After driving for the st three hours with the sun already setting behind the mountains, James was finally near his destination. Driving past the pastures lined with cattle panels he pulled into the driveway. This nd was originally cimed by Great-grandpappy Dewitt, who had come here during the Oregon Trail. He built a shack that was somewhere on the property. now buried beneath the foliage and rotted with age. Through the generations, the nd was passed down and this farmhouse was built during the time of James' grandfather. Over the years it went through many renovations. Originally, it never had a garage, second floor, or central heating and insution. Only through generations of work and many renovations had it gotten to this point.

  As James pulled into the driveway he sat there momentarily before he noticed a rge figure looming in the distance quickly approaching. Getting out of the car James could see it was his brother approaching. He was wearing a fnnel shirt and jeans. With short blonde hair of a brighter tone than James'. A clean-shaven face with a handsome square jawline.

  “Hi.” James greeted his brother who held a troubled expression on his face.

  “Hello...”

  "Really? I know I look a little different but I can't be that different." James said fshing a stupid smile on his face.

  Danny could barely recognize James given the st time they met was Christmas st year. And from what he could see James had been taking care of himself far more than he ever did. (He's still shaggy though) Danny thought. After the brothers finished greeting each other James asked, “How’s mom”?

  “Do you remember the st time you disappeared for a week? You haven’t even responded to texts”.

  “Right, I’ll check in with her soon. Where’s the Pooper”?

  “He’s in the barn, as usual”.

  “Alright, thanks,” James said collecting some bags from his car. One brown seemingly normal shoulder bag, one leather pouch with an odd design, stitched together form different leathers, and a simir purple cloth pouch. With James’ collection of bags Danny couldn't help but ask “What’s in them?” At his response, James opened the lumpy purple pouch and held out his hand “Just some Senzu Beans, you want one?” Danny was perplexed he knew he remembered them from somewhere but trying his hardest to remember he was unable to recall where from. He pulled out the fingernail-sized bean from the pouch inspecting it thoroughly. It was a bit rge for a normal bean and its pale green color. As Danny pced it in his mouth he was expecting a fvored bean that he would spit out. “Tastes like fish” he noted before swallowing the bean, forgetting to chew it entirely. "Huh?" he questioned himself (Why did I just swallow it?)

  “You swallowed it?" James said with a devious grin growing on his face.

  Danny took a step back seeing his face “Don’t tell me I’m going to shit myself?” he asked as his demeanor crumbled.

  “No, but you should find somewhere to lie down within five minutes.”

  “…” Danny was floored. (Did his little brother just poison him?! What did he just swallow?! Why couldn’t he remember what a Senzu Bean was, he definitely knew it from somewhere). While Danny was in the process of self-doubt. James had already collected his things and left him standing by the car. “Hey! Wait!” Even with his calls, Danny was ignored. Upon feeling a strange tingling sensation in his stomach Danny was left with no choice other than to relent his calls and heed his brother’s warning. Making a beeline for the house.

  James did want to see the result of his prank, Danny lying on the ground as his muscles twitched and contorted. (He truly loved messing with his brother). However, there was something more important he needed to attend to first. Heading to the rge red barn on the left-hand side of the property. Entering the barn there were a few stalls with occupants. In the past, there was a time when the family had goats and pigs though they were only for a year. “Cooper! You big pooper, where are you!” James called out inside the barn. Hearing the call of his master a rge grey/ copper brown dog shuffled its way out of the hay piles. His fur had turned gray over the years. “Boof Boorf,” responded Cooper.

  Kneeling down James pat his old dog, the same dog James found when he went camping on his own all those years ago. He was also one of the reasons why James was so apprehensive about going to college. James said opening up the item pouch and began looking for the Item he packed. “Nope, not that one, or that” He searched around inside the bag for the correct item. “This is why I hate these things.” Fumbling his hand around inside the bag James eventually came upon the item. It was a fruit that looked reminiscent of a plumb but had a dark jade green color. He had grabbed this from a cultivation Manhua over the st week. The name of the fruit escaped him but its effect did not, it extended the life of the consumer. “Baroof?” Cooper was confused by the odd fruit at first, but he was never one to turn down food. Picking it up and chewing. The crunchy noises made it sound like an apple. After he finished eating he let out another ”Boorf”. “Good boy, you go y down. It might take some time to digest”. James gave Cooper a final pet before he left the barn.

