Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 05:52:26 EST
From: jonnyfantastico6@aol.com
Subject: "Forever Charmed"- Chapter 3: Fade to Black

"Forever Charmed" uses characters from the Aaron Spelling TV show,
"Charmed". Spelling Enterprises; all rights reserved.

I do not own most of these characters. I, however, do own some, but the
main Halliwells belong to Aaron Spelling.


If you're under 18, you really shouldn't be here reading this, so please
hit the back button now. All responses and comments can be sent to
jonnyfantastico6@aol.com


"Forever Charmed"

Chapter 3: Fade To Black

"I'm also your WHAT?"

That's all I could say. Shock wasn't even the word I was feeling. I looked
around the room at everyone. Mom was still crying.

"Well", said Mama P, "in a way, you're my son."

I let go of her hands and walked to the window. I was in total confusion. I
had two moms?  What?

"Baby," my mother started to walk towards me. "You have to understand it
was the only way."

I turned around and looked at her with tears streaming down my face. "I get
that. And I'm grateful to be alive. But how could you keep this all from
me?! All of these years, I've been around this family and called them
"family" because we were so close. And now, you're telling me, "Oh, guess
what, honey? They really ARE your family! Oh, and by the way, you're a
powerful witch?" This is too much right now."

Mama P walked to me and looked concerned, "Baby, I know this is a lot to
take in. We only kept this from you until we were sure you could handle
it."

"And now was the time? How about before, oh, I don't know, BEFORE I GOT
ATTACKED BY A DEMON?"

Wyatt stormed up to me. "Don't yell at her, dude. Don't you think this is
hard for her, too? And what about me and Chris? The fact that we knew that
we had another brother and couldn't say or do anything to let him know?"

I stepped right up to Wyatt's face. "You're not innocent in this either,
and neither is Chris. We've been best of friends all of our lives. We hang
out almost everyday. We tell each other just about everything and you
couldn't even give me a hint. You know how I felt about my past; how I
wanted to know about my life. And you didn't say a goddamned thing! So,
right now isn't the time to tell me who to scream at and who the fuck not
to!"

With his face full of anger, Wyatt pushed me. I pushed him back, and then
Mama P stepped between us.

"Stop it! This is not the time for this. Peter, I know this is confusing
for you, but you will not bring any negative energy into this house! Wyatt
is still^Å" she broke off, unable to finish the sentence.

I looked right at her, "Say it. He's still my brother. Go on."

The pain in her eyes was too much to bear. I suddenly felt very sorry for
what I had said, but was way too upset to apologize. She looked at me and
said, "I was going to say your friend."

Chris joined in, "And your White Lighter, too."

All I could do was laugh. "Damn. And the secrets just keep coming, don't
they? You know what, I need to go. Now." I started towards the door and
Mama P came after me.

"Baby, we'll leave you alone right now."

Aunt Pheebs came towards her. "Leave him alone? He just found out that his
life is nothing that he thought it was and you want us to leave him alone?"

Aunt Paige came right behind her; The Charmed Ones joined together. "Calm
down, Phoebe.  Remember how much I needed to be for a while after I found
out who I was. He needs time.  Just give him that."

"Exactly", said Mama Piper. "Peter, I understand you need time to process
this. But please know we're not going anywhere and neither is this part of
your life. Whenever you want to talk to me or any of us, we'll be here. We
love you very much." She tried to hug me, but I backed off.

"Yeah," I said. I walked out the door and just kept walking.

I ended up walking down to the beach. As cold as it had been lately, it was
the only place that relaxed me. I just watched the water rise and fall
overlooking the San Francisco Bridge. The same thoughts repeating over and
over again.

I'm someone else's son.

I'm a powerful witch, connected to an even stronger family of witches.

And worse of all, the boy I have been in love with since I first realized I
was gay^Å

Is my brother.

The sea splashed around without a care.

"Well, if you're just gonna throw water around^Å" I said before the tears
started to flow.


"Well, that went well," said Piper as she walked back into the living
room. She walked back to the couch and plopped down.

Amanda walked to her. "It's not like we expected him to be all excited
about everything. We kept everything a secret to him for 16 years. Where
Wyatt and Chris always had full knowledge of his powers, he just learned
about his accidentally."

"Actually," said Chris; "Mom just told us this two years ago. We only
picked up on it because of how similar we looked despite our races^Å and
then I kind of overheard Mom and Dad talking about it."

"Yeah;" said Leo. "Nosy little thing, isn't he?" Chris glanced down, a
little embarrassed.

