He led me to my room and while I stood helplessly, he gathered some clothing and then led me off into the trees.
3691
“Now that we are alone, take my hand and do not fear.” All weight disappeared and we floated through the branches until the trees receded, growing smaller below us. I felt no fear, should he let go of me and I smash into the earth I would know peace. Neither was there wonder. Wonder can only exist when life flows through the veins and the heart yearns for something better than it knows already.
I saw a whiteness against the mountain and he told me it is the unborn city. We flew in another direction though and soon lost sight of it.
“This is a world of magic where the impossible happens because you want it to.”
“Nonsense. You already have powers that allow you to tap into the magic you claim is so freely available. To my people magic is magic, stuff of our dreams only. Seeing it work for you does not help us.”
“Did you play games as a child? Magic is a game, you only have to know how to play.”
“You are offering?”
“No. You already know how to play. It will come back to you.”
I saw we were swiftly descending to an open area, a long green swathe between two forests. We came down to the one side of it and then he led me through some trees and we came to a stream. He put down what he carried and sat, gesturing for me to do the same.
“You said we had to talk. I have nothing to say Alki. Did you choose this spot for that reason, so that you would not be talking by yourself?” I pointed at the stream that constantly murmured to itself.
“You have kept your humour, that is a good sign.”
“What is so good about humour? It is only a self defence mechanism.”
He laughed. “That sounds like Spock.”
“Spock?”
“Never mind. Sam, I am not of your people and will not judge you as they would. Tell me what is eating at you.”
“Your question comes too late, I have banished the demon.”
“Is that so? Was that why you were trembling - it was the demon departing? I’d thought it was a demon arriving.”
I shrugged and gave a false laugh. “You have the eyes of an old man, they are too sharp.”
“Sammy, kori mou, open up, you must open up for this to end.”
There was no way I could reply to that; neither flippantly nor seriously and he had sounded sad when he spoke, even if I did not understand all his words.
He sat back against the trunk of a moss covered tree and looked up at the sky. “It is a thing that shames you?”
Softly I asked, actually curious, “What would a creature like you know of shame?”
“More than you can imagine at this moment. Sam, I’ll try to make it easier for you, but the kernel of the truth must come from you. It has to do with the princess?”
I flushed, angry. As I calmed down I realised I’d betrayed myself. “Yes.”
“Take your time, tell me whenever you are ready.”
3692
I thought he must be stupid if he imagined I would do so. He surprised me by falling asleep. I sat listening to the stream and with time I thought it too was asking me to talk. I glanced at Alki, saw he still slept so I spoke to the stream. I told it of what I had done, of my shame, guilt and the final changes in me. The stream murmured, trying to soothe me.
“That is it? That was your terrible secret?” Startled I jumped up, ready to flee as my face burned. “Calm down Sam, it does not mean the same to me as it does to you. I know a man who is loved by many young girls and some of them are younger than the princess is. Shame is only earned if you tricked her into doing what she did. If it was a natural need of hers then there is no shame.”
“It was my shame! I owed it to her to explain why it was wrong.”
“What was wrong? If she had put her hand in a flame and cried out because of the pain, the pain would have been wrong? If her love and trust for you allowed her to relax and enjoy sensations you think are shameful, you think the shame is hers?”
“No, I told you the shame is mine.”
“If it is yours, then it is hers also.”
“She only reacted naturally, not knowing in her innocence that it was wrong.”
He spoke to himself, “I cannot believe this!” Then he said to me. “Sam, we are both men and both attracted to the opposite sex, that is true?”
“For myself the answer is yes, I can only presume so about you.”
“Take my word for it, you presume correctly. If you were to rub my arm gently it would feel pleasant to me. Should I feel shame because I enjoyed the friendly feeling of your male hand?”
“You are trying to tell me that as a result of my massaging her, despite her tender years it was natural for her to be aroused?”
“Of course. Sam, you are fooling yourself. You are not ashamed of her reactions or that you caused them. I would guess you enjoyed them, even treasured them as something precious. It speaks well for you that you did not take advantage of her needs to fulfil yours. Something else troubles you.”
