2 Chapter 2 - The Door

"Hah, ehhhhhaa. COURAGEOUS System... Hahha" Art can not control the laughter at the thought of this.

"Is he laughing?" - the voice of his Father comes from outside the door.

"He's laughing!" - his Mother's voice responds. "Art, we're coming in!"

Still laughing uncontrollably, Art reaches over and turns the handle to pop the lock on the door. His parents come rushing in, wide eyed, and glancing nervously at each other at the sight.

"Uh, Art, are you ok?" His Mother asks.

"Haha! Well, *gasp* I'm having hallucinations, and..." he grabs his Mother's hands, his eyes go wide and he shakes his head from side to side smiling way too much with suppressed laughter... "they're funny!" And with that the uncontrollable laughter returns.

His parents look at each other with confusion and concern. "I'll call the therapist." his Mom says. Art just nods and breaks out in another round of laughing.

A few minutes later, as his laughter subsides, his Mom speaks on the phone:

"Yes, Dr. Hépíng? Yes, this is Mrs. Castle. I really think Art needs to see you at 1:00 today."

"Yes, he's talking about hallucinations being funny and laughing uncontrollably."

The conversation fades to the background, as in his mind, Art hears: "System Quest: Walk out your front door."

What? A quest? He thinks to himself. So, this hallucination is like a computer game of some sort? And it thinks that walking out the front door is courageous? I do that every day!

"Ok Art," his Mom's voice gains his attention: "Dr. Héping will see you this afternoon."

Art looks and sees that he has already started to pack. Why is he packing? It has something to do with going to see the Therapist, but what?

His Mother notices the packing too. "Why are you packing?" She asks in a little bit of a curious panic. She is not yet coping well. "Stop.. just STOP!" She says very loudly.

"It's ok. Really, If you need to pack, you can pack, it's ok. We just wonder... why?" Comes in the Father trying to calm the situation.

It is coming to Art slowly today. So many people, including his parents have not understood this about the way that his mind works. There is a reason, Art just doesn't know what that reason is yet. He talks it through to try and figure out why: "Well, I'm clearly packing... an overnight bag... because I might be staying overnight somewhere after we go out." He pauses trying to figure out where he would be staying overnight.

Hi Father gets an angry look. "Oh you think you're funny now with the sarcasm? Everything's funny is it?" His Mother looks at his Father him anxiously, and rests a hand on his shoulder.

"What? No! Why would you think that?" Art responds, frustrated. "I'm just trying to figure out why I'm packing! ... So we're going to the Therapist to talk with him about my hallucinations and manic behavior. Would Dr. Héping maybe have me stay overnight for some observation or something?" he asks.

"No, honey, I don't think that..." his Mother starts, but stops and thinks. His Father just grunts at him with narrowed eyes, still evidently thinking that Art might be making fun of them.

"Just leave it, we're going to be late". His Father replies. Art is completely aware that they need to leave within the next four minutes and twenty-two seconds in order to arrive between fifteen and ten minutes early, as his Father prefers; but keeps it to himself and walks out the door.

"Congratulations! System Quest Completed: Walk out your front door. Rewards: Soul Energy +10, Soul Energy renewal +1"