Regular Life episode 15: Rekindle

Jon has always been a hard parent to his son, Jeremy. Not only that, he's being hard on Jeremy's friends! After he has an argument with him, Jon doesn't want anything to do with his son anymore. But Jeremy wants to reconnect with his father.


Chapter 1: Doubts in the night

"Ioni, will you stop that stirring?!" Grayson asked Ioni, who was stirring in her sleep. It was midnight and the animals were sleeping in a bedroom that they were sharing at Jeremy's parents' place. Reggie, Shelby, Paladin, Tabby, and Kaiko were also sharing the room with them and they had plenty of beds to share in there.

"Oh sorry, Grayson," Ioni said to the opossum. "You know how Jeremy's dad scares me?" Grayson nodded. "You too?" she asked, trembling. "I'm afraid of Jon. He's so mean to us. Did he make you do something?" "He almost made me eat steak for dinner," sniffed Ioni.

"That monster!" gasped Grayson. "You're a vegetarian, Ioni. Didn't you tell him?"
"I tried to," sobbed Ioni. "He said this while I was sitting with Jeremy, 'Listen here, missy, you are going to eat whatever we give you! You're a bear and they eat meat. We want you to eat meat. Stop complaining and eat!' All Jeremy could do was cower in fear. He was so afraid of his father. I didn't know what to say. I refused to eat, so he sent me to bed early."

"That's why you weren't there for dessert," said Grayson. "I wondered where you were. I almost got punished for questioning him. I don't know why he's so strict."

"That's nothing!" said Reggie, who just woke up. "He said I have to eat celery sticks for dessert!" He began chomping on a celery stick as it started to disintegrate into pieces.
"He scolded me for brushing my scales!" wailed Shelby. "Right after I took a shower! Can't a dragon get some privacy by brushing her scales without having someone ruin it for me?! I don't like him!"

"That father keeps telling me I'll never redeem myself," sobbed Kaiko. "But I keep telling him that I've changed. But he refuses to have me be part of the family. He thinks I'm still a Calloustrich. He's also doing the same thing to Sparkle and the other reformed Calloustriches. Why does he think we're still evil? I don't think it's safe for me to stay here."

"Jon keeps saying to me that I'm a bad dog," sniffed Paladin. "I'm a good dog. I'm protecting Ioni and I get scolded for being potty trained. I'm not like other dogs. I'm just trying to act like a person." (He means anthropomorphic like a lot of my characters in Regular Life)

"Does Jon realize that we're not his children?" asked Grayson. "We're Jeremy's friends! We shouldn't be treated like this!"

"I heard he has a short fuse," Ioni said to Ioni. "But to be honest, he has an unstable relationship with his son, Jeremy."

"Aw, Jeremy," sighed Grayson. "He must feel hurt to have a father like that. He has to deal with him, while he stays here. Thank goodness he has a caring mother."

"Jessica is nothing compared to Jeremy's father," said Ioni. "I want to know why Jon acts like this. Maybe Jessica will explain it better. She is the wife."

Suddenly, Ioni heard some people yelling in the hallway. Much to her dismay, it was Jon yelling at Jeremy.

"You know you can't go out there by yourself!" Jon said angrily to Jeremy. "You wanted to stay here, you stay here in this house! How dare you! Who do you think you are?!" "I'm your son!" sobbed Jeremy. "What's gotten into you, dad?!"

"You should know, Jeremy!" said Jon. "I can't get over what you did at Railroad Prison Camp!"

"You're also being mean to my friends!" Jeremy angrily said to his father. "Don't take out your anger on them. It's not their fault! This is between you and me!"

"You were always the one who complained a lot," said Jon. "When you were younger, you were so hard headed with things. When I would punish you because you did something wrong, you always went to your mom and she defended you with the 'He's only a boy' excuse! I might have forgiven you a bit since you graduated high school and The Institute of Technical Technology and you made it home safe, but I can't forgive what you did at Railroad Prison Camp! And I especially won't forgive you for fighting with another ostrich! Now here you are saying that you have to go outside and be alone on a walk because the doctor said so. I won't allow that! As for your friends, they're your headache! That stubborn child you adopted doesn't want meat because she's a vegetarian! She's a bear! She has to eat meat! As for you, don't you dare ask me about going out there by yourself for a walk again! You're not doing that!"