I’d thought this was my darkest secret, but now I saw what really was. I explained my fears of what I had led her into because I’d been too cowardly to talk to her honestly - and admitted part of the reason I had not talked was because I did want her to continue having her pleasures from me. Alki sighed.
“You are still not telling me the real shame.”
“What could be worse!”
“Lying to yourself is worse. What has tormented you more than all you have already confessed to?”
“Nothing else.”
“Fine. Take a walk or whatever, I’ll have a small nap again. The stream makes me sleepy.”
I walked for hours. Found raspberry bushes and feasted on their sweetness and walked again. I sat by the stream far from him and thought of nothing, letting my mind roam. One word slipped like an eel through my thoughts, confronting me with its razor teeth.
“Jealousy.”
I’d been jealous of my friends, hating that they touched my princess, my Thina, that she drew comfort and love from them. I forced myself to face my worst fears and examined them from this new perspective. I let it all go, stilling my thoughts and stared up at the stars until my eyes closed.
The next morning I walked back to him. He was sitting with his legs in the water. He looked back at me and complained. “You ate all the raspberries close to us, I had to walk far to get any.”
“One more thing for me to be ashamed of?”
He flushed and then his eyes bore into mine. “Ah, you have come to a new truth?”
“You knew what it was?”
3693
“How would it help you my knowing? It was you who had to know. Tell me.”
“Jealousy.”
“Let us postulate an imaginary scenario. What if you had forty girls to love you like she does. Would their willingness to share you speak badly of them?”
“If they did not like each other.”
“Oh, really?”
“You mean, the others are my friends? It is not the same!”
He chuckled for far too long. “Robert is going to want my head for this.” That thought made him roar with laughter.
“It is not the same!” I reiterated with force, ignoring his comment. Again he roared with laughter.
“Oh Sam, you are going to hate yourself for saying that.”
I stared at him, convinced he has taken leave of his senses.
I heard a chuckle behind me. As I swung around Lady Melina said, “He is right Sam, you will be angry with yourself. Never mind, there is one last thing for you to do now.”
Angry now I said sharply, “What!”
“Return to your princess. Take her to the waterfall and explain yourself. Open her heart again so that she can know she is free to love you. Let that be your last gift to her, it is also my last gift to you. Sam, be honest with her, speak the truth and she will surprise you with how much she understands. After that I will be returning you all home.”
When I was returned I first called the men to me.
“The Lady says we will be returning home. Before we go there are a couple of things I need to do. First of all I have to apologise to all of you. There was no outlandish demon in me, what changed me were my own feelings of guilt towards our princess and my jealousy of all of you. Each time I saw her look at one of you with love or sat on your laps I hated that person - while loving you too for I knew I was being unreasonable, but I could not control myself.”
Most of them graciously accepted my apology and I knew them well enough to expect them to make jokes about it at my expense. Tinas however stared at me with eyes ready to pop out. “You are serious! Men, he really thinks he is going to marry her, that is why he was jealous, he thinks he owns her!”
Their Captain, Erin, spoke with the concern they all showed. “Sam, if Tinas is right you are asking to have your heart broken. As she grows up she will be ashamed of us, for we are all of common stock. She will be attracted to her own kind.”
I laughed, free at last to speak openly. “Don’t you see Erin? They are not her kind. We are. She will grow up to the eyes of the court as a normal princess, but behind the scenes we will be teaching her. We will see to it that she learns the true history of our people. She will be taught how power is really shared and how to overcome those who would stand in her way. We will train more men, ensuring their loyalty is to her alone, so that none dare gainsay her. She will be a queen as no queen has been, powerful and as wise as we can make her. The history of our country will be changed and we may hope someday our people will be judged by the Lady as being deserving of her world.”
“And you think she will then marry you? Your dreams are too big Sam.”
“That is the only way to dream, you must all dream big dreams. Whether she marries me or one of you is not the point. Perhaps out of the rot in the court we identify a young male who can be taught to be like her and she marries him. What is important is that our queen has a king who supports and believes in her.”
“The people must also be taught Sam, their expectations must be raised so that any changes she tries to make have their support.”
3694
“Write songs then Wendor, songs to awaken their dreams.”
“And I will paint pictures to give those dreams flesh.”
