“artifact 163 has been appraised to be a greater artifact. Artifact 164 has been appraised to be a rare artifact…”

Oliver is glad to be home but listening to his aunt explain the grade of the artifacts he brought back from Africa has to be one of the most boring things he has ever had the displeasure of attending. He looks around and sees the other family members equally as bored not by the artifacts but by her flat monotonous voice. Even the matriarch seems to be busy with something below her desk. Oliver tries to see what she is doing by looking into her glasses only to see a lot of colors. She's playing Candy Crush below her desk, isn't she?

After what feels like an eternity, his aunt explains the grade of the last artifact: “Artifact 457 has been appraised to be a trinket artifact.” 

As his aunt settles in, the matriarch opens with the last topic: his uncle's estate. The family leaders once again argue against sending a family member to manage the estate.

Oliver however doesn't see why everyone is so against the idea of taking over the estate. The last time he was there when he was six he loved kayaking on Lake Vermilion. or tying a sled to Uncle Samuel's pickup. He smiles as he remembers the decade-long prank his uncle pulled on him. Samuel knew Oliver loved the pickup he had so when his condition worsened he gave the truck to him in his will. He still loves that truck but last year he found out why birds decided the pickup truck was their favorite toilet as he pulled an artifact that attracts birds out from behind the seat.

14 years ago his uncle must have placed it there to mess with him once Oliver got to drive it.

The thought of his uncle thinking of ways to mess with people even in his final days sends a wave of nostalgia over Oliver. He remembers the camping trips, the abandoned town nearby where they used to climb on roofs to watch the sunset, and the weird anomalous critters his uncle kept as pets.

 Now he wonders what happened to Flapper his uncle's beaver unicorn thing. 

With all the memories of the good times he had there, he raises his hand for a while the only person to notice is his mother who knows what he is going to do and is silently trying to get him to put his hand back down but the only reply she got was Oliver's annoying smirk. The matriarch notices Oliver and asks.

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 “Yes Oliver, do you have a question?”

He lowered his hand and said, “No but seeing that nobody wants it I would be happy to take over Samuel’s estate.” 

This got the attention of every member of his family and they looked at him as if he was crazy.

 At the stares of his family, he felt the need to defend himself “What don't look at me like that, if none of you want it I would be more than happy to take it. As to me, it seems perfect, it's away from the city, it has beautiful scenery and the forest anomalies are generally less dangerous and a lot weirder. I don't know about you lot but I would not mind owning a multi-million dollar two-century-old estate.”

 The looks from his family show him that some of them were thinking about offering themselves to go so he wouldn't have to.

No matter how much they like bickering they do want what's best for each other.

But after hearing that he would like to go and start his own life out there they seem to accept that it's not just him doing it to stop the bickering and give him their support as one of his cousins speaks up.

 “He did very well in Africa no matter how many angry texts he sent about the malaria medication or the threat of using an artifact to block out the sun above the continent. So I say we give him the chance.” a few of the people laugh as they are reminded of his rant about the stupid yellow thing in the sky from when he was suffering from a heat stroke.

The family head from San Francisco speaks up next “While I do believe he is too young and maybe a bit too stubborn as well I do think he might be the best candidate to take over the estate.” There are several murmurs of agreement.

 The matriarch observes her family discussing if he would be ready to be alone so far away from anyone who could help him in an emergency. So the matriarch puts it to a vote “All who are in favor of letting Oliver take over the estate please stand up.”

 Well over half the room stands up many of his cousins want to let Oliver prove that he has what it takes to search for anomalies on his own while the aunts and uncles who stand are the ones who taught him how to survive against any anomaly he might face, and know that after his test in the deserts of Africa, he was more than ready to take on the forest that his uncle used to patrol.

 The matriarch lets out a sigh she knew what the outcome would be but she hoped it would be denied she knows he is capable as even the family heads would be happy with the number of artifacts he brought back from Africa so she doesn't stall any longer and announces 

“With a majority vote, Oliver will from this day onward be the rightful owner of Samuel's estate. Oliver, listen well this will be a big change you will be far away from the family so if you get into trouble it will take hours for one of us to get to you are you certain this is what you want.”

Oliver on the other hand, can't keep the grin on his face as he finally can make a place for himself so he answers “Yes matriarch I'm certain.”