"But then my PTSD will get worse! Jeremy said to his father. "You're preventing me from getting a cure!"

"Sounds like a personal problem, not my problem!" Jon angrily yelled at Jeremy. "If you're not going to listen to me, go back to your room! You've got friends anyways!"

"Why?!" asked Jeremy. "Are you going to be mean to Chad and the others?! You've been mean to my friends, but you better not be rude to the others living here!"

"Why can't you be more like your brother, Jerico?" Jon asked Jeremy. "He's more responsible than you and he listens to whatever I say. He obeys me, unlike you, Jeremy."

"Why are you bringing up my brother?!" Jeremy asked, confused. "I'm setting up an example of the perfect son in the family," said Jon. What do you have that he doesn't?" Jeremy said nothing. "Just when I thought you were out there living by yourself like a grown adult!" Jon continued. "And now you're back to square one! You're back with us! Just get out of my sight! We'll talk again in the morning!"

As Jon saw Jeremy go to his room, he mumbled something to himself. "I can't believe I agreed with his mother! He shouldn't be here!"

Just as Jon went to his and Jessica's room, Ioni and Grayson stared at each other, completely speechless at what just occurred.

"I can't believe it," gasped Grayson. "Can you imagine how Jeremy feels right now, Ioni?" "He seems heartbroken," said Ioni. "You can tell from his facial expression, he was genuinely hurt by that."

"Jeremy's father has no concern," growled Grayson. "Jeremy told him about a remedy for his PTSD, but no, his father refuses to let him walk outside! He's such a jerk!" "I agree," said Ioni. "But we should probably go to sleep now."

"Forgive him," said Jessica, who just came into the room. "He's just concerned about you guys. It's just discipline."

"By yelling at us?" asked Grayson. "It may seem harsh, but he's molding you into better people so you'll be prepared for the future," said Jessica. "I'll let him know that you're vegan, Ioni, so don't worry. Everyone else, just bear with my husband."

"We'll try," said Grayson, yawning. She left the room and Ioni and Grayson drifted off to sleep.


Chapter 2: Traumatic flashbacks

"He actually said that?" Claire asked Jeremy. They were laying down on a mattress right next to Jeremy's old bed. It was occupied by Clyde and Yushin who were sleeping on it.

"You don't know Jeremy's dad," Chad said to Claire. "He's always been strict."

"He always seemed to react to minuscule things and always yelled at us," Jeremy said to Claire. "It happened when we were kids and when we were in middle school. Sometimes, he said he would do things for us but never followed through. Especially what happened in middle school."

"Not middle school!" gasped Chad. "Don't talk about that! Anything but that!"

But Jeremy had traumatic flashbacks of his father being strict with him. One of them was when he was being yelled at by his father because he was talking to a stranger, that being Chad. Luckily Dana was there to explain everything and his father punished Jerico instead of him. But even with that, he was always scared of his father.

There was a time in middle school where Jeremy's father said that he would take him and Chad out for lunch after school but instead left them there until nighttime. It was actually raining during the nighttime and the two friends were getting soaked out there.

At that moment, Jeremy thought that his father abandoned him and was in tears. Chad was there to comfort him, but even with that, it was not enough to calm the shivering ostrich down.

Eventually, Jeremy's father came to pick him and Chad up and tried to tell him that he waited for a long time at the DMV and to pay the house payment which was delayed. At first, Jeremy believed him, happy to be back with one of his parents. But as the years went on, the young ostrich started to believe that his father didn't like him and always preferred his older brother over him, even though they're both currently jobless.

"I couldn't help but hear you talking about our father," Jerico said, as he came into the room.

"Oh, Jerico," sighed Jeremy. "Did you hear us in the hallway?" "I heard enough," said Jerico. "I'm sorry that he did that to you. But you're not the only one. I'm also yelled at by our father. He won't ever forgive me for all the things I've done in the past. I've done evil things in the past and you've done evil things previously. But I don't get why he's so hard on you. You're younger than me."

