Year 4

  “Now, let us begiion new food,” I say fervently, as Orb cps excitedly beside me.

  Due to my priorities ging st year, I couldn’t try out the new binations for the spices and seasonings, so here I am. But I discovered that Orb has a rather sharp tongue, so I asked him to taste each of the spices and seasonings to find out which of the ses I should put them in.

  This was not by any means a failproof method; We still passed out due to mistakes when splitting the spices up, but it worked out well.

  I showed Orb the proper amount of spice to put on the fruit. I also made it crystal clear that you shouldn’t mix too many spices; I o try my best to avoid another poisoning situation.

  We found four more binations that ralise the aftertaste of the fruit, and we successfully found ohat made the fruit taste better.

  “Yummy”, Orb said with delight.

  “This isn’t just average; It tastes good.”

  “Orb, we did it!” I say as we both begin jumping with joy. Out of excitement, I give Orb a big hug.

  Why did Orb stop making noise? Looking down at Orb in my arms, I realise that Orb is shaking and looking at me with his eyes staring dagger into me. Orb’s hair is bright e. Orb then bites my hand, grabs a knife and says, “Capti, what was that!”

  Perplexed by Orb’s as, I answer “A hug.”

  “Never do that again,” Orb says as his hair turns red.

  Wait, why would orb not like being hugged? Then it dawns on Captivant has Orb never been hugged in his life. Oh god, how sad, but I o try something. So Captivant reaches for Orb’s cheek.

  “Noooooo”, Orb screams as he throws the k me. However, the bde doesn’t fly that far. So I pinch Orb’s cheek with my hands while Orb’s hair alternates between e and red while Orbs screams “Stop.”

  After teasing him, I stop, and Orb stares furiously at me. So, it seems he doesn’t like to be touched, I ook noticed; most of the time I’ve taken his body back to his room, but I guess he was unscious all those times, so he didn’t freak out. He also seems ok with toug others, so it is only one way he doesn’t like tact. But while lost in thought, an angry Orb headbutted me in the ankle. “Fuck!”

  Log of the boy

  Name: Orb

  Age: 9(approximately)

  Hair: white (normal?) Red (anger) Greeement) Yellow (fear)

  Brown (nervousness) Grey(fusion) Cream(hunger)

  Lime(lying) e(disfort)Bck(worry)Pink(happiness)

  Purple(?)Gold(arrogance)

  All with strands of sliver

  Eyes: Blue(left) Ght)

  Likes: Drawing, Food, Snow Sculptures, Books, Captivant, Wolfie

  Dislikes: Bei alone, Being touched

  Height: 138 cm

  Orb is weird. A lot of the time, I don’t know what to make of him. He hates people toug him but loves the opposite. I sometimes find him ughing to himself. I have even caught him talking to the snow sculptures, but at least he gets shy when I see him do it. I believe Orb now uands that talking to snow is weird. I should thank the books for that. Talking about growth, he keeps growing, which gets rather annoying since I have to keep refitting his clothes; I am not very good at it and I ’t pay people to do that here. Still, it makes him happy, so it’s no real problem.

  But regardless of any of his weird behaviour, I would still call him a genius. He has wholly mastered both arithmetid the Saviours song. He speaks it fluently. We even have full-blown versations. His speech is better than most adults.

  Still, through our versations, I have been passing on some lousy speaking habits. He has also pronounced some words horribly, and I haven’t corrected him because I think it’s funny.

  But still, we run into a few issues due to his ever-expanding brain. Due to his increasing knowledge, he has been reading more challenging books, which has caused him to ask more and more questions.

  “Hey Capti, where are we,” Orb asked suddenly.

  “Well, I guess in a library.”

  “No, I mean, where in the world.”

  “Well, currently from the tre of the ti we’re northeast on a mountain of ice called Fimbulwinter.”

  “Capti, in the books I read, ice kills people, and mountains are very tall, so no one would e up here if they’re not resistant to the cold like I am. So if someone came up here, they would most certainly die.”

  “Orb, those are some dedu skills, but what’s your point,” I said even though I had a pretty accurate idea of what he was getting at.

  “I’m saying that uhere is treasure buried somewhere in all this snow, there would be no reason to e here unless you wao die, so Capti, why did you e here.”

  He really is a sharp kid “Hey Orb, let me go get something,” heading to my room, I grab the jar beside my bed, and theurn to Orb.

  “Orb, this is my wife.”

  Orb stares, with a fused look. “So, this is what women look like, nothing like what you described. How do they eat like this?”

