Engaging Short Stories of the Bizarre:

Where Sci-fi, the unusual and reality meet.

By: Charles Roman

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A Message from the Author:

These stories began as a writing hobby of mine, then

turned into a collection as I began to write more and

more. Any resemblance to any persons real or other

wise does not exist. I welcome your feedback. Please

email me at: CRoman_57@hotmail.com. You can

also reach me at: charlesroman.weebly.com

I look forward to hearing your comments!

Cover Design by Barbara Roman

ISBN 9781461013310

©2011 Charles Roman

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DEDICATED TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

FOR THE GENEROUS GIFT OF LIFE!

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WARFARE IN THE HEAVENS

REV 12:7 AND THERE WAS WAR IN HEAVEN. MICHAEL AND HIS ANGELS FOUGHT

AGAINST THE DRAGON, AND THE DRAGON AND HIS ANGELS FOUGHT BACK. 8BUT HE

WAS NOT STRONG ENOUGH, AND THEY LOST THEIR PLACE IN HEAVEN. 9THE GREAT

DRAGON WAS HURLED DOWN—THAT ANCIENT SERPENT CALLED THE DEVIL, OR SATAN,

WHO LEADS THE WHOLE WORLD ASTRAY. HE WAS HURLED TO THE EARTH, AND HIS

ANGELS WITH HIM.

It was still dark when I arrived at the train station. It was early

morning and no one was there… like I suspected. I lit a cigarette and as I

puffed into the sky, I noticed the clouds racing above, trying to prevent

the sunlight from reaching the earth. You may think I‟m crazy but since

“they” arrived, it‟s best to stay in the dark and keep your eyes covered so

they can‟t read your soul. You see, people have been disappearing, and

if not disappearing, changing; as if they‟ve lost their souls. No one

seems to know what is happening but I have a theory, stupid as it

sounds, there is a war of significance going on in the heavens. It‟s clear

to me! It makes all sense! You see, “they” just appeared one day, out of

nowhere! People think they are aliens but has anyone really seen an

alien? Give me a break! Only if you‟re psychotic, a sensationalist or

seen too many Star Trek reruns. I think they are demons, spirits fallen

from heaven, doing everything to take control of mankind...especially

our souls. You see, “they” just arrived out of no where one day. Stay

with me...you see, Satan‟s greatest lie is for us not to believe he exists.

Now he‟s releasing the Reaper, Incubus, Mephistopheles, Legion and all

the host of Styx and hell to take control of the human race because he

knows if he doesn‟t, his only recourse will be that he will be thrown into

the lake of fire. And I wouldn‟t want my ass thrown into a lake of fire!

Forever!

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According to the train station clock it is almost 6am. The bullet

will be here soon. My folks were peeved because I chose to go to

Berkeley instead of San Diego State. I like taking the bullet because it

gives me time to think and besides it‟s only a half hour ride up the coast.

It‟s also a way to escape from them because they don‟t like being around

the public and obvious but hide in the dark and are devious. The door to

the waiting room opened. It‟s Lucy. She‟s a knockout like always. I

can‟t figure her out. She‟s never said a word. Somehow she knows about

the shades. She goes up to Berkeley too… then disappears. I want to talk

to her so badly but I don‟t know what to say. I want to tell her “Hey…

let‟s get together and procreate since people are disappearing ok?” But I

don‟t want to lose her friendship since I never had many friends anyway

and she‟s become the only female I‟ve seen around lately. When I

looked at her I remembered I had forgotten my shades. The sun was

beginning to force its way through the clouds, which meant they could

show up at any time. I‟m frantically looking in my backpack for my

shades and hoping I didn‟t leave them at home. I was beginning to sweat

because if they saw I didn‟t have sunglasses, they would go directly for

my eyes, knowing they could possess me. If they could do that then they

found a way to take control of your life. They somehow enter your being

and take charge of it. They don‟t attack us. They wait for us to willfully

hand over our spirits to them. Then they overpower you by seeking to

destroy you by making you commit suicide or kill you someway. The

other day a Conductor gave me this piercing look as if he was trying to

look thru my glasses but luckily I have reflector lenses. He gave me this

stupor look and yet I could tell he wanted to attack my life, take

possession of it, and then drive me jump off the train. Maybe a spirit of

death or murder and yet, what better way to stick it to the creator then to

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kill off his creation? There‟s a foul smell at Cuyamaca Lake and I don‟t

think its fish.

The door to the waiting room opened and one of them appeared. I

was sweating profusely. I couldn‟t find my shades. Suddenly, Lucy

came up to me and pulled me close to her and kissed me. Then she

pulled the shades from off my head and placed them on the bridge of my

nose. Boy, I felt like an idiot. Two of them appeared and looked at us

with evil intent. Lucy hugged me as if she were afraid. I can‟t describe

what these beings look like other than they look like aliens with big

heads. They want us to believe they are aliens but I think they are

deceiving spirits. I‟m convinced they‟re spirits because they are looking

for a body to call home. This is why they try to look into our eyes; the

eyes are the window of the soul, so they wait…as if they are looking for

a way for us to make a mistake. They don‟t force themselves upon us

because we have the freedom to choose right from wrong. They seemed

to get frustrated and followed us onto the train. Afterwards, they got

impatient and as the train took off, they went thru the doors of the train

like ghosts.

We stood there speechless…stunned even though we‟ve been

through this before. It felt good holding Lucy. We finally made it to a

couch-like seating area. I laid back on a backrest as Lucy lay down on

the couch, resting her head on my lap. I didn‟t know if I should put my

hand on her shoulder or not so I put it on my stomach. I felt awkward,

just as awkward as when I fell asleep then woke only to find Lucy was

gone. An audio generated voice announced “Berkeley University next

stop.” The train stopped under the campus and I got off, looking for

Lucy for a second, but I couldn‟t afford to miss my BIO-

RECLAMATION class. I took an elevator to the campus level, and then

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headed to the next building. Luckily the class was in the closest corner.

When I got to the class, there was a sign posted on the door that read

CLASS CANCELLED FOR TODAY. THEY MAY BE CANCELLED

COMPLETELY. NOT ENOUGH STUDENTS ATTENDING. Dam I

thought to myself. I need this class. Dejected, my thoughts turned to

Lucy. Since this is my only class today, now was my chance to find out

where she disappears to. If I recall correctly, she‟s always headed in the

opposite direction when I get off the train and my guess would be that

she headed for the library. I wish they had a tram service on campus. It‟s

a country mile going from one end to the other. As I headed for the

library, I passed by several students on bikes, white shirts and ties. They

looked at me with that exorcist look. Ah, love them Mormons. Just like

everywhere else in the world, students had disappeared and Berkeley

was no exception. The campus had become a ghost town. It was a long

walk to the library so I found a table next to a wall in the shade and

stopped for a smoke. I try not to walk directly in the sun since we lost

the ozone layer a couple of centuries ago. People were dying left and

right from skin cancer. It didn‟t bother me because I worked graveyard

and never got out except at night unless I took a day class or two. But I

like to stay indoors because there‟s been a foul stench in the air for some

time. Some say it‟s because of global warming and the melt down of

both poles. Most of the mammals and animals that migrate north and

south along the Pacific Coast are dead now, polluting the oceans. The

indigenous people in these areas have died off now too. It all reminds

me of Easter Island. Take away all those trees and disrupt the natural

course of things to make your false gods and what do you get? A dead

island! Some gratitude! At least Satan can appreciate it!

I took a last puff. There was almost no one on campus. Then a

blond came walking by and I asked her for the time but she just said,

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“Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care

about time?”

Wow, I said to myself. How did she get past those Mormons? I

wished she would have stopped and talked awhile but she just kept on

walking. Anyhow, I needed to find Lucy. I never felt lonely until I met

her and I was feeling lonelier by the minute.

I was still a ways from the library when I spotted her walking

towards the train station. Thank God I said to myself. Trying to find her

in the library would have been like finding a needle in a haystack. She

was taking the steps down to the bottom level. When I got to the train

station, the train was just taking off; taking off with Lucy and my

dreams. What could I do but wait and hope to see her tomorrow.

The following day I arrived at the train station early as usual. I was

more concerned than usual because I hadn‟t seen my folks in days. No

notes or message on the phone as to their whereabouts, although we

hadn‟t had phone service in some time. Today I was extremely nervous

for I felt like a dead man walking the earth and when I stopped to

observe my surroundings, there was no one out on the streets. I tried to

think about why I was alone on this planet? More importantly, what was

my destiny? After all, if there is a destiny and the Creator had a purpose

for all things, then why was I put here at this time when everyone else

seemed to have disappeared? I felt like a puppet being manipulated by

strings. No matter how hard I tried to understand what was going on

around me, I just couldn‟t figure things out. As I waited for the train I

noticed it was late. Lucy hadn‟t showed up also. That‟s all I needed just

now, to start losing my self-confidence and no one to encourage me. As

I sat there, I wondered why? Why am I going to school for? It‟s

probably cancelled for lack of interest! Isn‟t that a joke! To take the

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stress off of me, I let my mind reflect on how things had changed slowly

over the years and how we got where we are today. I remember when

there were rumors of possible anarchy all across this free country. It

started with racism, fascism, chauvinism, terrorism, humanism,

Marxism, socialism, communism…religiosity, Scientology…views on

the left warring against those on the right…Protestants fighting against

Catholics in the name of Jesus…those who believed in free speech

fighting against those who believed in equal rights. Then we entered a

depression and all institutions failed from education, banking, and

government and so on. Finally while we were killing each other, foreign

countries that were waiting for the right time to strike us, invaded us.

This was after our own countrymen finally gave up on our own

government and caused widespread rebellion. The government didn‟t

have any answers and the people knew it. So they finally revolted and

assassinated the President and bombed even the Pentagon, which by this

time had no money or funding to defend itself. Other countries invaded

us just the way we invaded other countries causing Americans to go

underground. There were wars and rumor of wars, nations fighting

against nations. America was no longer “land of the free and home of

the brave.” Years of pollution finally caused natural wildfires because

the toxins in the pollution embedded in the trees and the dry air just

fueled the problem. One match and all the forests in the country went up.

We polluted the seas, rivers, lakes, and streams with the foul stench of

death. But was it really we? There is a story in the bible where Jesus cast

out a legion of demons out of a demonic and the legion went into a herd

of swine that ran into a lake and drowned. This is actually what has

happened to humanity. Even the simple story about the disappearance

of bees‟ years ago is the same sad story. We put chemicals in our

farmlands that were meant to help us produce a better crop but they only

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helped in attacking our bee‟s defense system. Like Aids, the bees started

to die by the millions. We put chemicals in everything, if not in our

foods, in our bodies. Prescriptions meant to help us only helped the

Pharmaceutical companies and that which was meant to help us only

made us worse and eventually killed us like bees.

Finally the train came. I only got on because I wanted to see Lucy

real bad, at least try and talk to her and see what she thought about what

is going on since she too survived some how. I needed to hear from her.

As I got to campus, I was suddenly hungry but by now food became

scarce. You couldn‟t grow anything because the soil was contaminated.

More and more hills collapsed and sinkholes developed everywhere. I

tried to go into a liquor store one day but the electricity had been shut off

some time and I could smell the fowl stench of spoiled milk and meat

from the neatly filled refrigerators. There were maggots and flies

everywhere. Another time I went into a grocery store and had to fend off

a starving coyote. I knew he was hungry but I didn‟t realize that he

wanted me for his dinner. Finally I had to settle for a box of Twinkies.

Everything else was stale tasting but Twinkies never failed me. When I

came out of the campus store I tripped and fell over a body that was

lying outside the door. It was the body of the young lady I had seen the

other day. She must have died recently because I checked for a pulse but

got nothing and she didn‟t smell like death. When I got up from the floor

after trying to help this poor girl, I noticed in the parking lot two figures

coming my way. Two demons seemingly knowing an opportunity to kill

was available and they were right because my shades were lying on the

floor broken and I was a sitting duck unless I could find a pair in the

grocery store. But as quickly as I entertained this strategy, the two

figures stopped in their tracks, and then vanished. I was puzzled as to

what happened when a hand grabbed mine and I almost jumped in

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horror. There stood Lucy standing next to me. She bent down and tended

to the girl lying on the floor so I went back into the store to look for a

new pair of sunglasses. It was dark in the store, stale and foul smelling. I

finally found a rack of shades and grabbed several to put in my

backpack. By the time I made it back outside Lucy was gone and even

odder was the fact that the body of the young lady was gone also. I tried

to look for hints of where the body could have been dragged to but there

was nothing evident. I looked around campus from my vantage point

and there wasn‟t a soul to be seen…only deafening silence. The wind

started to pick up as the clouds began to get darker. My throat was dry

and my blood sugar sky-rocked from my diet of Twinkies but I was, for

the first time in my life, mainly scared, more than I‟ve ever been. The

epiphany and realty of knowing that I may be the only one on the planet,

besides Lucy, was overwhelming and I slowly began to faint. I needed

water, food and someone to tell me what was going on and I needed all

three of them now. I looked around again and saw a figure in the

distance. It was Lucy. She was looking at me oddly as if she were

waiting for me but I didn‟t have any strength in me to walk across

campus to her so I went back into the campus store and found a stack of

bottled water at the front of the store and drank profusely until my

stomach ached. I was breathing heavily as I went to one knee and almost

threw up. Then the oddest thing happened, a loaf of bread appeared out

of nowhere, freshly baked and still warm. Then I heard a voice say,

“Don‟t go to her.” My stomach was still hurt from drinking too fast and I

was famished from not eating that I couldn‟t make any sense of what

was said, so I ate a little of the warm bread slowly to gather my strength

and thoughts. The dough was sweet tasting but it wasn‟t made of sugar

or honey and it was soft for my throat so that it took away that parched

feeling and I soon regained my energy. As I lay against the wall

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enjoying the bread and water, I suddenly heard the voice again say,

“Don‟t go to her.” I looked around and yelled out “Who are you?” but

got no reply. Then the clouds turned slate black making the day look like

night and the wind wiped and swirled like a tornado, making a ghostly

howling sound. I closed the front door to the store and sat back against

the wall, covering my face from the elements. I was cold and scared and

only hoped what was happening would pass quickly but even more, I

was scared Lucy would show up. But then it began to hail and thunder as

if Heaven and Earth were having a titanic catfight just outside the store.

