A Dream A Hope A Scar A Mission
Chapter 12: Welcome to the Jungle
On New Year's Eve just about everyone else in Flowerbud were at the Inn, having a fun time, carrying on, except for me. It was only 8PM, but everyone was still jeering, carrying on, and having a good time nonetheless, except for me. And, although I'm not positive, everyone was probably experiencing the evening with the one person they cared for more than anyone else, except for me.
The house was a horrible mess. A box of over-flipped donuts lay on my coffee table and the weather channel was on, playing its earlier forecast from this morning. My rug was crumpled into a horrible mess with Sparky using it as a blanket. Dirty dishes from the sink were left unclean from my fish dinner. Dirty clothes were skewed across the floor. The place was a dump.
A strange sound came from the doorway and seemed to get closer and closer. As the sound grew nearer and nearer it seemed to speak out my name. It was clearly a voice.
"Jack!" The voice spoke out. "Jack!"
Somewhat bewildered, I jumped off my bed and cautiously crept over to the door and slowly cracked open the door. My eyes had a hard time adjusting from the artificial light of my house lamps to the sheer darkness outside. Yet standing just off my front step was the Potion Master.
"Jack, how have you been?" the wizened one asked.
"I've been... alright," I answered. However, that was a lie. My inherent grandfather could see right through it too.
"You aren't fine, young man," The Potion Master corrected. "What are you so afraid of Jack? Why will you not join the rest of us at the Inn?"
"I'm not afraid. I'm just... not in the mood," I lied again.
"Whatever is holding you back in life Jack, let go of it," The Potion Master wizened.
"Grandpa, nothing is stopping me from doing what I want to in my life," I explained. "No one has the balls to try and stop me," I taunted. I figured if I showed him confidence he would back down.
"Really? Then why are you even here?" The Potion Master inquired.
"Grandpa, I'm sick of this crap," I cursed.
"Then stop me, since you can stop anything and anyone," the Potion Master taunted back.
"Grandpa, so help me!" I yelled.
"No one can stop you. You're young. Then why did you come here Jack," the Potion Master pondered aloud.
By this point the Potion Master was really getting on my nerves. He had never pushed any subject this far before to the point where it was downright insulting. I was questioning his motives. Was this really him? I could only wonder. However, perhaps this was just me acting rashly. Yeah, that was it. I was in a bad mood and I was pushing the one guy around I should be accepting more than anyone else at this particular moment. But then again, if he wanted an argument, then an argument is what he was going to get.
"That's right Grandpa, and you can't stop me from staying silent," I told him off.
"Really, then what of your former boss, Mr. O'Malley? He had nothing to do with you taking up your inheritance?" the Potion Master questioned.
"That pile of trash was going to lay me off anyways. I left for here with Dad and all my vacation days were spent. When I got back those days would have been counted as absences or what not, and he would have fired me on the spot," I argued.
This piece of information obviously perked the Potion Master's interest. "Yet you were unwilling to fight for your job?"
"A job I didn't want," I shot back.
"A job you wanted to escape" the Potion Master stated. The scary thing was, deep down, it was a correct statement. "Really, you're not such a tough guy Jack. You let your emotions over-run your head. Then you lose things. Your temper, your job, your spirit." The Potion Master was really racking up a list. "Your girl."
"That's none of your business!" I snapped at him.
"There's still time. Her ship is scheduled to leave late tonight instead of tomorrow morning. It is most unfortunate, but you still have time. Run to the dock and stop her Jack!" the Potion Master urged. I did not need to be told twice.
I sprinted at top speed to the docks. I could hear the roar of the smoke stack over the treetops. My blood was boiling. Adrenaline was kicked into my body. Lactic acid was flooding to my legs. Yet, I couldn't feel a thing. Only one thing mattered now, and that was stopping the most important thing in my life to shaking my foundations. At long last I reached the vista overlooking the beach to hear the captain of the steam ship to yell out "All Aboard!" and Karen to gaze into the open sea by the side railing. The steam ship began to move only as I neared the bottom of the vista. Karen gave a wide-open one-armed wave and turned to look back at the sea. I began running down the docks all too late for the steam ship to begin chugging its engine along, slowly pulling itself away from the coast.
"Karen!" I yelled out, but to no adui. She couldn't hear me over the roar of the ship. Frustrated, I dove into the water. That proved to be quite the rash decision. I was willing to follow this boat all the way back to the mainland, however. There was no way I could catch the old steam ship, the machine could out-perform me. I began to slip into blackness. My eyes slumped into a closed position. Yet as I opened them back up, I was no longer in the ocean. I was no longer swimming, but I was running. I was in one place I thought I left in Edgewater. High School.
Finishing the last 100 meters of the race in a dead sprint I pulled my self off the track. I was very scared, but my body seemed very relaxed.
"Good show Jack!" came a voice I had not heard in many years.
"That was rockin' bro" came a second.
I cocked my head to the directions of the voices, but it seemed as if I had no other choice.
"Hey Jack, I saw that personal record there" came the voice of my high school friend, Nigel.
