(*)
Gwendolyn's daily poetic drabbles
Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator
...
-}~{-
New Genesis
Okay, it's official. This has got to be the longest forty seconds of my life
Not too long ago it was the longest eighty-seven.
Yes, he was counting in complete seconds. Minutes were unnecessary once it reached a certain point.
Which made perfect sense, at least in his mind.
Ben had spent the entire day staring at the clock. Meticulously counting each passing hour. Once he had made it down to the final hour, he counted the minutes. And so on and so fourth.
Who could blame the poor boy?
Most teenagers found a new form of vitality around this time of year.
Make no mistake, he was not like most teenagers. To be honest, he wasn't like most people in general.
But that would be made apparent soon enough.
Today was the last day of school, the first day of summer, and the beginning of a tale that would soon be known by many.
The story of Benjamin Kirby Tennyson.
Something that most would simply refer to as Ben 10.
Why the numeral ten ? Because honestly it just sounded better. Take into consideration that his last name is Tennyson and it just kind of rolls off the tongue.
Better then twenty-three that's for sure.
Ben couldn't help but smile at his passing thoughts. This was the first time, in a little over five years, he was actually looking forward to his summer vacation with Grandpa Max. Though at times he couldn't help but wonder, considering everything he had learned, if Grandpa Max was even his real name. Not the grandpa part obviously, but the Max...never mind.
"Alright class, I think that about wraps up the lesson for today. Now does anyone have any final questions they'd like to ask before the final bell?"
The silence that met Mr. Jacobs was saddening. Most just avoided eye contact with him all together with that question. But Ben found his attention honing in on him at that exact moment.
"Yeah I didn't think so either." The young teacher replied sheepishly. He made for his desk, but, to no one's surprise, almost fell on the floor while making his way there. Left Feet Jacob, is what some called him. And anyone who spent more then a month in his class would soon see why that was. "Knew I should have worn my velcro sneakers today." Mr. Jacob spoke once he regained his footing.
Most of the class laughed at his routine mixture of klutzy and comical behavior. Just like they had been doing all semester. Most, but not all.
Oh sure, not too long ago Ben would have laughed along with the rest of them. But once the gist of a magic trick has been revealed, the truth is the only thing that can be observed. It was almost bizarre how a little over a month ago the curly haired teen would never have thought twice about this. About any of it. his teacher's jittery personality. How he would always laugh at his own jokes bad jokes or speak in low, slight pauses. How he would drop something every other day by 'accident'.
Everything about him, literally everything, it just worked. And it wasn't until Ben stopped to take a real good look at him that it finally dawned in his mind.
When the word "teacher" came to mind, someone like Mr. Jacobs is exactly what most people would expect.
Something of which Ben was sure the young professor was well aware of.
"Why don't you all just…I don't know...independent study I guess?"
Thirty seconds, don't lose sight here
So much has changed. Now that Ben had learned the truth. Or more accurately, something a certain loud mouth cousin would get on his case about, had seen what was really there. What had always been there.
"So did you catch the game last night?"
The chatter around him started to muddle together. A mixture of conversations Ben had absolutely no interest in. It wasn't hard for the teenager to blend in with the general masses. He'd been doing it for a while. Everyone was so absorbed in their own world most of them didn't even notice. A typical day in the pretty little fishbowl named Bellwood.
With a quick glance around the room Ben did notice there was someone looking at him. Constantine, was giving him a very subtle glance with a slight smile. He gave the boy a slight nod in his direction before returning to his desk to collect a pile of papers. Ben smiled, learning what he had did nothing to alter his natural state of comfort around his young adult educator. He wasn't sure if that was because it made him respect him, or if the 'teacher' was just that good at what he did.
None the less, he wasn't going to over think it. Not yet at least.
He contemplated giving him a slight wink in confirmation. But he didn't want to risk anyone seeing him. Last thing Ben needed was someone misinterpreting a signal.
Secrets were great but the future hero didn't need people misinterpreting hidden intentions.
Especially between a teacher and a student.
