Rules of the 21st Century

Rules of the 21^st Century

A boy from the 5^th century has wound up in the 21^st century under a strange set of circumstances. Ignorant to anything about the modern world, with the exception of reading and speaking skills, Eliza must past-proof her home before leaving him for school.

 

Eliza watched the boy as he sat on her bed; she’d explained everything she could think of to him, although he didn’t seem quite so confident in being self-sufficient while she was gone. He looked about ten, although when Eliza asked his age, he said he couldn’t quite remember.

 

She shook herself from her thoughts, shoving all of her needed items into her book bag. “So where do you go to the bathroom?”

 

“In the big white room?” The boy responded hesitantly, it was so much to take in, in such a short time.

 

“Right. And what are the rules for the door and windows?”

 

“Don’t open it for anyone, and don’t go outside, and don’t open the windows.”

 

Eliza smiled at him, “See, you’ll do just fine.” She hoped he would, at least, she’d be in deep trouble if he didn’t. She waved him to her, “I have something to show you.”

 

The boy looked down at her hand with a perplexed expression, “What on earth is that?”

 

“It’s a phone. We use them to call each other from distances… without shouting or waving our arms or anything.” Eliza explained, holding her smile towards him, “You see the numbers?”

 

The boy nodded, and Eliza held down the number four, just then her own phone began ringing, startling the boy. She patted his shoulder, “It’s just my phone. This one is yours. If anything happens, or you need to ask me something, you hold down that button, and I’ll answer.”

 

The boy nodded as she handed the phone to him, “What if I get hungry?”

 

Eliza smacked her palm to her face, “Right, food.” She didn’t know why that wasn’t the first thing to come to her mind, he was human, of course he needed to eat. She led him into her kitchen; it was a simple, open layout, with stone counters and cherry wood cabinets.

 

She pulled out a pad of sticky notepaper, furiously scribbling down an array of words on single pages, sticking them onto the various surfaces- the refrigerator, the oven, the utensil drawer- and reading them aloud to him.

 

“If you want food, you open the refrigerator,” She said, opening it and letting him look into it. “Try not to eat everything, but help yourself to whatever you want.”

 

The boy nodded, pointing at the oven, “And what about that? The oven?”

 

“That cooks things. Do not use it though, I don’t want you exploding or something.”

 

The boy’s eyes widened, “It’s going to exp-”

 

Eliza waved her hands furiously, “No, no no, no. I swear, it’s not going to explode. I meant. I don’t want you to use it wrong and then hurt yourself, that’s all. It’s sort of complicated.”

 

He nodded again, looking around the house, “And what about that over there?”

 

Eliza looked at smiled, “Ah, the television. That’s probably what you’ll spend your time on.” She lead him over to the television, it wasn’t excessively large, but it was a nice size. She switched it on, a random cartoon was playing.

 

The expression on the boy’s face was one of bewilderment, the lively smile playing across his lips was almost contagious. She handed him the remote, showing him how to change the channels. He insisted on the one cartoon, though.

 

“I think you’re all set.” Eliza said, checking the clock on the wall, she was almost late. “Remember, if you need anything-”

 

“Hold four.” He responded confidently, his eyes flickering over the TV screen as if it were a hypnosis machine. “I will be fine, I promise. And I will not explode anything while you are gone.”

 

Eliza gave a huff, there was a certain amount of pride with having done all that for a kid from the fifth century. Her friends wouldn’t believe it if she told them, but at least she’d come home to a, hopefully, in tact house, and a new friend.