The Fauchet of Youth

Chapter 1
A Simple Shopping Trip

Chapter Description: "Who would have thought that life could have been so simple, ya?" "I'll find a way - I'll find a way." "If you open up your mind . . ." "It's gonna take some time to realize that when you look over your shoulder I'll always be bringing

[size=5]Faucet[/size]

By: GoldenS

“Ah ha! Human ingenuity triumphs again!” Walter wiped sweat off his brow as he stated this to his two sons, Drake and Josh. The looked at each other for a moment, then turned to face there father.

“Yeah, um, Dad, its great that you built us a bathroom for our attic bedroom, but . . .” Josh stuttered, not being able to find the words he was looking for.

“Speak up Josh! What seems to be the problem?” Walter’s cheery mood made Josh unable to speak, he didn’t want to hurts his father’s feeling after he had spent the last five hours constructing a bathroom for them. Drake, who was only Walter’s stepson and naturally insensitive, was happy to fill in during Josh’s time of weakness.

“Yeah Dad, the bathroom has no running water.”

“Or a faucet for that matter.” Josh added.

“Oh, right, I’ll run over to the hardware stop and pick something up!” Walter said as he left the room in a hurry.

“Pipes, Dad! You need pipes! And measurements for the pipes!” Josh yelled through the window - their father ran down the stairs and to his car.

“Ow! My back.” Was all they could hear of their father as he drove away.

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“Faucets, faucets, here we are!” Walter said as he examied the contents of his local hardware store, Chez Peir. He looked over all the prices and was overly dissatisfied with all of them.

“Good golly, these are just too expensive! The bathroom project is on hold!” And with that, Walter left the store. As he drove away from the store, a small antiquities shop that protruded from the San Diego mall caught his eye. He drove over and pulled in. The shop was old, and connected to both the mall and the parking lot. The shop was tiny, he could easily see out the exit into the mall from the entrance that he entered through. He took one step into the store, when he was startled by an old man.

“Hello sir, welcome to my humble shop. How can I assist you today, Mr. Peck?” The old man wore a long, dangling robe with many stars glittered along it. His robe was like nothing Walter had ever seen, the sun was setting both outside and on this man’s robe.

“Oh, um, I cam here by mistake. I’m not really looking for anything . . . “ Walter wandered off, his eyes fixed on the robe.

“Well Mr. Peck, I can assure you that we have something for everyone. Now that will be $20, please.”

“What do you mean?” Walter snapped away from the robe to notice he was at the front desk, and the man had several; wrapped packages before him. Walter could not remember what had happened.

“You agreed to purchase this antique pipes and a faucet for $20, Walter. Man had always said its not a good idea to keep one’s head in the stars.”

“Right.” Walter blushed, realizing that the man knew about Walter’s obsession with his robes. Walter paid the man and took his new pipes to his car, where he drove off towards his home.

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“Well, Dad, these pipes are . . . great!” Drake said with a painted smile on his face. Even Drake couldn’t find it in his heart to trash Walter; Drake wasn’t a bad guy, just insensitive and he did appreciate all the work his stepfather put into their new bathroom. Drake and Josh needed their own bathroom greatly, their sister Megan loved to prank them and cause tension between the boys and their parents. Drake believed this to be the end of an era - the end of whoppie cushions in the toilet seat, water switching from warm to cold during shower time, and their clothes mysteriously vanishing. A new bathroom offer something rarer then gold in the Nicholas-Parker household - privacy. So neither Drake nor Josh said anything about the pipes or the faucet that looked like Walter and ripped them from a museum instead of buying them at the mall. They were the color of worn stone, brownish pink. They looked surprisingly well with the cream colored theme of the new bathroom, but they still emitted an ancient air.

“Alright boys, I’ll get to work on these pipes!” Walter said with a smile as he walked into the bathroom.

“See ya in three hours, dad!” Drake yelled after him as he sat on a couch in Josh and his room.

“Don’t you think we should help?” Josh sternly asked.

“And get in his way? Nope. Besides, Kevin Seven is on!”

“Kevin Seven? You’d rather watch kiddie shows then help your own father?” Josh was appalled.

“Kevin Seven is not a kiddie show!” Drake insisted, “Just because Kevin is seven years old doesn’t mean its for little kids.

“Sure, and just because Blarney the Dinosaur has little kids cleaning up, doesn’t mean it isn’t for the bigger kids like you!”

“Hey, it was only one time! I lost the remote!” Violent accusations soon filled Drake and Josh’s attic room.

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Meanwhile, back at the bathroom Walter was having no trouble putting the pipes in. These things are practically assembling themselves! Walter though to himself. Only half an hour into the project, and Walter had all the pipes and the faucet installed into the bathroom. Walter turned the faucet, and a beautiful cerulean liquid burst forth, filling the sink up marvelously. Walter took a nearby cup, filled it and had a drink. The taste was overwhelming. It filled Walther with more energy then any sports drink ever had.

“Mmm, mm!” Walter said, “Boys, the bathroom’s done!” Walter waited for his sons to come in, but nothing. He opened the bathroom door and was knocked back by the force of the argument Drake and Josh were having. Josh noticed his dad on the floor first.

“Dad! Are you alright?” Josh ran over to his father’s side.

“Yeah, is your back ok?” Drake added.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Never better, actually! But that doesn’t excuse you two from all this fighting!”

“Wow, dad, you look great! Have you been working out?”

“Not gonna work, Drake, your both grounded tomorrow.” Walter left the room without so much as touching his back.

“Nice try, Drake. Maybe next time you can give him puppy eyes? Talk about lame and old-school.”

“Dude, Josh, did you see him? All of his flab, wrinkles, and gray hair were gone!” Drake tried to convince Josh about their father looking fresher, younger, but to no avail. Drake got tired of of trying to convince Josh fairly quickly.

“You know what? Fine. But I got dibs on the new shower!” Drake ran into the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

“Oh well, there’s always the hall bathroom.” Josh said as he walked out of the room, towards the bathroom. Meanwhile, in the new bathroom Drake turned on the shower, and in a matter of moments steam filled the room completely. He stripped down and entered the shower.

“Whoa, this is hot! And not in a temperature way!” Drake said to himself as the cerulean blue water cascaded out of the shower head and all over his body. The water felt awesome, like he was in a hot tub filled with bubbles. Drake stood under the shower, mesmerized by the feeling of refreshment it gave him for almost a half an hour. Washing himself was a complete blurry as he grudgingly exited the shower feeling light-headed and sleepy. He put on his pajamas and tripped over himself a few times, each time catching his balance on the chink’s huge faucet.

“Whoa . . ., tired.” Drake yawned. When he got into his room, Josh already had the lights out and was fast asleep, snoring loudly. Normally Drake wouldn’t have been able to sleep with Josh sawing logs at his usual volume, and it was only 11:00, the time Drake usually watched cartoons on Nickelodeon, but he was strangely tired tonight, and he drifted off into a soundless sleep.