Upon closer inspection, I was at a track meet. It was the State Finals, and I was the second runner of our 4x800 meter relay team.
" Yeah, that was pretty awesome," I said, congratulating myself on my performance in the 50 free. What was scary was, I didn't say those words, but I did. They came out of my mouth, but I didn't want to say them. I was reliving my life on rails. I had no control.
"Just for that, you and Charlie and Max can come over for a victory celebration," Nigel cheered. "I got this absolutely brilliant game for my Nintendo. It's called 'Jackal.' You're a team of jeeps and you drive around and shoot the bad guys and save prisoners. It's smashing."
"Yeah, I'll have to bring 'Mega Man' over and show you that it's beatable!" I bragged.
"You dorks done chatting yet?" came a flattery female voice. No. It couldn't be.
"Hey Sarah, did you see that race? Pretty amazing, wasn't it?" I asked as I watched our third runner, who happened to be Charlie, round his first lap and move onto his second.
After our race ended I ran to cool my muscles down with the rest of my relay team. Upon returning Charlie, who was as skinny as I was at the time, went over to see Nigel, an immigrant from England who ran the two-mile event but unfortunately never made it out of the Regional Meet, and Max, who was a discus thrower, if that gives you any idea of his proportions. We discussed our plan for the evening to celebrate the meet. Even though the 4x800 meter relay team got 3rd, we were still very pleased at our performance.
"Hey Jack," Nigel said to draw my attention. "If you want you could bring Sarah along over to my house to celebrate too, as long you two don't do stuff on the couch in my basement," he said with a smirk.
"Heh, you'd do that wouldn't you Jack?" Max jibed with a smirk, rubbing me in the ribs with his elbow.
"Nah, Jack wouldn't do that Max. His relationship is," Charlie explained as his raised his fingers to make mock quotations, "too meaningful to do stuff like that."
"Bah shut up about that Charlie, I thought you said you wouldn't tell anyone I said that," I scolded. That was a rather embarrassing moment. My cheeks still burn to think about it.
"Ah, I'm just having fun with you Jack," Charlie reconciled.
.....
Everything was happening just as it did in the past. The same people said the same things on the bus ride back home as I recalled it, and after returning home I celebrated with Dad and Mom for my race. I wanted to clasp mom in my arms. I wanted to cry for dear life. She was going to die that night, and I couldn't do anything about it. I was just an omniscient force, watching my past from the sidelines.
"Jack honey, I'm going to be leaving for a business trip tonight," Mom said as she pulled me aside.
"Aight mom, I'll catch you later then." There would be no later. Horrorstricken, there was nothing I could do. I was merely watching.
.....
Later that night Sarah pulled into the driveway with her large declassified Hummer. Her dad was a military man. He got it for her real cheap.
"Sarah, what's going on?" I asked her as she stepped out of her vehicle and onto the front porch. She was a beautiful girl. Black hair. Brown eyes. Excellent figure. I asked her out nine months ago after one of her basketball games. I was rather surprised when she said yes. I was planning on a cold rejection.
"Not much," she said as she wrapped her arms around me in embrace.
"You ready to head over?" I asked her, referring to Nigel's house.
"You know I'll follow you anywhere," Sarah said in a hushed tone as she pecked me on the cheek with a kiss.
I wanted to resist these events so badly, but simply couldn't.
Once we reached Nigel's house Sarah and I walked down stairs into his well-kept basement. On an old couch sat Charlie and Max, blasting away at this new fangled "Jackal" game that Nigel picked up. Nigel was wedged between the two on the couch with his feet on the actual cushion and his bottom end sitting on the back-rest.
"Use your grenades Max!" Nigel screamed out. "Charles, old sport, get that prisoner! He gives you missiles!" Nigel coached. "No Max, why'd you die? Charlie can't take on the helicopter all on his own! Ah hell!"
"Are we interrupting?" I asked, somewhat dumbstruck.
"Nah chum, certainly not" Nigel corrected. "You see, these boys just got smashed by the helicopter in the bog. Pretty ugly if you ask me."
"Yeah, sounds real ugly. We'll just watch," I said with a hint of sarcasm as Sarah and I sat down on another old couch from a decade ago that Nigel must have picked up at a garage sale.
Within minutes Sarah and I were having at each other, following our heart's content.
"Jack, we need to stop," Sarah said, pushing me away.
"What's wrong?" I asked with sudden concern.
"Look Jack, come with me outside" she asked, pulling me by the wrist towards the direction of the door.
Once outside, away from the laughs and jeers of my friends and into the cool night air, Sarah held onto my hands.
"Look Jack, its summer, and I think we should sort of call our relationship off" Sarah said in a hushed tone.
"Why?" I asked. It seemed I was always the one asking questions.
"I'm going to be gone all summer and..." Sarah started, but broke off mid-sentence.
"... and where are you going?" I asked Sarah with some suspicion. She was quite the flirt in school, which is the reason why I didn't think that she would ever go out with me.
"I have basketball camp, then I'm going to my dad's house in Baddenville" Sarah answered.
