Atticus And The Orb Of Time

by M K Drake

  The lighting in the class has mysteriously disappeared, and all that remains are the shadows of his fellow pupils. Atticus can see the silhouette but no defining features of this figure. The rest of the class are still active, but Atticus can only make them out as an embellishment of the shadow.

  “Yes?” Atticus questions tentatively.

  “Good, you can see and hear me, this form is difficult to maintain,” the silhouette continues to whisper, gasping for breath after each sentence, “It’s time, Atticus.”

  “Time for what?” asks Atticus.

  “You will find out soon enough, but for now, you need to be careful,” replies the shadow.

  “Who are you?” quizzes Atticus

  “Heed my warning: there are those who wish to do you harm, and those that wish to protect you. Use your judgment; use your heart and your mind to determine what is right and wrong. The ones that will try to deceive you won’t stop there… you MUST be mindful of your surroundings. I’ll be seeing you soon,” says the shadow.

  “But who are you? How can I trust… you?” asks Atticus, desperate for answers.

  The silhouette does not speak, it merely sticks out a finger and taps Atticus on the top of his head, hard!

  Atticus flinches.

  Another impact is felt!

  “Ouch!” Atticus wakes with a start, rubbing the top of his head. Looking down, he spots two pieces of chalk next to his open book, and as he gazes up, he spots Professor Snugglebottom doing a perfect impression of a tomato.

  “Sleep again, Jones, and it will be more than chalk you will be shaking from your head!” says the now very angry Professor, against an orchestra of muffled giggles.

  Needless to say, Atticus is wide-awake for the rest of the class.

  Chapter 4

  Loss

  Joseph Jones is tending to his garden, a passion of his for many years. He stands as he admires his rose bushes and tulips on one side, and a row of daffodils on the other. He walks through the garden upon the central path to the end, where he sits on his newly constructed rockery. He has just finished shaping the edges to form a curve at the end closest to the house.

  The sun is shining brightly in the sky, he can tell from the shadow on the sundial in the middle of the garden that it is almost 3.30pm.

  “Atticus will be home soon, better get the food ready,” he mutters to himself.

  Joseph loves to cook, but that ability was borne out of a need to consume something edible or starve. Although he loves his wife dearly, Sophia is probably the worst cook on the planet, he cringes each morning as he watches her prepare Atticus’ sandwiches for school and admires Atticus for actually coming home with an empty lunchbox each day.

  Joseph is a tall man, very well built, chunkily handsome, with strawberry-blond hair, a slightly chiselled chin, and holds an aura of presence that not many men can command. It was this presence − and the chiselled chin − that first attracted Sophia, along with his general coyness, and the fact that Joseph knows not of the presence he commands in front of others sealed that attraction.

  Joseph can hear Sophia rummaging upstairs. Both Joseph and Sophia run a rather successful Internet business importing and exporting Pashmina shawls, and more often than not, the house is littered with new designs and materials. Today is a tidy day though, and the tip-tapping alongside the delving informs Joseph that Sophia is busy ordering the next shipment.

  The home is a large detached house, not mansion-like by any means, but sizeable enough to accommodate the family of three rather comfortably, and secluded enough to allow for lots of welcome privacy. There are five large bedrooms scattered along the landing, and three bathrooms, two of which are en-suite. One of the bedrooms is used as a storeroom, with piles and piles of boxes filled with colourful shawls, some multi coloured, some differing shades of the same colour.

  Sophia and Joseph originally bought the house in anticipation of starting a family of their own, but as the result of peculiar and unfortunate circumstances 15½ years ago, they are unable to conceive. Joseph often has flashbacks to the incident; poor Sophia can hardly recall the events that led to the accident.

  Joseph allows the memories to come back again.

  # # #

  It was a dark misty November evening; Joseph and Sophia had enjoyed a night out at a theatre in London and were making their way home. Sophia was looking radiant; her deep black hair glistened as the lights on the road passed by. At each set of red lights, Joseph watched as she slept, he felt blessed that he had found someone so beautiful, both inside and out.

