A quick view of an upcoming fantasy novel
Tell me About Yourself
Mrs. Hammer fixed the small readers on top of her nose and looked up at Tom. Her smile and the extra blinks made him arranged his position, not for the first time, on her coach.
“What you mean?” He said.
“Tell me about yourself.” The grin in her mouth deepened her hundreds of wrinkles. “How can I help you, if I can’t get to know you?”
Tom cleared his throat and looked at the window. The sunlight shone on top of the flowers of her yard. His mind already pictured a new greenhouse to fix the old shed she had. He could bet she either spent a lot of money or time, or both, in that landscaping.
“Tom?”
He faced her and cleared his throat again. “Yep, right? Myself… mm… I’m a contractor. I build things.”
“What things?”
“Well, houses… mainly, but also,” he sighted as memories of his grandfather rushed through his mind. “I like to make things better. My grandpa taught me it isn’t right to waste stuff. Especially if you can fix it… or reuse it. You know?”
Mrs. Hammer sat forward and placed her hands on top of her knee. “No, I don’t, but I will love to learn more about it.
Tom re-arranged the pillow at his side and stared at the floral pattern. It wasn’t a hard question, but it made the hole in his heart obvious, and he always preferred to ignore it.
“Well, we took on- my grandpa, and I worked on fixing old furniture, or broken appliances, or… stuff.” He looked back at the yard, “nothing was ever too old or broken for my grandpa to try. He taught me how to build stuff… I just use it now to make bigger things, so I can pay for the rent.”
Mrs. Hammer tilted her head as she nodded. “Do you like to build new stuff?”
“What? Of course. It’s a goof thing to make-” He exhaled and stared at her. “I missed my grandpa, but I understand life goes on. I’m not stuck, I just…”
A silence filled the room, but this time the sensation didn’t bother Tom. His mind understood what he needed to fix, and why he wouldn’t say it out loud.
“Tell you about myself,” he stood up, “I prefer to work with my hands, observe my world, and appreciate what I have. It bothers me when people like you, question my life. I’m fine. Just starting my path here.” He reached the door. “Maybe I’ll be back and tell you more. But for now, I hope this is enough. Have a good day, doc.”
Mrs. Hammer watched him closed the door behind him as she sat down. A wicked smile illuminated her face as she let her key to open Chaos-Realm. Tom will belong to that side of the realms. He just didn’t know it yet.