"Then there's no reason why we should break up," I corrected, suddenly turning stern.
"But Jack, I...never intended for the relationship to last this long," Sarah babbled.
"Look, if you want to break up with me so that you can flirt with some guy at your dad's house for the summer, go right ahead. I don't care, because that is the sort of thing that Sarah Olicher does!" I lectured. I knew I was right when I said this, because I had heard stories of what she had done during the summers away from Edgewater. She had spoke of her summer affairs to her friends, and I had been warned several times by them that she would hurt me. I didn't pay attention. I wish I had. Oh God, I wish I had.
"Fine Jack, yeah, I'm going to go to my dad's house and meet a guy twice as attractive and fun as you and I'll do all the things I never did with you with him!" Sarah yelled, trying to make me feel bad.
"Just get out of here," I said in a low growling voice.
"You can't send me away from here, it's not your house!" Sarah shouted back.
"This is the closest place to home without it being home, and damn it, get out of here!" I shouted into her face.
At that Sarah turned around in tears and headed to her declassified hummer. Nigel would give me a ride home the next morning in his Trans Am if I remembered correctly. Looking back, it was just a stupid teenager argument about nothing important. I wish I had known that then. My mother would still be alive today if I had seen that then.
I began to feel sense over my body again, and my surroundings were changing again, now back to my house in peaceful Flowerbud. Solitude was restored. I was laying on my bed, and it was all a dream. It was just a nightmare. Yet something didn't feel right. I looked to my clock. It read 12:00. Midnight. The room seemed foggy. Yet the fog within the room seemed to gather together over the foot of my bed, glowing a pale blue. The fog was taking a form of something, or more correctly, someone. The fog formed into someone I hadn't seen in near exactly one year, and the last time I saw him, he was cold and dead.
"Jack Munich" came a voice very omniscient.
"What?" I asked as the fog formed to the face of my grandfather. "I must still be dreaming," I thought.
"Tonight, you have seen what has come to pass in your life. You have been reminded of everything dear and close that has been destroyed" The foggy figure reminded me.
"Grandpa?" I asked in sheer fright.
"Yes Jack, it is I" I figure spoke. I was afraid, but something about him was calming. Warming.
"What is going on here Grandpa?" I asked, still nervous.
"You have been dreaming. I showed you once more what you have been avoiding in your life" Grandpa wizened.
"But why? Why did you bring back the pain?" I asked, somewhat angered, yet fearful all the same.
"So that you may not lose sight of your goals" Grandpa decided.
"But Grandpa, I'm doing everything you would have wanted me to do" I argued, still feeling awkward I was talking to something of a ghost.
"Yes, and you're performing wonderfully. The farm is in excellent shape now. It's economically flourishing. But your heart isn't flourishing Jack" Grandpa corrected.
"It's hard when some people chose to haunt my dreams with the past" I reminded.
"Jack, everything you have seen tonight has come to pass" Grandpa riddled.
"What do you mean, wasn't it all just a dream?" I asked.
"It was more than just a dream Jack. It was your life. A comparison." Grandpa's words were haunting.
"You mean.... she's gone?" I asked as I swallowed deeply.
"You do not see that your life is merely repeating itself Jack?" Grandpa questioned once more. I remained silent to the question, understanding the painful truth.
"It's time you took back control of your life Jack" Grandpa declared.
"How so? Going to the city and dragging Karen back here?" I mused.
"I cannot tell you. If I did, you would not be leading your own life, but living one as you have been told," Grandpa answered like a fortune cookie.
"Then what can you tell me?" I asked, slightly irritated.
"I can tell you that you will have to discover three things" Grandpa explained. " Search out for the Harvest Spirits. They will save this land."
"Are those the little elf creatures in the mountain with Cliff?" I asked.
"Ah, so the Harvest Spirits have already befriended a human. Excellent. This will make the task much easier. I was unaware they had spoken to any humanoid besides me in a long time" Grandpa rejoiced.
"Why haven't they talked to anyone in so long?" I asked.
"Because they became with displeased with their relationship with their last human friend. They cursed his land until another took up the ground."
"Wait, that would mean that-" I began to reason.
"Yes Jack. Just connect the dots. I was their last human-friend. They may treat you with prejudice" Grandpa warned.
"Okay, I'll remember that. What else do I need to find?" I questioned.
"You must find your childhood. It is buried within the farm" Grandpa informed me.
"What do you mean? How do I find something that doesn't actually exist?" I pondered.
"Last of all," Grandpa interrupted, pretending not to hear what I just said, "You must search out for Saibara, master of the forge."
"What is a Saibara?" I asked.
"You have one year Jack, do not let me down" Grandpa said as he began to dissipate.
"No Grandpa!" I shouted, running my hands through the thick fog that once formed my Grandfather's spirit. "I still have so much to ask you!"
"No!" I screamed once more, yet everything was different. Darkness no longer poured through my windows, but beautiful sunlight. My clock read 7AM, Spring the 2nd. I was finally awake after four long years.