Title: Ten Years
Series: Earthbound
Genre: General
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Pairings: None
Status: Finished
Comments: The story has been altered a bit from what actually happened, slightly. Jeff is going to meet his father, whom he hadn't met - not going torescue Ness and Paula. A tiny change, really. Call it artistic liscence!
I had to shorten thingsa lot, as well,since there was a word limit I should have had.
In any case, enjoy!
He had only very vague memories of his father.
Blurry, slow-moving images without sound haunted his dreams–a blurry image of something he couldn't quite remember. And a person who he had never truly met, yet still felt a strong bond with. A person who was so close, and yet so far from him.
Jeff Andonuts was a promising kid, or so his professors told him. He was the son of an inventor, and went to one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country-but there was a catch. Snow Wood Academy, the boarding school he attended, was situated in the middle of nowhere. Nested in a valley where there was no spring thaw, where it snowed all the time, the large building towered over the sleepy little village of Winters, located on the edge of an ice cold lake.
Jeff was often seen staring out the window of his dormitory room that he shared with his best friend, Tony. Jeff would stare down across the lake at a cold, metal building that he loved and hated at the same time. It was his father's laboratory, and he knew very well that his father was always inside of it, yet the man never visited or spoke to his son. In fact, Jeff had never met him in all his fourteen years of living, ten of which were at the school.
It was one evening while performing this nightly ritual, that Jeff decided that he needed to meet his father. That he needed to go down to that very laboratory.
Turning from the window, Jeff called to his roommate, Tony. Tony was his best friend, his only friend, and he stuck to Jeff like glue. It was annoying at first, but Jeff soon accepted it and allowed Tony to follow him, and eventually they became very good friends.
"Hey, Tony, I need you to help me out with something…" Jeff began his voice as stern and serious as it always had been.
Tony sat on the edge of his bed, "what is it, Jeff?" He asked, shifting slightly in his seat. Tony was a very nervous, fidgety boy, and was almost always convinced that anything and everything was a bad idea. He was clothed in the standard school uniform, and always wore a black, wide-brimmed hat which always hid his very messy brown hair. He wore an expression of worry.
Jeff sighed, getting up from his seat.
"Well," he said, beginning to rummage through his drawers, "Let's say I'm going on a little trip," he said, pulling his blazer over his white shirt, and straightening his tie, "I need you to keep watch here. If anyone asks, I'm…Just getting something in the basement." He chuckled inwardly; nobody ever went into the basement voluntarily.
Tony nodded reluctantly, knowing that Jeff's dedication was strong enough to move mountains, and decided not to argue, "Okay then. Where are you going, though?"
"Oh, I'm going to the lab," Jeff said, feeling around in his pockets for loose change. To his dismay, he found only one dollar, but decided he didn't need more than that; he was only crossing the lake-which didn't cost anything anyway.
"Don't worry, I'll be back in the morning!" Jeff said, smiling when he saw Tony's worried expression. He then climbed from the window and dropped to a snow bank below it. Shivering, he got up and brushed himself off. The wind howled like a beast, ruffling his clothing, but he trekked on towards the village-and eventually the lake.
"Good luck…" Tony said, waving to his friend's retreating form.
Once he entered the village, Jeff decided it would be best to grab himself a little snack for the road at the variety store. He only had that one dollar, but it could buy him a candy bar or something of the sort, he thought. But upon entering the store, he felt an incredible urge to turn and leave, as there was an incredible ruckus inside.
A woman stood, red-faced and angry, screaming at a monkey that had perched himself upon one of the shelves. He was tearing the boxes from the shelves, carefully inspecting the contents-sometimes tasting them-before throwing the boxes away, one by one. The shopkeeper yelled at the woman and the monkey, telling the monkey to come down, and the woman to pay for the items.
"Boy! Come here!" the woman bellowed, grabbing Jeff's collar and dragging him over, "Would you like to buy this monkey, he's a very good boy!" she said in a fake-sweet voice, coupled with a fake expression on her face.
The monkey made a rude noise, and threw a handful of animal crackers at the woman's head.
"Er… No Ma'am. I don't have enough money, anyway…" Jeff said, trying not to look at the woman's red face.
"For free, then! He's all yours!" she said, handing the shopkeeper the money for the items, and then throwing the monkey into Jeff's arms, and storming out of the store. Jeff stared blankly after her; she just gave him a monkey, of all things!