Suddenly it ceased hailing and howling. I peered out the window and

noticed the clouds were still thick black. I heard a creaking sound and

saw Lucy walk though the door looking like an angel in white. She held

an alum jacket in her hand. She walked over to me and fell on top of me,

kissing me wildly as if she missed me, rubbing her hands in my hair. She

lay against me for a short while then got up and grabbed my hand to

motion me outside. She had grabbed one of the maintenance golf carts to

make it across campus so fast and this is what we got in. She pointed to

a campus dorm so I headed to the entrance door. The hail and howling

commenced again when we arrived at the other end of the campus. Lucy

reached for my hand as we rushed inside from the cold. Inside there was

a magnificent fireplace and a massive inner study with books lined along

a wall. It was remarkable because it didn‟t seem to fit a setting for a

dorm and the heat from the fire made one forget the inclement

environment outside. In front of the fireplace was a mammoth bear rug

and on top of it lay a king size blanket with pillows. There was also a

bottle of wine with a basket of cheese and crackers. Lucy had taken our

jackets and laid them aside and went somewhere to turn the lights off.

The warmth of the fire eased my aching bones. Lucy opened the bottle

of wine and poured them into a wine glass as we drank together, looking

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at the fire. She leaned up against me facing the fire as I drank a sip of

wine. Slowly I felt as if all the cares of the world were being lifted off

my shoulder. Lucy turned around and took her glasses off. For the first

time I saw her eyes and the reflection of the fire in them, as if the flames

were dancing like demons ready for a sacrifice. She grabbed my head

and pulled me to her, holding our lips together for a long and passionate

kiss. I was overwhelmed by her gesture, as the wine started to make me

feel possessed with rapturous joy. I needed her for the longest time and

couldn‟t believe this was happening. When we finished kissing, I looked

deeply into her eyes, being drawn into a loveliness and world I had

never seen. I couldn‟t resist or turn away from her penetrating gaze as

she held me in her arms, pulling me deeper and deeper into her power.

The more I tried to resist the more I wanted to surrender. Lucy kissed me

in the lips again but this time she kept looking into my eyes, piercing

and reading my soul as I started to become a captive and prisoner of her

beauty and charm. Slowly I was fading away into this wonderful abyss

as it dawned on me I had seen that name before…it rings a bell to me…I

know it from some where…then with all the horror I could imagine I

remembered but remembered too late that Lucy was short for Lucifer as

my world started to spin out of control and was being pulled straight

down into the pit of hell.

In a room lay a body on a gurney. The light in the room was so

bright and brilliant that one could not tell if it had walls or if the room‟s

expanse went on forever. Two figures dressed in white lay over a body

as if they were performing surgery. The body lay face down with the

back of its cranium exposed.

“Boy was this drone pathetic,” said the figure watching the

operation.

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“You got that right” said the other figure making adjustments to

the corpse. “Although there were actually humanoids like this one that

were very similar in nature before the ancient planet earth exploded, I

think this prototype needs some enhancement. I‟m going to increase his

sensitivity modules and give him a whole new intelligent chip.”

“When will the drone be ready?” asked the waiting figure.

The operating figure stood up a second, knowing the work being

performed required major upgrading, finally said, “Well, give me five

days and we‟ll have our boy ready to go.”

“Great” said the other figure. “I‟ll ready the Holodeck for the next

environmental experiment. Maybe place our boy into a Louis Lamour

Western Classic period. That would be fun to watch. He couldn‟t handle

the end times but maybe a slower era would do.”

“Ok” said the other figure. “But I want him to go through the same

types of temptations and problems he faced previously. Don‟t make it

easy on him. Besides, I like to see a grown man sweat.”

Both figures laughed. Finally the waiting figure said “Ok Lucy. I‟ll

see you in a week,” then walked away. Then it stopped and asked, “By

the way, why do you think that planet earth blew up anyways?”

“Oh,” replied the figure working on the drone. “I don‟t think

earthlings really cared or believed anything bad was going to happen to

their planet. Or they would have done something about it,”

“Yeah, I guess so,” said the other in return and walked away.

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THINGS HAPPEN IN NEW HORIZONS

It was your typical blistery Christmas season in New Horizons,

Michigan. The snow descended, and descended, and descended…as all

the bears of Horizons-town hibernated indoors around their warm

fireplaces. And so it happened every day and every year. The snow fell

and the bears hibernated, the people that is. There wasn‟t much to do

when it snowed. Just try to keep warm and sing Christmas carols, drink

eggnog and revamp old Christmas stories. It was just another year

around the old Christmas tree.

At least…that was what they thought!

When the snow finally finished its course, the bears started to stir

and come out of hibernation. And when they did, lo and behold, the

corner building that was for lease for years was occupied. The red “For

Lease” sign was gone! Strange! Ask the waking bears and no one ever

saw any moving van or trucks in front of the building, never. Perhaps, it

was a mistake. One would think so except for the sign on the door that

read Dr. Happen. People started to gather around the building as if some

gentlemen were selling some magic elixir. They wondered and

wondered and wondered. Finally the word grew to the point that even

the mayor got wind of the murmur. He called up the proper

administrative authorities and it was true…all the legal documents

checked out. It was a legit business. So the mayor called Sergeant Doubt

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and told him to go and investigate and give him a full report right away.

Sergeant Doubt pushed his breakfast aside, reached for his hat and pistol

and headed for duty. The good Sergeant was going to find out what was

going on in his town. After all, personally, it was a bit of an

embarrassment for him to be the last one to be informed since it

happened right underneath his jurisdiction. If anyone should have known

it was he. But…ah…he didn‟t.

Sergeant Doubt was of average height but very thin. You could say

he looked very much like Barney Fife. The Sergeant came to the

establishment and noticed the door was made of deep dark polished

cherry wood. „Odd,‟ Doubt thought to himself. „These doors have

always been made of solid steel.‟ Sergeant Doubt knocked and knocked

and knocked but no one answered. He was about to go when he checked

the door handle and it turned open. Again he thought it odd that it would

be open when no one answered. So Doubt entered the threshold and

peered in. Nothing! As he opened the door and walked in, the bell on top

of the door announced his entrance. As he looked around, there were no

chairs in the front waiting room. Even more weird there were no pictures

on the walls. Perhaps the proprietor had not moved in yet. There was a

single door that lead to a back room. Doubt strained to listen for any

noise that came from the back room but he heard nothing. Finally he

called out, “Hello. Is anybody here?” He waited for a response but

nothing. Slowly, Sergeant Doubt moved to the single door that lead to

the back room. He peeked into the room and found on one. As he

walked into the room he saw a desk with a chair for it and another chair

he guessed was for a client. Like the front room, this room also had no

clocks, or pictures hanging from the walls. On the desk was only a

yellow notepad with the words “You Can Make It Happen!” By this

time Sergeant Doubt thought this doctor was a quack. Doubt‟s curiosity

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was finally waning so he turned and walked to the front door thinking to

himself he would drop by later to give the quack doctor a visit. As he

reached for the door handle to leave, a voice came from behind him.

“Hello,” said the voice.

Sergeant Doubt was startled and caught off guard. He turned

around awkwardly to see who addressed him. There stood a small

chubby man in a black suit with black glasses and Dunlap‟s Disease

because his belly had done lap over his belt and his thin black tie was

short as if it shrank in the dryer. He sort of looked like a short Charlie

Chan.

“Yes ah…” said Doubt stammering for words. “My name is…”

“Sergeant Doubt?” said the chubby man.

“Why, yes,” said Doubt hardly believing what he heard.

“You came to inquire as to how my establishment came into play

in this sleepy town of yours Sergeant?” said the man

“Why, yes,” again said the Sergeant.

“Please, come to my office in the back room Sergeant,” gestured

the man.

As the two men made their way to the back room, Sergeant Doubt

smelled the aroma of coffee and saw a coffee machine brewing coffee in

the near corner with a plate of Danishes.

“Please Sergeant, may I offer you some fresh coffee and

Danishes?” said the man as he didn‟t wait for the answer and poured

Doubt a cup of coffee with enough cream to turn the coffee a Carmel

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color and enough sugar to make it slightly sweet. Doubt watched not

believing his eyes. He never divulged to the man how he took his coffee

but he mixed it perfectly.

“Please Sergeant,” gestured the man to the chair in front of the

desk. “Have a seat.”

Doubt sat down and thanked the man for the coffee and Danish.

“Sergeant, you have been a man who has hid behind his badge all

of his life,” said Dr Happen. “You are well respected in this town but

you sometimes question whether that respect is sincere because you

question your own self worth. You want everyone to respect you but you

feel like a coward behind your spectacles.”

All this time, Sergeant Doubt had been sipping on his coffee like

an old man peering over his coffee cup trying not to reveal any

expression because the Doctor was peeling him like an orange.

“The only reason you keep your job,” continued Dr. Happen “is

because you don‟t have any skills to move up the social ladder and you

feel incompetent to move into another position.”

Then the doctor got up from his chair and walked around the desk

and peered into the eyes of Sergeant Doubt as if he were penetrating his

soul and said, “But you Doubt can change all this.” Raising his voice in

crescendo fashion, “You see Doubt, all you need to do is learn a simple

principle in life.”

Then the doctor raised his voice as if he were ready to deliver a

sermon and shouted, “YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!”

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Doubt nearly came out of his seat spilling coffee onto his uniform.

And for an hour Dr Happen circled Sergeant Doubt, pointing his plump

finger at him, shouting positive epithets, revisiting and exposing the

events of his life and getting to the root cause of his doubt.

The Sergeant sat in his chair sobbing like a little child eating his

lemon Danish. Then he stopped…but wait…he felt refreshed. He felt as

if he was delivered, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his

shoulders. When he finally took the hands from over his eyes he noticed

he was alone. But he felt good, re-energized, maybe even changed. As a

matter of fact, who cares if the doctor was gone, he still was a quack but

a good quack. He was going to leave money for the doctor‟s fee but he

saw a note on the yellow pad that read „Sergeant Doubt – No Charge for

Office Visit. Donate to the charity of your choice!‟ Doubt got up from

the chair and marched outside. Several of the town‟s folk were waiting

for him to come out. They saw him go in but what took so long for him

to come out?

“Sergeant?” asked one of the town gossips. “What is this doctor

like?”

“Well,” said the Sergeant, wondering what to say. “He good, he‟s

very good.” Then he headed right down the sidewalk as if it didn‟t

matter whether it was their business to know or not. He was a changed

man. The sun was out and he was not going to let the day go by without

enjoying it.

As Doubt strolled down the curb, he ran into a mother holding a

young infant. The mother was crying.

“What‟s wrong ma‟am?” asked the Sergeant.

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“My baby‟s sick and I don‟t know what‟s wrong with her,” said

the agitated mother.

“Well,” said Doubt. All he could think about was Dr Happen but

he didn‟t know still what kind of doctor he was and could he help a

baby? Then he thought, „let‟s put this quack to the test!‟

“Ma‟am,” Doubt said. “There is a new doctor in town. He‟s only a

couple of businesses down. Why don‟t you pay him a visit?”

So the lady took her child and headed to Dr Happen‟s office. As

she entered, the doctor was waiting in a white smock.

“Mrs. Robinson I presume?” said the doctor.

The woman froze in her tracks. How did he know her name? She

had never met him.

“Why yes,” she stammered. “It is.”

“There is nothing wrong with your child.” He told her.

“But my child has been crying all night and I can‟t get him to

stop,” she objected.

“The problem is not the child Mrs. Robinson,” insisted the doctor.

