Never Let Me Go (Camren/Norminah)

Epilogue Part I: The Clockwork Beasts

"Sometimes, the best way to understand how far we've come is to turn back the clock and interlock the pieces of our times together like a puzzle. Will you help me make this picture?"

***

"Grandpa, I'm bored." Cameron whined as the wall clock struck noon and he flopped back against the fluffy couch cushions. "Can we do something?"

"I thought we were doing something." Mike flicked through the channels on the TV. "I was teaching you how to make a really great oatmeal raisin muffin, and you lost interest on me."

"Yeah, that's cause I want to do something more exciting." Cam insisted, folding his arms. "Can we go play in the backyard? How about we build a fort in the living room? Can I go for another ride on your motorcycle?"

"I feel as if I may have over the years, lost my touch when it comes to entertaining ten year olds." Mike sighed to himself, turning off the set and getting up. "And no to the motorcycle by the way, the last time I did that my step-daughter nearly lost her mind at me. Camila says there's a weight limit... I just think she needs to live more dangerously." The man chuckled when Cameron released a long and over-exaggerated yawn. "Okay, well it's pouring outside and the humidity is killer, so how about we find something fun to do inside? We can... play cards, or watch some more TV?"

"We've been playing cards and watching TV for the last three million hours." Cam told his grandfather with a smirk. "And I fell asleep twice. Luke's competition isn't going to be over for a long time now, don't you have anything more fun?"

"I forgot how much energy you have." Mike looked around the room. "Okay, how about this. A puzzle."

"A puzzle?" Cam groaned, falling back against the couch in disappointment. "How is that fun?"

"Well, I'll make it fun." Mike lowered the box onto the table before the boy and lifted the lid to reveal a pile of tiny jigsaw pieces. "This puzzle has five different pictures of fantasy creatures in all in one, if you and I can put together one picture at a time, then while we work I'll tell you a story. By the end of the story, we should have the picture finished."

Interested, Cameron sat forward and looked at the pile. "What kind of story?"

"Let's do one from long before you were even born." Mike proposed. "When your brother was only a little baby."

"What happened then?"

"All kinds of things, what do you think the world just started rotating the minute you were born?"

"I mean... I'm pretty great." Cam grinned, showing his teeth. His grandfather laughed, slapping him hard square in the back and knocking the wind out of him. "Okay." He coughed. "So what's the first story?"

"Well... sometimes the best way to understand how far we've come is to turn back the clock a little and interlock the pieces of our time together like a jigsaw puzzle." The man explained, fanning all the pieces on the table. "That way we can see everything out in front of us, all the players and all the rules. The first section is a picture of a big dragon, so let's sort all the dark red pieces and put them aside."

"What story are you going to tell first?" Cam asked, dropping his elbows on the table and starting to shuffle through the multicoloured pieces of interlocking cardboard. "Can it be one about ninja turtles?"

"Actually Cam." Mike laughed again. "I was thinking we could go over some stories that are a little more real life."

"The turtles are real life." The ten year old put on his face a challenging smile. "They're living under the sewers as we speak."