“I shall write trite love stories and other small vignettes to touch their hearts with our dream.”
“Not our dream Melios - her dream, for this is our gift, we are bestowing our dream to her, allowing her to make it hers.”
The Gillians had surrounded us, they do not set the same values we do on privacy, listening to our words and enjoying the spirit that had reanimated us. Daniel stepped forward.
“The story you told your princess, it will come true Sam, for all of you are leaving our land as princes in your hearts.”
“I owe you and your people an apology also, I made poor repayment of your hospitality.”
“We knew it was a part of your growing and understood Sam. No apology is needed. What we see and hear now is what fills our hearts, if you truly feel the need to repay us.”
“I need some time alone with the princess.”
Daniel stopped me. “May I suggest you take a bath first? There is time and she is delighting the children with a talent of hers. It may surprise you, give her time to finish what she is doing.”
I did as I was told and walked to her slowly, my heart hammering with fear at what I had to tell her and at the reaction I anticipated. I saw her sitting on the grass, her skirt untidily spread out as she hunched over something, intense in her concentration. She bit a wooden handle and then her hand flew in tiny movements. I sat down to wait for her to finish. The wife of the carpenter brought me a mug of ale and a plate of bread and cheeses. I thanked her and sat nibbling with my eyes fixed on my beautiful princess. I saw something I had been too blind to see before. She truly is beautiful and my love is on the verge of changing, turning into the love of a grown man for an adult woman and though such love is not right for her at this time, is in itself an abomination, that same love will become a thing of beauty because it will make me wait, stop me from taking advantage of her immature mind and heart. I will wait. I can wait. For now, my glorious little Thina is no longer just a little girl who has won my heart. She is and will be part of something much larger. She belongs not only to me, but to the sacred 42 and above even us, to her people. Thina, queen of all our hearts.
The Gillians are a people devoted to nature and to beauty. From very young they learn to create beauty. Princess Thina finished what she was doing and held out to the children a frame. They looked at it and passed it on with approval and many comments, comments that made her cheeks glow. I got up and approached them from behind her. A child of about fourteen held up the frame for me to see and Thina turned to see who it is. She bit her lip when she saw it is me and anxiously waited for my reaction.
The frame held a watercolour of desert sand and a white stallion. The stallion stood on his hind legs and on his back was a man dressed as a warrior, sword raised. It was not the work of a mature artist, but the strokes were bold and sure, the colours like jewels, but also symbolising purity and stirring the heart. I looked more closely and saw it is my face.
“I fear my princess has glorified me.” I turned to her. “You did not tell me you can paint so beautifully.”
“They taught me. You really like it?”
“You have portrayed me as your champion. Do you still feel that way?”
She nodded, still cautious. I knelt before her. “What better than have so many pure hearts of childhood bear witness to my vow. Thina, you are and always will be the queen of my heart.” She flew into my arms. And as I felt the warm sweetness of her again, tears came to my eyes. I nodded to the children and they smiled back as I got to my feet and carried her away.
The pool and waterfall had been prepared for us. A small basket of raspberries, food, juices and wine, with a soft blanket on the grass for us. If there were more hearts as generous as these among my own people, perhaps the Lady would have still been a part of our lives.
3695
I sat my love on the blanket and sat down next to her.
“I have treated you badly. It is not because I stopped loving you, Thina it was because of my love for you. My love for you is a greedy little creature and it has eaten up my whole heart so that it only beats for you now.”
I did as the Lady told me and explained all the thoughts and imaginings that had tortured me. Perhaps the Lady was wrong and she did not understand all of it, but my words spoke to her heart with words I did not know I was speaking, painting a picture she does understand. In the end it is that picture that matters.
“You made me think you did not love me anymore, especially when you became nice to me again.”
“I am aware of that. I had gone a little crazy and thought I was doing the right thing. Thina, only one thing will ever be the right thing for me. That I love you. Whether you love me or another, whether you want me by your side or banish me from your life, I will never hide from the fact that I love you, never again.”
“Did you really think I loved the others more than you?” There was nothing coquettish about her question.
“I don’t think I thought you loved them more. I was jealous of you loving them at all.”
“But I do love them.”
