The man who stood in the doorway was average height but very thin. He was breathing heavy, hunched over a little bit and had about a week's worth of beard growth. His hair was part black, part white and hung just below his shoulders. The hair looked like it hadn't been washed. Perhaps not ever.

His clothes were dirty and had many rips and patches. Some of his patches even had rips in them. His shoes, however, were very odd. They looked brand new and shiny black as though he shined them every single day. That, in and of itself, was odd compared with the rest of the outfit, but what made it really strange were the toes. All ten toes were sticking out holes in the front of the shoes. It was like a pair of fingerless gloves, but for feet. As he spoke, his toes wiggled, and Liam found it quite distracting.

"WHERE'S MY SOUP?!?!" the toe wiggler screamed again.

Liam didn't think Masha could move quite so fast. She crossed the room, elbowed Liam in the side of the head on her way, grabbed the man's tongue in her left hand and dragged him back to the table where there was a bowl of soup already set out for him. On the way back to the table, she managed to elbow Liam in the side of the head again. Liam couldn't help but notice Masha had gone out of her way each time to elbow him.

Masha grabbed Liam with her free hand and tossed him out of his chair, seating the man in Liam's now vacant seat. He wanted to ask why she didn't use the empty third chair but feared to get involved.

Liam watched in horror as the man ate the soup with his tongue held firmly in the bowl by Masha. It appeared to be just as horrible to watch as it was to experience, but just like Ezra, the man did not seem to be surprised in the least at the whole "grab the tongue, eat the soup" thing.

Liam made his way over to the empty chair and sat down. He tried to be quiet and stay out of the way for a moment. It was all a lot to take in.

After a messy meal, Masha let go of the man's tongue, and he stood up. He grabbed a clump of her hair and wiped his face clean. Masha smiled in approval.

After he finished his quick cleanup, he turned his attention to Liam.

"And who do we have here?" grumbled the old man.

"I'm Liam. I'm a traveler, I guess. I'm from Earth."

"You come from the earth? Like a worm?"

"No, I mean the planet is called..."

"Quiet, Worm-Boy! It's time for me to speak and you to listen. My name is Jrasta! It is an absolute pleasure to meet you and an even greater pleasure for you to meet me! Let me tell you about our world. This planet is called Snotworld, and each of us are the Little Snots. I am a particularly important Snot, so sometimes they even call me a Booger. Our planet is named Snotworld because of the..."

"Yah, yah, yah, we covered that," Ezra piped up. "I told him all about the world and how he has to find his quest and so on."

"All about it? There's nothing left to tell?" The man looked quite disappointed as if Ezra had stolen something very precious from him. Liam thought that was odd but was beginning to think all things in Snotworld were odd.

"Well, that's no fun!" The man walked over to the chair Liam was sitting in, rolled Liam out of it onto the floor and sat down. Jrasta stuck out his bottom lip and began to pout.

Liam wasn't sure how to respond but thought he would try to be polite. "It's nice to meet you, Draw-sta."

The man looked at him with his bottom lip still stuck out. "It's pronounced 'Jra-sta.' 'Jra' like the first part of giraffe. Jrasta."

Liam felt a little comfort in that. Snotworld was a strange world, but at least they had giraffes. He wasn't sure why that made him feel better, but it was nice to know they had something he was familiar with. It made him feel a little less homesick. He had never actually seen a giraffe up close, though. "Do you have giraffes around here?"

Masha hollered out, "Of course we do, Worm-Boy! Here, have one!"

With that, she threw something small, hard and round at him. It hit him in the chest and knocked the wind out of him. When he looked down at the floor to see what she had thrown, he saw what looked like an apple. He picked it up and took a bite. It was an apple.

"You call this a giraffe?"

Ezra piped up, "Of course! What do you call it in your world, worm food?" Everyone laughed at Liam for that one. Ezra then turned to Masha, "You're not going to leave him in those clothes, are you, Masha? He looks like a ragamuffin. Don't you have something appropriate he can wear?" Ezra looked disdainfully at Liam and his outfit.

"I have some of DOHNK's clothes. You man enough to wear a dress, boy?" Masha eyed Liam with something close to disdain.

"I'm not wearing a dress," Liam declared. It was time to put his foot down, and that was his moment to take a stand. He wasn't sure what was wrong with his clothes, but they were a very different style than what Ezra was wearing.

"Well, I have boy clothes as well, but it's a pity to waste them on you." Masha trudged off toward a small cupboard at the head of her bed. She opened the latch, climbed headfirst into the cupboard and disappeared. A few moments later, a mange of curly hair appeared, and Masha came out with a set of really old, stinky clothes for Liam.

"Put them on, Worm-Boy!" Masha screamed. She grabbed a curtain from the wall and pulled it out, forming a small area just big enough for someone to change privately. Liam stepped inside and changed into the clothes. They appeared to fit perfectly, although they looked older than Jrasta.

He pulled back the curtain and stepped out in his new outfit. He looked up just in time to see Masha lunge for him. Before he could stop her, she grabbed his old clothes and threw them into the stove.

"What are you doing?" Liam hollered.

"I'm burning your clothes!" Masha hollered back. She turned to Jrasta, "I think this worm-boy has poor eyesight. Go easy on him." She grabbed a candle off a shelf and lit a sleeve from Liam's shirt. His clothes caught fire immediately, and within seconds there was nothing left.

"My eyes are fine!" Liam countered, but no one listened.

Liam slumped against a wall and looked aroundthe small room. He was mad, upset and very confused. He wanted to scream andcry and laugh all at the same time. He thought doing that might cause him tofit in a little better with this crowd. Suddenly the nose eating chicken seemedthe most normal one around.

I hope you are enjoying the first part of Arestana: The Key Quest. Keep reading to find out what happens next! If you want to get a hold of this entire story, you can pick it up from Amazon, Chapters, Foyles or just about everywhere else!

www.shawnpbrobinson.com/books

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