Stocks

Stocks

By Rayna Scott

Beautiful manor like houses line the freshly paved street, the scent of fresh asphalt lingers in the air. Each lawn’s grass is a vibrant green. Fresh fruit blossoms on all the trees and shrubbery, the air itself smells of fresh strawberries and, if inhaled deeply enough, can leave a faint bitter yet sweet taste on the tongue. A brisk breeze sweeps through the city, causing the trees to dance. The sun’s soft rays drift over the city of Sunshine Valley, keeping the air a comfortable seventy-five degrees and causing the city to have an almost heavenly glow around it.

“Watch it!” Clarisse says as she strides across the street, thumbing through a wad of cash.

A motorcycle heading her way screeches to the left and crashes into a lake. Pythons silently emerge from the glistening water and strangle the motorist into submission.

“Help!” the motorist screams.

Clarisse continues across the street and stuffs her money in her pocket. She kicks open the door to her mansion and strolls inside.

Her triplet siblings, Angel and Cheri, sit in front of the television, seemingly in a trance.

Clarisse grabs the remote and changes the channel.

“Hey!” Angel says as he whips around to find Clarisse holding the remote. “We were watching that!”

“Not anymore. Get lost. It’s almost time for Obtaining Billions,” Clarisse says. A whip materializes and snaps at Angel and Cheri.

The pair scrambles away from her.

“I’m not loved!” Cheri cries as she and Angel run out of the room.

“You got that right,” Clarisse says. She leans back on the couch and crosses her short legs on top of the coffee table.

A man dressed in an Italian suit appears on the television screen. “I grew up virtually poor. It wasn’t until I was in my teens that I made my fortune. I had no talent or ability that could make me money. I made my billions by investing in stock,” the man says.

“Stock?” Clarisse echoes.

“When you invest in a successful company, you can gain wealth as the company does. The companies I invest in are You Drunk, Sacred Heart Academy, and its affiliates, Patterson Industries…”

Clarisse scurries around the room, looking for a pen and paper.

“…Wilson and Fred’s and a few others,” the man says.

Clarisse tears the dry erase board from the refrigerator and scribbles down the names she remembers.

“Stock can range in price depending on the company. Patterson Industries prices are fifty pieces per trade.”

“Fifty pieces?” Clarisse says. She digs the money out of her pocket and counts it. “I only have nineteen pieces. That’s nowhere near enough.” She shuts off the television and climbs up the stairs.

Clay, a green-haired man, sits behind a wooden desk in a large office. He fiddles with a paper airplane. “I’m just not interested in dealing with a bunch of bloodsuckers. I say seal up the exits and burn…” Clay looks down at Clarisse in the doorway. “Uh, hey Clarisse.”

“Daddy, I demand you give me my ‘llowence!” Clarisse says.

“You’re allowance? Sure.” Clay opens a drawer and hands Clarisse two purple-colored pieces of paper.

“Two pieces? I need more than that to invest in the stock market,” Clarisse says.

Remedy, a woman with red dreadlocks, rests on a couch on the opposite side of the room. “What does a six-year-old know about the stock market?” Remedy asks.

“I don’t feel like getting into that right now, mommy. I just need more ‘llowence!” Clarisse says. “Do you have any Dragos or Death Dollars?”

“Sorry, honey, that’s all we have for you,” Remedy says.

Clarisse screams in frustration and storms out of the house. “How am I supposed to make billions if I can’t make a measly fifty pieces?” She strides through the neighborhood deep in thought. She unknowingly approaches Lake Sunshine.

An enormous castle breaks the still waters of the vast lake. The shadow of its towers cast down on Clarisse.

“What am I supposed to do? Steal it?” She freezes and peers up at Leviathan’s partially submerged castle. A mischievous grin stretches over her face.

#

Levi Jr, a boy with blue skin, freckles, tentacles, and hair made of water, swims through the giant castle, followed by a group of Merpeople. He stops in front of a room. “This is the armory. We don’t use it much because there has never been a need to,” Levi Jr says.

The group snaps pictures with their shell phones and murmurs to one another.

“Moving along,” Levi Jr says. He leads the group to a safe that stretches from the floor up forty feet to the ceiling. “This is where my father keeps all his treasures.” He puts in the code and struggles to pull the door open.

The room is filled with gold like coins called Dragos and luminant dollars with a ghostly aura.

“My father’s treasure consists of Dragos, which we all know are made from dragon scales and Death Dollars, which are made from the very souls of men. Death gave those to my father personally," Levi Jr says with a wink. "They are worth twenty times more than regular currency."

“Excuse me, Master Levi Jr. Where are the guards? Shouldn’t this place be protected day and night?” a mermaid asks.

“There is no need for guards…” Levi Jr says. A freckle pops off his face and transforms into a shadowy figure.

The figure swipes a sack full of Death dollars and scurries down the hall.

“No one is stupid enough to steal from my dad,” Levi Jr says.

“Um… Master Levi…” a merman says as he points to the figure.

The group turns.

A green-haired man scurries through the underwater palace with a sack full of Death Dollars.

“What the…?" Levi Jr. squints. "Is that President Clay? I have to tell father!” He swims away.

Clay bursts out of the embrace of Lake Sunshine and crawls onto the shore. “Awk awk!” He spits up water and reviews the money.

The translucent currency floats in the bag, undisturbed.

“Oh, good, it’s all okay,” Clay says. He stands up and drags the sack into a nearby cave. His body ripples like a liquid and molds itself into Clarisse. She snickers and transforms the sack into a pink book bag.

Children from the neighborhood rush to the bus stop a few feet away.

Clarisse pulls her arms through the straps and joins the children at the bus stop.

A bus hovers over the children. Atom by atom, the children disappear and reappear in their assigned seats on the bus.

Clarisse flips open a window panel.

A giant sea creature over one hundred and fifty meters tall emerges from Lake Sunshine. His complexion is blue, seven sharp eyes made of fireballs concentrate on Clarisse's house. The creature grimaces; his shark-like teeth expose themselves as he does. His large pointed wings fold themselves into his back as he lifts one of his ten tentacles. His colossal tentacles slither across the land heading for Clarisse’s house. The earth groans and trembles with each step.

“Yikes,” Clarisse says. She closes the window panel and turns around in her seat.

Clay’s blood-curdling scream echoes in the distance.

Clarisse takes out a black notebook and scribbles the number twenty thousand on it. “I can’t wait to buy some stocks.”