“You were remembering your grandmother, weren’t you Jakey?” Joseph asked in a calm voice.
Jacob nodded, unable to speak, still so surprised that this man who was a complete stranger to him understood so well.
“How did you know?”
“Because I was, too. I saw her through your eyes. I could see what you saw, my boy, and feel the emotion you were never able to express. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like to not be able to tell those you care about how you feel, not understand the love in a mother’s embrace, or not find yourself lost in the eyes of a …well, never mind. Perhaps you can still have that moment. Amazing things can and do happen, Jakey, amazing things.”
Jake just stared at the man. The words he was saying seemed so strange. Jake was not even sure if he knew what “emotion” was, other than seeing people cry at funerals and similar things but he never really understood it.
“I d-don’t understand.”
“I know, Jacob, I know this must all seem very strange and scary to you right now. I am going to try to explain it as best I can. I know that what I am telling you seems very odd, even to you, who has experienced some of what I am talking about. I imagine, though, that when you wake you really do not remember much of it at all, do you?”
“Only sometimes, sometimes I go through the day like I have been there before. Everything seems familiar.”
Jacob stopped. He noticed that when he was talking about his dreams and his feelings about them, his stutter was completely gone. His voice was almost strong. All of this just seemed very strange to a boy who never spoke. Stranger still to hear confidence in his own voice when the whole world always seemed so at odds to him.
“Strange to you, isn’t it? To be able to speak here when you cannot while you are awake?”
“Yeah. Why is that?”
“Because here, anything is possible! How else would I be here, talking to you right now? I passed on before you were ever born, kiddo. So even that by itself should seem strange to you and yet here I am! I am right in front of you, breathing, speaking, and being my usual charming self. And trying to impart to you some understanding about our family, about the legacy you will have to live up to. My only hope is that you do not make the same mistakes of those who have come before you. Because that would be a tragedy. You have a beautiful, wonderful soul and this world needs more people just like you.”
“Um, “Jacob had no idea how to respond to that at all.
Inside his mind, Jacob was reeling. So much information had come at him in such a short amount of time and he still really hadn’t gotten to the meat of it yet. He found himself wondering how long he had to find out more before he woke up.
“There is plenty of time yet Jakey. You won’t wake up before you’ve gotten the whole story. I can assure you of that, even if nothing else I say to you tonight is any comfort at all.”
How the heck does he keep doing that!
“Sorry, Jacob, I am sure this is very overwhelming for you. I wish there was an easier way to do this than bombard you with everything at once. But you are 15 years old. Things are liable to start happening soon, if they haven’t already and I need you to understand. I need you to know that you are not crazy and this all has a purpose however strange it may all seem. “
“I still don’t understand, “Jacob said
"Okay, let me start at the beginning. Have a seat. It is a long story, “Joseph began.
Jacob settled down in the grass tentatively, still cautious, still afraid that he was losing his grip on reality. Let's face it. Reality was not Jacob's strong suit, after all. The world he withdrew into was anything but ordinary. He imagined castles, knights, dragons, and faeries. In his universe all of these things were real. Fantasy and reality blurred. How strange that now, he was coming to find out the lines really were not as clear as the rest of the world thought they were.