“It is you.”

“Why, how can it be me?” rejected the woman. “I‟m not sick.”

“Well, the problem is rather simple,” consoled the doctor. “Please

follow me.”

He led the woman and her child to his desk and told her to be

seated. He poured the woman a glass of water and warmed up a small

bottle of milk for the child. Then he took a placebo pill and melted it

22

into the milk. The woman watched carefully. Before she gave the child

the milk she asked what was the pill for.

“Oh my child,” the doctor said as he squinted behind his thick

glasses, “It is only a vitamin pill to help the child‟s stomach.”

Soon the baby was quiet and calm, and then it fell asleep.

“You see my dear woman,” said the doctor, “the problem is not the

baby. It is you.”

“How can that be?” asked Mrs. Robinson again. “I didn‟t give the

baby any sickness.”

“Yes, that is true,” explained the doctor. “That is not the kind of

sickness I am talking about. I am talking about a sickness that causes

you to smoke.”

The woman was quiet because the doctor had exposed her

weakness and she never divulged to him that she smoked. She felt

uncomfortable that he knew that and yet she was curious about what else

he knew.

“Mrs. Robinson,” continued the doctor. “You have an anxiety

problem. That is why you smoke so much. Do you realize your smoking

is affecting your child‟s stomach as you nurture it and that she breathes

in this nasty filth?”

The doctor got up from his desk and looked into her eyes. As he

walked around it, he raised his voice and said, “Mrs. Robinson, you hold

the power in your hands to solve this problem.”

“I do?” asked the woman not sure what he was talking about?

23

“Yes,” said the doctor as he started to circle the woman, pointing

his fat finger at her, stripping her of all her inner secrets, spiritually

operating on her psyche until she began to sob like a child and then all of

a sudden he delivered the gospel with a shout on the rooftops, “But Mrs.

Robinson…YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!”

Poor Mrs. Robinson sat on her chair holding her child sobbing like

a little orphan. After a few moments she collected her emotions and

realized she actually felt good inside. As a matter of fact, she felt

wonderful. The monkey on her shoulder was gone.

“Doctor,” confessed the woman. “I feel cleansed as if I was

delivered from a demon.”

“Mrs. Robinson,” replied the doctor. “Only you can make it

happen. It was in you all along. I only turned on the light onto those

things you already knew were there. When you made the decision to

change, then you felt free.”

“Boy doctor,” said the woman relieved like she hadn‟t been in

years.

“I am glad I could be of assistance,” said the doctor.

“What do I owe you for this office visit?” asked Mrs. Robinson.

“You owe me nothing,” said the doctor. “I never charge my clients

because they don‟t owe me for something they instinctively fix

themselves.”

“Surely I owe you something?” insisted Mrs. Robinson.

“No no,” demanded the doctor. “You run along with your lovely

child and go enjoy the sunshine.”

24

When word got back to the mayor of New Horizons, he was

furious. Why didn‟t Doubt return to spill the beans on the doctor? He

felt like Herod being tricked by the Three Wise Men. This just could not

happen to him. He was the mayor or so he thought. He decided to call

the most ruthless person he knew, bedsides his mother, the town lawyer.

Larry the Lawyer had a heart as cold as a block of ice. He didn‟t have

room for emotions or feelings. The most favorite word in his vocabulary

was “Sue!” So Larry the Lawyer marched down to Doctor Happen‟s

office and immediately marched into the building but wait…the door

was locked. How could this be! He was Larry the Lawyer! No one

refused the honorable lawyer of New Horizons. But he had to wait and

wait and wait and the more he did the more his anger rose and rose and

rose. Finally, Larry the Lawyer got so mad that he kicked the door and

lo and behold, the door opened! To his surprise, he opened the ajar door

and peeked in to see if anyone was inside. Dead silence! So he timidly

walked into the front room and strained to hear if anyone was in the

back room. Again, dead silence. Larry the Lawyer felt off guard or at

least in a position he was not familiar with being in, in the defensive. As

he entered the back room, which he normally would have barged in, he

called out to see if there was anyone around. “Hello?” he cried out but

deafening quiet greeted him. Larry the Lawyer was beginning to get

angry as if the doctor was playing a joke on him. Finally he decided he

would leave and return during business hours but as he turned towards

the door, there stood Dr. Happen in front of him. Larry the Lawyer felt

awkward because the doctor said nothing, he just stood there. He was

not accustomed to explaining himself but for legal reasons he felt

compelled to because he was in an establishment without authorization.

So Larry the Lawyer started to explain himself when the good doctor

interrupted him.

25

“Mr. Lawrence Green I presume?” asked the doctor.

“Yes, that is I,” returned Larry the Lawyer, puzzled how the doctor

could know his name when they had not been formally introduced.

“Please Mr. Green,” gestured the doctor towards the back of the

room. Larry the Lawyer followed the doctor to the back of the room and

sat down before a desk. Again he was not use to following someone but

use to others following him. As he sat down, he noticed a bottle of wine

with cheese and crackers lying on a table along a wall. There were

expensively clear wine glasses with gold rims and china plates with gold

rims. There were also paper plates with paper cups. The doctor didn‟t

ask Larry the Lawyer; he simply walked over to the table and placed

slices of cheese and crackers onto a paper plate. Then he poured some

wine into a paper cup. Then he gave them to Larry the Lawyer. Dr.

Happen walked around the desk and took a seat. Then he started in on

the town lawyer like he was scolding a little child.

“Well Mr. Green,” the good doctor commenced, “you have been

this town‟s own lawyer for years now. And you have gleamed the

wallets of the poor, the helpless and the misfortunate.”

Larry the Lawyer felt an attack coming on but he welcomed the

challenge for he thought nothing in this world could bring him to his

knees, not even God Almighty, if he existed anyways. But as he sat there

laughing to himself, the good doctor started to plow into his ego,

dismantling his intellectual armor, shredding his self confidence like a

paper shredder. Soon Larry the Lawyer felt helpless, as if he had lost his

handle on life and he was as exposed to the stark truth as a naked baby

taking a shower. Now the good doctor stood up and started to walk

around the room, pointing his chubby finger at him, stripping him of his

26

alter ego, raking him over the coals for his greed, pinpointing the very

sham of a character that he really was, destroying the very pride of his

heart in taking advantage of the innocent, stabbing him in the very soul

of his being for lusting after the god of mammon instead of serving his

own people. Hours and hours passed by and over and over the good

doctor circled, assailing and assaulting the ruthless lawyer‟s worthless

character, false integrity and selfish motivations. Eventually, a small tear

started to squeeze difficulty down the check of Larry the Lawyer. Soon

more started to descend like a leaky faucet. Then the doctor started to

pour more pathetic epithets on the pathetic lawyer, describing him as a

hypocrite of hypocrites, a king of bullies, the father of all sharks and the

only positive quality of his nature was that he was the honorable son of

Satan!

Tears started to descend down the checks of Larry the Lawyer as a

nerve brought down a gusher of rain. Then the good doctor said

softly…”Mr. Green. This does not have to go on, YOU CAN MAKE IT

HAPPEN” he shouted loudly causing the lawyer to scream like a little

girl in his chair. He felt so embarrassed that he placed his head in his

hands and bawled like a little baby. After awhile, Larry the Lawyer

realized something strange. He felt as if there was on one in the room.

He lifted his head from his hands and looked around and noticed he was

alone. The doctor was not in the room with him. How could this be?

Where could he have gone? But wait…something happened. He felt

clean, as if he were a new man! He didn‟t feel like being mean. He was

oddly different. As he got up out of the chair, his legs felt as if the blood

didn‟t want to circulate within him. He had a difficult time walking. As

he went to the front room to look for the doctor, he saw a note on the

front counter that read „Mr. Green, $10,000 Office Charge. Give to the

charity of your choice.‟ He lumbered to the front door, his feet resisting

27

him all the way. As he walked outside, he felt the warmth of the sun as if

for the first time and the birds…they were singing as if he never heard

them before in all his life. The town‟s folk looked on as if he were a new

creature born from above. He walked as if he had new legs that had

never taken a step in their life.

Word got around that the good doctor had turned a lion into a

lamb. It spread around town quickly and even the mayor shook his head

and wondered what was happening.

And so it went in the sleepy little town of New Horizons. Client

after client came to visit Dr. Happen who showed up out of nowhere and

client after client left a changed person. Months went by and the doctor

delivered the same results. Then…a single snow flake appeared from the

sky announcing the coming season change. As they descended and as

time passed, a funny thing happened. The people of the sleepy town of

New Horizons took a turn for the worse. They didn‟t have anything to

complain about. They had changed to the point where everyone was a

Good Samaritan or followed the Golden Rule.

Until that is…

Someone started to complain that no one was paying the doctor

for his services and that is wasn‟t right to get medical treatment for free.

A major feud broke out in town. It wasn‟t right for the doctor not to

charge his clients. It wasn‟t going to happen! So they murmured and

murmured and murmured and along with this negativism came the

continual blistery and torrential downpour of white Christmas. The

28

transformed souls were turned in on themselves, as the bears became

prisoners to the elements. The snow plummeted the days and made

everyone melancholy. Day after day the winds howled and the snow

descended until finally the season ended and the minds of the sleepy

town melted, slowly reverting back to reality.

When the sun heralded its entrance in the horizons, all of the bears

came out of hibernation. Slowly they came out one by one and they

made their way to the corner of the business establishment of Doctor

Happen. But what is this? The building was empty as before. The

beautiful wood doors were gone. The red “For Lease” sign was back up

on the window. Many that had gathered stared at the empty building

speechless. They just stood there and stared and stared and stared. Some

cried, some shook their heads sadly, some were simply too shocked to

comment.

No one ever thought that it would come to this. They tasted change

but preferred to hide their talents in the dead of winter. But if you would

have asked the good doctor for his professional opinion…he would have

probably said that it was bound to happen.

29

30

A Test of Mettle

David Clark tossed and turned all night. He lost his job a year

ago and his financial reserves were dwindling. He had a job interview

tomorrow and that was all he kept thinking about…that dam interview.

He lost his job working for a bottling company. When he saw the ad in

the paper for a position that paid the same wages as his previous one,

without any job experience required, he could hardly believe it. But he

couldn‟t afford not to believe it because he needed work now!

Finally the morning came. David, moving on adrenaline despite

being sleepy, left his vehicle in the garage and decided to take his auto

aircraft. Normally he would have taken his car but they were outdated

and he only used it for cruising the weekends. Besides, he was in a

hurry.

When he got to the business that was hiring, the guard at the gate

told him he had to wait outside until the secretary came to open the

office. When the secretary did show up, the guard informed her about

David and she gave him an annoyed glance then motioned for him to

follow her. She turned on the lights to the front waiting room and told

him to have a seat. She would be back shortly.

David sat in the front waiting room thinking of what to say to the

man during the interview. He wasn‟t too sure about the position and its

requirements or what it was about. Still, he had to be ready to make a

first impression and he wanted to ask sincere questions and not sound

like an oaf.

31

It was 6 am when David got to the business. The secretary wasn‟t

in a hurry to get back to him. She had to make coffee, turn on

computers, freshen up, and then drink her coffee to wake up. It was 8 am

when she came back to him with a job application.

“I have a resume,” David said.

“Honey,” returned the lady, “if there is anything you should learn

it is this; go with whatever is asked of you. You understand?”

“Oh, yes,” said David sheepishly. “Thank you.”

David poured over the job application with a fine tooth comb. He

was so into dotting the i‟s and crossing every t that it was 9 am when he

was finally done. At that time a man in a nicely dressed gray suit walked

in as David walked up to the counter to give the secretary his

application. As he did, he accidentally walked in front of the man in the

suit. David apologized and let the man go by.

“Way to go genius,” said the secretary. “You just walked in front

of the man who is doing the hiring. I‟ll be with you shortly.”

David sat down feeling ten inches shorter. He couldn‟t find a rock

big enough to crawl under to hide his embarrassment. Again David

waited for another hour. By this time he began to wonder if he‟d made a

mistake in coming to apply for the job. „Maybe it‟s not as it seems‟ he

reasoned to himself. He started to nod off as he waited. Finally he heard

the secretary call him over. She told him to follow her as they made their

way to a back room and then she introduced him to Mr. Rogers.

David sat down directly in front of Mr. Rogers‟ desk; sweat

pouring down the neck of his navy blue suit. He could feel the palms of

his hands get hot from his nerves. Mr. Rogers was almost bald except for

32

a patch of brown hair around his ears and in back of his head. He looked

down at his desk calendar to see whom he was interviewing today.

“David…is it Clark?” asked Mr. Rogers.

“Yes…yes sir,” responded David, trying to sound respectful.

