Polaris: Origins

Chapter 4

One morning I woke up to a smiling face.

It was all blurry but when the image cleared, my grandfather was there smiling back at me.

"Good morning" he said pleasantly.

"Grandpa" I leaned up into him, hugging tightly.

"When did you get back"

"This morning and I came here to see how you were doing"

My grandfather had his own house, but stayed with us most of the time, especially after grandma died a few years ago.

"Your mom told me what happened last week. You ok?"

I nodded. In fact, I was much better now that he was here.

"Well, I'm going down to my house and your parents said that I could carry you. Up for an adventure?"

I saw a sparkle in his eyes and I knew that something amazing was going to happen.

"Definitely," I said aloud, almost shouting.

I was excited.

"But first, breakfast," he said licking his lips.

We made our way downstairs and he made pancakes. I got out the orange juice, maple syrup, and blueberries.

We had a hearty breakfast and sat down talking and laughing afterward.

After breakfast, he helped me pack and we locked up the house before leaving.

Grandpa's house was more in the countryside on the shore of a lake, there was even a small dock. It was not a mansion like my parents' house, it was a two-story home, with three bedrooms.

He put me into my father's old room and set me up before we went to the kitchen for a snack as lunchtime had long passed.

We sat on the verandah in the backyard and ate, while we talked about sports.

I loved tennis and badminton and I played a little soccer. However, I wasn't fast enough with swimming and didn't meet the time needed to join the school's swim team.

It turned out that my grandpa was also an athlete. He ran track for his school back then and had medals.

That was when I thought about it.

"Was that your power, grandpa?"

"Hmm?" he asked

"Were you a fast superhero?"

Honestly, saying fast superhero sounded dumb, but what else do you call them??

"No, no" he chuckled.

"That wasn't my power."

"Then what was it?"

"Let's not talk about that," he said.

I was confused. Why didn't he want to talk about it? Was it because he didn't want me to feel uncomfortable as I had no power?

"Let's go for a walk," he said getting up.

We strolled through the green forest along the path.

My father grew up here? He must have had a great time. As I looked at the swing tied onto the tree overhanging the lake.

I heard a great noise overhead and I looked up to see a group of ducks swooping down and watched as they landed gracefully on the lake.

"We should head back. It's getting late" Grandpa said after a while.

I was disappointed, but the lake wasn't going anywhere, and tomorrow was another day.

When we got home, we both took showers and while grandfather was preparing dinner, I explored the house.

Pictures of my grandparents lined the walls, even some with my dad.

I spotted one picture with two baby handprints. I took it and admired it. Then I noticed some scribbling next to each of them.

'Emmanuel Patrick Masters'

'Terrance Jeremiah Masters'

Terrance?

My father didn't have any brothers. It could be a cousin, perhaps?

I pondered on this for a while.

"Nate" I heard my grandfather call from in the kitchen.

I replaced the picture and went off to the kitchen.

"Yes, grandpa"

"Dinner is ready" he smiled.

I came to the table he set and sat down. The pasta he made tasted amazing.

He was unusually quiet, however, as he was always talking while eating.

He always said good food should be accompanied by light and friendly conversation. That's what made a meal.

I was uncomfortable. Was it something I said or did?

"Are you ok, Dad"

He looked up from his plate.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired. We should go to bed. Tomorrow is a big day, for both of us"

I pondered on his words. He did look a bit tired but also worried.

He was right however, tomorrow was going to be a big day and I couldn't wait to see what he had planned.

After washing up from dinner, we locked up the house and each headed to our beds. Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep.

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A/N

What's going to happen tomorrow? Let me know what you think. Hope you all are having a great day :)

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