Timmy's Backpack
"Where is my bag?" A young boy of age six asked no one in particular. He had searched his house all over and he couldn't find his beloved backpack. It was not a usual backpack too, for he was given that by his grandfather whom his parents told him he not be able to meet again.
He decided to search under his bed one more time and crawled under it with a flashlight in one hand. He clicked it on, waved it around, finding nothing but dust, like what he had seen earlier today. It seemed like this was not the place either.
A glint caught his eyes. He did not noiced that before. He crawled to the spot on the wall, where the light was reflected. Under further inspection it became clear that it had a square shape, covered in dust. He brushed it off with his free hand, its golden surface shone bright even when he averted the light source away from it in surprise. It shone so bright that what he only saw was gold and white beams of light that made his eyes water. He shut his sore eyes in reaction.
When he opened it again he was not crawling under his bed anymore. He couldn't feel anything under his body and quickly registered that he's falling. Surrounding him was limitless sky and far underneath him was a ground. His face lost color, and he screamed to the top of his lungs.
He shut his eyes again, waiting for that eventual crash to come. But it never came, and when he opened his eyes again he saw a net. A large fishing net where he landed on gently and got pulled up altogether to an odd-looking plane. It had no propeller or engine like the planes he saw in TV. It instead had two pairs of flapping wings and a tail that moved like a mermaid's tail when swim.
He got pulled over the plane and into it through an open door. He was then thrown from the net and landed into a bed of fish, much like he was one.
The door closed and he travelled with the plane in darkness for who-know-how-long. When he was about to sleep from boredom, he felt movement under him. The fish were sucked down and before he could he reacted he sunk down with them too. He landed on another bed of fish but now, with shocked pairs of eyes of people surrounding him.
"What are you doing here?" Asked one tough-looking man with a scarred eye. The boy got thrown aback by the gruff voice and before he knew it he stood up and fled from the scene as quickly as his feet could.
Thought he finally got away, he looked around, panting. He couldn't register anything around him as being familiar. Stalls here and there. People shuffling about obviously buying things from the stall. He quickly learned that this was a market place, one that looked like it jumped out of a fantasy book.
He wandered around aimlessly in this new place. What happened? Where was he? Was he in a fantasy story? Will he be a king like how many stories he read ended? Most importantly, where was his backpack? Surely it must be in this place if he couldn't find it in his house.
And right on que, he spotted it being carried by a rat with a posture of a human boy like him. the rat boy noticed him at that moment too.
The rat boy ran away. He deftly followed; through the crowd, across the street, between buildings, up a ladder and even on the merchandise being sold. He's starting to get tired.
"Wait. Come back," he shouted, wheezing occasionally, "That... That's my bag." He wheezed more.
"Liar!" shouted back the rat, "This is not your bag. And I'm gonna return it to the right one!"
The boy didn't understand. How could that not be his bag. It was clearly his. He was given that. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't run fast enough to catch that rat. He tripped himself in exaustion, rolling on the ground rather roughly, his front facing the dirt. He lifted his face up and the thief was not in his line of sight anymore.
His heart exploded out with emotions, stronger than his innocent mind could handle. They swirled around and came out in the form of tears, trickling down his cheeks. He cried. His bag. His precious bag. He finally found it only to have it snatched before his eyes, and he's not going to get it back anymore.
More and more he cried, not minding patrons that had gathered around to see what's the commotion. One hand reached out to touch his trembling shoulder.
In the blur of his teary eyes, he saw a familiar figure and that made him stop momentarily. The flow of tear stopped long enough for him to see the person's face.
"Are you ok, Timmy?"
He dug his face into the person's chest. It was his grandfather.
His grandpa pulled him up into a standing stance, still crying. "Now now, don't cry. Let's go to my home. You want cocoa Timmy?"
Hearing the keyword, he brightened up instantly. "Hot cocoa? I want one grandpa!"
He and his grandfather then walked out of the shopping area, to a vehicle that belonged to his granddad. The said vehicle was of a fantasy shape too, having six wheels and a cabin floating in the air above them. The mermaid's tail was attached to its back.
They got up onto the cabin and without any order or driver, it started on its own once they sat.
"I haven't seen you for a while Timmy. How are you my boy?" His grandfather asked with a loving smile.
"Oh I have many things to talk with you grandpa!" He said with glee. They talked along the way and all too quickly, the vehicle stopped.
"Ah we're here."
"Where, grandpa?"
"My new home in this place, what else?"
They got down from the cabin, and what greeted Timmy was spectacular. His grandfather now lived in a large white manor with green lush garden, beautiful decorations, tall glistening golden fence at the far end of green. Timmy was awestruck. "Grandpa, this is awesome! Why haven't you told me you're gonna move here before! I'd ask mom to bring me here more often."
His grandfather laughed, a slight droop in his brows escaped Timmy's notice. "It's awesome alright Timmy. I'm glad to have you here. Now come. Cocoa's waiting."
