FSE

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My father told me a story once, about how he and mum met. How I came into this world, and how the spirits had guided him. When he first told me this, I didn't believe it. How did the spirits do it? Why did they do it? Wasn't dad brave enough to get to know mum better?

Those thoughts got lost in the passage of time, and were almost forgotten as easily as one would expect of a young child. I continued my life and continued to grow, until I heard about a wolf on the island. It wasn't far, just across from a nearby river where a bridge I passed by every day as I went to and from school. I spent most of my time after school staring at the island, and I saw him every now and again, hiding away the moment that he was aware of me.

Years of coming to the bridge did eventually wear me down, and I was just tired of the whole notion that I would ever learn of his purpose. It made me wonder, just what was my purpose? I didn't know the answer to that, so I wondered why it was that I wanted to know of this wolf's purpose of all things.

It was just as I was about to depart when he stopped me. The wolf from the island came after me, and I followed him back to his home. He introduced himself as Einar, and he had apparently been brought up on the island. It was when our eyes met that I saw something, like a glint of light. He had seen it too. Thinking back to my dad's words, I think I was shown a sign of my own...

---

Simon sighed as he trudged back home, still wet from crossing the river by foot. It wasn't that deep, but it got his cargo pants quite wet, as well as most of his shirt. The initial feeling was wearing away, and he was soon thinking of how he was going to explain it to his parents. Almost late out, soaked heavily by water, he was going to have to come up with something that would hold, rather than just saying that he fell in.

The air was just slightly warming, the water the only reason why he felt slightly cooler. The sky had dulled significantly as the sun had begun its farewell in a brilliant amber light. The same light Simon could tell, as the colour of Einar's eyes. He giggled to himself when he thought it. "Who would've thought that?" As much as it embarrassed him, he didn't seem to mind all that much. Though it was a bit of a stretch to think that their meeting was a sign, he couldn't help to think of Einar; kind, thoughtful, respectful. Einar could definitely be someone to be considered his equal if not surpassing him. After all, he had lived on that island for his entire life, yet his mannerisms were gentle, his heart pure. Simon soon found himself back at his house, which had been a short walk from the bridge.

The lights were off, which was a surprise to him. They typically were there when he got home after school, at the least for his mother. Checking the answering machine, he knew why she was out. "Hey Simon, it's just mum here. I'm going to be out for a bit since Ellane's celebrating her 8th anniversary this evening. I know you can take care of yourself, but I've fixed some dinner for you in the fridge. I won't be back for a while, and chances are your father will be back first before I am. See you at 8, and make sure you do your homework!"

"Well, at least I won't have to explain why I'm so wet," he spoke to himself. "I should really get washed up."

He snatched a spare shirt and shorts, and settled into the shower, the lukewarm water lifting away the stresses of the day. Thinking about Einar, Simon knew that the wolf was most likely thinking of him too, overjoyed and overwhelmed all at once. He too felt it, something that just wanted to leap for joy.

After finishing his shower, he dried himself off with a vigorous shaking and a very absorbent towel before dressing into his other clothes. The ones which were wet ended up along with the rest of the washing, and since it was his day to put it all in, he set it up as soon as he could manage.

Simon went to his room on the second storey, grabbed his bag, and took out his homework. There was his planner, his pencil case, but oddly not much else. "Oh, I remember now!" he yelled. "There wasn't anything today!"

With the events that had occurred that day, Simon didn't do what he typically did, jumping to watch television or aimlessly browsing the internet over the dial-up connection that he knew that every family ever had long since replaced. Instead, he opened up his browser, and began to research into the whole idea of soulmates. There wasn't much information on the subject, oddly enough. Some people claimed that they had seen it, others just ignored their observed evidence, which led to heated arguments over the internet. Not like Simon could take the internet seriously just yet.

His task was soon interrupted by the rumble of an engine as a car pulled up aside Simon's home. Dad's home, he thought. But, hasn't he experienced this before? With that thought, he left the computer, and headed up front to let his father in.

"Hey dad."

"Hey Simon, didn't think you'd let me in! Thought I was going to be unlocking the door by myself again, you know?"

"Come on dad," he chuckled, "I'm not that bad of a wolf you know?"

"Well, you're still growing," he chuckled in response. "A few more years and you might start treating your elders with respect."

"Oh, stop with the jokes already!" said Simon, slightly annoyed. "Just because I did something differently for a change..."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry about that. But I must ask, where is your mother?"

"Oh, she's gone to Ellane's party. Celebrating an anniversary, eight years gone."

"Yeesh, she'll be out all night. What am I going to do without her?" he questioned, almost as if he didn't know the answer.

"Well, she did say that dinner's in the fridge. We can share it out," Simon said, smiling a bit. As much as their time together had decreased, at least the bond between father and son was still strong as it had been so many years ago.

Tonight's dinner was of course, leftover curry from the previous night. Simon's father groaned as it was removed from the fridge. "You sure there wasn't anything else, son?"

"Not from what I can tell. There's some bread here though, that might complement it a bit," suggested Simon, turning to face his dad. "Look, I'll heat up the curry, you can take care of toasting the bread, yeah?"

"I know what happened last time, yeah," growled his father. The first time they had been left alone, Simon's father had the misfortune of having to cook meals, and made a ridiculously huge mess. Of course when Simon's mother returned, she remarked, "Oh, you are absolutely hopeless! Just let Simon handle the important things, you can do something small, like toast." The events of that day eventually led Simon to better his cooking technique, and though he hadn't learned many recipes, he had at least the knowledge to reheat food without it exploding.

