A Twist of Fate

Chapter Seven

It was well into the late evening when Michael finally left the house, Deloris seeing him to the front door. None of the other house members dared to approach him once they noticed who was with him, quite a few looked perplexed at him. Michael barley noticed any of them, his mind reeling from what he was told. Delores was right in telling him that what he had learned in school and the knowledge that was suspected amounted to jack squat. Multiple habitable worlds existed in the cosmos, and they had a means to travel the distances to them. To top it all off, magic existed. He had always had a firm disbelief of magic, clamming it to be nothing but sleight of hand and cheap parlor tricks for the gullible masses.

The cool night air was just what he needed to process all the things he learned, the open night sky filled with stars giving him a perspective of how insignificant things really were as he wondered towards his home. When he finally made it home, it was just after two in the morning. After taking off his clothes, he collapsed into bed. His mind still buzzing with all the thing he had been told, he tossed and turned like a child waiting for Santa to arrive.

When the first lights of dawn appeared in the night sky, Michael pulled himself out of bed determined to make the best of what had learned. He pulled on some sweats and made his way into the backyard, there he went through a old rotten of warm-ups and exercises Master Xin had taught him years ago. Going through the exercises, his mind calmed down as he flowed through the lessons one by one.

***

"When you're ready," his mom called out to him, "I've got some breakfast ready for you inside."
Michael turned his head to look at her standing at the back door, the sun already above the trees. "Thanks, but I'll clean up a bit before I eat." He replied, bewildered by how much time must have passed.

"Good idea, you've been out here for quite a few hours. We can talk when you come down to eat." she stated as she went back into the house.

He took a long deep breath, then slowly exhaled. He noticed a sheen of sweat coating his hands and arms, however it was how the lessons he had been following that brought an awareness of calmness to him.

After his shower, a plate of pancakes, sausage, eggs and hash browns awaited him at the table. His mom sat reading the paper across from where he was to sit.

As soon as he took his seat, his mother started talking. "I'm sorry if what I told you the other day was rather sudden, but you should understand that I only have your best interest in mind. Ever sense your father left us, I've done what I can to provide for us. For you. I've managed to put a good amount away for you to pay for some collage. If you apply for grants or even some scholarships, you would be able to go just about anywhere you want. I'm sure there are plenty of schools that will have courses that would provide you with a good foundation in whatever field you care to study."

Michael slowly dug into his food, trying to figure out how to tell her that what he wanted to learn wouldn't be available anywhere she thought of. With what he was told the night before, he was cretin that every school in this world would only hamper him learning anything.

"You said you wanted a bit of time to think about what you are going to do," she continued. "I'm not going to pressure you into giving an answer right away. You said you would have an answer for me after the fair leaves this year. It's going to be arriving today,and according to the news its quite the show. Lots of hype has been following it, only staying in places and open for a couple of days. Those two days they were open brought a great deal of excitement, something about a magic show."

Michael was slowly eating the food that was on his plate, letting his mom talk about what she wanted to. Understanding that he couldn't tell her the things he learned last night, the likelihood that she would even believe him was rather slim. "My friend went to the show a few weeks ago, he said much the same thing." he stated before putting more food into his mouth.
His mother looked at him from over the paper, "I've heard that a gypsy caravan is traveling with the fair. Not a lot of good comes from those kind of people, not the best of company to travel with."

Michael just arched an eyebrow as he continued to eat.

"Regardless, they seem to be behaving themselves. It may be worth going to a look at what is going on there. If I had the time I'd take you to see it, we haven't had a family day in years. Not since your farther left, wherever he went." His mother intoned, some emotion hinting in her voice of the longing and love for him peaking out.

"I'm sure he would have returned to us if he could, mom. I don't suppose there would be much of anything that would keep him away from his family." Michael said into the silence.

His mom folded the paper onto the table, "I suppose your right, but we may never know." She rose from the table. "I'll be in my office working," she stated as she left the small kitchen.
Michael sat back in his chair, looking at the food that was remaining. The loss of his father hit his mom a lot harder than himself. The question of how his life would have turned out if both of his parents were here flooded his mind, the thought of being a happy family.

With a heavy sigh, Michael finished the food on his plate. Once finished he cleaned it an placed the dishes in the dish washer. Turning to leave the kitchen, he noticed the headline on the paper. "The fair is coming" with a photo of a caravan of wagons traveling down the road. A quick read of the article said that it was due to be coming through town early this afternoon, in the manner of a parade ending at the fairgrounds.

With a quick look at the clock on the oven, Michael decided to get dressed and get going for the day. Cathy said she wanted to talk with him and do some shopping this afternoon, before that he wanted to have a talk with Master Xin. With a glance at the office, Michael started his day. Thinking over what his mother said to him, he went to his room to ready for his day.