Forgotten pages

The Stories Left Untold

"Keep him out of trouble please,he can be a tad strange when he's been drinking."He promised her he'd keep it brief.

"The music from the foyer leaked out onto the balcony as a muffled melody that complemented the mild summer air.The thick scent of cigar smoke permeated the atmosphere.The light of day had long since faded and Speedwagon's silhouette was hunched over the railing,mulling over the glowing tip of his cigar.George closed the door behind him with a click.Robert turned to see who,it was.

"Jonathan?"The older man voiced,George shrugged it off as a slip of the tongue and stepped closer.

"It's been so long since I've seen you.When did you sail off on that american expedition Again?"A pit settled in his stomach at that question.Yet his defiant tongue wouldn't allow words."Seventeen years or so?"He shook his head."Either way,"He rushed forward to embrace him."It's good to see ya."

Heavy dread washed over him,every muscle told him to back away yet he remained stock still.

"It's so strange,you look the same as you did back when we first met.Must be Zeppelli's ripple energy."

"Robert I-"He was cut off with Speedwagon's tears on his shirt.

"It's been so long since he left this world,I was afraid you had too."The blond's teary eyes widened."Oh lord your son! He's never even met you."He jaw clenched in a mixture of deep alien fear, sadness,and disgust of how wrong it felt.His father really should be here,this party should have been thrown long ago.But life was not what it could be was it?The way he shook as tears spilled down his cheeks unnerved him.

"I always knew you'd come back to us though."That bit was spoken a little more sweetly,like a hopeful note at the end of a tragedy.The lump in his throat hurt too much for him to speak as his eyes stung.Robert shouldn't have to feel like that,his mother shouldn't have to feel like that either,like they're waiting for him to come home,holding their breaths until death brings them back to him.The paralysis that betrayed his limbs finally released it's hold.

He gently moved the older man away"Speedwagon.You...you need to go to bed."The look in his brown eyes told him that the man had rapidly sobered up.He didn't wait for another word to leave.

Chapter sixteen - The Stories Left Untold

George didn't even bother opening his eyes when the sunlight came streaming through the window.The ray would blind him the moment the flicked open his eyelids.Most of the night prior was a blur intermixed with spinning ocher lights and jovial dancing.There was one dark splotch on the brilliantly bright night.Like a dark streak on an otherwise bright painting it marked it with mystery.A hint of heavy cigar smoke still stung in his nose.What was it?He racked his mind for answers through a crashing headache that flooded his mind.Any clear thought was difficult to between the head-splitting waves of pain.What little detail came back in fragments,shards of the time that barely made sense and the clues left behind.The choking air that was both cool and suffocating.Hot tears that had become a drying patch on his shoulder.And the sweetly sorrowful voice of someone grasping out for hope.There was a knock on the door as the pieces attempted to pull themselves together.

"Come in."It was a groan that only vaguely sounded like his voice.

He sat up immediately sat up before the sickening sloshing of stomach acid made him regret it.

Robert peeked into the room,hands clutching at a glass of water.He waited quietly for a moment before carefully stepping in,his footfalls were careful.He offered up the glass.

"You alright?Erina told me you were pretty dunk last night."The older man scratched the back of his head."Though I'm one to talk I guess..."George reached out to take the glass,he hadn't realized how much he missed water until it hit his lips and nearly downed it all in a single gulp."Do you remember anything I said last night?"His tone got progressively meeker,his face long and solemn.