  He watched as her cheeks glowed red, trying to warm her face in the cold. He remembered the joy of when Sophia had told him they were about to have a baby, while the lights were still red he reached over and gently touched the large bump on her stomach while she was still sleeping, hoping to feel a kick or some form of movement.

  They met many years previous in university. From the first day Joseph knew they would be together forever. The first time he felt whole was when Sophia said hello, he remembered the way his heart went silent and all he could hear was her voice…

  BEEP!!!

  A car horn sounded from behind them, Joseph didn’t notice the lights had turned green. He slowly moved off and headed towards the country road that lead to their home. The road was dark and narrow, with trees bending over them forming a tunnel of branches and twigs. While Joseph drove, his mind returned to the early years of him meeting Sophia, the courage he had summed up to ask her on a date for the first time he still, up to that day, believed to be his greatest moment. He had managed to find her alone, walking out of the library, and as he walked up to her, every step seemed heavier than the last, his heart began to beat fast, hard, slow down, then beat fast again, he could feel himself about to choke, his hands began to sweat and he was so close to turning back, but he didn’t. Everything around him began to speed up into a blur, everything apart from his quest.

  “Sophia?” said Joseph, softly as he stepped just behind her.

  Sophia turned to face Joseph, her smile radiant, her eyes glinting as the light in the hall caught them for a moment, “Hi, Joseph, how are you?”

  “F-f-fine Sophia, how are you?” replied Joseph.

  “Tired. End of semester exams are coming up, and there is just too much to do,” Sophia said. But she noticed Joseph looked a little disappointed, and sensed a question which she had also been waiting for begin to turn around and run away… “I really need a break from the studying,” she added quickly. The last words reignited the flame within Joseph.

  “Sophia, I was, uhm, wondering, what are you doing tomorrow night?” he asked.

  “Well, I was hoping for someone to take me out,” Sophia replied, feeling this was the strongest hint she could give to her would-be suitor

  “Really? Well, what if, someone like, erm, me… asked?” said Joseph

  Sophia smiled, “Then I would graciously accept the invitation, Mr Jones.”

  A swell of courage flowed through Joseph; he knew that was more than just a hint, “In that case… would you like to go to dinner tomorrow night?”

  “Took you long enough, JJ,” replied Sophia, then she slowly stepped towards Joseph, moved her head forward, and kissed him softly on his right cheek.

  After a moment that seemed like hours, Joseph leant back and softly said, “Erm, I take it that’s a ‘yes’ then?” with a rather large grin on his face.

  Sophia nods coyly, “That is a ‘yes’.”

  Joseph shook his head, trying to revert his attention back to the road, the fog was becoming very thick, and visibility was low. The road straightened, and the trees overhead cleared for a moment − what happened next still haunts him.

  The fog seemed to move, it swirled around, and sucked itself into a form of a whirlpool with a large opening in the centre, pointing upside down so the fog was sucked upwards. The opening became larger. Suddenly a massive flash of light appeared, and a crack of thunder so loud that the windows of the c
ar shattered, and a wave of energy consumed the car, sending it into a spin. It flipped over three times. All Joseph could think of was Sophia, he tried to hold onto her, but the force of the car spinning ripped her from the seat.

  The shattered glass sliced the belt holding her in place, the shards were that sharp to the touch. He grabbed her, shouted her name, but she wasn’t awake. He felt her stomach, and tried desperately to find some form of movement, but felt nothing.

  The car was pushed again by another wave of energy and flipped with an even greater force. The door was blasted off and Sophia was thrown from the car. Joseph grabbed her hand to try and stop her from flying from the confines of the car, but he had no grip − she was bleeding, the blood had covered her arms, and she slipped from his grasp. All he could think was to get to her, and without a care for his own safety, he undid his belt, and was thrown from the opposite side of the car. He landed with a thud. Dazed he slowly rose to his feet, but promptly fell back down again. He felt a pain in his leg, as he strained to look around for Sophia he saw a large chunk of metal had pierced his calf, the pain almost overcame him when suddenly, all around him was calm.

