An Announcement chapter9

Story about Jack's pilgrim

I was so astonished and frightened. Why I was frightened was because of the entity the older man mentioned to me. I didn't quite know about it, but I didn't think it was beneficial for me. So, I tried to hide myself behind the trees, but I couldn't. I wasn't able to move my body. The footsteps got louder and louder. The interval between each of the stomping sound was very short, might he or she, possibly another living thing, be running. I closed my eyes. Finally someone or something stood in front me, I heard it panting. Then it sat on me. Sat? I opened my eyes. A little child was sitting on me. It was me, when I was 6 years old. And I also understood why I couldn't move myself. I changed myself into the bench. I looked at my childhood me from the right side. I remembered the bench had a long pole with its right side. I guessed my point of view was set on that pole. Why I could remember him, the one who was sitting on me, was me at 6 years old, was from his clothes. His clothes were that I wore for the examination. I guessed he was on the way home. Where are my parents? If I could, I didn't want to meet them. I knew what had happened to me was not real. Nothing would affect me. Nothing would change future. Everything was done. I divorced my wife. I have been estranged to my parents. Failures I made can not be changed. Failure is failure for ever and ever. No matter what this world intended to show me, it would change nothing. I knew what would happen to my parents. I knew everything. I knew that both of my father and mother would die. They died. Soon after I married to my ex-wife, they both died due to car accident. I couldn't tell them that we had a child. I couldn't tell that they would become grandparents. Everything was done. Nothing can be changed.
As I looked at me from my childhood, he beckoned someone. Of course, my parents were there. I looked at them. They were still in their thirties. Both my father and my mother wore suits. They sat on me too. Side by side they sat on, the left was my mother, on the right was my father. They smiled at each other while chatting about something trivial. Nobody knew at that time that everything went wrong from then. What did they think? If I succeeded in passing the exam, would the future be better than what it was? My parents didn't have to die due to car accident? I looked at me, of course, the 6-year-old-me. He smiled innocently. That was the me lost a long time ago. Abruptly he pointed at something. I looked at where he directed. There was a cat, which had tortoise colored hair. It seemed to be still to be still a kitten, still little. He carefully got at the cat. The cat stared at him. Its round yellow eyes resembled the moon. How come children involved in such tiny things, like chasing butter-flies, walking on ridges, watching fires. Where did I lose such emotions, ambitions? The cat gradually reached to the boy. He stroked the kitten silently. I looked at my parents. They looked at me and smiled. Then, my father began to speak. No, he didn't speak. However his voice was heard in my mind.

"Jack , you're so well-done."

What? What did he say? Where was his voice heard? After that, I also heard my mother's voice.

"Hum... is he able to pass the exam?"

I felt my stomach tense. Sorry, I couldn't. I murmured in my mind. But next words she said were surprising.

"Whether he succeeds or not, Jack did very well."

What were they thinking? Didn't they think I flunked?

"I'm going to buy something for Jack as a reward, what do you think he wants?"
My father asked my mother. Words were flowing from his mouth like smoke. It emerged, like vapor.
"Well, he adores stuffed animals, perhaps the bear. Can you remember it? We saw, well, at Joe's Market."
"Yeah, he didn't express his feeling but you could see that he wanted it."
"Then keep it secret from Jack. Be sure, OK?"
"OK."

However, I knew that my father eventually would disclose it. I didn't remember it clearly, but he accidentally mentioned it. He was really not good at keeping secrets. And it made me remember that that stuffed bear was presented to me by my parents. Then he appeared in front of me as an older man. Yes, he was the present given to me by my parents. However, I don't quite know why he appeared. Just to save me? The boy still kept on stroking the cat as if it was the only treasure he had. My father and mother looked at him stroking and smiled. I can't imagine a more comfortable scene than that. How calm but warm the atmosphere was. Once I was in such a beautiful world. And I was told that my parents didn't hate me, at least, in the first place. They definitely loved me. They said I did well, they praised me. I thought failure was the inception, but it wasn't.

"If..." Suddenly my father voice rung in my head.
"If I were a real father of him." I was stunned what he had said. He said he wasn't real father of mine? I had never known it. They had never told me. They had never notified me. Abruptly the boy quit stroking the cat, then sat up and looked at me. I wasn't sure whether he looked at me, but I felt his feeling toward me. He smiled at me. At that time, everything was becoming blurry. My father, my mother, the boy, the cat, was fading away.
I couldn't help but try to touch my parents. Of course, I couldn't move my body, so maybe it was only my imagination. Nonetheless, I saw them looking at me too, as well as the boy. My father uttered something, but I couldn't hear what he said. No sooner did I touch my parents that they vanished from in front of me. Were they smiling? I wanted to hear my father's voice again, as well as unheard voice. Then, other footsteps were heard. I still couldn't my body. I was obligated to stay calm like a monolith on an isolated hill. Appearing from behind the tree was, me in my twenties, and, to my surprise, my ex-wife.