Middle of the Week Motivation

Crystal Ball

A scampering sound could be heard from the attic, and Mark stared at the ceiling with disapproval. "Stupid rats," he muttered.

He tried to ignore it and carry on with his day, but it eventually just got too annoying for Mark. Wielding a broom, he climbed the ladder, fully prepared to chase and possibly beat some rats. As he ascended into the cold, musty attic, he reached up and pulled on the drawstring, turning on the single bulb. The yellow light barely illuminated the attic, and it casted strange looking shadows as it swung back and forth. Mark glared at the darkness, wanting to get out as quick as possible. Mark began to search for the rats, but was soon distracted by an old looking chest. He leaned the broom against one of the many cardboard boxes and opened the chest, revealing several glowings orbs, each in its own square slot of space. Each had a sloppily written label across the top, all of which showed names. "Felix, Ken, Bob, Wade," Mark read aloud, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Mark carefully picked up a green sphere. It had no label, but it irradiated with a bright lime green glow. A brown rat ran by Mark's foot and he jumped, accidentally dropping the sphere in the process. The glass orb shattered, and a thick green cloud of smoke wafted into the air. Mark grabbed his broom and held it in front of him, defending himself against the "terrifying" cloud.

The smoke suddenly dispersed, leaving a man standing in Mark's attic, a hand waving in front of his face as he coughed. He finally stopped coughing and fixed his green hair, moving his gray flat cap to adjust it. The green-haired man looked around the attic before turning to Mark and giving him a cheesy grin as he held out his hand. "I'm Jack, it's nice to meet you..."

Mark took Jack's hand and firmly shook it, answering simply with "Mark."

Jack smiles somehow widened. "Great, it's nice to meet you Mark. Thanks for letting me out, it's easy to lose track of time when you're stuck in a crystal ball."

Mark nodded slowly, giving Jack a wary look. Jack noticed this and laughed. "Yeah, I've got a lot of explaining to do."

Mark nodded again, still silent. Jack clapped his hands together. "So... what's that?" He stopped and looked at the ground just as another rat ran past. Jack screamed and jumped on top of a tower of boxes, his knuckles white as he clutched the edges of the box he squatted on.

Mark chuckled. "How about we go downstairs? That way we don't have to worry about the rats."

Jack nodded and waited for Mark to start descending down the ladder before launching himself through the air and bounding to the ladder, quickly shimmying down after Mark. Mark chuckled at Jack's panicked actions and led him to the couch. "So," Mark started, "what are you?"

Jack gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"Are you like," Mark paused, moving his hands as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Are you like a genie or something?"

Jack's eyes widened before he laughed. "No, I'm human, no wishes or anything like that."

Mark became embarrassed, just now realizing how dumb the question sounded. "Oh, um. How did you get stuck in glass ball then?"

Jack sat back, tapping his chin in thought. "I think I was like, ten? But my brother and I were in the basement and we found one of those things. But at the time it had a note with it that said 'Warning: a price will be paid.' We didn't think much of it, so of course, being the idiots that we were, we decided to play with it. I think I was using it for a pretend crystal ball and I was trying to 'see' the future... but something happened and I was like, pulled in or something."

"And then I dropped it, and now you're here."

Jack nodded. "Yep, but I don't know how long I was in there."

"What year were you born?"

"1990," Jack answered and Mark easily did the math in his head.

"So you've been in there for sixteen years, and you are currently twenty-six."

Jack's eyes widened and he ran his hands through his hair. "Sixteen years?! I'm twenty-six?!"

Mark held up his hands, and scooted away from Jack. "Calm down, it's okay."

"Wait, where am I? Like, what country?"

"America."

This seemed to send Jack over edge. "I'm not even in Ireland anymore?!"

He then slid off the couch and rested his arms on the coffee table, his head hidden in his arms. Mark knelt next to him, hesitantly placing his hand on Jack's back before rubbing circles into it. "Hey, it's okay. You can stay with me if you want."

Jack lifted his head, looking at Mark with red eyes. "Really?" he asked, his voice cracking ever so slightly.

Mark smiled softly at him and nodded. Jack grinned and threw his arms around Mark's torso, burying his face in Mark's chest. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Mark was shocked by Jack's sudden actions but soon gave in and hugged him back. "Yeah, no problem."

Jack continued to hug Mark, almost like a child. Mark couldn't help it, but he thought Jack was pretty cute, even if he was a ten-year-old in a twenty-six-year-old's body. "Hey, um... you wanna order some pizza?"

Jack sat back and grinned. "Of course! Thank you!"

Mark laughed and pulled his phone out of his pocket, ordering a pizza for him and Jack. Jack let Mark stand up as he made the call, watching curiously as Mark talked with someone on the phone. "Okay," Mark sat next to Jack on the floor again. "The pizza is on it's way right now."

Jack grinned and grabbed Mark's face, placing a gentle kiss on the tip of his nose. "Thank you!"

Mark blushed furiously as Jack giggled. "Um, yeah, I'm gonna get my wallet quickly, so yeah, hold on."

Mark stood up and nearly bolted to his room, somehow keeping a steady pace. As he grabbed his wallet, Mark's thoughts returned to the kiss Jack had given him. Sure it wasn't a full on lip kiss, but it still made Mark's heart rate accelerate.

~

The two men were watching a movie as they ate their pizza, and Jack had somehow snuggled in next to Mark halfway through it. Mark was too tired to care and continued to chew on his pizza, his eyes halfway open. Jack noticed and pulled away, only to move so he was straddling Mark. Mark looked up at Jack with a confused expression. Jack then leaned down and kissed Mark's nose again before touching his nose to Mark's. Mark grinned and placed his hand on the back of Jack's head, then pulling him into a kiss. Jack seemed surprised at first but soon melted into the kiss, placing his hands on Mark's chest.

Jack pulled away, his eyes still closed as he savored the feeling of Mark's lips against his. Mark grinned, brushing some of Jack's green hair out of his face. "How was the ten-year-old's first kiss?"

Jack finally opened his eyes, looking down at Mark and grinning. "That was amazing."

Mark smiled and pulled Jack into another kiss, this one deeper and longer than before. As they pulled away Jack giggled like a maniac, a feeling of pure ecstasy flowing through him. Mark laughed at his quirky behavior and kissed the tip of Jack's nose. Jack grinned, laying down so he was pressed against Mark's body. Mark smiled and wrapped his arms around Jack's small frame, eventually closing his eyes. "I don't care if you came from some crystal ball, I still love you."

Jack smiled, curling up slightly. "I love you too."