《Remembering Rock》 Part I: In the Beginning: Chapter 1 According to legend Laweye Taynj¡¯el was responsible for protecting us. ¡°Us¡± meaning all of us, not just me and my family. The whole world. She was alert. She was the wind, blowing through every land, always watching. If you paid attention, you could hear a parent telling a child, ¡°Laweye Taynj¡¯el can see you. If you think of doing something bad, she will blow gently in your ear and your bad thoughts will disappear.¡± In those days, if the legend is true, the world thrived, with peace and joy evident everywhere. But, at length, so the story goes, Laweye Taynj¡¯el grew weary of constant vigilance. ¡°All is good,¡± she said to herself. ¡°It will surely remain so long enough for me to rest awhile.¡± And so she retired for a time. Years passed. Like children whose parents are away, people began to misbehave. One would cheat someone. Another would steal. Although not everyone seemed to be affected, vile and hateful behaviors gradually increased. Eventually, someone was murdered. Everyone was shocked, but no consequences were evident, and eventually it happened again. Destruction and wickedness grew until whole countries began to bicker and squabble. This, of course, led to war. As hatred and animosity in the world developed and spread, the energy from the negativity massed and intensified. Formless emotion swirled, grew and became stronger until it coalesced into consciousness. Dar K¡¯fors, lord of all things evil, was born. He played with people¡¯s emotions and cultivated ever more mayhem and violence. Unaware of the true cause of the swelling tide of malevolence, people blamed each other for the escalation of evil in the world.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Some people were so traumatized their memories became blocked. They forgot the worst events of their lives. The pain, trauma, and forgetfulness were pleasing to Dar K¡¯fors, as these fed his strength. ¡°What is this?¡± Laweye Taynj¡¯el demanded when she awoke, well rested now, but appalled at the disaster that had befallen her world, the world for which she was responsible. Deeply saddened, she continued. ¡°Oh, my people, could you not allow me to rest without forgetting how to behave? Now, see what you have done. You have brought the lord of darkness to life.¡± As she hung her head, great tears dropped from her eyes and rained upon the earth. As her tears fell, her sadness waned and her anger grew. At length she dried her eyes and sought out the villainous lord. She battled him furiously but was unable to defeat him. She was, however, able to bind him with her magic and thus limit the effect of his influence upon the earth. And so Dar K¡¯fors was bound and his evil of little effect in the world. Yet he was patient and content with leaking but small bits of poisonous energy. These bits found homes in the hearts of the weak of character where they took root and grew. These people became minions of the evil lord and helped to spread his wickedness as they were able. They planned but did not trust each other and so their plans often came to naught. Thus, time passed and, oh so slowly, Dar K¡¯fors grew stronger. Laweye Taynj¡¯el sensed the tendrils of evil and made her own plan to help the world resist their force. Dar K¡¯fors grew stronger and one day escaped the bindings put in place by Laweye Taynj¡¯el. He was very weak, so he crawled into a hiding place where he could build his strength and one day defeat all the forces of good. From his hiding place, he was able to send forth emanations of his evil influence. It was enough to create an atmosphere in which people again engaged in evil acts, causing pain and trauma to others. When the effects were sufficient to make the victims forget due to the trauma, the evil energy flowed to the evil lord who drank it in with great pleasure. Each draught brought him strength. Part I: Chapter 2 Although Dar K¡¯fors kept himself hidden, the oracle Saweye Kic sensed his presence and began to prophesy a great doom to befall the world. To avoid this fearful catastrophe would require enormous sacrifice by three individuals. This sacrifice, if successful, would increase the power of light until Laweye Taynj¡¯el once again grew strong enough to imprison the evil lord. Saweye Kic traveled from town to town, speaking the prophecy to all who would hear, seeking pure souls who might be sacrificed to save the world. One day a man and a woman came to her and said, ¡°Please, Saweye Kic, recite to us the prophecy, that we might contemplate its meaning.¡± And Saweye Kic said, ¡°The prophecy speaks thus:
¡®The evil lord is free once more, no longer is he bound And once again, as once before, three pure souls must be found He faces south, she faces north, their elbows linked akimbo And memories from certain souls they liberate from limbo Memories stolen must return, for what¡¯s forgotten can be learned. Then in the end the rock will bleed from injuries by word and deed. Yet blood will quicken hardened stone to Purities of flesh and bone. For centuries the pure ones fight with Guardian by their side. The evil lord is bound again, in safety all abide.¡¯ ¡±
And the man and woman said to Saweye Kic, ¡°Look upon us. Are we not pure? We were to marry but were seized with a longing to serve; thus we seek to fulfill the prophecy and offer our lives to this purpose.¡± Saweye Kic was overcome with emotion and said to them, ¡°Oh, most pure souls, your sacrifice is accepted with the deepest gratitude. It is my destiny to accompany you. I will become your guardian.¡± Her voice rose like a song ascending to the heavens. ¡°Go prepare yourselves, my children. At the appointed hour I will summon the assemblage and the ceremony will begin.¡± Seven days passed. Each day the sky grew darker and the wind blew harder. The pure ones, female and male, became fearful. ¡°Surely the evil lord is aware of our intentions and will prevent our sacrifice,¡± they said. ¡°Fear not,¡± said Saweye Kic. ¡°We will succeed. Tonight we gather in the grove.¡± And so it came to pass. The assemblage gathered, representing great power. The elements were drawn to the grove wherein they assembled. Lightning flashed and thunder grumbled. The ceremony began.
Wing of yang and wing of yin Loose the memories within; Find the room shut deep inside; Use the key to open wide.
The words of power rose into the air. An open fire flared in the rising wind. The pure ones, male and female, circled the small brick ring, dancing in rhythm to the chanting, moving with such grace and beauty, they seemed to be from another world. The spectators swayed as they intoned the ancient words. The blackness of the night split into forks of lightning and thunder roared. The wind whipped through the triple ring of hemlock trees and across the clearing. The assemblage was undeterred by the fury of the elements.
Pain forgotten, let it go; I can do it if I know. Tell me what I need to hear; My salvation will appear.