  The fog consumed the sky again, the thunder stopped and the funnel of wind had gone. Joseph glanced the horizon of the roadside, searching for Sophia. He desperately tried to focus through the fog, gasping, trying to find air to call her name, “SOPHIAAAA!” he screamed. Achingly he waited for her to reply, needing a sign from her that she was ok, but there was no response. The air was still, nothing stirred.

  With a mighty effort Joseph pulled the metal shard from his calf, screaming in agony. He threw the shard into the bush, tore his shirt, and quickly bandaged his leg. He then rose to his feet again, and desperately limped across the road, screaming Sophia’s name again and again as his wound left a trail of red on the ground. The fog lifted slightly, then he saw her, lying on her side facing away from him, her body was still. He moved towards her as fast as he could, drowning out the pain from his mind with his will to reach his wife. He couldn’t lose her, he felt she was slipping away, and was cursing himself for not being able to hold onto her, for not being able to save her from injury. All he could remember at that time was the blood on her arm − where was she hurt? He remembered the glass, it didn’t crumble as it should, instead, the shattered glass turned into spears. He agonized over what may have happened, but held on to hope that she was ok.

  He finally reached her and collapsed to his knees. Joseph leant over her limp body, “Sophia,” he whispered into her ear as he searched her body for injuries. He turned her slightly and stopped.

  Joseph was horrified with what he saw, and screamed out in pain, not from any physical injury, but an emotional one so great that any man would have fallen from its blow. Tears fell from his eyes, he held Sophia’s head to his chest, “Nooooo, why?” he cried out “Why?”

  He was so overcome with grief that he didn’t hear another car screech to a halt just behind him.

  The lone driver ran towards Joseph, “Everybody ok?” he glanced over to Sophia, saw her blood-stained arms and stomach, and Joseph’s bleeding leg, “Don’t worry, I have a car phone, I’ll call an ambulance. Is there anyone else in the car?”

  Joseph shook his head. The driver ran to his car and promptly called an ambulance. Joseph was busily searching for any sign of life from Sophia. His heart was beating so fast.

  “You can’t leave me,” he whispered into her ear. A large lump formed in his throat, he couldn’t find the time to breathe, he felt choked and his head was throbbing with the pain of losing his dearest love. He felt for a pulse, but could not feel anything. As it began to rain, the pitter-patter of the raindrops gave him hope, for in time with the raindrops he caught the faintest of something − a heartbeat! He clung onto this hope and clutched Sophia in his arms.

  The ambulance arrived within minutes, and only then was it revealed to the rescuers the true horror of what had happened. Sophia was barely alive, but she was alive, nonetheless. As the paramedics lifted Joseph away, they saw why Joseph was grief-stricken. One of the spears of glass had found its way into Sophia’s stomach. The Paramedics dared not remove the glass in fear that they may do more harm than good, and rushed both Joseph and Sophia to the hospital.

  Joseph awoke in the hospital a few days later, the doctors told him of how Sophia had survived and was in a stable condition, she was recovering nicely.

  He remembered them telling him about the baby. The glass that speared Sophia’s stomach went straight through to its poor heart, the baby died instantly, but probably saved Sophia’s life. The glass had snapped into several other pieces, and caused a great deal of internal damage, there was no chance of this being repaired or healed, from that day, it would be impossible for her to bear a child. At this, Joseph asked if he could see Sophia, and even though she was still unconscious he demanded to see her.

  He stayed with her until she finally woke up a day or two later. She knew what had happened before Joseph uttered a word. Nothing needed to be said, their tears told their own story. They held each other, and if anything, felt an even greater bond than ever before.

  # # #

  The beep of the oven timer gladly wakes Joseph from his daydream and drags him back into the present. He removes the chicken steaks and applies a special sauce he had prepared earlier. Atticus arrives on cue just as Joseph finishes the salad to go with the chicken.

