Level Up, Love

Prologue

PROLOGUE

“ M orning, Miss Sage.”

Sage choked out a laugh. “Why hello Mr. Sato. Why the formality of this fine morn’?” She walked into the small sitting room where George sat in his favorite armchair. A scrub jay perched in a giant oak, chirping at the man who fed him scraps through the giant window.

George looked extra tired, thinner, with skin like the weathered pages of those vintage picture books he liked to collect. He had always been a small man, but these last weeks had aged him differently. The sickness settled in his bones.

“George,” Sage said, setting the tea tray down on the cluttered coffee table. Why did they call it a coffee table when neither of them liked that filth? “I think we need to take you in?—”

“No—”

“Just to get things checked out. Nothing crazy. ”

“Sage. My dear, sweet friend?—”

Sage smiled, but it felt forced. “Don’t try and butter me up, old man.”

“I’m tired.” This was an admission of something. George prided himself on not being tired. Prided himself on being able to find that extra reserve of energy. But not today. The confession looked to have winded him because he stared out the window unblinking for several seconds before beckoning Sage over. “Come, sit and drink some tea with me. Tell me about that new game. The one where you run around and pick things and garden. We should have had a garden. I would have started the seeds and your young body could have done all the hard work.” He laughed at himself which turned into a dry cough.

Sage rolled her eyes. “You know how much I like outside and dirt and—” she shivered. “Bugs.”

“It would have been so fun to see you try,” George said. “Drink some tea with me.”

They chatted about their favorite teas. They talked about books they enjoyed from his massive library. She made him laugh with a terrible pun. He told her how much he liked watching her play her little computer games. How much he liked her. Loved her as a granddaughter.

She told him how much she loved him too. And then she watched her old friend finally rest his eyes.