I saw how she has blossomed, how she is loved by all and I felt her happiness. What else could I ask for?
1031
I noticed Socrati and Sonja were having a conversation with Andrea and Britta. I noticed that all four of them kept glancing at Katherina. Socrati waved me over.
“What are you lot conspiring about?”
“It seems your Cherine is right again, if we can solve some problems.”
“You asking me to help?”
“Yes. We would like to become one circle. We have grown very close. The trouble is that I feel more like a father to them. Also, Andrea and I would not want to have to make love to each other.”
“Someone told you that you would have to?”
“We assumed so.”
“Your assumptions were wrong Andrea. As far as the physical side of loving goes, you could still make love to Britta only, and Socrati could keep it within his own present family. What is needed is that you all love each other and are committed to each other as one family. You are all going to live hundreds of years. If during that time you grow closer and the physical side of it does not bother you anymore, all to the good. If not, it will not matter.”
“Socrati would not make love to Britta?”
I pretended they were puzzling me, despite my ‘making it up’ as I went along, according to what seemed logical to me. “Why should he? I am certain that Sonja and Kat can keep him satisfied. Just do not make any strict rules. Let the loving flow the way it wants to and visit the void from your own homes for now. That way there are no rules to change if you grow closer later. Whatever happens then, would only be a matter of it being what all of you want and need.”
“I could live with that Socrati.” Britta nodded in agreement.
I asked, “I noticed you all keep looking at Kat. Why?”
Sonja replied, “She is too…Roberto, she wants us all to love each other. She says Andrea would also be her father and husband. We are not ready for that yet.”
“Sonja, do not let it become a problem. You will find there is a natural flow to it. If Kat feels any disapproval she will hold back until you are all ready to share. You are trying to set rules, that is what is wrong. The way you feel today, when you make the rules, might not be the way you will feel later.”
Kat piped up, “Robbie, I told them. They are all afraid.”
“Kat. I too spent the first year afraid. I still am afraid of sharing my wives with another man. The girls tell me that there will come a time when it will be right for me, so we do not make rules. We let our love for each other make rules. That way, as the love grows and strengthens, we can change with it.”
I saw they were still hesitant. Only Sonja and Britta were relaxed.
I decided they needed a tiny push. “Do me a favour. All five of you, get in a circle, hold each others hands. Now look at each other and feel how there is a natural flow of love between you. Let that bind you, not your heads.”
They sat in silence and the room seemed to fade away. I felt it through Kat, their circle suddenly expanding, taking in Andrea and Britta. I felt their happiness and left them to it.
“Roberto, we need to send. The statistics are increasing again.”
“I’ll arrange it Savva.”
Cherine and Dommi came to either side of me, slipping their hands into mine. I gave them a smile. “What brought this about?”
“Robert, it is the birthday of our Wendy. Stop worrying about everyone and just be our husband and father.”
1032
“You want me to be your father Dommi?” I teased her, misunderstanding on purpose.
She nodded. “You know you are. You are enjoying feeling Wendy?”
“That I am. Our baby has blossomed. When I think how she was and see her now, I feel my belief in the power of love is reaffirmed.”
“Roberto, I phoned and booked a suite for you and Wendy for tonight at the Ritz in London. Please don’t pay - it is a gift and the bill goes on the account of my father.”
I chuckled, “Is that why you wanted me to be your father tonight?”
Soon as our guests left, Wendy went to the bedroom with the girls, changed to a twenty-ish age, dressed up and we left. I was not surprised when she kept her age even once we were in our room.
“I have a present for you Robert. Will you come into my mind?”
We lay down and I did so. My little Wendy was waiting for me. She dashed up to me and I caught her, cradling her sweetness.
*It is my birthday today Robbie. I thought you forgot.* *Never my love. How old are you today?* *Five silly.* *Oh dear, you are soon going to be too old to want to play with me anymore.* She giggled.
We played until she tired and lay cuddled within me again. I made sure she got as much love from me as she wants. She is still amazingly hungry for my love and it made me feel wonderful to be loved so much.
“Thank you Wendy. That was a lovely gift.”
“She will be there for you forever.”
“And this Wendy? She has grown so much, I hardly recognise her anymore. I’m not talking about your body, I mean the Wendy inside, that sweet mind and heart.”
