Diamond of Deception

The shadows on the corridor's walls danced in the torchlight.  The
darkness beyond swallowed the rest of the hall.  According to the map, the
legendary Diamond of Deception was not far.  One more corner remained
before the ancient vault door would be in sight.  That is unless an
unexpected monster was waiting for any trespassers.

A shout echoed from downstairs.  "Henry!  Get down here and take out the
trash!"

Henry sighed and hit the spacebar on his keyboard to pause the adventure
game on his computer.  "But, Mom!  I'm in the middle...."

"I don't care.  The trash needs to be taken out.  Your aunt and uncle are
coming over this afternoon for the cookout," his mom yelled from the
bottom of the stairs.

"Always during the good parts...," he mumbled to himself rolling back the
desk chair.

He stretched and made his way downstairs.  His mother's piercing stare
followed him.  

The television in the living room was tuned to some nature show.  "Seals
are different from sea lions...," the narrator was saying as Henry passed
through the room.

His mom followed him the whole way to the kitchen where two garbage sacks
waited for him by the back door.  Henry quickly grabbed the sacks and
hurried outside.  After stuffing them into the garbage can near the
garage, he ran back inside passing his father who was setting up the grill
on the patio.

"I hope you shut the lid on the garbage can," his mom said as he ran by
her at the sink washing dishes.

He skidded to a halt at the door leading to the stairs.  "Yes, Mom.  I
shut the lid."

"Good.  And I hope you shaved yesterday for that interview you had.  It
looks like you haven't shaved in a week," she said not looking at
him.  "You're getting too scruffy."

"Don't worry.  I did," he said reaching up and rubbing the stubble on his
chin.

She put down the washrag and turned toward him.  "Good.  I hope you
finally get a job.  And go shave again for your aunt."

Henry nodded.  "I will."

His mom didn't move or say anything for a moment then turned back toward
the sink to finish washing the plate she was holding.  Henry took that
moment to dash up the stairs before his mom could nag him any more.

The bathroom door was right across the hall from his bedroom, so it wasn't
too much out of his way to shave.  Plugging up the electric razor, he
quickly removed the stubble growing on his face.

He had gotten back into his room and had just enough time to set in the
desk chair before his mom called him again.

"Henry, the table needs setting.  Come down and help," she said at the
base of the stairs.

Henry sighed and went downstairs like he was told.  The television was
still on.  Apparently his mom was watching it even though she was busy
throughout the rest of the house.  The narrator of the nature show was
saying something about arctic foxes changing color during the different
seasons.

His mom was waiting for him in the dining room when he got there.  "We're
going to use the plates with the blue trim," she said digging through a
drawer in the china cabinet for some cloth napkins.

Henry nodded and fetched the plates from the cabinet and began setting
them on the table.  His mom was following behind him putting napkins next
to the plates.

"You need to trim those fingernails, too," she said.

Henry looked down and saw that she was right.  His fingernails were long
and dark.  How they got so dirty, he didn't know.

"And remember to shave," she said.

"I did shave," Henry protested. "I shaved when I went upstairs."

"Well, do it again."

Henry felt of his chin.  Sure enough, stubble was there.  "Maybe I need to
get new blades."  He set the stack of plates down started to leave the
dining room to shave again, but his mom stopped him.

"Let's finish this first," she said.

He picked up the plates again and finished setting them at all the
places.  The two of them then placed the silverware and glasses at the
place settings.  Even for a cookout, his mom always liked to have the
table set nicely.  Once everything was in place, Henry made his way for
the stairs.

"Remember to shave and trim those claws you have for fingernails," his mom
said before he could leave the dining room.

"Yes, Mom."

"And change your clothes, too.  They look too small."

He nodded and turned to leave the dining room.  He wasn't sure why his
clothes looked too small.  He wore them yesterday, and they fit fine,
then.

Before he could go upstairs, the doorbell rang.

"Henry, can you answer that?" his mom asked from the kitchen.

"Sure," Henry said and answered the door.