The chanting slowed and softened. There was a lull in the lightning and thunder. The wind died down. The fire glowed with gentle light. The dancing couple faced each other and joined hands. Lifting their connected hands above their heads, they turned back to back without separating. They leaned back toward each other until their backs pressed together. Their clasped hands descended straight out to the sides, then down. Their fingers disengaged as their elbows locked. Pushing against each other for support, they lowered their bodies toward the fire. Their bodies expanded and hardened as the flames sank lower and lower. The wind began once more to roar. As they slid into semi-reclining positions, heads barely touching, the sky became furious with electricity.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Visible in the frantic flashes of lightning, the dancers vibrated and grew still. The brick surrounding the fire pit seemed to melt and flow, filling the spaces around the two bodies until only a single rock remained¡ªa rock topped with a relief carving of a reclining man and woman with their arms linked, the woman facing north and the man facing south. The wind blew strong and hard, sweeping the storm from the sky, exposing the full moon. A hush fell over the clearing. The crowd drew a breath as one and whispered in unison. ¡°It is done.¡± Saweye Kic stepped forth and knelt before the newly-forged rock. She held an ironwood staff, which tilted forward gently and touched the stone. Her musical voice rang out clearly as she said, ¡°Together you have become Remembering Rock. This is your reality. Your souls are this night purified, so you shall be known as the Purities. This is your name. I dedicate my life to you, as you have sacrificed your lives for the world. I am your guardian until the Time of Fulfillment. Henceforth I will be known only as Guardian.¡± She turned and faced the gathering. ¡°Pay homage to the Purities. Their strength will prevail.¡± As they came forward and individually knelt and placed their foreheads to the warm stone, they each murmured a wish on behalf of the Purities. As they completed their tributes, they melted into the night until only Guardian remained. She knelt once more by the rock. ¡°You will not be disturbed,¡± she said. ¡°Only those you invite will gain admittance to the grove. The hemlocks are loyal to you and will let no intruder pass.¡± She leaned forward and rested her face against the stony warmth. ¡°I will never leave you. You are my destiny. With you I await the Time of Fulfillment. The day of prophecy will come to pass. We will have no release until that day.¡± ***** Everyone knew about Remembering Rock, though most had never seen it. They knew it was inside Memory Grove. They knew about its protector, a nameless woman referred to simply as ¡°Guardian¡±. Yes, everyone knew everything about it. The three rows of evergreen trees, so close together no one could see or get through. Unless they were invited. Then the branches would sigh and move aside only for that one person and only barely enough to pass through, not enough for anyone to see inside. Truly, they didn¡¯t have to see. They knew. They knew Remembering Rock was in the middle of the clearing. They knew the rock looked uncannily like a man and a woman reclined on a large stone with the tops of their heads touching, their elbows linked. They knew a person could lie on the rock facing any of the four cardinal directions, but only one direction would be comfortable for any one person. And they knew anyone who was invited to commune with the rock would be changed forever. Above all else, they knew about the prophecy. No one knew when or where the prophecy was first spoken. The village had records going back hundreds of years, and the prophecy was mentioned in the very oldest records of all. The prophecy was the subject of much speculation, but no one knew what it meant. It was catchy, though, and children often chanted it as they played:
The evil lord is free once more, escaped he from his binding. And now we must, as once before, three pure souls to be finding. One male to south, female to north, with elbows linked akimbo, The mem¡¯ries from selected souls to be set free from limbo. Memories stolen must return, for what¡¯s forgotten can be learned. Then in the end the rock will bleed from injuries by word and deed. Yet blood will quicken hardened stone to Purities of flesh and bone. For centuries the pure ones fight with Guardian by their side. The evil lord is bound again, in safety all abide.
No one knew Guardian¡¯s age or background. Some said she was immortal. Some said she was a troll. Not that there was such a thing, but still, it was said. She herself, in fact, had been heard to claim she was indeed a troll. She was certainly ugly enough to be one. Of course, she couldn¡¯t help that, poor thing. It didn¡¯t seem to bother her, though. And her voice made up for it--so beautiful and musical, you¡¯d think angels were singing. While Guardian was mysterious, she was not scarce. Memory Grove boasted an old-fashioned general store, and she visited often, pulling a cart of handcrafted items. The store owner always bought everything she made; her wares were very popular and sold quickly. She picked up packages from the post office when she came to town, packages some said held magical items but Guardian said they were just her raw materials. The people of Memory Grove Village were proud of their home town. Seldom did anyone leave for long. As they grew up, of course, the young people, like young people everywhere, claimed they were stifled by the small town and couldn¡¯t wait to be old enough to do so. Leave, that is. Usually, though, the desire to leave disappeared by the time they reached adulthood. A few were more determined and did leave, but they almost always came back. It was also rare for someone new to move in to stay, but people came to visit a lot. And they spent a lot of money there. So the town was small, but it had much to offer. When people came, whether for business or pleasure, they always brought a list of things to do. Part 2: Chapter 3: Bruce Bruce stood on the sidewalk and looked back at the building he had just exited. He admired the giant Pro-Ack logo above the door. The building was ostentatious, although not huge. Most of the work went on elsewhere. Headquarters housed a relatively small staff. The size was misleading. Pro-Ack was a large company. Executive Vice President. Promoted today. He had expected it, but not so soon. It was a tribute to his dedication to the company. No one was more devoted. He walked to his car in the company parking lot next to the building, unlocked it, got in and drove away. All the way home, he hummed to himself. Executive Vice President. He repeated it several times, starting with a whisper and growing louder each time. He laughed aloud. He tuned the radio to his favorite station and sang with the music the rest of the way home. ¡°Hi, honey,¡± he said as he entered the house. ¡°Come and kiss an executive.¡± She peeked out of the kitchen. ¡°You¡¯ve been a vice president for two years.¡± ¡°Well, Molly, my dear, I¡¯m not just any vice president anymore. I am the executive vice president.¡± ¡°Oh, Bruce, congratulations! How exciting. Come in here and tell me about it. I can¡¯t leave the kitchen; the kids are in here. We need to celebrate. Would you like to go out tonight? Or maybe wait for the weekend? I think I can get a babysitter tonight, if you want. I have a roast in the oven, but it can go in the fridge.¡± Bruce laughed as he followed Molly into the kitchen. ¡°You¡¯re more excited about it than I am.¡± ¡°That¡¯s only because you¡¯ve had time to calm down. You probably found out this morning. You should have called me.¡± ¡°Yes, I did. I wanted to tell you in person, see the look on your face. Let¡¯s relax and enjoy the home atmosphere tonight. I¡¯ll see if my folks will take the kids on the weekend so we can get away overnight.