The monkey had calmed down a considerable degree, and buried his face in Jeff's shirt, 'He must have really hated that woman…' Jeff thought, heading for the door.
"Hey, kid! You pay for that bubble gum, ya hear!"
Bewildered, Jeff turned around, "What gum?" he asked, but soon knew what the man meant. The monkey smiled up at him, blowing a huge bubble from his mouth and holding up the bubble gum package happily.
Jeff sighed, and handed his dollar to the shopkeeper.
"Why are you still following me?" Jeff hissed through clenched teeth at the monkey, who bobbed up and down behind him. He had tried several times to set him free, but the monkey came back every time. In a fit of frustration, he had even tossed the monkey into a snow bank, but sure enough Jeff heard the telltale popping noises of the monkey's gum, and he was on the boy's heels again.
Jeff reached the edge of the lake, and shivered. He was terrified of the water, and even contemplated turning back. All the possibilities and outcomes rushed through his head. Drowning, being eaten by monsters, tipping the boat… Every outcome stood out in his mind except one: getting across. He stared at the boat for a while, and when he turned, he felt himself rushing downwards, and landed in the boat with a dull thud.
Putting his glasses back on, he realised that he was in the boat, and that it was moving!
Pop!
The monkey made a chattering noise, and grinned toothily. That monkey had pushed him in! Before Jeff could climb out of the boat, the monkey had pushed away from the dock and began rowing them across the lake.
Pop!
That monkey really was clever.
Upon reaching the shore, Jeff launched himself from the boat, landing on the soft snow on the banks. The monkey followed suit, landing on Jeff's back. Brushing him off, Jeff stood up shakily and looked up at the cold, metal building that was the lab. It was dark, and towered over them, but a warm glow came from the windows.
"Please, stay here," Jeff said to the monkey. But the monkey clung to his leg with such desperation that the boy had to let him tag along. He opened the heavy metal doors, and crept inside.
The room was full of heavy machinery, strange contraptions and half-finished inventions. Jeff, being an inventor himself, immediately felt at home in this place. He walked around the room, running his hand across the tables.
Was this what his father left him for?
"H-Hello? Who's there?" came a voice from upstairs, and several clangs and bangs followed. A short, stout man huffed and puffed down the stairs. He wore a long lab coat, had a bushy moustache and kind eyes behind thickly-rimmed glasses. His hair was white, and he was balding in some areas.
"Oh my…" he said, taking off his glasses and polishing them before putting them on again.
"You're Jeff… my son…"
Jeff felt awkward, but didn't say anything to the man.
"Why are you here?" Dr. Andonuts said, "Would you like a doughnut?"
Jeff shook his head, "I felt I needed to meet you."
"Oh, is that so? How's school? Are they treating you well? How's dear Old Maxwell?" the scientist started spouting questions, offering the doughnut yet again, which Jeff again denied.
"I have questions for you, first," Jeff said, adjusting his glasses.
"…What do you want to know, son?" Dr. Andonuts said, inspecting the monkey, who had walked over and offered the man a piece of gum, "A monkey in Winters… fascinating…"
"Why did you send me to that school? Professor Maxwell told me you dumped me off because your research was more important… It required more attention…
Did you really value your research over me?"
There was a long silence. After clearing his throat, Dr. Andonuts answered, "Son, I wanted you to be taken care of. I couldn't take care of you well enough alone. Without the research, I'd have no money, and with no money, I wouldn't be able to support you…
When your mother died, I wasn't able to support you alone. Maxwell, a good friend of mine, worked at the school and offered to help pay your tuition and keep an eye on you. And you'd only be a few miles away… I didn't visit you for this very reason…
You'd have questions I wasn't ready to answer… However, I'm proud of you, my son," he said, placing a hand on Jeff's shoulder. Jeff merely nodded.
The scientist offered Jeff the doughnut a third time, and he declined the offer. Glancing at the clock, he commented on how late it was, and that he should get to bed, and made his way over to the staircase. He offered a room to his son for the evening, but the boy declined this offer as well.
"Well, if that's what you want to do…" Dr. Andonuts said, rubbing the back of his neck, "have a safe journey with that monkey of yours. I have no doubt that you'll make it there perfectly fine, you're a strong and courageous boy, Jeff," he said, smiling.
Jeff seldom smiled, but he did. "I will," he said, heading for the door, "Dad."
"Let's meet again in another ten years or so…"
Jeff opened the door and went back out into the world. But he wasn't alone in it - he had a family.