“David…” said Mr. Rogers. “I‟m not going to lie to you. This is a

very easy job that pays well. We are a company that prides itself in

safety above efficiency. Oh, don‟t get me wrong. I didn‟t say efficiency

wasn‟t important. It is! It‟s just that it doesn‟t make sense to push our

AI‟s to the brink of breakdown and then lose our efficiency. Our AI‟s

cost us a bundle. So why lose an AI and efficiency also? Now let me

explain your position. All you have to do is put our technologically top

grade oil in our AI‟s when they need it. Our AI‟s are our Artificial

Intelligence operators. They do all the work. You don‟t have to do any

physical work. They do all the work. You must make sure they don‟t run

low on oil.”

“Mr. Rogers?” asked David trying to understand what it was he

was being asked to do. “Let me get this straight. One of these machines

will need top grade oil and all I have to do is put oil in? That‟s it?”

“That‟s all there is to it,” said Mr. Rogers.

“How will I know when they need oil?” asked David.

“When you are out monitoring their progress,” said Mr. Rogers.

“One of them will stop and turn to you and look at you until you put oil

in them. They are programmed to do just that. Now I can‟t stress enough

David how important our AI‟s are. Why do we use them you may be

wondering? The real question is why do companies still use humans?

Well David, people need to take breaks. They complain by nature. They

33

want raises, more money, less work and form Unions. The biggest

problem is that they get hurt and can cost the company bundles in

medical bills. They gossip, make mistakes, produce poor quality and

have bad attitudes. This is why we need to take all the care in the world

with these AI‟s and keep them moving. Do I make myself clear David?

Now follow me and I will show you the operations.”

David thought to himself how great it was for him to see the

operations because that almost meant he had the job. Why waste your

time showing someone how to do the job when you can do that after you

hire the right person. David liked his chances of getting the job.

They arrived at the production area, which was in the back of the

building. Here were lined up a row of blue barrels on one side of an aisle

and on the other side were a row of red barrels.

“David,” said Mr. Rogers. “These blue barrels are for the AI‟s that

you would be responsible for putting oil into them. Here in front of the

barrels is a small spicket and the tray in front has a small cup you pour

the oil into.”

Mr. Ross proceeded to demonstrate to David what to do.

“Now David,” He said afterwards. “If you follow me I‟ll show you

hands-on how to fill one of these AI‟s up with oil.”

They walked over to the middle of the plant, which was covered

with a green hanging tarp to prevent anyone from looking into the

production area. When David followed Mr. Rogers behind the curtains,

he saw hundreds of AI‟s working feverishly, doing various tasks. Some

were assembling parts, others working on intricate chips, while others

were welding with their hands secret circuit boards. All of the AI‟s

34

looked the same, having the body shape of a human. They were all

white-like advanced robots and their bodies looked like the material of a

white light bulb, except for their faces, which looked clear, but you

couldn‟t see what was inside of the clear face. Suddenly, one of them

came up to Mr. Rogers and stopped and looked at him. Mr. Rogers

walked around the AI then showed David a button to push. This released

a flap that opened and there only appeared a hole in which the funnel of

the cup was entered. When the oil was full, a light came on and Mr.

Rogers stopped pouring oil. The flap closed by itself and then the AI

returned back to his job.

“Has anything ever happened to these AI‟s?” asked David.

“No” said Mr. Rogers. “They were built solely for Production and

Production only. Each AI has been programmed to do a special task only

and as you can see, we have hundreds of AI‟s doing their special „thing‟

if you will.”

“What or who would I call if I suspected a problem that needed to

be addressed?” David asked not trying to be rude but concerned. “I

mean, if there were problems not with the AI‟s but maybe someone

outside the business.”

“Good question David,” said Mr. Rogers. “We have security out at

the gate but I would give you my personal number to report to me right

away if there was a problem if such would arise.”

“Did this position just become created?” David asked.

“Again, another good question David,” responded Mr. Rogers.

“The problem is that everyone who has been hired for this position has

been terminated.”

35

“Wow!” said David surprised.

“Now don‟t get alarmed,” explained Mr. Rogers. “They got

terminated because they couldn‟t follow directions. And if you follow

directions David, you should not have any problems at all. Even if you

run into problems, you are not asked to fix anything or resolve anything.

I will handle all problems you have. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir,” David said.

“Then, if there are no more questions,” asked Mr. Rogers. “I have

one for you.”

“Oh?” asked David puzzled.

“When can you start?” asked Mr. Rogers laughing knowing he

caught David off guard.

“Immediately!” David responded.

“Then, show up at 6am in the morning and I‟ll set you up with

someone to train you on the position,” Mr. Rogers said.

“I‟ll be here bright eyed and bushy tailed,” replied David.

David shook Mr. Rogers‟ hand and thanked him for hiring him. He

felt so relieved to have a job at last. He could have started right then but

Mr. Rogers had already made the call and he remembered the hint from

the secretary to go with the flow. So he was off ready to go home and

get some sleep because he badly needed it.

When David got home, he told his wife Mari he was hired and

what the job entailed. He said he started the next day so he was retiring

36

early and to wake him up at 4am on the dot. He needed rest and wanted

to be refreshed for the morning.

The next morning, David was still tired despite going to bed early.

All he did was toss and turn thinking what his first day on the job was

going to be like. He arrived to work early and waited in the waiting

room for Mr. Rogers to show. When he did, he motioned for David to

follow him to the back where he was introduced to Joe Garcia, who bore

the slight resemblance to Hitler. Joe was the Master Tech, the man who

was going to train David on the job. Mr. Rogers said he would check up

on David later to see how he was doing. From the get go, Mr. Garcia

turned into Sergeant Joe. He was practically yelling at poor David.

“It‟s imperative that you don‟t make a mistake in mixing oils into

the AI‟s,” Sergeant Joe barked out loudly to David. “You‟ll notice the

blue barrels on the left are your barrels. But, henceforth and however,

the yellow ones are for the AI‟s on the other side of the building.”

David noticed that there was a small section with the same type of

tarp covering a smaller part of the facility. It escaped his notice

yesterday during the interview. He wanted to question why it was a

smaller section and what type of work those AI‟s did but he had to keep

up with Sergeant Joe because he had to go with the flow as the Secretary

etched her motto into his memory.

“Now I‟m going to tell you a profound but simple truth,” the

sergeant barked. “Not following rules will get you terminated. This is

such a simple job that even a 12-year old could do it. But since it is such

a critical job, we need someone who will not cut corners, who will not

deviate from the norm, and who will be consistent in doing what is

asked of them. Are you that man Mr. Clark?”

37

“That‟s me.” David responded but not convincingly to the

sergeant.

“Are you sure?” questioned the serge.

“Yes it is sir,” David said more loudly.

I can‟t hear you!” yelled the Sergeant.

“Yes sir,” David shouted as if he were in boot camp.

“Better,” said the serge. “But with a little more testosterone

please.”

There were a couple of techs that peered around the tarp from the

small section from across the facility. They laughed to each other and

gave each other and Mr. Garcia the hiel Hitler salute when he wasn‟t

looking. Davis felt needlessly embarrassed.

“Ok, Mr. Clark,” the serge said. “One last thing and this is the

most important point of all. No matter what other employees tell you, do

not listen to them. If they tell you efficiencies are important, ignore

them. If they say use a different type of oil, report them. If they say you

are doing a poor job because your numbers are low, don‟t pay attention

to them. Your sole purpose in this company is to keep those AI‟s fed

with oil. That‟s it! Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

“Yes sir,” David said sheepishly.

“Do I?” yelled the serge.

“Yes sir!” yelled David in return.

38

“Good,” said Mr. Garcia. “Because your job will require that you

ignore everything around you except the AI‟s. They are your babies.

Keep them fed. Good day.”

And so Mr. Garcia departed as quickly as his sharp character,

leaving David to tend to the AI‟S. When he entered the AI area, they

almost came up to him in a bunch but he took care of all of them one at a

time. Soon he started feeling less stressful and more comfortable

working with them that he was amazed at how simple the job was. But

he made up his mind not to become complacent and to always be ready

to fill them up. At the end of the workday, Mr. Rogers showed up and

blew a noiseless whistle that made all of the AI‟s line up in a row against

a wall at a number that somehow corresponded to each unique AI. Then

he plugged them each into what looked to David as some type of energy

cable to rejuvenate them for the morning.

“You don‟t have to worry about this part David,” Mr. Rogers said.

“These puppies cost too much to be handled completely by just one

person.”

David bid Mr. Rogers good day and soon arrived home where he

told his wife Mari his adventures on the job the first day. David was

excited but he hoped even more that he could get at least one good

nights sleep. So right after dinner, David called it a night but as he lay

sleeping, he just couldn‟t figure what was bothering him. There was

something about the job that was puzzling him. It was too easy.

Something seemed wrong but he couldn‟t put his finger on it. Again he

woke up more tired and sleepier then the day before.

When David arrived for work, he went to his assigned work area

when he noticed that two workers came out of the small section and

39

gestured to him to come over to them. As he walked over, he realized

the two workers were actually twins. Both were of medium height, dark

skinned, thin and wore round spectacles. Then David realized they were

from India.

“Hi,” one of the twins said as he put out his hand towards David. “I

am Jarah and this is my brother Rajah.”

“Hi,” David said shaking their hands. “My name is David. I just

started.”

“Yes, we noticed,” said Jarah. “We enjoyed the show the day you

met Hitler.” Both of the twins laughed simultaneously. “He is such an

asole.”

“What‟s that?” David asked not sure what was said.

“Oh, you know, a behind, a love cushion, a big rump.” He said,

sending the two in an uproar again.

“Well, don‟t believe everything he says. Look,” then he stopped

and gestured for David to follow him. So David followed him to a

cabinet against the wall. “Now did Mein Kampf explain this to you?”

David read what was in the cabinet. It posted the efficiency

numbers for both sections and by what he could tell, the group in the

smaller section was out producing the group in the larger section. He

was doubtful with what he read until he saw his name next to the larger

group. This made him wonder what was going on despite all that Mr.

Garcia had said; it looked like the company was pitting his group against

the twins from India.

“What does it mean?” asked David.

40

“Well,” said Jarah, Mr. Hitler didn‟t tell you that they were

keeping track of numbers did he?”

“No,” reflected David. “He and Mr. Rogers both insisted they

didn‟t care about numbers, they were more concerned about the AI‟s.”

“Why do you think most of the people employed in this position

you‟re in now often got terminated?” insisted Jarah. “It‟s because of low

performance. But they won‟t tell you that even if you confront them

about this information they‟ve posted. They‟ll deny it till you‟ve pushed

too far and then you‟ll be out of here too, just as quick.”

David stood staring at the board speechless, not knowing what to

say since he was the new recruit. He was already tired as it was but this

news made him feel confused. Now he wished more than ever that he

not took the job in the first place. He didn‟t know what to believe and

for that matter, whom. The only solace he gleamed was the advice from

the lowly secretary. He decided to stay the course despite the evidence to

the contrary. He was going to do his job and not worry about what the

twins said. From time to time he would go over to the board to try and

convince himself the numbers didn‟t matter. But he felt discouraged that

in just a short amount of time on the job, that the company would betray

him in this manner in front of other employees.

When Mr. Rogers appeared at the end of the shift, he was his jovial

self but David tried to detect any signs from him that his job

performance was unacceptable or below par. But all Mr. Rogers

conveyed to David was “Great job David keeping these AI‟s going.” He

wanted to ask Mr. Rogers about the numbers but he didn‟t want to sound

as if he was prying into information that wasn‟t privy to him, so he let it

go. So David ended up taking the curiosity about what was going on

41

about the numbers home with him. Again he would go home and instead

of getting plenty of rest and celebrating the fact that he had a job, he

almost walked into his house with his head hanging down. He hid is

anxiety and worries from his wife Mari and after telling her he wasn‟t

feeling well, decided to skip dinner and went straight to bed.

“Are you ok? It‟s not like you to skip a meal,” his wife asked

sensing something wrong.

“Yeah, I‟m ok.” David said feebly. “Just not getting enough rest is

all.”

The next day, the twins were waiting for him again. David couldn‟t

ignore them because they were standing in front of the tarp entrance to

his section.

“Have you seen the numbers from yesterday‟s efficiencies?” Jarah

asked him.

“No, I just got here,” David said, hinting a little but of sarcasm.

Jarah handed him a piece of paper that showed him that the smaller

section was out producing the larger section by a ratio of 3 to 1. David‟s

heart sank. He was discouraged even more. He didn‟t believe it. So he

finally turned to Jarah and asked him to see his AI‟s. So Jarah took him

to his section and when he entered, he found the exact type of AI‟s as his

but only a third less in number. „These guys are out producing my

guys?‟ David thought to himself. „How can that be?‟

“David,” said Jarah, seeing the despair in his eyes. “I‟m going to

tell you a secret because my brother and I don‟t want to see you lose

your job. We know how to make the AI‟s work faster without harming

their systems. You see, if you alter the chemical oil just slightly, they

42

work slightly faster, making them work harder. You see we have been

doing this for some time now without losing a day‟s labor. And yet, they

are producing above efficiency levels.”