Fifteen seconds
"Oh man, I can't wait. There's this spot they're cleaning up near the lake. I'm hitting that place all summer. "
Ten seconds
His eyes drifted to the clock one last time. It was almost over.
"You should invite Erica man. I caught her looking at you during lunch today. I think she might be into you."
"No way dude, Girls like her and Amelia are only into soccer players. She doesn't go for the football guys. But you know, she would be into people like you and guys like Tenny—"
It's time...
The sound of the bell rang through the room. It rang through the classrooms adjacent to it. And it rang through the hallways. It was the sound of true freedom as well as the gateway to untold possibilities. No one bothered packing anything. They had already done it half an hour into the class. Some of the students didn't even bother brining book bags with them today. And with no words and time wasted everyone, including the 'teacher' himself, raced for the door.
Yes! You have no idea how much I've been looking forward to this trip.
What...what are you doing here ?
What is she doing here ?!
Nostalgia is a powerful thing.
No, maybe nostalgia isn't the right word.
But at the moment it was the best Ben could come up with.
The minute, the literal minute, that bell rang Ben's mind flooded with past memories.
People tend to think there isn't much to ponder when someone is young.
But to the scruffy haired teen, sometimes it felt the opposite.
Sometimes it felt as though people got more used to running away as they grew older.
Ben had lost count of how times Grandpa would drop him off at his house. Only to remember there was somewhere else he needed to be. Right when his son, Ben's dad, would show up.
You can't change the past Ben...
Ben loved his Grandfather. But he didn't always agree with him.
Yes, the past couldn't be changed. But that wasn't an excuse for not trying to better the future.
Especially when the future had so much potential. Ben's was so vivid he could almost see it in high definition. As though he were watching a film within the very lens of his eyes.
Be it night or day, his mind was on constant replay. Going back just a few months prior of May.
He had met aliens, masters of space and time, as well as alternate variations of himself, all within the same day.
And the craziest part about it all ?
When all was said and done, less then one hour had gone by.
When Ben returned home it was as though nothing had happened. Nothing had changed. His father hadn't even returned from work. His mom was still talking with Aunt Natalie within the kitchen. And Gwen was still sitting on the couch, reading her book. Probably still trying to learn French or some other lame foreign language.
All the same, and yet so much changed.
It was at times a little chilling. For Ben's entire world to undergo such a metamorphosis. And to have no one notice a thing. It was almost as though it wasn't even real. Like that movie he saw a long time ago when he was a kid. The one where the guy woke up from some kind of computer simulation only to realize that he had been living in a fantasy world all his life.
To be honest, I still look over my shoulder every time I see a cat walk by
And no one, except for Grandpa, no one on the entire planet knew about this.
No one.
I think...maybe...possibly...
Regardless, his entire world had opened up to brand new possibilities. In the time span it takes his mother to ruin baking a cake. Ben had learned new found truths that people spent decades trying to discover.
Things had changed, and now it was time for him to see just what all was within the rabbit hole.
Be that as it may, He was surprised. But far from skeptical.
When he first met Paradox, his feelings was made clear. As he told the quirky 'professor' he always had a feeling there was something out there. Something more. Something, better.
And now he knew what that 'more' was.
And it was waiting for him.
He could feel it in the pit of his stomach. And this time, he was certain that it wasn't just gas.
Possibly...maybe...I think...
It was waiting for him. His destiny, his legacy, and if he played his cards just right with that navajo girl, his dynasty.
It didn't matter where it was. If was on this planet or another. He would still find it.
Place it on his wrist and in a matter of seconds go from dashingly handsome, extremely talented teenager to dashingly handsome, extremely talented teenager with a really cool watch.
With secrets so well kept and hidden, Ben himself didn't know anything about most of them.
And maybe even get some payback on that pickpocket wannabe goth loser.
It was only a matter of time now.
"Dude, you gonna eat that ?"
But all of that could wait for now.
"Hey, you listening ?"
His future wasn't going anywhere. For now, for what little time he had left to enjoy it, He was just an ordinary teenager.
"Tennyson, are you zoning out or something?"
And this ordinary teenager was hungry.
"I'll take your silence as a confirmation to just go ahead and take your drink."