“I am glad Thina. They all deserve to be loved by you, even more than I deserve such love.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I think it was not the love you felt for them that tortured me, can you feel how I am trembling? What I have to say does not reflect on you my love, it says bad things about me.”
“You are not bad!”
“In some ways I am. Did you know that the way I massage you is special to me?”
“Me too.”
“It was stupid of me, but I was afraid to discuss it with you. Your reaction to my massage, at least the first time, I did not expect it. I’d thought only a mature girl, over sixteen would react that way. Those were feelings you had that only a woman and man should share. Do you know anything about sex?”
“What I felt was sex?”
“They were sexy feelings. You noticed I did not touch you on certain parts of your body? If I had it would have been sex and it would not have been right of me to give you those kind of problems to deal with from so young.”
“But they were nice feelings!”
“The feelings are nice my love, but they also awaken other emotions which you are not equipped to handle yet. Even at my age I’m not capable of handling them. I decided that part of my loving you will have to wait for when you are adult, especially if you still want to marry me.”
“Why did you get angry with me then, I didn’t make you do anything bad.”
“I started to imagine the other men doing it to you, feared they would not stop where I had, and I was jealous of them while I was also afraid of what it would do to you. Thina, do not give me the comfort of telling me whether they did or did not, I do not have the right to know. What I needed was for you to understand why I behaved so badly and take away the fear that I no longer love you. I will love you forever.”
“You mean I should only feel that way with you?”
I evaded answering directly. “Do you now see why I say sex is nice, but it brings with it a whole lot of new problems?”
3696
“But I’ve seen people do this thing with others who are not married to them!”
“That is usually because they do not love the one they are married to.”
“Oh!”
I had not been entirely, one hundred percent, honest with her, but I’d said all I could. I sat pretending to watch the waterfall while she thought about it.
“I must not let anybody else massage me?”
“I can’t answer that one for you my love.” After saying that, I was dishonest enough to manipulate her with emotional blackmail. “All I can say is that I will not touch another woman, not for as long as you love me.”
I felt a little better when I saw how it pleased her and justified myself by acknowledging I’d spoken the truth. I did not want anyone else, not even for a quick release.
“If you won’t, then I won’t.”
“I won’t because I don’t want anyone else, you must not make your promise just because of what I do. If you want to be pleasured by others, then you should.”
“It does feel nice when they touch me.” My heart stopped while she considered it. “Are they not allowed to touch me at all?”
“Of course they are.”
“Not in that way, like you said?”
“Only if you don’t want them to.”
“Would it not feel as nice if they do?”
What her question implied had my heart racing. “It probably would be just as nice, maybe some of them would be better at massaging you than I am.”
“Okay, I’ll think about it.”
That easily she dashed me down again. Not knowing what to do I mechanically passed the basket of raspberries to her. We ate a few.
“Will you massage me Sam?”
“This is probably the last time I can. It will be too dangerous back at your palace.”
Sweetly she came into my arms, sitting up against me. “Can you make it long and long, to feel like forever?”
“I’d need some magic to do that.” I teased.
“But you love me!” she answered seriously. She was right, there is magic in me.
Samantha
Meli allowed us our last sweet few hours and when we returned to the clearing she appeared and with tears in their eyes, everyone hugged and kissed us goodbye. A golden haze surrounded us and we expected to find ourselves back in our city. Instead we all fell asleep and Meli, releasing our blocks, changed our bodies back to the way we are supposed to be.
She had not moved us, we were still with Daniel and his people. They realised we would be confused, disorientated and waited patiently for us to find ourselves again. As we melded our experiences with who we are, we also made gifts of our memories to each other. It pleased us when Haven and Shiyra exchanged with us, but also with each other. I suppose they got carried away by the magic of the moment and the place we were in.
3697
The wonder was greater among us, than those who had participated from outside. To become another person with a history, memories, beliefs and a personality was heady wine to our minds. Though we exchanged memories immediately, each of us first delved into our own memories, assimilating them carefully, afraid of losing any part of the miracle.
We could now see that Meli had carried out her side of the bargain with a thoroughness none of us had expected of her. She had created an entirely new culture, almost old Japanese or Chinese in its rigidity, but with a twist of its own, giving each of us a place within that culture that suited our temperament, if you adjust for the fact that we all had to play a role in the adventure and the role happened to be that of soldiers.