"Age ain't nothing but a number," said Claire.

"Will you and your dad ever get along?" Chad asked Jeremy. "I can't do it, dude," sighed Jeremy. "There's no telling what he'll do. Whenever mom was away, he would sometimes yell at me for no reason. He's not only doing it to me and you, but he's also doing it to my friends!" "Really?!" gasped Jerico. "Why would he do such a thing?"
"My dad would sometimes be hard on me," Chad said to Jeremy. "But he does it to discipline me. He doesn't hate me. And I'm sure your dad doesn't hate you. Just remember that I'm with you and so are your friends and brother so you won't get scared of him. He just can't show kindness to you after what happened at..."

"Don't bring up icrostrich!" Jeremy said to Chad. "I don't want to hear that name!" "Chad, we don't want to hear about that place!" Jerico chimed in. "That place is..."

"Will you two pipe down?!" said a voice from the walls. It was his father, Jon. "Some people need to sleep and so do you! Especially you, Jeremy!"

"Ugh, I hate it when he ruins our conversations!" muttered Jerico. "I feel you, brother," sighed Jeremy. "What should I do?" "Well, tomorrow, our father is going out for a drive in his jungle car," said Jerico. "It's basically a normal drive for 30 minutes. I suggest you go with him and try to talk it out. I'm sure he'll be willing to talk it out with you. But don't go alone. Bring someone there with you."

But as Jerico said this, Jeremy was already asleep on the mattress, right next to Claire who was sleeping as well. Chad was the only one awake on the mattress.

"Chad, could you tell Jeremy what I said in the morning?" Jerico asked him. Chad nodded and said; "I'd better get to sleep as well."


Chapter 3: Future Jeremy

As Jerico left the room, Chad looked at his sleeping friend, who was stirring in his sleep.

Jeremy was having a bad dream. It was a dream that he felt like he couldn't wake up from. In his dream, he was outside, by himself, taking a walk alone at The Park. But when he made it to the paddle boat dock, he felt someone touch his shoulder.

"What?! But I'm by myself!" Jeremy said to himself. "But you aren't!" said a voice behind him.

Jeremy saw a ghostly figure approach him. It looked like him, but it was shrouded by a glowing red light and it was wearing a Calloustrich helmet. It had a black eye and a red pupil, while the other one was normal and was wearing glasses.

"You know who I am?" it asked him. "What?! You're me!" gasped Jeremy. "I'm you from the future," said the figure. "Just call me Future Jeremy!" "How can that be?!" gasped Jeremy.

"It is!" said Future Jeremy "But how?" asked Jeremy. "How did I become like this?! If you are me, then who am I?"

"Let's say things change!" said Future Jeremy. "But to answer your question, I'm from a timeline where you decided to join icrostrich. That day when the war began, I put an end to your so-called friend, Chad. I sank my claws into his chest until he stopped breathing. He died within seconds. All the other Railroad Police members backed away and they were brutally attacked by the Calloustriches."

"I didn't kill Chad!" gasped Jeremy. "He's alive and breathing!"

"I said I did!" hissed Future Jeremy. "Unfortunately, your friends made it out of there on dragons, while I decided to stay there and assumed my role as Metal Claw. I was praised for my kills and was then crowned as the supreme soldier of icrostrich. But that punk, Ruddy, didn't want this to happen. He advanced toward me. But I was able to kill him by slitting his spine. Gygar therefore made me the leader of icrostrich and all the Calloustriches bowed before me. For the first time in my life, I felt appreciated and praised by people for my efforts and work. I was finally in a job that I could call my own! Don't even ask about that blue jay! I killed him with my claws and once again, the Calloustriches were proud of me!"

"You killed Mordecai?!" gasped Jeremy. "But I forgave him!"

"You're forgetting that he's a lower species!" rasped Future Jeremy. "Besides, I've come from the future, to tell you to come back to icrostrich! You don't know what you're missing out on!"

