Figurines

 

“Surrender or die!” Cade yelled. He was holding up a figurine of a mean looking goblin that acted as his General.

            “Never!” Blake retorted, holding up his own figurine of a wizard with a staff.

            The two boys had played for hours, imagining epic fight scenes and battles. Cade’s dad had collected and painted hundreds of figurines to use in his tabletop game. Cade was allowed to play with them as long as he was careful. The boys had set up their battleground in the basement. Rows of troops lined the floor.

            They played until Cade’s mom yelled out, “Blake, your mom called. She wants you home for dinner.”

            Cade groaned. They were almost to the end of their epic battle. Cade was going to win. “Aww, man,” he said sadly.

            “Just leave them out and we can finish tomorrow,” Blake suggested.

            “Nah, I can’t. My dad will be home soon and he doesn’t like it when I leave these out.” Slowly, Cade started picking up the figurines and putting them in their special box.

            Disappointed, Blake helped, too. “What does your dad do with these, anyway?”

            “They’re for his special game. Sometimes he gets together with his old friends and they basically use these to tell the story.”

            “Isn’t that what we do?” Blake asked, studying one of the figures that was a great big dragon with its wings spread out.

            “They have books and rules that they follow.”

            “That sounds kind of boring. Where’s the fun when you have to read?”

            Cade smiled. Blake was notorious for not wanting to read anything in school. “Apparently the books tell you which kinds of characters have more powers or whatever.” He picked up a figurine of a silver alien with big black eyes and showed it to Blake. “Like, maybe this alien would defeat that dragon in your hand.”

            Blake gave Cade a condescending look. “Come on, man. Dragons breathe fire. Nothing’s better than a dragon.”

            “Well, aliens have special weapons and laser guns. They could definitely take down a dragon.”

            “No way, dude. Dragon scales are impervious to lasers.”

            “Pew, pew!” Cade held up the alien, pretending to shoot at the dragon.

            “Whoa! The dragon’s scales sent the lasers ricocheting, and they hit your own army!” Blake made the dragon fly around.

            “Blake!” Cade’s mom called. “Cade! Have you guys finished cleaning up? Blake’s mom is waiting.”

            “Aww, man, I gotta go,” Blake said, putting the rest of the figurines away. “I’ll see you tomorrow!” With that, Blake grabbed his jacket and ran up the stairs. He lived less than a block away.

            Cade pulled out the alien figurine again and set it on a side table. This was actually one of his favorites. “I bet you could take down a dragon,” he said softly.

            To his surprise, the alien moved. It held up its laser gun and said, “This would most likely be ineffective against a dragon.” He held up a small metal ball in his other hand and said, “But this would create an explosion so large it would take down two or three dragons at once.”

            Cade’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “You’re alive?” he said in a small voice.

            “Well, not exactly. I’m made out of metal, but I just wanted to set the record straight.”

            Then another voice sounded out, saying, “That might take me out, but it would take you out as well.” Cade was again shocked to see that it was the dragon figurine who had spoken. “You aliens won’t use them unless you absolutely have to.”

            “Maybe,” the alien said, nodding his head. “But it’s still useful in keeping your fire at bay.”

            Cade couldn’t believe it. He’d always admired the figurines, but now they could talk! “I can’t wait to tell Blake,” he said softly.

            Both the alien and the dragon looked back up at him, and the alien said, “You can tell your friend if you want, but you know, he won’t believe you.”

            “Well, why don’t you tell him then?” Cade asked.

            “I don’t think so,” the alien said, shaking his head.

            “Why not?”

            “He’s not you,” the alien said simply.

            “Huh?”

            The dragon came up closer to Cade and said, “Your friend just thinks of us as toys. You, however, have really poured your imagination into us. You are the only one who can hear us. No one else believes as you do.”

            Suddenly, Cade’s dad came down the stairs. He was still in his suit and tie from work. He saw Cade with the figurines and said, “Did you and Blake have a battle today?”

            Cade blinked and looked back at the alien and the dragon. They had both turned back into still figurines. “Uh… yeah. You’ve really done a good job on these, Dad.” He pointed to the alien and said, “Did you know the alien could blow up the dragon with a special bomb?”

            “Yes,” Dad said, picking up the alien. “We’ve had him do that a few times during our game, but it’s a self-sacrificing move. He doesn’t survive after that.” He looked a little closer at Cade. “Are you interested in learning how the actual game works? Maybe I could teach you how to play now. I think you’re old enough. We’ll get you your own figurines and you can start building your army.”

            Cade closed his hand around the alien and the dragon. “Well, I really like these two. Could I use them?”

            Dad paused and then said, “Sure, you have those. I’ll get some more to replace them.”

            “Thanks, Dad!”

            And so Cade learned how to play the game with his Dad. Dad was always surprised at how much Cade knew about what his figurines could do. “It’s like you really know who they are,” he would say.

            Cade smiled, thinking that he did indeed know his figurines well. After all, they could speak for themselves.