To me the most remarkable characters created by her were those of Robbie and Cherine (Captain Erin). It seemed to me that her gift to Cherine had been the removal of her chief gift, allowing her the stubbornness that is a part of her, but without the alleviating gift of empathy. As for Robbie, it will take time for me to form an unbiased opinion, as even though I am Samantha again, there is still enough of Samuel in me for me to be biased by my love for the princess. Poor Samuel, he will now have to carry his love for as long as I live without hope. It is a kindness to meld him to me so that he finds an outlet for his feelings in my love for Robbie.
Robbie was the first to speak. He made a production of it, ticking off on his fingers to the count of three and proclaiming dramatically, but with some of the tone and inflection of Samuel, “You are female; you are female and, you are female. Whatever your age, it seems you remain female.” His laughing eyes challenged me. “Really Sam? Still?”
That got everyone going, even the five and Daniel. Lady… oops, Meli sat watching us with a grin, her eyes already growing dreamy with her next story.
I said to Alki, “You said I would be angry with myself. I’m not. I am puzzled by the difference in attitude brought about by being male and I want to think about it, but I’m not angry.”
Meli giggled. “You were my biggest failure. I just couldn’t change you. I spent more time worrying about you catching on to all the clues and spoiling the adventure than anything else.”
“Meli, I was a pain in the backside for everyone else, but there isn’t one tiny second I would change. Thank you.”
“Sam.” Robbie said, “Do not thank Meli too much. I will be honest, I had not expected you would be the one I would love more than all the others, but it did not happen because of Meli. Even as a man your nature shines through and the way you cared for me, took care of my heart, those were what made me love you.”
“It was not because I was more suited to being a man?”
Nobody laughed, as I’d thought they would. “My sweet Sammy, as a man you were more suited to being a man and as a girl you are more suited to being a girl. Stop picking yourself apart and enjoy who you are.”
Cherine was the least happy of us all. She did not like Erin for a large part of the adventure. His rigidity and refusal to listen to his heart was anathema to her. She admitted though, to Dommi, that he had given her a lot to think about, helping her appreciate her gift, as she never had before.
We made a point of including Haven and Shiyra in our reminiscing, not touching on ways their relationship could affect them now. Haven was bolder than we’d expected though.
“Melina, I need to know, did you contrive the situations for Shida to save me?”
“You are welcome into my mind to see for yourself. I did not Haven. I admit I made a mistake in placing the serpent, though its venom was not poisonous, only causing hallucinations. It was a matter of luck as to who it would bite, if anyone. If you had all been as vigilant as you were supposed to be, it would have only added a bit of excitement to your trip. If it did bite anyone it would be a matter of chance. Sam kept on harping on it so much that I almost regretted introducing it.” That made everyone laugh and Haven accepted her comment as being sincere.
3698
When it was time for the others to return to their bodies we all took our leave of our Gillian friends and, Robbie returning as the void, carried us home.
Before I end off this chapter of our lives, one more comment. The adventure of the sacred 42 brought about a new happiness that has little to do with us directly. Meli decided she needs to make changes on her world, changes that affected her Gillians. She concentrated on changing them, altering their relationship to her world and now they all can fly and jump without Daniel helping them. Their new abilities have brought them great joy and back home our Gilli spent the first night in Meli’s arms, her cheeks damp with tears of love for her.
Chapter One Hundred Seventy
Just like all Athenians, we keep on running away from Athens in August. Our bodies are better able to cope with the stifling heat without much discomfort, but it does seem pointless to bear the heat amid concrete - a silver beach is far more fun. After our desert adventures, it was no surprise when the majority decided they’d rather travel to the Southern hemisphere, if possible to snow covered mountains. There aren’t many areas we can find what we were looking for. We tried the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa, but they did not have any snow.
We ended up going to an alternate Earth and to a January month. We then jumped forward until Mt. Troodos was covered in snow. We could feel Coral was troubled and we could guess what worried her, but we had to respect her privacy - when she is ready to talk to us, we will try to help.
