Astonish’s Past
“Who, me? You want to know about me? It’s…not a fun story, you sure? …alright. You asked for it. Just- don’t interrupt or ask questions, got it? I hate being interrupted.”
The moon is high in the sky. Streets glow with an eerie shine, courtesy of the full moon. Despite the hour being late, there are plenty of Alkarnabi walking the streets. The air is filled with a sense of anxiety and fear…as if each corner hides an assassin holding a dagger with your name on it. This feeling doesn’t extend to all the residents, however. A pair of young nabis sit in an alleyway, poking at a small campfire. A single, malnourished fish sits cooking above the flames. The nabis’ ribs are poking through their tattered shirts.
The smaller of the two opens his mouth to speak.
“…how was work?” He says.
“Tough, but I made it through. And got us a whole fish to boot! Not a bad day, I’d say.” The taller one responds, a cheery tone in his voice.
“How are you always optimistic, Bewilder? Don’t you get tired of pretending everything’s okay all the time?” Worry can be heard as the smaller one speaks.
The other hesitates.
“Well, believe it or not, there’s always something good to be found in any situation. I mean sure, I could focus on the fact that we’re dirt poor, nearly starving, homeless, et cetera. Or, I could focus on how we still have each other, I have a job, we have more clothes than most of the other homeless nabis here, and we’re still very much alive. I know everything seems bleak, Astonish, but you have to keep your head up. I’ve got your back, little brother. I’m going to get us to a better place. I promise.” Bewilder turns the fish as he speaks, smiling warmly at his brother.
“Thanks, Bewilder. I needed to hear that.” A small smile grows on Astonish’s face.
The boys continue to sit at the fire for a while. Eventually, a pretty purple nabi walks up to them with a loaf of bread.
“Hi guys; I got the bread! Sorry it took so long. I had to barter to afford it with what we had left.” She hands the bread to Astonish and sits next to Bewilder, kissing him on the cheek. Bewilder smiles lovingly at her.
“Welcome back, Cosmo. How’d your job go?” Says Bewilder.
“Well enough…” Cosmo says, gazing at the fire.
The three sit in silence, watching the flames with Cosmo, enjoying each other’s company. Cosmo leans her head on Bewilder’s shoulder. He puts his arm around her while blinking sleepily.
“…Bewilder?” Astonish tries to get his attention. He doesn’t seem to hear.
“Bewilder! Hello?” He pokes him repeatedly, snapping Bewilder out of his thoughts.
“Huh?”
“You do know the fish is burning, right?”
Bewilder’s face is one of panic as he frantically pulls the fish off the open flames. Astonish just laughs as he tries to save the poor charred food while Cosmo shakes her head and helps him out.
“Well… Burnt fish is just as crispy as fried fish...pretend it’s fried.” Bewilder jokes as he serves the fish. The trio eats while chatting. When the food is gone, they put out the fire and lie down to sleep. They keep close to stay warm and safe through the night.
Late into the night, Astonish is woken suddenly. He sits straight up, unsure of what woke him, but filled with a sense of someone’s presence. His head whips around, fear filling his head as he tries to find whoever, or whatever, is watching him. His eyes lock with something he hasn’t seen in years.
A ghost.
Surprisingly, Astonish sighs in relief at the sight of the ghost. His fear starts to subside as he quietly crawls away from his brother and Cosmo and toward the floating figure.
“What do you want?” Astonish whispers to the ghost.
The ghost responds with a hand signal to follow him. He flies further down the alleyway, stopping at a turn to wait for Astonish to follow. The young boy follows without hesitation. He’s dealt with ghosts before. There usually little reason to fear or distrust them. His magic gives him the ability to see spirits and ghosts. When he reaches the turn, the ghost begins to sign with his hands.
“Sign language? I don’t know sign, I’m sorry. And I can’t hear you speak.” Astonish apologies.
The ghost sighs, tapping his chin, thinking. He floats closer to the dirt road and points his claw at the dirt. Astonish tilts his head in curiosity and confusion. The ghost begins to trace letters with his claw.
“Oh, I think I get it!” He grabs a nearby stick out of a trash can and begins following the ghost’s claw. Letters begin to form in the dirt as Astonish diligently traces the ghost’s movements.
