Testament of Time: Chapter Three
Chapter Three: Growing Up
As a five year old, Jason was as most children his age, curious and filled with mischief. Even with his mother constantly hovering over him, he found time to escape and cause trouble.
She had found him playing swordsman with one of the hunting knifes that Marshall owned. Lilian grabbed the knife from him and scolded him. The most horrifying part for her was when she found the left arm of his shirt all torn and bloody.
“How did this happen?” She squealed in her most concerned motherly voice.
Jason looked up at her proudly and explained the situation, “the bad guy got me, but don’t worry mom, I defeated him.”
The blood rushed to Lilian’s head so fast, she almost passed out. Surely, Jason recognized that his mother’s eyes were ready to pop out of her head.
“Are you okay mom?” Jason grabbed Lilian’s hand and looked up at her with a concerned face.
“You don’t get to ask me that,” she said examining his undamaged arm. Looking at the knife and shaking her head she clenched Jason’s hand and almost dragged him inside.
Once inside she instructed Jason to stay in his bed until his father got him. Jason’s healing ability had become more and more common place. They never had another experience where he died and came back or was injured as much as when he was a baby, but it still shocked them each and every time that he healed back to his original unharmed form.
Jason never got sick, and never got injured for long. It lead to a little bit of extra attention for the townsfolk, but Marshall played it off as an attribute of his people, saying they were tough folk, and not prone to disease. It was getting harder to cover up though, and both Lilian and Marshall knew that no one would understand. The local people were too involved with the idea of good and evil spirits. They could see Jason’s blessing as a curse.
Arriving home from another day of work, Marshall hugged his wife, and sat down at the dinner table. “Where is Jason?” He asked quickly looking around. “I did not see him playing outside on my way in.”
Lilian looked at him and pointed to the bedroom. “He was playing with your hunting blade today. I found him over the hill, his shirt all torn and covered in blood. He said that the bad guy got him.”
Marshall felt a sense of dread for a second, but the lack of any emotion other than anger in Lilian’s voice led him to feel safe in that Jason was alright. “I will speak with him.” Marshall sighed, and put down his fork.
Entering the room, Jason was sitting on his bed looking out the small hole they had for a window. “What are you doing, son?”
Jason turned around quickly and sat up straight, “nothing father.”
Changing his voice into a lower, more commanding tone, Marshall looked right into Jason’s eyes. “You can’t play with knives, or other dangerous things. You could have been hurt, or hurt someone else.”
“But I am fine dad.” Jason said in the whining voice that most children use when talking to their parents.
“That’s not the point! You scared your mother, and you know you are not to touch my things.” Marshall thought about how lucky Jason was. Not only would he be badly injured if he were a normal boy, but Marshall’s father would have taken him over his knee and beat him until his rear was more ripe looking than the best of tomatoes.
Knowing though that your child does not feel pain as a normal person does, makes the act of causing pain as a punishment pretty useless.
“Now, you apologize to your mother, and then grab a bite to eat. If I hear about you doing anything dangerous like that again, you will not be able to leave the house for a month.”
Marshall slammed the window closed to emphasize the words, hoping they would sink in. He did not know the extent of Jason’s gift, but he knew that having Lilian being the protective mother hen, meant that he had to be the one to be a little more lenient when it came to his son’s discipline.
Jason sulked on his bed for a moment, trying to take in what his father had said. As most children do though, after a few minutes, he could not even be concerned with what his father had said, and returned to his childlike innocence.
Walking out to see his mother, Jason looked up, much like a small child would, he gave his best apologetic look before opening his mouth, “I’m sorry mommy.”
As always, Lilian’s heart melted. She couldn’t stay mad at her only child. She looked outside at Marshall, and smiled. “Go play,” she said to Jason, returning to her work at organizing the household.
Jason took his leave, and went back outside. Marshall looked at his son, who didn’t seem to have a care or concern in the world. Running over a hill, Marshall lost sight of his son. He was not too worried, but wished he would listen a little better. Children were more work than he had ever assumed, but well worth it. He had hoped though that this time, he would not get into trouble, but the last five years was filled with nothing but trouble thanks to Jason. Running around, cleaning up his messes, and making sure no one points any figures his special ability. There had been some close calls with Jason being discovered, but most of the time, people were oblivious to the fact that he was different.