“I…I don‟t know,” David said. His head was beginning to spin. “I

was told all I had to do was give them oil. Not worry about efficiencies.

I can‟t afford to lose my job taking a risk like that.”

“David,” Jarah tried to convince him. “I assure you. My brother

and I have been doing this for some time now. It will harm your AI‟s in

no way. Believe me. I wouldn‟t suggest it if it did. We would all be in

trouble if something were to happen to one of these AI‟s. We would all

lose our left testicles.”

The twins both laughed together trying to make David feel at ease.

After awhile, Jarah said for David to think about it and when he was

ready, he would show him what to do.

Despite the fact that every day went smoothly for him, David just

couldn‟t shake the feeling of being used as a scapegoat by the company.

Every day, the numbers were posted and every time he was getting his

butt kicked by the evil twins. Every day Jarah tried to convince David to

alter the chemical state of the oil but every day David would decline the

opportunity. So every day David would go home riddled with guilt and

confusion and every night he would wrestle with nightmares of what to

do to resolve this problem. The stress was beginning to take a toll on

David to the point that he was almost ready to take up Jarah‟s offer. He

was desperate but most assuredly, he had no strength left to resist. He

had to do something.

43

One day, as David was contemplating putting in the altered oil into

the AI‟s, the hairs on the back of his head rose when he caught off the

shiny white reflection of an AI, one of them watching him. David was

perplexed. „Why is he watching me instead of working?‟ he thought.

„Wouldn‟t that mean he had emotions or feelings? There‟s something

different about him.‟ It was difficult to pinpoint which AI was the one

who appeared to be different from the others because they all looked the

same. As the day pasted on, David got more tired by the hour. He was

having a nervous break down. Finally he decided he was going to take

Jarah‟s advice and put the altered oil into one of the AI‟s against his

better judgment. One of the AI‟s came to him and stopped as expected,

waiting for oil. David grabbed the altered canister and started to put the

funnel into the back of the AI when suddenly, everything went blank.

The next thing David knew, he was waking up in a hospital bed.

He had a rather sharp pain coming from his head as his boss Mr. Rogers

entered his room.

“David?” asked Mr. Rogers. “Are you ok?”

“I don‟t know,” responded David groggy. “What happened?”

“I found you on the floor blanked out,” said Mr. Rogers sounding

alarmed. “It appears one of the AI‟s may have bumped into you by

accident. I‟m sorry you‟re in the hospital but if you would have put that

oil in one of the AI‟s, you would have been giving him the wrong oil.

Looks like you grabbed the wrong oil by mistake.

“Wow,” David said after hearing what could have happened and

glad he wasn‟t found out. “How long have I been out?”

44

“Well, for about an hour at the end of the shift till now which

makes two days,” said Mr. Rogers.

“Man,” said David not believing he‟d been out that long. I need to

recover so I can get back to work right away. Is one of the India boys

watching my AI‟s?”

“Oh no,” said Mr. Rogers. “Those boys have been fired.”

“Oh?” said David very curious and surprised as to why.

“Yes, they were fired,” repeated Mr. Rogers. “At the time you

were out, all of the AI‟s for the India boys seized up at the same time.

We suspected they were altering the oil chemistry because our lab techs

said there was a slight difference but enough to cause the AI‟s to work

harder and faster, which led to their breakdown. Now they all have to be

repaired. But since they were way ahead of schedule, we can afford the

downtime.”

“I‟m sorry to hear they did that,” David said to Mr. Rodgers.

“Well David,” said Mr. Rogers. “You need to get some rest. The

doctor said to give you a week. So take two weeks off all paid time and

return to work after you recover. Once the AI‟s are fixed, we are going

to combine both sections into one large shop and the whole enchilada

will belong to you along with a hefty raise. See what happens when

you‟re consistent?”

“Wow,” David said out loud but stopping to put his hand on his

head as if to stop the pain. “Thank You Mr. Rodgers. I can‟t wait to get

back to work.”

45

After Mr. Rogers left the room, David finally felt a weight lift off

his shoulders. He was a step away from doing the wrong thing and now

he was getting a raise with more responsibility. As he lay in bed, he

couldn‟t help but wonder if the one AI he had seen in a reflection had

anything to do with preventing him from filling up that AI. He also

wondered what is going to happen when he gets back to work. How is he

going to respond or think knowing there was an AI that was watching

him?

The pain in David‟s head was too sharp for him to worry about

those things. He was glad he could at last relax. As he lay in bed, he felt

he was going to get the much needed rest his body craved for when he

looked out the hospital window at the grey clouds that were forming. It

was threatening to downpour. That didn‟t bother him as much as seeing

the reflection in the window of an AI walking in the aisle way past his

room.

46

47

VIRTUAL DEATH

The first time I saw Chuck, I was sitting in my Algebra class. It

was the first day of the fall semester and I was wondering why I was

taking the dumb class. I flunked out twice before saying to myself, „Why

am I taking this class?‟ When it comes to sciences and so forth, I‟m as

dumb as a lick. But I have a high interest in the sciences. I love them.

The problem is I don‟t have a high aptitude for them. Every time fall

comes around, I want to try it again. And this was what I was thinking

about when Chuck entered the class.

He lumbered in his fat frame. I don‟t mean to be rude but Chuck

did look like the Pillsbury Doughboy in a tight blue tee shirt. His flesh

looked pink like a swine‟s. He reminded me of that Pugsley kid from

The Adams Family; only he was twice as tall and twice as fat. I couldn‟t

take my eyes off of him because he sat directly in front of me. Luckily

the seats sit like a movie theater so that you have to climb up to find a

seat. I sat in the middle aisle going up and in the middle row, directly in

the center.

Now I wasn‟t trying to be mean when I was describing Chuck, oh

no. As a matter of fact, my friends call me the Fonse because I look like

Fonzie from Happy Days. Believe me, I‟m not bragging. I hear it all the

time. The chicks say „He‟s cute.‟ But to tell you the truth, I‟d rather have

Chuck‟s brains then my looks. I don‟t like being a phony or anything.

Phonies make me sick. I‟m a realist but you wouldn‟t believe me from

the way I look.

So I‟m sitting there looking at Chuck thinking I need to get this

guy‟s help to pass this class. By the way, how did I know who he was?

48

Everyone knew who Chuck was. He was admired by everyone despite

his appearance. So I‟m sitting there wondering how I was going to

approach him when this girl enters class while the teacher was taking

roll call. The teacher looks over at her knowing it‟s about 10 minutes

into the class and she sheepishly sits next to Chuck. The guys in the

class sort of laugh to themselves but they look at her because she is kind

of dingy yet pretty. She looked like that chick from Dirty Dancing, the

one who had to dance with Patrick Swayze. After the teacher gave

homework instructions to us and lets us go early, Chuck attempts to

leave quickly when the dame butts in front of him as he grabs the door

handle. “I have you in one of my other classes,” she says as she creates a

log jamb in front of the door, and I do mean a log jamb because you

could get trampled leaving. The space on the bottom floor was very

small.

“Oh, you are?” said Chuck, his face turning red.

“Yes. My name is Marie,” she said. But seeing she was

embarrassing Chuck and blocking the exit, she moved out of the way to

let the crowd through. Chuck managed to escape the conversation

because he went right through the door first while she backed away.

I was kind of laughing to myself because I sat on my seat watching

this scene carry out. It was kind of an epiphany, like I was meant to

watch it for some reason. I knew one thing; you couldn‟t find a phonier

dame than Marie. I heard all about her too. She was a user if ever there

was one. Now I was thinking I might have to push my plans sooner to

ask for Chuck‟s help with my studies, just to keep Marie away from him.

49

A week later, as I was walking around campus, I noticed Chuck

and Marie sitting on the lawn. Chuck was trying to study while Marie

was taking a nap. Boy, this didn‟t take long before the wolf attacked the

sheep. She was already manipulating him like a rudder on a boat.

Somehow there was something I didn‟t quite understand. Marie had to

have known something about Chuck that I didn‟t know about. I tried to

put my finger on it but I couldn‟t figure it out. There had to be more to it

than just needing help with school work. So I tried to sit as close to them

as I could, to listen to what she was up to, but facing away so they

couldn‟t see that I was spying on them. But most of the time Marie just

napped while Chuck looked intently at his Algebra book. He whizzed

through his homework like it was peanut butter. Then he started on his

Biology reading as if he were a speed reader. Then he proceeded to

finish his Biology homework just as easily as his Algebra homework.

When he was done, he was too shy to tell Marie he had to go so he

waited till she moved as a sign she was awake.

Then he said “Hey a…I need to go home. I‟m done with my

assignment.”

Marie turned over and said “What? You‟re done. I‟m hungry. Let‟s

get something to eat.”

Chuck‟s silence told me he really wanted to go home but he

boyishly replied instead “Ok.” She had touched his heart strings.

They made their way to the cafeteria, he grabbing her backpack,

trying to be a gentleman. I waited till they got close to the cafeteria door

and then proceeded after them, stretching, yawning, rubbing my

stomach, and pretending to be hungry also.

50

Chuck could probably eat like a horse since he was as big as one

but he exercised discipline since he was around a girl. She pulled out

some bills and gave it to him and said something probably what she

wanted to eat. She sat at a table facing away from me for which I was

lucky while he got chow. When he returned with a handful of food, I just

sat and amused myself. There had to be something going on with that

chick and I was dying to find out.

Weeks went by and I slowly got behind in my Algebra homework.

When you‟re mostly an English major and a romantic at heart like me,

you‟re going to find science classes hard to understand. I‟m not a Spock

kind-of-a-guy. I decided I would have to drop out of Algebra when the

required time came around so it wouldn‟t get on my record. I was sitting

down on one of the open square benches next to Cedar Hall, enjoying

the sun when out of nowhere Marie came and stopped right in front of

me with folded arms as if she were upset.

“Why are you spying on Chuck and me?” Marie asked. I could tell

she was upset but she seemed puzzled about something else.

“Me?” I said trying to be innocent.

Then Marie sat down next to me and started talking about Chuck.

Boy she was dingy. I didn‟t even have to give her a reason for my

spying. She just started to spew out things without me asking or saying

anything.

“You know what?” she said laughing to herself, starring towards

the sky, “Chuck is a strange guy. You know he has this machine he said

he invented…it‟s like plugging yourself into a computer…yeah, that‟s

what he said.”

51

She looked into the sun as if she were reflecting on something.

Then she continued on…”Yeah, he said it‟s like going anywhere you

wanted to go but through a computer.”

I was thinking this was why I hadn‟t seen them around lately.

Chuck had told her a secret but she didn‟t quite understand what it was

and she needed someone to help her figure it out.

“What does it do?” I asked her.

She said, “Well, Chuck says he got smart because of this

machine… because it can take you around the world and you can learn

different cultures and languages. It somehow plugs you, your physical

body into the computer somehow. He said there are things you could do

to get you in trouble but he stays away from those kinds of things. He

said he went into his bank account and deposited money into his

checking account without anyone knowing it. He said virus programs

couldn‟t stop him because there are no virus definitions for this thing.

He said it‟s like entering a virtual world where you can go anywhere you

want to without leaving home. The possibilities are endless according to

him”

Wow, I said to myself. She actually remembers everything he told

her. That‟s a miracle.

“Have you seen this…whatever it is? I asked her.

“No,” she said looking to the ground reflectively.

“Why did Chuck tell you this?” I asked inquisitively.

“I don‟t know. I think he likes me,” She started to laugh. “He

reminds me of my younger brother who passed away. Maybe that‟s why

52

I like talking to him but he seems to have taken my being near him as a

sign that I like him. Maybe that‟s why he opened up and told me those

things.”

Wow, again I was impressed. She was cognitive of her actions.

“Where is Chuck now?” I asked

“I don‟t know.” She said. “He‟s disappeared ever since he told me

his secret. I think he‟s bashful.”

“Tell me more about that contraption,” I asked her. “That seems to

be an incredible machine.”

“Chuck said that it could be very dangerous if it were to get into

the wrong hands,” She continued. “He said you could really do whatever

you wanted to with that thing.”

“Oh, like what?” I asked.

“He said you could easily get rich off of it because you can control

almost everything you wanted by entering this device, going into the

web somehow, and make changes to all the data without anyone

knowing it. No one could know. You could buy airline tickets, put cash

into your checking account, travel the world without leaving your home;

you could wreck someone‟s life if you wanted to.”

“Did he say he‟s actually done any of these things?” I asked her,

really pressing her because I was starting to really want to know.

“Yes he has,” Marie said. “But he said it wasn‟t right to do wrong

things out of principle.

53

After talking with Marie awhile, we both came to the same

conclusion; we had to see this invention. Never in my wildest dreams

would I think of doing something like plotting a plan to steal a machine

but the more Marie and I discussed the potential this thing could do, then

the more my moral character began to become weak. Even Marie‟s eyes

lit up as she talked about what she could do if she had that gizmo.

