“Generals will be needed to make the dream a reality.”
My hands begin to shake. I feel a strong urge to get up and leave. But I can’t go anywhere until the meeting is over.
“Very soon,” Uncle says, “I will be assembling the team that will lead Timeless Treasures into the next phase of its development. And, Caleb …”
“Yes, Uncle?” I say, my voice trembling.
“I’ll be monitoring you and Frank very closely over the next little while,” he says, smiling. “So far, this month you are leading him in completed snatches by a score of nineteen to sixteen. But if you look at the relative complexity of your snatches versus his, I would say that he is in the lead.”
I grind my teeth. I should have guessed he’d be hauling out the numbers and comparing my totals with Frank’s. But it’s not just that. Uncle’s expert at twisting the results to whatever he wants them to show.
“Do you know why Frank is doing so well?” he asks.
Yes—because he’s been poaching my snatches, I want to say. But if I mention that, Uncle will either not believe me or twist things around so that it’s my fault somehow. So instead I say, “No, Uncle.”
“I’ll tell you why,” answers Uncle. “It’s because he has an extra quality about him that none of my other time snatchers seem to have, including, I’m afraid, you, Caleb.”
I feel myself getting very warm. Please let this meeting be over soon.
“Frank has what I call, a ‘zeal for the steal,’” Uncle continues. “He is enthusiastic about every single mission. He is singularly focused on the snatch and doesn’t let the clutter of everyday life interfere.”
“I’m not Frank, Uncle,” I say, and as soon as the words are out, I regret saying them. Not because they aren’t true, but because I didn’t try to hide my dislike of Frank when I said them.
“That is exactly my point,” continues Uncle. “You are not Frank. But to succeed, Caleb, to meet the high expectations that I have of you, you must become more like Frank.”
I’d rather die than be more like Frank … which, come to think of it, Uncle could easily arrange.
“Think about what I am saying to you,” continues Uncle. “I am telling you these things so that you can improve yourself. So that you can be the time snatcher that I have always thought, and still think, you can be. Am I making myself understood?”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Wonderful,” he says and stands up. “Now, before you go, I’d like to show you my most recent acquisition.”
He strolls across the room and runs his fingers lovingly over the aquarium’s glass wall. Then he opens a small hatch on top, saunters back and sits down cross-legged behind the low table. My stomach clenches. Uncle’s not the forgetful type. If he leaves a door or in this case a hatch open, you can bet there’s a good reason for it.
“Very impressive,” I say.
“In China, the turtle is a symbol of long life and happiness,” says Uncle. “It is said that when a turtle reaches the age of one thousand years, it is able to speak just like you and I.”
Maybe, but judging by the way those two in the aquarium are going at it, I’d be surprised if either of them make it past the next ten minutes, let alone the next thousand years.
“Let me share a little secret with you,” Uncle continues. “I didn’t purchase Shu Fang and Ting Ting for good luck. I bought them because I find them very entertaining. Especially when they’ve been denied nourishment. In that regard, I would venture to say that they’re not unlike humans. Do you know what happens when the human soul is denied nourishment?”
“Uh … no, Uncle. I don’t know,” I say.
“When one’s soul is deprived of nourishment, it withers,” he says. “Withers and crumbles into nothingness.”
I watch as Uncle’s fingers tiptoe across the table and scuttle up the side of a glass jar. They linger at the top for a second and then dip down inside.
“Jelly bean?” he
My hands begin to shake. I feel a strong urge to get up and leave. But I can’t go anywhere until the meeting is over.
“Very soon,” Uncle says, “I will be assembling the team that will lead Timeless Treasures into the next phase of its development. And, Caleb …”
“Yes, Uncle?” I say, my voice trembling.
“I’ll be monitoring you and Frank very closely over the next little while,” he says, smiling. “So far, this month you are leading him in completed snatches by a score of nineteen to sixteen. But if you look at the relative complexity of your snatches versus his, I would say that he is in the lead.”
I grind my teeth. I should have guessed he’d be hauling out the numbers and comparing my totals with Frank’s. But it’s not just that. Uncle’s expert at twisting the results to whatever he wants them to show.
“Do you know why Frank is doing so well?” he asks.
Yes—because he’s been poaching my snatches, I want to say. But if I mention that, Uncle will either not believe me or twist things around so that it’s my fault somehow. So instead I say, “No, Uncle.”
“I’ll tell you why,” answers Uncle. “It’s because he has an extra quality about him that none of my other time snatchers seem to have, including, I’m afraid, you, Caleb.”
I feel myself getting very warm. Please let this meeting be over soon.
“Frank has what I call, a ‘zeal for the steal,’” Uncle continues. “He is enthusiastic about every single mission. He is singularly focused on the snatch and doesn’t let the clutter of everyday life interfere.”
“I’m not Frank, Uncle,” I say, and as soon as the words are out, I regret saying them. Not because they aren’t true, but because I didn’t try to hide my dislike of Frank when I said them.
“That is exactly my point,” continues Uncle. “You are not Frank. But to succeed, Caleb, to meet the high expectations that I have of you, you must become more like Frank.”
I’d rather die than be more like Frank … which, come to think of it, Uncle could easily arrange.
“Think about what I am saying to you,” continues Uncle. “I am telling you these things so that you can improve yourself. So that you can be the time snatcher that I have always thought, and still think, you can be. Am I making myself understood?”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Wonderful,” he says and stands up. “Now, before you go, I’d like to show you my most recent acquisition.”
He strolls across the room and runs his fingers lovingly over the aquarium’s glass wall. Then he opens a small hatch on top, saunters back and sits down cross-legged behind the low table. My stomach clenches. Uncle’s not the forgetful type. If he leaves a door or in this case a hatch open, you can bet there’s a good reason for it.
“Very impressive,” I say.
“In China, the turtle is a symbol of long life and happiness,” says Uncle. “It is said that when a turtle reaches the age of one thousand years, it is able to speak just like you and I.”
Maybe, but judging by the way those two in the aquarium are going at it, I’d be surprised if either of them make it past the next ten minutes, let alone the next thousand years.
“Let me share a little secret with you,” Uncle continues. “I didn’t purchase Shu Fang and Ting Ting for good luck. I bought them because I find them very entertaining. Especially when they’ve been denied nourishment. In that regard, I would venture to say that they’re not unlike humans. Do you know what happens when the human soul is denied nourishment?”
“Uh … no, Uncle. I don’t know,” I say.
“When one’s soul is deprived of nourishment, it withers,” he says. “Withers and crumbles into nothingness.”
I watch as Uncle’s fingers tiptoe across the table and scuttle up the side of a glass jar. They linger at the top for a second and then dip down inside.
“Jelly bean?” he
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