Bartholomew Nelson and the World of Zathya: The Prince and The Heir

Chapter 2

"If that's you, and that's your mom, is that-"

"Yes Char, that's my dad." Bart didn't know how he felt once he said it out loud. He couldn't remember ever seeing his dad in person, so to see himself in a picture with him was weird. His mother always told him that his father left when he was born and that he never stayed around. However, this picture clearly contradicted that. And Bart knew it was his dad because the only other picture Bart had ever seen of the man was the one his mother had of him. He had the same eyes, same build, same hair, and same sharp features. So it wasn't hard for Bart to recognize him.

"Wow, I've never seen your dad before," Charlotte said as she took a closer look at the photo.

"I haven't either," Bart responded. "At least not in person. My mom always told me that he left when I was born. The only thing I have from him is this necklace." Bart reached in his shirt and showed a small, clear, ball attached to a chain. It had a light blue color to it. "It glows in the dark." Bart realized at that moment that he was wearing the necklace in the photo, too.

"Wait, if he left when you were born then why is he in this picture? You're clearly older than a year here."

Bart didn't have an immediate answer for her. He wished he did, but the truth was he had no idea. There was no logical reason that his father was in this picture with him if he left when Bart was born.

"I don't know," he finally said giving into the frustration of not knowing what was going on. The two of them were silent for a little while longer as they continued to look at the picture. Bart was clearly upset, but he was even more confused. Why would his mother lie? Bart always trusted everything she said, and she never had a reason to lie to him. So why lie about this?

"Maybe we should get going, Bart. We don't want your uncle to come back while we're still in here." Bart nodded in agreement and they packed everything back in the desk. They walked out and closed the door, and when they got downstairs Bart took the picture out of his pocket and started looking at it again. "You took the picture," Charlotte said, shocked.

"Of course," Bart replied calmly. "You didn't expect me to leave it, did you?"

"Well actually, yeah I did. Are you crazy? Your uncle will notice in a heartbeat." Bart ignored her and started to look back at the picture.

"There is no way I was going to leave it. I have to know the truth behind this Char. Besides its one picture he won't notice."

"Yeah? Let's say he doesn't figure it out. Just how are you going to go about finding the truth?" Charlotte asked. "You're just going to waltz up to your mom and say what? 'Oh hi mom, just wanted to know why you told me dad left when I was less than one and this picture says otherwise'. That doesn't seem like a good idea."

"Actually it sounds pretty good to me," Bart said. Charlotte looked at him for a good few seconds before realizing he wasn't going to budge on this.

"Okay, fine, get us caught. I don't care. I have to go anyway. I'll see you tonight at the maze." Bart didn't respond but Charlotte stared at him for a few seconds to see if he was going to even acknowledge what she just said. After he didn't, she lightly shoved him.

"What?" he said clearly irritated.

"I'm leaving, fart brain," she said again.

"Oh, sorry, okay fine I'll see you tonight." Charlotte seemed pleased with the response, and then the two did their handshake. It was a rule that they never leave each other's side without doing it, and they also did it when they made deals or bets. With that Charlotte left the house in a hurry. Bart just kept looking at the photo. Maybe this isn't me, he thought to himself. But that was a ridiculous idea. He knew it was him, he could tell easily. Who doesn't recognize themselves as a baby anyway? He continued to try and think of ideas that made it seem like his mother hadn't lied but no matter what he came up with they all had the same end result: his mother had lied. Some lies were less severe but still a lie nonetheless. He decided he was going to ask his mom about the photo as soon as she got home. So he headed back to his house with the photo in hand. On his way back Stacey was sitting alone on the bench. Bart definitely didn't want to be bothered right now, so he tried to hurry but she saw him before he could turn the corner.