“Robbie, I will always be your littlest girl. Even when I am old.”
I got up and undressed and when I turned back to her she was busy getting out of her clothes, her body that of my seven year old baby again. I carefully asked her. “I thought you wanted to be grown up tonight.”
“That was only for the hotel. I told you, I will always be your little girl.”
“I’ll be too scared of hurting you love. Can you at least be a ten year old?” She changed again, not bashful about doing it as I watched her. I nodded in relief and in pleasure at the sight of her.
I had a crazy idea. “Have you ever been drunk?” The hotel had sent us a bottle with their compliments.
“No.”
“Like to get a bit tipsy on champagne? This is a bottle of Dom Perignon, be a pity to waste it.”
I handed her a glass. “A toast to my lovely Wendy, happy birthday my love.”
It was not the time for being serious anymore and both our healers were warned to leave our alcohol levels alone. I got her giggling and we emptied most of the bottle. She was definitely tipsy and for the first time ever she teased me. I was so immersed in her happiness, the sight of her eyes when she laughed, the warm flush to her cheeks, I forgot everything but my sweet girl.
She poured some of her champagne on my tummy and lapped it up.
“Mmm, this tastes much nicer this way.” She poured little drips and drabs over various parts of me and sucked it up. Her glass emptied and she took mine that was still nearly full. She asked me to get up on my knees.
1033
Soon as I had she put her glass in position and dipped my penis into the champagne. She licked it dry and dipped it again. She repeated this a number of times and then pulled back.
“Now lie on your tummy.”
I wondered if the people at Dom Perignon had ever imagined their champagne being drunk this way. The fizziness, her tongue and my crazed imagination were driving me wild.
I do not know if it was just the champagne, but she seemed to be getting more intoxicated by the minute. She was happily giggling to herself when she stuck her finger into the liquid and then pushed it into me. She got the giggles and suddenly stopped, a seriousness in her that was almost a solemn wonder. She stopped me from looking back, but I sensed the change in her body.
She grew her clitoris, changing it into a small sensitive penis. She wet it, the fizziness making it tingle, and slowly pushed it in. I sensed all my girls suddenly caught up in what was happening.
She pushed herself in as deeply as she could and then began to pump her hips at me. She had lain on top of me, her arms around me and caressing my stomach and chest. She grabbed and squeezed, nipping me painfully as she arched her back and cried out. Her orgasm/climax was a confusing thing, a mixture of what a male and female feel. I was surprised when I felt a hot spurting from her shoot inside me and I reached my own climax, her one hand instantly grabbing hold of me.
When she rolled off me, her body was back to normal. She saw me look and giggled.
“Don’t worry, I made sure my sperm was not active; you won’t get pregnant.” This cracked her up and she was almost screaming with laughter. The girls had all joined her, so I could not help it and joined them.
Finally I gasped, “I think we better stock up on champagne.”
The alcohol caught up with her so I let her sleep while my healer helped cleanse her. I left just enough in her system for her to still feel a little uninhibited and happy.
The rest of the night was a delicious torment for both of us. She made love with gusto, her face not only filled with passion, but also a keen happiness and love.
When we woke up in the morning she opened her eyes and looked at me shyly as she saw me staring at her. “Right, last night was fun, but now I want the truth, where is my Wendy and who are you?”
Her eyes darkened with her happiness at my pleasure. “I am the Wendy that Robert made.”
“Correct answer little girl. You win our special prize.”
“What is it?”
“You have to guess?” She looked down and moaned, “What, again!!”
I hugged her with delight. I kissed her face all over and gently nipped her ear. “Your first job is to order a huge breakfast, with eggs and kidneys and anything else you want. Then we can go do some shopping before returning home. You happy with the plan?”
“You do mean afterwards!”
“I was teasing love, you must be sore all over. Have a nice hot foamy bath, it will make you feel better.”
“You made me drunk last night.”
“It certainly brought out another you - one that I like very much. You are a great hit with the girls. Cherine reckons I finally got what I deserve - I got screwed!”