"I'm never going back to icrostrich!" Jeremy said to Future Jeremy. "That place is evil. They've corrupted you into doing these terrible things! Why couldn't you break their mind control?! You can't be me!"
"You can't deny it!" Future Jeremy said to Jeremy. "I won't stop until you decide to go back!" "You can't make me!" Jeremy said to Future Jeremy. "I'll never be like you!"

"Don't think that you'll see me in your dreams!" hissed Future Jeremy. "You'll see me even when you're awake!" "You're from a future that doesn't exist!" Jeremy yelled at Future Jeremy. "I defy you and I will never go back to that dreadful place!"

"Wake up, son!" said a voice from the room.

Jeremy woke up and saw his father, staring at him.

"Uh, dad?" Jeremy asked his father. "I had a nightmare!" "Shut that beak of yours!" rasped Jon. "Just go back to sleep and stop making noise! You just pissed me off right now!"

As Jon left the room, Jeremy woke up Chad who slept next to him on the mattress. "Chad, I had a nightmare," he said to his friend.

"Again?" Chad asked, waking up. "How many have you had since that thing happened?" "A lot," stuttered Jeremy.

"Ugh, you're always having nightmares," sighed Chad. He stopped talking when he saw tears in Jeremy's eyes. He softened his voice and looked at his friend.

"I know it's hard for you to get over what happened to Dana, and even Shabedoom, but sometimes you need to let go, you know?" Chad said to Jeremy. He then put his paw on Jeremy's shoulder. "You'll be alright, man." He then laid down on the mattress. Jeremy did the same.

"Now let's go back to sleep," Chad said, yawning. "I'm tired." So the duo went back to sleep.


Chapter 4: Unlike father and son

"Do you not understand how much that boy pisses me off?!" Jon angrily asked his wife. It was early in the morning and his yelling had woken everybody up, including Jeremy and Chad. "I'm not going to allow that runt to stay in this house any longer!"

"But Jon...," said Jessica. "But nothing!" rasped Jon.

Jeremy and Chad listened outside his parents' bedroom with worried looks on their faces.

"Honey, you don't have to be so hard on our son," Jessica said, calmly to her husband.

"Don't tell me how to raise my kid!" Jon said angrily to Jessica. "Jon, you might need to take a drive," said Jessica. "Why don't you go out for a drive? You'll be feeling better after that." "I suppose," sighed Jon. "Fine, but I'll be back soon. I'd better not see that runt!"

Jon went outside to his jungle car, with Chad and Jeremy following him.

"Look, dad, I'm sorry for upsetting you last night," Jeremy said to his father.

"Oh, would you just shut up?!" Jon angrily asked Jeremy. "You're the last thing I want to hear! I don't want to be with you right now! Leave me alone! And you too, Chad!" As he got in the car, both Jeremy and Chad looked at each other with nervous looks on their faces.

Jon was later on the road driving in his jungle car. He drove past restaurants and stores and made his way to the place he wanted to go, which was the grasslands. It was a place where he and his parents used to take him for picnics, family gatherings, and other activities. It was the one place he would relax in with nothing in his way.

It was still dark outside, since it was early in the morning, 4 o'clock in the morning to be precise.

"Alright, Jonny boy," Jon said to himself. "The grasslands aren't too far. As long as you don't stop, you can relax there with no noises or nuances whatsoever." He then looked at a rear mirror inside the jungle car. "And as soon as you get back to the house, you can ground... Jon saw Jeremy and Chad as they peeped their heads from behind the car. "JEREMY AND CHAD! AUGHH!" He hit the brakes and seconds later, he was yelling at the two of them outside.

"I can't believe this!" Jon said to Chad and Jeremy. "I thought I told you idiots not to come! I said 'not!' Does the word 'not' not process into your millennial brains?! And you two graduated from The Institute of Technical Technology?! I'm starting to think that you two didn't deserve those degrees!"

"Hey! Don't say that!" Chad said to Jon. "We totally deserved those degrees. Right, Jeremy?" He looked at his best friend.

But Jeremy looked at his father. "Look, dad," he said to his father. "I just wanted to spend some quality time with you."