Robbie asked, “Aren’t you going to collect any fossils?”
“In this cold?”
We laughed, not at her, but at Robbie. He recalls all our likes, dislikes and interests, then when time passes and we have moved on, he forgets. No, he does not forget. He yearns for the past and tries to fit us back in the mould of that time. He knows we see through him, but it does not stop him. I wonder how he will be when he has hundreds of years to yearn for.
Even in the middle of summer Robbie refuses to swim in Cyprus, complaining that the water is too cold. Our first morning, once we had settled back into real time, not skipping ahead anymore, he kept on looking out the window at the blustery winter weather as he ate his toast with honeycomb.
“Claudia, are you still enough of a Scandinavian to go swimming in that cold wind?”
She answered seriously, “Not after living so many years in Greece and on Freddie. I am a Cherinian though, it would not bother me.”
He grinned. “How about creating a sensation? Let’s all go for a swim. We should succeed in confirming for the locals that us foreigners are totally crazy.”
I shuddered. “No thanks. I’ll stay indoors with my laptop.” I was immediately bullied mercilessly by all of them until I gave in.
Even the foreigners pointed at us and we heard many comments, but it turned out Robbie had another reason for doing this. As we stood in the water, after running in, he called us to him.
“All of us have two hearts and our lungs are modified so that we can last from ten to fifteen minutes without air, depending on whether we are exerting ourselves or not. I have an idea which I want to try out. Stay linked to me so that you have firsthand experience of what I’m doing - just in case I succeed.”
We all protested. To do what he asked of us meant we could not protect our bodies from the cold. He gave in and allowed us to dress and sit in a coffee shop from where we can monitor him.
We watched as he walked out till the water was close to his shoulders. He sank into the water.
“He is with you?” a man asked in accented English.
“Yes.”
3699
“It is dangerous to swim alone. With this cold he could get cramps.” He stood staring, his hands resting on our table as he kept his eyes on the water. We warned Robbie so his head bobbed up. The man relaxed a little, but his eyes showed he was curious about so many young or little girls sitting here alone. He walked away and we concentrated on Robbie again. He gave us a wave and sank out of sight.
*Time me.*
We watched with fascination as Robbie spent minute after minute underwater without any need for air. He showed us how he was using his healer to get the air he needs out of the water. Jokingly he said he could even filter the water to feed himself.
If we need to, we can stay under for hours or perhaps days. Imagine walking away from a bad situation, coming out onto the beach miles and days later!
About twenty minutes had passed when we heard a commotion behind us. Three adults came to us while the man who had talked to us made a phone call. He told whoever he’d called that a foreigner has drowned, that he has been underwater for over half an hour (Cypriots always exaggerate a little). He also asked for the police to come and collect about fifty children who are stranded here on their own.
The three adults were there to see to it that we did not try to run away. Robbie was amused and without coming to the surface until the water was too shallow to do otherwise he came out, walked to his towel and then came into the coffee shop.
“That was wonderful! You girls should have stayed in the water”
The three joined the man who had called for help. The poor guy was in shock.
“You cannot be alive! I saw you go under, you were under for more than fifteen minutes!”
“Not really, only three to four minutes at a time. I did raise my face to the surface for a breath, I suppose you could not see me from here.” One of the other adults reminded him he should call and cancel, explain that Robbie is alive. He did so while the three returned to their work, one getting a coffee for Robbie.
“It is funny, almost comical, but I’m sorry we worried him. He cared enough to try and protect you girls.”
“He is very angry with you Robert. I can see it from his aura.” Laura said.
“I can sense it.” Cherine added. “He thinks you made a fool of him.”
Chantel said, “I have noticed that in your Normals. When they should blame themselves, they project the fault to some other person.”
“Not only in our species Chantel, in almost every species it would seem to be a common characteristic of mortals.”
“Not in our species!” she primly answered.
“You are not mortals Chantel and in any case, you too suffer from a similar fault. You take upon yourselves the faults of others, claiming responsibility when you are not to blame.”
“Then their fault is nicer than ours Robert.” Wendy said.
