Buranku-Tale of the Blank Boy

Tall Tale (I think?) I wrote for someone.

Something was always off about Buranku. He was often in trouble at school, always falling asleep during class, that is if he even bothered to show up. He was often called troubled and in need of help by his teachers and peers, even his reluctant employer said he seemed  to be blank in every sense. When spring break rolled around, Buranku's parents decided he had to go spend the summer with his Grandmother. Since losing her husband to cancer the year before, his Grandmother was often lonely and they thought the attention she would smother him with, and the fact that he would be miles away from any trouble would be the best thing for him. So as they shipped their blank child off to his Grandmothers, they packed with him a book. Now this book was an old book. It was bound in a rich velvet that had been loving handled, the letters inscribed on the cover shone like gold when the sunlight glances off it, often blinding Buranku. Buranku, trying to suppress his curiosity flipped open the cover, hiding the gold like glint. Scribbled at the top of the cover page were some letters, his curiosity getting the better of him he leans in and sees that the letters form a sentence. "To Buranku, Love Grandpa". Thinking that his grandpa had written him something, he closes the book and stores it in his jacket. Better wait Buranku thought, thinking of how his Grandmother might react, having been reminded of her deceased husband. Staring out the window, Buranku slowly dozes off as the car leaves the city. Hours later, when the moon had risen to it's utmost glory and brightest peak, his Grandmother pulls into the driveway to her cottage. Now it isn't the biggest cottage, barely big enough for 1 person to live comfortably, but Buranku was used to this. He had opted to take the attic every time his parents had sent him here before for "Relaxing away from the city". He thanks his Grandmother and tells her that he is going to bed, for he wasn't hungry after the ride, but really, his curiosity had piqued to an extreme level after he woke up. Sitting down at the old desk, Buranku turns on the lamp his Grandmother had left, and upon turning the first old page, there was only 1 word on it. "Dream" Buranku whispers to himself, and that was the last thing he remembers before sleep over took him. It felt like days passed before he finally was able to fight away the darkness surrounding him. The sun had already risen and was glaring through his window. "Grandma why'd you let me sleep in? Buranku calls out. He waits several moments before he calls out again, "Grandma? Are you there?" Panic starts to creep in. "Grandma?" He shouts.

"Calm down, my young boy." A deep melodic voice says at his door. Turning to look. Buranku lays eyes upon his only relative he ever felt a deep, mental connection to. "Grandpa?" His voice stutters and shakes "Are...am I...what is this?" Buranku asks looking around, everything seeming younger from the glass in the windows to the moon in the sky. "Buranku." Buranku turns to look at his Grandfather. "That book I gave you, did you read the title?" Shaking his head he closes the book to look at the cover. The velvet and gold seeming to look as if the book was new, he read the title aloud. "Burankus' life story." Looking at his Grandfather Buranku has to ask. "Why was there only 1 word in this book Grandpa?" Chuckling, his Grandfather sits down next on his bed. "Do you know what your name means?" Buranku shakes his head, never having thought of it before. "Every child in our family is called Buranku until they are able to understand that their life is just exactly what their name means. Blank, you're an empty canvas Buranku. And this book was the key to opening your mind to that thought. What do you want to do now, that you know that your life is empty?" His Grandfather asks, his eyes sparkling. "I'm going to write" Buranku says without a moments hesitation. "I shall write tales about Dragons and Mages, about things that don't exist anywhere but in our minds." His Grandfather nods. "But what if I told you, that you're living that dream? Just think it, and it shall be real." Buranku looks down at his feet, imagining them to be as big and ugly as a trolls, and gasping in astonishment as they change before his eyes. After experimenting with his looks Buranku settles on his normal attire. "But Grandpa, that got me thinking...does that mean...I'm dead?" Shaking his head, his Grandfather smiles sadly. "You're not dead, but you are in the book I gave you." Eyes widening to the size of saucers, Buranku slumps in defeat. "So I can never see Grandma again? Or mom and dad?" His grandfather shakes his head. "Well, there is a way, to get back to them in the real world. But you must promise to tell them everything that went on here, and that you'll never misbehave again." Nodding eagerly, for while he had his dream world here, he couldn't put his Grandmother through a heartbreaking goodbye to her only Grandchild. "What is it Grandpa?" Standing up, his voice changing in depth to that of a roar. "You must write about this world, and try to convince others that it is real. Even if they do not believe you, write and write some more." Nodding eagerly Buranku accepts, and is whisked back to reality by a nod of his Grandfathers head. With all the excitement now filling his mind and heart, Buranku takes a new name. "I shall go by Jacob" And when he returned to his home at the end of the break, he told his parents all about what had happened. They just nodded their head, and were just thankful he seemed ready to learn. At school teachers were just glad he was showing up to class, and staying awake. His fellow students would whisper among themselves about the velvet book he kept with him all the time, and would pretend to believe his stories he told. By the end of his High-school life, people were calling him "Jacob the Storyteller" and his stories had gone on to State Championships when his English teacher submitted his work to a contest, receiving the blue ribbon in Fantasy and Fiction writing. Everyone for miles around his hometown knew him, and would often ask his parents what they did for him to change from being such a blank boring person. But they just shook their head "Sometimes all it takes is a book, nothing more"