The curse from long ago(Fruk)

18

2019

"Dad where are my soccer shoes?"
"By the door where you left them"
"Dad! I have a project due can we go to the store and get supplies."
"Yes, we can go in a bit."
"Alfred, don't forget to wear your mask if you plan on playing with the other kids in the neighborhood; you don't want to get sick," I ordered. "I know, I know... covid sucks," he said annoyed. "Dad, but you don't wear a mask," Matthew spoke.

He was coloring on some paper and I lifted an eyebrow at him. "Because you know dad doesn't get sick," I spoke. "Oh yeah," he giggled. They were so adorable, and I wanted to hug them all the time.

I began to place plates on the table, and Alfred quickly sat down. Matthew moved his things to the side, and I began to serve them food. They knew about their real moms but still chose to call me dad.

We kept pictures of Alice and Francine up in a sort of memorial. We had a room for them and my family in there. There were no pictures, but I put all of their names up with candles as well as the items they treasured. 

They would go there pretty often because I put up many of their mother's things. They would go in and look at their handwriting, pictures, and even recordings of them that were on VHS. However, I've been needing to get those converted into a disc or a file.

They lived very well, our house was big, and they even had their own rooms. I continued to practice medicine and got a job at one of the nearby hospitals.  As always, money was never an issue regarding this stuff.

Our house had six rooms, which was a lot but it wasn't as big as people would think. Half of the rooms were smaller. There was my room, Alfred's, Matthew's, the memorial room where we visit our loved ones, a library that had all of my things in, and then a guest room.  We hardly ever had guests, but I still had it just in case.

As they slowly grew older, I told them little things about me. Like how I never get sick, and they believed very quickly. I keep my library locked just in case... I figured they weren't ready to know yet, but maybe in another few years, they might.

That room hand items date back centuries. Pictures of me far back as the late eighteen hundreds, as well as paintings of me from as far back as the fifteenth century. My old IDs and vintage clothing. Pictures of Francis and I, and even some of his things like his World War One uniform and some of his older clothes from the fourteenth century. I had cassette tapes, pictures of Woodstock, and lots more. Information like that is too dangerous... they aren't ready.

"Dad look at this funny TikTok!!" Alfred laughed. He showed me a video on his phone and I lifted a brow, confused. It was this weird video, and I laughed at how weird it was. The world has changed so much.

"Okay put the phone down so we can eat," I smiled. He nodded at me, and the two of them began to eat happily. I loved them so much, that I'd do anything for them, yet this love isn't enough to break the curse.

~
Once we finished eating, I grabbed their plates and Alfred immediately ran off. "Be careful!!! Call me! I'll be back in a bit!!" I called out to Alfred. Matthew stood up and began to help clean the table off for me.

"Okay, what store did you need to go to?" I asked. "A craft store for sure!!" He spoke. I nodded at him, and we both began to get ready to leave. Since quarantine, they've been doing the rest of the semester online, luckily it's almost summer, so they won't have to worry about school for long.

~
When we arrived at the store, Matthew showed me the list, and we both began to look around for the things that he needed. "What are you making?" I asked, confused. "Umm, it's supposed to be a model of the solar system," he explained. I nodded at him, and I looked at the top shelf that had a whole bunch of styrofoam balls that he needs.

"Need it that bad, huh?" I laughed, looking at where it was. He nodded at me, determined, and gave me a thumbs up. "I got this!" I laughed. I began to reach up to the shelf when suddenly someone came and grabbed it for me. "Oh wow, thank you!" I cheered.

I turned my face to grab the item from the person, but once our eyes met, I froze in place. His eyes widened too, and he stepped away from me, shocked. "Hey! That's mine," Matthew spoke sweetly. Francis looked down at him and continued to stare. I pulled Matthew away from him, and he looked at me, confused.

"Come on, let's go somewhere else," I told him. However, he kept staring at Francis, confused. "Dad, who was that?" Matthew asked.

"Dad?!" Francis suddenly spoke. I turned around to look at him and gave him a straight face. His face was shocked, and he looked like he couldn't move. I'm sure he was baffled about this whole thing. "Let's go, Matthew," I said nervously.

I pulled him closely and back to urge him to move faster. "Wait, what about the balls?" Matthew asked. "We can go somewhere else for them," I explained. Matthew looked at me confused but seemed to not ask about it. I was sure he would tell Alfred about this whole thing.

I can't believe that was him... Out of all the places in the world. He looked the same as I remembered. His hair was shiny and pulled back into a ponytail. I hope he is better than the last time.