Nightmares of Death and Dreams of Life by James Gerard (korean novels in english .txt) 📕

Jimmy was awakened from the afterschool nap by the excitement in the house. He crept out of the bedroom and crouched in a corner of the family room in anticipation of his brother’s big day. He wondered if an allowance would be made by either his mom or dad to come out from the dark place and stand beside them, but then figured their little boy was just too scared to come out because of the threatening wave in the distance.

Every time Jimmy would leave the house the enormous swell would be there reaching high into the sky and spanning the horizon. And while it was always viewed from a distance, he realized that at any time it could very well reach the village and kill every single soul in its path.

As he observed his brother twiddling his thumbs within a circle of candles, just the thought of the tidal wave increased the beat of his little heart. Visions turned into reality at the detection of a little rumbling on the wooden floor. The runaway wave had crested halfway up into the sky and just crashed onto the land with the roar of a thousand lions. In an instant Jimmy felt the grip of fear holding him in the corner. Too scared to scream and too scared to run all he could do was whimper.

His little heart skipped a beat at the sound of something pounding the wooden floor. He looked and expected to see the water rushing in, but relief came on faster than that of the initial fear as the priest entered the family room. Then curiosity over how his position was not revealed by the draught of wind blowing on the flames of the flickering candles came to mind. It was as if Mom and Dad did not see him. It was as if they had forgotten about their little boy or that he even existed. But Mommy wouldn’t just forget about me, he thought, and leave me all alone.

The curiosity swiftly left the thoughts as the Coming of Age ceremony began. Jimmy thought it was sort of funny to see his never happy about anything dad smile as the priest mentioned something about an ancient oath and whispered many words within the circle of candles. Soon after the words ended the priest reached out and gave his brother a rolled up piece of crinkled paper. “Huh?” he whispered then giggled as the ear to ear grin all over his mean, old brother’s face was noticed. A hand over the mouth kept the giggles inside as his brother reached out and took hold of a rolled up yellowish and crinkly piece of paper held neat and tight by a blue bow.

Jimmy stood and rubbed hands together. Feet shuffled quietly in the corner. He watched his brother untie the blue bow and unroll the paper. Giggles broke out again when his brother shouted out “wow” then turned and hugged their dad.

Although his brother was exceedingly happy, Jimmy was not sure why. All he knew came from the eavesdropping of conversations between his mom and dad. Days earlier they began to talk about the ceremony now that his brother had reached the Coming of Age. They wondered what the Men of Wisdom would grant their eldest son in respect to the job he would do for the rest of his life. But now, having seen his mean and grumpy brother so excited, whatever the job was must have been something pretty special.

His brother ran outside. Although terrified by the killer wave hidden by the darkness, Jimmy just had to see what the excitement was all about and quickly followed. There before him stood his brother holding the crinkly paper up to the sky. All Jimmy could think about was what could have been written on the paper. It must have had something to do with the stars in the heavens since his brother was in the process of framing some sort of map against the starry sky. That must be it he thought as the smile on his brother’s face, eyes darting between the paper and stars, made it apparent he had been given the occupation of Interpreter of the Signs of the Sky.

“Hey Bobby, what—”

 While his brother stared at the paper Jimmy noticed the stranger walking out of the dark. He was a lot taller than his brother and appeared to be a grown up man. The full moon revealed the hint of rosy cheeks and a warm smile that made him appear more as a teenager than an adult. With his brother still gazing at the map, Jimmy finally smiled and said “hello.”

“Hi there young man.”

“My brother—”

“Hush,” the man interrupted, “he looks like he is very busy right now.”

“Oh, he—”

“Well hello there,” a voice shouted.

“Never mind your brother,” the man again interrupted. “I just thought I’d come over and introduce myself to you.”

Jimmy smiled. “To me?”

“Why of course. My name is John. And your name is?”

“My name is Jimmy.”

“Yeah, you Jimmy. You see I’ve been watching you for awhile to see if you are the right person for the job.”

“Job?”

“Yes, a job. You see Jimmy my mom wants me to build a new cistern for her but I need some help. I think you would be perfect for the job.”

“Well mister, I’m not old enough so I can’t have a job.”

“Yes you can Jimmy.”

“But—”

“That is very rude,” John shot back. “Didn’t your parents teach you to respect your elders?”

“Well, of course but I’m still—”

“Jimmy, just trust me. I see you as a very special boy. That is why I am offering you the job.”

Thoughts went round and round within Jimmy’s head. The lessons taught by the teacher at school and his parents at home were made clear, therefore John must be telling the truth and should be trusted. In a way he found the offer somewhat exciting because none of his friends at school had a job and his mean old brother would be so jealous once he found out. Looking up and smiling Jimmy respectfully said, “Okay. What do you want me to do?”

“Come with me and I’ll show you.”

“But it’s dark,” Jimmy stuttered, “and the wave might get me.”

“What did you say?”

“I don’t think I can go with you right now. I need to ask—”

“I just told you…” John paused and smiled, “…I just told you about respect didn’t I. Don’t worry about it Jimmy. Now, come with me.”

Jimmy followed without asking any more questions. However, he did turn around and saw his mom and dad staring from the dark and hoped they would call out, but they did not say a word. He wondered why they just kept watching but then figured they were okay with him going out at night and working because they were tired of him being afraid all the time.

“Here, right here,” pointed John. “I need you to start digging a big hole. Here you go, here’s a shovel.”

Jimmy turned and took hold of the shovel. He looked to the ground. “How big of a hole do you want me to dig John?”

“Just start digging. I’ll tell you when to stop.”

 “Good morning.”

J

immy looked up and smiled. “Good morning John. Is this deep enough?”

“You have to dig deeper Jimmy. I need this cistern to last a few years or so, so you need to dig deeper.”

“But I’m really thirsty and hungry,” said Jimmy as he began to climb out to the hole, “and my mom and dad and brother might be looking for me.”

“No, stay where you are,” John shouted. Trust me Jimmy, they are not looking for you.”

“But—”

“Look,” screamed John, “I am your brother. Yeah Jimmy…and I love you like a brother. So everything will be okay.”

“But I want to—”

“I said ‘everything will be okay,’” shouted John. “Just trust me. Now keep on digging and I will get you some food and water.”

“Well…okay. But I want to go home after I finish.”

After awhile John returned and handed down to Jimmy a bowl of some strange looking food.   It had streaks of yellow goo and was speckled with brown and black and gray gobs of something. “Phew,” he uttered after taking a quick whiff and then immediately held the bowl out at arms length. “Um John, I don’t think this food is any good. It smells really bad.”  

“Bad?” laughed John. “What an odd young boy you are Jimmy. Bad? Are you thinking I took this from the cistern at your house? Who would ever take rotten food from a cistern and feed it to someone they love Jimmy? I told you, I love you as my own brother.”

Jimmy took another sniff at the bowl of food. “But it does smell like a—”

“It’s a stew my mom cooked,” shouted John. “It’s just different from the food your mom cooks. Trust me Jimmy, it is good food. Now eat it.”

Jimmy took a hold of the spoon in the bowl, scooped out a bit of the yellow goo, and brought the spoon to the mouth. “Yuck,” he grimaced at the rotten and bitter taste of the gooey stew. And while the food was horribly different he figured John would not hurt him because he loved him like a brother so he ate up all the stew.

“John,” Jimmy moaned, “my stomach doesn’t feel good.”

“Well that’s expected. You have to get used to eating the strange food is all. Trust me. You will learn to like it. After all I’m your brother and I love you like a brother. Now, you have to continue digging the hole.”