She hid her face in embarrassment. What I had started as a joke was now becoming a need. It was a slow gradual build-up and when we reached the zenith of our passions we lay unmoving for a minute, recovering, and then I turned and drank of her breath, her milky sweetness still my joy. I tenderly filled her heart with my love and held her tightly.
1034
“I really love you Robbie. Very, very much.”
“Exactly how I feel about you, my love.”
It was too lovely a feeling holding her to me for us to get up and we lay there relishing the sweetness for a while. When she got up, she had that inner rosy glow that spoke of her happiness.
“Seeing as to how we’ve both had our breakfast, you better have your bath. I might even join you.”
“I’m starving Robbie.”
With a lecherous look I offered, “Then you better come back to bed.”
She wiggled her little bottom and went to the bathroom while I ordered a huge breakfast.
When we got home all the girls were waiting and they clapped, calling out ‘bravo’ and ‘olé’ till she was bright red and ducked into the bedroom.
“She let you off too lightly, she only made a teeny penis.”
“It felt big enough thank you.”
“She paid you back with your ‘don’t worry I’ve made my sperm inactive’ nonsense.”
They carried on this way until I too did a duck into my office.
*Ordinx I hear you could not find your people in the other void. Any idea why?*
*They could be anywhere. Since it is an alternate universe, with other possibilities, for instance, they only had to make one different decision during the last ten thousand years and they would end up very distant from where we are.*
*I can check on that as the void.*
*You can be the void there too?*
*I won’t know until I try Solomon. I am very grateful to you for stopping your people from harvesting the souls of that Earth.*
*I hear there is a Cherine and Robert on that world. Is there a Sam and Wendy? More important for our people, is there a Meli?*
*No. There is a Wendy I think. Sam is my child with Natalie, so she will not exist there. There is no Alki or Themi and Dommi as Cherinians yet and Marian has her husband, which means she and Alki will not have any children, so there will not be a Meli or Bernie.
Even if I try to arrange they meet, the chances of everything happening for these children being born are almost non-existent. I feel that world will be poorer for not having them, but you need not worry. Now that there is a Cherine there, our Meli can go and create worlds for them too. We will try and if it works I will let you know.*
*You place a heavy burden on our Meli.*
*I will only ask that she do what she can. I will not allow her to overextend herself, or do damage to herself as I did to myself.*
*It is correct that you do so. I wait to hear whether you are able to become the void there.*
*My friends, I should not stay here any longer, as my body still keeps on failing me. I will let you know soon as I can jump there again.*
1035
“There are three possibilities that stand out and I am certain they have thought of them. Either they were never able to create their own Kaleidoscope Worlds, or they are somewhere else, or the Sparklers got them all.”
“If it is the last?”
“Then we have a mammoth job ahead of us. Ordinx and Solomon will have to learn how to release them and undo the damage. It means a team of them will have to go there. Meli will have to also create a world to send them to. Alki, I feel very tired, will you excuse me.”
I got up to leave and the room spun around me. As I fell I saw Cherine throw herself under me, trying to soften my fall. Even in my fading consciousness I felt a stab of fear that I would hurt her and the protector stopped me from crushing her. I was carried to bed protesting, I was groggy, but felt I could walk.
When I woke up the next morning I saw Cherine by my side. She must have just fallen asleep, for I saw the tears still wet on her cheeks.
“Shh, don’t move my love, you will waken her. She has sat by your side all night.”
I nodded. “Dommi, I’m thirsty, some cold water please?”
I slept again and when I awoke Cherine was watching me, the other girls all around her, and I was surprised to sense she and they had changed, no longer distraught, actually, even pleased.
“Are you feeling better?”
“This is becoming a nuisance. If that black mama comes to our world I hope our I makes her life a misery. Girls, a job for you while I take it easy. Think up a name for it, it sounds so stupid calling it an I.”
With a face suddenly radiant, Cherine told me, “Robert, your body is not dying again. Your healer let you get tired to stop you from causing yourself more damage.” I stifled my instant anger, as I knew it was not an appropriate reaction right then.
“Rosie? Please think about what your mother just said.”
She nodded, “What should it have done daddy?”
“It should have told me of the danger and asked me to do this. I would have agreed. Can you see why it did what it did.”
Sam quickly replied, “Yes. It did not have the experience to think the problem through and not only did it harm you, making you afraid, it also frightened all of us for no reason at all.”
