The horizon swallowed the sun as it descended lower in the sky, the orange rays touched warmly on the land, signifying the end of the day. 

I sauntered through the village, watching people walk by, also on their way home from a probable long day of work, the shops on the sides closed one by one to call it a day. 

I too, had just come back from some labor of my own, with a tied bundle of wood on my left shoulder, holding it up with my left arm. 

My rather plain brown fabrics of clothing were filthened collecting and chopping all this wood in the forest. 

I slowed down my pace as I took sight of my home, a humbly sized cabin; smoke coming from the chimney of the cabin, promising warmth from the chilly temperatures that were setting in along with the night. 

I took a step in, and dropped the bundle of wood beside the door and untied my long black hair, reaching around the midpoint of my neck and finally walked into the house. 

I walked past the warm brown rug placed on the ground, the fireplace to the right wall from the door and some chairs on the other side of the fireplace with a short roundtable, looking at everything through my red eyes. 

“Hah, I should probably go check on him right now,” I said to myself. 

I stood in front of the door, and took a slight breath in before knocking on the door. 

“Come in,” an old voice from the other side of the door said roughly. 

I opened the door into the room. It was dim inside, the only light that filtered the room was from the window at the end of the room, letting in the soft twilight. On the bed laid my grandfather, laying down in bed while facing away from me. 

“Hey, grandpa, came to check up on you,” I said, I took a wooden chair on the side of the room and sat down next to my grandfather’s bed. 

... 

“Hey! Gramps, what’s wrong?” I asked, wondering why he didn’t bother to reply. He wasn’t asleep either, his eyes were clearly wide open. 

“You know exactly what’s wrong,” he replied quietly, and in a low voice. 

I raised my eyebrow at his words and leaned forward, closer to the bed, “What do you mean-” 

My grandfather sprang up from the bed and looked at me, his thick grey eyebrows furrowed together, “You know exactly what I mean, stupid!” he barked. 

“Gramps, no...” 

“Yes! Until this day you still haven’t gotten yourself a wife, not even a damn girlfriend! And it doesn’t help that none of the girls in the village like you!” he sighed. 

“Look, Victor, I’m an old man, and I haven’t even seen my grandkids. You know those jokes we used to make about you ending the family bloodline? I see now that those might actually be true, because you’re hopeless!” 

I looked at my grandfather in bewilderment, “Ok! Gramps, stop! That’s literally all you talk about these days; you really don’t have to rub it in my face every damn hour! That’s emotional abuse, and it needs to stop!” 

My grandfather sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Look, I just want to die knowing the bloodline will continue, and when your parents died, I didn’t take you in for nothing.” 

“Excuse me?” I replied. 

... 

I raised an eyebrow at his words, I clenched my jaw, “I’ll bet you right now that I’ll get a wife before you die!” 

My grandfather looked at me with something akin to disappointment, or maybe he was just unamused. He laid back down in bed, and turned away from me and towards the window, “Well... Good luck with that.” 

I closed the door and clenched my fist. 

I laid in my bed at night, sinking it to the mattress and staring at the ceiling in the lunar light from outside, coming through my window. I sighed. 

Real stuff, am I actually going to stay single forever? Like, no girl likes me, and it’s not like my ability makes it any better, why’d I get an ability as useless as talking to my ancestors? 

I rolled in my bed, and smacked my hand into the mattress, which made the sound of a muted boom. 

Damn it, I really am finished, aren’t I? 

I heard a knock from the front door, my heart skipped a beat from the sudden noise in the silence of the night, I quickly got up on my elbows and looked towards my closed door, as if it was the front door. 

Who’s knocking at a time like this? 

I thought, I moved over to the edge of my bed and placed my legs on the ground, rising up to my feet towards the front door. I opened my door and took a step into the hall of the cabin in the darkness, I could barely see anything. 

Finally, I found my way to the front door and approached carefully, in case it was somebody trying to steal. I opened the door slightly and peered outside, only to see no one. 

I opened the door fully and looked around, and I still so no one. I stepped outside only to step on something that didn’t feel like the wooden platform. I looked down at my feet, and underneath it was a white envelope. 

I bent over to pick it up, and narrowed my eyes to see what it was specifically, but the darkness of the night made it almost impossible to see, so I stepped back inside the house to examine the letter further. 