It was the early morning when we started talking at first. We got so

carried away we didn‟t even notice the sun going down. We decided that

Marie needed to get Chuck to show her where this piece of equipment

was located. We needed to know if what Chuck was saying was true or

not. No sense getting excited about something that Chuck may have

made up because he had an infatuation about Marie. We plotted that we

would not be together on campus in case this thing was real and we

happened to get our hands on it.

The next day when I sat in the algebra class, waiting for the

lovebirds to show up, Chuck strolled in by himself. Shortly afterwards,

Marie entered just as the bell was ringing, typically her style. She sat

next to Chuck and pretended to ignore him, at least not give him any

attention. Chuck handed her a piece of paper, answers to the homework

assignment I‟m guessing, the bastard. She took it and rubbed her head

against his side and said thank you. Boy was she good. As the teacher

was writing the questions on the chalk board, Marie asked Chuck where

he had been these last couple of days. Chuck‟s face flushed red and I

could tell he had a hard time lying. It seemed to be exactly the way

Marie said, he did like her and he was too embarrassed to show it.

54

As the school bell rang, Marie grabbed Chuck by the shirtsleeve

and told him she wanted to ask him something after everyone left.

“Hi Chuck,” Marie said pretending to be glad to see him.

I pretended to fumble for something inside my backpack keeping

my face from being seen.

“Where have you been these days?” she asked.

“Oh,” Chuck replied trying to hide something. “I wasn‟t feeling to

well lately.”

“Oh?” Marie made every effort to show she was concerned. “You

feel better now?”

“Yeah,” Chuck said. “Just one of them come-and-go things.”

“Hey, I was thinking…” Marie was trying to be sly in asking

Chuck. “That was funny what you were telling me last time.”

Chuck looked surprised even upset.

“Oh, I wasn‟t lying,” Chuck said.

“Yeah but something like that couldn‟t really work,” Marie tried to

act as though she knew what she was talking about. “I mean, it couldn‟t

possibly work. Something like that is like watching a virtual reality

game or something right?”

“Well yes, unless you…” Chuck stopped. Maybe he wasn‟t sure he

could trust Marie or not. Then he went on. “…unless you know how to

use your spirit to travel through time.”

“Woo,” said Marie. “That‟s deep. How do you get your spirit into

a box?”

55

“Well, I admit it‟s complicated to explain,” Chuck said with a little

pride as he said it. “You see, in theory its simple. Our spirits really are

nothing but breath. Our human spirits are in a shell, the human body,

kind a like a box. I‟ve created this system where I put these headphones

in your ears, mix in some sound waves and the frequency creates a

sensation from the ears to the brain waves. After a short while as the

sound stirs the waves in the brain, as the body is connected to the web

through neurons, slowly the spirit is leaked into the Internet wires. Our

nerves are like electronic wires. I connect bandages onto a major artery

and then connect it to the computer but I use several suppressors because

of the sensitivity of the human body, in other words, to prevent shock.

There are always dangers when doing something like this.”

“Oh, like what?” asked Marie. Trying to get all the information she

could incase she needed it later.

“Well,” continued Chuck. “The spirit could get trapped on the

internet.”

“How could that happen?” again Marie was very attentive and

gazed at Chuck with this all-ears-open look. She was getting caught up

in all this information.

“Have you ever been to someone‟s bedside as they lay dying in a

hospital?” Chuck asked. What happens when the person passes away?

The EKG monitors flat lines. What is that machine telling us? That the

spirit has left the body! How does a machine know that?

“Wow,” responded Marie. “That‟s a trip! But it tells you that the

heart stopped beating”

56

“Yes because the spirit has left the body and has departed. Have

you ever seen any of those ghost hunter shows on cable?” Chuck asked.

He was very excited. I could tell he wanted to vent to someone what he

had discovered and had kept it inside him for the longest time. It

sounded like therapy for him, just to get it out of his system.

“Well, they use all these electronic stuff to try and capture an

image of a ghost. They even try to take a picture of it. Then they have

gadgets to try and read if there are ghosts present when they are

searching for them.

“You mean like ghost busters? But what does that have to do with

your apparatus?” asked Marie.

“It all has to do with electronics!” Chuck said “Electronics! Don‟t

you get it? You see ghosts are like us, they‟re spirits. Have you ever

heard someone say they felt an airwave go by thinking it was a ghost?

You see, the body without a spirit is just a body. Have you ever heard of

people leaving their bodies? They‟ve said they saw their spirit lift above

them and they either went to heaven or down to hell.”

“Go on,” Marie insisted.

“Well, the spirit is able to leave the body and return.” Chuck said

very excitedly.

“Somehow,” Marie said trying to act as if she needed more proof.

“I kind of get what you‟re talking about but somehow I find it hard to

believe this mechanism, this thing, really can do what you say it can do.

Can you prove to me by telling me something or showing me something

where you have gone into the web and traveled somewhere?”

57

“Well,” Chuck scratched his head and thought of how he was

going to prove it to Marie. “You got me for a loss there. I mean, how do

I show you any proof?”

After awhile he said. “The only way that I can prove to you that it

works is to show you myself. I can‟t think of any other way.”

By this time I didn‟t care if he noticed whether I was listening or

not. I would only apologize for having heard what he was talking about

and was too intrigued to move.

Chuck got up and told Marie if she wasn‟t doing anything she

could go to his place and see for herself. He said he lived on the edge of

a farm in a secluded house by himself. If I had told Marie something like

that she would have slapped me in the face because it sounded like an

invitation to sex. But coming from Chuck, I bet Marie was laughing

inside; knowing Chuck didn‟t have a clue about the implications he just

muttered.

“We can be back by the next class no problem,” Chuck said

excitedly.

“Ok,” said Marie.

As Chuck was about to leave with Marie, he was startled when I

interjected “There‟s only one problem with your machine from what I

can see.”

Chuck turned around to see who was talking to him. I could tell his

heart was pounding hard, as if he was found out.

“I‟m sorry to have overheard your conversation,” I said, making

every effort to be apologetic. “Please forgive me for listening in. As I sat

58

here looking for some papers, I heard what you said and I was

fascinated. And please don‟t be alarmed because I won‟t tell anyone. My

question though is what would happen if there was a power failure while

you were hooked up to this machine? Could someone‟s spirit get stuck

on the web somewhere or somehow and not be able to get out?”

“Yes, that is one of the dangers,” Chuck said. “That and if

someone unplugged the system. Then someone would be trapped. The

spirit would need to get back in the body for as you know someone

could become brain-dead if it didn‟t return shortly.”

“I‟d like to see this machine if you wouldn‟t mind,” I said and it

occurred to me that I could offer a ride. “I have a black Toyota SUV we

can ride in and I can drive us comfortably.”

“Wow, that would be cool,” Marie said. “What do you say Chuck?

What harm could it do since he already knows?” She was going to bat

for me like a champ.

“Well…ok,” Chuck finally gave in. “It would have been hard to

get there on my moped.”

“We can go in my Camaro,” Marie said.

“That‟s built for speed, not comfort,” I retorted. She got the hint

that I was conveying that Chuck was a large load. Then she corrected

herself.

“I always wanted to drive in one of those big SUV‟s.” she said

quickly.

59

To still Chuck‟s nerves, Marie placed her arm within Chuck‟s arm

as we walked to my SUV. I could tell that Chuck was still nervous, even

paranoid as if he was going to be robbed.

“That is one hell of an idea Chuck,” I said to him. I needed to

make him feel relaxed somehow. “You should patent it so you can

receive royalties. You could probably get a Noble Peace Prize for

something as creative as that device of yours.”

“I‟m more concerned that it could get into the wrong hands,”

Chuck insisted. “That‟s my major concern. Someone could do major

global damage or harm to someone and they wouldn‟t know what

happened to them and how.”

“Well Chuck,” I said trying to flatter him and make him feel

unthreatened. “You wouldn‟t have to worry about me telling anyone

because I wouldn‟t even know how to explain how it works. People

would think I was a kook.”

“Not only you but me too,” added Marie. She sensed Chuck was

tense and suspected we were up to something but Marie and I never

talked to each other as if we never had a previous conversation. “I‟m too

dense when it comes to electronics. I‟ve never even put a stereo set

together.”

Marie and I kept drilling Chuck about his device. The more

questions we asked, the more he opened up and relaxed. He became

more excited, letting us in on every secret about it. We began to know

everything. We only needed to experience it for ourselves.

I drove us to a farmland some twelve miles away from campus. I

couldn‟t believe Chuck actually drove his moped this far away from

60

campus and back. Chuck told me to take a side road that skirted the edge

of a field. We drove past the main farmhouse and headed to the back lot.

There was a small cabin-like house that we approached and I imagined

that was where Chuck lived. He told me to drive in back of the cabin

because his folks could see the cabin from the farmhouse and he didn‟t

want them to worry and ask questions, then they would call him on the

phone and he would have to go to the farmhouse and explain everything.

And that would take time. Besides they think he is at school now.

We entered Chuck‟s cabin from the rear entrance. It was actually a

nice piece of property. It wasn‟t big by any means but it was cozy. We

came into a short hallway that lead to a living room and an open kitchen

to the right. To the left was a room that looked like a laboratory. Chuck

had several computers lined up on a table like he could teach a hands-on

computer course with students stationed in front of each computer. Next

to these computers was a bed and a device over the top of where the

head would lay. He had the device braced along the wall. He explained

to use how everything worked from starting the machine to how to hook

up the wires, everything.

“Well…who wants to go first?” Chuck asked.

Marie looked a bit nervous so I said, “I will.”

He told me to lie down on the bed. So I did as he hooked up these

headphones that had prongs that protruded into my ears. Then he took

my right arm and lifted it in the air as he looked for a main vein. He took

a wire that had a round bandage and carefully placed the center of the

bandage exactly on a vein. Then he turned on this machine that looked

like an EKG machine that showed my vitals. Next, he turned on several

computers, started a program, and then turned on this machine that

61

started making noise in my ears. He told me to relax and close my eyes.

So I did doubting whether this machine was going to work at all. He said

the computer was set on a timer to turn off so that you came back to

reality when the time kicked in and turned off the computer. He told me

just to relax and dream and not worry about anything.

So I lay there just thinking where I could go if I wanted to go

somewhere. As I was thinking on this subject, immediately I was in a

trance as if I were in a hospital receiving an anesthetic to put me out for

an operation.

Then I felt I was in a virtual reality dream. Every time I thought of

something, I went there. I quickly thought it would be nice to go to Oahu

and immediately I was there on the beach of Waikiki. The colors of the

ocean were a brilliant blue, a 3-D brilliance. The sand was radiant white

in texture, like granulated sugar and I could feel the warmth of the sun

somehow. Even the Mai Tai tasted rich in flavor. Every time I thought of

something, images popped up in my mind as if a giant search engine

were offering me ideas as fast as I could think of them, showing me

where I can go and what I can do. I remember Marie saying Chuck went

into his bank and put money in his bank account so I tried it.

Immediately I found myself in my bank. I didn‟t do anything but think

and things were done for me. If I wondered how I could legally put

money in my bank then images appeared to show me how. I put $20,000

in my account and asked the web to cover my trails.

I noticed that the longer I stayed inside this machine the more

corrupt and greedy I became. I even felt a sense of becoming controlled

by my wants and cravings. I was becoming obsessive with wanting

things. Things that I wanted began to flood my mind and my thoughts

couldn‟t keep up with the cravings. I started to get dizzy with wave after

62

wave of greed and lust. As I was thinking these thoughts, then suddenly

I woke up as if from a dream. Both Marie and Chuck were standing at

the side of the bed.

“Well?” said Marie. I could tell she was eager to try the machine.

“It‟s everything Chuck says it is,” I said. I was sweating and

perspiring. I was surprised Chuck and Marie didn‟t notice.

“Ok, now it‟s my turn,” said Marie.

Marie was on the bed and on the web in no time. She lay on the

bed without moving. I wondered if I looked the same way when I was

under the machine‟s control. Chuck seemed to set the timer for around

15 minutes. Afterwards, Marie came back to reality but when she did, I

noticed she had changed dramatically. She had this devilish look on her

face as if she saw things like I did and saw the possibility of getting all

the things she wanted in life through the use of this device.

“Well?” I asked her. “What do you think?”

“Wow! That was awesome,” She said. I could see from her posture

and from what little experience I had with the machine that she was

hooked but didn‟t want to reveal too much lest she let the cat out of the

bag.

“Well,” Chuck said. “We better get back to school.”

I drove us back to school and we all three were as quiet as a

mouse. I decided to skip the rest of my classes for the rest of the day and

just think about that machine. The more I thought about it, the more I

agreed with Chuck that someone could not only do bad things but they

could go crazy. I felt a little bit of that craziness. I went to an ATM

63

machine and checked my checking account balance. It showed I had

over $20.000 in my bank. I went to my bank and told them there was a

mistake in my balance and it showed I had $20.000 more than it should.

