Mason laid back against the wool couch, basking in the concentrated heat from the window that somehow managed to find its way inside the house. Hannah was loudly hitting a small plastic hammer against two smaller wooden blocks that their father had carved the year before, nearly deafening to Mason.
His father stood near her, egging her on to try to nail the blocks together, something that Hannah took with great enthusiasm. His father, a rather small and slim black rabbit, had always wanted to build a house, and indeed, some of the sheds, however hurriedly and horribly they were put up, were put there by his father.
Mason cringed as the blunt hammer slowly but steadily started to degrade with each hit, but he did note that she had some force behind that small swing, managing to actually chip a small, and by no exageration really small, nugget of wood from the block, their father triumphantly raising his sleek black fur arms and grinning broadly.
Monica stood by the doorway, scrolling through Youtube while looking for the latest makeup tutorial despite not actually caring for makeup. She was wearing a light grey T-shirt to match her fur, and had a short pair of denim shorts on.
Their mother was busy working in the kitchen, making their favorite meal, boiled corn lathered in butter and sprinkled with salt. Mason's nose twitched as he smelled the corn start to boil, his stomach beginning to rumble.
"Why don't you go and grab me something, hmm? I don't know what, nor that I care," His father began, picking up Hannah and placing her on his right leg, "But some salad would be nice?" Mason sighed again.
"Sure thing dad."
As Mason walked to the kitchen, his phone buzzed, alerting him to a new message. He grabbed a head of lettuce from the fridge, and then a knife. He placed his phone against the kitchen counter as he began to cut it.
Yeen- Hey man!! When are we going to go out tonight??
His friend Axel asked him, saved in Mason's contacts as Yeen for simplicity's sake. Mason smiled as he read it, but quickly returned his attention to the board as he nearly cut his own finger while reading it.
He didn't take his eyes off the head again until it was reduced to small leaves and a white stem. He saved the white stem to throw to the feral animals that enjoyed their leftovers, and returned to the fridge to get ranch. His phone rang again as he returned.
Leo- i'm not planning on anything let's go fishing maybe
His other friend that was part of their group, Marissa, whom he had said he change the contact name from her old name, but never got around to it. It had gotten to the point that she didn't really care anymore, just as long as she could still tease him about his mistakes.
Her abhorrent spelling didn't go unnoticed by Axel or Mason, but since she never seemed to listen to their complaints, nor tried to fix it, it just became a normality. Mason swiftly replied.
Mason- We can't go fishing. We can't fish for shit, and besides, you'd want to throw it back into the water.
Vulgarity aside, Mason was right. Marissa, despite being an actually capable fisher, always threw the fish back into the water despite being a lion and being naturally predisposed to meat. Mason gripped the bowl of lettuce, tomato that his mom added, and ranch, he headed back into the living room to hand it back to his dad.
His phone buzzed three more times before he answered it, nearly being tripped by Monica on his way outside.
Leo- thats not true i can prove it to you to
Yeen- Can't you just fish by yourself? Tagging us along is like bringing a cheetah to a race against sloths, we all knows whats gonna happen.
Leo- but u can get better though and you have gotten better though
Mason cringed slightly, deciding that they'd better decide on something, and quick. The day was fast approaching night, and besides spending most of it outdoors, he was antsy to do something. He was itching for adventure, or something. He didn't know what.
Mason- How about we go to The Cumberland House?
He nearly stepped into one of the muddy puddles as he walked down the hill that his house was situated upon, and barely noticed a pine tree before smacking right into it. Although it was in the country, they got surprisingly good reception, all things considered.
The Cumberland House was an old plantation from the old ages. It was simply put a haunted mansion more than a house, but there was no evidence supporting spirits or anything of the like. Most of the kids of the small town near their house have made up their own mythos and a comic series based on it.
Yeen- Yeah! Maybe weed actually finds a ghost or something. I can ask my parents of I could spend the night..
Leo- *We'd
Yeen- Like your one to talk!
Leo- *You're
Mason shook his head, finally putting down his phone and putting it back into his pockets. He was beside the yellow grass road leading up to the driveway into their own little 'gated' community. Although gated was a bit of an overstatement, seeing as the only gate there had no fence around it.
He placed a hand over the rim of his eyes in an attempt to block out the sun. He scanned the road before finally skipping over it, keeping both ears open just in case he heard something go off.
His friends told him that they'd be there shortly, so he took a shortcut that he had taken so often that his own little game trail started appearing. He wondered how many of the trappers in that area, who were mostly bloodhounds, were led of course because of it.
As he walked through the scattered trees, he asked his dad whether or not he could stay at the Cumberland House, of which his dad replied with yes. He'd gone there enough times now that it was basically a summer home.