“Well done Sam, though I did ask Rosie. Aganthi, the baby okay?”
“She was worried about you. She wanted to be born early to help look after you.”
“You mean she is also going to bully me?” The girls laughed.
I pulled Cherine to me and she lay down alongside me, her hair tickling my nostrils.
When faced with miracles almost every day, it is difficult to remain constantly amazed and in awe. One thing does continue to amaze me though, perhaps because it also frightens me. I accept it as inevitable that a Cherine would be born. That her gift can also open doors in the minds of normal human beings is a miracle.
What bothers me, as far as my logic is concerned, is the speed with which new gifts or variations appear. There does not seem to be an end to them. It is as if the human spirit has been damned for the few million years we have existed and soon as she poked the first hole in that dam, it is crumbling under the pressure of our needs, as Alki once suggested.
1036
I do and do not believe in coincidence. If this diary were a book of fiction it would be argued that the author created each talent as he was going to need it for his story. That kind of convenience would kill the suspense a good writer tries to create for his reader. I have been wondering, could it be that nothing that happened was coincidence? Does mankind have some kind of gestalt mind, an over-mind that saw the Sparklers were to appear and they would bring about the end of our species?
That theory sits very uncomfortably with me. Are we to believe then that only mankind has such a gestalt mind, all the species that are now extinct did not? Why are we the only species to have a protector? It smacks a little bit of the Middle Ages and the attitude that we are the centre of the Universe.
I prefer to believe that in the infinite possible worlds, ours just happens to be the one alternate or probability world where everything came together at the right time to save us. There must be countless worlds out there, alternate Earths, that are devoid of life. I tremble at the idea that we, and the other world I went to, are the only two out of billions that still have humans. It helps me to think that if the theory of probability worlds is understood correctly, there must be by now millions of new worlds that split off from our own and each other, with each having their own copy of the protector.
I just hope that the consciousness that is the ‘I’, the Robert personae that carries me forward through our own time, does not make a fatal mistake and bring to an end our dreams and lives.
I can see why so many people write diaries; my thoughts, I could not frighten anyone else with them, but writing them down has helped me.
Aganthi has become my constant companion. It would appear our daughter is already insisting that she be close to me. For the first time she opened up and told me about her life before joining us.
“I have been trying to forget those years, pretend they never happened. When I realised that my daughter is in my mind, that she can see all my memories, it made me feel sick with fear Robert. I did not want her to know of that kind of world. I wanted her to grow up the same as your other daughters. You keep saying I am ‘street smart’. Do you know what ‘street smart’ means - it means I have learnt from being hurt, from watching others being hurt, even dying. It means you learn to fear and not trust anyone. I do not want that for her.”
“I would not worry about it Aganthi, all the babies are born with the knowledge all of us have. This tends to make them think they know everything we do. Your baby will not have your ‘street smarts’, but should she find herself in your situation, your memories will then begin to make sense to her. For now your memories will only give her a strong empathy for you and your fears. As an example, if you were to try and make her not spend her pocket money, to save it in case things go wrong, she will not resent it, she will understand and save her money in the hope that she is helping to calm your fears - the fears will not be hers.”
“You know about my pocket money?”
“Of course my love. Why do you think all the girls share whatever they buy with you? No Aganthi, don’t get upset. They do not pity you, they understand you. When people are as close as we all are, there is never pity, empathy means I put myself in your shoes and understand how and why you feel as you do. When you add love to that, it brings every one of us even closer.”
I continued, “I used to have many arguments with Dommi. When it was just her, Cherine and I, she was a bit awe-struck by Cherine. She fought with me to try and make me treat Cherine as an adult. She kept on claiming that her powers made her more mature. The argument that Cherine knew things a normal child does not made her seem mature. I listen to logic Aganthi, but mainly I listen to my heart. My heart said she is not mature, she is not an adult. She is a little child. My heart was proven right. She may be mature and adult in so many ways, but her needs and fears, mostly they are those of a child.
