Taweret and the Tales of Heroes

Hello everyone, my name is CMed. I will make it brief and quick about me. I was a college student who got a Major in History before going into the realm of the military. I am a Navy Veteran that has served for six years and wanted to become an author and book writer near the end of my military contract. 

What if we live in a world that the deities exist?

"Hey…..," she tried to console him. Her voice was soothing to him as she could see her son was nervous. "I understand how you feel about coming to a place with new people. I know that things have not been easy since the move. Ever since my job being moved here and your father passing away,……things have not been easy for both of us."

"I miss dad," Gary said, almost quietly to her. It was enough for her to hear.

"I know, baby," she said. She reached her hand across the table and touched his hand.      This hasn't been easy for us, but I know that we will get through together. Your father left an impact on us. The life insurance he left behind ensured we could get this house to ourselves relatively easy. I don't plan on moving anytime again soon, and hopefully, we will never have to again. This is the opportunity for you and me to get to know the people around this neighborhood. It is an opportunity to learn about the city. School will be good for you tomorrow. I promise you that you will have many friends."

Gary seemed partially convinced. His mother released his hand as she went and started eating as he went and started cutting up his fish and used his fork to take his first bite of the meal. It was delicious as she always made it.

"Pretty good?" she asked him.

"Yes, it is, mom."

"That is good. I was worried about the fish. It was just a little bit old, but it is still good."

They ate for a little while when his mother spoke up again.

"You know I…..I am thinking of getting a VHS," his mother spoke to him. "It's been a good year since it's been out, I figure that we go ahead and get one for ourselves now don't we."

"VHS?" Gary asked.

"Videotape cassette player. My friend ending getting one and they are so nice. We wouldn't have to go to the movie theater all the time to see movies. You would be able to see one here at home."

Gary's eyes wandered as he thought about it. "You mean…..we would be able to see Star Wars?"

His mother took her fork and pointed it to him. "That will be the first movie that I will get for it."

The kid smiled as he thought about it some more. "I would love to!" he exclaimed.

"I figure it would be staying with the times. Especially with seeing where our technology is going to."

"I will finally get a chance to see it again!"

"I knew that would get you happy. You just make sure that you get yourself to school and make some friends, alright."

"I will, mom."

They would continue eating for a little while until they finally finished up. Gary looked outside and could see the sun getting lower and lower. In another hour, the sun would set. The kid patted his stomach a little bit, feeling full. His mother saw how he reacted.

"Pretty good, wasn't it?" she asked him.

"It was."

"And what do we say after we get done eating?"

"Thank you for the meal," he replied with a smile.

"Good, good. I will go ahead and start cleaning things up. Oh!" she said, remembering something. "Gary, can you go get the mail while I get started with washing the dishes. After that, I need you to help your mom get these dishes dry."

"Alright, mom," he responded as he got up and walked out of the kitchen. He heard the sounds of plates being picked up as he reached the living room. The living room was small but enough to hold a couch and a couple of chairs along with a Panasonic 1975 Television set. There were still boxes partially open strewn about in the living room. The place was being moved into, and the area showed constant signs of it.

Gary put on his flip flops as he reached the front door and opened it. It was still bright enough outside as he stepped out and closed the door behind him.

The front door simply led to the cement pathway that led to the front lawn and main road that connected to the various houses throughout the neighborhood. As Gary walked on the cement walkway, he looked to his left to see his mother's red 1975 Cadillac Sedan parked in the driveway.  The vehicle was new and in good condition so far. He continued his walk to see the mailbox's flag was down, indicating that the mail lady had left mail for him to pick up.

Gary had a chance to look at the road by the front lawn of his house. There weren't many trees around him except for two trees in his backward. The front yard had a little bit of green grass. The house he had was nothing big but was adequate for his childhood, assuming his mother would stop moving. The house was painted a light green. It had a window that connected to his bedroom that oversaw the front lawn. The window by the front door connected to the living room. The roof was in moderate condition with one of the shingles that were cracked. Some houses were the same size except for the large house on the other side of his.

The boy went and popped open the mailbox. He reached his hand into it and pulled out one envelope. He went and closed up the mailbox when he heard a commotion behind him.

He turned around to find himself gazing at a girl on the other side of the road from the large house. She appeared to be about around his age and was seemingly pretty and adorable looking. She had Asian like features on her face. She wore a small pink and white kimono, something that didn't seem to be commonplace in the neighborhood. She was watching him intently like she was noting everything about him.