Ben quickly reached over his table and swatted away the hand of his perturbing companion.
"Don't touch my smoothie." He spoke sharply.
J.t. scoffed at the foiling of his attempts. "Whatever," He said before retuning to his meal. "You got bad taste in smoothie flavors anyway."
"Well,I guess we'll just have to agree to the fact you're wrong." Ben retorted. He took swig of his drink. And began to engage with his friend once more.
" I'm telling you man, this is going to be big." J.t. seemed too preoccupied with his desert to notice Ben's gospel. It was odd, Ben didn't recall him ordering desert. "Just wait, when the vacation ends, everything's going to be different."
"You don't say."
"I'm telling you man. Just wait, I'm going to—"
"This is like the third time you'd done this. You realize that right?"
Oddly enough Ben had realized it. But he had run out of things to say. So he just started to improvise.
But he wasn't very good at improvising, so he just started repeating himself. Not that it mattered. This stuff was gold.
Another thing he hadn't noticed, that was beginning to catch his attention, was the fact that most of his food had been eaten.
And he didn't recall eating much of it.
It was at this point that J.t. had actually reached over and snagged one of his French fries.
Didn't take long for him to solve this mystery.
Ben shot the boy a mildly annoyed look, but his friend paid no mind as he simply continued to eat both their food.
Mr. Smoothies wasn't exactly known for the best fast food. But options were limited in Bellwood. And what they lacked in food they more then made up for in their unique and diverse palate of amazing beverages. A palate that could be found no where else on the planet.
I.e They sold really good smoothies.
"This time is different man. This time its for real." Ben persisted.
J.t. rolled his eyes.
"Dude I like you, most of the time. But seriously, sometimes I wonder why I even hang out with you."
"Because I always pay for the food." Ben responded.
"Well yeah there's that." J.t. snickered."But seriously if all you're going to do is talk, then I might as well be hanging out with Cash."
Ben's lips clamped shut. He hated to admit it. But J.t. kind of had a point.
Which wasn't easy to admit. It had taken him a while to get used to the idea of them even being friends.
But he wasn't ready to acknowledge anything close to him having intelligence.
Especially with what happened to Cash
J.t. followed up, "For what it's worth it's great you found your calling and all that. I'm happy for you man."
J.t. took another one of Ben's fries and began eating on it. There wasn't much left of his food at this point.
The optometrist killer, had somehow managed to eat his fries and steal half of Ben's burger.
Mr. White was right, I really need to pay more attention to things
"But seriously there's only so many cheeseburgers I'm willing to let you buy for me just so I can hear you go on and on about this. I've got better things to do with my time."
Ben scoffed at his statement.
"Oh yeah," He said in a dry tone. "Like what?"
"Like going on dates obviously." Ben smiled amusingly at him.
"Really," He said. " I didn't know you and Cash were so close."
To Ben's added amusement J.t.'s face turned a bright red.
"You know what Tennyson," He began. "I never thought there'd be a time where I missed hanging you on a tree branch by your underwear."
And on that note
Ben smiled as he began to collect his things. Without so much as a goodbye he began to make his way to the door. All the while J.t. was still eating both his and what was left of Ben's food.
I'll call him later, I'm gonna need to start getting some dirt on that new school so we can trounce them when soccer season starts.
Ben made his way for the counter. "Check please." His words caught the attention of two elderly women. One who was working at the restaurant and another was enjoying a slice of cherry pie.
"Well Well Well, Ben Tennyson. As I live and breathe." Ben smiled at the woman's welcome. She was a co-owner at the restaurant. But she still worked shifts even though she didn't need to.
"Good to see you Miss Dalton." Ben spoke kindly. "How are things?"
She laughed. "Oh sweetie you can just call me Louise. And don't worry about the bill today. It's on the house. Anything for the soccer star." Ben smiled at the raven haired woman.
I could get used to this.
He directed his attention to the woman sitting in the rotating chair. Whom seemed to have stopped enjoying her food to smile at him.
"And how you are you today Mrs. Carlay? Or should I just call you—"
"Mrs. Carlay is fine dear." The elderly woman gave Ben a slight sideway hug before returning to her food. Ben assumed she wanted to get the pleasantries out of the way sooner then later so she could return to her food.
