Other Joe

The next day eventually arrived and young Alexander could be seen stretching his limbs as he walked down the stairs.

He was quite well-rested but confusion was evident on his baby face. It never occurred to him to rethink the validity of his other life immersion, however, his worries essentially faded with the occasional snippets of images he got in his dreams.

The question remains on how he should consider and classify the phenomenon he is in.

Young Alexander did not die nor did his other life counterpart. So, it must not be the so-called reincarnation trope.

The future visions as he called them were not from a grown-up Alexander as well. So, this situation wasn't the relife and rebirth genre.

Life on the other side was smooth sailing except for the dreadful virus that struck for a few years. Humanity somewhat bounced back from that, so the fate of the world hanging on his shoulder is not what it is either.

Being the chosen one is too cheesy for his taste after all.

Considering the various theories that his other counterpart watched from future Youtube and the web, Alexander would consider it as a weird trope of parallel universes getting a connection somehow.

The first universe follows the timeline of his four years of life starting from 1970 while the second universe has a timeline slightly ahead of the first universe.

For the sake of labels, the conduit that connects the two universes must be Alexander's head and the Other Joe's head.

Alexander is self-aware of the connection while Other Joe is just living his average joe of a life.

Other Joe is just minding his own busy life whilst young Alex omnipotently lived and matured from the experience.

"Be yourself, Other Joe! I have to use you as a basis for my own life choices." The young boy muttered and momentarily lamented on the unfairness of their situation.

He could chart his own life trajectory while Other Joe is striding through the mist of his clouded future. Maybe Other Joe would become self-aware as well but that is something that should be considered when it comes around.

Both of them don't have any remote control for this multi-universe debacle after all.

"Alexander, I have to head for work now! Pay close attention to your safety and wait for the babysitter to arrive." His sleepless father sounded not far from the front door as readying himself to go out. "Breakfast is all ready for you. Gotta go!"

With those words conveyed, Mark dashed outside as he still has legal matters to attend to.

The young boy did not bother to say bye as it is already a norm in this household. Old Sullivan leaves by dawn and Mark leaves a little later to prepare his son's morning sustenance.

Alex just went to the dining table and ate the bread served on the table with a glass of milk on the side.

He quickly finished it off and set aside the dishes for the babysitter to wash. He was already good and well-behaved, leaving this easy task for their salary's worth is practically a courtesy.

Bathing and restroom matters were already done by himself, so the babysitter only has to do the bare minimum of their job description, and taking care of him would technically be a breeze.

With him freshened up for the day and only waiting for his hired guardian to arrive, Alexander strived to do what he planned to do.

Although he had a cheat from Other Joe, it would still be useless if he did not put in some effort. Fortunately, his elders have his problems covered.

Sullivan was all about business and Mark was all about filmography. They've collected a hefty number of learning materials in their lifetime and it was time for their little junior to take advantage of that.

If their house had the entire upper floor reserved for bedrooms and essentials, then the lower floor is piled up with stacks of books.

Young Alex's solution was the Creed collection that huddled together like a personal library in their collective study.

Any other four-year-old may not even consider this but Alexander knew that childhood is the perfect timing to develop their genius.

Instead of scurrying around with childish wonder, Alexander plans to make use of his prime learning years to beef up his required knowledge.

Other Joe in his college period would surely be jealous of this quirk. He was already an adult and his childlike curiosity was already closed off. His best option is to cram those sophisticated learnings on the eleventh hour, given his procrastinating tendencies.

"Introduction to Film." Alex chose his first book to finish and vowed to never be crummy like Other Joe. Turning the heavy book's pages and tried hard to comprehend everything he needed from it.

He was never yet taught to read and write but his parallel universe life immersion already made him go through that cycle. As such, he metaphorically rode a bike without the need for assistance and training wheels.

His babysitter, Helena Davis, finally arrived and was surprised to see the young boy intently reading his father's book.

She knew that the lad was fascinated with art, which was why this sudden change of interest astounded her but she still shook her head after a while. "I doubt the boy could even understand anything from that."

Helena had no qualms with the kid's quirkiness. As a matter of fact, she counted herself as one of the lucky ones. Her peers in the same line of work had it worst.

Kids being hyper and uncontrollable. Rooms are left messy after a round of playing. Broken toys and fragile furniture that you had better have a readied excuse for how it broke.

On her side, the Creed kid barely interacted with her and just wanted to stay put, which was both worrying and calming at the same time.

She occasionally reported to her employers about her interactions with the child but the father was just as stoic as his son.

Anyways, she was getting paid so what was the need to make a fuss about young Alex being different from others?

Helena left to do the dishes and just silently watched not far from the intently reading boy.

If it was any other day, she would be at peace with watching how empty papers become filled with wondrous drawings. It was different this time as she unknowingly became bored with the long wait.

Unbeknownst to her, the boring shifts would just be extended as her lucky babysitee became a tediously boring bookworm.

A month would pass in this same manner and it was already a miracle that helpless Helena was able to keep her sanity from being given an unintentional silent treatment.