Chapter 7
After breakfast, John presented me a wooden sword. I frowned at it.
“This wouldn’t kill a spider,” I said.
“It’s not for spiders,” John said. “It’s for instruction.”
Standing in our gated front yard, he taught me to stand. “On Guard,” is the ready position. You angle yourself to make a smaller target. Steady. He brought out a wood sword. Go! I charged him. He blocked and stopped me. I didn’t even know what happened. He handed me the sword back.
“Don’t do that,” John said.
“If you run and jump you add momentum to the sword, it does more damage,” I said.
“Yes, that’s true, back to the posture I was giving you,” John said.
I went back to the posture. He brought his sword up against mine. We made an X with wooden swords. He told me to mirror him, gentle rotation of the hand, bringing the sword down. I slapped at his sword and he stopped and specified the hand gesture he wanted. We went back to upper X, and then lower X, all in slow motion.
“This is boring,” I said. “Do it anyway,” John said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because I love you,” John said. I laughed. I did as he asked.
“Repeat, slow motion, slllooowww,” John said.
“I want…”
“You want to make it to 2121, right?” John said. “Anyone can power through something.
You think I am strong, Eston. I am not. I am just older and bigger and have learned some shortcuts. Short cuts are cheats, and though they may get you down the road, skills will get you further. You are smarter than me or your mother ever were. You already have proven that with two vocabularies. Two verbal maps gives you an advantage. You will be stronger than I am. Add skill to that strength and you will be unbeatable.”
“Really?” I asked. “Repeat,” John said.
We slowly built up speed till our swords were cracking against each other.
“Do you think mom misses us?” I asked.
“I can’t imagine what she’s thinking,” John said. We switched hands, and did it from the other angle. “My right hand is better,” I said.
“Yeah, don’t favor it,” John said.
“Living with you is more fun,” I said.
John stopped the exercise. He gave me a hand gesture that he was wanting me to pay attention and be quiet.
“That’s not a fair assessment,” John said. It was his serious adult voice, like I just made a diamond hat times hundred.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If you lived with me full time, I would have you doing homework, chores, and all kinds of things that are not fun, and you would be wanting to spend time with mom,” John said. “Per the schedule, I get you on holidays, and vacations. You cannot compare our time together with your time with mom. Now, apologize to your mother?”
“She is not here,” I said.
“Sir, when you speak about others, you will speak as though they can hear you,” John
said. “Your mother works hard every day to keep you on schedule. She takes you to hockey. She makes sure you’re dressed, fed, and safe. Pretend she can hear you, and say you’re sorry.”
I hesitated. He did a finger count. I don’t know what punishment is in Minecraft world, but I didn’t want to find out.
“I am sorry, mom,” I said.
John took away the serious face and lowered his hand. “Now, tell me something fun you and mom do together?”
I looked at my feet.
“Do you want to continue with practice?” John asked. “Yes,” I said.
“One thing, now, spit it out,” John said.
“I like watching movies on the garage door with her,” I said. I could smell the popcorn in my memory. I could see us sitting in the lawn chairs wrapped in blankets. I missed her. “I like when we read stories at night.”
“Yeah, those sound like fun things,” John said. “Take what you learn here with me and apply it to real life when you get home. Everything we do here will help you there. Everything we do helps our future self.”
“Really?”
John put his sword into ready, “On Guard.”
He taught me a Lunge and Quarte. We practiced until I was tired. We then stowed our wooden swords in a sword rack he had made. It was place next to an outdoor barrel. The barrel had extra seeds and hay. My job was to feed the chicken-ducks and sheep.
“Come on, let’s walk,” John said. “It’s not safe,” I said.
“It’s safe,” John said.
We walked towards the mountains. Chester ran ahead and came back. I collected flowers. “Wash the wool. Spin the wool. Die the wool. Knit the wool. Can I change the blanket color?” Sure. “Can I make carpet?” That would be nice. “Are you going to help me make carpet?” Sure. “I would like to make a Knight stand.” What? “You know, something to hang the armor on.” Oh, a butler. John got super happy about finding some pumpkins.
“Pumpkin is some good eating. A little roti and spice…” He sheared out the inside of the pumpkins, made faces in each, kept some seeds, and made lanterns. “This will make our home lighting a little more aesthetically pleasing.”
“Make it look nice even. Oh! We could make a scarecrow,” I said. “You know, I bet we could make robot. Like Lost in Space. A big golem of a guy made of steel with a head of a pumpkin.”
“Maybe,” John said.
“Do you think you will ever remarry?” I said.
“Why do I feel like I am in episode of the Courtship of Eddie’s father,” John said.
“Who’s Eddie?” I asked. “You don’t have another son, do you?”
“No other children. I did want you to have siblings,” John said. He frowned.
“You should date,” I said.
“I am old, and I am busy,” John said. “And I got you, and you’re the best. People might get jealous. You’re priority, in my life, and in my thoughts.”
“You should move to California,” I said.
“I will submit a location and economic change request to the universe, see if accommodates me,” John said. He touched my head.
“That’s a funny way of saying something,” I said.
“Sometimes consistency is the best gift to give a child,” John said.
“But I want to live with you,” I said.
“You love your mom,” John said. He didn’t ask this, he said it, but I still said of course. “If you were with me, you would miss her. And she would miss you.” I didn’t say anything. “She loves you. I love you. She and I are in different places, we always were, but we are of the same mind when it comes to you. We’re on the same map. Do not mistake distance for a lack of love. You and I are connected.”
“Heart strings,” I said.
“Heart, mind, and the moon,” John said.
“The moon?”
“You ever see the moon in California?” John asked.
