Spik

[Katzaniel]

The young man stretched, his emerald green pupils glistening against the dawn's light. He flinched against it, though, holding his hands to his temple and seeking shade.

 

"Some party, last night," he murmured, remembering only bits and pieces of the drunken sprawl. He lumbered over to the window, drawing the blinds, then flopped back onto the messed up bed. He sat for a while, trying not to move his head, and trying to remember whether anything interesting had happened with Samantha. He sighed when he finally recalled himself getting up the nerve to ask her to dance, and been sympathetically shown her ring. "Man, all the best girls are taken!" Spik cursed, then slowly made his way to the cupboard for breakfast.

 

On his way there, Spik's green eyes fell upon the newspaper. Nathan, his roommate, must have brought it in before heading off to work that morning. He fixed himself some cereal, and brushing his red hair out of the way, slid into his chair. He scanned the headlines. Nothing interesting, except... what was that? "Local man saves life of friend". Something, something. Spik shook his head, trying to figure out why that looked familiar, then wished he hadn't. Trying to stay very still, the youth set down his spoon, and for the second time that morning, tried to force rememberance.

 

A dream. That was it, just a dream. But the oddest he'd ever had. A woman, all in white, had come to him.

 

You are destined. she had said. Spik recalled laughing, even in the dream. "What, to save the world?"

 

You are destined, she had repeated. Destined to save the life of the one who must save the world.

 

His dream self had laughed again. "Why don't you save this hero yourself?" he had queried. "For that matter, why don't you save the world yourself?"

 

She had not answered him, only kept on. Five times, you are destined. Five times you will save the life of your friend, Spik. Do not waver from your destiny.

 

Still grinning, he'd answered her with questions. "When will this be, then? Tomorrow, right? I bet tomorrow I save him from a burning house, then from being hit by a car, then, what? I'm running out of disasters. And how will I save him, hrm? How?"

 

Five times, before the year closes. Look to the bracelet for help. Do not waver.

 

And she had disappeared. Spik wanted to ignore the dream, but curiosity drove him. The bracelet? If it meant anything, it meant the golden bracelet he had been given by the authorities, seventeen years ago, from his mother's body after the police had finished examining it. At the age of five, he hadn't known either of his parents much, and although it had wounded him deeply at the time, he hadn't been permanently scarred by the murders. He had moved in with his Uncle Vincent, had watched the news reports religiously until the killer had been caught, convincted, sentenced, and a couple of years later committed suicide in prison. Spik had gotten over it, but he still had her bracelet.

 

He finished his breakfast, then went into the storage closet. Old drawings; school reports; there! The young man pulled out a shoebox with the few things he had about his parents. Photographs, news clippings, and the golden bracelet. Putting the rest away, he trotted over to the ugly orange couch Nathan had scored them for ten bucks at a garage sale. He sat down, rubbed his forehead absentmindedly, at stared at the circle of gold. He twisted it around in his hands, thinking of his parents. After all these years, was this really a dream about them? They fell away from his mind immediately, though, when without warning the bracelet clicked open in his wandering hands. There's no catch, he thought, wracking his memory for understanding. This was a solid golden ring just one moment ago, and now... Now it was a nearly straight rod, still smooth to his fingertips, still solid, but hollow. And there was paper inside.

Edited June 22, 2005 by Katzaniel

[Katzaniel]

The sheet was obviously old, though not so much as to be yellowed, or even torn. It had been folded over many times, and had hardened like that. Spik carefully pulled it out of the curved bar, then unfolded it. On it was sketched, in tight lines, a pair of fancy earrings and a necklace. Spik let out a low whistle. Unless he was mistaken, this was a drawing of the jewellery his mother had worn in most of the photographs he had of her.

 

And something else. It tickled the back of Spik's mind, something about that jewellery. They had never found it, had they? And Uncle Vincent had wondered aloud more than once whether those earrings, and that necklace, had been any part of a motive in the crime. But if so, why had the bracelet not been stolen as well? Perhaps they hadn't been able to open it up? But that didn't explain the sketch at all.

 

Why, why? What was his mother doing with a drawing of two pieces of jewellery, hidden inside a bracelet that seemed to be all one piece? Whether or not the rest was stolen, it didn't seem to make much sense. Spik returned to the closet and grabbed the rest of that shoebox, then laid everything in front of him. It was certainly a puzzle, regardless of whether the dream meant anything or not, and Spik liked a challenging puzzle. First he confirmed that the sketch was indeed of the jewellery his mother wore, in more than one photograph. Then he set to work scanning the old articles, trying to find mention of anything useful.

[Katzaniel]

He was still puzzling over it when Nathan returned home at lunch, though he had long ago packed away the shoebox again. The bracelet itself lay, closed, atop the kitchen table, and he was frying sausages over the stove, trying to figure out what he was missing. The bracelet, he had determined, was not like anything he'd ever seen. He had figured out how to open and close it, but he could still not figure out how so solid an object could change from a circle to a long arc. He had done it multiple times, watching, and it seemed to flow from one shape to the next.

 

Nathan tossed his keys on the table, already monologuing about his horrible day. "A man came in today, and he was yelling at me about wanting a refund. For bread! I told him I'm only a cashier, I mean gee whiz, what did the guy expect from me? But he just started in about how no one takes any responsibility, and how did I expect to earn a living if I never took responsibility? Man, what an idiot. If he's going to buy bread, he should check the expiry date... seriously, I think he was lying about how long ago he bought it, too. And then my manager came, and she started yelling, and... what's this?"

 

"It's, uh.. well, it was my mother's bracelet. I had a weird dream, that's all."

 

Nathan was already trying to fit it over hand. "Your mom must sure have had small hands. Gee whiz, I can't even fit it over my fingers, man." Spik turned down the sausage and came over. He ran his finger along the edge to open it, laughing to himself about his odd friend. Nathan always had to try everything, do everything. Listening to his friend go on about how strange the bracelet was, Spik put it around Nathan's wrist, intending to take it off again right away. Instead, he stepped back, a sound between a gasp and a giggle escaping his lips.

 

"What, dude? You look like you've seen a ghost! Oh, you're still pale from last night. Man, you drank so much, you're probably still hung over. It sucks that I have to work the morning shifts now, I mean gee whiz, how much longer do they expect me to get up early? It totally ruins the parties.... Dude?"

 

"You're... oh wow, that's so weird. You're wearing her necklace. And the earrings. You put on the bracelet, and there they are." Spik found himself rambling a little himself, because he suddenly discovered he was very afraid.