Xander
stared at himself in the bathroom mirror in a combination of amazement and
horror. He had seen his reflection
before, but never with this type of clarity.
He wasn’t sure he approved of this new visage. The face was the same, for the most part, this
one seemed to be missing the scars and weathering brought from years of
battle. The hair was short, well kept,
and clean. Xander spent the better part
of a quarter hour simply marveling at this hair. It appeared to be the same basic color, but
was soft, and bright, so maiden-like. He
did not approve of the rest of his body, either. It appeared to be weak and undisciplined. However, as there was no other option
available, Xander accepted this body for the time being, and turned his attention
to the problem of dressing. The clothing
he found himself confronted with were strange and impractical. They were, like his new body, soft and
weak. After testing and tearing a few
sorted articles of clothing, he settled on an uncomplicated t-shirt and jeans. The zipper on the jeans presented a
substantial challenge, and one that nearly ended with a catastrophic injury,
but a challenge that was soon overcome.
Now dressed Xander exited the bedroom and found himself confronted with
unruly and very unkempt looking dwarves.
These dwarves were staring at him expectantly, and with apparent frustration.
“You
took for-ever!” the larger dwarf barked at Xander. “We’re hungry!”
“I beg
pardon, young dwarf,” Xander protested. “But
if you are hungry, why then have you not found yourself some food with which
you can break your fast?”
“What?”
The larger dwarf questioned, appearing to not understand his meaning or his
words.
“My apologies,
did you not understand? I simply
wondered why you would inform me of your hunger, rather than looking for a way
to resolve the problem yourselves.” Xander said, believing himself to be very
reasonable when faced with two very rude dwarves so early in the day.
“Dad!”
shouted the smallest dwarf, as he began to sob.
Xander was stuck dumb at this. Had this dwarf called him dad? He
reached down a lifted the young boy and held him at arm’s length, looking at
him with a new thought creeping into his mind.
He knew this child, and it was no dwarf.
This was his son, and the larger dwarf was his daughter. Xander knew this dream, he had been here
many nights before, but this was not a dream.
“I am truly
sorry, my children!” Xander plead, “Please, forgive me; I was caught in a
dream. Come we shall breakfast together. Lead me to the kitchens.”
“There
is only one kitchen dad, it’s down stairs.
Are you being silly again?” His
daughter asked him, sounding concerned.
“Nay,
daughter, I simply forgot.” Xander countered. “You may find I have momentarily forgotten
many things this day.”
Both children laughed, and climbed up Xander’s legs to cling
to his neck.
“You
sound like Thor daddy.” His daughter giggled.
It was about this time when Xander realized he had
forgotten, or had never known, the names of the children now calling him
father. At this point Xander realized
that this was going to be a very long day…
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