Though his father wasn't into spicy foods, he enjoyed the flavour more when it was cooler. It was only yesterday that it was absolutely insisted that it was served as hot as possible. It wasn't a pleasant experience to say the least, but it was all taken with a little sense of humour after it.

"Hmm, you serve food better than your mother," he remarked when they sat around to eat. "You taking any more of those classes?"

"No, not really." Simon shrugged. "Other than what she tells me, it's for the most part a bit of trial and error. Kind of like when I started driving."

They continued to eat, and as they were about to continue their conversation, the phone began to ring. Simon almost stood immediately, but his father waved. "Let me handle this one."

He strode over and picked up the cordless phone from the stand. "Hello?"

Of course, Simon wanted to bring up the subject that had arisen over the day, but he didn't know how he would put it forth without getting all of the wrong impressions. Now that his father was on the phone, it gave him a chance to think of how he could best approach the subject.

"Oh you! I'm glad you're out of the house right now. Simon's really knows how a curry should be! You nearly burned off my mouth you know!" Simon smiled when he heard. The little bickerings that went on between his mum and dad were always light and joking, prodding fun at one another. When it came to the more serious business, it was taken calmly and clearly, something that Simon could be glad to appreciate.

"So, when do you expect to get home? 8:30 PM? You really want to stay out late, don't you... Alright, talk to you soon. Love you, bye."

Simon's father turned back to him with a grin. "She really wants to stay out tonight."

After finishing up dinner and the dishwasher was going, Simon went to the main living room. His father was already seated, flicking through his phone. A quick glance over the shoulder indicated that his father was not going to have to deal with a lot tomorrow, something that was a rare occurrence.

"Anything going on at work dad?"

"Much less than usual, thank goodness," he remarked. "Finished up the design for Fitz and Steven in the same day. Of course tomorrow, I'm going to meet Ms. Winters to discuss plans for the school, since the review came back, and that will most likely keep me busy for a while yet." He sighed. "How about you, son? You got things going on at school?"

"Yeah. Since the year's going to be finishing up soon, I was placed into a group to assist with the end of year activities. Ms. Bennett got everyone in our peer cohort to vote, and I was one of them."

"Sounds good."

Simon switched on the television set and began to flick the channels, directing himself to the nearest news channel.

"...Mr. Rabbot claims that under a Coalition government, that they will have surplus by 2017. This is placed similarly under the current projections for Labour..."

"Ah yes, that's just reminded me." His father looked up. "You remembered to enrol?"

"Yes dad, I got the confirmation mail yesterday."

"So you'll be right for election day?"

"Yeah." The only issue with that was considering where his opinion lied. The issue as it stood was trying to filter out policy from trash-talking, and in the days of deception and manipulation, it was pretty difficult to do. Fact-checking units eased things up a little, but they didn't remove most of the work that was needed. Simon did't want to turn to friends or classmates if he could help it, since he wanted to make his own decisions.

"Anyone influencing your decision making?"

"Not really, unless you count Gruen Nation."

His father laughed. "Oh, that show, I haven't seen it in a while. I've been too busy, I swear..."

"Well," suggested Simon, "it's available online, and you can watch it at any time."

"Is that so?" His father's ears perked. "We can watch it now then, even if it is a repeat for you."

"Yup, but I don't mind."

Even though they both enjoyed watching the dissection of politics marketing, Simon still was troubled about the main issue that he had meant to discuss. It wasn't likely that such an opportunity would arise in such moods ever again. "Hey dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you remember talking to me about how you met mum?"

"Hmm... I think so. Why do you ask?"

Simon took a slightly larger breath before saying. "It's about... I saw something."

His father's attention suddenly snapped over. "You did?"

"Yeah. It was today when I was walking home. I passed by someone." Simon chose his words carefully. His father didn't need all of the story at once, since it would probably cause more harm to until he could be sure.

"Who was it?" His father asked. "Was it someone you knew?"

"Vaguely," was the response.

"Well, when I met your mother, I barely knew her either. Just thought of her so out of my league, you know?"

Simon grinned slightly. "Yeah, I know that feeling."

His father's eyes turned to focus on his son's. "So, what do you plan to do?"

Simon's ears flattened nervously. "I don't know. I suppose that's why I told you."

"Hmm." He pondered to himself for a moment, and after a while spoke. "I think that, if the spirits have shown you and you pursue that person, then your life is only going to get a lot more tough."

"Is that so... Why?"

His father sighed. "To get to where we are right now, I had to do a lot of things. Things that were hard. Things I don't like. I went in defiance of my parents and friends to be with your mother, and though some things have healed over time, there are still scars."

"Tough huh..." he trailed. Knowing the circumstances, he began to wonder if he was going to regret having met Einar. They had barely knew one another, and all they had ever done was watch each other from afar over the long years.

"Indeed so. But in the end," his father said, "I don't regret how this ended up. I have learnt much through such trials, and I am glad to be here now."

"Thanks dad." Simon smiled. Now that he had consulted, he could say at the very least that he was slightly more prepared to take on whatever life or fate could throw at him. Brushing his teeth and going to bed, he fell asleep with a reassurance he felt he couldn't do without.

---

Einar sighed happily as he looked at the family portrait that he had been taken in so many years ago. His father stood tall. His mother even more so. In the middle was him, smiling and his tail wagging furiously as could be told from the blur in the photo. "Oh, if you could only see me now!"

His meeting with Simon had made things so much more meaningful than ever before. He was already content with life on his island: growing his own food, swimming in the river, learning from his father's books. But Simon? He just somehow made everything better, more so than Einar thought even possible in the living world.