New Generation

Photograph

((Alice's POV))

        I have to say, I like this guy. He seems to be in pretty much the same position I am in, but still finds time for humor. It's good he has something to hold onto, a final promise from his dad. 

        "So... you have any idea what's in there?" Max asks. I shake my head and open the envelope. It's old, with crisp edges. Not looked at often, is my guess. 

        "Nope. Let's do this." I reach in and pull out... pictures. A stack of 'em. I smile at the one on top, the person in it looks like me, so I can guess who that is. 

        "Heh, that's dad. Gotta be. Where is he though..?" Max takes the picture and turns it over. 

        "Sky at Sky Hub site. What's that mean?" I shrug, and he sets the picture down. I look at the other one, and see a large group of people- mostly boys- acting up in a group picture. I see dad, two guys that I think are Mitch and Jerome, a boy hovering above everyone else with a jet pack, two shorter boys in the front, a tall boy with blonde hair in the back, and so many others. Max laughs and takes the picture, pointing to the tall blonde. 

        "I think that's dad! Hey, and there's... both my parents are in here!" I notice he doesn't point out his other parent. Maybe he has trouble at home? I'll ask him about it later. 

        Looking through the pictures, it's hard to see what everyone is so freaked out about now. I see perfectly timed snapshots of pranks between friends, everyone working together, and even a few couples forming. Dad is in a lot of these, but half the time it's a photo bomb. Then, we set down a picture of Mitch and Jerome eating apples in a tree and I see a picture that surprises me. Max, too, but I'm not sure why. 

        It's a picture of dad and a boy I hadn't seen in many pictures. Thinking back on it, he was in the group picture, he was one of the two short boys in front. His hair is in his face, so I can only see one of his blood red eyes. He has on a white shirt, but that's all I can see. A familiar headset hangs around his neck. 

        "I... I know him. I saw him!" Max mutters. I frown. 

        "Yeah, so? We've seen a lot of these people, or heard of them." He shakes his head. 

        "No, I mean I saw him. He hasn't aged or something! Weird..." I nod, but that's not what I find weird. The boy and my dad are smiling at the camera, hugging. I turn it over, but there's only one thing written on the back. 

        "What the Neather is Skylox?" I ask. Max shrugs, confused. I hesitate to put the picture down with the others. It's weird for me. 

        The next picture you can't really see. Most of it it covered by someone's hand. Not one for photos? I can make out someone behind it, though. He's the other short boy in the group picture. Brown hair, not dissimilar to Max's, actually, and brown eyes. He's wearing some sort of silver crown. 

        "The back says Seto hates the camera with a heart. So now we have names for some of these guys." I pick up the group picture and we start naming people we've seen in other pictures. 

        "Dad, Mitch, Jerome, and Brice..." 

        "Seto, Jason, Bodil, Simon-" 

        "Tyler, Logdotzip, Ethan, Ryan..." I point to a few other people. 

        "And we still don't know who they are. Wish this picture had been written on." Max nods, and I notice he's looking at the blurry picture of Seto. 

        "Hey, you alright?" I ask. He looks up, almost like he had forgotten I was there. 

        "Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. What's the next picture?" I pick it up, and someone knocks on the door. 

        "Uh, come in, I guess!" I yell. Mitch and Jerome walk in with some food. I guess it's been a while, I didn't realize I was hungry. 

        "What are you guys doing? Oh! Where'd ya get these?" Jerome picks up a picture of him and Mitch, Jerome is sitting in a lake, looking unamused while Mitch is in the middle of a laughing fit. I take the tray and set it next to me, ripping apart a piece of bread. 

        "Stole it from dad. It's hard to see the stress of the war in these pictures..." Jerome nods, and shows the picture to Mitch, who snickers. 

        "Remember this, biggums?" 

        "I do. I swear to this day I did not push you in!" Jerome sighs and sets the picture down. Mitch stops smiling and takes the picture we were about to look at. It's of the boy in the picture with dad, standing in front of a building. He looks triumphant, like he built the whole thing. 

        "Oh Ty..." Mitch sighs sadly. Max nods. 

        "Who is that? I saw them, but they looked the same ages as they are in these pictures! Are they, like, immortal or something?" Jerome chokes and Mitch drops the picture. 

        "You- you saw him? You saw him?!" Mitch manages. Max looks like he's just been caught robbing a bank, and has no idea how he got there. 

        "Uh, yeah. He was walking on the other side of the stream, then pointed in the general direction of this place when I asked for help. What, is he a bad person or something?" Mitch shakes his head, but looks to in shock to say anything. 

        "Ty was a friend of ours. He actually dated Alice's dad for a while-" 

        "What?!" 

        "But you couldn't have seen him. It's not possible." Jerome finishes. I have every right to that little outburst. I was surprised, alright? Can't say I'm not interested, though. 

        "Was. He was your friend. you don't mean that... No way." Max says quietly. Jerome puts the picture face down with the others. 

        "He was killed, like many others, in the war. He saved a lot of people. Always saving Sky, he's be dead ten times over if it wern't for Ty. I wish you had seen him, but it's just not possible." Jerome shrugs, and the two leave the room. Max and I are left in a cold silence.