the tale of jack

jack lives a good life. he does. honest. his parents had him early on in their lives. so early that instead of drinking champagne at their wedding they drank apple cider. on jack's first birthday, one year after they said they didn't want anything to do with him, jack's grandparents threw him a luau, a spectacular party with hula dancers and drums and a roast pig, and all the family came over and enjoyed themselves and jack parents were grateful for the help.

and on christmas jack's parents bought him a ghostbusters proton pack and ghost trap and jack was the happiest boy in the world. they celebrated and played super mario in his grandma's living room where jack and his family lived for the first few years until jack's parents had another child. jack got a brother.

and so jack and his brother grew up and jack became more of a ham, year after year, trying more and more to stand out from his newborn brother. he loved attention. and he loved ninja turtles.

and a few years passed. jack grew up and so did his brother and the whole family moved to a new house and jack started school and although he was quite outgoing he was, by far, the shyest in the class.

but he grew up. and then one day jack's mom and dad brought him and his brother into their room and told them that things weren't working out. jack was confused and angry and upset and frustrated and jack lashed out and had a hard time. but then things worked out. they always seem to work out for jack.

and then jack jumped forward in time and saw himself growing up and getting hair in places he never had hair and noticing girls when he never noticed girls. but he was still jack.

frankly speaking, jack lives a normal life. the cory matthews life. and it doesn't suffice for jack anymore. jack drinks too often and curses too frequent and smokes on occasion to balance out the buzz. jack hides his secrets like a dog hides his shame and waits and wishes for someone to notice, never revealing outright and getting off on the prospect of everyone knowing. jack is an asshole and a heartbreaker who decided to give up on getting close because the inevitable outcome it too much to handle any more. jack is cold and jealous and loses a little more of himself each time he sees something similar to himself on the television or in a book and jack realizes that his identity, who he truly is, is nothing more than an emulation of some last encounter.

and jack daydreams more and more. he falls into an alternate dimension where actions have no consequence, where he lives out the fantasy of being immune, of a future where it all plays out like some movie script. he has it down. like the part where he plans to leave for a year, plans out everything he'll do before hand: the telling off of some secret nemesis, the confession of affection to some unrequited secret love, the "never look back moment". and then the hour or so in the movie where jack "finds himself" through a series of adventures and spiritual moments. and then the big finale when jack returns home after a year or so and is welcomed warmly ends up getting the girl and everyone lives happily ever after. he's seen it a million times. knows it line for line. plays out in his alternate dimension.

but some things are better left to the dreamers. and, after all, jack really does have a good life.