An Unexpected Reminder

Midget: Hello. This fic is based around a poem that will appear around the end of the fic. Please review and let me know what you think of it. Oh, and it's from Matt's point of view. Enjoy.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night I was walking home from band practice, my body so heavy I felt weighted down and my mind slower than a turtle. It was all due to exhaustion. I'd finally wore myself almost completely out. My steps move me toward my mother's apartment without my direction, as if I'm on auto pilot or something. The others would probably say that they knew I had a machine-like personality. I guess I've just taken this route so many times in the last few months that I just memorized it without even knowing it. Finding myself suddenly at a crossroads, I'm forced to admit that I was just a little hasty with that decision. After a moment I finally remember which way to go. Okay, so maybe I don't really have it memorized. It would be better if I did.

Spying a bench, I sit down. Man, this pace is really wearing me out. I've still got to pick up T.K., cook dinner, work on my essay for class.... Sighing, I sit back and let my mind go blank. I look around, not really seeing anything as I feel my muscles begin to relax.

For a few minutes my mind wanders from one subject to the next, never really settling on any. I'm brought back from the brink of sleep by a sudden noise. My entire body tenses in a fight-or-flight reaction.

My eyes are as wide as saucers as I watch the thing bearing down on me swiftly. It looked huge from his position. Time stopped, then seemed to crawl like a worm as the thing moved closer. The size and speed of the thing reminded me of Etemon's train. For a moment I believe it really is Etemon and he's headed straight for me!

As it got closer the glare of the headlights blinded me and I could almost swear something stepped between us. Squinting, I can barely make out a shape that looked like the outline of Gabumon. It was quickly joined by several other shapes, those of the other digimon. All of them were in fighting positions, ready for battle.

I blink in astonishment, only to find the vision gone. None of the digimon are there. In its place is a bus, zipping at an incredible speed. The driver suddenly jerks the wheel to the right and flies around a corner. Wow! That's a shock! I didn't even know those things could go that fast.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I take several deep breaths and count backwards from ten twice. It calms me down a little, but not much. So I stand up and continue on my way. A troubled sigh escapes me as I ponder what happened. For all I know, I'm beginning to lose it. Not really a pleasant thought.

Something causes me to pause for a moment. The skin on the back of my neck starts to crawl, a feeling that only comes when someone or something is watching me. A little hesitantly I turn around, not really having any idea what I'll be facing next. My mind is still struggling to process what happened before, so it takes me a moment to fully realize what I'm seeing. I freeze in place at the sight facing me and my mouth drops open slightly. There in front of me stands Agumon, Patamon, Gatomon, Gomamon, Tentomon, Biyomon, Palmon, and my dear friend Gabumon. Behind them are their human partners, some of whom I haven't seen in several weeks. They all waved cheerfully at me as they faded away.

A bemused smile crossed my face. Shaking my head, I turn back around and start walking away. I glance at my watch reflexively. Aaaaahh!! I didn't think that much time had gone by! I'd better hurry or I'm going to be late!

Arriving out of breath at mom's apartment a few minutes later, I find that T.K. is talking on the phone. I gratefully sit down with a sigh of relief. After a moment I pull out my agenda book. Flipping through the pages, I stop at my list of things to do. It's already full, but I add another side of the first few and put a star beside it. The words VERY IMPORTANT are underlined next to it.

T.K. walks back into the room and tries to read it over my shoulder. Frowning at him, I close my book and put it away. He really needs to learn to ask before he does something.

"So, what was the very important for," he asks curiously. He picks up his bag and follows me toward the door.

"It's just something I need to do that I've been forgetting," I reply evasively.
************************************************************************

Later that night, just before we went to sleep, T.K. brought it up again. This time I was too tired to think up a way to evade the question.

"So, what was so important," T.K. asks, trying to be sly.

I roll my eyes. "If I tell you, will you finally go to sleep," I ask dryly, knowing he was so curious he'd agree to just about anything.

"Yeah, sure," he replied predictably.

"It's a reminder to make time to spend with my friends," I answer quietly, my face flushing a little. I feel guilty for having to schedule time with my friends. I also feel bad for taking them and their friendship for granted.

T.K. rolls over to smile at me. "That's good," he says cheerfully, his blue eyes shining. "We'd all love to have you around more often."

"Thanks, little brother," I whisper with the gentle smile I reserve for him. "Goodnight and sleep well."

"Goodnight, big bro," he replies, rolling over to settle into place. "Sleep well."

As I lie here my thoughts drift back over my memories. A smile comes across my face. We sure had some great times. I realized that there had been something missing in my life lately. For the last few months I've felt a longing for .... something. It was like I was being driven by a need but I couldn't figure out what it was. Now I know that what I've been needing is to spend time with T.K. and the others. All the fame and the money don't mean half as much to me as they do.

Suddenly inspired, I quickly move over to my desk. I spend several minutes writing, then revising the poem. Looking it over one last time, I'm finally satisfied with it. A yawn nearly splits my mouth wide opens and reminds me why my body is nearly falling out of the chair. After a glance over at T.K. to see if he's still asleep, I place the paper under a book. Then I head back to my bed. Tomorrow I'll figure out what to do with it.
************************************************************************

A short time later T.K. rolled over silently. Carefully getting out of bed, he checked to make sure that Matt was sound asleep. Then he crept quietly over to his desk. He wanted to find out what his brother had been writing.

T.K. searched the pile of papers, finding mostly homework assignments scattered about. He had almost given up when he spotted the corner of a sheet of paper beneath a book. Since it was the only one he hadn't yet checked, he figured it was the one Matt had been working on. Pulling it out, he read the poem.


An Important Reminder

As I pause in a rare moment of inactivity
And my mind finally finishes its quick review
I let my eyes wander without any thought
Taking the break that is too long over due

Then something suddenly catches my attention
Bringing my mind back from its temporary limbo
My body tenses, preparing to take any action
While waiting for directions on where to go

For only the space of a heartbeat time itself stills
But somehow the action doesn't even slow
With my eyes wide, I stare unmoving at the sight
And for a moment I see one of my former foes

After blinking, I find the sight of before gone
In its place is now a bus speeding quickly by
I take several deep breaths, trying to calm down
Then I start to walk away with a troubled sigh

Pausing a moment, I look back at where I was
Wondering what on earth could be going on
And I see some of my good friends waving at me
Then each begins to fade until they are all gone

Smiling slightly, I turn back to my busy schedule
To the life that often seems to move at warp speed
And I add another important thing to do to the list
Make the time to attend to a very important need

To relax and enjoy life with friends and family
For they are the ones who mean so much to me


Carefully T.K. put it back in its place. Then he crawled back into his bed, pondering the poem. He'd never really thought about Matt's life from his point of view. The poem kind of fit his own life. Usually any time he got together with his friends they were fighting. Except for that one picnic they had gone on, which had been interrupted, they hadn't really taken the time to just hang out with his friends. And those were his younger friends. The other five older kids were also his friends, but he rarely saw them. Maybe Matt would let him come along with him. Then he'd get to spend time with his friends and his brother. The smile that accompanied these last thoughts followed him into sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

^Well, the ending wasn't the greatest, but hey. The poem is one I wrote myself. I thought it might be interesting to take a look at Matt's life. After all, he couldn't go to the digital world the first time he wanted to because of band practice. I don't think he liked that very much. I hope you enjoyed this. Thanks for reading it.