9.12 Wise Words

I was so tired. It had been such a long day! We’d had to get up at the crack of dawn to take Sophia into school early; it was the day of the Science Fair and she needed to get in a couple of hours before it started to set up her project. Don’t ask me what it was, I’ve not got the slightest clue! Way over my head. My girl’s so clever though, and she won! So I guess that’s the important thing. Anyway, after the fair we went to the park as a family; turns out that at my age it only takes three games of catch to sap your energy! Thomas had taken great delight in declaring me ‘Oldest Oldie of Oldstown Oldvania’ until I reminded him smugly who provided his pocket money. The shine was taken off just a smidge when he got his guitar out and swiftly earned fifty simoleons busking, but I made my point. Still, I couldn’t wait to curl up in bed.

‘Dan, sweetie? I left a light on downstairs… Be a dear?’

Oh, Betty. If I didn’t love her so much I’d get a lot more rest!!

Plodding downstairs and trying not to notice how cold the wooden floors were under my bare feet, I followed the light into the living room. The lamp was on, but something caught my eye from the gallery. Another light… A strange noise began to filter into my consciousness… Was that a voice? What on earth? Was someone in the house? Burglars!?

Cautiously, I tiptoed over and poked my head around the archway. There was someone there! A man. He didn’t look like your stereotypical burglar though… For a start he was old. My age, or there abouts, thinning hair, he looked frail… He looked… Hang on…

I blinked, rubbing my eyes. Was he… Was he glowing?

‘…and I cannot believe it’s here, among all this finery? What on earth!’

His voice suddenly rang distinctly in my ears; I was suddenly aware that it hadn’t been so clear up till now. I cleared my throat nervously. ‘Um… Excuse me? Can I help you?’

‘Ah! Yes sir, I do believe you can. I was wondering, what is my painting doing in this gallery? Amongst all these fine pictures? I’m not saying I’m not proud of it, but I left it in my family and I can’t imagine why it’s ended up here!’

I was confused, to say the least! I rubbed a hand through my hair, trying to decide if I was dreaming or not. ‘Um… Can you, er… Start at the beginning again, please?’

The man smiled, his face suddenly full of warmth. ‘Of course! I’m so sorry, I’m just so surprised to see it here! I’ve been away for a while… At least, I think I have. It’s all so confusing… I was by my house, darling little thing it is, built it from the ground up with my wife Clarissa, and then all of a sudden I was in a cemetary. I’m not entirely sure what happened… I tried to find my way home and I walked down this street thinking it was the way, but it can’t have been… I guess I must be going senile in my old age! I found myself outside the gallery, and then… Well, I’m not quite sure, but I was suddenly inside, and I spotted my picture… And then you came along! Are you the curator here? You have a fine portrait collection, I must say!’

My mouth gaped open in astonishment. What the hell was this bloke on about?!

‘Erm… Sir, this isn’t an art gallery. It’s my estate, my home!’

The man’s brow furrowed, his confusion mirroring my own. ‘Your home?! Then what… What is my painting doing in your house?!’

I sighed a little. ‘I don’t think it is your painting, sir. It’s been in my family for generations, handed down from Emmett to Emmett along with everything else -’

‘Wait! What did you say your surname was? Emmett?!’

I nodded, a little bewildered by the shock on the man’s face. ‘Yes, Emmett! Why?’

‘…Emmett’s my name too.  I’m Thomas Emmett.’

What? No he wasn’t! My son was Thomas -

My eyes suddenly locked on to the portrait to the left of the house picture. No… It couldn’t be…

‘…Sir… Is this portrait of you, may I ask?’

Taken aback, the man looked hard at the portrait. ‘Yes, yes it is. My son Leon painted it, he’s such a talented young man! Wait… Hang on…’

He studied his hands intently, turning them over. ‘Ah. Yes. Thought I was missing something…’

Without saying another word, he plunged his hand straight into his chest. Into it! I yelped, jumping as I saw his fingers wiggling through his back.

‘Forgot about that bit,’ he said, a wry smile on his face.

*     *     *

‘So you mean to say, this entire estate is built on the land I bought, all those years ago?!’

I smiled, nodding. I could not believe what was happening! Here I was, sat casually on the sofa in the gallery talking to Thomas Emmett. My ancestor, Thomas Emmett. The original one! He hadn’t half been tickled when I told him my son’s name. Can you believe the coincidence! We’d been talking for what felt like hours, him telling me about how he came to Riverview and the two houses he built on this land, and in return I told him about what I knew about the family history and the tradition ever since his death. Amazing stuff!

‘Yes, the house is constructed on top of the foundations from the original house. I can’t believe you’re the one who built them!’

We both laughed, two old men together. I still wasn’t quite sure if I was awake or not, but either way this was pretty extraordinary!

