A story

The weather was nice that day.

The sky was clear and a chilling breeze blew, preventing any heat wave to reign over the surroundings. The branches of the trees swayed from left to right, up and down, as if creating a methodical dance.

There was no sound of the usual civilization; like cars passing by, the hurried walk of people on the sidewalk, music or street vendors. Only the sound of birds chirping, hidden between the dancing branches. Only trees and animals around may sound a bit desolate, but there was a square of a different color in the middle of this forest.

A pretty big square that resulted to be a house.

One of those courtyard houses from ancient times, easily identifiable with the huge gate in the entrance that even a truck can enter.

Beyond the gate was a path that went up, and was surrounded by trees and bushes, from where colorful flowers were starting to bloom. The path extended for over 100 meters just to end in a flatland.

There was a somewhat big pond to the right, which was a natural feature of the landscape, so it was already there before someone decided to build a house right beside it. The house was a one-story house, but it had all the magnificence of the traditional Asian architecture.

The roof that raised like a triangle was decorated with grey tiles. Sturdy pillars held the whole construction. Wooden floors, windows, doors, walls all painted in white as if the wood itself was originally that color.

Many halls meandered right or left, heading to countless rooms that anyone could think were unnecessary, but they all had a purpose for being there.

A garden full of flowers and small trees was located right in the middle of this courtyard house. At the back of the house, there was a stone path that led to a pavilion with the same colors and materials from the house.

It was a well-kept house, always clean and with everything in its place. The main room was located right after crossing the entrance hall. It was really spacious and naturally illuminated as all the doors that face the courtyard were removed. A gentle breeze blew, carrying some leaves from the trees around.

Generally, the house would remain quite, with only the sound of the fauna filling the air; however, at the moment, there was a big commotion. Cars, one by one were arriving, ones small and others quite big.

It was becoming quite cheerful in this remotely located house in which the only inhabitants were an old man and the person who took care of him.

The main entrance remained open due to the many people who kept coming in. The fifth car to arrive was with a family of five, including the parents and three kids between the ages of 4 and 8.

The kids, seeing the house, were so excited as it was their first time visiting it. So, they ran from here to there, completely ignoring the yelling of the mother who was unloading the boxes from their car.

"Kids! Please come here so you can meet your Grandpa!" Yelled the lady for the last time, finally getting the attention of the two girls and the boy who were looking at the pond fascinated.

The three immediately ran into the house and followed their mother, who led them to the biggest room in the house where the old man, the owner, was waiting for them, sitting on his favorite chair and watching the trees swaying in the courtyard.

"Grandpa!" They said in unison while approaching the man who was already forming a smile on his wrinkled face.

"Well, look, who do we have here?" He asked with his aged voice.

"It's nice to see you again Grandpa," said the woman, smiling at the old man.

The old man was actually the woman's grandfather and the kids' great-grandfather, but, as he had said to his other great-grandchildren, he just wanted to be called grandfather, even when he was beyond 90 years.

"Oh, it's little Chae. Are these your kids?" He asked, looking at the faces of the kids who were looking at their Grandpa with curious eyes.

"Yes, Grandpa. This is Milly, she's the eldest, then it's Jude, and last Gina." She said with a smile. She was happy to see the faces of her kids who were practically staring at their grandpa and couldn't wait to shower him with questions. "Oh, I think someone else has come. I haven't even greeted the ones who are already here. Grandpa, can you keep an eye on them while I'm away? I'm sure that more kids will come, but for the time being stay with them, please."

"Go, go. I may be old, but I am not useless yet." He waved his hand to make the woman leave.

"Grandpa! I'm 8 years old. How old are you?" Asked the eldest of the kids, Milly. The others just looked at him waiting for the answer.

"Ah, this man is too old to remember his own age." He said with a mystical tone.

"Are you more than 1000 years old?" Asked the youngest, who had been trying to guess his age inside her mind. They were indeed too young. Seeing a man this old was a first for them, so they were deeply curious.

The old man laughed at the girl's bold words. He thought he wouldn't even reach the century, much less a thousand. He was beginning to get deaf from one ear, and his sight was already blurry. Together with his frequent colds and pains that his body was accumulating, he was getting weaker and weaker each day.

"Grandpa tell us a story!" Exclaimed the boy all of a sudden. Though not really all of a sudden as they had been waiting for their Grandpa to answer if he really was over 1000 years old. As they got no reply, then he ventured to ask for a story.

"Ah? You want to see my cuteness?" The old man joked, making the kids laugh.

"A story, grandpa. You must have done many things, and had many adventures." Corrected the boy with sparkling eyes. In their childish minds, an elderly person meant someone full of stories to tell as they have lived really long.

Their Grandpa could tell them as many as they wanted!

"Hmm, ok, this old man's life has been really boring. So, I'll tell you a story of a friend of mine, who had a friend and that friend had a friend. At the same time, this friend had a friend whose friend-"

"Grandpa!" The three whined in unison, making the old man laugh.

"Ok, let's just say it's a friend. It happened many years ago, when he was studying in England..."