They got into the manor and the inside excited Timmy further. It was elegant and fantastic, yet struck him as homely and warm. After series of door they reached the kitchen. Given that it was a manor, he didn't expect the kitchen to look like the one in his grandfather's old house. He saw his grandfather get the needed ingrediants, boiled the water, and prepared two cups for him and himself.
They sat at the table with one cup in each other's hands. Timmy blew it and slowly took a sip.
"Do you still keep my backpack?" His grandfather asked innocently. Timmy tensed. He forgot about it, the backpack that he was here to find. He can't let him know that he had lost it but.... But he couldn't lie to his grandpa. He was always nice to him.
Under a pressure so heavy for the youth, he started to cry again. His grandpa wasted no time to come and sooth him.
"There there. Don't cry. Tell me what happened, Timmy. I promise I won't get mad." His grandpa never broke a promise, so he spoke. He told him of the disappearance of his bag, the mysterious square, the falling and fish, the rat boy and eventual meeting with him. Timmy expected to see a hint of anger in his grandpa's eyes, but what he saw when he looked up was a contemplating face.
"Rat boy, you say? Give me a moment." And with that, he left the kitchen.
Timmy took more sips from his cup. When his grandfather returned there was only a quarter of it left. "Timmy, does your rat boy look like this?" Walked into the kitchen was the very boy he met at the market.
Both boys shouted out loud, "You!" One started to get away and one stood up to follow. An arm of an elder stop both from taking more action.
"Now now. Timmy please sit down. Jeremy, take a seat, we need to talk." Hearing the name Jeremy made Timmy recall something but he did as instructed like the other boy.
"Jeremy." The rat boy tensed. "Did you steal this young man's bag?"
"Y.. Yes. But it was not his!" The rat said quickly.
"It's mine!" Replied back the boy, "Grandpa gave it to me and I know that it's mine!"
The surprise was shown on Jeremy's face. "Grandpa?" He then leaned closer to Timmy's face, squinted his eyes as if inspecting his facial feature and then his eyes went wide. "Timmy! You are Timmy! How can I not see that? Oh I'm so so very sorry for taking your bag. You've grown since then that I cannot remember you at first."
Timmy did not understand Jeremy's reaction, but his next words enlightened him. "I'm Thomas' rat pet, Jeremy. You remember me?"
And that was why the name was familiar. He loved to play with Jeremy when he came to visit his grandpa, up until he went missing one day and he never saw him since. Who could have imagined that he had come to this place and grew up with a body of man.
"Jeremy! I remember you now. You wasn't this big. You were just so little. I love playing with you. Why do you have to leave?" The saddened face of Jeremy and his owner was noticed by him now. He saw Jeremy turned to face his grandpa, a little nod and he turned back to face him once more.
"I have to Timmy. We all have to. Me, master, even you."
"Then I want to be here with you all."
"No you can't Timmy. It's not time for you yet," the rat said with a sad face. His refusal only left Timmy frustrated.
"Why can't I? I want to be with you all. I don't want to leave you again." Timmy then got up to hug Thomas. "Please, grandpa? I don't want to leave here. I'll miss you."
Thomas let the boy hugged him for a while. This might be the last time he get to do it, unbeknownst by the boy. After sometime he parted with the boy and fished out a backpack that he had been searching for. The elderly patted his head and spoke in a calm manner, "Timmy. It's not time for you to be here yet. But one day you'll be."
Timmy calmed down and listened to his grandfather. Somehow, he felt like this was a serious matter and he had to listen with all his heart.
"Until then, please promise me two things." Timmy nodded. Thomas smiled gently. "First, be a good boy. Grow up to be a good man. Don't make your parents sad, ok?" Timmy took those words up into his mind, and again he nodded. Thomas continued, "Second, live a good life. Live one that you won't regret. Understand?" Timmy nodded once more and his grandfather seemed satisfied.
"I doubt you understand that, but remember my words Timmy." He kissed the boy's forehead.I love you." And handed him the backpack. "This, is the parting gift I left for you. If you ever miss me, open this bag and I'll be with you."
Timmy grabbed his bag and looked into his grandpa's eyes. They were filled with joy, as do Jeremy's when he turned to him. "What's in the bag grandpa?" he asked.
Thomas answered, "Why don't you find it out yourself?"
And he did. He opened his backpack and light came spilling out of it. There were so much light that he was bathed in it. He squinted his eyes shut in reaction.
His eyelids slowly reopened. What the eyes saw were the darkness under his bed. He crawled out slowly, in one hand was a flashlight and in another was his backpack, its front opened ajar. He finally understood what his grandpa meant when he looked into it.
There sewed to the front flap was a photo of him, and his grandpa in the embrace of each other, smiling with a warmth of thousands of sun. A portal of light that would take him to his grandpa whenever he wished for.