Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
“Did you ever tell your grandparents the truth?”
Gideon was quiet for a moment. “No. Their health started to decline pretty quickly after that but they still always talked about that trip. I lost them both that following year.”
“I’m sorry, Gideon. They sound like amazing people.”
“They were,” he said, his voice soft and warm.
A gentle silence fell between us and I found myself feeling more at ease than I had in a really long time. I was reluctant to lose the feeling, so I asked, "What's Merv's?"
"The drugstore, the grocery store, and the hardware store."
"That's all?" I joked.
"It's technically the post office right now too, but only because Sally broke her hip and can't distribute the mail."
"What's in aisle seven?" I asked. When Gideon didn't respond right away, I said, "Gideon?"
"Aisle seven?" he asked.
"Yeah, aisle seven. That lady said you were in aisle seven—"
"The, uh, foot cream."
"Foot cream?"
"Yeah, foot cream. For feet. For my feet. I have… bad feet."
I could feel my brow furrowing as I considered his words. I wasn't sure why foot cream was town-worthy news, but I supposed things did work differently in a place like Fisher Cove.
"There's other creams too," Gideon continued. He sounded like he'd swallowed a frog or something. "Your rash creams, your wound creams, your hand creams, your face creams… your…"
"Creams?" I offered. Once again, I sensed Gideon's eyes on me. This time, I did my best not to laugh. I was rewarded with a gentle nudge on my arm. I was also pretty sure I heard him tell me to "shut the fuck up." I figured I'd needled the man enough, so I changed the topic by asking, "So you spent your summers here?"
"Yeah, it started when I was maybe around eleven or so. My parents were getting divorced, so they sent me to spend that summer with my grandparents. I enjoyed it so much that I asked to go the following year and then it just became this thing."
"Did you keep coming back here after you lost them?”
"A few times. They left me their house. I knew I never wanted to live up here full time, but I kept the house so I could someday bring my kids up here and show them what it meant to slow down a bit."
Some of the lightness left his voice and I didn't miss the fact that he'd said kids with an “s,” not just kid. I wanted desperately to know how many additional kids he had besides the daughter he'd lost, but I knew we weren't in that place. We probably never would be. It was the same as if he'd asked me about my brothers. There were just some things I wasn't willing to share, especially with someone I didn't know all that well. I’d learned my lesson from Grady. And while I didn't believe Gideon was anything like him, there was no way to know for sure.
"What kind of video games are they?" Gideon asked.
"What?" I asked.
"You said your company makes video games. What kind?"
I must not have responded quickly enough because Gideon said, “You don’t have to tell me—”
“RPG games mostly,” I said quickly.
“RPG?”
“Role playing games,” I clarified.
“So what, the player pretends to be someone else? Isn’t that the point of all games?”
“Not quite,” I said. “If you think about old arcade games like Pac-Man or Donkey Kong, everybody played the same characters and had the same levels to get through. There wasn’t a lot of immersion or character development. With RPGs, players can create characters and go on quests or missions. The experience is very different for each player, even if the end goal might be the same. For online RPGs, players can interact with others in that particular fictional world. They can work together to accomplish their missions.” I paused when I realized how fast I’d been talking… and how much. “Sorry, that was probably more information than you wanted to know.”
“No, it’s really interesting,” Gideon reassured me. “What’s one of the games you developed?”
“Well, my company has quite a few, but the first one that I built myself is called Dominion of the Gods. Players battle these gods who’ve enslaved them…”
“Wow, I think I’ve heard of that one,” Gideon said.
I was sure his eyes were on me but I had no idea how I knew that. “Gideon, are you looking at me right now?” I asked as I turned my head in his direction. He was still just one big dark shape that much of the blind spots covered up.
“Yes,” Gideon said softly.
A warm sensation went through me and not just because the man next to me was watching me but because I’d been able to tell he was. I had no clue how that was even possible, but it gave me this odd sense of power. How long had it been since I’d felt this way? Like I could still see things even though my eyes didn’t work?