I argued with one of the Customer Representatives so I finally asked to

talk to the Branch Manager. He checked it out and said he didn‟t see any

illegal issues with the transaction so in his opinion there was nothing

wrong. So I walked away figuring I earned the money for at least being

honest.

As time went by, I may have seen Marie and Chuck a couple of

times in class. Marie had changed completely. Her facial features had

altered significantly. I could tell she was addicted to that machine like an

crack addict needing heroin. Then I didn‟t see either of them for weeks.

Then one day a man in a black suit came to class. He looked like a Fed

and he gave the teacher a paper and asked if this person was a student in

his class presently. The teacher looked in his roll book and confirmed

yes. The teacher looked at the class and said, “Carlo Romano. Are you

here?”

“Here!” I said raising my hand.

“Will you take your things and go with this gentleman please,” The

teacher said.

Everyone was quiet and stunned. I got my things and went with the

man. Outside he showed me his FBI badge.

“Mr. Romano?” he asked. “Do you know these people?”

He showed me a picture of Marie and Chuck.

“Yes I do.” I said. “What happened? They haven‟t showed up in

class for weeks?”

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“I was hoping you could tell me,” The Fed said.

“Well, I haven‟t seen them for awhile,” I repeated. “We were a

student study group with Chuck mostly as the tutor.”

“What do know about what took place in Chuck‟s cabin?” he

asked.

I though I was headed for jail so I tried to be cool but I needed to

be honest because I knew I could go to jail if I acted stupid.

“As we went over the evidence, the web cams on all the computers

were on. We have you on a Web Cam at Chuck‟s place with this Marie,”

The Fed said. “It shows you and Marie putting on headphones and going

under some hypnosis.”

“Well, it wasn‟t hypnosis; it was like a reality game,” I added.

“Chuck said he could go anywhere in the world with that machine but

Marie and I kind of laughed at him. He didn‟t like it when we laughed.

So in class when we were talking about it he said he could show us. So

we went to his house and he hooked us up to his computer.”

“And then what happened?” the Fed asked jotting down notes.

“Well, it was a hell of a reality game but that‟s all it was.” I tried

my best to show I was sincere but I needed to show the obvious that

Chuck suffered from being lonely.

“That‟s all?” he asked.

“Yes sir.” I answered. “I think Chuck just needed some friendship.

I think he was in love with Marie.”

“What do you know about this Marie?” the Fed asked.

65

“Only she was a fellow student who wanted to see if this machine

was real also.” I said.

“Why do ask sir?” I asked. “Have you seen her? She kind of

disappeared.”

“Disappeared? Disappeared isn‟t the word son,” He said. “She

jumped off the Coronado Bridge!”

“What?” I said half out of breath. I was shocked as if someone

socked me in the stomach.

“And that isn‟t the half of it.” He said. “This Chuck was found

dead in his cabin. He had his headphones on but somehow one end of

the cable got disconnected. He was brain dead when we found him”

“Wow!” I responded. “I‟ve been wondering where he was lately.

It‟s not like him to miss a class. I thought he was the next Einstein.”

“It looks like he may have been done in by his girlfriend,” The Fed

said.

“What?” I said still reeling from all this news. “How could that be?

I don‟t think she liked him or at least he wasn‟t her type.”

He pulled out a cedar wood key with an engraving saying “The

Key to my Heart! C and M.”

“What do you think it means?” the Fed asked.

As I looked at it, it quickly came to my mind that this was my way

out.

“It looks like foul play,” I said.

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“That‟s what I think. How, I‟m still not sure. But why would she

jump of a bridge?” the Fed said.

“I don‟t know,” I said truthfully. “It doesn‟t make any sense.”

“You got that right,” He said

He gave me his card and said if I remembered anything that he

should know then to call him right away. I was glad he didn‟t ask me

about the $20,000 in my account. I couldn‟t explain that.

I took my backpack and headed to the square and sat at my favorite

bench facing the sun. I can imagine Marie got so addicted to that

machine that she couldn‟t take it any more. Chuck was right about one

thing; it was bad in the hands of the wrong people. Poor Chuck, he did

love her. I could imagine Chuck must have told her it wasn‟t good for

her to continue getting on it. He must have sensed she was starting to

turn greedy and out of control. I can see her pulling the plug out while

Chuck was on the computer. She may have asked him to do something

for her. She was probably frustrated not knowing what to do and

knowing she couldn‟t operate that equipment, must have driven her mad

to the point of jumping off the Coronado Bridge. I wonder if Chuck‟s

parents know what that machine can do.

67

68

Dearly Departed

I

“Ashes to ashes,” said the Priest as he sprinkled holy water on a

casket resting in the east corner of Vernon Lawn Cemetery. In his white

robe, the priest continued to circle the casket, casting holy water here

and there.

To a loving mother the casket was a dark, shiny and beautiful

cedar color. To a vampire it was the color of blood.

Slate black clouds huddled over the skies threatening to pour out

their judgment on earth, yet it held its refreshing droplets as a sign of a

curse.

“Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of

death”…continued the priest. No one was really paying attention to what

he was saying, especially the twin sister of the deceased, Lisa Lowman.

She rested her head against her husband‟s breast, sobbing in unbelief.

Ned Wright loved his twin sister. When they grew up they were

inseparable. They were the adventurous type, always camping, going on

trips, visiting every park, trail, place of interest or museum. Now her

brother was gone, suddenly and that at a young age. He was only thirty

two years of age and he and Lisa had plans for years to come. You

would think Lisa‟s husband would have been jealous of this relationship

but he actually welcomed it. In fact, since he was so busy with business

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trips flying often, he was glad someone was there to keep her company

and who better than her brother.

Drops of rain started to descend from the firmament. The leaves on

the oak trees started to beat little droplets of sound. The casket was

lowered to the grasping hand of the underworld. Family members

reached down and scooped a handful of earth to traditionally pour on the

casket as it made its final exit from mankind.

After all the formalities, Rob Lowman escorted his wife to their

car, opened the door for her and then drove slowly home. It was a

somber time. Rob was going to turn on the radio but felt it would be

awkward playing music at this moment. Lisa lay back against her seat

resting, sleeping. The rain began to pick up its pace as the raindrops fell

with a heavier cadence. To Lisa everything about this day was

depressing; the death of her brother compounded by the blasted rain. Her

head ached from crying ceaselessly and was compounded by the endless

pounding of the rain‟s downpour. When she was with Ned, rainy days

were challenges. They would go to museums or indoor places of interest

to feed their adventurism. Nothing stopped them. But now she was

alone.

They finally made it home a half hour later. The rain wouldn‟t let

up as they drove into the garage and went into the house from the

garage. Rob led Lisa to the bedroom where she lay easily down. He

covered her up with blankets and let her have some quiet time to herself

as he went into the living room to catch the local news.

It didn‟t take long before Lisa was out like a light. Quickly she

dreamed she was with Ned on a beach in Cancun. They were resting on

the Gulf of Mexico beach drinking pina coladas. Ned said he was going

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to go snorkeling but Lisa said the waters were too rough and the waves

were too high. Ned laughed it off and said there was nothing to worry

about since he was an excellent swimmer. Despite her repeated

warnings, Ned still went in.

Lisa was upset because it wasn‟t like Ned to ignore her. They always

respected each other‟s advice. Ned went in anyways and as soon as Ned

went under the water, he never reemerged. Lisa stood up from her chair,

covering her eyes from the bright sun, as she desperately looked for

Ned. But he never surfaced. Lisa ran to a lifeguard and told him what

had happened but he just looked at her and told her something in

Spanish. She became hysterical and told some tourists but they just

looked at her like she was out of her mind. Soon Rob was at her side

holding her as she woke up in a sweat. He told her she was yelling in her

dreams and was moving all over the bed.

“Honey, are you ok?” Rob asked her.

“I should have been there!” insisted Lisa

“How could you?” reassured Rob. “You couldn‟t be everywhere

Ned went to. And it‟s not your fault.”

“I know I could have done something,” insisted Lisa again.

“Hun, I know you loved Ned and would have done everything and

anything you could for him but you have to let Ned go.” Rob didn‟t want

to say it that way but it came out that way.

Lisa started crying again knowing Ned would never be back and

all their plans had suddenly vanished.

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“I miss Ned.” Lisa cried out as she continued to mourn for her

beloved brother. Rob felt helpless and simply held Lisa in his arms till

she fell asleep again.

II

In the middle of the night, Lisa woke up and found Rob was not by

her side. She suspected he was in the living room resting for the night.

She went into the living room to double check but he wasn‟t there.

„Hmm…wonder where he went to?‟ She opened the kitchen door to

check and see if the car was in the carport and there it was parked. She

called out “Rob!” But he didn‟t answer. She didn‟t worry because she

knew he always took care of things for her so she went back to the

bathroom to freshen up. She had sweated and perspired a lot these last

couple of hours. As she made her way to the bathroom mirror she was

about to flip the light switch on when she caught a glimpse of something

passing inside the mirror. At first she was horrified but what kept her

composure was the fact that she could have sworn it was Ned. She

turned the light on and began to brush her teeth. She washed her face but

nothing manifested while she was cleaning. She dreaded the notion that

whatever it was that she thought she saw was only going to appear when

she turned off the light. So slowly, shaking, she reached for the light

switch and turned it off, closing her eyes in fear of what she expected to

see. When she opened her eyes again there was no one in the mirror.

Then she saw the image in the mirror was now behind her, moving

towards the living room. The thought spread goose bumps all over her

body. She barely saw the image and she could swear it was Ned. She

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didn‟t want to but she walked towards the living room. When she

entered from the hallway, she saw the head of someone sitting on the

sofa. It had to be Ned but why was he sitting there. As she got closer,

Rob turned around and rose up startled.

“What are you doing up hun?” he asked. “You look like you saw a

ghost.”

“You aren‟t kidding.” Lisa replied.

“You need to get back in bed and get some rest.” He urged.

“Rob?” she asked. She sat down on the sofa resting her head

against Rob‟s chest.

“Yes hun?” Rob was worried more than ever.

“Do you believe in seeing ghosts?” Lisa asked, “I mean…seeing

real ghosts?”

“Well, I‟m not sure,” Rob said. “It‟s never happened to me.”

“I could have sworn and you‟re going to think I‟m crazy,” said

Lisa, trying to be as honest as she could. “I could have sworn I saw Ned

in the mirror tonight.”

“What?” Rob asked surprised. “Are you sure? Do you think you

maybe dreamed it or something? You have just come out of a dramatic

situation.”

“I don‟t want to sound crazy like I‟m losing it,” Lisa said, making

every effort to have a sound mind, “but I know what I saw. I thought I

saw Ned walk into the living room and then when you were sitting there,

you looked like Ned from behind. You know what?”

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“What‟s that babe?” Rob said.

“It was as if Ned was trying to tell me something.” Lisa said. “I

know it sounds crazy but I could swear he was trying to lead me

somewhere, that‟s why I came to the living room. That‟s where he went,

I was following him.”

“Well, I really don‟t know what to say hun,” said Rod.

“I know,” responded Lisa. “I‟m just glad I have someone who can

listen to me and doesn‟t think I‟m a nut.”

“Well, I do think you may have fallen down on too many of your

adventurous runs.”

Lisa playfully slapped Rob as both made their way to the bedroom.

“I wish you didn‟t have to go on that trip tomorrow,” Lisa said.

“Well, if I weren‟t in for a big bonus,” smiled Rob. “I would call in

an instant and cancel. This bonus is going to come in handy down the

road.”

“Yeah, you‟re right,” Lisa agreed. “And you said its only one

day?”

“Yup,” said Rob, “and it‟s only one day too.”

“I guess I can survive one day,” said Lisa.

“That‟s my girl,” said Rob as he gave her a kiss and they went to

sleep.

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III

It was late afternoon the next day that Lisa arose out of bed. She

rarely ever sleeps in but since she was under stress theses days, she

justified the rest. She looked out the bedroom window and the rain had

disappeared. It was another sunny California day. For some reason she

had the urge to go to a park and get on a swing. After putting on a pink

jogging suit, she decided she needed a walk so she headed for Tuttle

Park. It was only a half mile trot but she was up to the challenge. When

she arrived the park was deserted. She went over to the swing and sat

down. She grabbed the chains pushing the ground with her feet so she

could build some momentum. Soon she was up in the air swinging fairly

fast. She felt like a kid again. The cool breeze fanning her face felt

refreshing. Just as she was beginning to enjoy herself, she thought of

Ned and tears started to flow down her cheeks. She wasn‟t accustomed

to doing things on her own yet and she felt guilty being without him near

by. When she came to a stop, she put her face in her hands and started to

sob. She didn‟t care if there was anyone around to see her cry; she had to

mourn for her brother. Her heart told her to. She felt alone without Ned.

Ned would have swung with her, would have called her every day. They

would have laughed and planned their next outing. After awhile she

composed herself. She took a deep breath but when she removed her

hands from in front of her face, a small girl was standing on the cement

walkway in front of her, staring at her.