¡± Four-year-old Edward, sitting at the table coloring, looked up and said, ¡°I want to go to Grandma¡¯s house now. Can we go now?¡± ¡°Later, Eddie, not right now,¡± his mother answered. To Bruce she said, ¡°That sounds heavenly. It¡¯ll be so romantic, just the two of us. We haven¡¯t been away overnight alone since Jessica was born, and she¡¯s more than two years old.¡± Edward climbed down from his chair and went to his sister¡¯s playpen. ¡°Jessie, guess what? We get to go to Grandma¡¯s house. And we get to stay overnight.¡± Jessica looked up at him and then bent back down to the plastic ball in front of her. She was trying to fit plastic pieces of various shapes through holes in the ball. Bruce wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively a couple times and pretended he was chomping on a cigar. ¡°Come here, baby. I¡¯m getting as excited as a kid left alone in a candy store.¡± He reached for Molly. She took evasive action and giggled. ¡°I¡¯m working on supper right now, but you just wait till later.¡± ¡°I have been warned, and I¡¯ll be ready.¡± Bruce left the kitchen and sat down to watch the news. He grinned foolishly all through the news item announcing Pro-Ack¡¯s new executive vice president. The piece ended with a brief mention of a merger Pro-Ack had been pursuing for the past couple of months. He turned it off and went to the kitchen. ¡°Hey, Molly, the news just reminded me I¡¯ll be going out of town for a few days next week.¡± Eddie looked up. ¡°Can I come?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt Daddy, sweetie. Where are you going, Bruce?¡± ¡°A place called Memory Grove Village.¡± ¡°Really. It sounds kind of rustic. Village? Not many places called a village these days.¡± ¡°Yeah, they have a textile factory that makes a very high-quality product. Pro-Ack administration believes it would be an excellent addition to the company. We¡¯ve been discussing ideas with their board for a couple months trying to get a feel for their reaction to a merger. Frankly, they don¡¯t seem very open to the idea.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Oh? I wonder why?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t really know. They don¡¯t say much. They just talk about how it¡¯s just a small factory in a small town, nothing a big organization like ours would be interested in. We¡¯ve tried to explain how a merger with Pro-Ack would make it possible for them to expand their business far beyond their current level. We could open new factories all over the country, using their techniques. We could probably find ways to streamline their process so they could produce a lot more with less effort. Their product is really good and, with our backing, would become known on a wide scale.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re going there to convince them?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the idea. I think if we could have a dialog face to face, I could explain it better. I imagine they just don¡¯t understand what we¡¯re trying to do.¡± ¡°When do you leave?¡± ¡°Early Monday.¡± ¡°Can I go, Daddy? Daddy? Can I go?¡± ¡°Do you know how long you have to stay?¡± ¡°Daddy¡ª¡± ¡°It depends on how things go, of course, but my plan is to make it three days. I should be home sometime on Thursday. Incidentally, they tell me there¡¯s a surprising variety of activities for vacationers in Memory Grove Village. I looked it up. It¡¯s a small town, population is no more than five thousand. Apparently, it¡¯s a popular vacation spot, so tourists spend a lot of money there. They have a state-of-the-art combination gym and spa with an Olympic-sized swimming pool. I can go swimming, play racquetball, and work out.¡± ¡°Da¡ª¡± ¡°They have an amazing live amateur theater company, a steakhouse famous for its barbecued ribs, an old-fashioned style soda fountain that claims to have the world¡¯s best root beer float, and three museums. Three. Is that not crazy? Plus, of course, the textile factory.¡± ¡°Daddy! I want the world¡¯s best root beer float. Can I go?¡± ¡°Sweetie,¡± Molly said, ¡°Daddy can¡¯t take anybody with him this time. Maybe later we can all go for a vacation.¡± ¡°I want to go now.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t go now, but you can get ready for supper now. Run, wash your hands.¡± ¡°I want to go next time,¡± he said as he left to wash his hands. Molly turned back to Bruce. ¡°When you get home, you¡¯ll have to tell me all about everything. Maybe it isn¡¯t as wonderful as people say. Have they actually been there?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m going to make a list of the places I want to see while I¡¯m there. Then I can give you firsthand information.¡± As they talked, Molly finished preparing supper and set the table. She put all the food on the table, then picked up Jessie and fastened her into her high chair. Eddie came back, holding out his hands for inspection. Then he climbed into his booster seat and picked up his spoon. ¡°Good God, good food, let¡¯s eat,¡± he said. Molly¡¯s mouth dropped open. ¡°Where on earth did you hear that?¡± she demanded. Eddie shrank back into his seat. ¡°Travis said it.¡± Molly frowned. ¡°It isn¡¯t always a good idea to repeat everything your friends say. That was rude and disrespectful. Please don¡¯t say it anymore.¡± ¡°Sorry, Mama, sorry.¡± Supper was finished without further incident. Bruce took the kids for storytime while Molly cleaned up the kitchen. Then Molly took the kids outside to play while Bruce vacuumed the living room and ran a load of laundry. Finally, together they put the kids to bed for the night. Back in the living room, Bruce flicked on the TV. ¡°Want to watch something?¡± ¡°What¡¯s on?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see. There¡¯s the one where the crime lab solves crimes with all kinds of newfangled doodads. Then there¡¯s the one where the cops take evidence to a lab that solves the crimes with all kinds of newfangled doodads. Then there¡¯s the one where people go surfing while cops solve crimes¡ª¡± ¡°Let me see that.¡± Molly grabbed the guide. ¡°Oh, here¡¯s one where people dance and everybody votes on their favorites. And one where people sing and everybody votes on their favorites. And another one where they dance¡ª¡± Bruce started flicking through the channels. ¡°Here we go. Football.¡± Next channel was basketball. Bruce frowned and flipped to the next one. ¡°How about this one? They go off into space, or maybe it¡¯s an alternate reality or the center of the earth. Anyway, they explore strange new worlds.¡± ¡°Sure. Sounds better than football.¡± They sat and watched for a few minutes. Molly sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll miss you when you¡¯re gone next week.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be gone long. I¡¯ll be back before you know it.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be here alone with two little kids. It won¡¯t be before I know it.¡± ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll be back before I know it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Since you¡¯re going to be gone having the time of your life and I¡¯m going to be stuck here slaving away by myself, I think you should get me a present while you¡¯re there.¡± ¡°Funny, honey.¡± She punched him in the arm. ¡°I will get you something,¡± he said, ¡°in honor of my promotion. I¡¯ll find something for the kids, too. A memento of my first traveling assignment as the executive vice president.¡± Molly sighed, snuggled closer to Bruce and laid her head on his shoulder. ¡°Executive vice president at twenty-nine. Bet that doesn¡¯t happen every day,¡± she said. ¡°I think I married the world¡¯s smartest man.¡± He kissed the top of her head. ¡°Indeed you did, babe,¡± he said. ¡°I can dream, anyway.