Adam wandered off into the wilderness and made his new lair next to a lake which looked just like the one from his home world complete with everything his other one had including ornaments and other things. Adam began to decorate the interior of his dangerous castle in the habitable quarters. He began frying up some donuts and heating up some apple cider as he prepared for Hanukkah. The peace and quiet was short lived however as a scary castle appearing in the middle of nowhere in a matter of hours if that would be conspicuous. Some residents of Station Square gathered around it in amazement.
Miles "Tails" Prower happened to be out and about on a casual walk with Cream the Rabbit and Cheese the Chao when they saw the people gathered around it. They stared at it for a few minutes then turned to each other.
"I am scared Tails." Cream said.
Tails replied, "Just keep walking Cream."
Cheese said "Chao."
The three of them continued their walk wondering what was in the castle and what could compel whatever it was to build something so creepy. That is until the smell of food caught their noses. It was coming from where they just passed and caused their stomachs to growl.
Tails said, "Man that sure smells delicious, I think I will notify Sonic just to be safe. I'm glad I remembered to bring my gadgets in case it is a trap."
Mere seconds after Tails sent the message Sonic was there.
"You are right Tails this does smell pretty good." said Sonic.
Cream and Cheese followed Sonic and Tails closer to the house. They rang the doorbell which played Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Lightning crashed above the house scaring the crap out of Tails.
Tails screamed "OK, the house was creepy enough without the music and that lightning!"
He did not notice he was clinging to a blushing Cream the Rabbit instead of Sonic.
Sonic said in an awkward tone of voice, "Uh... Tails you aren't clinging to me right now."
Tails looked down to see he was making more contact with Cream than litters of puppies make with their mom or each other. Tails apologized awkwardly.
Cream replied "I-It is f-fine r-really I-I really..." She choked on her words being a bit ashamed to admit she loved being held for dear life by her crush. Tails was oblivious to her feelings for him as is often the case with these anime moments.
Tails asked "Are you OK Cream? You are not running a fever, are you?"
Cream replied, "I am f-fine we should get inside before we freeze to death."
The others nodded and entered the doors that had opened for them. The doors slammed loudly behind them making both Tails and Cream jump and hold each other. Sonic laughed seeing how the two were subconsciously or unconsciously showing signs of a budding romance. Tails and Cream looked at each other blushing unsure whether to let go or savor the moment.
A green floating eyeball caught sight of Cream, Cheese, Sonic and Tails. The eye panicked yelling "Intruders! I had better warn the master!" It floated away passed the traps and into his living quarters.
Adam scowled and said, "This had better be important, I am making myself a meal can you not see?" Adam went to his crystal orb and saw who had come inside. "Oh, it is just them. They do not appear hostile." Adam opened a secret staircase allowing them to bypass the traps. Adam yelled down the staircase "Please wipe your paws on the mat or shoes or whatever before stepping inside. Despite appearances, I do not like my stuff getting dirty if it can be helped."
Sonic asked, "What is this place?"
Adam replied, "It is a lair designed to protect me. Where I came from people did not like me at all."
Tails remarked, "Well with all due respect it is hard to see you as a good person with a place this intimidating."
Cream nodded in agreement, "Y-yeah, I mean you do not seem like one of ill intent apart from this castle of yours."
Adam sighed and said, "You are right, I was always very kind to people despite how hard life was for me. I felt good doing nice things for people and hearing the gratifying thank you. But as time went on, people grew tired of me. They found out I was not like them and their true nature surfaced. The novelty of what I brought wore off. It was not long before people around me grew tired of how kind I was and did everything they could to make me seem crazy. It all began with my sisters when I was 4 years old. It got a little better at times but then a little worse in fluctuations. Putting me in a school for crazy sociopaths and psychopaths was the last draw. I had no friends at that point and therefore nothing to lose so I got my revenge almost a week ago. Some were sent to the grave quickly others suffered incredible amounts of torture and unspeakable fates."
Adam burped up an arm bone. By the time he finished talking, his two tails took care of the meal.
Cream shrieked seeing the bone "H-He ate someone!"
Adam picked up the bone "Oh I wondered where this went. No this is not of someone... I um made this drumstick for Halloween. Not sure how I ended up swallowing it, but yeah the point is it is not of a human or well whatever they call you here."
Sonic looked at Adam suspiciously but wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt for he knew not all humans were good especially not Dr. Ivo Robotnik or Dr. Egg man in this case. Tails seemed a bit worried though.
Adam said, "Well at least give me the chance to treat you right, I mean you have done nothing to try and hurt me, so I have no reason to seek your lives."
Sonic said, "Alright, I will trust you, but you?d better not kill any of my friends."