He respected that.
"I just figured I'd stop by for a bite before getting back to work."
"Oh yeah," Ben said in remembrance. "How is the flower shop?"
"Slow and boring," Mrs. Carlay replied. "People today just have no appreciation for tradition. Why buy a lady flowers when you can just send them a picture?" Mrs. Carlay gave a slight shudder. "Among other rather inappropriate things."
Ben was grinning now. He liked these two such much more. A few months ago they would have never spoken like this in front of him. But now he was seeing them, the real them, for the first time. And they knew he did. And they were totally cool with it.
"I've got to run," Ben finally said gathering his book bag. "See you lovely young ladies when I get back."
Both Louise and Mrs. Carlay laughed at this as they waved him goodbye.
"Have a nice trip Ben," Louise said. "Give your grandfather my regards. And that I look forward to seeing him soon." The boy nodded his head. To anyone ease dropping that sentence wouldn't have meant anything.
Heck, there were still some things Ben hadn't completely figured out. But he'd learn it all soon enough.
He had a whole summer after all.
On his way out the door, however, something caught his eye. From where he was standing he could see directly into the kitchen of the restaurant. Maybe it was because of it's size, or the odd clashing of the color with the rest of what was around it. But there was an aquarium in the kitchen. It must have been new, Ben ate there all the time. And he certainly never recalled seeing it before. As he observed it, Ben couldn't help but notice two very peculiar fish in motion.
Ben allowed his mind to wander before he had a stroke of inspiration.
"Hey Louise," He spoke as he stood in the threshold of the door. "Do me a favor. Tell J.t. I didn't pay the bill. Tell him that I ditched on the check, and that he'll have to find some way to make up for the meal. Like washing dishes or something."
Both Louise and Mrs. Carlay shot Ben a look that was a mixture of surprise and amusement. "Um Ben," Mrs. Carlay said. "You do realize that boy used to beat you up when you were ten years old right?"
He met their looks with a mischievous grin.
"Yeah, I remember."
"Are you serious right now?"
"Dead serious Amelia. You and me, a movie tomorrow night."
"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?"
"It's not really coming from anywhere, I just always thought you were kind of pretty. So I figure why not. It's just a movie. It's not like I'm taking you to five star restaurant or something. "
"Does Bellwood even have those?"
"Yeah, just…you know…not in Bellwood."
There was a brief silence on the phone before she responded. Not that Ben was worried. He knew what she was going to say. "Okay yeah, sounds fun." If he was a dog, Ben's ears would have perked up. "Sweet see you then. I'll pick you up at eight."
"Pick me up? You don't have a car—
"See you then."
Ben's phone had made it's way to the end of the wall before he even finished his statement.
Today was one of those days. The type where everything just went the way they were suppose to. Ben couldn't help but smirk at his success.
By the time he had gotten home, he didn't hear a stir from anywhere inside the house. He had assumed his dad was still at work. And his mother was taking a shower. He could hear water in their guest bathroom.
Why his mother was using a guest bathroom was a bit of a mystery. But she had always been somewhat...unorthodox.
Everything was perfect. Better then perfect, if that was even possible. His was within arms reach of his dream. He just had to handle one little thing pertaining to his family.
But once that was done, it would just be him and Grandpa Max for the entire summer.
One that would be exciting and filled amazing adventures, and questionable culinary cooking as a byproduct. But a manageable one at least.
And once Ben found out where the watch was being stored, there'd be no stopping him.
Just a few more days, that's all he had to wait, before his life could truly begin.
It was all planned out.
Though for safe measure it'd probably be best to stack up on more emergency snacks...rations...just in case Grandpa gets a little too...creative.
Better to be safe then sorry as a certain someone would always tell him.
Especially where Grandpa Max's cooking was involved.
But there was one bit of business Ben wanted to deal before he left town. Well, not so much business as it was more so a personal project. The plumbers, primarily the ones living in his town. At first Ben wasn't too sure about it. But having a few days to think helped put things into perspective. It all started with the incident. When he had finished his space adventure Grandpa Max showed up out of nowhere. In that instant Ben learned two things about his grandfather.