¡± Part 2: Chapter 4: Bruce Monday. The first day of summer. Bruce stepped out of his car and looked around. For a small town, Memory Grove Village appeared to have a lot to offer. Of course, he knew that before he came. He always did his homework. He was looking forward to checking out the local live theater. Amateur, not professional, but he had heard it could give a lot of professional establishments a run for their money. Then there was the steak house famous for its barbecued ribs. People came from as far as a thousand miles away for those ribs. He also wanted to visit the state-of-the-art combination gym and spa, the House of the World¡¯s Best Root Beer Float, the Museum of the Past, Present and Future, and more. First things first, though. He turned back to the car and pulled out a briefcase. He turned again and looked at the building in front of him and cleared his throat. Over the door, giant letters proclaimed, ¡°Memory Grove Textiles¡±. He walked up the steps to the windowless door and pressed the buzzer. A tinny voice said, ¡°Yes?¡± He cleared his throat again. ¡°Bruce Harrington from Pro-Ack Incorporated.¡± ¡°Come on in, Bruce.¡± The door lock clicked. The entryway was spacious. He walked through to another door on the opposite side. Directly to his left on the other side of the second door a man, probably in his mid-twenties, sat at the reception window. ¡°Good morning, Mr Harrington. Sorry about the extreme security. We have some heavy equipment in the factory, so regulations require a secured entry. He rolled his eyes. ¡°My name is Ron, by the way. You are right on time. Shannon will take you to the conference room.¡± A woman, who appeared to be about the same age as Ron came around the corner and said, ¡°Come with me, please.¡± Bruce followed Shannon up a flight of stairs and down a short hall. She stopped at a door marked ¡°Conference Room 3¡±. ¡°In here.¡± Bruce coughed and cleared his throat. ¡°Thanks, Shannon.¡± He entered the room, and Shannon closed the door behind him. There were five people sitting at the conference table. The man farthest from the door rose and said, ¡°Welcome, welcome, Mr Harrington,¡± in a booming voice that matched his imposing presence. He stood 6''4" and weighed about 280 pounds. With no jiggly parts. ¡°I¡¯m Joe Parker. This is Steve Carlson, Deena Post, Elaine Dotson, and Brad Williams. Bruce shook hands all around the table, then sat in the chair indicated by CEO and President Joe. ¡°I¡¯m very happy to meet you all,¡± Bruce began. ¡°As you know, I¡¯m here to talk about a proposed merger between Pro-Ack Incorporated and Memory Grove Textiles.¡± Elaine sat forward. ¡°I confess I¡¯m a bit confused as to why you¡¯ve come. I know you¡¯re aware we have declined your offer.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s true and I do appreciate your willingness to meet with me in spite of that.¡± He sat, opened his briefcase, and removed a stack of papers. ¡°I have here copies of our proposal, which has been modified somewhat since you saw it last.¡± He passed around the copies. ¡°If you will indulge me, I would like to review the points, one by one, stopping for questions and discussion after each. ¡°Item 1. As you can see, we propose to carry out the merger as an acquisition. I understand any objections to this on the surface, as an acquisition implies loss of local control and identity. I assure you this would not be the case. The reason for styling it as an acquisition is to streamline the process. Because your textile industry is a private, family-owned corporation without public stock ownership, it is much more expedient, on paper, to buy the company. You would thus become an instant publicly-owned corporation. Are there any comments or questions so far?¡± Elaine spoke up again. ¡°I think, if we were interested in this merger, we would no doubt be able to come to an agreement on the various points. The details of the offer are not the problem.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°We are simply not interested in this merger, regardless of the form or the methods used.¡± ¡°You are aware you would have access to a much larger market?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And you don¡¯t want that?¡± ¡°We have as much business as we can handle. Our product is very popular.¡± ¡°But, that¡¯s part of my point. You could handle much more business if you agreed to the merger. Together we would find ways to streamline your techniques. With our backing you would be able to expand, build more manufacturing facilities. We could have facilities strategically located all over the world.¡± ¡°Who would be running those ¡®strategically located¡¯ facilities?¡± ¡°Each plant, of course, would need its own staff, both managers and workers. Your home office would retain control of hiring and supervising the staff in each location.¡± ¡°We would be spread very thin if we started sending people all over the world. Plus, you will find few people here who want to relocate.¡± ¡°You could hire all new people. Home office people could train the new staff, either on location or here.¡± Steve joined the conversation. ¡°I will repeat what Elaine said earlier. I believe all these details could be worked out if we wanted this merger. I still haven¡¯t heard anything that convinces me we would be interested.¡± Bruce looked at Steve. ¡°The bottom line is, you merge, you expand and grow, you make more money. More money comes back to Memory Grove Village. You would always receive a share of all the profits from your division, and your division would include all the factories developed to use your processes and techniques for producing textiles. I understand your town has been stagnant, growth-wise, for many years. This is the catalyst that could provide a breakthrough for the development of your town.¡± ¡°Frankly,¡± said Brad, ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡ªand I think I speak not only for the entire board and company but also for the town as well¡ªI don¡¯t understand your infatuation with bigger and more. I know you¡¯re aware we draw a disproportionate share of vacationers, based on our population. I believe we have much more to offer than any other town our size. I admit we have no extremely rich individuals or companies here, but we also have no true poverty. No one in our town goes hungry. No one. Ever. No one goes without needed medical care. Everyone has clothes to wear, a place to live. And really, who needs to have more money than she or he can possibly spend?¡± Bruce sat back, nonplussed. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. Doesn¡¯t everyone want more?¡± ¡°More what?¡± Deena asked. ¡°Money? Stuff? Money is only good for paying for things. We have enough to pay for what we need and want. Everyone already has more than enough stuff. Most people would be happier if they had less stuff, not more. You have to take care of stuff. The more stuff, the more work.¡± Bruce tried again. ¡°It sounds like Memory Grove Village is stagnating. There is no growth and, apparently, no ambition.¡± Joe frowned. ¡°We don¡¯t think you are in a position to judge us.¡± Bruce back-peddled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to judge, but I do have to wonder what provides motivation if no one is interested in¡­in¡­more¡­better¡­.¡± His voice trailed away. Deena spoke. ¡°There is no lack of motivation here. We need to stay alert and educated or we will lose what we have. We have a lot and we need to stay motivated to maintain it. We have great cultural activities, an excellent education system, and an innovative social services system that keeps people on their feet or helps them back to their feet as unobtrusively as possible.¡± Bruce looked from face to face. ¡°Isn¡¯t there anything you want, that anyone wants, that isn¡¯t available in Memory Grove Village?¡± Joe lifted a finger. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Bruce asked, certain he would be able to gain some leverage with the information. ¡°World peace.¡± ¡°You know that isn¡¯t what I mean.¡± Bruce was frustrated. ¡°You don¡¯t get it. Doesn¡¯t anyone want to get ahead?