Jeffrey

The congee was cold, and the nurse's attitude even colder. Rumours were that there was another budget cut, and yet the number of mouths to feed remains the same. When the nurse slammed the bowl of watery mixture in front of him, Jeffrey didn't even care to glimpse at it. He was not hungry. And even if he was, he wouldn't eat it.

"Eat your food, you ungrateful old cretin." the nurse cussed.

Jeffrey lifted his head up slowly. Usually the other nurses would just let him be when he ignored them, yet this one sour looking middle-aged woman would always take it personally. The first couple of times it was just a miffed grunt, then came the verbal warnings, and today, it had come to personal insults.

Jeffrey squinted at the nurse's name tag, it said "Karen Hall". She was a tall but skinny woman, her skin looked wrinkled and her eyes were supported by dark circles. She also had a scar stretching from her chin to her neck, she made clear attempts to hide it, but was painfully obvious when looking at such an angle.

"Thank you Karen, but I'm not hungry," said Jeffrey.

Karen held her eyes wide open and stared at Jeffrey with a look he had only seen thugs show. At that moment it seemed that the whole room's attention was on them, and for a second or two Jeffrey could only hear the old fan spinning around and around.

"Oh excuse me your highness, but I wasn't asking you." She squeezed out a smile and said in a high pitch.

"So this is what's gonna happen," She leaned in and grabbed the bowl and spoon.

"Either you shove this down your throat yourself, or I'll cater to your needs."

Sensing that his life was on the line, Jeffrey did not have much choice but to cooperate. He slowly unarmed the spoon from the nurse and forced his shakily hand to make one steady scoop of white goo. He was able to raise his spoon to mouth level without spilling, the congee was bland, but for the very least not disgusting. Without much hesitation, he swallowed the freezing down his throat and almost choked to death when he realised bits of it were frozen solid.

Pleased, and quite entertained by the sight, Karen grinned and headed towards the door. She paid little attention to the other elderly and hazily scanned the room once before leaving for good.

"Lights out at 9:00! Finish your meals by then!"

The sky was especially clear tonight, from his bed Jeffrey could barely make out the North star with the help of the moonlight entering the window. This narrow window which was the size of a small TV was the only source of connection Jeffrey had with the outer world. The elderly house was in many ways similar to a prison, you spend most of your day inside and even when you do get time to go outside no one's there to greet you. Jeffrey always thought he would spend his retirement travelling to the many exotics that the world had to offer, but things happen, and plans change.

The star was dimmer than he remembered, as a child Jeffrey was used to a night sky clustered with stars, and among them the brightest of them all would be the North star. He always felt like he had a special connection to it, at one point he even convinced himself that he must have spent a lifetime there, but could never prove it.

Jeffrey sighed, he stared at the star for a couple more minutes and eventually got tired. And so he closed his eyes with a smile, and ended the day.

…

"Someday, we're going to change the world, Jeffrey."

The words were echoing in his mind, this time more clearly than the countless times prior.

"I'm sure you will, Walder! I believe in you."

Jeffrey had enacted the scene in his mind many many times. He never knew why this was the case, it was not anything special, just friendly banter between two friends too young to know their place in the world. They believed that they were talented, and would someday shine more brightly than the brightest stars in the night sky.

"Not me Jeffrey, I said we."

"We're going to change the world, Jeffrey."

Huh!?

That voice…

It wasn't from his head… it can't be!

The words that lingered in his mind for almost fifty years were suddenly being spoken in that tone again: A deep, powerful and enticing voice almost estranged by the passing of time.

Jeffrey opened his eyes, the dark room offered a near identical experience to closing his eyes, but within a few seconds of accustoming to the darkness a shadowy figure emerged from the darkness.

The figure leaned closer, the familiar voice had returned,

"Hello old friend."