chuckling.

When I finally recover from my laughter, I look up to see Hans standing next to Silvertongue. "There you are! Lazy slug, I wondered where you had disappeared to so conveniently in the mall." Silvertongue turns on me resentfully, "Why did you have to make him so lazy? I was in line with a large number of packages and evaporated as soon as any work was to be done. I had to put on a light show to escape."

I point an accusing finger at him, "When did you get so whiny? You were perfectly appreciative before. Seriously, what happened to the whole optimism thing?"

He shrugs, "I forgot."

"The change is for the better if you ask me." Mutters Hans, who always seems to be muttering. "His perky hopefulness was just irritating." The short brown haired boy walked off into the house, presumably to get some food. I look around and noticed that my characters are beginning to scatter throughout the yard. Dominic is over on the swing, watching us talk. That leaves Silvertongue, Roy, and I still in the circle. For the first time I take note of Roy's attire. I was surprised by how normal he looked until I realized he was just that, a normal kid.
"I do have a question," Roy and Silvertongue watched me patiently. "Where are Peregrine, Bob, and Lelio?"

"Did somebody say our names?" roars Bob from around the corner. The three quickly come into view, each exactly as I imagined them.

"Now these three I remember." I grinn as Lelio trips over his out-of-place robe. I'm glad he's still wearing his robes though because I can't really imagine him any other way. Bob is dressed like he's about to go hiking. I began to wonder not for the first time if his character is based off of Hiker Bob from Pokemon. I shrug, it doesn't really matter.
Peregrine walks up to me, yet another character that is eerily close to me. "Hey."

"Um, what's up?" I ask him. Having a conversation with yourself is extremely disconcerting. I eventually give up my feeble attempts at conversation and focus on the very interesting groups that have formed. Dominic decided to follow Hans inside, probably for similar reasons. I can see them talking through the window. They seem to be having a grand time. Meanwhile, Roy and Silvertongue have become fast friends, their joking nature forming a quick bond between the two. Which leaves Peregrine and I.

"Funny huh?" he says to me and points toward the groups.

"Yeah." I say, scratching the back of my head. Something seems to be missing, I just can't quite place it.

"Seriously? Dude, they're all guys." Peregrine facepalms. "Luna isn't even here." I raise an eyebrow at him questioningly. "You know that's not what I meant," says Peregrine. I just grin and point toward Luna walking through the fence door, looking slightly confused. Peregrine's face lights up for a second before he mask his emotions.

"Perhaps you should go explain what's going on." I say, nudging him.

"Yeah... Okay," says Peregrine as he hurries off. I feel kind of bad for doing that to him, but at least it proved that we're different. I actually hadn't planned for any romantic qualities between the two of them in the story, but you throw a guy and a girl together in a story and the temptation of that eventual prospect is just too tempting. I observe my characters from a stump. Ernie has joined Luna and Peregrine, completing the trio. Silvertongue is showing Roy something extremely fiery that looks like a lot of fun. I'm pretty sure inside Dominic and Hans have engaged in a chugging contest. As I watch them, the sky darkens out of nowhere. The yard that was once bright and colorful is now dark and gloomy. Looking up the sky, I see something that I probably should have expected. Malus.

The villain dismounts from the giant shadow that is actually a black dragon. Odd, I didn't know he could ride it. I think as my perfect villain approaches me. His grimy outer appearance is matched only by his inner flaws. When he reaches me he grabs me by my collar and picks me up. "Hey Malus." I venture.

"Look what you've done to me!" he appears to be falling apart slowly, like a broken stone. "Where is it!?"

"Ahhh..." I say, grinning. "That's what you're looking for!" In a fury Peregrine came out of nowhere with a sword and started to fight Malus. Malus dropped me and focuses on his adversary drawing his own sword. Trechio, I decide. The sword is new, but fitting for his character nonetheless. Peregrine hacks, stabs, and parries in a whirl of activity. Malus is better though, he is more skilled with the blade. I grin as I see Luna sneaking up behind him, bearing a cooking pot too. Finally, Luna gets close enough and takes a swing at the busy villain and cracks him on his head.

Light floods my eyes and I lose my vision. When my eyes finally recover, the yard is empty of characters. I sigh, sitting down once again on the stump. I feel a hand tap me on the shoulder. I turn around to find Silvertongue standing behind me. "Stevie, I have a few ideas for the story..."