I’ve never been an outdoors kind of guy. I was born in the city, grew up in the city, and now have been ejected from it. It’s crazy to think a mother could just send their own child away for messing up a few times. I mean, I guess it was more than a few times, but still. I think sending me to Alaska is a bit of an overreaction. It makes sense though, she had two other boys to worry about, both younger than me. She didn’t have any time for a “bad kid”, which is all I ever was to her. It also set an example for the other two boys in the house, I’m guessing they are studying or something right now, to avoid my fate. I think I’m gonna miss those idiots the most.
Nevertheless, I believe we need to focus more on the present. So, presently I am on a plane, all the way in the back because I need a “temporary guardian” to be there demeaning me. “Would you like a juice?” One flight attendant says bending over with a ditsy voice.
“Do you have Sprite?” I respond in a voice deeper than my own.
“Yes we do, but would your mom allow that?” She says patronizing the hell out of me.
“Yeah, mom would be cool with it, no ice please.” I say continuing with the deep voice.
“Alright, I’ll be right back with that. Would you like any snacks? Crackers? Nuts? Beef Jerky?” She responds.
“Beef Jerky? Is it free?” I respond, trying to sound like a child again.
“For you it is, I’ll go grab those for you.” She says as she walks away.
I guess sometimes it pays to be a kid. I just think she could handle these situations a little better. Anyway, over the next 30 minutes I savored a small cup of sprite, and a package of beef jerky. Because I lived in Oregon, it wasn’t too long of a flight, but unfortunately that meant I had arrived. So, I sat in the back as every single person on the plane, but me, got off.
“Right this way,” The attendant tells me. I get up, grab my stuff from above me, and get off the plane. As I walk into the airport, I see everyone gone except for my uncle, Uncle Jordan. I really wanted to stay with my other uncle, Dave, he is more...outgoing. We approached Uncle Jordan and the attendant released me to him, and without a glance I was ordered around.
“Follow me.” Uncle Jordan muffled, then began walking quickly away. His legs, longer than mine, got him places faster. I was forced to do something between a speed walk and jog while trying to break the ice.
“Hey, Uncle Jordan, it's been awhile.” I say through paced breaths, to which I get no response. “How have you been?” I persist.
“Good.” He responds in a grunt. (Jesus, this is going to be one fun year.) He guides me out of the airport, and into the parking lot. Parked next to two identical 1998 Red Ford Rangers, is Uncle Jordan’s ‘98 Ranger. He quickly takes my heavy bag, and tosses them in the back effortlessly. I hop in the passenger seat, as he shuts the door for me, then hops into the driver’s seat. He grabs his key and twists it, and the truck sputters for a second then revs. “Seat belt.” Uncle Jordan says through another grunt. I immediately grab the seat belt and click it in.
“Sorry.” I responded.
“Don’t be sorry, be safe.” He says, finally enunciating his words.
“Yes sir.” I say frightened. Yes sir? Why did I say that? What is he, my drill sergeant? A moment passes as he pulls out of the parking lot, and onto the road. “So, how far away do you live?” I said, praying for a quick, quiet drive.
“Hour, hour half.” He mutters.
“An hour, to an hour and a half?” I question with lost hope. As I looked at him for an answer, his silence became the answer. Well, the only logical way to get this to go by as quickly as possible is to take a nap, so I did.
Isn’t it so refreshing when you wake up from a nap on a long car ride? But, then you realize only ten minutes had passed and you get angry at yourself, and father time. That was me in the car, I have no idea why I couldn’t go back to sleep. I sleep like a log, my mother would tell you all about it. So, for the entire hour, I just closed my eyes, and tossed and turned. He wouldn’t know the difference, I’m not even sure Uncle Jordan knows English very well. As the road started getting bumpier, however, my curiosity got the better of me, and I peeked through one eye to see where we were. It looked like we were close, and it definitely felt like it had been long enough. We approached the house, and as we did, I remained limp. I was gonna pull that fake wake up yawn, and then say something like “Oh, wow. Here already?” When the car stopped though, he just got out and walked into the house. This really threw me off, but as I sat there in my jeans and long sleeve shirt, I realized just how cold it is in Alaska with no heater. Within two minutes I hopped out of there, grabbed my stuff from the back, and ran inside.
When I got inside, Jordan was just sitting on the couch watching tv. A beer in one hand and a cigar in the other. “You just left me out there.”
“You got in safely.” Jordan said.
“Because when I woke up I could feel my bones rattling, that’s child abuse.” I said, slightly raising my voice. Jordan didn't seem to like these. He got up, set his cigar and beer down, and walked right up to me. Reminding me of his tall, broad stature.