It takes a little while to finish. He sits back when he’s done and studies the result. The letters spell out ‘Future trouble. Sign. Help.’
He scratches his head with the stick, his gears turning as he tries to figure out what it means. The ghost signs and points to Astonish.
“Me? What about me?”
The ghost rolls his eye and signs again, aggressively pointing at Astonish again.
“You want me…to learn sign? Is that it?”
The ghost nods excitedly.
“But- how? No one I know knows it. I can’t afford lessons or anything. Besides, I don’t even know you. Why would I learn a whole language for a stranger?”
The ghost’s face becomes grim. He sadly points at the words ‘future trouble’ and ‘help.’ He points to Astonish, then to the words, then to himself. Astonish looks at him with pure confusion. The ghost holds his nose with his fingers, frustrated, and speaks, but no sound comes out. His lips read “lord help me.”
“Look pal- I don’t know what your deal is but it’s certainly none of my business. I’m going back to bed. Just go float back to whatever graveyard you came from, okay?” Astonish shakes his head and walks back to Bewilder and Cosmo. The ghost knows he can’t stop him. He watches sadly as Astonish fades from view.
But the ghost didn’t give up. He kept coming back, signing and pointing, relentlessly trying to communicate with Astonish. Astonish tries his hardest to ignore him but gets a nagging feeling that this is something he shouldn’t ignore. He begins searching for a way to learn sign so he can finally get the pesky ghost off his back. Eventually, he finds and steals a book on sign language and teaches himself. It takes months before he can confidently understand. The night of the third month, he finally establishes communication with the ghost.
‘My name is Taim. I’m from the future. And the future is…very, very bleak. There’s hardly any life left. Astonish; I can travel through time. I started travelling backwards to find the cause and, hopefully, the solution to preventing the future I come from. I saw you. I saw you try to save the world. You almost did it, you were so close. That’s when I knew I had to find you and warn you so, when the time comes, you can succeed and save the world.’ The ghost signs to Astonish at their usual meeting spot.
Astonish stares at him blankly.
“Okay so you’re insane. Great.”
‘…what? No, I’m telling the truth! I’m not a liar.’
“And I’m a 400-foot-tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings. Nice try, buddy.” Astonish turns to leave, humiliated and aggravated he wasted all that time for a crazy ghost.
Taim flies through Astonish, causing him to stop in his tracks and shiver.
‘Look- I know you don’t believe me. I know you think I’m just some crazy weirdo who’s bored and wanting to mess with someone. But I can’t just leave and give up. The fate of the entire world rests in our paws! I want to help you. But you must let me. I’ll find a way to prove myself to you. Just know this; you’re not alone in your quest. I saw you with many others… Your brother and his girlfriend were there, along with two Aurusalkar. One tall and red. The other with brilliant emerald horns. They were fighting alongside you. I know the Alkarnabi and Aurusalkar hate each other in this time. I need you to know not all of the Aurusalkar are bad. Just as not all nabis are good. The line is more blurred than you think.’
Astonish is listening but looks like he’s growing impatient.
‘I see I’m starting to lose you. Fine, I’ll leave you with one last warning; soon, you will find a special egg. This egg will hold the reincarnation of one of the strongest Aurusalkar to ever exist. They will be your ally. But you must protect the egg until it can hatch. You will fail and the world will end if harm comes to the egg or if it gets into the wrong paws.’
Now he’s intrigued. He wishes what Taim is saying isn’t true but, at the same time, Astonish has always dreamed of accomplishing something great and worthy of recognition. Saving the world? Now that would definitely get the young orphan recognized the world over. But still, he can’t help being a bit afraid.
“…okay, well you’ve said your peace. I’m going back to my brother now. I still don’t believe you but…you don’t have to leave. As annoying as you are, I kind of enjoy talking with you. Just try to keep the craziness to a minimum.”
Taim raises a brow but nods. Astonish returns the nod awkwardly and starts to head back.
“Me…a hero…how great would that be? But…is it even true?” Astonish mumbles to himself while walking.
What he doesn’t know is that this one moment marks the beginning of the end. Life will soon change drastically, and he will have to heed Taim’s warnings if he hopes to survive. Today is the day Astonish’s path begins. Whether he realizes it or not, he will become a hero.
The question is, will he succeed?