For a long time in my life, I didn't really think that one could change too much over a lifetime. No, seriously, I've never thought about it. But what I learned on St. Stephen, having spent the whole day with my dad, having experienced what we did - made me change my mind completely about it.

Because that day, I realized that one bad day is enough to turn a completely sane man into a completely insane man.

Oh, and no, I'm not talking about myself; I had already been down and feeling awful, as you know. Stuff happened to my dad. Stuff that... well, changed him. And me as well.

So, on the morning of St. Stephen's day, I was lying in that couch in front of the fireplace. I can tell you it was really comfortable. The fire was off, there was really no need for it at 6:30 AM.

And yes, that's about the time I woke up. My dad was still sleeping, in his own room. By the way, no, I didn't bother sleeping on the couch, because at the time, all I needed was just a place to sleep. So, anyway, I woke up too early and I didn't know what to do. I looked up at the TV, but I didn't turn it on, so I don't wake up my dad. I removed the blanket and looked around. I got up and silently walked up to the kitchen. I drank a glass of water and then opened the fridge. There wasn't too much food in the fridge. But not too little, either. There was an opened butter, a few pieces of salami, a half-empty box of eggs, some apple juice and some cheese. I looked at my dad's bedroom door, worriedly.

"I hope he won't mind", I thought. So I made myself a sandwich, using salami, cheese and a piece of bread that was standing next to the sink. I also poured myself some of that apple juice.

While eating, I was looking through the window, at the beautiful sunrise of New York. Like any sunrise, this one was also enjoyable and stuff. It was nice to see people walking down the streets this early in the morning. Oh, and also breathing that fresh morning air. It felt great.

And the sandwich and juice were fantastic.

I was looking at the fabulous streets of New York covered in snow. The sun was now shining, wasn't snowing anymore. In time, the sun rose up greatly, but then, it started to snow again. I drank an ounce of the apple juice and sighed. It was wonderful.

Then, out of his bedroom, came out my dad, with signs of a headache. Only signs, though. In truth, he was just not sleeping well.

"Uh, my back... Oh, hi, Phineas."

"Morning, dad", I replied.

"How are you doing, son?"

"Good, thanks. You?"

"Great," my dad said, "well, actually, my bed isn't really good for me. Hm, I should've changed it a while ago. But otherwise, I'm great."

He went to the bathroom, while I remained in front of the window, eating my sandwich and watching the city. In no time, there was a traffic jam on Morgan Avenue. Also, it stopped snowing. I sighed again and sat back on the couch. I turned on the TV, only to see nothing interesting on it. So I turned it off. Then, I looked at the fireplace. It was still off. But for a few seconds, it seemed really interesting to me. Just for a moment, the bricks, to me, were astonishing. But then - "Wait, what?" - I shook my head. "Whatever that just was", I said to myself.

My dad came out of the bathroom, wearing jeans and a white shirt. His hair was almost shiny.

"So, where would you like us to go? There is a Starbucks nearby, so if you wanna go there..."

"Okay", I replied curiously, never having been in Starbucks.

"Great. I'll take my coat." He rushed into the hallway, while I got up from the couch and put on my shoes. From outside the window, a sneeze was heard.

I approached my dad at the hallway. He was now in a coat, and also a small black hat on his head.

"Let me just take my keys and we can go."

And so he did. And we were out of the apartment.

When we exited the whole building, I properly saw this street covered in snow. At that very moment, I felt different. I just felt... like it's completely fine that the street looks exactly the way it did. Everything seemed at the place, not too much of cars, people, anything. But neither too little. Just like the fridge. It simply felt... right.

The nearest Starbucks was just across the street. Since there was no pedestrian crossing there, we waited until no car was passing, to cross the street, running lightly.

Inside this Starbucks, there were around a dozen people sitting at the tables and chatting. The smell was charming, and the floor was clean. My dad and I approached a pretty woman at the cash register.

"Morning, James", said the woman, obviously speaking to my dad.

"Hi, Melanie", he replied. I was confused that those two were referring to each other by names, but then it occurred to me that my dad was probably a frequent visitor of Starbucks.

"As usual?" Melanie asked.

"Twice," my dad said, "one more for my son."

