Freewrite

Ok, no long exposition. Freewrite time: ready, set, go:

"Guillaume! Guillaume! Where is that boy? I swear he's always getting into one thing or another! Guillaume!"

Guillaume was not in his room. He was not anywhere around the mounds of crunchy fresh snow in the backyard, nor in the surrounding woods. He had not climbed over the rickety rusted chickenwire fences erected decades ago by the grandparents of his neighbors. He had not wandered down the gentle slope of the hill he lived on, nor up the equally mild incline of the next hill. He had not traced the path of the semi-frozen rivulets of melted snow, nor was he at any the various puddles and undisturbed basins where the water collected.

"Francois!"

"Yes mother?"

"Where is your brother? Where is Guillaume?"

Francois's heart strained to tell his mother again. Instead he wordlessly poured her a fresh cup of Earl Grey and adjusted her blanket. He was unsure whether the tea service was older than the dozens of porcelain dolls in oak cases lining the room; they had always been there.

"Mother, would you prefer to take your tea in the living room? It's almost time for those judge programs on TV that you love so well."

"I would prefer if you would find your brother and bring him here, you lackwit!"

The last time Francois had heard that word was long ago; he and Guillaume had clambered across the slippery rocks of the creek across town and into a cave that reputedly had been a pirate's hideout. Mainly they found dozens of beercans and a powerful stench of urine. Convinced they would find some manner of booty, Guillaume dragged Francois through the deeper chambers of the cave. The croaking of the native frogs was amplified several times over, creating a monstrous omnipresent rumble. It was this that distracted Francois long enough to keep him from immediately noticing the wails of pain from his brother. He had fallen and sprained his ankle, which, at the time, seemed life threatening.

Note... okay, this is good stuff... I think I need to switch into real writing mode.. I'll let you know when it's done.