Almost at the same time, they lifted their hands to wave to each other. It surprised the girl so much that she giggled a little bit. Gary was surprised by this girl. She had black raven hair, almost like what he had. It was long and flowing, in which she did not have it tied down in a bun. The distance between them prevented Gary from gaining any further knowledge from her as she heard a voice come from inside her home, which made her turn her head to it. She smiled again to Gary and then ran back into her house. The last thing he saw was a woman that put her hand to the girl's shoulder that was most likely one of her parents.

Gary snapped out of it as he looked at the home. It was similar in size to his but had a new floor to it. The house had a garage in it, and it seemed way better maintained and lavish than his home. With the mail firmly in his hand, he turned back to his house and ran back inside. The girl or, in this case, his neighbor would have to wait till later.

Upon opening up the door to his home, he could see his mom in the kitchen washing dishes. He entered back into his house and closed the door.

"Remember to lock the door!" his mom called out. "And would you be kind to turn on the TV before you come and wash the dishes? I want to hear about the news as we clean."

"Alright, mom."

Gary did as he was told. He flipped the lock of the doorknob, locking the front door. He then and walked up to the knob and turned it. The TV screen displayed static momentarily before it turned into a hazy, undefined show. He then flipped the knob again before it tuned in on the news channel.

He only looked at the TV for a few seconds. He only saw the appearance of a man behind a desk with a picture of something that he was talking about as Gary left the living room and walked into the kitchen. His mother was busy washing a plate from the sink as she handed the wet dish to her son. Gary went and took the mail and put it on the table as he picked up a towel from a rack and proceeded to start drying the dishes she was cleaning. They heard the voice on the TV speak as the anchorman spoke away.

"The Whitehouse has made no further comment on the Soviet Nuclear Testing that has been taking place," there was a pause in the man's voice as they could hear shuffling of papers. Gary went and started putting the dry dishes in the cabinet. The noise of running water from the faucet almost drowned out the sound from the TV.

"In other news today, the President has been making negative results so far during the Peace conference at Camp David. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin have gathered with President Carter to discuss peace between Egypt and Israel. During the last several years of continuous war and uneasy peace, the President has been making it his primary goal to establish a new lasting peace between the two nations. Issues regarding the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have left both sides angry at one another. According to the Whitehouse conference, President Carter will not leave until both sides agree with one another……." There was a pause as the anchorman was moving paper for his notes.

Gary's mother was busy washing a pot as her son continued to dry everything that she was cleaning.

"In sport's news today it appears the Yankees had beaten the Red Sox today in Boston. The news has been a shock for many Baseball fans as the Red Sox had a 111 win streak and were expected to win today against the New York Yankees. The Yankees managed to give the surprise to the Red Sox by winning with a final score of 15-3. Many are wondering if the Yankees will take Boston in the next series of games in the next couple of days. We have more news today after we have a word from our sponsor."

They began to hear the sounds of commercials as Gary, and his mother spoke to each other.

"The one thing that I pray for son is that you will never have to worry about the world wiping itself out," the mother said as she slowed down on her dishwashing.

"Why would we try to hurt each other, mom?" Gary asked.

"….I wish I had an answer. We believe we should be ready against the Communists, and the Communists want to be ready against us. In the end, all we are doing is trying to ensure our destruction."

Gary sighed as he dried the pot his mother washed.

"But," his mother put her wet hand on his shoulder. "We have made it so far for almost thirty years now. I just hope that after Vietnam for us that we survive until Communism comes to an end."

"I wish the Communists would lose."

"No, son. Don't try to think that way. It is best to wish that in the end. The Soviets would find a better system for their ideas instead of what they have now. If they lose, then everything they have that can be used to kill us will instead go to someone else that will want to hurt us. It probably at this rate will eventually happen," the mother tried to pause, but her mind was still thinking about everything. "Go ahead and turn off the TV. I feel that I have heard enough. Any more, and it would just make me upset."

Gary quietly with a plate and towel in hand, walked up to the TV and turned it off. The screen went black again as they walked back into the kitchen. This left them back to their thoughts.

"I saw a girl next door," Gary told his mother.

"You did? You got a chance to see our next-door neighbor. I will have to get some time set up to meet our neighbors."

"The girl was wearing a kimono of some sort."

"Hmmm…..sounds like the family might be from Japan possibly, but I shouldn't be too quick to judge. That was what your father did when I first called him Japanese by accident. He was upset at first, but after he corrected me, he vowed to make sure that I know who he was."

"And that was how you got married."

"Yep……" she paused. "He made sure I learned everything about him, and then he learned everything about me. It became a game for us…..then we got so smart that we decided the best way to handle the future was to stay together to the end. I was happy I told him yes when he asked me to marry him……I just wish he was still alive."