And he tapped my shoulder. And I felt embarrassed. And I wanted to bury myself alive in a nearest cemetery. But it only lasted for half a second until Melanie said: "OK." and left. When she left, I looked around to find a table for two. I found one very quickly. I smiled, but no one noticed. By that time, Melanie had come back with two large black coffees. "Wait, what?" my first thought was. I've never tried coffee in my entire life, and to be honest, I never even wanted to try it. And now, my dad was holding two cups of coffee, of which one was for me. And I was a bit confused. My mind almost started to rush again.

"Wait," I said to myself, "let's not get dizzy again. Let's sit first."

So I sat on that table, and my dad sat opposed to me. A moment later, I didn't feel dizzy anymore, but this coffee was in front of me. I stared at it dumbly, while my dad was already drinking his.

"What," he asked when he noticed me not drinking what he ordered for me, "you've never drunk coffee?"

I looked at him, a little less dumbly, and answered with a little hesitation:

"No."

"Well, there's always a first time", he replied optimistically. He drank again.

I looked at my coffee, and figured out it was coming colder. "Fine", I thought to myself, took the cup, and drank a little from it.

It was magical. That taste literally filled my heart and brain. It was a perfect thing to taste on a winter morning. I instantly felt better. And it instantly felt nicer to watch it snow outside while in a cozy little building.

I looked at my dad, and then at the coffee, and then back at him. "This is fantastic", I told him.

"Told you", he said with a smile and looked away, finishing his coffee.

I sighed and leaned back on my seat. This was nice. Sitting, drinking coffee, spending time with my dad... It was great.

Then, he came up with something.

"Listen, Phineas," he started with a more serious tone, "if you need help getting over what you last night told me about, I can help you."

I looked at him. Isabella's death was on the edge of my mind at the moment, but now that he mentioned it again, it was beginning to penetrate it. I knew I could do nothing to prevent this from happening, and it would most certainly be disgraceful, even for me, to act like nothing happened when I came back to college, so I responded:

"Yeah...?"

"Come with me."

He stood up and went towards the exit. I stood up as well, took my cup of coffee and followed him. Once on the street, he grabbed my arm and dragged me into a nearby alley.

There, my dad first looked around to ensure nobody was seeing us. Then, he held my shoulder.

"Okay, first of all," he then pulled some kind of a letter and gave it to me, "merry Christmas once more."

I decided to open that letter later, so I put it in my pocket.

"Now, listen very carefully", said my dad, his hand still being on my shoulder. "Recently, I discovered something that I should probably not know of. And I think somebody is after me. See, what I found is something I'd say supernatural, something that can't be explained with physics or maths or anything. And those who created it gave a very valuable meaning to it. That's why they are chasing me. And I don't even need that thing they created. But from what I heard from you last night, you led me to believe that what I found would be much more useful in your hands than it could ever be in mine. So I want to give it to you."

He reached for his right pocket, but before that, he reminded me of one more thing.

"But use it very wisely... because you can only use it once. And please, don't ask me how I know all this."

And then he took something out of his right pocket. Out of nowhere, a beam of light appeared. I was shocked and surprised to see something this strange, even though I've seen (even made!) much crazier things when I was a kid. This beam of light was controllably moving around that thing my dad was holding in his hand, so I couldn't see what it was. But I wasn't blinded by it, somehow. Still, I couldn't properly see what my dad was holding.

"What is that?" I asked him, wondering as if I had never wondered in my life. And my dad simply answered:

"Anything you want it to be."

And he handed that thing to me. So I took it.

I was still staring, confusedly, at this thing he gave me. I asked myself what that thing was supposed to be. I didn't understand this at all.

"Quick, put it in your pocket", my dad suggested me. And so I did, because it would be a little weird, walking around the street with a strange, undefined thing in your hand.

I stared at the floor for some time, my mouth open and my mind being completely confused. I turned my head up to ask my dad one more thing.

But he was nowhere to be seen anymore.

"Dad?" I asked, but it was most certainly not loud enough and I was still in an alley. So I got back on the street and yelled once more: "Dad?!"

But no one turned towards me. I went back to Starbucks and looked all around the place. But except for that Melanie, no face was familiar to me.

I was seriously worried now. I ran back to the building and to the entrance to his apartment. I rang the bell three times and knocked far too many times, but no reply whatsoever was heard.

For a moment, my soul froze. I went out of the building. I wasn't so shocked. I was more... confused. I looked at the whole street and wanted to shout again, for any kind of response, but I realized it was no use doing it.

He was gone.