HTTYD - Day 18, Part 1

Marcus was surrounded in darkness, in a completely empty void. He couldn’t see anything, hear anything, smell anything, or even feel anything. He was just floating, encapsulated in a great valley of nothingness.

But suddenly a bright light burst out of the nothingness, almost blinding him. His eyes struggled to adjust, but as they managed to pry themselves open, he saw a great, shining figure standing before him. And he realized he was in a field now, with pretty yellow flowers speckled all around, and great, endless mountain ranges surrounding the beautiful meadow, a cool breeze along his back. He didn’t feel small though; the flora that surrounded him were regularly sized, a familiar proportion to the rest of his body. He felt like he was back to his old height of just under 6 feet tall. But as he looked to the cloudless blue sky, he was unable to see the face of that which stood before him, towering hundreds of feet in the air, as the bright sun kept him from looking too close at who it was that stood with him. Until he saw the figure start to bend down, and their head moved to block the sun, eclipsing it as a giant face cast a shadow over him. And they were smiling, a radiant expression of love and joy on their face. It was his daughter.

As he looked beyond her giant, towering face, he noticed she was dressed in all white, with a sparkling halo hovering above her long, glimmering hair, and a pair of majestic, radiant wings at her back. He recognized it was the same outfit that she had worn to the party, but this one wasn’t made of cheap home materials; it was real. The cloth that adorned her body looked like they were made out of an extravagant silk, the wings at her back seemed to breathe in a life of their own, and even the halo floated independently above her, not bound by any sticks or plastic. Her skin was still milky white, but not it was glowing, as if there was some covered in some kind of aura. She wasn’t just dressed as an angel anymore; she had truly become one.

He watched as her fingers reached out to pick him up, but he felt no fear as he was deposited into the palm of her hand, and lifted up high off the ground and in front of her luminous, heavenly face. “Jessie?” he asked, transfixed by the sight of the being that he had thought was his daughter.

She slowly shook her head. “Yes, that is my name, but I am not your child,” she spoke, her voice still familiar and youthful, but filled with a kind of confidence he had never heard before. “I am your guardian angel, Marcus. Sent to keep you safe, and to wake you up.”

He was only filled with more confusion. “What?”

“Sent to wake you up,” the being repeated, still smiling. “Wake up. Wake up.” Her voice started to lose its confidence, although her face didn’t move, staring directly at him as her lips uttered the same thing again and again. “Wake up. Wake up. Daddy, wake, UP!”

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Sunday, November 1

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Marcus jolted awake and gasped for breath, his eyes flashing open as he returned to reality. Jessie had been kneeling in the middle of his bed, lightly prodding his shoulder and telling him to get up, but she leaned back suddenly as he jerked forward. “Daddy, are you OK?” she asked, her face suddenly filled with worry for her father. “Did you have a bad dream?”

His breathing slowed as his mind settled down, and realized that everything had all been in his head. “Yeah. I mean, no, it was just weird.” He couldn’t take his eyes away from his daughter’s concerned face. What a weird, crazy dream. In the moment, he had felt completely serene, albeit confused, but now he was a bit uncomfortable. His own flesh and blood having just moments ago been a heavenly being, but now in actuality, was back to being his normal, teenage daughter.

“Daddy?” she repeated, her head tilting to the side. “Are you sure you’re OK? You’re kinda looking at me weird.”

“Yeah, sorry.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. “What time is it?” He glanced towards the clock on his dresser: 10:13. What the hell? It’s been awhile since I’ve slept in that much, and I wasn’t even up that late last night.

Jessie looked to the clock too, “Yeah, that’s why I came to wake you up. We both went to bed at the same time last night, but I figured maybe you just didn’t sleep very well.”

“Eleven, right?” he asked, turning to look at her again. She nodded and pursed her lips. Guess she’s right, maybe I just didn’t sleep well last night. After his encounter with Veronica last night, he spent several hours watching TV in one of the guest rooms, until Jessie and Paris came up to get them around 10:30 and said they were ready to go. Then Marcus had dropped Paris off at her house before taking Jessie and himself home. His memory still felt a bit foggy, but it was starting to come back to him. “Yeah, I had a bit of a hard time falling asleep,” he admitted. The encounter with Veronica had been on his mind the whole time. Had he done the right thing, allowing her to be friends with his daughter after admitting she had a crush on him? Maybe my first instinct was right, maybe I should’ve just said no, and been the adult in the room and said she’s not allowed to come over to our house. I could’ve been polite and respectful and still said that. But… I do need a job. It wasn’t merely that his daughter’s classmate had admitted she liked him, he was sure lots of parents had had a friend of their child’s admit to something like that before. And the parents probably just explained that feelings are natural, but there should be boundaries, and right and wrong. But this felt different, since they were starting off that way, instead of it just coming out after some time. And the fact that half the reason she likes me is because of my size. That doesn’t help. But he wasn’t completely helpless at his size; like any responsible adult, he knew to set boundaries, like he had last night when they first spoke to each other. He wasn’t even sure when he’d see Veronica again, but if he just always made sure that his daughter was nearby when her friend was around too, then there shouldn’t be anything to worry about.

