Discordiae - Jackson's Story

Chapter 3

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Collingswood Manor  - May 6th

"Eugh... What was tha--?! Magnus!" Jackson cried out. The woolly mammoth which posed as their dog leaped onto him and started licking his face. Why is this his morning ritual? Jackson thought as he tried to breathe through the inundation of dog breath and drool.  Wait... Is it time for school already? Why isn't my alarm going off? Jackson tried to move the dog off of himself, but found he wasn't able to. It wasn't just that the elephantine canine on top of him, his body didn't want to respond and trying to move it made him feel sickly.
He tried to call out for his mother, but his voice came out somewhat raspy and weak. "Mom?" he coughed. "Mom?" he coughed again more insistently. Finally, he was able to squeak out a slightly louder, "Mom? Dog..." Where is she?! Why can't I move my arms?!

No sooner did his anxiety begin to flare than it was eased by his mother slowly entering his room.

"You're up, I see. Finally..." She slowly shook her head at him whilst removing her earrings.

Jackson tried to ask her what she meant by "finally", but he mostly sputtered. He did however manage a "huh?"

"Come on, Magnus, he'll be alright..." She said as she came over and placed a hand on his forehead, brushing the dog off of him. "Well, you're staying in bed, tonight. You've missed most of the day, already, anyway. You're still very warm too, although that could be the dog, I suppose... Coming down with something?"

Jackson attempted a shrug, which was much easier with the dog off his chest. "Maybe... Strange dreams." he said very slowly. He tried continuing, but his version of "How long was I asleep?" came out as "How long... sleep?".

"Well, it's almost 5 P.M. and we couldn't get you out of bed this morning. So, I'm going to say long enough..." She said tussling his hair lightly with her fingers. "When did you go to bed? Stay up late talking to Sandra again?"

"Right after school, actually. Long day." he managed to cough out.

His mother scrunched up her face. "No intramurals, after all. I see... Ok, well, I'm going to chalk this up to growing pains, but if you're still like this in the morning, you're seeing Dr. Rizniak."

"...but Mom." Jackson pleaded.

 He didn't want to see the old Doctor who could be easily branded as an eccentric. The seemingly elderly doctor, saw everyone in town with extreme enthusiasm. He was nice, but Jackson often thought  him a bit too touchy; Not inappropriately. Just strangely. On numerous occasions, he had checked each one of Jackson's fingers with a measuring tape and slide ruler, prodded his skin with instruments that looked like they belonged in science fiction movies, asked him strange questions about his nose... and now that he was thinking about it, at least one time about his dreams. Either way, Jackson was thankful that he was usually pretty healthy.

"No butts. Can't have you getting sick... You might get everyone else sick and then you'd be late for school... and sick." she smiled. "Your father doesn't want either of us to be sick either. He made you some soup and is downstairs reading... If you feel well enough to get out of bed, at some point, you should go thank him." She suggested as she began to stand. "Soup's on your dresser." 

He groaned as he tried to sit up and didn't make it the whole way. Now, if I could just sit up, properly... he thought. "Maybe in a little bit." Jackson said his voice stronger, but still a bit raspy. "Still feeling slightly dizzy."