"Speaking of which, what were his powers, Wyatt?"

"Well, from what I saw, he somehow was able to literally freeze that demon
into a block of ice.  He blew it out of his mouth. It was like a blizzard
in the room. So cool, Dad. No pun intended."

Leo walked to his son and patted his shoulder. "It's nice to know you're
not too mad at him."

"Don't get me wrong. I'm pissed at how he treated Mom and Aunt Mandy. But,
I guess I understand where Pete's coming from."

"Also," Chris stated, "He was able to orb. I don't think he realized it,
though. When the demon threw a fireball at him, he orbed away."

"Definitely his fathers' side"; Amanda said.

The three sisters smiled at that.

Amanda looked towards the broken table. "Let me guess. Demon attack."

Piper nodded. "Yeah. And he was looking for Peter. Something about
attacking "the next in the Charmed line"."

"Did he have a weird face tattoo?"; asked Wyatt.

"Um^Å actually, yeah he did."

"He was the one that attacked us in Aunt Mandy's kitchen"; Chris
added. "The one Pete vanquished."

Amanda sighed. "I guess it's really starting, huh?"

Chris replied, "Yep. I guess it's time for our destinies to begin. There
goes our childhood." He let out a fake sniffle.

Everyone in the room laughed a little. "So, Wyatt, you ready for it?" He
stood up and walked to his brother.

"I've been fighting for as long as I can remember, bro. The question is,
"Is Peter ready?"

Piper simply said, "Let's hope so."




For the next week, I avoided anyone with the name Halliwell as much as
possible. I sat in a different seat in English. I ate lunch outside, no
matter the weather. I didn't answer any phone calls from them. I had
letters left in my locker by Chris and even a couple from Wyatt. I just
tore them up. I wasn't ready to deal with any of it and I couldn't face
anyone from that family for a while.

I would go to school and straight home, which was more difficult than not,
because I was usually at Halliwell manor. I would attempt to avoid my mom,
but when she wasn't working, she was always home and she just tried to
always talk to me. I gave her a few noncommittal phrases here and there,
but no heavy conversation. The next weekend, I was sitting at home, bored
at my computer listening to music. I had bought some new CD's thanks to
Papa Leo's gift. I had them playing on my computer and I had to minimize
the Media Player to get to the desktop.

There, staring back at me was a picture of me, Chris, Wyatt and Mama
Piper. I forgot I had that set on my Desktop Wallpaper. It was on her
birthday last year. She was wearing one of those silly birthday hats (that
Chris insisted she wore). Wyatt had his hands around my neck, jokingly
choking me. Chris had two fingers behind Wyatt's head and Mama P was
laughing at the three of us. It was one of my best memories, and not
anything I needed to see at the moment. I turned off the monitor and laid
in bed.

I had never felt more alone in my life at that moment. The tears started to
flow and I had no other thought than to cry myself to sleep. Suddenly, the
room started to glow, which worried me considering all of the lights were
off. I glanced to my side and saw the familiar glow of little stars.  When
they faded, Aunt Paige stood there with Chris by her side.

"Hey there, bro", he said.

I looked at him and said, "Wow. Bro. Funny."

Paige walked to me and sat on my bed next to me while Chris turned on my
desktop light. "You can turn that right back off, `cause I don't want to
talk to you right now. And besides, you need to learn how to knock."

Chris looked very upset as he said, "Well, I never needed to knock
before. Neither did you."

All I could do was scoff and look the other way. "Well, things change."

Paige touched me slightly, "Don't be upset with him. We were worried about
you. Even with me not living at the manor, it's not like me to not see you
for a week. Are you OK?"

"Yeah. My life is totally different, my best friends are my half-brothers
and I have another mom I didn't know about. Totally peachy with a side of
keen; that would be me."

"Look, Petey"; said Aunt Paige. Only she could call me that. "We need to
talk and the family decided that me and Chris would be the lesser of the
evils right now. Please don't prove them wrong."

I sat up on my bed and leaned against the bedpost. "Fine. Talk."

Paige sighed a little and started. "I know what you're going through,
babe."

I just gave her a look and giggled. "Really?"

Paige continued, "Don't get smart. Anyway, we really do have this in
common. I guess I never told you how I became who I am today. It was all
about 20 years ago. When your Aunt Prue died. I used to be a social worker
and one day, I was at my desk and something hit me."

"A demon?", I asked.