“Well I made you some eggs, but they’re probably kinda cold by now,” she said, interrupting his thoughts and bringing him back to the new day. She hopped off her bed and reached out her hand to pull him out of bed, but as he sat up more, his covers fell off his torso and she glanced down at his bare chest. “Wait, you… should get dressed first,” she giggled awkwardly, and retracted her hand as she turned back around and scurried out his bedroom door, softly closing it behind her.

Marcus emerged a few minutes later dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, headed to the kitchen to eat his breakfast. Jessie sat down at the table, holding her head in her hands and happily watched him as he microwaved the breakfast she made for him before sitting down across from her. “So what’s on the agenda for today?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with interest and curiosity. “We have a whole Sunday to do whatever we want,” she gleamed, chipper as ever.

Marcus paused his eating for a moment. Wait, it’s not her birthday today… and it’s not mine… “Is there something special I’m not thinking of?” he asked, and continued eating again. “It’s just a regular Sunday, isn’t it?”

Jessie sighed, rolling her eyes with a giggle at how ordinary and unimaginative her dad could sometimes be. “Yeah, Daddy, it’s just a normal Sunday, I’m just trying to be in a good mood.” She rapped her knuckles down on the table, and bit her lip as she started to make a beat with her knockings. “So what is it? What are we gonna do?”

He scratched his temple awkwardly, “Well since we didn’t get to them yesterday or last week, there’s some chores around the house we have to do.” He glanced outside to their backyard; the grass was getting dangerously tall. “And you need to cut the grass.” Jessie groaned, her face falling to the table as the little beat she was making with her knuckles stopped.

“Nice going, now you’ve killed all my enthusiasm,” she droned into the table, and Marcus chuckled.

“Jess, all of that shouldn’t take that long, and then you’ll still have the rest of the day to do whatever you want.” He looked to the clock again. “We might even finish with everything well before noon.”

Jessie didn’t say anything for a few moments, then sighed and lifted her head back up. “Yeah. Alright.” She stood up, figuring she mind as well get it over with and just mow the lawn now. But she still wasn’t happy. “You killed the vibe, man!” she jokingly told him, although it wasn’t a lie. “Killed it, Daddy!” She smirked at herself as he chuckled, then stomped slightly as she headed towards the back door. She wasn’t angry with her dad for making her mow the lawn; she knew that he was physically incapable of doing it himself because of his size. She was just a bit frustrated that after thinking she’d have the whole day to relax and do absolutely whatever she want, with endless possibilities, her dad had to come along and remind her that there were still chores she had to do. Just a part of growing up. But Marcus saw her heading outside barefoot, and spoke up before she could make her way out the sliding glass door. “Hey hey hey, wait,” he yelled out of concern, pointing down to her feet. “Why aren’t you wearing any shoes or socks?”

Jessie looked back to him, a completely innocent look on her face as she glanced down to her bare toes and then back up to her dad. “What do you mean? Do I have to?”

Marcus scoffed, “Well yeah, I don’t want you coming through the house when you’re done with dirty feet.” Isn’t that obvious?

Jessie crossed her arms, upset that her dad had scoffed at her. “Well obviously I’m gonna wash them off with the hose after I finish, I’m not stupid. But it’s a nice day out, doesn’t everyone like the feeling of grass between their toes? It’s like you’re one with nature!” She beamed at him, trying to infect him with her upbeat and positive attitude, but her father retained his stoic expression and didn’t budge on the matter.

“I know you’re not stupid sweetie, it’s not that I don’t believe you or trust you. But wet grass stains really easily. Even if you wash all the dirt off and everything, it’s still gonna stink up the house. You might not even smell it yourself, but I’m a lot closer to the ground now so I’m closer to the source.” Then he tapped his nose a few times with his finger, “Plus my sense of smell is stronger.”

“So I can’t cut the grass barefoot, not because they’d get dirty, but because they’d get smelly?”

Marcus looked away, then tilted his head back and forth as if weighing what she said. “Yeah, I sort of see it as the same thing, but I guess they’re technically different.”

Jessie huffed in annoyance at his demands. This was her chore, she was the only one who could do it and she offered to start doing it for him when he first shrunk. And now he wouldn’t even let her do it her own way. It wasn’t like it affected how good of a job she did or how long it took. She looked to the ground, and subsequently her feet, clenching her jaw and curling her toes against the rug as the tried to think of how else to argue with him. “Everyone’s feet stink, that’s normal like that’s just life,” she mumbled, but didn’t say it very loudly since she knew it wasn’t a real comeback and wouldn’t change his mind.

“What?” he asked, unable to hear her.

“Well I don’t want my shoes to get dirty,” she protested, a little louder this time. It was a better excuse, but as soon as she said it she already knew it still wouldn’t change his mind.

“You can use my old ones,” he offered. “Since I don’t use them anymore, I don’t really care what happens to them.” She continued to look at the ground, moping about her situation and refusing to make eye contact with her dad. Typical teenage angst, he thought. But I’m not without good reason, I don’t think. “Do you not think I’m being fair?” he asked softly. “I don’t want to be controlling, and I don’t think what I’m asking is too harsh. Sometimes people just have to compromise though.”

“No, I get it,” she muttered. “It’s fine.” She heaved in a big sigh, not missing the opportunity to be a bit dramatic, as she went to her room to put on some socks, before heading towards the garage where most of her dad’s old clothes were and find his shoes.