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 Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2015 11:22 pm
Thirty-three wasn’t very old, in the grand scheme of things. In the United States, humans had a life expectancy of nearly seventy-eight years, more than twice thirty-three. Of course, that varied depending on where you lived. Destiny City ranked somewhat lower than average on the charts, due to “terrorist uprisings and gang violence” that, while not necessarily lethal unless you were pretty unlucky, added stress to the lives of citizens, which in turn could exacerbate a number of medical conditions. Despite the booming construction and security industries, it was not the safest place to live for a number of reasons.
Since moving to Destiny City five years prior, Kent had spent several months in a coma, fought his own clone, yelled at a talking cat, and awakened as a magical warrior of justice- though not in that exact order. He’d been to space and back, discovered his ancient heritage, and rescued his sister from the depths of despair. He’d been given a glimpse into just why the city had a lower than average life expectancy, and- supposedly- the ability to do something about it.
Yet on his thirty-third birthday, his life didn’t look all that different than it had when he’d first moved in. He was still working on an advanced degree, though now, having finished his master’s, it was a doctorate he was after. He still toiled away fixing broken computers and fax machines for people who didn’t know not to download blinking emoticons and put too much paper in the copier. So, aside from a degree that he wasn’t even using, what had the past few years really gotten him?
Mainly, it had gotten him his sister back. Not once, but twice. The second time with his direct involvement, so he felt he was allowed to feel a bit of pride in that. Not that he could show it to Tara; she was still convinced that he had no idea what she was up to, and he was willing to play along until she was more stable, less prone to running off. He couldn’t very well tell their parents, either. But when he was discouraged by how his life was going, he could remind himself of the small part he’d played, and smile.
He had gained no small amount of knowledge as well, particularly in the past year or so. Why Tara had disappeared in the first place. Why Destiny City was plagued by terrorism and gang violence. How to ward off angry teenagers, how to go to space, how to prove people were alive. He still questioned much of what he had learned- how could he not doubt the existence of magic?- but more and more, he was able to put his new education to use. And that, too, was something to be proud of.
There was more to come, he knew. A whole world he still needed to explore. A role he didn’t yet know how to fill. A great destiny of some sort that he was still coming to terms with. But if he thought about those things too much, he would lose track of his successes, and stop moving forward. As important as it was to remember that he still had a long way to go, it was equally important to remember how far he’d come.
“Not bad, for thirty-three,” he said to himself as he unlocked the door, followed by “Tara, I’m home!” Having to work on his birthday was obnoxious, but they offered him overtime for it, so he could hardly say no. And now he could finally relax, or maybe go out to dinner-
“Happy Birthday, Kent!”
Or, he thought in mute amazement, he could eat homemade birthday cake and remind himself how very worth it his thirty-three years had been.
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Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 5:59 pm
During the drive up to see their parents, Tara had kept to herself for the most part, spending the ride asleep or doing some reading for class. That made it harder for Kent to focus on the road; he tended to depend on his sister to keep him awake on long drives such as this one. Instead, he had to rely on less effective methods, like triple shots of espresso and hardcore rock music blaring through his headphones. By the time he pulled into the driveway of what was now his parents’ home- neither of them had lived there for the past several years, so it wasn’t home for either of them anymore- all he wanted to do was sleep.
Unfortunately for him, sleep wasn’t an option. Not when both of his parents were trying to get them settled in comfortably, which meant a slew of “how are you?” and “how was the drive?” and “what can I get you?” There was no way he could answer “tired, long, uninterrupted shut-eye” when they were so eager to help. Nor could he blame them for being excited. He was excited too, or he would be when his brain was able to process again.
Last year, they had spent Thanksgiving in Destiny City, trying to uncover anything that might be a clue to Tara’s whereabouts. That had been the third Thanksgiving they’d spent in fear, wondering whether she was okay, or even still alive. Wondering if they’d ever be able to spend another holiday together, as a family.
They were still scared, he could tell. There was no way to just get over the kind of terror they had all experienced. Even though everything was fine now, more or less, the knowledge of how easily that could change, how suddenly one of them could vanish without warning or explanation, made them all a little anxious. He could see his parents smiles were just a bit too wide, as they made the effort to pretend that everything was back to how it used to be, even though they all knew better. And while the old Tara would have had little patience for that kind of forced affection, the new Tara was letting them fuss over her, unwilling to shatter the illusion that nothing had changed, even though her behavior showed that things were very different now.
Then he saw her roll her eyes while giving their mother her third hug of the evening, and he disguised his grin as a cough, covering his mouth with his elbow. Maybe things weren’t quite as different as he thought.
Even though he had more information about what had happened than his parents did, and certainly more than Tara expected or wanted him to have, Kent was scared too. Even though he kept her magical pen with him at all times, just so she wouldn’t be tempted to do anything crazy with it, did nothing to keep him from worrying that she’d try something crazy anyway. Crazy, in the sense of being wild and unorthodox, was kind of her forte. Considering some of the things she’d had to face, it was probably crazy that saved her, just as much as it hurt her sometimes. Not all of the craziness came from her, he knew, and she had little control over the situations she found herself in.
And he had to wonder, now that he was a part of this bizarre, magical world that she’d been fighting for so long, if he would be the next one to end up in a situation beyond his control. He still didn’t really know what he was supposed to be doing as a so-called knight, but he was sure that there was more to it than stumbling around in the dark. Sometime soon he’d have to deal with the consequences of his choices, and they had the potential to be much more dangerous than an impromptu stroll through arctic terrain in nothing but his pajamas.
Would there ever be a Thanksgiving where the three of them were mourning him, not sure if he was dead or alive, too scared to hope that everything would be okay ever again? Now that Tara was back, and he was doing everything he could to prevent her from leaving again, that was his biggest fear. That one day, not too far in the future, he would be the one vanishing without a trace. The reason barely mattered; he didn’t worry about what might happen to him in this scenario, but instead he fretted over the very real possibility that his attempt to keep his family together might end up tearing them apart all over again.
“Okay already! If this keeps up I’m gonna be bruised from head to toe from too much hugging. Can’t it be Kent’s turn or something?”
Tara’s voice cut through his thoughts, and he turned to see her tugging their mother towards him. Melanie tried to put on one of her standard looks of disapproval, but she couldn’t quite manage it. “We’re not done with this,” she warned Tara sternly before turning to her son and embracing him again. “It’s so good to have you both here.”
His fear was still there; he knew it always would be. But in that moment, as he gave his mom a hug, he was full of gratitude and relief that on this Thanksgiving, at least, all was right with their world.
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