She smiled. "No, sweetie. Not literally hit me. Like a realization or
something. I was looking at the obituaries in a newspaper and I saw a piece
for Prue. I don't know how it happened or why it happened, but I went to
the funeral. It was like I needed to be there, you know?"

"Like something you couldn't control?"

"Something like that, babe. I still don't get it."

I just laughed at that point. "Yeah, cause that's what happened to
me. Suddenly, I realized I had another family. And I was a witch." Chris
walked over to the other side of my bed and grabbed my hand. I looked over
at his face, somewhat sad, but more resigned.

"Look, don't do this, OK? Let her speak."

I realized there was no point in fighting this. Chris wouldn't let me and
Paige would keep trying until she got through. I might as well just listen
to what she had to say. "Fine, Chris. I'll shut up.  But, once again, the
hand thing?"

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No. I just don't understand."

"Mom only told Wyatt and I 2 years ago that you were our brother. Our
half-brother, anyway. I loved you like family before that and from that
point on, I realized that we actually were family. I had a real connection
to someone I have always cared so deeply about. So, the hand thing is just
a realization of that fact. You're my brother. You're family. You're a
Halliwell. We're connected.  Always. So, just let me do this and let Paige
speak, OK?" Tears started to fill his eyes and I could no longer hold up a
fight. I could never hurt Chris.

"OK. I'm sorry, Chris. Paige, continue."

Paige sighed and smiled. "OK. So, I went to the funeral and^Å I felt like I
was grieving in a way for this person I had never known. Being adopted, I
never really felt whole. I loved my family, but I knew something was
missing and I didn't know it. That day, I felt like I had found
something. I just didn't know what it was at that moment."

"I know the feeling, Aunt Paige. I've had this hole in me for so long, but
I knew being around you guys helped make the hurt go away. I didn't realize
the hole had filled itself."

Paige smiled, a bit teary-eyed and continued, "Anyway, after some digging
and some fighting, new information came to light and^Å it turned out that
Piper and Phoebe were my sisters. And^Å that we were witches. Well, I was
half and half anyway."

"How did you find out you were a witch/White Lighter? Or is it White
Lighter/witch?"; I followed.

Chris giggled. "Is there a proper combination?"

We all snickered at that. "I really don't know."; continued Aunt
Paige. "Actually, I found out the same way you did; I was attacked by a
demon. And Phoebe filled in a lot of the rest, since Piper was less than
enthused about me at first."

"Mama Piper? That doesn't sound like her at all."

Chris responded. "I know. But, understand that she just lost her oldest
sister. She really wasn't in the right state of mind to hear about another
possible sister."

I nodded.

Aunt Paige continued, "She eventually came around, cause I'm that cool."

Chris and I giggled. I glanced down at our hands and thought, "I would've
given anything for this a month ago. How time changes things."

Chris looked at me a little confused, but smiling. I looked back and Aunt
Paige, who had a similar look on her face, but pushed it off and continued
with her story.

"Anyway, it took me a while, but I started to want to know more about my
past. And my sisters.  And my heritage. After a while, it was more
important to me than being upset about being given up. I learned more about
that over time and the rest is history."

I was totally surprised about what she had just told me. And very
touched. I started to cry.

"Hey, Pete," Chris started, "What's wrong?"

"I just feel horrible. I've said some really terrible things to you guys
and you're still here trying to get through to me. I understand I was hurt,
but it's no excuse to the way I've acted over the past week. I'm sorry,
Aunt Paige. Chris, I'm so sorry^Å I^Å" The tears started to flow even more.

Aunt Paige moved up to me and hugged me. Chris hugged me as well.

"It's OK, sweetie", said Aunt Paige. "We understand why. But there are 3
other people who need this apology more than us."

I nodded. "Mom, Wyatt and Mama Piper."

Chris said, "Exactly. And you need to do it soon, because just hanging out
with Wyatt is like Kevin leaving the Backstreet Boys. The end of an era."

I giggled at that statement. "Dorkus."

He responded back, "Dorkus maximus."

Paige stood up and interrupted. "OK, I know you guys are glad you're
speaking again, but we need to go. We'll stop by the house and tell Piper
the good news. It is good news, right, Peter?"

I looked up at her and smiled.

"Good", she continued. "Chris and I will go to the manor and then, I have
to get Henry and the kids some dinner."

Chris stood next to Aunt Paige. "KFC again, Aunt Paige?"

She poked him in the ribs. "We all can't be master chefs like your mom. And
this time, it's McDonald's."

