The Everlast - Put It In Your Pocket #02

(B. Schatz)

Right Here and Now

Jacob felt cold.

He had felt cold ever since he first boarded The Everlast a few weeks ago, and remained cold when as he saw the Starcrosser transport ship worm its way through Everything to look at the inhabitants of the floating wooden boat.

Cold was his natural state of being.

“Everyone, take whatever you have in your hands, and give them to the Ugly Boys!” the captain commanded, “It doesn’t matter what it is, so long as it is something, and not nothing. If we’re lucky, there may be a way out of this.”

In fact the more he thought about things, the more he remembered feeling cold quite often through out his life.

When he had lived at the Durmstrang Orphanage for the Dishevelled and Unruly, he remembered shivering under the thin sheet that was meant to keep him warm on the cold winter nights in There, where winter lasted months rather than a few weeks around Christmas time.

When he was adopted by the Kempt family, he remembered shuddering inside of his drafty room, despite the mounds of blankets he kept himself well wrapped inside.

And when he stood outside in the rain on the day of Mr. and Mrs. Kempt’s funeral, he remembered his teeth chattering as the falling water soaked him to the bone as their bodies slowly faded from existance.

“Move quickly!” another command arose, “They are starting to deploy, and it won’t take long for them to be on top of us!”

The sad truth of the matter was this: Jacob was always cold. Or rather, he was cold in the moments that he remained awake.

When he was sleeping… oh ho, was Jacob warm. Whenever his eyes fluttered shut and his mind began to drift away to other places, he could feel a strange warmth overtake the cold.

It would start at his toes, first as a tingle, and then as a glow. That glow would then spread, going up to his feet and through his ankles, going ever upward until the warmth would coat him completely, making him feel safe.

Jacob liked the warmth. He hadn’t been warm in many, many days.

“Does everyone know what they are doing? Is everyone in position? Jacob? Jacob, what are you doing?”

Standing on the deck of The Everlast, looking face to face to what he could only assume would be his eventual destruction, Jacob wondered what he would do to gain that warmth back again.

He had agreed to the attempt to catch the star: their supply of The Sleeping Dust had been running quite low, and as everyone knew, no one would get any sleep without it, not so long as they remained Here. He had known the risks going in and, like many others, was willing to take the chance needed so that they could all sleep peacefully, and so that he, specifically, could warm himself once again.

“Jacob, take this and get ready to fight,” the captain said, handing him an umbrella, “And whatever you do, don’t open it until you absolutely need to.”

However, as looked up at the several uniformed bodies floating a little ways off in the distance, defiantly wielding a device that would make Mary Poppins proud, he began to think about ceasing to exist.

It was accepted lore, that whenever anyone ceased to exist, whether they be one hundred and nine, or just nine years old, they would enter a state of eternal slumber.

Of eternal warmth.

It was then Jacob realized that no matter what the looming battle meant for the future, he had nothing to lose.

One way or another, he would feel comfort again.

But, knowing this still, he would do his best to fend off all those who would attack The Everlast. The crew and the boat had, after all, been nothing but good to him, offering him a chance to take part in adventure and comfort. He felt a kinship to them all.

And so when the aggressors began to rain down from above, he smiled.

He was satisfied with his future.

And happy to share his cold with whomever was stupid enough to cross his path on his way to it.