POT

Prologue

WHO, WHAT AND WHERE?

“Butch! Open the door! I know you’re in there! BUTCH! OPEN THIS OR ELSE I”LL KNOCK IT DOWN! FATE!” Elmo banged the door.

It was raining hard but I didn’t care. All I wanted is to know where Julie is.

“You ingrate! After all that Julie and I have done for you, this is how you will repay us? I know it was my fault why Julie is gone! But I know you can bring her back! Bring me to her! She’s someone I do not want to lose.” Elmo sobs.

I am tired. My hands are all blistered. I do not know for how long I have been searching for her. I decided to sit in front of Butch’s antique shop and wait for his conscience to eat him up. I ignored the rain. I do not care if I’ll get sick or anything. All I want is to see Julie again.

Julie and I have been friends for as long as I remember. Well, I can’t really tell exactly due to the complicated situation that we are into. But regardless of it, being with her was literally timeless. Time didn’t matter to us and all we cared is to spend time with each other whenever we do our task. We may travel to different parts of history. But for me she is the only person that time cannot wither. It all started on an ordinary day…

***

02 July 2012

“Dad what are you doing in the basement again?” Elmo scratched his head.

“I am looking for your grandfather’s book, Son.” Percy answered.

“Not again. Dad, ever since I obtained consciousness about this world I always see you looking for grandpa’s book. Are you really sure that grandpa really had one?”

“Yeah… I-I am pretty sure.”

“Yeah right! You can’t even remember grandpa’s face or his name, yet you’re sure he has the book you are looking for.”

Percy exhaled with dismay.

Yep that’s my Dad! Mr. Percival Magalona. He is a kind Father and fun to be with. But just as what my Mom told me, before I was born my dad met an accident that caused a massive deterioration of his memory. Oddly though, what he lost was his memories of his childhood especially that of his family. He can’t remember his Parents. But still he had some fragments of his past experiences. I do pity him and Mom and I love him. Elmo thought.

“Percy, dear, forget about the book first. You’ll find it in time” Loree said.

And that’s my Mom, the beautiful and loving mother of mine. After my Dad’s tragic fate, my Mom took more care of him.

My family belongs to the average level in the society. My dad handles a small backyard farm selling pork meat while my Mom is a Math professor. Well that’s how our life runs nothing interesting really.

“In time… In time… IN TIME! That’s it! Thanks sweetie! I love you, Mwuah!” Percy excitedly reacted.

“If you are planning to dissect our Grandpa’s clock again, better not do it. You’ve repeatedly had done that since the ice age Dad.” Elmo said.

“Maybe I missed a spot!” Percy winked.

Oh god, this is becoming habitual. Elmo thought.

___

Saint John, 1312

“Princess Julieanne, the breakfast is ready.”

“Pleasure, Thomas. Please do not address me with my title. Thou have been my Servant since I was a child. Formalities do not matter to me.”

“I am sorry thy highness, I am just following the King’s orders.”

“Argh! Father surely wants everything formal. Truly grumpy is he not?”

“He is a wise King thy highness.”

“Well then so be it.”

I am Princess Julieanne, the only daughter and child of King Manfred of Saint John. My Mother died when I was still a child, hence, Thomas became my personal servant ever since.

“All rise to the King and Princess of Saint John.” Thomas announced.

“Pleasure, Thomas” King Manfred said, “Tomorrow will be my daughter’s grand celebration of her birth. Today she’s still a girl but tomorrow she will finally become a young woman. Having the beauty of my beloved wife and the wisdom of your King, I see that even without a prince, Julieanne can be my perfect successor…”

Oh dear, Father will talk in litanies again. I just wish that tomorrow’s celebration will be a simple one or celebrate it with the peasants and guildsmen of our country. Though, Father is loved by the people by how he ruled them, I still believe it isn’t enough. Being a King or Queen means power, but one shouldn’t forget that such power emanates from the people themselves. Without his men, a King is nothing. I have already spoken my thoughts to father but all he did was to laugh at me and calling such ideas absurd.

Sometimes I feel that I don’t belong in this place or in this time or even both. Because the way I think is different from my contemporaries. Maybe this is also the reason why I don’t have a lot of friends. Instead I prefer to sit in one corner and do what is convenient for me.

___

2012

“Elmo do you have a class later?” Loree asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t feel going to school today…” Elmo answered.

“Huh? Why?”

“I can’t mingle with the people around me.” Elmo said.

“Oh, Moe don’t mind them! You only have a year before you graduate in college! You just have to endure a little bit of it Son. Things will be better after graduation, especially when you find a job!”

“Yeah right, as if Psychology is a very demanding course.”

“Oh don’t be too pessimistic. Everything has a reason dear.”

“Well that’s what your Grandpa always tell me when I was also a kid once!” Percy joined the conversation.

“Really? Happy to hear that Dad.” Elmo sarcastically said.

“Don’t be rude Elmo.”

“Sorry Dad.”

My dad also has a weird mannerism. Every time he hears something that caught his attention he would often say something like it was said or done by my Grandfather when Dad was a child. Dad could be absurd sometimes. He can’t remember his past yet he remembers what Grandpa and Grandma did or said.

Anyway, I can’t win an argument against my folks. It seems that it can’t be helped! I have to go to school and endure the remaining years of my uninspiring life in college.