He laughed at that, then looked at me. "So, Pete, you coming or not?"

I looked down at my attire; a T-shirt two sizes too big and "Spongebob
Squarepants" boxers.

Chris giggled. "OK, how about this? Paige and I will go back to the manor
for now and I'll come back and get you in about an hour? It'll give you
time to actually put on some clothes not from the Nickelodeon collection."

I smiled. "Sounds like a plan. Maybe you can teach me how to do that glowy
thing."

"It's called "orbing", bro. You'll like it. See you in an hour. Love ya,
Pete." Then, they "orbed" away.

"Yeah," I whispered. "I love you, too, Chris. Too bad it's not the way I
want to love you^Å"



Chris and Paige orbed into the kitchen at the manor. At the kitchen table
were Phoebe, Leo and Mandy. Piper was getting some iced tea from the
fridge.

"So", Amanda started. "How did it go? Did you get through to him?"

Chris walked to them and had a seat. "Well^Å"; he said.

Paige caught on to his game; "Well^Å it went^Å"

"Oh, God. What happened? Does he hate us even more now? I knew this was a
bad idea. We should've waited" Piper seemed to say in one breath as she
walked to the table.

Chris had to laugh. "I'm sorry. I had to. It went great, everyone. He'll be
here in an hour."

Paige had a smile on her face. "He apologized and everything."

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. Piper playfully hit her son
on the back of his head.  "Christopher Perry Halliwell, how could you do
that to us? This is serious, you know."

He rubbed the spot where he was smacked, "Sorry, Mom. It's called an ice
breaker, and it looked like you all needed that."

Leo nodded, "Very much so."

Piper continued, "OK, OK, enough games. Wow. So, how is he? Was he OK?"

Chris answered. "Yes. A little sad, a little scared. But, he seemed ready
to talk. And he misses us.  And he's sorry. I have to get him in an
hour. He had to get presentable."

"Let me guess", said Amanda. "Oversized T-shirt? "Spider Man" boxers?"

Chris and Paige replied, "Spongebob."

Amanda smiled. "Yep. He's sorry."

Everyone just giggled.

"Alright", said Piper. "Let's all go into the living room and get ready for
Peter when he comes over. Obviously, he'll have a lot of questions. Chris,
go up to the attic and get the Book of Shadows. It's a good place to
start."

"Sure, Mom", Chris responded. "Where's Wyatt?"

Leo answered while standing up, "Upstairs in his room, upset about Peter as
well. Just in a T- shirt and basketball shorts. They're more alike than
they think."

"On the way up, I'll tell Wyatt to come down."

"Thanks, son. Well, everyone let's get ready. This is going to be an
interesting day."

"Actually", said Paige, "Since we've spoken already and I'm leaving him in
capable hands, I'm gonna have to get going. Henry and the kids are waiting
for me."

Piper looked at her sister. "Come on, Paige. This is a family matter. Can't
you stay a while longer?"

"No, sis. I promised them I'd be back early. Melanie has the sniffles and
Randy and Reina are probably driving Henry mad right about now."

Piper sighed. "OK, OK. I understand. But, if we need you^Å"

"I'm an orb away, I promise."

"Good," Piper said. "Alright, everyone, let's go into the living
room. Chris, don't forget Wyatt and the book."

As everyone went out the door, Paige called out, "Um, Chris. Can you stick
around for a second?  We have to talk."

Chris looked genuinely confused, but sat back down at the table. "Yeah,
Aunt Paige?"

She sat down opposite to him. "I know what's going on."

Chris gave her an odd look. "Huh?"

"The hand holding. The whole "We were connected before" statement. "Just
let me do this; this is something I need to do." I'm not stupid, you know."

"I already said what that was about"; Chris argued. "It was because I
finally got to treat Pete like my brother instead of a friend."

Paige had a mischievous look on her face. "Uh-huh. Yeah. That was all
brotherly love. Come on, Chris. I see the way you look at him. Every time
his name is mentioned, you hide your face so no one can see you blush?"

Chris got out of his seat and walked towards the fridge; still facing his
aunt. "Aunt Paige, I love you, but you've got issues. I don't have feelings
for him. He's my half-brother, for crying out loud!"

Paige sighed and stood up. "OK, whatever, I was obviously wrong. I misread
the signs. I mean, I know you're gay and all, so maybe I just saw something
that wasn't there."

"Yep. And, obviously, coming out to you was a mistake."