¡± ¡°Actually,¡± Brad said, ¡°it¡¯s you who doesn¡¯t get it. ''Doesn¡¯t anyone want to get ahead?'' Ahead of what? Or who? And if you get ahead, who¡¯s going to be behind? You¡¯re just regurgitating what you¡¯ve been hearing all your life. People don¡¯t want to get ahead. They want to get happy. They think acquiring things and riches¡ªgetting ahead, as you put it¡ªwill make them happy. They¡¯re wrong. We are happy. We don¡¯t need more stuff. Most people need less stuff. Think about it. When you¡¯re lying on your death bed, which do you think you¡¯re more likely to say with your last breath, ¡®I wish I had accumulated more stuff or money¡¯ or ¡®I wish I had enjoyed my family more¡¯?¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Bruce sat back, defeated. ¡°Don¡¯t take it too hard,¡± Joe said. ¡°It¡¯s pretty hard to sell anything to someone who is completely satisfied. This is a town of satisfied people.¡± Bruce managed a weak smile. ¡°If I could bottle what you have here, I could get rich selling it.¡± ¡°Who knows,¡± Joe said. ¡°Maybe you¡¯ll figure out a way to do that. Will you be staying a few days?¡± ¡°I was planning to stay. I thought we would spend more time negotiating a merger. Now I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Why not stay as you had planned. Instead of wasting any time negotiating, get acquainted with Memory Grove Village. While you¡¯re here at the plant, would you like a tour?¡± ¡°That would be nice.¡± Everyone rose from the table, shook hands with Bruce, and left to attend to their separate duties. Joe took Bruce to the reception area and arranged for Shannon to take him on a tour. ¡°When you¡¯re done,¡± Joe said as he walked toward the stairs, ¡°you might want to try lunch at the little cafe across the street and halfway down the next block. The food is excellent.¡± Brad met Joe at the stop of the stairs and asked, "Do you think we overdid it?" "Not really," Joe replied. "Memory Grove Village may not be quite as idyllic as we painted it, but it doesn''t matter to him." "True. And he needed to understand we really aren''t interested in a merger or acquisition or whatever his company really has in mind." "Exactly. And we didn''t tell any outright lies. Very many, anyway. We do want to keep our small-town feel. Our small-town values. And we want to keep local control. No matter how benign their intentions, if we give any authority to people from the outside, they just aren''t going to have our best interests at the front of their minds. Not all the time." **** Meanwhile, in Memory Grove, Guardian stirred. ¡°Yes, Purities,¡± she whispered. ¡°I have felt his presence and will summon him at once.¡± Her movements were graceful, for a troll. At least that¡¯s what everyone always said. Of course, no one in Memory Grove Village had ever seen any other trolls so they had no idea how graceful trolls usually were. She walked north from the center of the grove. As she reached the ring of evergreens, the breeze rose. The tree branches rustled and parted. Guardian walked through them. Memory Grove was only a half mile from Memory Grove Village. Guardian reached the village in less than ten minutes. When Bruce exited Memory Grove Textiles, she was waiting by his car. ¡°You are expected in the grove, Mr Harrington.¡± Her voice was unexpectedly musical. Bruce looked at her. ¡°What?¡± He did a double-take, but stifled himself before he could blurt out ¡°What are you?¡± The poor thing must have a congenital defect. ¡°The grove, Mr Harrington. You are expected.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± He cleared his throat, coughed, and cleared his throat again. Shannon had stopped at a window to watch Bruce leave. When she saw the troll, she called others to the window. The news spread through the building like wildfire, spilled out the windows and doors and rushed throughout the village. By the time Bruce had uttered the word ¡°understand¡±, people had started to gather. ¡°The Purities request your presence, Mr Harrington,¡± Guardian continued. ¡°The Purities? What are you talking about? He heard a hubbub of whispering and muttering and looked up with a start. ¡°What in the name of heaven is going on? Where did everyone come from?¡± He saw everyone he had met from the board of directors of Memory Grove Textiles, as well as Shannon and Ron, watching and whispering with everyone else. He turned to them. ¡°Can you tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± Shannon stepped forward. ¡°You are being accorded a great honor. Few people are invited to Remembering Rock in Memory Grove. Those who have been summoned always say it has had a profound effect on their lives. They are never the same.¡± Bruce couldn¡¯t remember feeling so out of control since high school. ¡°I don¡¯t want my life to change. I have worked hard for what I have, what I am. I am not going.¡± A murmur ran through the crowd. ¡°Many say they won¡¯t go,¡± Shannon said, ¡°but they always submit in the end.¡± Bruce ran his hands through his hair. He took a deep breath to calm himself. Why am I reacting like this? He took another deep breath, coughed, and spoke. ¡°Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.¡± He hoped he sounded calm and unruffled, but he couldn¡¯t tell for sure. No one moved. Not a good sign. He raised his voice. ¡°Go home. Get out of here. Nothing¡¯s happening.¡± The crowd was still. ¡°Leave!¡± he bellowed, bringing on a coughing fit. When it subsided, he swung his head from side to side as if seeking an escape route. There was the troll, sharp in his vision against a backdrop of blurred humanity. ¡°Come with me,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll get you out of here.¡± ¡°Where¡ª¡± ¡°Not to Remembering Rock, don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s plenty of time to sort that out. Right now you need some peace and quiet.¡± She took his hand and they slipped away, heading north on the sidewalk, then turning west at the corner and crossing the street. They continued halfway down the block before she stopped and said, ¡°Hungry?¡± He realized he was famished and nodded. ¡°I was planning to go eat at¡ª¡± ¡°Best place in town to eat,¡± she said. He looked up. The front of the building proclaimed itself to be ¡°Pat¡¯s Home Cookin¡¯¡±. ¡°Pat¡¯s Home Cookin¡¯,¡± he finished. He followed her into the caf¨¦ and looked around. It was small, only twelve tables and a wait staff of one. He guessed there was probably only one cook, as well. They sat at the table farthest from the door. The waitress brought menus and glasses of water. Her name tag said Ruth. ¡°Specials are on the board.¡± She pointed toward the south side of the room near the kitchen. ¡°If you prefer, you can order from the menu.¡± She walked away while Bruce cleared his throat and studied the board of specials. ¡°Boiled Dinner? Never heard of it. Pot Roast. My mother used to make pot roast once a week. Crab Cakes. The best crab cakes I ever had were in Maryland.¡± He turned to Guardian. ¡°What do you suggest?¡± She studied him for a few seconds then said, ¡°Try the boiled dinner.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Just plain food. Nothing fancy.¡± They both ordered boiled dinner. ¡°That was fast,¡± Bruce said when the waitress delivered the food five minutes later. ¡°We¡¯re not busy yet, and you ordered specials,¡± she said. He looked at his plate. "Let''s see...ham, potatoes, carrots, some cabbage, onion, and...what''s this, another kind of carrot?" "Rutabaga." "Rutabaga. I''ve never had any before." He tasted it. "It''s okay, but I wouldn''t walk a mile for it." He sampled the rest of the ingredients. "Mmm, altogether, it''s quite tasty." They attended to their food in silence until it was gone. ¡°That hit the spot,¡± Bruce said. The troll smiled. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about Remembering Rock.¡± Bruce stiffened, cleared his throat and coughed. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t try to make you go. I just thought you might like to know what it¡¯s all about.