True maturity comes from the day to day living of our lives. Let us say your daughter picks up from me that I once climbed a ladder and the ladder top slid off the branch and I fell, hurting myself. Should she then put a ladder against a tree to climb it, she may or may not recall my memory, though I doubt it. If she does, good, she will place it more carefully. If she does not and she falls, that will make her instinctively more careful in the future. That is how it is with us most of the time, because of her own experience she will apply what she learnt to a variety of situations - unfortunately each generation needs their own experiences to learn from.”
“But the memories she took from me are of people hurting me. That cannot be good for her.”
1037
“It can. Should she ever be tempted to hurt someone, the memory of your pain will force her to empathise with the person she is about to hurt and stay her hand. Aganthi, no person is born with empathy (apart from Cherine, maybe), it is something we learn to feel.”
She remained silent for a while. “The first time my father raped me, that was terrible. I was screaming and crying and my mother was in the room next door and she pretended she did not hear. Robert, you cannot imagine the pain. At five years old I was so small even his finger would have hurt me! He did not care that he was tearing me, all he wanted was to be able to use me for his own pleasure and sell me to others for money.”
I held her as she wept and I kept her talking. She knew I had been in her memories, lived through her, what she described and it perhaps helped her to open the floodgates of her emotions. What she did was good for me also. It helped to remind me how delicate is the flesh of little girls and that despite their occasional needs to be hurt a little, I need to always remain extremely careful and sensitive to them.
As Aganthi talked and re-lived her terrors, I became conscious of my girls becoming a part of us and then faintly, beneath them, I felt our unborn daughter, her emanations to her mother, her soothing and calming love and the silvery tears that lay beneath them.
When Aganthi ended and lay within my arms, her face wet and red from crying, I felt the catharsis this had been for her and felt what a privilege it had been to be so trusted. Dommi came in with coffee for both of us and two cigarettes. She ran her fingers through the hair of Aganthi and gently kissed her cheek and left us without a word. I grinned at Aganthi.
“Two cigarettes! I’m not sure you should, not while you are pregnant.”
“If Dommi thinks it is alright then it must be.”
“True. I think we both need it. My love, have you thought of a name for our little girl?”
She became shy again. “If you like it, I would call her Irene (Peace). She brings peace to my heart.”
“A good name for a very special daughter.”
She was now able to talk about her experiences, even laughing at some of the things that had frightened her in the past. For instance she told me how to go about buying drugs and what to watch out for, a lot of the sellers sell drugs that are mixed in with other substances that are poisonous. She admitted she had often smoked marihuana.
“Winter was the worst time, I could never get warm. I stuffed plastic bags under my clothes and tried everything I could, but I still suffered.”
“That was because of malnutrition, you were also sick.”
“Those men who had sex with me, why don’t they care if they get sick from me? Most of them did not want to use condoms, some even paid extra not to use them!”
“I cannot pretend to understand how people think. It actually scares me how unpredictable they are. I used to think people would mostly use common sense and some logic, but I keep on finding that many of their actions defy analysis.”
“This one guy, he is quite well known, he never tried to have sex with me, but he would pay to watch me have sex with others. Why?”
“You better ask Themi.”
“I like him, he would buy my flowers. Why is he so unhappy Robert?”
“None of us know. To tell you the truth, I cannot sense that unhappiness, only you girls seem to be able to.”
“Something bad happened to him…I think he must have been very young when it happened.”
“I’ll suggest that to Natalie. Cherine says that only she can help him.”
1038
“I wish I could be like Cherine. When something bad happens I get frightened. She doesn’t, all she fears is you getting hurt.”
“You do realise that it is because of Cherine that you girls are stuck with only me. If Cherine had been different at least you girls would have a couple more men in our group to help keep you all happy.”
“If it was me that was Cherine, there would never be another man - never!! Sex is nice with you, but it is not why I love you, if you cannot make love to me I would not stop loving you.”
Aganthi has more visitors popping in to see her than the rest of us together. Katherina, her brother and sister and even the kids from the Tasso family. Little Klo comes over and talks with her for hours.
“She still misses her parents, but she is starting to think of Tasso and his family as her family now. She says Tasso has never made love to her, but his sons do…just kissing all over, she is still a virgin. She tried making herself an adult so that he would, but he did not.”
“He has a very strong sense of honour.”
“She says that inside him he thinks of her parents and how shocked they would be if he made love to her, that is why he does not.”