"No, no, no, Chris"; Paige countered. "I'm glad you told me. I just stuck
my foot in my mouth, as usual." She walked over to Chris and hugged
him. "I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

Chris just smiled and nodded. "Of course, Aunt Paige. You know I love you."

Paige kissed him on the cheek. "Cool." She looked at her watch. "Oh,
shit. I gotta go. Henry's gonna kill me. Um^Å don't forget to get Wyatt,
bring down the Book and get Pete. Love ya. Bye!"  She orbed away
immediately.

Too bad she didn't stay around. Chris Halliwell's face was as bright as a
cherry.

"You're wrong, Aunt Paige. I don't have feelings for Pete"; he said as he
walked towards the kitchen door to grab Wyatt and the book.

"I'm in love with him. I'm in love with my brother."


I finally got suitable enough for presentation in front of other human
beings and was waiting for Chris in my living room. You know, it was
funny. I used to think what it would be like if I was actually with
Chris. I know it sounds pretty odd. I mean, we grew up together. We knew
everything about each other. Well, not true, exactly. Chris didn't know I
was gay. Well, no one knew except Mama Piper and that was because of that
movie I made her watch. Damn me and my emotions. I just had to cry during
that scene when Christian tells Aaron that he loves him.  Mama P totally
caught my tears and asked me if that was something I wanted one day.

"Yeah", I had said. "I think so. Mama, I think I'm gay."

She held me so close and cried with me and told me everything was OK. We
just stayed like that forever. I knew that she would always be in my
corner. Then, the question came.

"So, is there someone special in your life, baby? Or, just wishful
thinking?"

I glanced over at the other couch, where Chris was sleeping silently. He
looked so angelic there.  The way his face looked was so peaceful; a wisp
of his bangs swept down his forehead. I don't think she noticed me looking
at him.

"No, Mama. Just wishful thinking."

I shook off that memory. It would never happen now, now that Chris and I
were actually related.  He was my half-brother. I could never be with
him. I sat there with a soda in my hand; wondering if I could ever let
these feelings go. That's when the lights appeared. Chris was here.

"Hey. You look much better"; he stated. I just had on some old jeans and a
Polo shirt.

"Ha, ha, ha. Thanks, dorkus." I said as I stood up. "You want a soda or
something?"

"Yeah, sure"; he responded. We walked into the kitchen and he went to the
fridge and grabbed a soda. "Damn," I thought. "Cute butt."

He got up with a smirk and looked back at me. "You know, I really missed
you, Pete."

I glanced at him and smiled. "Yeah. I missed you, too, bro." He gave me
this big smile that I hadn't seen in a while. I guess he wasn't paying
attention and his dropped his soda on the floor and it spilled all over the
place.

"Shit!"; he yelled. "Sorry about that, man."

"It's no problem. Let me get a towel or something"; I said as I walked to
grab some paper towels from above the sink. He grabbed some as well. We
both went back to the spilled soda, got on our knees and started to clean
it up.

"And I'm the dorkus maximus, right?"; I said to him as I cleaned in one
direction.

"Shut up. And yes, you will always be the dorkus"; he said as he cleaned in
the other. I kicked him for saying that.

"Hey!"; he yelled and kicked me in the leg. I turned around and pounced on
him and we started to wrestle in the middle of the kitchen. We rolled all
around the place; laughing hysterically. We even rolled around in the
leftover soda we'd forgotten to clean up. "I had really missed this", I
thought silently. The fight seemed to go on forever and then, I finally got
him pinned right under me.

"Got you right where I want you!"; I told him as I pinned his arms down.

"Yep"; he said. "Poor little helpless me. What are you gonna do now?"; he
said with a smirk. But, it was more than a smirk. It was like this
seductive look. His eyes were glowing and his lips curved. I was totally
imagining this, I just knew it. Yeah, it was time to get up now.

I looked at his and my shirts. "Damn;" I said. There was Pepsi all over my
Polo and all over his sweater. "I better go change. Do you want a shirt to
change into as well?"

He looked down at the damage of his shirt. "Yeah; that would be nice. Let's
get something from your room. I have some clothes left over here, if I'm
not mistaken."

We went upstairs and I went to my drawer. I found another Polo shirt and
one of Chris' shirt's that he had there. I started to change and turned
around to make sure there was no soda on my jeans. It was at that moment
that I saw Chris shirtless.

His body was completely flawless. Not too skinny; but not too built. A
light six-pack forming and a light coating of hair that started from his
navel down. I felt my dick begin to stir in my jeans.  Fuck. I suddenly
realized what I was doing. I turned around quickly. "Uh, sorry, bro."

