392 Blink of an Eye
Alex was helping his father with hauling the ingredients into the truck. Neither he nor his Uncle was strong enough to do what his father was doing.
Alex's father was basically grabbing two packages at once and lifting them without any struggle. Alex sighed as he saw that. His father really was very strong.
"God, your father scares me sometimes," his Uncle said with a chuckle.
"Scares?" Alex asked with a hint of confusion.
"Haha, when your aunt was studying at the university and we got together, she brought me back to her house to meet with her brother and your late grandparents. At that time, when I saw a hunky bodybuilder who threatened to beat me if I ever hurt his sister, I was really scared."
"I sometimes wonder if I would've really ended up with your aunt had your father not threatened me," his Uncle said while laughing to himself.
"How many times are you going to say you are afraid of me, rob?" Alex's father asked.
"Well, you are scary, brother-in-law," his Uncle laughed out loud this time.
Alex's father shook his head and laughed as well. The three continued packing all the things up. Then, Alex's father got into the truck and drove away.
"Urgh," his uncle said as he flexed himself. "That was kind of tiring. I'm not used to manual labor," he said.
"Me neither. Father rarely let me help him," Alex said.
"Haha, I don't think he ever needs help," the Uncle said. He then turned around to look at the large, infinite forest behind him.
"That thing still scares me quite a bit. Don't beasts come here from time to time?" the uncle said.
"No, there aren't any animals in there. I think all the animals have already fallen through the void by now," Alex said. Ever since he was conscious, he had never seen any animal here at all.
"Maybe they are. That would be great. It's not very good to live in constant fear from animals around here. Anyway, let's go back," the uncle said and walked back.
Alex followed behind him.
Once Alex's father returned, they all had their dinner. Helen and Liz kept on talking hour after hour while Alex's father took rob to the patio to drink some beer with him.
Rob being a businessman was used to drinking a lot, and Alex's father just didn't get drunk enough to the level of it being a problem. So, the two brothers by law drank as much as they could.
Alex sat down and took out his laptop to check what was going on. At this point, he was slightly regretting now buying another helmet, but what he said earlier was true as well. The internet speed in his house was absolutely horrendous.
He looked at different stuff online while conversing with his mother and aunt on whatever they talked about.
"You wanna tell your parents about Emily?" Hannah came up to him and softly whispered.
"Should I?" he asked. Emily and Alex had been going out for nearly two weeks now and we're pretty sure that they wanted to get together with the other person.
As long as Alex asked her to be his girlfriend, she would gladly accept at this point. Still, Alex wanted to wait until that point to introduce her to his mother.
"It's your choice," Hannah replied to his question.
"Then I'll wait," Alex said.
Hannah nodded and walked away without saying anything.
The coldness was overbearing by 9 pm, so everyone decided to retreat to their own room. Alex went back to his old bedroom and fall onto his bed.
He couldn't help but smile at the slight stiffness of the mattress, the sunken pillows, and the heavy blanket. They were all flaws, but they were flaws he loved.
He got under the blanket and tried to sleep.
As everything around the land grew quiet, a small, but the constant sound of the wind humming could be heard in the distance. Alex was used to this sound, so he just ignored it and fell asleep.
Even when all of the worlds fell asleep, the humming sound did not stop and probably never would.
Alex woke up in the morning and helped his father with his work again. It was really cold in the morning as winter was right around the corner. Just a few more weeks and winter would officially start all over the world.
After helping his father load the vehicle again, he went to the kitchen to take a warm cup of tea and relax.
There was nothing he had to read, nothing he had to watch, nothing he had to play, and nothing he had to do. This was a freedom that he hadn't felt in a while now.
The Uncle and aunt came to the kitchen to drink tea as well. Soon his mother put on a delicious breakfast that the whole family ate, praising her cooking skill once more.
His father returned from delivering for the morning as well and ate his breakfast.
It was the countryside, so there really wasn't anything to do. Thus, they just sat around, talked, played some games, walked pictures from old times, ate when it was time, and did some work here and there.
Soon, that day came to an end as well. In the blink of an eye, the 2nd day ended as well.
On the third day morning, Hannah's family and Alex had their breakfast and got ready to leave.
"Make sure to take care of yourself okay? Hannah, take care of Alex," Helen said.
"Don't worry, aunt Helen. He is old enough to take care of himself. Still, I will make sure to keep an eye on him," Hannah said and got into the car.
Helen hugged Alex once more and said her goodbyes. Alex got a little sad that he wouldn't get to see his parents for another 3 months or so.
He got into the car, and Hannah's father drove. They were now on their way back to Oakleaf City.