“And his own daughter?”
“He kisses and fondles her, you know, sexually but he has not made her a woman. She refuses to let the boys, she says her daddy must be the first one.”
“Sounds like all the families are having problems in adjusting to being Cherinians. At least the young ones are adapting.”
Aganthi asked, “Why are you not looking for more people to bring in?”
“I seem to have lost the sense of urgency. If we could make the three boys part of a circle I would then be totally relaxed about it. We now have many ways to protect ourselves or to disappear. We have the alternate world also and one day we will have the worlds of Meli.”
I sensed she wanted to ask me for something. I let her feel how open I am to whatever her need is.
“I don’t want anything for me Robert, but it is difficult to know someone we have met is suffering. I keep thinking of Abigail.”
“But you haven’t even met her!”
“I did, through you and Cherine - we all did. I know you don’t like them because they lied…”
Cherine walked in. “Actually, I don’t think of it as lying, mostly I think of it as being a game for them and she was bluffing - like in a game of poker.”
“I can’t bring him back to life my loves, we’d be placing all Cherinians at risk - I would not trust either of them to remain quiet about us.”
Cherine asked, “Can we find out on the internet how he died?”
I did a search and sat back. “He drowned. It says he went out on a sailing boat and did not return, only the boat was found with a broken mast. No blood stains or other signs of violence, so the verdict was that he might have got knocked overboard and drowned.”
Aganthi’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t we bring one of the dolphin people from our World? One of them can find him before he drowns and carry him to a small island…where…someone finds him?”
“I don’t think we can bring a dolphin to our world, they don’t have real bodies. I also don’t think we can project, we wouldn’t know how to swim, defend ourselves from sharks or even, how to carry him.”
The truth is, I was not overly enthusiastic about the project, but I sensed Aganthi needs me to do it. “Maybe we can control a real dolphin so that it does as we want?”
1039
Cherine shook her head. “No, it would not understand why it is being controlled and would panic. It would have nightmares for the rest of its life.” She gave us a smile, “I’ve asked Samantha to help us, she’ll find a way.” I have felt how Cherine has slowly come to trust Sam and rely on her now and then for help in solving a problem and it has made me very happy, so I was glad to wait for her - plus curious as to what solution she’ll find.
I feel cheated by her obvious answer and it makes me laugh. Sam asked me to take Cherine back to the time just before Don died and gave Cherine her instructions privately. We jumped realities and returned to ours at the correct time, floating high above Don. Cherine sent her healer and Don, in the middle of his panicky floundering and thrashing, fell asleep. She then levitated Don so that his body just skims above the water, delivering him to a tiny and unoccupied atoll.
I asked Cherine, “How likely is it that anyone will find him here before he starves?”
“There is water and he’ll have to learn to fish…anyway, he can last ten days. Back in our time, you and Rosie can influence some tourist in a sail boat to come this way. Robert, he has very little empathy for others, maybe being hungry for a time might help him develop some empathy for those who are starving?”
I chose to take Aganthi. It was she who asked us to save him, so she should be the one to have the pleasure of having him found. We projected and visited the island, walking along the beach until Aganthi sensed someone adventurous enough to sail out a bit further. Once we sensed he’d been found, I wanted to leave, but she asked to stay. Sensing my love when he was carried off the boat alive made me feel glad we’d waited.
We now have fourteen tissue banks, with three of them kept private just for us. That way they stay hidden, but the costs are financed by the other eleven.
“Alki, I had a crazy idea and want your opinion. It has to do with our tissue banks. I started off by thinking, what would happen if one of us are killed in the alternate world. I am certain the protector could bring back the soul and create a new body here. But I don’t feel it is the best solution - for instance, if we are under attack, we may not have the time to make such jumps.
Would it not be better to create a couple of banks over there, since it is the healers who create the bodies, it will not matter so much if the protector is not there when they die. Then I realised that the Robert and Cherine of that world, their tissues should also be kept here. Just as a backup for emergencies. You do realise they will one day ask to come here to visit?”
“I’ll have the money ready for your next visit there. Can you take a flask of tissue with when you jump?”
“If the flask is too big we will have to have smaller ones made. It would not be difficult. Thanks Alki.”