"Yeah"; he snickered. "No problem. Maybe I'm doing something right if I got
guys looking at me."

I laughed and threw the old shirt I had taken off at him. He started to
laugh and when I had put my new shirt on, he threw the old one back at
me. I ran to him and pounced on him again and we started to wrestle
again. This time, he was the victor and had my hands pinned behind my
head. When I was finally able to stop laughing, I looked up at him and he
had this look in his eyes. I don't know how to describe it. Then, it
happened.

He leaned down and gently kissed me. He quickly got back up and started to
apologize. "Dude, I'm sorry, I didn't mean^Å" He broke off `cause I ended
up kissing him back. His lips felt so good on mine. I could smell the light
cologne he wore mixed with the Pepsi from the kitchen. I could feel his
body on top of me. I could feel his cock hard in his jeans, pressed against
mine. It felt so wonderful, like something I had been waiting for as long
as I could remember.

I was able to take off the shirt Chris put on and took off mine as well. I
felt his chest pressed against mine and I swear my dick got even
harder. The 8-incher I owned was straining against the fabric of my
underwear. Chris moved his hand down and started to rub me through my jeans
and I did the same to him. It felt like Chris wasn't doing so bad under his
jeans, either. I started to moan while kissing him.

"Oh, my God"; I thought. "I'm touching Chris. I'm kissing Chris. My best
friend. Mama P's son."  Then it hit me.

"My half-brother."

I pushed him off and he stammered. "Pete. Why did you stop?"

"Because this is wrong! So wrong! We're related! You're my half-brother."

He walked towards me. "Dude, you can't tell me you didn't want to do
this. I know you like me."

I looked at him and sat on the bed. "It doesn't matter how I felt in the
past, Chris. Yes, I was into you, but I can't do that now. We're more than
just friends who are into each other. We're brothers. This is incest. It's
just wrong."

The sadness in his eyes was just overwhelming. "Pete; this is more than
just feelings between friends for me." He started to cry. "I'm^Å I'm in
love with you, bro."

I stood up and looked at him. "Right there. See? Bro? Short for "brother"?
Chris, we can't do this.  Ever. And as much as I care about you, this can't
happen. Ever. You should go."

Chris wiped his face and went to grab my hand. "You have to come with me,
remember?"

I looked down at the hard-on still stirring in my jeans, as well as
his. What he just said was more ironic then he knew.

"That wouldn't be wise, dude. You go ahead. I'll walk. It's only two doors
down. I'll be there in a few."

He looked away and said, "Yeah, sure. See ya." Then, he orbed away.

I looked to the mirror and just stared at myself for what seemed like
forever. "God," I thought.  "What have I done?"


Meanwhile, in another place and a totally different time; 20 years into the
future^Å

A young man was home alone. His parents were away for the weekend and he
had full charge of the house. He was sorting through his closet; figuring
out which things to keep; which to give to Goodwill and what things to
plain throw out. It was then that he heard it; a glass smash behind him.

"What the hell was that?"

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and pulled the bandana from his
head. His dark blonde hair was all over the place, but he didn't seem to
mind. He walked towards his desk where the noise originated from and found
a picture frame on the floor.

He sighed and picked up the picture. It was a family photo taken nearly two
decades ago. He'd rummaged it out during another one of his cleaning days
and it always made him smile. The smiling faces of his past looked as if
they were taken the day before; not two years before his conception.

But, for some odd reason, the picture looked different to him. Maybe, after
all these years, time finally caught up with it. The picture was really old
anyway. But, as he looked at it again, he noticed something weird about
it. Two of his relatives looked as if they were fading from the picture. He
wiped off what he thought was dust and it still did not become any
clearer. The same two people seemed to be disappearing from the photo.

"What happened to this?", he wondered as he put the picture back on the
desk.

"Yeah, I'm definitely losing it."

Just thinking that he was possibly tired, he went to the den to get another
picture frame to replace the broken one. His parents always had extras. As
he reached for the new frame in the den closet, he froze in his tracks. His
arm crossed his line of vision and^Å

He could see right through it.

He dropped the new frame and blinked his eyes rapidly. He looked at his arm
again^Å and everything seemed normal.

"Yep, definitely losing it." Before the young man figured he would totally
lose his mind, he decided to go for a walk instead. He really needed his
parents right then^Å but it would have to wait.

"God, I'm such a drama queen. Just like them."

He just hoped he would be able to hold out until they returned.


TBC