“Yeah,” Eston said.
“Well, I look at it in Texas; this means if we’re looking at the moon at the same time, we’re seeing the same moon, and that makes you, me, and the moon three points on a triangle,” John said. “Just connect the dots, you’ll get the big picture.”
We sat on some rocks and had a fish lunch picnic. It was dried fish and pretty good. Almost as good as the spicy, dried minnows I snack on at home. They crunch like chips. Chester looked at us. He got zombie meat snacks. I asked John if he remembers pizza. He laughed and said no one forgets pizza. The Ninja Turtles like pizza. I asked what his favorite was. “I have never met a pizza I didn’t like,” John said. “Put pizza on our Minecraft 2121 list.” Definitely on the list.
“We should live in the sewers like the Ninja turtles,” I said.
“That might be fun. Except for all the slime monsters,” John said.
“We have a basement. Does that count?”
“Not really. Who’s your favorite turtle?”
“Oh, Donatello,” John said.
“I am fond of the quarter staff.” John handed me a book and pen.
“Draw what you see.”
“What?”
“I want you to draw stuff. That’s a skill. Make it a crafting book. Draw the blue flower, then beside it draw the die. This is our school lesson for the day,” John said.
“I am on school break,” I said.
“You are. We are always learning,” John said.
While I drew, he collected sand, and then filled the hole in with dirt. He hated leaving holes. Every time we came out, he was wanting to practice landscaping. After getting the sand, he sat down again. He pulled out a book and sketched the landscape. He labeled this outcropping of rocks Picnic 1. His maps would likely get someone lost. I am a better artist, but he does try. “Put colored pencils on our 2121 list. We can’t rely on me fishing out ink.”
“Those squid are pretty scary,” I said.
“I am sure they’re friendly,” John said.
“Don’t kill them,” I said.
“Well, as long as my luck of the sea holds out, we won’t have to,” John said.
“You should put that in a tech book and attach it to my fishing pole,” I said.
“Yeah, if only I had a diamond pickaxe to collect some obsidian, and a diamond for a tech upgrade table,” John mused.
“Sorry,” I said. “Enchantment table sounds better than tech upgrade table.”
“I am Star Fleet, not Harry Potter,” John said.
“We can mesh memes, can’t we?” I said. “I mean, I already use British words, and American words, and Thai words. I like British words, like mending. You should make a sonic screw driver. That screw driver can do everything!”
“That would be lovely,” John said.
“Gary Seven had one,” I pointed out. John smiled at me. I know my Star Trek, too. I like the episodes where Kirk fights. It’s kind of cheesy. Like an old Western. I think the Ninja Turtles can kick his ass.
“No, it was more like a pen,” John said.
“Sonic screwdriver by any other name…”
“Fair enough,” John said. “He was a time traveler.”
“How did you make the books?”
“Leather from the sea. Sugar cane,” John said.
“I am thinking of making a paper mill. Redstone activated pistons sheering off sugar cane, drops it in a stream, takes it to a hole, into a hopper, into a chest. I am building a store room one level down from ground level. Might make us some steam punk outfits for Halloween.”
“Lot of work for paper,” I said.
“Yeah, but less work if I do it myself. We’ll make an easy button,” John said.
“We can use sugar cane to make sugar, too. I would like to find that bee’s nest.”
“They’re really big bees,” I said. “Yeah, they are,” John said.
“You might want to leave those guys alone,” I said.
“We’re going to have honey,” John said.
“Did you know, there was a time in the past when insects were bigger?” I said. He looked at my drawing and made a face.
“What?” I said.
“That’s a really good picture of Chester,” John said.
“Who’s that?”
“That’s you and me,” I said.
“Alright, well, good work,” John said. “Let’s head back.”
We got up to go back. There were cows. John got their attention with wheat and we led them back. Once they were inside the pin, John relented on some iron and made two buckets. He taught me to milk cows.
“Will the milk go bad?” I asked. “Not in our inventories,” John said.
It was actually an uneventful day. No zombies. No Creepers. Everything was just sort of pleasant. John sang the theme song to ‘the Courtship of Eddie’s Father,’ “Best Friends,” performed by Harry Nilsson. It was pretty catchy. I could see me and him making a montage video for youtube. Maybe if we had enough viewers, he could move to California and be closer. I made a note to myself that I would be a youtube star for my father. We went to the garden space, upper terrace, where John collected wheat and laid down seed. The whole roof would be farmed by next harvest. John watched the sunset. I wanted to go inside.
“Go ahead,” John said.
“Come with me,” I said.
“I want to watch the sunset,” John said.
“But those phantom menace things will get you,” I said.
“Yeah, I want to watch the transition, see if I learn anything,” John said. I lingered.
“This world can make you dizzy.”
“Yeah,” John said. “Come inside,” I said.
“In a moment,” John said.
I went down into the hobbit house. Night came. Monsters soon dappled the playing fields. I heard a strange noise. It sounded like heckling.
“What’s that?” I yelled up.
“Put a telescope request in for 2121,” John said. “Why?”
“I think that’s a witch,” John said.
John descended into the house. I reminded him to close the trapdoor.
“Creepers, skeletons, zombies, enders, phantoms, and now witches?” I asked.
“I didn’t see the phantoms,” John said.
“Do you suppose there are dragons?” I asked.
“No, I do not suppose,” John said.
“There might be dragons,” I said.
“That would make a nice name for a band,” John said. “Sleep.”
“I want you to sleep, too,” I said.
“I want to work…”
“Please?” I asked.
John agreed. He laid down in the bed next to me. He must have been tired. He was snoring before me. Next thing we knew, it was morning.