  “Hi dad, where’s mum?”

  “Upstairs son, why don’t you get yourself changed and come down for food, tell your mum everything is ready, she’s in the office ordering the next shipment from our suppliers.”

  Joseph watches as Atticus heads upstairs. Praising what he has now as being so so special.

  Chapter 5

  Gain

  Sophia is just finishing up her paperwork when she hears a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” she says softly.

  “Hi Mum, Dad says food is ready,” says Atticus.

  “Wonderful,” replies Sophia, “How are you sweetie? Good day at school?”

  “Yeah, wasn’t too bad,” Atticus says tentatively.

  “I’ll be down shortly, just have to email this order off and shut down the computer,” says Sophia

  Atticus nods and walks downstairs.

  Sophia quickly finishes off her email and begins to shut down the PC. She looks around the room for her own shawl, as she gazes across the desk she spots a framed baby picture of Atticus. She recalls the night when they found him, in almost as strange a circumstance as the cause of the accident.

  # # #

  Sophia and Joseph were at the docks preparing to receive a very large shipment of shawls, it was a night they both wished they did not need to be there. Marcellus was also there. Marcellus was the lone driver who helped Joseph and Sophia at the accident site, and had been close to them ever since. Joseph felt indebted towards Marcellus; if it wasn’t for his presence and speed of action, Sophia may well have died that fateful night. Both Sophia and Joseph now see him as their own personal guardian angel.

  It was six months after the accident, the rain was pouring down, and cracks of lightning lit the night sky as the wind buffeted the rather oversized umbrella that Joseph was clinging onto. Sophia was holding Joseph tightly.

  “Again, tell me why we had to be here today, JJ?”

  “I have no idea, the customs guard called and told me we needed to be here to accept this particular delivery − something about clearing the goods and paying the charge in person, as their systems are down,” replied Joseph.

  “Stupid computers, they could have chosen a sunny day to break down,” snorted Sophia

  They waited for the last crate to be unloaded; the customs officer had just finished the paperwork in the office and handed it to Joseph to sign.

  Sophia and Marcellus went to the van to begin loading the shipment.

  Suddenly out of nowhere, first one flash of lightning and then another struck the warehouse behind them. Joseph
and the customs officer ran outside.

  From inside the warehouse, a baby’s cry was heard. Puzzled, all four of them looked at each other, then rather gingerly entered the warehouse. They peeked through the dim light, trying to follow the cries, and moved cautiously toward the centre of the large room where they found a huge crater with smoke still emanating from within it.

  They cautiously walked towards the centre of the basin, and to their astonishment, at the heart of it was a baby in a chocolate-brown straw basket, on the front of the basket was an engraved metallic emblem, with the name ‘Atticus’. The baby had one arm exposed, and on the left forearm there was a small birthmark, a circle surrounded by a spiral. A note was sitting beside little Atticus, but the calligraphy in it was not understood by any member of the quartet. Joseph handed the note to Marcellus who put it in his inside jacket pocket. In the excitement, they had all forgotten about it by the time the police arrived.

  After the accident, Joseph and Sophia had registered to be eligible for both adoption and fostering; with some help from Marcellus, the relevant agencies agreed for it to be suitable for Joseph and Sophia to foster the child, and from that day, they brought Atticus up as their own.

  # # #

  Sophia makes her way downstairs and enters the dining room. Atticus and Joseph have already started to eat. Sophia takes her place next to Joseph and proceeds to put her food in her plate.

  “Have you told him yet?” asks Sophia, her question directed towards Joseph.

  “Told me what?” responds Atticus.

  “No, not yet, Sophia. I was waiting for you to come down so we can deliver the news together,” replies Joseph.

  “What news?” asks Atticus, a little curious at his foster parents’ secrecy.

  “Well, Atticus,” answers Joseph, “As you know, your mother and I have been trying to get the adoption finalised. Today the agency sent us the confirmation letter and certificate, so as of today, we are not only your parents in our hearts, but legally as well.”