Gemotions

He unearthed it in the garden shed, tucked inside a rusty watering can. The list was written on a piece of parchment that seemed to crackle with age. "Become a pirate," it read. John’s eyes darted around the shed, as if expecting someone to leap out and yell "Surprise!" His father, the mild-mannered history professor, had harbored a secret desire to be a swashbuckler?

He felt a prickling sensation on his skin. He ran a hand through his beard, feeling disoriented. The ensuing entries were even more outlandish. "Find buried treasure." "Sail the seven seas." He gripped the parchment, his knuckles white. The ordinary world suddenly felt incredibly strange, warped somehow.