Chapter I:Eggs, cheese and rotten butter

It was in an usual day in December and still something was strange and odd about the weather. The night wasn`t calm at all and it was quite windy and so freezing that you can`t almost feel your nose. He sure was happy for not being out in the open in such a weather. His grandfather called from downstairs:- Sam, come down. It`s time for dinner. You sure are hungry, aren`t you, boy?

– I`m coming, gradpa! Just a second!

The procrastinator finally came down in the kitchen and discovered his elder companion sitting on one of the short chairs that they have, a package with eggs lied on the table and a small plate was resting nearby.

– You shouldn`t have started making them without me. – said he and he reached for two forks. They weren`t clean enough because his grandfather couldn`t see very good at his age, so he cleaned them on the sink.

– I can still amaze you with my skills, Sam, so don`t think that I`m too old to make my own eggs.

– No, grandpa. I didn`t mean that, what I meant was that I should make them.

– Nonsense! I`m your grandpa, old or not, so I`ll make them. You just watch what I`m doing and keep your mind sharp.

– Well, if you insist on making them, then I won`t protest.

– That`s right, Sam. Now, can you please pass me the cheese from the fridge?

Sam walked behind him, opened the door of the fridge, reached for the desired saucer and then turned around to put it on the table. Then he sat beside the old man and started looking at what he was doing, which was rather self-explanatory. He was holding two eggs, then he collided them against one another so that the egg-shell could fall off. After he finished shelling all of the eggs and pouring their inner content in the plate, he stood up and went for the pan. It was cleaned the previous day, so he got the butter, sliced it in half with the sharp blade of a knife and put it on the pan, which on other hand was put on the oven. Then Sam came and started sliding the chunk of butter on the surface of the pan. The whizzing sound that was made by the traces of melted butter had the usual boringness of the night, but the smell was horrible.

– Grandpa John, are you sure that… – and he stopped in the middle of the sentence, realisng that his words might cause offense to the man who stood right next to him. He wanted to say the truth that the butter was rotten but that way he would show that he has no respect for his elder relative`s judgement and he didn`t want that to happen. So, at least he could say that the expiration date printed on the back of the package has expired long ago – over an year.

The old man didn`t take notice of that fact and he poured the eggs in the pan and started mixing it with a ladle(a mixing spoon) until the required colour and solidity was reached. Then he told Sam to pass him two more dishes, in which the eggs were to be served. The boy did that on the instant but John said that he needs a deeper plate, so the youngster returned the ones he had prepared to their appropriate places and then pass the right plates.

The dinner was ready, poor or not so poor to the naked eye of the beholder. The eggs were served and the boy put cheese on top the eggs as requested by the other man.

– Could you please bring one of the plates to your grandmother, Sam? I would be very grateful if you do that

– I`ll do as you say, grandpa. But I think that there`s far too much eggs in my plate so I`ll put half of them in another one. I`ve noticed that you haven`t eaten at all.

– Good , my bood. If we`re to eat, then we`ll eat together if want. Now hurry up and don`t make your granny wait any long.

The boy, as fast as the youth itself that it represented quickly returened after successfully delivering the eggs and thus fulfilling its „mission“.

And so, they sat and started eating. But right after the first bite, Sam felt the rotten taste of the butter, which was now in the eggs. He wanted to throw up but that wasn`t an considerable option due to the current situation that he was gotten in. What should he do? His grandpa had already finished half of his part and was looking challenging at him, as if he was saying „Will you dare eat it?“. Sam understood that this wasn`t only an impression and even considering the odds of throwing up, he quickly regained his inner will and on the second started thinking logically. In the next few moments, he was struggling in himself against himself in a battle that he would lose and win no matter which part of his consciousness was to take over. „I respect him far too much, to let my senses make him feel rejected and neglected by showing him his mistake. Nobody`s perfect but only by trying to make other people happy, can one really achieve happiness. So, I`ll take my chances and risk and let my choice show my true intentions without saying them out at loud and clear.“.

He continued eating under these tensity even if it meant ripping his stomach apart and his mouth on fire. To lessen the horrible taste he reached for the chilli and took a big bite out of it. Hot or not, the burning taste was better than the rotten one. He was grateful that John had at least told him to put cheese on top of the eggs thus helping him swallow that horrible mixture. After finishing most of it, Sam said to him that he was ready with his meal, and thanks to the fact that the other man didn`t reject or argued about these words, he stood up and put the left overs in the bin and the plate was put in the sink for later cleaning.

– My boy, I would like to say that I admire your deviousness and that you ventured even if you didn`t like it. Speaking of which, I expect you to now be able to see and understand the difference between humans and wild animals. So, can you spell it out now? Come on, tell it.

– Humans can think and judge the situation better because analyzing gives them the ability to act according to the change and thus be the holder and messenger of change itself.

– Well put, my dear boy. The mind of the human is a delicate tool, the most powerful and greatest of the known wonders of the universe. So, use it wisely and always believe in your dreams! Let Freedom, Truth and Justice guide you but you are the one who at the end decides what is good and what isn`t and what must be done and what`s best left only for your mind alone to know. I`m not saying that you can or can`t become better than what you currently are, all I`m saying is that you must seek to become better at being yourself. Now, let us go and rest, `cause we have an important mission to attend to tomorrow.

And they went to sleep. The night was still quite cruel and it was shivering and freezing in such a horrible night when the wolfs sing their song to catch a prey but now there was that feeling in the mind that you cannot fully explain or understand but which tells you that you CAN do everything if you only want and work to achieve the impossible. Indeed, that is man`s mission – to change all that he touches.

P.S. I started writing a short story in 11 chapters with some fanstasy & sci-fi elements, but at its core the human realationships and the place and purpose of the human in genaral. Man has and will always reach for the impossible!

♪♪♪♥♥♥ S.T.R.A.N.G.E.