Gary went and hugged his mother's waist. He felt the warmth of her body as he tried to resist crying.

"You have done everything you could today. Thank you for helping me out, son."

"You're welcome," he replied happily to her.

"Go ahead and try to unpack as much as possible tonight. Tomorrow will be a busy day at school, and I have to resume my work at this new building here in town. I already miss San Francisco."

"Ok, mom, I will go to my room."

His mother went and gripped his son's shoulder for a short bit as if she felt the need to touch him. He looked up at her before he touched her hand. He left the kitchen to walk back to his room.

The sounds of the last of the dishes being put away were the only echoing sound in the house. Gary almost tripped on a set of closed boxes as he made his way to his room. It was getting darker and darker as time progressed. The day was slowly inching its way to the setting sun. The older child made his way to his room and closed the door behind him.

Gary kept to himself as he looked at the mostly empty room. The move to the new home was a continuous process. At least the child could rest more easily that things were all appropriately situated. He had a blanket and a bed in the empty room at the moment. There was a small desk near the corner of the window that led to the front lawn.

He walked to one of his boxes as he opened one. He looked in it and saw an array of posters that he wanted to pin to his wall. In the box were all the pushpins he needed to put up on his wall. He pulled out the rolled out poster that depicted Bruce Lee shirtless and in a fighting stance as he put it up on the wall. He went back to his box and then pulled out the next rolled-up poster. He unrolled it to reveal a picture that depicted the Doctor from Doctor Who and placed it on the wall. The pushpins slipped into the wood of the walls with ease. Each poster he placed up showed something that he enjoyed obviously during his childhood.

He then walked to his box and pulled out a few trinkets and souvenirs that he was going to place on his desk.

"Dad……," he said as he pulled out a frame and picture on it. He sighed as he tried to avoid crying. On it was a picture of him, his mother, and his father in Chinatown together. The image seemed to be a few years old, as Gary could tell he was getting older and older. There was a long pause as the child looked at the picture. He was thinking of all the great things they did together. He lifted the stand of the frame and placed it on the table.

"I love you, dad…..I miss you."

Gary tried to snap out of it as he went back to his boxes and continued to pull things out left and right. Toys and various gadgets were strewn about on the floor. These toys were something that he had when he was very young. He took his clothing and put them into a near cabinet. It was the only cabinet inside the room, and it would be another day before the rest of the furniture would be brought in. The rest of the items would have to wait before being stored until extra furniture would come in. He already had a selection of clothes that he had ready for the next day pulled out. He hung some of the clothes in the closet, but the ones he would wear tomorrow morning, he had them folded and placed on the desk. It would be simple and easy for him to grab his clothes, get dressed, and get on the bus to go to school.

When he placed the clothes on the desk, his eyes went to his window. It was closed, and the shudders were partially open to allow him to see outside. The darkening sky was making it harder and harder to see the front lawn. The street lights were close to turning on to provide illumination to the street.

Gary's eyes began to scan the front lawn. His thoughts immediately went to the big home next to him. He then remembered the girl he saw just recently. He could see what looked like some sort of activity going on from his neighbor's house. There were two lights on that he could see coming from the windows. One of the rooms that were lit came from the top floor of the home with another one he could see near the front entrance.

His eyes watched the window on the top floor of the home. Curtains were in the way to prevent him from seeing the inside. He could swear that he saw a silhouette of that girl that might have been dancing or playing around in her room. It was too far to make a clear understanding of it, though, to make any further understanding of what he was seeing. The moment of curiosity of the girl next door would have to wait, though. He went and closed the shudders entirely as he went back to work.

He saw a couple of students come trickling into the bus. He didn’t pay any close attention to them coming in as he sat comfortably in his seat.

“Fumi……” he said quietly thinking of her. She was already starting to run through his mind. This neighbor that was next door to him, she was so pretty and kind to him. A part of him felt that it had to be a trick of some sort. It just seemed too good to be true that a girl would show such interest to him.

His thoughts were interrupted when the big kid showed up and sat beside him. His head turned to see the face of the jock. It was Jacob that was looking down at him.

Gary felt a little bit of annoyance at seeing him. He wanted the seat to be free for Fumi to sit next to him.

“What is it, Jacob?” he asked him.

“Still interested in helping me out with my homework?” Jacob asked him.

Gary was ready to tell him to go away, but he tried to be polite to him. “I am not interested. Besides Jacob, I wouldn’t be that much help…..”

“I will give you ten bucks to do my homework.”

Gary simply replied with no from his head. “I am sorry.”

There seemed to be a little bit of anger from his face. “Ha…..fine.” His hand went to Gary’s arm as he felt Jacob press his fingers to press and then pinch his skin hard to elicit a response from the short kid.

