A ribbon of pipe smoke curls into the air, and not for the first time, I think of my grandpa, who would sit at the back of a musty kitchen, puffing his pipe, pondering a world that passed him by long ago. The memory is vivid, visceral, and it almost sends me sprawling into the distant past.
The man who sits before me now, The Man With No Name, is not my grandpa. He died eleven years ago. Though The Man With No Name would have been around when my grandpa was still alive, as well as when his grandpa was still alive. He gestures to me with his pipe before returning it to his mouth.
“Sit, Michael.”
I do as I’m told. I have no idea why he’s summoned me. I only know I was home, heading upstairs for bed, and when I reached the top I realized I was no longer ascending the wooden steps in my house, but the ancient wrought iron steps that lead to his personal chambers. Yet I’ve learned in all our dealings not to ask questions but to listen. He always has his reasons, and my family and I have come to trust them.
The candelabra that hangs from the high stone ceiling glows a dim flickering orange. It makes me feel as if I’ve crossed the threshold into another world, and for all I know I have.
“Michael, I’m going to get right to the point. I’m dying.”
Dying. It took a moment for the meaning of the word to resolve.
“But how?” I can’t believe what I’ve just heard.
“My kind live long by your standards, but contrary to what you and your family may believe, I am not immortal.”
I feel as if everything I’ve been taught has been a lie. All of Grandpa’s stories about The Man With No Name, about how he helped the family, once poor, prosper and succeed. He was not just a saint to us, he was a god. Now, I’m learning that even a god can die.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
I must have been staring. I gaze down at my feet, crestfallen. The world falls apart around me. I feel like throwing up.
“I served your family long before it had a name, but now my life draws to a close and I’d like to put things in order before I go.”
“But, what will we do without you? We’ve relied on you for so long. I don’t know how we’ll survive.”
The Man With No Name leans back. A grimace sours his features like rancid milk.
“I spoiled you. I should have been more discerning in my aid. Ah, well, that’s love. Michael, there comes a time in every person’s life when they have to leave the protection of their parents and strike out on their own. This is true of children, and it is also true of families. I’ve been with your kin for more than a thousand years, teaching and guiding. Now, it’s time to take what you’ve learned and make something of yourselves.”
“You can’t leave us.”
“I have no choice. My time in this world is finished. I’m ready to flee the shackles of my body and discover what lies beyond.”
Shock begins to thaw, and despair begins to take its place.
“Make me proud, Michael. You and your family are capable of great things. You no longer need my help, and you haven’t for a while.”
“But I don’t want you to go.” My voice cracks.
“I know.”
The Man With No Name opens his arms, and I find myself running into their embrace. I cry. The arms close around me.
“Goodbye, Michael.”
When I pull back, I’m standing once more at the top of my own stairs. For the first time in my life, and in all the centuries of my family’s life, I know what it truly means to be alone.
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