The Boy From 1857

The Man

The ground was approaching, fast. Almost too fast. Karls brain was in a whiz and he hadn't noticed until almost too late. He was falling through the sky, a common occurrence in time travelling. Karl braced himself for the fall, waiting to hit the grass under him. A pro of falling from the sky during travel was that no matter where or how high he fell, he never took damage, however there was the sudden shock.

In less then a few seconds Karl crashed down into a small bush with a thud. A loud thud at that. His whole body shook and shivered covered in tingles, the same tingles you get when you hit your elbow off the corner of your desk.

His head began to spin as he swore he heard a door opening. Karl had been so caught up in preparing to land he hadn't noticed where he was. As he looked around he seemed to be in someone's backyard, a wealthy someone at that. A tall and large stone brick house sat at one end of the garden with a beautiful ivy crawling up it burying itself into little nooks and crannies of the brick. On the other end of the harder was a big willow tree with a small pond hidden underneath it, covered by pond weeds, tall grass and other plants. On one of the lower branches of the tree, hung a small bench swing that had been tied up in a nice spot viewing the pond.

As Karl brought himself back to reality, he heard footsteps running his direction as his head snapped up to look. It was a man, a bit smaller then Karl and a few years younger. He had jet black hair that covered a side of his face slightly. The man wore a white long sleeved shirt with a few first marks covering it. To top it off he had brown pants on, held up by suspenders. For someone living in a house like this, he was awful scruffy.

"Hey! Are you alright?" He called out as he held a hand out to Karl, who took it hesitatingly. The brunette dusted himself off quickly before getting a closer look at the man. He looked oddly familiar. Like someone he'd seen before, however the hit to his head had caused his mind to blank slightly on just who.

"Ah- yes. Thank you.. Uhm-" Karl rubbed the back of his head, smiling softly as the man smiled back at him.

"Here, come inside. I'll help you out." He said brightly, as he kept his hand out for Karl to take before the two walked inside.

While in the house, Karl was directed into a living room. It was clear he was far back in time based off of how the room looked. Everything was a lot older and there wasn't any signs of far progression in technology either. There was however a record player in the corner of the room, prepped up on a small wooden table. It was playing some song that Karl didn't recognise however it sounded nice. He'd need to ask the name of it before he went home.

"Would you like some tea? Bread? I'll go get you some." The man smiled quickly, letting Karl sit down on a small flower patterned sofa. The walls where covered in a red wallpaper that also had flowers on it. In the middle of the room was a coffee table that had books and papers scattered around. On one wall was a stone fireplace that was crackling in the background as it faced another wall covered top to bottom in books.

Karl looked up just as the man was about to leave to room before he spoke up. "Wait!" The man instantly stopped in his tracks and turned, cocking his head to the side in answer.

"What year is it?" Karl asked slowly as the man began to laugh slightly.

"What year? My, it's 1856. Don't you know? That fall must've really hit you."the man continued to laugh as he left the room and headed to where Karl presumed was the kitchen.

1856...1856... why was that year suddenly so familiar? Karl hit his head with the back of his palm a few times trying to think of dates and years he knew but nothing came to mind.

He was pulled from his thoughts as the man returned to the living room, holding a wooden tray that was holding a teapot with two cups and saucers, and little spoons. A bowl of sugar cubes, though there wasn't many, and a pot of milk along with a plate of bread and butter on the side. The Man sat the tray down and sat next to Karl, who thanked him as me plopped a sugar into the two cups. They stayed in a comfortable silence for a few moments as the man poured them both tea, handing Karl a teacup as he smiled.

"Oh! I do believe that we had forgotten to introduce ourselves to each other! Call me James! And you are?" James smiled. Karl almost spat his tea out in shock as he tried to process. "James?! But..?! He was de-"

"Oh! Uhm. Yeah, James. I'm- im Karl! Karl Jacobs." The brunette nodded his head before taking a sip of tea. Thoughts where already running in and out of Karls head. The mascaraed. The egg. The butler. Sir Billiam.

"James." Karl spoke up, setting his cup down onto the coffee table. "I want you to do something for me if that's alright." James nodded his head,  as he put his own cup onto the tray again.

"If you ever get an invite.. to a mascaraed party. Don't go. It won't end well. Trust me." Karl could feel emotion building up in his throat as he spoke. Whatever happened while he was here, he wasn't going to let James die again.

"Oh-kay? Is there a reason at all." James asked slowly.

"Well. Yes. But.. it's a lot to take in. And you might not believe me if I was honest." Karl started looking down at the ground before a hand was placed onto his lap.

"Dont worry Karl. I'll try my best to understand you." He said with a bright smile as Karl gave one back.

"Alright.. you see, we've met before James. I'm KarlJacobs, a time traveler from the DreamSmp."