Part six
The train ride south was less than comfortable. Even Joe, who had a talent for sleeping sitting up, was forced to get only minutes of sleep at a time, due to the constant shifting of the carriages. At only one point during the entire trip he found enough peace for a dream.
He was standing in a large room. In front of him was a large table with twelve dark figures sitting facing him. They were all standing in the shadows but he knew them all by name.
‘You’re here to be judged for your actions.’ said one of the figures with a deep voice. Joe lowered his head, accepting his fate. A man appeared to his right.
‘Is that really why we’re here?’ asked the man ‘He’s your father Adam.’
Joe looked to his right to see an adult Robert, The only one of his children too young to remember his father, for better or worse.
‘Do you see father? The only one of your children you didn’t have time to hurt has come to your defense.’ said Adam.
Robert turned to him.
‘He has a point.’
The train jolted. Joe woke up.
Twenty minutes drive from Tucson, Arizona was a small house in the country. In it lived a beautiful woman named Evelyn and her four children. She was married but only saw her husband two months out of every year due to his unorthodox sales route. Nevertheless, she loved him very much. He put food on the table and gave the children a lot of care every spring that he was around. Evelyn tended to keep to herself. She was kind to others whenever she would come across them but always preferred not to come across them at all. The only other character in her life besides her children was her mother in law.
Gertrude was a bothersome old woman who had nothing better to do than spend time with her grandchildren. This would otherwise have been a good thing, only Gertrude was about as educational as a slice of ham. Evidence of this could be found in the strong moral fiber from which her son Joe was made.
Gertrude had heard about the phenomenon of the wonder children and felt the need to make her feelings on the subject known.
‘It’s a bowl of crap if you ask me.’ No one had asked her. ‘This business about little Jesus children sounds to me like someone has found a new way of making money. I’ve got their Jesus right here.’ She motioned.
Joe came home expecting a decapitation. He was pleasantly surprised to see a smile on Evelyn’s face when he walked up the drive.
‘Your mother is driving me crazy.’ She said. ‘I think we should move to some place more secluded, like Alaska.’
She must have heard, Joe thought. Evelyn took him in and served some cold tea.
‘Some man from the paper came by the other day telling me you have another family.’ She continued ‘and that you have other children with god like powers.’
‘Evelyn, I love you and the kids very much.’ Joe apologized.
‘I know. Your mother keeps poking them to see what they do.’ She stopped for a moment ‘I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s very healthy for the kids to be prodded by their grandmother like that.’
Joe laughed.
‘I’m sorry, Evelyn.’ He finally said.
‘I know.’
At that time, in that moment, you couldn’t find a happier man than Joe. For all he had lost, one family could be salvaged. He thought about giving up the traveling life style and settling down with Evelyn and the kids. In his mind he knew he could finally begin to put this whole ordeal behind him.
There was a knock at the door. Joe walked out expecting to see his mother; however, instead there were two police men in uniform holding a warrant for Joe’s arrest.
‘Oh yes’ Joe exclaimed ‘bigamy is illegal.’
The train ride south was less than comfortable. Even Joe, who had a talent for sleeping sitting up, was forced to get only minutes of sleep at a time, due to the constant shifting of the carriages. At only one point during the entire trip he found enough peace for a dream.
He was standing in a large room. In front of him was a large table with twelve dark figures sitting facing him. They were all standing in the shadows but he knew them all by name.
‘You’re here to be judged for your actions.’ said one of the figures with a deep voice. Joe lowered his head, accepting his fate. A man appeared to his right.
‘Is that really why we’re here?’ asked the man ‘He’s your father Adam.’
Joe looked to his right to see an adult Robert, The only one of his children too young to remember his father, for better or worse.
‘Do you see father? The only one of your children you didn’t have time to hurt has come to your defense.’ said Adam.
Robert turned to him.
‘He has a point.’
The train jolted. Joe woke up.
Twenty minutes drive from Tucson, Arizona was a small house in the country. In it lived a beautiful woman named Evelyn and her four children. She was married but only saw her husband two months out of every year due to his unorthodox sales route. Nevertheless, she loved him very much. He put food on the table and gave the children a lot of care every spring that he was around. Evelyn tended to keep to herself. She was kind to others whenever she would come across them but always preferred not to come across them at all. The only other character in her life besides her children was her mother in law.
Gertrude was a bothersome old woman who had nothing better to do than spend time with her grandchildren. This would otherwise have been a good thing, only Gertrude was about as educational as a slice of ham. Evidence of this could be found in the strong moral fiber from which her son Joe was made.
Gertrude had heard about the phenomenon of the wonder children and felt the need to make her feelings on the subject known.
‘It’s a bowl of crap if you ask me.’ No one had asked her. ‘This business about little Jesus children sounds to me like someone has found a new way of making money. I’ve got their Jesus right here.’ She motioned.
Joe came home expecting a decapitation. He was pleasantly surprised to see a smile on Evelyn’s face when he walked up the drive.
‘Your mother is driving me crazy.’ She said. ‘I think we should move to some place more secluded, like Alaska.’
She must have heard, Joe thought. Evelyn took him in and served some cold tea.
‘Some man from the paper came by the other day telling me you have another family.’ She continued ‘and that you have other children with god like powers.’
‘Evelyn, I love you and the kids very much.’ Joe apologized.
‘I know. Your mother keeps poking them to see what they do.’ She stopped for a moment ‘I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s very healthy for the kids to be prodded by their grandmother like that.’
Joe laughed.
‘I’m sorry, Evelyn.’ He finally said.
‘I know.’
At that time, in that moment, you couldn’t find a happier man than Joe. For all he had lost, one family could be salvaged. He thought about giving up the traveling life style and settling down with Evelyn and the kids. In his mind he knew he could finally begin to put this whole ordeal behind him.
There was a knock at the door. Joe walked out expecting to see his mother; however, instead there were two police men in uniform holding a warrant for Joe’s arrest.
‘Oh yes’ Joe exclaimed ‘bigamy is illegal.’
No comments:
Post a Comment