I closed the door behind me and turned on the lamp in the house, it’s light spread to all corners of the room that covered the place in the warm orange light of the flame. 

I sat down on one of the chairs in the room parallel to the fireplace, I leaned forward towards the roundtable in front of the chair and examined the envelope. 

My name specifically was written in black ink on the white envelope. There was a small golden stamp on the bottom corner of the envelope that was flat and thin. It was the mark of the World Post, the fastest mailing system in the world basically, so the letter itself was probably transported by magic alone. 

To seal the envelope, there was a red seal that had a slight perfume scent to it, signifying its high quality. 

Damn, what rich douchebag’s sending me a letter? Am I that famous? 

I took of the seal and opened the envelope slowly and carefully, as if it was a gem that would break if touched too harshly. 

I pulled out the letter written inside and read it. 

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Sector 7C, World capital, SK1 B1D2 

January 7th, Second Revolution Millenia, 318 

Hey Victor,  

I hope this message finds you well, it’s been 2 months since I moved from the village near yours to the World capital, but there’s something I never told you, and I really regret doing so, and it’s the fact that I fell in love with you and I didn’t tell you. While I know it’s too late now, and you can’t get to the World capital, I just wanted to get this off my chest as it’s really been bothering me for a while now, I hope to receive your reply in this same letter, see you now. 

Best Regards, 

-Emily.” 

“No... Way,” I said, my eyes widened as I finished reading the letter. 

“Gramps!” I barged into his room, holding the letter high in the air. 

He almost jumped out of bed looking at me, “Oh great! My grandson’s trying to give me a heart attack, what do you want!?” he shouted at me. 

“A girl actually loves me! You’ve got to see this!” I said, and paced over to him with the letter, holding it in front of his face. 

My grandfather snatched the letter out of my hand, “Now boy, don’t be confusing dreams with reality and bring your stupid self in here-” he cuts himself off, when he finally took a good read of the letter. 

“No, way,” he said, looking at the letter, the corner of his lips curved upwards slightly. 

“But anyways! Emily lives in the World Capital now, it’s basically on the other side of the world from here, it’s an expensive journey all the way if you’re escorted, which we don’t have the money for, and you’re definitely not a powerful mage who can go solo, so this is basically pointless,” he said. 

“Oh yea, right,” I said, the smile on my face disappeared. 

“Well, that was a good dopamine rush, but nothing more, now leave, you’re disturbing my sleep,” he said, going back to bed. 

I left his room frustrated, and went back to my room, plummeting down on my bed face first. 

“Seriously,” I said, muffled by the mattress over my mouth. 

I roll over to look back up at the ceiling. 

“The bloodline really does end with me, huh?” I told myself, I looked to the side to see the letter still in my right hand. 

I sigh and sit up in bed and look at the letter again, reading through it again, my eyes suddenly widen when I realize something I didn’t see before at the back of the paper. 

“If you were here in the World capital, I would definitely marry you the moment I would get the chance, picture this: Me and you leaving together happily, with 5 dogs, yes, 5 dogs, because I love dogs. And I would cook dinner for you every single day! And make sure to take care of you really well, you better hurry though, if you don’t, my dad will make another man sweep me off my feet, and I don’t want that, so hurry!” 

My eyes drifted down to see a picture of both me and Emily, I finally realized what the gravity of the situation, the significance of this moment, the turning point in my life. 

This moment would decide everything, not only that, but it has made me realize what I want, it has opened my eyes to the truth, put me back on track when I was slowly straying away. 

I rose up to my feet, looking down at the ground. 

That’s right, how could I forget? Emily’s the prettiest girl I've ever laid eyes on, missing this opportunity would be a disgrace! I can’t drop out on something like this. 

I turn to look outside my window. 

It doesn’t matter anymore, no, no it doesn’t, does it? It doesn’t matter how dangerous it is, I will make it, to the world- 

“I’m heading to the damn World capital tomorrow morning!” I barge into my grandfather’s room and shout, making it clear. 

My grandfather jolts awake, “Son of a gun! You, VICTOR! What, in the world, do you want this time?” my grandfather says, panting aggressively. 

“I’m going to the World capital tomorrow,” I said, looking at him with determination. 

“Yea, right, you aren’t, now go to bed you insomniac,” he goes back to bed. 

I look at him and sigh, “Alright then, we’ll see.” 