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± he said warily, raising his eyebrows. ¡°I am called Guardian, because I take care of Remembering Rock. I must have had a name, but I can¡¯t remember it. I suppose I have amnesia, but I don¡¯t know what caused it or when it happened. I can¡¯t remember anything but being the Guardian. No one in Memory Grove Village seems to remember anything else about me, either. I don¡¯t know how old I am; I can¡¯t remember growing up. It feels like I¡¯ve been Guardian forever. ¡°Legend says Remembering Rock was formed many years ago, lifetimes maybe, during a ritual that took place in Memory Grove. Two people, who were destined to carry out the purpose of this ritual, danced around a fire pit in the center of the grove until they turned to stone.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous!¡± Bruce sputtered. ¡°Naturally, but the legend exists. And when you see Remembering Rock, you¡¯ll understand how some might believe it.¡± ¡°IF I see Remembering Rock.¡± ¡°Of course. If. The legend doesn¡¯t provide much for details, but there is a rhyme that has survived over the years. This is it.¡± Her voice softened and became even more melodious. ¡°Wing of yang and wing of yin Loose the memories within Find the room shut deep inside Use the key to open wide ¡°Pain forgotten, let it go I can do it if I know Tell me what I need to hear My salvation will appear¡± ¡°Do you know what it means?¡± ¡°Over time, this is what I have pieced together. ¡°Wing of yang and wing of yin. Yin and yang, as you may know, represent opposites and the interdependency of all things. Some say they also represent male and female, which I believe is at least part of the intent here. One wing stands for men and the other for women. They represent the belief that humanity cannot soar to its potential unless both wings are fully developed with neither overshadowing or overpowering the other.¡± ¡°Interesting concept.¡± ¡°Indeed. Now, the room shut deep inside represents someone¡¯s repressed memories that are limiting that person¡¯s potential in some way. The key to opening this room wide is Remembering Rock. ¡°Pain forgotten is another reference to repressed memories, painful memories. Memories we can¡¯t let go until they are set free by opening that room shut deep inside. We can¡¯t let them go until we know about them. We won¡¯t know about them until we use the key to open the room. ¡°The last two lines just mean once we know those memories and bring them to light and let them go, we will be free, that¡¯s our salvation.¡± ¡°I see. Hmm. Well, that¡¯s as good an interpretation as any, I suppose. I have to say it sounds pretty silly to me.¡± Guardian said nothing and they were silent for some time. Bruce was confused. Why am I even thinking about this? It¡¯s just a crazy fairytale. Maybe I should just go sit on that rock and prove everybody wrong. I don¡¯t understand why perfectly normal people¡ªat least they seem pretty normal¡ªwould believe such nonsense. Maybe they don¡¯t. Maybe it¡¯s just an elaborate practical joke. Why would they want to pull such a stunt on me? New man in town, I suppose. No, I won¡¯t fall for it. But it would be interesting to see the grove. And the rock. She mentioned the shape of the rock. He was surprised how much he wanted to see what the rock looked like. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll go,¡± he said. Guardian smiled. ¡°Take a day off,¡± she said. ¡°Have a little vacation. There is much to see in this little town. The Village Theatre is having Midsummer Night¡¯s Dream this month. The actors and crew are all volunteer, but they have amazing talent.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard about them. I¡¯d love to go. Are you going?¡± ¡°Not tonight. But I will see you tomorrow.¡± They rose from the table and Bruce went to pay the bill. It was small and he wondered if it had been added correctly. ¡°Does that include both our meals?¡± ¡°No, just yours. Guardian¡¯s is already taken care of.¡± ¡°Who¡ª¡± ¡°Never mind,¡± Guardian said. ¡°Now, you¡¯ll need a place for the night. I recommend the Village Inn.¡± Part 2: Chapter 5: Bruce Following Guardian¡¯s recommendation, Bruce went to the Village Inn. At the desk he said, ¡°Good evening, Debra. What do you have for a weary traveler?¡± Debra smiled, delighted. ¡°At last. Proof the money paid for my name tag wasn¡¯t a total waste.¡± Bruce chuckled. She continued, ¡°How long do you plan to stay?¡± ¡°Three nights.¡± ¡°We have a very nice jacuzzi suite with a balcony and a queen bed. There¡¯s no kitchenette, but it does have a refrigerator.¡± ¡°Sounds perfect.¡± She gave him a key card and said, ¡°It¡¯s room 201.¡± She handed him a larger card. ¡°And this is your parking permit for our lot.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± He went out and hung the parking permit from his rear view mirror. Back inside, he picked up the handle to his rolling bag and went to the elevator. In his room, he checked out the bathroom and the balcony, then took his packed clothes out and hung them on the bar provided. On the night stand was a pamphlet next to the phone advertising local attractions. Bruce picked it up and looked through it. The amateur theater was at the top of the list. He noted the address and left the room. In the lobby he showed the address to Debra. ¡°How far is that from here?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s about four blocks.¡± ¡°Good. A nice walk.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t have a ticket, you should go right away so you can get a good seat. Even on week nights the best seats are always taken.¡± ¡°Thanks for the tip.¡± Bruce enjoyed his walk to the theater. The sidewalks were adorned with sculptures, some beautiful, some intriguing, and some that made him wonder what was wrong with the artist. He realized the last category made him think, so he decided that must be the point. He was very pleased with his seat but he got restless waiting for the production to begin. The discussion with Guardian kept running annoyingly through his mind. He tried to distract himself by reviewing what he knew about the play. His mind wandered. I wonder if they messed with the dialogue much. I wonder where old Will got the idea for this one. I wonder what ancient Greek work he stole it from. He smiled to himself at that. Then the play started, and he forgot everything but what was happening on the stage. He became so involved in the entertaining shenanigans, he was disappointed when it was over. As he left the theater, his time with Guardian earlier in the day intruded again into his thoughts, playing over and over. He was exhausted by the time he got to his room, but he didn¡¯t expect to sleep well. The day had been so strange, he was beginning to doubt it had actually happened. He needed a good night¡¯s sleep. He set the alarm to make sure he would have time for breakfast before meeting Guardian in the morning. If this had happened at home I would have just brushed it off. Here, though, away from all that¡¯s familiar, I feel lost, as if anything could happen. He brushed his teeth and fell into bed. He expected to be doing some tossing and turning, but he was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow. When his clock buzzed in the morning he didn¡¯t remember anything after crawling under the blanket. Amazing, he thought. I feel incredibly well rested. It must be the fresh air, the good food, the pleasant comedy. He rose and prepared for the day. The inn provided a continental breakfast in a small room near the desk. He sat at a tiny round table and was pleased to see a daily paper from his own city left there by an earlier patron. He drank a cup of coffee and ate a caramel roll while he browsed the paper. After a few minutes he put it down in disgust. Nothing but murder and mayhem. He finished breakfast and rose to go out. ¡°Have a nice day, Mr Harrington,¡± the clerk said. ¡°Thanks. You, too.¡± He walked out the door and almost bumped into the troll. ¡°Good morning, Mr Harrington.¡± She almost sounded like she was singing, her voice was so musical. ¡°Did you sleep well?¡± ¡°Very well, thank you.¡± ¡°Excellent. Are you ready to meet Remembering Rock?