"Just shut up you technology delinquent!" Jon angrily said to Jeremy. "Shut up and let me think for a second!" He thought for a second. "Alright, ideally you two should be a million miles away from me right now!" he said. "But since I don't want to waste time taking both of you back, you're gonna come with me! But don't think you've gotten away with this! I'll punish you guys as soon as we get back! Especially you, Jeremy!"


Chapter 5: Rekindle

A few minutes later, Jeremy and Chad were sitting in the front seat of the jungle car, next to his father. Since there was no back seat, the two shared a seat belt.

"I still can't believe you did that, Jeremy," Jon said angrily to his son. "What's gotten into you, son? Now you've done it! Chad, cover your ears."

Chad obeyed Jon and covered his ears as Jon began to yell at Jeremy. "I ALLOWED YOU TO STAY AT THE HOUSE AND YOU STILL DON'T LISTEN TO ME?!" he angrily asked Jeremy. "I WANTED YOU TO STAY AT THE HOUSE! I EVEN TOLD YOUR FRIEND TO STAY THERE! YOU COULD'VE BEEN SPENDING TIME WITH YOUR MOTHER AND OTHER FRIENDS, BUT YOU'RE STUCK WITH ME AND YOU DRAGGED YOUR FRIEND INTO THIS!"

"Dad, I'm sorry," Jeremy said to his father. "I just wanted to spend some time with you, like father, like son."

"I don't want to hear it!" Jon said in his normal voice. "Just don't bother me! You have your friend there! Go chat up a storm. But don't talk to me." He focused back on the road.

Chad released his hold on his ears and looked at his best friend.

"Daddy, do you hate me?" Jeremy asked his father in a small voice.

Jon sighed and looked at his son. He had been keeping what he wanted to say to his son. But he felt that he was ready to tell him. "I don't hate you, son," he said, softly. "I just hate some of the things you do. Okay, the whole Calloustrich incident is what really got me fired up. I know you had no choice, but I'm your father, and it's hard for me to forgive you after you did callous things. Your brother Jerico has done callous things too and it's hard to forgive him for what he did to you and your friends. I didn't know what I was thinking that day and let my anger get the best of me. I even took it out on your friends. I'm sorry if I caused them trouble, especially you, Jeremy. I called you and Chad 'idiots' and other bad names. I told you to shut up and I roared at you with your best friend next to you. I'm really sorry, son." He started to sob a little.

"I forgive you, daddy," Jeremy said to his father. "But it's my fault for making you mad."

"It feels nice to let that out," Jon said calmly. "I know you don't like me being strict, but I'm just trying to protect you. It may seem harsh at first, but soon you'll see that being disciplined will make you a better person."

"But what about abandoning us that day?!" Chad chimed in. "I told you guys that I had to wait at the DMV," said Jon. "It was a long wait and I had to pay for the house. I didn't know that you stood out there all night in the rain. Besides, I did something nice for you guys that night. I did it to make up for picking you guys up late. Do you remember what happened that night?"

"Oh yeah," Jeremy said, remembering something. "You gave us rain jackets and made some hot chocolate to warm us up." "Exactly," said Jon. "We kept thinking about what happened before," said Chad. "It just hurt us in a way, because he felt like we were abandoned."

"I'm sorry if you felt that way," Jon said to Chad and Jeremy. "But I didn't want this to occur when you guys were at school. I literally wanted to get out of there so I could pick you guys up, but I couldn't. So I did that to make it up to you."

"And you let Chad sleepover that night," Jeremy said to his father. Jon nodded and focused his attention back on the road.

"That day when we got the bill for the rent and you all moved out, it actually hurt me and your mother," said Jon. "Even after we had Jamie, I still thought about you, Jerico and all your friends at the time."

"I understand," sighed Jeremy. "I'm glad to be spending time with you, daddy." "I had a bad dream last night." "What happened, son?" Jon asked, concerned. "I was confronted by my future self," sighed Jeremy. "He said that he decided to join the evil side and was convincing me to go back to that awful place. But I refused. I'm sorry I woke you up with my screaming."

"I'm glad you told me, son," Jon said to Jeremy. "Sure thing, dad," Jeremy said looking at his father. "Future Jeremy is going to come after me. I'm his target."