Despite the legends and the myths that the boys and girls of Creton CA created, the house was in actual good condition, despite the many years of neglect and vandalism by now long gone teenagers. Axel, being the technical guy that he was, was the one that actually came up with plans to fix the place, just on the inside though, wouldn't want any kids exploring the place for cheap thrills coming upon their stuff.
The house was furnished somewhat, with a diner table, a water generator, and working lights. They had only managed to fix the main entrance hall, and a few rooms before letting the rest to rot. They had spent many summers working on it.
Mason finally reached the mansion. It was a huge house situated between a V shape of dense foliage and trees ripe with berries and fruit. Both he and Marrissa maintained it.
The exterior of the house was something to behold: Large columns of white cement holding up a large overhang where the entrance was, brimming with vines and hungry plants eating away at the century old wood, once shiny whites and browns dim with age and peeling at the bottom.
The once gleaming black tiles of the room now worn and grey, peeling off their foundation from as easy as a short puff of wind, plants long dead in their shattered pots, nearly turning to dust. The entire thing looked desolite, alone, without purpose.
Mason, although he wouldn't admit it, felt just like the house did. He wasn't alone, he had two great friends, but just like the house, he was missing something that completed him, he was missing something, and just like the house, he couldn't figure out what.
His paws met with the crisp crunch of the dead grass as he made his way onto the porch, brushing his hand against the peeling white paint on the wooden railing. He pinched some of it and held it up, before leading it blow away in the wind.
He entered the house, pushing against the door which opened with a loud creak. He made a mental note to tell Axel that they need some more WD-40 for the entrance. A pet peeve of both of them was creaky doors, and the Cumberland house was no exception.
The main hallway of the house was made out of some exported dark wood, still shiny despite the centuries it's laid for nature to stake its claim. The rugged red carpet had long since lost its shine, and was now more like coarse fur than royal and rich carpet.
Mason crossed through the foyer, entering the kitchen for the first time in months. He really hadn't been there for a while, and even before they stopped visiting, he had never really visited the kitchen often, even though it was the part of the house they spent the most time renovating.
The kitchen was smaller than his own, but not by much. The granite composition and the tiled floor were courtesy of Axel's father, a construction worker that let them use some of the leftover supplies from an old building project.
The walls were bare, not even a cabinet on them. The window and window curtains were in a desperate need for dusting, and the tiles could do with some scrubbing, but overall, the kitchen looked nice.
Mason heard the entrance door creak open, along with the sound of his two friends bickering, "I'm telling you, we don't need an almost completely vegan meal just because Mason doesn't eat meat all that much!" He heard Axel's soft and femanine voice.
"He'll eat meat if he wants to. Besides, he was the one that invited us." He heard Marissa clap back, literally. She clapped her hands.
He heard Axel sigh, but not say anything more. He opened the kitchen door for the both of them to get inside the place they were going to be sleeping in for the night. They never renovated any of the old bedrooms, too much lice and moths for their liking, so they always slept in the kitchen.
Axel peeked his head from around the corner, a soft smile appearing on his face as he fully entered the kitchen, "Mason! My man, it's been too long buddy!" He extended his arms in a hug, which Mason took graciously.
Axel sighed into it. Hyenas, like Axel, always seemed to enjoy physical contact, and Axel seemed to have that to the twelth degree. Even as children Axel constantly hugged Mason, even when just seeing each other the minute before.
Axel was just a few inches taller than Mason, fast approaching six foot. His hair was an electric blue color and always appeared disheveled. He wore a leather jacket with nothing underneath, ripped denim jeans, and was carrying three bags: Two for food and one for clothes.
Marissa entered next, grinning broadly as she proudly displayed her food. She was a large lion, thin imprents of where a mane used to be dotted around her neck, but weren't too noticeable unless one was looking hard.
She wore a large black T-shirt with some sort of band logo on it, thin white jeans that already had multiple grass stains, and was carrying close to seven bags of clothing, food, and what looked like a bag filled to bursting with carrots, lettuce, and some corn.
"Good to see you guys!" Mason announced broadly, a smile firmly implanted on his face. Axel beamed, placing all the bags that he carried with him on the granite kitchen counter, sighing in relief, "You would not believe that stress I had to go through just to ask Pops if i could come."
Mason raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Marissa answered for him, "His dad was busy takin' care of his little brother, and his mom won't be back for like, three hours. Imagine talking to a hyena the size of a freakin' mountain who's already cranky-"
Mason waved his hand, giggling internally, "yeah, I know what that's like. But you're all here, and I'm getting hungry. I missed a full six steamed corn cobs for this, so y'all better have brought food.
Axel glanced at Marissa's bag, which most likely contained every basic food item imaginable, and then smiled back at Mason, "I don't think that'll be a problem."
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See, I told ya I'd do it!
I personally liked the description here, but that cuold be just creater bias towards own art, so.... How'd I do?
Thanks for reading!
~ Candle