Chapter 21: Old Kaminski
"My name is Othon Kaminski, and I was from an ancient village called Tupavinski. When I met my girlfriend, I fell so deeply in love that I wanted to be with her alone. So, we got married and moved into a forest in the most beautiful way we could. I have always been passionate about wild nature, and my wife felt the same way. We wanted to stay as far away from everyone as possible, so we chose the forest and the wildlife it offered.
After almost a year together, something happened one night that changed our lives forever. In the distance, we saw a star falling from the sky and felt its impact on the earth, and we almost died instantly.
But unfortunately, my wife wasn't as lucky, and since we lived far from everything and everyone, she wouldn't be rescued in time to survive.
The cabin we built together was strong enough to withstand a storm, maybe even an earthquake. But nothing we could build would withstand the destructive force of that event, so we were trapped under the cabin's debris for hours or maybe days, without knowing each other's condition.
When I finally got free from the rubble, I found myself inside some strange place, hooked up to wires and weird devices. When I asked about my wife, they said there was no one else in that cabin. They said I was alone when they rescued me and that I almost died.
Then they started conducting tests on me, turning me inside out. From that point on, I was no longer in control of myself. Each time I opened my eyes and asked, 'What day is it today?' the answer was always exactly one year after the last time I asked.
Gareno said nothing, but if you looked closely into his eyes, you could see he was crying. Thilláila didn't even blink as she scribbled something in an old notebook she had found nearby.
'When did this event you mentioned happen?' asked Kowalsk, always attentive to details.
'June 30, 1908,' Kaminski replied calmly, while their eyes widened in shock.
'Do you happen to know what day it is today?' asked Gareno.
'No, my son, I don't know the exact day, but I know the year. It's 2037.'
'Please, Mr. Kaminski, would you mind telling us what year you were born?' asked Thilláila.
'Not at all, my dear. I was born in 1888.'
Everyone's eyes widened again.
'If you're really telling the truth, do you know what that means?' asked Kowalsk, doing some quick calculations.
'Yes, my son. It means I'll be 150 years old next year, if I live that long, of course.'
'Doesn't that surprise you?' Gareno asked, amazed by his calmness.
'No, young man. I believe that after everything I've been through, few things can surprise me. If you were in my place, you'd think the same.'
Mr. Kaminski paused to savor more coffee and eat something resembling a biscuit, as hard as it was old. But he didn't complain, just smiled, ready for another question.
'Now, the question that's making everyone curious here, how did you end up inside a dragon?' Thilláila asked, happy to be the first to voice it.
'Look, my dear, I don't know about that.'
'What do you mean?' they all asked abruptly.
'It's true, I don't know how they put me inside a dragon. But I know they conducted numerous tests on me. I'm surprised they didn't put a dragon inside me.'
That statement didn't sound right, and suddenly everyone felt a chill down their spine. After all, it was strange, but given the facts they'd witnessed, it seemed possible. Sensing the tension, Mr. Kaminski broke the ice.
'Calm down, folks, it was just a joke. After all, who would put a dragon inside a person? And for what reasons?'
'That's exactly what I keep wondering, Mr. Kaminski. What motive would a crazy but intelligent person have for doing what they did to you? Why hide you inside a dragon?' asked Kowalsk.
'I don't know for sure, son, but maybe, just maybe, I have the answer,' said Mr. Kaminski, calmly taking another sip of coffee.
'Maybe it's because of my blood.'
'Your blood? What's special about your blood?' they all asked.
'You might have heard of golden blood.'
'Golden blood is rare blood with a null Rh, right?' Thilláila interjected.
'Rh null? Explain that better, Thilláila,' demanded Kowalsk.
'Null, meaning the red blood cells don't have any Rh antigens. Individuals with Rh null blood, besides lacking the RhD antigen, also don't express other Rh system antigens, which causes a fragility in their red blood cells, leading to mild but chronic anemia.'
'And it might make the person more vulnerable to strange experiments, like the one we saw today… a man coming out of a dragon,' Gareno concluded, under Kowalsk's attentive gaze.
'And how could he know that?' Thilláila asked.
'Simple, miss, because he, too, is the result of an experiment. The only difference might be that he didn't come out of a dragon, but out of a giant test tube,' Kaminski replied.
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