It’s time to get ready. 

I entered my room, switched on the lamp on the table and sat down. I take a pen and start thinking of a reply, and finally I decide on what to write down. 

I write my reply, “Hey Emily, I would like to say that the feelings are mutual, and that I will be coming to the World capital, I will be on my way, so wait for me.” 

That’s what I wrote back to her, and closed the envelope. 

“I’ll take this to the mail tomorrow,” I said to myself. 

I placed the envelope on the table and rose to my feet. I looked outside the window, I got to work, pulling out a leather strapped bag and started packing essentials like food, water and a few spare clothes. 

By the next morning, I was done. I waited for the sun to rise, seated on the edge of my bed with my bag in front of me, packed and ready. 

One of my ancestors suddenly appears, one that I don’t know—which, is kind of the thing with my ability, it summons a random one of my ancestors, which is out of my ability to control who appears. 

“So... who are you?” I asked, looking up the figure, a stern, middle aged looking man in his ghostly form. 

“I am Jonathan, your great, great, great, great, great, great, great granduncle,” he tells me. 

“Wow,” I say, I looked up at the ceiling then back down at him. 

“So anyways, what is going on with you?” he asks me. 

“So, Emily, she’s like a childhood best friend of mine, she moved to the World capital like two months ago, but just this morning I got a letter from her confessing her love, it was honestly crazy, so now I’m gonna travel to the World capital. Not only that, but I get to prove to my gramps that I’ll get a wife before he dies.” I said. 

Jonathan looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “So, are you doing it because you really want to or because you want to prove a point?” he asks. 

I froze for a bit, why am I doing this? 

I grinned at Jonathan, evading my thought, “Obviously I want this! Who wouldn’t want a girlfriend? Not just that, but a freaking wife too!?” I exclaimed. 

He looks at me and smiles, almost as if he was amused or something of the sort, “Hm, interesting goals? I feel like me and you are, or at least were, in the same boat. Back in my day, I was a master at math, but I was a lover of art and music. My parents told me pursuing any of the other would be a waste of time; that the reason I didn’t do it was I was just incapable. So, I wanted to prove it to them, and I pursued math; became a mathematician,” he paused. 

“But when I did, nothing happened, I didn’t feel fulfilled, my parents didn’t care, something I thought would make me happy, was what made me depressed. You see what I’m trying to say?” 

I look at him with a raised eyebrow, “That you wasted time doing something you didn’t actually want and regret it?” I answered unsurely. 

He nodded and smiled, “Yes,” he paused for a bit, “Now think of you right now, and think what would happen after you fulfill your goal, how you would feel?” 

I didn’t want to think much about it, because I knew this was something I wanted, something that would make me happy. There was no way I was going to regret this, no way at all...? Right? 

“Well, yea! Of course I do, seriously, why wouldn’t I want a girlfriend and to prove to my gramps I won’t end the bloodline, I actually know what I want and I’m doing it on my own accord, I think we have very varying situations here,” I said back.” 

Jonathan looked at me, and his smile widened with that same amusement in his face, or maybe, it was something else, “Well, ok then... I suppose only time will tell, as some say, experience is the best teacher, so we’ll see,” he said, before slowly starting to fade away, his radiating glow in the room slowly dimming and becoming less present in the physical world around him. 

“I wish you my farewells, and it was nice to see you, even though we might never meet again, and it was only for a short time, I wish you luck on your journey,” he said, before fully fading away, only remembered by me; by the physical space around him? Only a phantom whisper now. 

I sat there at the edge of my bed, just watching where Jonathan was just now, and I scratched the back of my head, “Regret seeking love? Yea, right...” 

When the sun peeked slightly above the horizon, when its rays hit the surface of the land, I knew it was time. I left the house without saying goodbye to gramps, I had already gave him a plentiful farewell, and now I was going. 

I stopped by the small post office in the village and dropped the envelope Emily sent to be mailed back, the letter would very much reach the World capital before me, but the envelope didn’t matter much if I didn’t make it there myself. 

I sauntered through the village, observing small details that I would usually overlook, taking this as my last sight of the village. 

I reached the boundary of the village, and for a short moment, turned back to look at the village, the wind slowly blew towards the west, blowing my black hair that I tied to keep in place. 

I take a breath, and then turn back, and begin into the unknown, into the turning point. 

Emily, wait for me.