“I know you were pretending to sleep. Let’s not play games.” He says menacingly, then walks back to his couch and sits down, continuing to watch tv.
“How’d you know?” I asked.
“You were talking in your sleep the first 10 minutes, then you just started tossing and turning.” He says, not looking away from the tv. I pause for a moment, shocked that he caught on, but also a little curious. Slowly, I gained the courage to ask one more question.
“What was I saying?” I asked
“Not important, your room is upstairs, first door on the left. Go set up.” He demands.
“Yes sir.” I responded again. As I walk upstairs I slowly question everything about myself. Why the hell do I keep calling this guy sir?
“I’ll have lunch ready in about an hour, so wash up, and settle in.” He yells through the house.
“Got it.” I say, refusing to slip and say, ‘yes sir’ again. The hour went by pretty quickly, I put the few clothes I own away, took a shower, examined my small room, no bigger than a king size mattress. I’m pretty sure this was a closet the last time I was here, but I was young so who knows.
When I came down, I was blown away by the amount of meat on the table. Red meat, dark meat, and then just some potatoes on the side. “What is all this? Is this a normal lunch?” I asked.
“On a day off, yes it is.” He responds.
“What do you eat for dinner?” I continue to question.
“Well, if you need dinner we can get to that, but the goal is to eat as much as you can now, and then fast until morning.” He explains.
“So you only eat breakfast and lunch?” I ask as I begin to sit at one end of the table.
“Exactly. Now, let’s eat.” He said, kind of like a viking. That was the first time he showed any type of personality, and it was weird, but I sat down and we ate like kings. Forced to unbutton our pants, in order to continue indulging ourselves. However, the feast did come to an end. About an hour after we started eating we both had gained about 10-15 lbs in food. I know he thinks this is healthy, but there is no way it can be.
“Well, what do we do now?” I ask.
“Dishes!” He says enthusiastically.
“Listen, I don’t want to sound, like, ungrateful or whatever, but there’s no way I can do dishes right now. All I can think about is sleep.” I respond trying to sound as kind as possible.
“Alright, fine, only today though. Only cause it’s your first day.” He says sternly.
“Yes, thank you. Sorry. I’ll be ready tomorrow.” I say as I hobble away to my bed. I don’t think I’ve ever fell asleep that fast in my entire life. It was lik, as my head hit the pillow it flicked the off switch in my brain. I didn’t even have dreams, I was knocked out! I would have slept longer, though, if I wasn’t woken up at 11 at night.
Uncle Jordan woke me up, and I’m not gonna lie, the first 10 minutes of being up I don’t even remember. But, apparently I had agreed to go in the car on a drive at 11 at night. Once my consciousness was restored, I was able to understand the situation I was in.
Alright, I’m in the middle of Alaska, in the middle of the night, being driven by my Uncle to an undisclosed location. I’ve seen this documentary before, and I’m not going to be the victim.
“Where are we going?” I demand.
“We are gonna go see some lights.” He responds.
“Lights, why the hell would we go see some lights?” I ask, annoyed.
“Because, I think you need it.” He says.
“Why do I, specifically, need it?” I respond back, slightly offended.
“Just wait until we get there?” He reassures me.
“Okay, but this better not be the start of one of those 60 minute things.” When I said this he gave me a look of concern, and stayed silent. The car was quick though, 10 minutes. When we stood out, all I could see around me was dark, and my attention was immediately directed to the sky. The Aurora Borealis, the colorful green and violet lights shining onto a landscape I don’t quite have the words for. Perfect is all that comes to mind, absolutely, and completely perfect. My jaw dropped and all that came out of my mouth was, “Wow!”
“I know, pretty incredible, huh?” Uncle Jordan says in a fatherly tone.
“It’s amazing.”
“I’ve heard that this is created by disruptions in the sun’s gravitational pull on the Earth.” He tries explaining to me.
“What does that even mean?” I ask with wonder.
“Well, I’m not entirely sure. What I like to think it means is, disruptions in our lives, while at times seem to be the worst thing ever, actually create beauty. You just have to look in the right places.” Uncle Jordan says imparting the first thought I’ve ever heard from him.
“Woah, that’s...that’s even more amazing.” I say in awe of all of my senses.
“I just like to lay in the snow.” Uncle Jordan starts while sitting down on a patch of snow looking directly at the green lights. “And look up at the lights and think about that. It can be dark here sometimes even with the lights. But it’s important to not avoid those, run towards them.”
“Yes sir.” I say with intent this time, before laying right next to him in the snow. We both look up in the sky, and see our problems, and in that, we ended up finding our solutions.
About the Creator
Justin Michaels
Script Writer
22
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.