"Henry!  So nice to see you!" his aunt said as soon as he opened the
door.  "My, you're still getting bigger."  She gave him a big hug and then
reached up to pinch his cheek.  "And stubbly, too."  With a smile, she
made her way into the kitchen.

"Hi, Henry," his five-year-old cousin Becky said following her mother.  

"Still living at home, I see," his uncle said walking in with a large
plate of vegetables.

Henry shut the door behind his uncle and took the plate from him.  While
Henry took the plate to the kitchen, his uncle and cousin sat on the couch
in the living room watching the nature show, which was talking about most
polar bears being left-handed.

"Go set that on the dining room table," his mom said as he entered the
kitchen then continued talking with his aunt.  Both were carrying on the
conversation, but were always eyeing him.

After setting the plate of vegetables on the dining room table, he started
to make his way back upstairs before anything else distracted him.

"Henry, so what are you doing now?  Got a job yet?" his uncle asked from
the couch in the living room.

Henry turned around and set in the armchair.  "Not yet, but I had an
interview yesterday."

"Ah, that's good.  I hope you get a job.  When I was your age, I had a job
and my own apartment."

Henry nodded.

"At least you're staying busy around here.  Did Walter have you working on
the car?" he asked.

Henry looked puzzled.  "No.  Why?"

His uncle gave a puzzled look this time.  "Oh.  Well, I was just thinking
that's where you got that oil on your face."

Henry rubbed his face.  "Where?"

"Right there on your nose," his uncle said pointing at him.

"It may have come from taking the garbage out," Henry said shrugging.  "I
better go clean up."

His uncle nodded and let Henry go.  When he reached the top of the stairs,
he saw Becky at the bottom of the stairs looking up at him.  In the
bathroom, he saw the oily spot his uncle was talking about.  It was
covering his nose.  He remembered shaving, but there was no sign that he
had.  White stubble was all over his face.  Shrugging, he began washing
his face.

Becky was hiding behind the doorway looking in at him.  Henry lathered his
face up and then quickly turned toward the doorway.  "Boo!"

With a scream, Becky ran down the stairs and into the kitchen.  He could
hear her screaming all the way.

"Henry, don't scare Becky like that!" his mother yelled up at him.

Henry rolled his eyes and dried his face.

"Henry, get down here!" his mother yelled.

"Yes, Mom?" he asked going downstairs.

His mom was in the living room with his aunt, uncle, and cousin.  Becky
was cowering behind her father.

"What did you do to Becky?" his mom asked.

"All I did was say, 'Boo,' while I was washing my face," he answered.

"Well, don't do that.  You scared her half to death.  And, you still
haven't shaved.  It looks worse now."  His mom folded her arms.  "I'm
tired of you not taking care of yourself."

His uncle muttered under his breath, "I bet that's why he hasn't gotten a
job yet."

Henry snarled.  "I do take care of myself!  I shaved not too long ago, and
I have no idea where this dirt came from."  He raised a hand to point out
his fingernails.  "I'm tired of you telling me about hygiene."  A low
growl rumbled in his throat as he caught his breath.

The other four people in the room stared in horror.  Everyone seemed to be
at a loss for words.  Becky wasn't cowering any more.  She was frozen in
shock.

"Burgers are ready," his father said entering the living room.  "Oh
my...."

Henry turned around and saw his dad freeze in place just like the others.

"I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to yell...," Henry began but he couldn't
finish.

As if on cue, they all ran out the front door yelling something about a
polar bear.

Henry stood in the living room confused for a moment.  He finally had time
to finish that computer game.  Lumbering upstairs, he felt his torn
clothes fall off of him.  Perhaps his mom was right about them being too
small.

He squeezed himself into his desk chair and briefly saw the reflection of
a polar bear in the monitor before he hit the spacebar to restart the
game.  He reached for the mouse with his large right paw and had trouble
moving it correctly.

"Oh no!" he gasped in sudden realization.  "I've become a southpaw!"