“I don’t find the martyr complex attractive Wendy. It can become impossible living with a person who continually takes the blame for everything, even when I know I am to blame.” We all stared at him, none of us wanting to be the one to make the comment that would or might hurt him. Puzzled he stared back, finished his coffee and lit another cigarette. “What did I say that is wrong? I did not hurt Chantel, she will mull over what I said and learn from it.” Again we did not answer.
He did not push us and soon we were discussing other matters. Haven continued staring at Athia for a while, but she kept quiet, puzzled as to the reason we had not allowed Robert to see what was on our minds.
3700
I enjoy not having to write since it means we have no problems and our family is at peace. I don’t know how Robbie stands the non-stop sounds of so many girls. He teased me, saying that he fades us out so that we are a soft sound in the background, but that he is able to sense from it whether we are happy or need him to interfere in some way. The truth is he is not like a teacher, as his comment would indicate, he is a father, husband and friend to each of us and he stays aware of us even when he is painting or reading. I may have sometimes given the impression that the sexual factor is the most important part of our relationship, but the truth is that even when days go by without any sex, neither he nor any of us are unhappy. Our needs come and go in waves and sometimes we need him because something has saddened us and at other times we need him because we are happy.
Robbie took us to Nicosia because he wanted Haven to see how the city is divided with the no-man’s land in between. Talking with the driver we were a little upset at the foolishness of governments and admired the good sense of the Normal man in the street. The driver joked about how rats are allowed to cross the line, birds in the air too, but not human beings.
The taxis dropped us off at their inter-city offices and we walked. Apart from the UN lines, there was not much of interest to us, but we enjoyed the walk and the smells, stopping at a café for hot drinks. On our way back to the taxi office we smelt smoke. Soon we could see the smoke and we kept off the road as fire engines passed by, followed by ambulances and police cars.
People were rushing to see the fire and we followed them. The building soon came into sight. We’d thought in this area it would be a block of offices, but it was a block of apartments, obviously not for the well to do, as it was old and rather run down.
We saw a woman dressed in black screaming, fighting to be allowed to enter the building. She was screaming, “O giokas mou, to moro mou (my little son, my baby),” again and again, crying she had to get in to save him. By now it was too late for even fire fighters to enter. Soon as Robbie heard her words he edged away, looking for an opportunity to jump unobserved. He entered the old woman’s mind long enough to find out which floor and room her son would be in and to see the room from her memories, while ignoring signs of an adult male (he thought it was the father), he jumped. He stared at the son, who was deep in drunken sleep, touched him and jumped again. He rejoined us, laughing.
“That must be the fattest man I’ve ever jumped with. He must be over two hundred and fifty pounds!”
“That was the moro?”
He nodded, still laughing. “The biggest baby I’ve ever seen.”
His healer helped the fat ‘baby’s’ body recover to the point where he awoke and walked out into the street. When his mother saw him she screamed with joy and ran to him, her arms stretched out. We left.
“She is a mother Roberto, to her he still is her baby.”
“I’m not upset my love, we could not have let him die even if we’d known. Dommi, I was just wondering how it is that if we are present we have to help, feel compelled to help, while others more deserving we allow to die because we are not present.”
Chantel asked, “You could save them all Robert?”
“When we are on the planet? To do so we would have to go public and I am not willing to do that yet.”
“Their deaths do not hurt you?”
“Much of the suffering would if I allowed myself to feel them. Chantel, we must have a home where we can relax and be ourselves. We spend so much of our time in helping others, so I do not think we should feel guilty because we do not save or help everyone.”
Every time he says that he broods on it for days and searches while we sleep to help children, so we knew what to expect. Because we were on an alternate world without a Robert and Cherine, he knew where he would find some of the worst cases and our prison islands swelled with alternate prisoners.
Chantel, Haven and Shiyra, Robyn too, thought that saving the children would make him feel good. They do not understand what it costs him. Even we did not realise how deeply he felt and how it would snap his mind.
As I’ve said before, we’d decided it is not for us to punish, only to take the perpetrators to the prison planet where they can no longer harm children, and Haven disagreed with us, saying we should avenge the children. She was careful not to say it to Robbie though, so we allowed her to speak her mind and we argued with her, hoping we can teach her a little about the sanctity of life.
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)11th December, 2019
- posted: 11th December, 2019
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