Beginning Anew

Laying them to rest

There were two things Barbara noticed when she woke the next morning: one, the sun was up which meant trolls couldn't roam about outside – including Jim and Walter; two, Walter wasn't in the house, which meant he wouldn't come back until after sunset, if then.

Barbara groaned as she rubbed her eyes and hauled herself out of bed.

It wasn't unusual for her to wake up to a quiet house. When she had late nights, she slept longer than Jim and he would already be off to school by the time she got out of bed; however, he would always leave breakfast behind for her.

This, of course, was not the case today. There was no cold omelet in the fridge with her name atop it scribbled on a little slip of paper.

Loneliness rolled over her as she wandered down to the kitchen and stared into the refrigerator. Of course, Jim was her son, not her husband, and sons were supposed to leave sooner or later. But he left so suddenly... Everything recently seemed to happen without warning and it was a lot to deal with all at once.

Barbara grabbed the milk, shut the fridge door and pulled a bowl and cereal box out of the cupboard. She wondered if Jim would still be up, or if he was already asleep for the day. She pulled out her phone and brought up the dial pad, hitting the first number on her speed-dial list. She lifted the cell to her ear. A few seconds later she heard the unmistakable click of someone picking up the phone and a familiar voice made her heart catch in her throat.

"Hey, Mom. What's up?" Jim said.

Barbara smiled. His voice wasn't entirely as she remembered it. Instead of the innocent voice of her little boy, this voice was a bit deeper and gruffer but still absolutely him.

"Hey, Jim," she replied. "I'm sorry; I just wanted to hear your voice."

"Heh. That's alright. I should have called sooner," Jim replied. "I just... well, I didn't know if you were at work or sleeping or... you know."

"I know," Barbara assured. "Thank you for all the messages, they really help."

"Your messages... they help me too," Jim admitted, then he asked, "Mom... are you doing okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Barbara replied. "I've mostly just been sleeping and working." She picked up the cereal box and poured some into the bowl.

"Have you remembered to eat probably?" Jim chided. "You can't just live on cereal!"

At that Barbara burst out laughing. "I feel like this should be the other way around. I should be asking you if you've eaten well enough," she pointed out.

"Of course I have, Mom," Jim said. "Both Blinky and Claire are making sure I take care of myself. I can't count the number of times they've asked me when I last ate or slept. They're looking after me fine. Don't worry. You though, you're um..."

"Well, Walt offered to cook for me," Barbara said.

"Strickler is there with you?" Jim asked. "I mean – well..."

"Not right now," Barbara said. "He's – Actually, I'm not sure where he is. He told me about all the stuff he needs to do. It sounds like a lot." The shutters separating the kitchen from the dining room were open and her eyes landed on the cradle stone, still sitting on the table. "He'll be back though, he left some things here."

"What?!" Jim asked, sounding alarmed. "What kinds of things? Nothing dangerous, right?"

"Jim, you hid trolls in my basement and left a century-old wizard in my living room. I don't think you get to judge him too much here," Barbara scolded lightly.