Disclaimer: minor language.
The shrill scream of the tea kettle filled the space around me and my unexpected guest. I glided over to the stove and gently moved the kettle off to the side. I turn around "How do you like your tea sir?" My voice came out calm, however, though it was not how I actually felt.
I felt quite unsettled. The man, supposedly my great-great-great-grandfather, sat not even twenty inches away from me.
"Three cubes, dear." He said with a slight British accent. I grab a mug from the cupboard nearby and pour him half a cup. I place three sugar cubes into it and watch it dissolve before tentatively walking over to him.
"What did you say your name was again?" I ask as I hand him the mug. He gives me a soft smirk, one that reminds me of my fathers, and takes a sip.
"I didn't." He says after swallowing. He clears his throat after a moment of pause "It's Albert Reagen Hall, but Bert is fine."
I take a seat across from his as I take in this information. "Where are you from?" I'm rather eager to hear this, mostly because I don't know if I quite believe him yet.
"I'm from Bath, it's one of the largest cities in Somerset, England." He answers with such pride, it makes me grin a little.
"I'm not sure I quite understand. How could possibly be my great-great-grandfather." I ask slowly as if processing the words as they leave my mouth.
"Great-great-great-grandfather." He corrects. "It is a long story, dear. And I don't think this is supposed to make sense. For all I know I could, very well, be a bloody ghost." He laughs at this like it is the funniest thing he ever heard, but it makes me even more unsettled.
"How old are you then?" I know I shouldn't ask this, not because it's rude, I'm just afraid of the answer.
"Based on reality or based on how I look?" He asks leaning back in the chair.
"Both?" I really wish he would just give me a straight answer right now. I don't really like the games.
"I'm about 142 years old. Based on how I look, however, I'm only in my late 20's." Why is he so calm, it's really infuriating. This is a situation that does not call for calmness.
"How did this happen, I don't care if it's a long fucking story. I want to know. I have all day, start talking. Now." I say this with a huff.
He gives me a slight smirk. "Mmm, so much like your great-great-grandfather." He says it under his breath with a small smile on his face. Even with my frustration, it makes me smile.
He takes a deep breath, "Well, I don't know everything, but I do know enough to explain it to you. I was about 22 years old when it all started. I would notice how the days seemed to slow down, but at the same time feel as if it were going by in a blur. Then on my 34th birthday, it really hit me. My wife looked like she was her age, while as for me? I stayed the same. It was unnerving, to say the least." He shifted in his seat at that, and I could tell that it still unnerved him.
"This just kept going on, all the way until I was 85 and my wife was 79. It looked like I was her son, for fucks sake. But the thing that was so scary was that I felt 85. My bones hurt, my mind felt like it was slowly deteriorating and I talked like an old man. A man showed up a few years later, It was the night after my wife had died. He said that he was the reason for my age. He was the reason I was this way. Then he went on to explain that he wasn't the only one who could do this, who had a special gift. There were millions of others out there just waiting for it to manifest."
"He explained that the unlimited age wasn't going to go away and that after I embraced it, the pain would go away. So I did and just like he said, it all just slipped away. Like it had never even been there. Before he left I asked him why he chose me for this. He said that my great-great-great-granddaughter was going to be one of the ones who manifested. He said that I was needed to explain why and what was happening to you. Then I was supposed to give you a package-" He pointed to the small box that he had placed at the front door. "And the rest would make sense."
He stopped talking then and just stared at me. "I don't have the gift he was talking about, sorry to tell you, I'm just a regular human being," I said it with a shrug, like it didn't hurt to say it. Like I didn't want to be special, just so this man didn't wait all this time for nothing. But I really didn't have a gift.
He shook his head, "I think you should open the box first, then I explain what he told me to." His eyes are trained on the box, so I get up and do as I'm told.
I sit down and with a deep breath I open the box, not even a second later I drop it.
lol To Be Continued...
Authors note: So I know him explaining is kinda hard to understand. But I'm most likely going to rewrite that part later on. I just wanted to get my idea out. I'm not really all that sure how the next parts going to go, so it might take a while for me to make the second part. Also if you guys have any ideas for a name for the story, please put them in the comments. I also want to know what you think the main character's gift and name should be. Thanks for reading :)
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1 comment
( slow claps out loud in class) Well done Jace
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