1.) His arm was capable of a lot more then met the eye.
2.) There was a good chance, Max knew just as much as Ben did. Probably more.
Sure the time travel and alternate dimension thing wasn't exactly ironed out. But Max's reaction, or more so lack of reaction, was enough to let Ben know that his grandpa had seen some stuff. Enough stuff for the image of two identical grandsons to not even cause so much as a flinch from him.
And then there was the alien, Vilgax. Max knew his name. Just like that, as if he had run into him before. And what was even more surprising, was that Vilgax alien seemed to recognize him. And considering how dangerous that Cthulhu looking freak was, that said a lot. Again, at first Ben didn't think about this. He was still coming down from the high of constantly having his mind blown. But when he had a few weeks to think about it, to really think about it. A lot of questions started to surface.
Some more then others.
Who were those other plumbers who showed up after Grandpa Max ? And why were they dressed so differently then he was ?
Why hadn't Ben ever seen them before or after that incident?
In a small town like Bellwood, where could they have possibly been hiding ?
They had a bipedal Squirrel. Where do you even keep something like that?
But one main question kept coming up.
If his grandpa was hiding in plain sight, who else was apart of the secret lollipop guild ?
Ben decided to find out for himself.
So far his results yielded two potential "maybe's" and one definite "yes".
The two "maybes" ?
Mrs. Carlay and Louise Dalton. Looking back at it now it, Ben was amazed he never caught it. Louise was a co owner of the Mr. Smoothies restaurant. But it wasn't always a Mr. Smoothies. It was just a humble little diner less then a few years ago. Ben remembers because after his torment with the worst summer vacation ever had ended, Grandpa Max took him and Gwen to get some actual American food before returning them to their families. That was a little less then six years ago. It wasn't until two years later the place would be closed down and the Mr. Smoothies would replace it. This wasn't strange, restaurant's rose and fell. Ben tried not to let it bother him too much. Besides he had only ever eaten at the place a few times.
But what struck him as odd was Louise. She went from being the owner of a diner to a co-owner with a restaurant when Mr. Smoothies took her business over.
But Ben couldn't recall a single time where it seemed like Louise was upset about this. She would even work at the place personally to cover for teenagers and college students who wanted time off. Upon further investigation Ben couldn't help but realize that Louise seemed to have nothing but free time on her hands. And despite the job she was working, she lived in way too good a house and drove way too nice a car with the money she was suppose to be pulling in.
It was the same story with Mrs. Carlay. First off she had lived in Bellwood for a little over twenty years. And Ben had no idea what her first name was. He asked around and it turned out a great deal of people didn't know what her first name was either. She was insistent that everyone just call her Mrs. Carlay. But she had no real friends who seem to know her first name. Or anything about her really.
Save for Louise that is. That was the only person, the only person, that Ben would ever catch her spending any of her free time with. Outside of that, she would just stay in her house all day. Only coming out to work at her flower shop, and grab an occasional bite at Mr. Smoothies before just returning to her business or home.
It was the same thing, it just didn't add up.
But Ben decided to take things just a few steps further. He looked into what little history of her he could pull up. And to his surprise, he couldn't find a single image of her husband anywhere. According to the grapevine in Bellwood he had passed away before she came to town. But no one knew his name. And Mrs. Carlay wouldn't speak of him, or show so much of a single picture of what he had looked like.
Now try to tell me nothing about that seems suspicious
Of course there was just the possibility of it being a sensitive topic. But Mrs. Carlay never struck Ben as the sensitive type. Ben still remembers the time when Buster had broken lose of his chain and made his way into Mrs. Carlay's back yard. She told him if his mutt ever got into her home again, she'd be sending him a very detailed homemade fur coat.
Ben never had trouble keeping him on the chain after that.