“Listen……” Jacob seemed more direct with his conversation. “How about I raise the money a little bit? How about I give you thirty dollars to do my homework?”

“Ummm……no, Jacob. I am sorry. You won’t be able to get much from me. I had poor grades in math.”

Jacob simply gave him an angry look at him. “How about I get that girlfriend of yours to do it for me?”

This grabbed Gary’s attention. The way that Jacob used those words was in a threatening tone. It almost made it sound like it an attempt to hurt her in some way. His mind was fully active as he thought about it.

“Yeah, I thought that would have worked,” Jacob said. “I know her a little bit. She is weak and pathetic. She is smart, though, that is for sure. I wouldn’t mind having her helping me out. Maybe she should be my girlfriend?”

Gary remained quiet and refused to answer.

“Tomorrow……at recess, come around the school building to the benches. If you do a good job with my homework, maybe I will pay you. Don’t come and…….”

“Fine…….” Gary replied to him, unsure how to answer his question any further.

Jacob smiled. He got out of the seat and walked to the back of the bus to have a seat. This left Gary shaking his head at the thought. On the one hand, he made an enemy, and on the other hand, he thought of Fumi.

About a minute later, Fumi stepped in the bus with her book bag on her shoulders. She stepped on board and eyed Gary immediately. She homed in like a missile, where she plopped herself down in the seat next to him.

“Hi…..,” she said with a smile.

Gary simply smiled at her, but he said nothing else.

“Are you alright?”

“No……don’t worry about it.”

The bus driver came into the bus as the last student entered as well. The driver had a seat as he fastened his seatbelt and started up the engine.

Fumi gave a confused look. “It is for me to worry about Gary. What is wrong?”

Gary went to a whisper to her. “Jacob is trying to threaten me to do his schoolwork.”

“Ah….” She whispered back to him. “He does that. He tries to have everyone do his work because he is lazy. He tries to hurt others.”

The bus driver disengaged the parking brake as he drove the bus away from the bus ramp. They were once again on the road heading back to their homes.

“He wants me to go a spot during recess. I think he is making a threat to me.”

“He will not succeed.”

“He is much stronger than me if he tries to hurt me.”

“He will not succeed,” she told him again. “I promise you.”

Gary felt her hand go to his. It made him giddy again.

The other students on the bus were all either asleep, talking to other students, or only just waiting for the bus to take them to their bus stop.

“Do you think I am pretty?” Fumi asked him.

Gary nodded to her.

“I think you are handsome.”

He blushed a little bit. “Thank…..you.”

Fumi released her hand from his. She went and set her backpack down on the floor as she unzipped the bag. She looked like she was trying to find something.

“What are you doing?” Gary asked.

“Trying to find something…..do you like to read?”

“Yes.”

“Do you play sports?”

“I do, but I read more than play in with others.”

Fumi pulled it out of her bag. It was a book that was titled Fairy Tales.

“I like reading a lot too. Of course, I enjoy many things too.”

Gary sat peacefully as the bus continued traveling down the streets. It would make regular stops, letting off students to their homes. Slowly the bus would get more and more empty in the passing minutes. Jacob stepped off the bus and left along with his two other friends.

“What stories do you like to read?” Gary asked her.

“I like to read fairy tale stories. I like stories about the gods and the different religions. What about you?”

He shrugged. “I usually read whatever comes to me. I like to read science fiction stories, mostly.”

“What about Japanese Fairy Tale stories?”

“It….is specific, but I guess it is alright to hear some.”

Fumi smiled. “I have many stories that I like. I like the story of Wind and the Willows. I like the story of Reynard the Fox. When it comes to Japanese tales, I like the story of Kuzunoha.”

“What story is that about?” Gary asked with curiosity.

“It is a story of a man that stops a hunter from killing a fox. A woman comes later on to see the man that stopped the hunter. The two fall in love and have a family. It is a little bit sad, though…..”

“Why is that?”

“She never told him who she was though until much later. She was worried about how he was going to react.”

Gary thought a little bit about her words.

“I will tell you more about it later. Tonight, when I go to see my mom, I will go and ask my mom to have you over.”

“Oh….will she be against that?”

“No, of course not. She would be happy to see you. I just need to let her know, that is all.”

“I don’t think my mom will be against it at all, either. She would even encourage it honestly.”

Gary’s head turned a little bit to look at Jacob, who was busy talking with his friends. His thoughts went to his threat to her. He felt the need to protect her. Perhaps he was worrying too much about it. He focused back towards Fumi.

He simply watched her read her book as the bus was getting closer and closer back to home.