Interlude- Brandon by Terry Schott

forward to serving with some of you, and I’m honoured to know you all. Don’t save your best effort for later, because later never arrives.”
    Cooper walked back to his seat and sat down. The crowd erupted in loud applause and shouting.  Cooper smiled and nodded his head in thanks, graciously indicating his teammates, who also waved to the crowd. Brandon stood and applauded with the rest. Cooper glanced at Brandon and made eye contact with him, raising his eyebrow in a questioning manner.
    Brandon smiled and nodded back, thinking to himself, Message received, Cooper.
    Cooper nodded in satisfaction.

 
    Chapter 13
     
    Brandon was standing in the bathroom again, not twitching a muscle as the three black rats waited for him to move and give up his position.
    “They stay longer each time we are here,” the sloth said. Brandon smiled slowly and looked to his right. The sloth sat in its tree surrounded by the golden tinged rain forest .
    While you take longer to arrive each time we are here , Brandon thought . I didn’t think you would appear this time .
    The sloth chuckled softly. “I’m getting tired of this dream, Brandon. How many times have we sat here and waited for the rats to depart?”
    Twelve , Brandon thought.
    “I marvel at your patience,” the sloth said. “Oh, wait — I use the wrong word. I marvel at your laziness. Yes, that is a more fitting word for this situation,” the sloth nodded.
    What do you mean, laziness? You told me to stand still the first time I came here .
    “Yes, that is what I told you to do… the first time,” the sloth said. “When you find yourself somewhere new and you don’t know what’s going on, the best thing to do is to stand still and try to figure out what’s going on. I also recommend trying something, eventually. I would have tried something long ago,” the sloth grinned at Brandon. “I’m a sloth, and this process has been too long and slow even for me.”
    Brandon felt his cheeks flushing with embarrassment. What should I do, then?
    “Ahh, excellent!” the Sloth said. “I expect you to ask for help. When you find yourself in a new and possibly dangerous situation, first stand still, and next look for help. You may not always find it, but you should always look for it. The main reason for being stuck in one place is because we don’t even bother to look for a different or better place to go.”
    That makes sense.
    “Thank you,” the sloth said. “You are lucky to be learning such lessons so early in your life. Now listen closely to what I tell you, Brandon. We are about to move to the next part of this dream.”
    Brandon listened while the sloth told him what to do. It wasn’t truly listening, it was more like feeling and seeing what was to be done. He nodded and smiled confidently when the sloth finished communicating with him.
    Brandon closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and took one step forward and clapped his hands together. As his hands met, a boom like a tremendous thunderclap filled the room, shaking the ground and walls. In perfect unison, the rats turned their heads to focus on Brandon. Their empty eye sockets appeared to glitter with blackness, and the corners of their mouths turned upwards in evil smiles.
    In the blink of an eye they launched themselves towards Brandon, their jaws opening wide to tear the boy’s flesh from his bones.
    Brandon was faster. Their feet had barely left the ground when they froze, floating in midair. The rats began to scream in frustration, their teeth gnashing and paws reaching for their prey. Brandon smiled. His hands were shoulder width apart, his fingers stiff with tension as he used his will to hold the rats in place. Slowly he began to bring his hands together, curling his fingers so that one hand cupped the other. As his hands moved together the rats came closer to each other. They began to press into one another and then squeeze against each other. Sensing what was happening, the rats began to scream