  “No, Orb, her ashes are in this jar my wife is died. The reason I’m here is to bury her on this mountain. When the moon shines and hits the top of the hill, it is said to be the most beautiful site in the world, and my wife was the most incredible woman in the world, so from the bottom of my heart, I believe she deserves to see this site every year even from death.”

  Orb’s hair turns pure bck, then he says, “Capti people die when they get old, and you are over 82 years are you going to die,” Orb said restlessly.

  “What a weirdo. I tell you somethifelt; all you think about is death. You have quite a few screws loose in your head. Holy, you’re such a weirdo.”

  “CAPTIVANT, stop being stupid and answer my question.”

  I give Orb a thonk on his head. “Ouch”

  “Orb 2 things, firstwhen did you bee so bold as to scream my full hat’s disrespectful, and sed, I am immortal you heard me; I ’t die, you fool.”

  Orb’s hair turns e and then red.

  “Captivant, do you take me for fool immortality does. That is purely fial. All things have a finite value. If you were immortal, your value would be infinite, which is impossible. ”

  Fri smart ass, “Of course it exists. Living proof is standing right in front of you. Also, what do you even know about the world? All you’ve done is spend all your time on this mountain.”

  “I may not know much about the world, but something as ridiculous as immortality ’t exist, you idiot.”

  “Says the boy whose hair stantly ges hair, you weirdo.”

  “I’m not weird, and my hair ging colours is normal.”

  “Yeah, yht. It is normal if you pare it to the rest of the things in this world, like beasts the size of this house, a natiohe su shine, pces where clouds have wills of their own and castles in the sky pared to all that your normal you brat.”

  “That stuff ’t exist, you liar.”

  “It makes sense why you would believe you’re a child, so of course, you would do something as childish as disregard what I’m saying because it doesn’t match your worldview.”

  Orb pouts and says, “I’m not childish. You are.”

  Captivant smiles smugly at him and says, “That’s obviously what a childish person would say.”

  “You’re the one arguing with a child who is 73 years youhan you. You’re childish.”

  Direct hit, recuperating from the blow I say, “I was correg a child who ’t seem to uand that it’s illogical to deny everything you don’t uand.”

  “I’m illogical. Ok, then expin to me why you looked like you’ve almost died many times before.”

  “I almost die and feel pain, but I will never fully die.”

  “Then why do you look like you’ve aged, old man? You don’t look like how young people are described in books.”

  “Immortality is like a cycle. You grow old; then you bee young again when you turn a certain age.”

  “What about food? If you were immortal, you would not o eat”

  “The only way an immortal die is starvation. Remember, nutrition is essential.”

  “Well, isn’t that ve? Then why would you marry a person who isn’t immortal? That would make you sad.”

  “Elementary Orb, my wife was simply so amazing I had to marry her, and if I am Immortal, my wife will also be immortal in my memory.”

  Orb begins to pout more as his hair turns redder.

  Well, I guess it’s my fault for not edug you about the world: I run into the library and grabs a book.

  “Orb, this is a story I recreated. It’s a log of people and my time spent with them.”

  rabs the book out of my hand and jumps gleefully, but then he looks at me with fusion “Hey Capti, are the people in this book your friends, because I thought you didn’t have any?”

  “Wait, why would you think that I had no friends,” I say, hurt by this statement.

  “I simply thought that you’ve read so many books that you recreate them from memory, so I thought means that you spent all your time reading, and since you don’t have an excuse like me, I simply thought you had no friends.”

  “Well, so you know, I have friends, a lot of them, and the reason I have read many books is that I am an author, so I read lots of books for work.”

  Orb sighs and says, “So yoing to lie to my face.”

  “I am an author, believe me,” I say desperate.

  “Whatever you say, Capti”, Orb says as he walks away.

  “Well, if you won’t believe me, return my book,” I say reag for the book.

  “No, it’s mine”, Orb says as he runs from me.

  -Break-

  Orb has been reading the books I have given him, the stories of real people. Some of them, I would say, are too mature for his age, but he uand the more mature writing. He even loves asking me questions about things I probably shouldn’t expin to an 8-year-old, but if I expin them stifically, he gets them rather quickly.

  These books are helping him fet about our past versations; since his hair has been bright pink since he started reading them. It looks like it’s brought a lot of happiness into his life.

  But then one day he asked me, “Capti, hoeople are on the p.”

  "At its peak, I believe it was some absurd number like 20 billion, but I believe about 4 billion now”.

  “That’s amazing. Their so many people out.”

