[B]2. Visiting

[Bakaare]

The past…

Janet walked through the door of the nursing home. Her father, Tyler, stood beside her.

“Hey, son!” called a voice from the other side of the entry room.

Janet and her father walked over to the origin of the voice, Janet’s grandfather – Tyler’s dad.

“Hey Dad,” said Tyler softly, hugging his father. “Listen, Dad, I have some business to take care of here, and I’ll be back in a couple minutes, okay?”

“Sure,” came the reply. “Just don’t waste no time, ya hear?”

“Okay, Dad,” said Tyler, laughing. He walked off to another part of the building, leaving Janet with her grandfather.

“Come sit down, pretty girl,” said Janet’s grandfather. He moved his wheelchair next the couch that was against one wall, where Janet sat down. “So, have you married that cute boy, Jared, yet?”

Janet blushed. “No, Grandpa, of course not.” She gave her grandfather a friendly shove. “But we are going to the junior prom together.”

“That’s just a step away from marriage, you know.”

“Oh, you silly thing.”

There was a short silence as the two looked at each other.

“Oh, hey,” said Janet’s grandfather. “Did I ever tell you about the time I went to the land of Bakaare?”

“No, grandpa.”

“Well, I walked out into the woods one day, and there was the clearing shaped like a circle. I stopped there and looked around, wondering what had been there before. Well, I opened up my pocket watch, and looking at it, instead of the time, I saw buildings and skyscrapers, and people walking by! The next thing I knew, I was in the middle of a city that looked like nothing on this earth!”

At first, Janet had thought her grandfather was just pulling her leg, but the more he spoke, the more she realized that he was serious. “Your grandpa’s getting a little old,” Tyler had told her. “Sometimes he says things that don’t make sense. If he says something a little weird, just play along.” Janet decided to take her father’s advice.

“Really?”

“You betcha! I have some memories from there I’ll never forget. I’ll have to tell you about it sometime.”

“I hope you do,” said Janet.

There was another moment of silence. Janet’s grandfather spoke.

“Janet,” he said, and hesitated.

“What?”

“Janet, I want you to have this.” He pulled out an old, tarnished silver pocket watch. “My wife gave this to me on out thirtieth wedding anniversary. I value it very much, but I want you to have it.” He took Janet’s hand and put the pocket watch in her palm.

“Grandpa, I – I can’t take this,” she protested.

“No, no, I insist. I’m not going to be around much longer, so I want to give it to you while I still can.”

Janet stared at the watch in her hand. “Thank you, Grandpa.”