  “Now to face the final boss; Mom”.

  (She usually cleaned when she felt anxious or stressed, she usually cleans the kitchen first. Danny should be in the living room, likely disabled on the couch for the next half hour or so. As for Dad, he's still on his way home from work... I should be able to sneak in through the back door).

  However, James' pn failed as he tried to sneak in Diana caught him in the kitchen and quickly put him in a headlock. “So, where Have you been!” the mature woman in her te forties asked her son who she held firmly in her grasp.

  "Tap out. Tap out." James wheezed as Diana relented. Once released James turned around to see his mother. She had medium-length blonde hair which she shared her sons. While James inherited her blue eyes, Danny received their father’s green eyes. She had a height comparable to James' and the boys owe most of their looks to her. Looking at her face I could tell she wasn’t angry just a bit miffed that I hadn’t contacted her. If she was angry I would probably already be getting a lecture or worse. “First a boy starts throwing fireballs, people start getting magic powers and my son stops contacting me, what’s next? Is the sky going to fall on us?!” She asked in a huff.

  “Ah, Goblins,” James responded bluntly.

  “Goblins!? You can’t be serious”!

  “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and acts like a duck, what do you think it is?” Diana could hardly believe the words coming out of James’ mouth.

  “Goblins!" She muttered to herself unable to believe it.

  “Actually, if that video Mrs. Smith showed me…” James started mumbling to himself. “There should also be werewolves and who knows what else...” James couldn’t help but imagine the assorted menagerie of fantasy creatures that could be coming out of closets across the globe. “Right, I have- actually, it would be easier if you see it. Mom, you remember how you always wished you could have great grandma’s pie one st time? Do you still have that picture?”

  Diana came from a rge family and grew up with many brothers. Her grandmother came from Engnd and like many at the time came to America to seek her future where she settled in the South. Growing up her grandmother was a major part of her youth she spent a great deal of time and effort raising Diana and her many brothers when they were young.

  Mom had always kept an old photo of her grandmother holding one of her famous pies dispyed in a portrait on a kitchen shelf. (Shelf of mementos). All of her family swear on it; that woman had magic pies. No matter how she made them they were always delicious.

  After some coaxing, I held the small portrait in my hands. Tapping my index finger against the gss, it really had to be direct skin touching the medium for this to work. I took the photo out of the frame. It wasn’t a rge image, so I was kinda expecting the result. (I won’t be able to pull the whole pie out, maybe 1/3 of the dish at most). One of the constraints was the size of the medium needed to be rge enough for the object to pass through. This old photo was on the smaller side. Once taken out of the frame, I made sure to take a picture using my phone, so I could take out the copy ter. (Infinite pie glitch?) While I was doing this Mom just kept watching as I tapped the surface, she had a look on her face that made it clear she questioned my sanity. As my hand made contact with the image on the photo the same membranous feeling I had grown used to over the st week enveloped my hand. The tap caused a ripple to move through the photo, like a water droplet. Mom watched in shock as my hand entered the photo. “What are you- OH- Oh God!” You could almost hear the string of common sense snapping. A moment ter, I had pulled some of the pie dish out causing a strange 3D effect. Sitting up the photo using the dish as leverage made it look funny. An apple cinnamon scent started to waft around the kitchen. Ignoring his mother's shock and experiencing loss of common sense and logic, James proceeded to a cabinet to retrieve some forks and a pie knife. “How big do you want your slice?” He asked.

  “Mom It's not that bad”.

  “It’s you were talking about”!

  “You’re going to make me blush”.

  On the other side of the wall, Danny was lying on the couch hearing something coming from the kitchen. Given the difference in lifestyles of the brothers, Danny suffered far less than James did. The stretching and readjusting of muscuture was significantly less straining on those who used their bodies. Even so, Danny was not a trained martial artist with a peerless physique and his body was simirly paralyzed as a result. “Is that James!? Ask him why I can't move or feel anything!" *Sniff Sniff* "Is that pie I want- “Another side effect of Senzu Beans was a full stomach which can st anywhere from a week to 10 days.

  End

  If you aren’t calling your pet a stupid nickname, do you truly love them?