He finally decided to confide in me. “I’ve got a secret Roberto. I had to stabilise my age or else there would be too many questions if I looked young. But sometimes Marian and I, we jump to another country and make ourselves young, teenagers, and go to discos and have fun. It feels very good to be so young again without the problems of that age.”
“I usually have the opposite problem. My girls want to become adults so I have to make myself look older.”
“I hear Cherine made you stay young and everyone thought you were her gigolo.” He chuckled.
“Nowadays they are called toy-boys.”
I am getting quite a lot of work done. With all I have seen over the last couple of years I have a plethora of images waiting to be reproduced. My fans are starting to complain that my work is no longer balanced between the normal and my spaced out pictures. I decided to create more pictures that are of this world.
Alki no longer cares whether I do any work or not, he sees my main task as being that of leader of the Cherinians, but for the sake of my own ego and the pleasure I get from painting, I still work at it. Sometimes I hear of a new corporate order and get some ideas; Alki lets me design their site if I ask and it feels good to know that my work still sells. It does sometimes cause a problem, as other corporations see my new design and ask for me to design theirs - and I mostly don’t anymore. Alki laughs when I feel guilty about it and tells me that with me doing such a few, there is an added prestige to my signature and he is able to charge a much higher fee.
1040
Doctor Maria has her problems too. She often uses her own healer to help with her patients and she is making quite a name for herself. This means she is having to put in long hours and she feels she is missing out on being with her family.
“You have killed all the ambitions I had Roberto. When I started, I dreamt of being this successful and would have worked these long hours, even with a family, without a problem. Now all I can think of is my daughter and how I want to be part of her life.”
“At least your work helps people. I can’t believe she is already one year old.”
“The people of the future, they will lose something very precious Roberto. I miss it already. I looked forward to having little children parties for her birthdays. She would be thoroughly bored to have a lot of toddlers around. There are so many things a parent enjoys in the childhood of their children and we will never know them.”
“I’m quite happy to have them appearing as five to ten year olds. That way I still enjoy the child in them without having to go through the painful process of dealing with them as babies. However, Dommi has complained of exactly the same thing. I think all the adult mothers feel the same way.”
“I suppose we will soon have more mothers like Diana. Babies having babies. How can they feel like mothers and daughters?”
“Diana manages. Her ‘mothering’ feelings are very strong. The twins adore and look up to her. Her case is unique in that she never was a baby, born as an eleven year old. I am determined not to allow any of my babies to get pregnant before they have lived at least five years. By then, mentally, they will be equivalent to a normal eighteen year old.”
She laughed when I said that, for there had been an instant chorus of protests. They quickly died down for they sensed I was not in the mood to talk about it. Dommi came over and spoke to me softly.
“Robert, you think of their bodies as being so vulnerable. Do not forget their hearts and minds are even more so.”
“Are you suggesting I give in and let them have babies!!”
“No, I heard what you told Maria. Even at five I was shocked, but I understand your reasoning. You would not be able to make them wait longer anyway. It is just in how you tell them, it was not right that they learn of your decision from your conversation with Maria. It was also not right not to allow them to discuss it with you.”
“I’ll discuss it at home. This is supposed to be a birthday party.”
Agapi spoke up, “You are the leader Robbie, if you have decided this, it will affect all of us. It is not fair that we do not also get a chance to argue it with you.”
“Maria?”
“Go ahead Roberto.”
“You are all sick of me saying you need to live life a little, that knowledge is not the same as experience, so I will not discuss that part of it. Do you all agree that you need to go to school?” They were fair enough to admit they did. “School has nothing to do with you having babies. It has to do with you interacting with other people, of learning to understand the knowledge you borrowed from the adults of your families. I say borrowed, for until you can understand and use the knowledge, it does not belong to you.
Anybody good at arithmetic here? I’ll give you a simple example then. Let us say that Sam and I have a baby when she is one years old. Then the next year both Sam and her baby want a baby. From two people we become three. Then from three we become five a year later. The next year, Sam, her daughter and her two daughters all want to have a baby. We become nine. The next year they all want babies, we become seventeen. And the figures shoot up after that.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)31st May, 2019
- posted on Steemit: 31st May, 2019