Letter

[quote][quote][font=Copperplate Gothic Light][center][size=150][b]☆ You're Going To School, Kiddo! ☆[/b][/size][/center][/font][/quote]

[quote]The letter had shown up out of nowhere. It had been sitting in his mailbox one morning, along with his dad's mail and his penpals's letters, made out of thick yellow parchment and written on in emerald green ink. And rather than being addressed the his dad, as letters in fancy envelopes with cursive writing on them often were, his name, Earl Gray, had been drawn on the back in elegant swirling letters. "Here," he'd said distractedly, handing his father the bills, reaching for the letter opener Mr. Gray kept on his desk, somewhere in the cluttered mess of mismatched tools and old gears. Only to have the letter snatched out of his hand. "Oh for Chirst's Sake," the old clockmaker had muttered in That Tone. The one which he used when he was dealing with Ms. Lucy from the bank, or when he'd found something particularly nasty on the bottom of his shoe. "They've come for you too, I see," he'd muttered, cutting the envelope open with a pair of scissors and tossing it on his table.

"Dad, uhm I think that's m-min-"

"Do be quiet Earl, nothing intelligent ever comes out of your mouth anyway." Ouch. The small boy pressed his lips together tightly, clasping his hands behind his back as he waited Mr. Gray's verdict, wide gray eyes looking up at the older man with a mix of bewilderment and hurt. His dad had never gone through his mail before. They'd agreed privacy was a big thing for the both of them, and usually respected each others boundaries. This...it must have been something different.

"Nothing good ever comes from ignoring them," Mr. Gray grumbled at last, tossing the letters in his direction. They slipped from between Earl's fingers, falling to the floor, much to Mr. Gray's disappointment. "Are you going to be this clumsy for the rest of your life?" The old man asked with a sigh, sitting back down as his table and picking up the pieces of a clock.

"Well, it wasn't a very good thro-"

"Are you mouthing off to me?"

"No, Sir."

"Didn't think so. Now after you're done bouncing around the house like a deranged poodle, do you mind making me some tea?" Now that was...a particularly colorful image.

"Huh?"

"Proper young men don't say 'Huh'. Where did you learn that from, Instagram?" Earl suppressed a sigh, going over to the kitchen and putting the kettle on. His eyes fell to the letters in his hand. It didn't take long for a shriek to come from the kitchen.

Just long enough for him to read the first line.
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