“Hi,” said Lisa to the child as she wiped the tears that ran down her

cheeks.

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The little girl didn‟t say anything. She kept looking at Lisa.

Lisa felt awkward. The girl just continued to stare at her and said

nothing.

“Ned says he misses you a lot,” the little girl finally said suddenly.

A chill went through Lisa‟s back.

“What did you say?” asked Lisa not believing what she actually

said.

“Ned misses you very much. He wanted to tell you but he can‟t,”

the little girl said.

“Why can‟t he?” asked Lisa.

“That‟s all I can tell you,” the little girl said as she turned and ran

away.

“Wait!” cried out Lisa. “Come back!”

Wanting so badly to know what the little girl knew, Lisa got off the

swing too quickly and slipped on the sand in the swing area, falling and

hitting her head on the cement walkway. She hit her head so hard that

blood began to trail down the front of her forehead. She wanted to get up

and run after the girl but she felt dizzy and soon fainted.

“Honey! You asleep again?” yelled Rob from the kitchen, placing

his briefcase on the dinning room table. As he entered the bedroom, he

sat down on the bed and turned Lisa over. She was in a deep sleep.

When he turned her over, he saw fresh blood falling down Lisa‟s

forehead.

“Honey! Wake up,” he said shaking her gently.

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Lisa slowly woke up reaching for her head thinking she only had a

headache.

“Lisa, what happened?” asked Rob concerned. “What happened to

your head? There‟s blood coming down your face.” Rob went to the

bathroom and grabbed a small hand towel and soaked it in hot water.

Then returned to the bed and started to wipe the blood off of Lisa‟s head.

“I…I don‟t know,” said Lisa. “I thought I woke up to go to the

park but if I did…how did I end up here?”

“Lisa…you‟re starting to worry me,” said Rob. “Tell me from the

beginning what happened? Did you actually leave the house?”

“I…I remember waking up and looking outside and thinking it

would be a good day for a walk.” Lisa said trying to sound rational. “So

I made my way to the park and sat on the swing.”

Then she turned to Rob and said, “Rob…please don‟t think I‟m

crazy ok?”

“I don‟t know hun,” Rob said thinking Lisa may be losing it.

“You know me, I‟ve never been weird or strange or done anything

incoherent,” said Lisa. “You have to trust me.”

“Ok calm down,” said Rob. “You‟re right; you‟ve never done

anything worth questioning.”

“Ok,” she continued. “As I was swinging I thought of Ned and

started to cry. There was no one in the park but me. I put my face in my

hands and started bawling like a little child. After awhile, I stopped

swinging and there was a little girl standing in front of me, just staring at

me.”

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“What did she want?” asked Rob.

“I don‟t know,” said Lisa. I even asked her but she kept staring at

me. Finally she said, „Ned misses you a lot.‟

“What?” asked Rob.

“Rob I know it sounds strange but that‟s exactly what she said.

Then I asked her again. „What did you say?‟ And she said „Ned misses

you very much.‟

Rob looked at Lisa with horror not believing a word she said,

sounding too unreal.

“Then she said „That‟s all I can tell you‟ and ran away. I started to

run after her but I fell and hit my head on the concrete walkway. Rob, I

don‟t remember coming home.”

Lisa started to cry but Rob pulled her into his arms and comforted

her. It was a story too true to be true. Rob knew Lisa wouldn‟t lie but he

was wondering whether she needed help getting over her brother‟s

death. The only thing he wanted to tell her was that he was there for her

and that they were going to work out these difficult times together.

IV

Months went by since Ned‟s passing. Lisa continued to get worse.

She did everything within her power to get over her brother. One warm

morning after breakfast, both Lisa and Rob went out for their traditional

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weekend drive. They loved to just get out and drive in the mountainous

areas or along the coastline or even along deserted roads that skirted the

valleys. Rob thought it would be good for Lisa to escape and enjoy the

sunshine and get her mind off of Ned. Rob pulled their burgundy red

Mustang GT out of the garage, and then lifted the convertible hood back

so they could enjoy the sunshine. Rob drove south into the sun so that

Lisa could enjoy the ray‟s warmth. After getting out of the city, they

made their way towards open fields where some cows were chewing on

grass. The farther they drove the farther they escaped the city. More

rolling hills appeared with lots of open green pasture. As they started to

climb in elevation, they came to a part of the road that widened. Rob

was ascending when he saw a figure sitting at a bus stop and when he

saw who it was, he almost had a heart attack. He couldn‟t believe who

was sitting there but it was true. Rob came to a sudden stop at the side of

the road and tried to catch his breath. He put his hand on his heart and

tried to take deep breaths.

“Rob, what‟s wrong?” Lisa asked, surprised at seeing Rob in this

horrified state. “Are you ok?”

Rob continued to grasp for breath. He reached over to Lisa and

signaled for her to give him a second.

“Lisa…I know your going to be shocked with what I‟m going to

tell you...” Rob said.

“Rob? What‟s going on! You‟re scarring me.” Lisa said.

“Ok…promise me you‟re not going to freak out,” said Rob.

“Yes…I‟ll try my best,” Lisa assured him.

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“Ok. I want you to compose yourself as best as you can,” Rob

warned Lisa. “Cause you‟re going to need to ok?”

“Ok,” Lisa said assuring him she could.

“I‟m going to turn the car around. When I do, I‟m going to swing it

towards the bus stop.” Rob deliberately tried to be calm before he told

Lisa the reason why he was being deliberate. “When I pull just before

the bus stop,” He grabbed Lisa‟s arm. “Lisa…Ned is sitting on the

bench.”

“Oh my God!” Lisa said covering her mouth and falling back in

the car seat.

“Can you handle this?” Rob asked. “Or do you want to go on?”

“No…I can handle it.” Lisa said. “There has to be a reason why he

is there and I want to know what it is.”

So Rob looked ahead to see if there were any cars approaching.

Then he looked in his side mirror to see if any cars were coming from

behind. When the coast was clear, he turned the car around and noticed

from the side of his eye that Ned was still sitting there. Then he drove

across the street and parked the car before the bench and slightly out of

the bench‟s view.

“Oh my God!” said Lisa. “It‟s Ned.” Lisa started to cry. “Why?

Why is he here? He can‟t be here Rob, he‟s dead.”

“This is freaky,” said Rob. “God he looks spooky. He just sits

there staring forward at nothing.”

“What...do we do?” Lisa asked Rob.

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“Well…he‟s there for a reason like you said, I mean…there has to

be something he wants to tell you, like that girl you saw in the park. This

doesn‟t happen every day and not to everyone.”

Rob and Lisa slowly got out of the their car holding each other

timidly approaching Ned as he continued to look straight out as if he

were not really looking at anything at all.

Lisa sat next to Ned afraid to say something. He had a white shirt

that said „Cancun‟ on it and wore cut off Levi‟s and sandals.

“Ned?” she asked. “Is that you?”

The figure on the bench didn‟t respond. It kept staring forward.

“Ned? Are you Ned my brother?” Lisa continued to ask.

“All I can tell you is not to worry about Ned,” said the person on

the bench.

“Is Ned ok?” asked Lisa. “Where is Ned? I need to know, he‟s my

brother.”

“I am not permitted to tell you that,” the man that looked like Ned

said.

“Why are you telling me this about Ned?” asked Lisa.

“You will know soon enough,” said the figure.

“How will I know?” insisted Lisa. “Why can‟t you tell me? Who

are you?”

“The only thing you need to know,” said the figure that appeared

to be Lisa‟s brother “is that you will know everything in a little while. It

is best that you leave and ask no more questions.”

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Lisa‟s tears started to stream down her cheeks. This was a horrific

circumstance and despite not knowing who this person was who seemed

to be in Ned‟s body, the fact that she had to leave her brother was

opening up a wound of pain.

Rob lifted Lisa off the bus bench and escorted her back to their car.

By the time they got into the car, Ned was gone. Rob drove home.

Besides the moaning from Lisa, there was deafening silence. Lisa‟s head

started to hurt from crying too much and from the bump she had

yesterday. She finally dozed off and when she woke up, she was in bed.

She could hear the TV on slightly, so she guessed Rob was in the living

room. She got up and went to the sofa where Rob was leaning back on

one end. She cuddled up to him.

“That was the strangest experience I ever had,” said Lisa.

“What experience?” Rob asked.

“The one when we went out for a drive this morning,” said Lisa.

“Babe, you‟ve been asleep all this time,” insisted Rob. “We never

went for our customary weekend ride.”

“What?” said Lisa startled. “My god! Something weird is going on

here.”

“What do you mean hun?” Rob asked beginning to think Lisa

might need some serious help.

After Lisa explained everything to Rob, he and Lisa just sat on the

sofa trying to make sense of it all.

“Lisa, I‟m going on another day trip tomorrow,” said Rob. “Are

you going to be ok without me?”

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“Yes, I‟ve always managed somehow,” said Lisa.

“Lisa,” Rob said looking into her eyes. “You need help hun. You

really do.”

“I would argue with you but I think you‟re right,” confessed Lisa.

“Well, when I get back, we‟re going to look into getting you some

counseling, something,” said Rob.

V

The next morning, Lisa woke up with her head throbbing. She got

up and took some Excedrin. She sat on the sofa looking through the

large front window and out at the street. It had been awhile since she

actually just sat and looked out at the neighborhood. As she sat there, the

little girl she saw at the park stood on the corner looking towards the

house. Lisa could tell it was the little girl. The drapes were drawn wide

open, so the girl could see Lisa sitting on the sofa. So Lisa decided she

would see what the little girl wanted. She opened the door and walked to

the curb. The little girl had on the same light blue dress she wore at the

park,

Lisa tried not to be afraid. “Hi,” she told the girl.

The girl just stared and said nothing so Lisa just pretended nothing

was wrong and looked down the street.

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“Ned is my hero,” the little girl said. “You‟re lucky to have a

brother like him.”

“I know,” said Lisa in return. “I miss him a lot.” Lisa started to cry

as she looked up at the sun and clear blue sky.

“It‟s going to rain today,” the little girl said. “Rain is a sign of

God‟s blessing. It refreshes the earth. You will be refreshed today.”

“How?” asked Lisa.

“You will know everything by the end of the day. You will find

rest when you give Ned rest,” said the little girl. Then she walked away.

Lisa wanted to follow her but she felt she needed to go back into

the house and sit down because the throbbing from the pain in her head

was getting more severe. She needed to lie down. She was too exhausted

to know the meaning of what was happening to her. She just sat there

weeping, thinking, about Ned, wishing he were with her, wondering why

is was so hard to let him go. She fell asleep on the sofa and when she

awoke, the sun was beginning to fall. There were no clouds when she

went to sleep but now it looked like they were starting to form. A

rainbow appeared in the distance out of approaching clouds. A post

office truck came by and dropped a package in Lisa‟s mailbox.

„Strange,‟ thought Lisa. „It‟s kind of late to be delivering mail‟ she

thought. “And I‟m not expecting a package either.” She got up and

noticed that the clouds started to get blacker and blacker. It was going to

rain. Lisa opened up a package that was from the Cancun government,

the place where Ned had passed away. As she opened the package, she

began to read a formal letter from the Governor of Cancun. It said that

the investigation into the death of her brother finally ended and it was

discovered the official cause of death was that he had drowned while

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trying to save a young girl‟s life. Both were however pulled into the rip

currents. They had never resurfaced. The bodies were recovered later.

The governor apologized for getting these facts to her late but they

wanted to be absolutely certain they were correct in their findings. She

should be proud of her brother and they offered her a letter of

condolences and a key to the city for her brother on behalf of the city of

Cancun. Inside the package was a picture of the little girl Lisa had seen

several times dressed in the same blue dress. There was another picture

of Ned posing in the sand in the same white tee shirt, blue jeans shorts

and sandals she saw Ned wearing at the bus stop.

Streams of tears came down Lisa‟s cheeks as she embraced the

pictures. The package explained everything and her heart cried relief.

The rain started to pour down mightily now but Lisa didn‟t care. She fell

down on the open grass of the front lawn, crying tears of joy. At this

time Rob drove up the street and spotted Lisa on the lawn looking like a

wild woman who had finally gone crazy. Her fists beat the open air as

rain pelted her hair. Rob parked quickly and grabbed Lisa and motioned

for her to get her out of the rain, but no matter how hard he attempted to

pull her up, she wouldn‟t budge.

“I‟m free!” Lisa cried. “I‟m free!”

“Hun,” cried Rob. “We got to get you out of the rain before you

catch a cold.”

“No…I want to stay!” cried Lisa. “This is refreshing rain. This is

the blessing I have been waiting for. I finally understand everything. I

understand now!”

And so it happened that Lisa found peace concerning her brother.

A year later she gave birth to a boy but she didn‟t name him Ned

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because she wanted Ned to rest in peace for the little girl was right when

she said „You will find rest when you give Ned rest.‟