A Second Chance
Friday, 20 June 2014
6:19am
Awakened by the sunrise shining through the window, Jim Hatfield rubbed his eyes and groggily sat up. Swearing to himself he was going to finally rearrange his bedroom, he started out his day just like any other. A cool breeze flowed through his 600 sq. foot log cabin he had built with his own hands and the occasional help from a friend. The White Pine planks of the floor slightly flexed and gave a subtle squeak with every step he made towards the kitchen to procure his morning mug of coffee.
Out on the front porch, Jim had a million dollar view of the Kentucky countryside. Being 15 minutes away from Burnside, he truly was living the modern homesteader's life. As he lit his first cigarette of the day, he heard the crunching of gravel in the distance. "Who in the hell could be coming out this way at this time of the morning?" Jim thought to himself. Keeping an eye trained on the direction of the sound, it hit him. "It's the 20th already?" As soon as this thought crossed Jim's head, the white SUV crested the final hill of his driveway. Jim's brother was coming to drop off Daniel, Jim's nephew, to stay for the weekend. Daniel sluggishly pulled himself out of the SUV, his eyes still heavy with sleep.
"Ready for our big weekend?" asked Jim. "Yeah, I guess so" Daniel replied with a yawn. "Don't let him fool you, Daniel hasn't stopped talking about this all week." said Jonathan, Jim's older brother. After a few minutes of small talk and catching up, Jonathan hopped back into the white SUV and headed back for Lexington. "Have you already had breakfast big guy?" Jim inquired to the still drowsy Daniel. "I'm not really hungry right now." Daniel replied as they headed for the front door. "Aww come on, let me make you some bacon and eggs. We have to get that strength up, we have a big day ahead of us!" As soon as they crossed through the doorway, Daniel appeared to have shaken his drowsiness off in a single moment. "Woah! Is that thing real?!" Daniel shot towards the corner behind Jim's comfy chair where his 12 ga. Shotgun lay propped up. "Hold up now!" Jim seemingly paralyzed the child with the sternness of his voice. "That is not a toy, and you most certainly never touch a firearm without the owner's permission." "Please can I look at it Uncle Jim, PLEASE!" Daniel begged. "Dad doesn't let any guns in our house and I've never seen one in person." "Maybe after you eat your breakfast, we can unload it and I'll let you look at it." Jim agreed.
8:34am
"Alright Daniel, let's head out before the weather gets too hot." Jim stated. He was taking Daniel out in the woods to cut down trees for firewood for the coming Winter, and to show the boy some useful tips to enjoy and preserve nature. "Now you see, we are going to be cutting down Ash trees mostly. They don't produce much smoke, and since it is a hardwood, it burns longer than softwoods." Jim explained as they walked in the shade provided by the canopy of trees. "Can I cut one down yet? We've been walking forever." Daniel complained. "Relax bud, you have to walk before you run. You can help me with the first few trees, and we'll see how you do then. Sound good?" "Yeah." Daniel agreed.
2:10pm
The time had come. Jim was comfortable enough with Daniel's progress to let him take the lead on chopping down a tree. "Give me 5 minutes bud, I'm gonna go to the bathroom, have a smoke, and you're gonna show me what all you've learned. Go ahead and practice your swing on one of those stumps while I am away, if you'd like." "Will do Uncle Jim!" Daniel anxiously replied. That brought a smile to Jim's face, seeing this young man in the modern age embracing the wilderness and wanting to work with his hands.
Jim lit up the cigarette when he was about 15 yards from Daniel. Jim's parents had smoked in the house growing up, and though unfortunately he picked up the habit, he always kept with his two rules: 1. He never smoked in the house, no matter how rainy, snowy, windy, or cold it was. 2. He never smoked in front of children. In the distance he heard a deep thud, then another, then another. "Man! That boy just won't quit!" Thought Jim, almost giddy with the fact that he has taught this his nephew some life skill he can carry with him. It was almost down to a rhythm. He heard a cracking coming from where the thuds once were. "Daniel?" Jim said as he turned around to see the boy frozen with fear. Then darkness.
Unknown Location
Darkness was everywhere. Up, down, left and right, nothing seemed to exist except true darkness. Jim opened his eyes and was confused, shutting them hard and rubbing them, only to open again and see nothing. "This has to be some horrible nightmare." Jim thought. Going over everything that had happened in his head, trying to understand his current situation. "I woke up, made Daniel breakfast, we went out to the woods, the tree fell." Jim murmured to himself. "It all felt so real."
"That's because it was." a voice boomed and echoed. "God?" Jim inquired to the disembodied voice. "Yes, one of them. You may call me Arkay, mortal." boomed the voice again. "One of them? Also, I've never heard the name Arkay before?" Jim answered. "I reside in a plane of existence that is unfamiliar to you and those inhabited by Earth. I brought you here to give you a chance at life, should you choose to accept." Arkay said. "A second chance? I accomplished so little in 25 years, this could be my turn around point!" Jim thought excitedly. "I would be honored with a second chance, Arkay." Jim said, not knowing the proper approach to addressing a God. "Good." Simply replied Arkay.
Before Jim could utter another word, a sudden wave of exhaustion hit him. More tired than he had ever been before, his eyes were shut and he was asleep before he even hit the ground. Unknowingly, Jim just agreed to what will be the most challenging trials he will ever face; the life of The Dragonborn.