Adam frowned "I was just about ready to make dinner given how long it took to build this place, so I would have to be pretty suicidal to poison my own food. I was just cooking turkey sausage and egg noodles for a meal and some pan-fried donuts and latkes.
Cheese eyed a menorah curiously in the room, "Chao!" it chirped.
Cream asked, "What is it Cheese?"
Cream noticed the menorah too and said, "Oh that is interesting!"
Adam looked their way "Oh you found my menorah."
Adam said "Hanukkah begins on the 21st of December this year on the evening of it and ends the evening of the 29th. During that time, I will light the Shamus plus one candle and then the next night the same but add another candle until the last night when all candles are lit up. I was practicing my pan-frying technique so when the time comes, I can make good food."
Tails asked, "Can you please explain Hanukkah? No one here has heard of it."
Adam smiled for the first time in a long time.
Adam said, "Well it is difficult to know where to start but I will do my best. So, it all takes place in a land called Judea, I do not know the exact year, but the year is not so much important as knowing it was in a time when oil lamps were used in place of light bulb ones. This is because electricity had not yet been discovered nor light bulbs. So, the Jewish people were living their lives when this Greek Conqueror named King Antiochus came in and claimed the land for himself."
Adam continued, "The Jewish people could live with that except for one thing he banned them from practicing their beliefs which meant no praying, no religious items, and no Jewish Holidays. Basically, nothing remotely Jewish could be done. For a time, they lived with it some were slain for breaking the law, others practiced in secret and still others trained hard and prepared for war to reclaim the land. Playing with a top known as a Dreidel was one of the loopholes they found in the system. The passing guards would dismiss it as a game and sometimes join in out of boredom and intrigue. The Dreidel has 4 symbols Nun Gimel Hay and Shin. The rules of the game are if it lands face up on Nun, nothing happens, Gimel, get the whole pile of whatever you are using as betting pieces even if it is chocolate coins or gelt, Hay means you get half, and Shin, requires you put a betting piece in. I find it helpful to remember the rules with this Rhyme; Nun Nothing happens, Shin put one in, gimel give me all and hay I got half!"
Adam said "Now back to the story at hand. Eventually the ones who trained for war called the Maccabees led by Judah Maccabee overthrew King Antiochus and reclaimed Judea. However, in the time it had been conquered their sacred place of worship had been left a mess and as a result they were left to clean it up. Once they had done so, they realized their oil supplies were low they had enough for maybe a day but that was it. So, they filled the lamp with it and the story goes on to say that it took them four days on foot since they did not have cars or anything like it to get more and four more to return with said oil and when they got back they were amazed to see that their menorah stayed lit for the entire eight days. Although the menorahs they used back then are not like ones of today."
Adam continued, "You are probably wondering if there are only eight days and nights of Hanukkah, why a ninth candle sticking up higher than the rest? The middle one is not flipping you the bird, it is called the Shamus. The Shamus is the one we light and use to light the rest of them."
Adam explained, "There a tradition of giving children a present each night. This most likely began in America where people are more materialistic. The order of the gifts given is usually from least expensive to most expensive. Because a present is any number of items if they share the same box or wrapping paper, people can be as generous or stingy as they please. That is about all I know regarding the holiday in question. I hope I did not put you all to sleep with my long explanation."
Tails replied, "No it is just Sonic, he does not have the attention span for long stories."
Adam laughed a little, "Neither do I unless it is meaningful to me, so I understand he may find it a little boring having not grown up with it."
Sonic woke up having dreamed about everything Adam described. Sonic said, "Wow! I saw your story in my dreams! It was fun."
Adam laughed again, "Well you may want to eat up before your food gets cold."
He brought out the turkey sausage and egg noodles and pan-fried donuts and hot apple cider and latkes. Sonic and the others began eating.
Sonic said, "Yum this turkey sausage could rival the chili dogs I like so much if you just put some chili on it."
Adam replied, "If I had known you guys were coming, I would have brought the Hebrew National or Nathan beef franks and kosher chili."
"What does kosher mean?" asked Cream.
Adam replied, "Anything free of pork, shellfish, or gelatin not made of meat byproduct. If you want to be strict, it must also be killed a certain way. There is also a time interval between meat and dairy of consumption. You must wait one hour before eating meat if you consume a dairy product. If you consume a meat product you must wait six hours before you have a dairy product. It is a convenient excuse for kids to have dessert before dinner."
Tails said "I will say, but honestly this food is not half bad at all. The fried donuts and hot apple cider taste just right for this season."
After a delicious meal everyone in the building even Adam fell asleep at the table. It was about 10 pm and the entire cast are children.
Making the most of the place Adam wound up last chapter, he built a new lair for himself just like his old one. Way to leave the past behind, or could this be a test?
