John Braddock's journey continued. The wagon pulled by the donkey was laden with nectar.
John has been an impostor since the beginning of time. Because his father was a swindler. His father, Mickey Braddock (a little Jackrabbit-like man), was a liar, but he wasn't inherently evil. At least he was very kind to his son. When John caught a fever on a stormy night, he went to see a doctor and ended up in bed with a fever himself for a week.
John's father mainly sold bibles and soaps. Healthy drinks were also on sale, and the nectar was actually his father's recipe. It was made by mixing dubious chemicals and ingredients into a base of cheap wine. Looking at the manufacturing process, John always had the illusion that witches were boiling cauldrons with newts, spiders and mandrakes.Once when John tried to drink it to see what it tasted like, his father stopped him. "Don't drink, John." "Why not?" "Because nobody knows what will happen when you drink it." Of course his father didn't drink either. However, he sold it to others without hesitation. He was worried about his son's life, but he didn't care about the safety of his customers. By the way, this drink was sold under the name "Honey Cola" until recently. After the appearance of the monsters of Greek mythology, John changed the name of the product to "nectar." He used anything for money. John Braddock was a business man.
The year before last, his father told John something surprising when he died.
"Before I die, I want to tell you something. I have been silent until now, but you are not my child."
"Don't make fun of me, Dad, you don't have to trick me at a time like this."
"No. It's true. I've never lied to you before, have I?"
As a matter of fact, John was already aware of it. Because the father and son didn't look much alike. The father was blonde, but the son had black hair. His father said you looked like his mother, and the photo of the woman he kept in his locket was a beautiful, wavy blonde.
John was an abandoned child, his father told him, left behind on a steamer sailing the Missouri River. The captain of the steamship took pity on him and raised him. The captain hoped that the parents who abandoned him would someday come back with regrets. The captain suffered from lung disease for many years. The captain asked his best friend, his father, to take care of the child when he died. Certainly John's distant memories were of flowing rivers.John thought it was a memory of his trip with his father, but it turned out to be a memory of his time on the steamship with the captain who picked him up.
After his father's burial, John inherited his father's legacy, including the bibles, soaps, and honey cola, and resumed his journey alone.
He wondered who his biological parents were and where they were, but his attempts to find them were futile and he dared not think about them.
John Braddock came to his senses as he heard a loud rustling overhead. He looked up and saw a winged creature overhead. it wasn't a bird. It had the body of a lion.
"It's going to eat me!"
Jon turned the wagon around and tried to escape, but the creature circled in the air and landed softly in front of him. The monster's movements were graceful and reminiscent of royalty. Above the neck of the lion's body was a ladylike face, with an archaic smile like Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. It was the Sphinx!
"Help!" John begged the monster. "I'll do anything, so please don't kill me!"
The Sphinx gave him riddles, singing in a warm, gentle voice that resembled the sound of a viola. "Who are you?"
"I'm Braddock. John Braddock."
John answered honestly. But the Sphinx kept asking the same question.
"Who are you?"
"I'm John Braddock!"
John repeated the same answer, wondering if the Sphinx had misunderstood. But the Sphinx said,
"That's not your real name. Now who are you?"
The Sphinx knew he was an abandoned child. Surprised, John said, "I don't even know who I am. If you know, could you tell me?"
The Sphinx looked at Jon pitifully. "Find out who you are."
The sphinx spread its large wings and flapped them slowly. A creature that had the majesty of both a lady and a king of beasts flew away.
John let out a sigh of relief. And then I hurried on his journey again. He thought of a way to find out who he was, but he had no clue.
YOU ARE READING
The Argo Goes West
Science FictionIn 1900, creatures from Greek myth began to invade America, where the frontier line had disappeared. Theodore Roosevelt builds the Argo, a battle train and heads to the west where monsters await!