But that still left the definite "yes", Mr. Constantine Jacobs. Funny enough Ben didn't even have to look into this one. Jacobs all but spelt it out for him. After the incident with Grandpa Max, he would always catch the teacher staring at him on occasion. Of course that by itself wouldn't have been nearly enough to go off of. But then Ben started running into him outside of class. Sometimes while he was a soccer practice. Sometimes at Mr. Smoothies. Sometimes when he was taking a date to the movies. The sheer frequency and timing of it all was just too bizarre.
And then he decided to do something drastic. He would go to places all over Bellwood just to see if Mr. Jacobs would show up there.
He did. Every. Single. Time.
But Ben's suspicions were all but confirmed when one day in Mr. Jacobs classroom he asked him one simple question.
Do you even need to wear those glasses?
His response ?
Only when they need me to.
Out of everyone Ben was investigating, Jacobs seemed to put in the least amount of effort into staying hidden. Why this was Ben had no idea. But he wasn't stupid enough to risk prying more then he should. Besides, he figured Grandpa Max would shine some light on the situation for him soon enough.
Nothing to do now but wait
Ben slumped down onto his bead staring aimlessly at the ceiling. His door was open, but he didn't really pay any mind to shut it. The sun hadn't completely fallen, so his light was still off. With no form of electricity to brighten his room except for his computer with that unusually hypnotic screensaver he for some reason never thought to change.
Ben began to laugh in spite of himself.
How many times? How many times had he done this?
It was like watching the same thing. The same show, on the same channel over and over again on one long painful rerun.
Even the commercials felt familiar.
Unlike most of his family, Ben was born in Bellwood. He spent his entire childhood here. Learning the names, faces, and lives of every resident. The sad thing is it didn't take long. Bellwood was small. And if there was ever such a thing as a one-horse town this was it.
Truth be told, Ben had no personal grudge against anyone in Bellwood. They weren't bad people. They just felt...small.
But It wasn't too long ago that he was just like them. In many cases he was worse. They were content. He wasn't. No matter how hard he tried. He just couldn't bring himself to live like the people around him. He needed something different. Something...more. But he never had any idea what that was or how he would even go about getting it.
Until now.
Everything was perfect.
All he had to do is just wait.
For his future to come knocking on his door.
No more cages, no more chains, no more restrictions.
What's that smell ?
"Wow, this is the reunion that just keeps on coming isn't it?."
Ben shot up from his bed. He knew that voice. He didn't even have to look to tell who it was. But he did anyway. There was always the possibility that he was imagining things. But the second his eyes got a glimpse of that orange hair and that cliche school girl outfit, he knew something had gone wrong.
terribly, utterly, horribly, wrong.
"Gwen?" He spoke. Genuinely surprised with the amount of fear that was prevalent in his voice. Fear that hadn't gone unnoticed by the fire haired she witch.
If the mixture of annoyance, amusement, and disdain, yes she could create facial expressions that encompassed all three of those emotions at once, was anything to go by.
This is starting to feel waaay too familiar
And then she spoke.
"Bonsoir, Ma petite puce. Comment ça va?"
"What...I...I don't understand," Ben's words almost choked on his tongue. He had also noticed that his tongue had gotten dry insanely quickly. And he was beginning to sweat up a storm. "What are you—"
He couldn't finish the sentence. It was at this moment it dawned on him. There's no reason for his mother to have been using a guest bathroom in a house she already owned. She had been here, the entire time. And when Ben glanced her over he noticed she had something in her hand. A duffle bag.
A duffle bag filled with clothing.
Clothing that people bring when they are spending the night at another home.
Or worse...going on a trip.
His jaw hurt. His hands hurt. His eyelashes hurt. Ben didn't even know that last thing was possible. But for some reason, he knew. He just knew what was coming.
"I hope you weren't planning in staying in bed all day," Gwen said.
"We've got a trip we need to get ready for."
M-_-_-_-_-_-R-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-N-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-M-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
This is not what it looks like
That's always something best stated sooner then later
Too many things left unestablished can create a strong misunderstanding of what was really there
Or something that was never truly there to begin with
But even if it was proven to be wrong, would that be enough for||
||most people? after all It's easy to get lost in a preferred version of the truth.
But bias doesn't always equate to fallacy
And just because something seems broken, or mistakenly done doesn't always mean that it is — neWels Geyer