¡± He grimaced, no longer sure it was a good idea. ¡°Mr Harrington, are you having second thoughts?¡± ¡°No, no, no. Just let me put my bag away.¡± He stowed the bag in his vehicle. ¡°Shall I drive?¡± ¡°If you like, but it is a very nice walk, and not far.¡± She pointed at the grove. He straightened and looked. ¡°Why not? I could use the exercise.¡± The walk was, as Guardian promised, pleasant. When they reached the grove, Bruce could see there was no way in. The trees were very close together and he knew from experience how it felt to push through evergreen trees. ¡°How do you get in? Is it open on the other side?¡± ¡°Most people can¡¯t get in at all, but you¡¯ve been invited. It will be no problem. You can pass at any point around the circle.¡± He looked doubtful. ¡°Try it. Walk right up to the trees and see what happens.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Bruce looked at her and raised his eyebrows. She nodded encouragingly. ¡°Okay, here I go.¡± He took a big breath and strode briskly toward the grove, but shied aside, as if embarrassed, before he got there. This is just silly. Guardian looked amused. ¡°You don¡¯t have to walk so fast,¡± she said. ¡°It might be easier to keep going, if you take it easy. He took another deep breath. ¡°Okay, here I go,¡± he said again. This time he walked slowly toward the grove. The closer he got, the slower he walked. Just as he was close enough to touch the trees, he could hear the breeze pick up a little. The trees seemed to sigh, and the branches rustled as they gave way before him. He looked from side to side in disbelief as he walked, the branches brushing against him lightly, caressingly. Guardian followed him inside the grove. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked, a catch in his voice. ¡°What happened?¡± Guardian said only, ¡°You were invited.¡± Bruce looked around the clearing. It looked like a perfect circle, about two hundred yards in diameter. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it was so big in here.¡± ¡°Yes. It can hold quite a big crowd.¡± The breeze sighed and murmured around the two as they stood near the trees. Bruce felt his eyes pulled toward the shape in the center of the meadow. ¡°Remembering Rock,¡± he said unnecessarily. ¡°Yes.¡± They walked to the stone. Bruce studied the shape. ¡°It looks like a sculpture of two people reclining on a rock with their arms linked.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°So, what do I do? Do I lay on one of the people?¡± ¡°Not necessarily, but you can. Or you can lie on one of the pairs of linked arms. As you can see, they are carved in relief on the rock. There is plenty of stone in any of the four directions to support you.¡± ¡°What difference does it make which side I choose?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say. There are those who say the direction you choose is related to the memories you experience.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Some say this. If you choose to face north, your memories are related to such things as cold, death, winter, and ice. If you choose to face south, your memories are related to opposite things, such as heat, birth, summer, and water. If you choose east, your memories are related to light, happiness, family, and youth. If you choose west your memories are related to darkness, sadness, business or industry, and age.¡± ¡°Sounds like I¡¯d better choose south or east.¡± ¡°Think deeper. You are assuming the characteristics of north and west are bad, and south and east are good, but it isn¡¯t that simple. What if there were no death? There could be no birth or the earth would soon be overrun with people, animals and plants. Without sadness there is no happiness. Every characteristic of each direction is important and necessary. They are neither good nor bad. They just are.¡± ¡°I never thought of that.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± She paused. ¡°You may choose at any time.¡± Bruce circled the stone. Should I feel a pull toward one side? How do I know which to choose? He turned and paced the other direction around. Good grief. It doesn¡¯t matter. I don¡¯t believe this stuff, anyway. Just sit anywhere. He stopped and sat down. ¡°Lie back. Relax.¡± He did. Which way am I facing? He was embarrassed to realize he didn¡¯t know. He knew he was on one side with linked arms, and he was pretty sure he remembered one pair of arms faced east and the other west. And, let¡¯s see. The woman was facing north and the man south. Ah, he was facing east. He knew it was silly, but he was relieved he wasn¡¯t facing west. He closed his eyes. He was young, maybe four or five. He was in his bed. There were sheep sounds coming from the kitchen. He was sure that¡¯s what it was. Sheep sounds. Ssshhhh. Ssssshhh. Kind of like air blowing through something. No one was in the kitchen. What was making that sound? He was so afraid. He wanted to run to his mother for comfort, but only his bedroom was on this side of the kitchen. Not just the kitchen, but also the dining room and living room were in between his bedroom and those of his parents, his brother and his sister. . So much distance between him and everyone else. He got out of bed and stood in the doorway between his room and the kitchen. The sounds were coming from the sink. Whatever it was must be in the pipes. What if it came out of the faucet? He drew upon every ounce of courage he had and sprinted across the kitchen floor as fast as he could. He turned and raced to his parents¡¯ room. ¡°Mama,¡± he whispered urgently. ¡°Mama!¡± ¡°Mmmm, wha¡­,¡± his mother mumbled. ¡°Mama, I¡¯m scared.¡± ¡°Wha¡¯ is it?¡± ¡°There¡¯s sheep sounds in the sink.¡± ¡°What?¡± She was awake now. ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous, Brucie. You¡¯re just trying to cause trouble again. Why do you love to aggravate me so much? Now get back to bed this instant.¡± Bruce was devastated. Mama wasn¡¯t going to help him. Worse, she expected him to cross the dangerous kitchen floor again. He started to cry. ¡°Brucie! Shut up! You¡¯ll wake everybody up.¡± Mama flung herself out of bed and snatched Bruce roughly into her arms. She marched with him back to his room. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go back to my room,¡± Bruce wailed. ¡°Be quiet or I¡¯ll spank you with the buckle end of a belt,¡± Mama warned harshly. Bruce tried to stifle his weeping, but the tears poured relentlessly down his cheeks and he started to cough. Mama dumped him unceremoniously on his bed and pushed his head down to the pillow. ¡°Now stay here and go to sleep,¡± she hissed. ¡°And stop that coughing.¡± She turned and left the room. Bruce huddled under his blankets, trying not to cry or cough. The effort made his chest and throat ache. Then he realized he wasn¡¯t hearing any noises. No ¡°sheep¡± noises coming from the kitchen. He listened hard as long as he could and finally he fell asleep. In the morning his mother was brusque with him but made no reference to his fearful night visit. Bruce¡¯s eyes popped open. He looked around without lifting his head. Guardian was sitting on a stump a short distance away, humming to herself. I had forgotten all about the ¡°sheep¡± noise. Tears sprang into his eyes. I can¡¯t believe any mother would act like that. Didn¡¯t she love me? The tears escaped his lashes and ran down his cheeks. His eyes closed. He was maybe six years old. He was standing in the living room of their tiny new house. He had been playing, but he started feeling sad. He stopped playing and sat down. He wondered why he was sad, but he didn¡¯t know. Nothing had happened. He was just sad. He felt so bad, he started to cry. His mother was there. ¡°Brucie, why are you crying?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Come here, baby,¡± and she picked him up and cuddled him. He put his head on her shoulder and let the tears flow. She didn¡¯t say a word, just held him and rocked him gently. He felt so safe, so loved. His eyes opened and he lay, thinking. How could the same person behave so differently? He sat up. He felt a little lightheaded, so he was glad when Guardian extended her hand to steady him as he stood. He looked at her, puzzled. ¡°Now what?