"You'll face Future Jeremy again," Chad said to Jeremy. "But I'll be there when he confronts you. Even if he comes to this world, I'll be there by your side. Remember, just live life."

Jon looked at his son. "You know," he said to Jeremy. "I'm not going to punish you and Chad when we get back." "Really?" Jeremy and Chad both said at once. " In order to be responsible, you must learn from your mistakes," said Jon. "And so should I. I got upset and I said things I didn't mean. I compared you to your older brother, even though you two are in the same boat. You're both jobless and looking for one another."

"How come you didn't want me to go outside to walk by myself?" Jeremy asked his father. "I just didn't want you to get hurt again," said Jon. "You're my son. I may have pressured you to talk about your time in the war and yelled at you a lot of times. But anyone, who would go against what I said, to still spend time with me even after what I did, truly deserves to have father-son time. You want the car, son?" "Uh... yeah," Jeremy stuttered. He did like his father's car. But owning it would be even better..

"I'll have to get a new car for myself," said Jon. "This Rubicon is all yours. Do you have a license?" "I do," Jeremy said, showing his license. "You'll need this instead of always using dragons as transportation," said Jon. "I'm doing this to make it up to you, son."

Jeremy smiled at his father. For the first time in his adulthood, he actually felt warmth by being with his father and not being afraid of him. Not only that but he was given by his father, a jungle car.
"I owe your friends an apology for how I've treated them," Jon said to Jeremy. "They will be aware that I'm a strict father and I'm only concerned about them as well as you two." "Sounds fair," said Chad. "Are we almost there?" "We're already here," said Jon as he stopped the car and went outside.

Jeremy and Chad were right behind Jon. They were speechless as they saw the grasslands. It was a calm field full of grass and the gentle breeze in the air. Two magpies flew past them and flew north.

"So this is the grasslands," Chad said to Jon. "Isn't it beautiful?" Jon asked Jeremy. "It's amazing," Jeremy said, completely enraptured by the beauty of the grasslands. He was met by some fireflies who flew in the air. One landed on his beak and on his tail.

"This was where my parents used to take me when I was young," Jon said to Jeremy. "We had picnics, family gatherings, birthday parties, and other activities. I was just a young toddler at the time." "Really?" Jeremy asked his father. "What were you like?" "Me?" asked Jon. He looked at his son and said; "I was a lot like you."

As Jon said this, Jeremy's eyes welled up with tears and he hugged his father. Chad joined in as well.

As the three of them sat in the grass to feel the calm wind and watched the fireflies, Jeremy knew that his father loved him again and was happy to spend time with him, like father like son.

End of Rekindle


Characters of Regular Life Rekindle

Jeremy: white ostrich (Struthio camelus) the young son of Jon and Jessica .The little brother of Jerico and big brother of Jamie. Ioni's adoptive father. Also known as Metal Claw. An ex Calloustrich soldier of icrostrich
Chad: brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) Jeremy's best friend and the new leader of Railroad Police
Jon: white ostrich (Struthio camelus) Jessica' husband and father of Jerico, Jeremy, and Jamie
Jessica: white ostrich (Struthio camelus) Jon's wife and mother of Jerico, Jeremy, and Jamie
Future Jeremy: white ostrich (Struthio camelus) Jeremy's evil future self who persuades him to go back to icrostrich
Jerico: white ostrich (Struthio Camelus) the older son of Jon and Jessica and the older brother of Jeremy and Jamie. A member of Railroad Police
Ioni: polar bear (Ursus maritimus) an orphaned polar cub who was adopted by Jeremy. She later becomes his daughter
Grayson: Virginia opossum (Didelphis Virginiana) a jealous and hot-tempered possum who has a grudge against Jeremy. She eventually warms up to him. A member of Railroad Police
Reggie: Southern brown bandicoot: (Isoodon obesulus) a cowardly bandicoot who has a good heart. A member of Railroad Police
Kaiko: white ostrich (Struthio camelus) An ex Calloustrich soldier of icrostrich
Shelby: orange dragon: a vegetarian water dragon who based on the Chinese water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus)
Paladin: Dalmatian (Canis Lupus familiaris) A little puppy that was adopted by Ioni