  “Orb, why the sudden i”

  “It’s because people are always tryie all the issues that they all fad all the emotions they tend with daily, yet they try to be happy, and that’s just in the books I’ve read so far, and you’re tellihere are four billion people like that, of course, I would be happy” he’s says eically.

  “Orb, not all people are like that. In the world, many people are the opposite of what you just said.”

  “Yeah, I guess that would be logical, but that means that everyone who lives despite that is amazing. They’re all like shining stars to me and aren’t all kids bnk stes, so as long as people weren’t born one way, they all ge.”

  That is a retively logical answer from Orb, but what did I expect? There is something about what he was saying or how he said it, “Orb, why are you talking as if you are not a person.”

  “Well, I guess I am a person, but I’m not like all those people,” Orb says as his hair returns white for the first time in ages.

  “Please expin what you mean, or I won’t be able to uand.”

  “Well, Capti, I don’t try hard or fay hardship, and I am useless on my own. I’m not amazing like all the people in the world. I might be a person like everyone else, but I’m not the same. I guess I’m here because I should in their world.

  Captivant sighs and says, “What a stupid and childish idea.”

  “I’m not childish,” Orb says as he begins to pout.

  I ’t bme him for having su idea. It’s something a kid like him would think up, but regardless, I must do something to erase such thoughts.

  “I ’t believe I just heard something so pletely illogical, I all but guarahe only reason you’re here is due to some strange circumstances. You already exist in their world. You exist in their world. I will take you out of here. Just watch me.”

  Orb’s face lit up with his hair turning pink “Really.”

  “I promise you. I’m not a liar, so let’s get out of here together. But only good kids get to go, so you must behave.”

  Orbs start jumping with excitement. Until we hear a rge GRUMBLE. Orbs hair turns to cream.

  He looks embarrassed. Orb, I will get some food ready.

  As I leave Orb, and walk to the kit, I coughs up some blood. “Those fruits really did help me.”

  So, after preparing the food, I head back to the room. “Orb, are you ready to eat”. But I see Orb colpsed on the floor. “ORB!” I scream running over to him.

  “Capti, I feel a little funny.”

  Talking Orbs temperature, I notices that Orb is burning up. What the hell Orbs had no body heat for years now. I got to act fast, so I grabbed him and brought Orb to a bed. Then I take the water sack from the fruit and make Orb drink.

  “Capti, I’m feeling a little sleepy”, Orb says right before passing out.

  This is a toe orb; for the first time in four years just randomly catches a cold. No Captivant break this down, his inability to feel temperature is caused by the fact he is a legacy, so that would mean if he lost this ability, it would be due to his legacy being uncooperative, but why is that what was different today. The only thought that es to mind is what I said.

  While lost in thought, I suddenly hears a rge bang. “What the hell was that,” I say running to see what happened. It might have been the front door, but no one could be here except for ohing.

  As reag the front of the house, he sees a rge mass of snow through the show. But then, as Captivant approaches it, he sees it start to form into a giant wolf.

  “Your presence here has bee bothersome; leave or die.”

  “Well, I guess you must be wolfie. o meet you. I am Captivant, but I guess you’ve heard all of mine and Orb’s versations”.

  -Break-

  “et up”, I hear as a hand pokes me.

  “No, leave me alone I’m fy,” I say as I push the hand away.

  “Orb, I am going to eat all your food.”

  “Noo”, Orb says as he jumps from the bed. Whes up, he sees Capti; blood spttered on the left side of his body with his left arm gone. “Capti, what happened”, Orb says hysterically.

  “Oh, this well I feel down some stairs”, Captivant replies casually.

  “What are you talking about? Do you think I would believe that you have fallen dowairs!”

  “When an immortal like falls dowairs a body part es off, it’s the trade-off for immortality.”

  “Is that so? The me push you off the stairs to check if you’re telling the truth.”

  “It only happens when I fall naturally and what’s with all these questions.”

  “The reason I am asking all these questions is that you are lying to my face like I’m an idiot-GRUMBLE” embarrassment fills Orb’s face.

  “Looks like someone’s hungry,” I say with a smirk as I hand Orb the fruit.

  Orb starts dev the food out of hungry “I’m still going to question you ter,” he says with satisfa.

  “Hey Orb, I’m going to be busy soon, so I won’t be able to hang out with you all the time, but I will give you lots to dardless.”

  Orb saddens and asks me, “Why.”

  “It’s a big present from me to you, so you got to be patient. I bet you it will be worth it, so get excited.”

  Orb eically says, “Ok.”

  Sorry, Orb, you might not like this present, but it’s something I o give you since I don’t have much time left.

  Year 4 End