The Return

Earl Edwards awoke with a strange sensation, he could wiggle his toes. He could move his feet, he could walk! Edwards was tired of the five years of nothingness, his familie's history slowly fading. He was not ready to die poor and unsatisfied, that was not in the plans. Edwards wiped the dust of his window and looked out of it for the first time in a while.

That italian he kicked earlier in anger was walking around with deep thought writtien on his face. Edwards poured himself a glass of wine. The older frenchman he bumped into was strolling around. He took a big gulp. The man that he had to move himself out of the way for was avoiding cracks on the sidewalk as if they were instant death. A sip. Some man seemed to be observing the italian. The last few drops took a while to enter his mouth, but they made the trip. Earl knew that the Italian spelled trouble, but what was the trouble? Another glass was poured, and Earl spent the rest of the day just observing people.

It became night and Earl decided to read, but the cieling light that hung naked, unshrouded by the griminess of the room, was burnt out. Earl went down to frank to get a bulb replacement.
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" A bulb replacement? Do you realize how easy it is for you? You have to worry about a lightbulb, and I have to worry at sleep or not if my kids are going to grow up into brats because their mother is..."
" I apologize I asked."

Earl quickly turned his heel and left the room and met roger coming his way.
"Earl, I have matters to discuss with you, there is a possibility of regaining your wealth.", and Roger told him of vast riches under the lot. Earl could not believe it, but he figured out the italian and the weird guy observing him. Something was going down, and Earl would have to wait to see what was what. This was one of the rare times Roger told him something useful, his speech was usually laced with insults and criticisms. Earl knew for some reason that this was true, or he chose to believe it. Either way, Earl was thinking of getting back to England.

He observed the Italian and other guy for a few days, played poker, and drank. Earl could not take this anymore. He needed for something to happen. Earl visited the bookstore apologized to the worker there that he screamed at earlier and picked up a few more books to read.
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Earl was at the last poker game he would ever attend near thallow flats. He had pawned his watch and wheelchair. Earl was not dealt a single decent hand the whole knight. Sir Earl Edwards didn't care, he knew that he had wealth in his future. Earl then hit it big. He hook, lined, and sinkered someone in a pot and choked them for what it was worth. He was now up more than what he had bought in with. Scrant looked at all the chips in the pot, a multicolor affair. He pushed the chips to him, more and more; it was sensory overload for him. He began to laugh out-loud so hard that all the player's began to quickly get annoyed with the gitty Brit. The players without any vocal communication, decided to team up against Scrant. Even so, Earl was taking pots left and right, and was unstoppable. Eventually a man grabbed his shoulder.
" Sir you have won lots and are irritating the patrons of this fine institution, I might suggest that you leave."
"Oh, I have no intention of leaving."
"Well, that's too bad."
The man stuffed the money Earl Edwards had won in his coat and threw him out the door. Earl's face met the pavement, and felt his cheeks on fire. Earl rubbed them, but he couldn't subdue the pain. Roger came from behind him and grabbed his shoulder.
"It should happen pretty soon."
Earl payed no attention, he had a stack of money, things were looking good for him. He spent the rest of the day drinking in the tavern. Even though he was not pleased by the smoke, he needed to drink there.
Earl got bored and went out to the lot next to thallow flats. He was in a sea of gray. He kicked a few pieces of gravel but the gray stayed. Earl stood there and just looked up at the sky, it was clear blue. He watched the clouds slowly move and felt a force smack him to the ground. An explosion had happened. Earl Noticed little glistening specks of something invading the sky beginning to fall on his face.

Sir Scrant Earl Edwards lay there smiling.

The Boring Escapade

There had been so much commotion lately that Edwards forgot completley it was winter. Edwards awoke shivering, found that the warmest place in his apartment was the bathroom, and sat for a while in the bathtub. The water was initially warm, but he soon lost track of the temperature of it. It was not cold nor warm, it was just there and he was just in it. Edwards had no interest in getting out, and had no real way to get out, he was under the impression he was a cripple.

Earl decided to get out of the tub and get dressed. When he was done putting on his suit, he got into his wheel chair to wheel over to the pawnsop, Earl had important buisness to attend to. As he went in, he noticed that person he played poker with out for a jog.

Sir Earl Edwards initally pawned some of his books for some new ones, but decided to take the money and put it towards a new pocket watch, Earl's was broken.

As Earl was returning to thallow flats, he decided to leave the wheelchair at the base of the stairs. The elevator took to long, and the stairs were a much quicker option. Nothing exciting ever happened to Earl, and he was content with that. He hadn't touched any of his wine in a while, and felt no need to. Earl was focused on the problematic situation of being crippled. He climbed into bed to await another day, it never came. Earl could not go to sleep this night, he wanted to desperatley but he couldn't. The thought of 8 hours in a dark, dead city was not going to help Earl's current situation. Earl felt a strange chill in the air, it wasn't the normal cold that comes because there is no trace of sunlight. Earl did not know what it was, but he wanted it so badly to be gone he drank himself to sleep.

5 years of hell; an enterity to go

Sir Edwards history ends here. There is nothing of importance in this dump to Earl. Nothing, nothing at all.
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Sir Edwards awoke and screamed like a threatened child. There was a man looming over him. This man Stared at him, more scared of Earl than Earl was of him.

"Could...you...please...move.", said the man tremibling wearing a pale white face.
It seemed as if this man had been waiting here since Earl was knocked unconcious, why didn't he simply walk around?

Earl tried to stand up, but couldn't. He had broken his knees during the charge. He simply grabbed onto a radiator and pulled himself out of the way of the scared man.

The man stepped cautiously up the stairs, as if he was calculating a strategy for tackling the stairs. Earl would have thought this unusual for someone, but he was drained of all his energy to care.

Scrant just now noticed the pain in his head and knew he would have to make the descent up the stairs to his second floor room. Just as Teddy Roosevelt had charged up San Juan hill, Sir Edwards would have to make it to the top, or he would suffer.

Earl pulled at the wood of the stairs and pushed himself up enought to grab onto the railing. He then, little by little, pulled himself up to the top. It was the most excruciating thing Edwards had ever done. Each step, a little more painful then the next, but if he stopped, he would not have the energy to continue. When he reached the top, he was gasping for elusive air. Edwards kept pulling himself across the floor still thinking he was crippled, and made it to his room. He hoisted himself into his bed and dozed off.

When he awoke, Roger was sitting in a chair reading one of his books.

"You were out for quite a bit, do you even remember what happened? First, yo-", and Roger told him all that had happened.

Earl thought that was the dumbest thing he had ever endured. Earl tried to get out of bed, and fell. Sir Edwards still did not have control of his own legs, and this event convinced Earl he was actually crippled.

"I suppose I shall invest in a wheelchair."