Thomas smiled, shaking his head. ‘I cannot believe that there are still Emmetts living on my field. Heck, I can’t believe there are still any Emmetts! My family, still around today. That’s pretty special, don’t you think!’

I nodded in agreement. Hundreds of years separated us, yet we had something huge in common. We were family.

A thought struck me out of the blue. Thomas was so overjoyed to find Emmetts still on his plot… But… Oh, my own Thomas. My boy. What the hell was I going to do?

‘What’s the matter, Dan?’ Thomas had clearly noticed the changed expression on my face.

‘It’s my son, Tom… I don’t know what to do. He’s my eldest, I don’t know if I’ve said, so going by the tradition… He should be the one to inherit the estate. The only thing is, he’s a really talented musician. Really, really talented. And in his heart of hearts, he’d love a career in music, but ever since he found out about the estate and everything he’s gone into total denial. He wants to make me proud, he doesn’t want to make me make a difficult decision. This is hundreds of years of tradition we’re talking about. I just… I don’t know what to do. He can’t do both.’

Thomas sat for a second and contemplated what I just said, gazing over at his house painting.

‘You know, Dan… When I first moved to Riverview, my sole reason for coming here was to start afresh, to strike out on my own. That silly picture, it symbolised what I wanted to achieve, even if it wasn’t a very sophisticated representation! It was hard at first, having to clean out all those latrines and sleep in that little shack I managed to eventually knock together, but then… I met Clarissa. And I realised what was important. It wasn’t having things, it wasn’t about having thousands of simoleons, it was having a family and keeping them safe and content. I managed to build a house for my family, for my wife and the boys. I did it all for them, for my family. They mean the world to me. I wanted my family to be happy. That was the important thing.  In your heart of hearts, Daniel, you know the same. You’re going to let my young namesake leave to follow his dreams. That painting represents a home, not a house, my family’s happiness not a box of stuff. The estate is only a building, it’s only a plot of land. You know full well that the only thing that matters is that your son follows his dreams, that your family is as happy as it can be.’ He paused, narrowing his eyes at me suddenly; ‘So you can stop thinking about letting the family down by letting go of the tradition, Daniel! I can see it there, in your eyes!’

I couldn’t hold in my laughter at that comment! Family definitely read you best!

We chatted for a little while longer, about Thomas and what was going to happen next. With each word a little weight lifted from my shoulders. It was all going to work out for the best!

As the clock struck two (two?! I’d forgotten all about being tired ages ago!) I walked Thomas to the front door, smiling as he oohed and ahhed at the finery of the rooms we walked through and sharing a laugh as he stopped to look at the photographs of my grandparents from their world trip. Reaching the door we stood facing one another. I didn’t want him to leave. My own history standing in front of me clear as day, even if he was a little bit transparent!

‘Well, Daniel! This has truly, truly been a pleasure. I’m so pleased I ended up here, even if I didn’t recognise it as my own house!’

‘It really has! I cannot believe I’ve met you, Thomas. What… Where will you go, now?’

Thomas shrugged, smiling at me. ‘I don’t know to be honest! This hasn’t happened before, or at least I don’t remember it if it did. I think I’ll make my way back to that cemetary… I can’t believe that’s in the family, too! If nothing happens I’ll look around the gravestones, see if any of my other descendents pop out for a chat!’

Waving as he walked, well, drifted through the front door, I stood and watched as he made his way down the garden path. My ancestor, Thomas Emmett. If this had been a dream, I wasn’t sure I wanted to wake up! It had been a wonderful night.

Calling one final goodbye, I turned and walked up the stairs, suddenly painfully aware of how cold my poor feet were after having been on the cold, stone flooring of the gallery all night. I couldn’t wait to crawl into bed.

Snuggling up to Betty to warm up, she half woke from her sleep.

‘Danny… You’ve been ages. Did you fall asleep downstairs or something?’

I laughed gently, cuddling her tight. ‘Something like that dear. Something like that.’

‘You old man!’

‘Oi you! If you hadn’t been so senile and left that light on, this wouldn’t have happened!’

‘Hmm… Who’re you calling senile, oldie…’

Kissing her cheek as she drifted back off to sleep, I laid my head on the pillow. I’m quite glad she did leave that light on after all!

As the first beams of sunlight began to filter through the windows I woke up. Considering how little sleep I’d ended up having I was wide awake! Betty mumbled something about me being insane and rolled over, burying her head in the duvet to get another couple of hours kip as I sprung up and made my way over to my computer.

Turning it on and logging onto the internet, I began to type furiously. I had a lot to get through and not a lot of time to get it sorted. Thomas’ birthday was only two days away, and for this plan to go as we intended it to I had to get everything worked out by… Well, this time tomorrow.

Another sleepless night was to come!

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