Author’s note: This story was created from a Picture Prompt.
A Timely Visit
The year was 1959. Paul and Clara stood peering from the bedroom doorway of their Mountain View, California home at their five-year-old adopted son. Paul dressed in his formal attire and Clara in her floral print dress. They gazed lovingly at their son, lying there peacefully with his teddy bear by his side, smiling. The angle at which they were looking at him prevented either from seeing what he held in his hand.
“Sweet dreams, Steven,” they both said as they quietly closed the door.
The boy waited for a few minutes until he was sure they were gone and then opened his eyes and said, “You can come out now.”
From a darkened corner of the room, a man stepped forward. He stood six feet tall and wore a black long-sleeved mock turtleneck, Levi blue jeans, and New Balance sneakers. He wore round rimless glasses and sported a short, neatly trimmed beard and mustache. He seemed out of place. But the boy was too young to notice.
“What did you think of the toy I gave you?” was the older man’s question.
“It was fun,” young Steven replied. “I got to take pictures of my teddy bear, and when I pressed on one of those things on the screen, I even heard some music. What is it?”
“It’s a special kind of telephone,” said the stranger, “And it can do so much more.”
“How does it work? Can I keep it and show my parents?”
“Sorry,” said the man, “It is something very special, but it is too soon to share it with others. I just wanted you to see it and think about what a wonderful thing it is. Maybe, you can even think of more things you might want it to do. Someday, when you are almost my age, you can build one yourself. And then you can share it with everyone in the whole wide world. What do you think of that?”
The boy thought about it and said, “That would be cool! Maybe I can even sell it and make a lot of money for Mom and Dad.”
“You’ll make a lot of money for yourself also,” said the stranger as he retrieved the phone from the young child. “I have to go now. You probably won’t remember me when I leave. You’ll think of this as a dream. But don’t ever forget what I showed you.”
The boy looked up at the stranger as he turned to leave, “But who are you? What’s your name?”
“My name is Steve. As to who I am, someday you’ll know me as well as you know yourself. Sweet dreams, Little Steve.”
As the boy’s eyes began to close, the man in his dreams, if it was a dream, disappeared.