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go inside,¡± she said and nodded her head toward the west side of the grove. He turned and looked. ¡°Oh!¡± He hadn¡¯t noticed the small building tucked into the trees. It blended in well. ¡°My home,¡± she said. Part 2: Chapter 6: Bruce Guardian¡¯s home was small and simple. Bruce could see only two rooms and everything, even the lights, were apparently gas powered. The kitchen table and chairs were an unusual blue-toned wood and looked rough-hewn, although all surfaces were smooth and almost soft to the touch. She watched Bruce run his hands gently over the tabletop. ¡°Heart of ironwood,¡± she said. ¡°Lignum vitae variety. My favorite of the hardwoods. It is known as the Wood of Life.¡± ¡°Huh. Never heard of it.¡± ¡°No matter. It is time for the third step of your journey here.¡± Bruce raised his eyebrows. ¡°Steps? What were the first two? And what if I¡¯m not interested in any more steps?¡± ¡°Steps. The first was your invitation, also known as the ¡®Summons¡¯. The second was your experience on Remembering Rock, during which old memories surfaced, memories you had forgotten. And you can leave at any time.¡± She waited in silence. Bruce thought about trying to out-wait her but gave up after less than a minute. ¡°As long as I¡¯m here, I might as well find out what the third step is.¡± Guardian smiled. ¡°Nothing to it, really. You just decide what you will do next.¡± Silence. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll just be going on home, then.¡± ¡°Are you in a hurry? I wouldn¡¯t mind hearing about your memories.¡± Bruce shifted uncomfortably in his chair. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°If these memories trouble you, it may help to share them.¡± More silence. ¡°I guess it can¡¯t hurt,¡± he said. Guardian listened as he described the pleasant memory first. ¡°That memory isn¡¯t the one bothering you,¡± she said. ¡°Not exactly. Not by itself, anyway.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± It was much harder to relay the other memory, and he faltered several times. When he finished, Guardian did not speak. He waited, then finally blurted, ¡°How could the same mother be so different?¡± Guardian leaned forward. ¡°You know the answer to that from your own experience, and you know it isn¡¯t what¡¯s important. There is another memory, one you haven¡¯t told me. ¡°Not true. There were only two and I told them both.¡± ¡°Close your eyes and relax.¡± Bruce frowned, but then did as he was told. Almost immediately he fell into the third memory. When it was over, he gasped and opened his eyes. ¡°I swear I didn¡¯t have that memory earlier.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°You are correct.¡± ¡°Then what¡ª¡± ¡°Your experience on Remembering Rock will stay with you for some time. It is possible you will continue to retrieve more lost memories from time to time. Typically the third memory is the most important one. Do you think you are ready to describe it to me?¡± ¡°It is painful,¡± he said, ¡°but I can tell you.¡± ¡°Please.¡± ¡°I was in high school, in my last year. I had already applied to and been accepted by, the university of my choice. I was not surprised by this. I knew I was destined to be graduated at the top of my class due to my grades, and my extracurricular activities were mainly academic in nature. My favorite was tutoring younger students. I had a knack for explaining their work in ways they could easily understand. It was very rewarding and I wanted to be a teacher. I hadn¡¯t talked to many people about this. Not my parents, for instance. I don¡¯t know why, but I probably suspected their reaction. My mother¡¯s anyway.¡± He paused. ¡°This wasn¡¯t all part of my memory. I¡¯m just giving you some background.¡± Guardian nodded. Bruce continued. ¡°This is the memory. My mother came to me and asked me what I planned to study at university. She was smiling like she expected a nice birthday gift. I told her I would be studying education, as I wanted to be a teacher. Her face changed like dark clouds had suddenly rolled across the sky. ¡®You idiot!¡¯ she exploded. ¡®Teachers don¡¯t have any respect. They don¡¯t make any money. How would that look? I wouldn¡¯t dare show my face in public. Can you imagine what people would think? And there¡¯s no excuse for it. With your brains and your grades, you can be anything you want.¡¯ He paused. That was the end of the memory, but he went on. ¡°I was devastated. She was wrong. I couldn¡¯t be anything I want. I wanted to be a teacher. When it was time for me to register for college, she went with me, and she filled out all my papers. She signed me up for my classes. She did this throughout my college career. I majored in business. She said the money and prestige were in acquisitions, and she hunted for job opportunities for me after I graduated. She found me an entry-level position with Pro-Ack, and that¡¯s where I¡¯ve been till now.¡± ¡°Are you happy?¡± ¡°I think so. I¡¯m good at what I do. I have a wonderful family.¡± His face lit up as he reached for his wallet. ¡°I have pictures.¡± Guardian smiled and allowed herself to be distracted long enough to admire photos of his wife and children. Then she returned to the subject. ¡°You may see yourself as happy now, but you are not living the life you wanted. Why did you let your mother push you? Why didn¡¯t you defend yourself and your choices?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know. I hate conflict.¡± He grimaced. ¡°Ironic, isn¡¯t it, considering my line of work.¡± ¡°Perhaps you have been preparing yourself for a change.¡± ¡°A change? What kind of change?¡± ¡°That is up to you, of course. I am merely pointing out this fact: you have been training yourself to face conflict, to learn how to resolve differences. You have gained these skills. You can use them to make new choices. If you choose to do so. Think. What would happen now if you decided to take a new path, start a new career? How would your mother react? How could you respond?¡± As he sat and pondered, the breeze of his thoughts blew changing emotions across his face. In quick succession he frowned, lifted his eyebrows, pursed his lips, took a big breath and puffed the air out forcefully. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, and closed it again. ¡°I could¡­I can¡­I can do whatever I want.¡± He sounded surprised. ¡°I just haven¡¯t thought about this for a long time. I figured the time for choices was past and I needed to make the best of what I had. I¡¯m only 28. I could start all over.¡± He frowned. ¡°But I don¡¯t know if I should. It might be a hardship for my family.¡± Guardian laughed and clapped her hands. ¡°Yes, yes, yes! You can do what you want. You can do something new with your life. You can stay where you are. It is your choice, and you can choose freely.¡± ¡°I need to discuss this with my wife. She should have some say.¡± He jumped up. ¡°I better go. I want to get home, so we can decide what to do next.¡± Guardian stood. ¡°You will make a good choice, because it will be your choice.¡± Bruce hugged her impulsively. ¡°Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can¡¯t believe this. I am so excited.¡± He nearly danced out the door. ¡°I feel like running,¡± he said. ¡°I feel like jumping up and down. I feel like¡­like a great load has been lifted from my shoulders.¡± He twirled around, then stopped and looked at Guardian with a silly grin on his face. ¡°I¡¯m embarrassing myself,¡± he said. ¡°Off with you, now.¡± She watched him trot to the north side of the grove and pass through the trees. ¡°Have a happy life,¡± she said softly. She could feel the Purities stir as the forces of light gained a little strength. Part 2: Chapter 7: Intermission Guardian sat on the grass in the moonlight. She faced Remembering Rock. Her eyes were closed as she spoke with the Purities. ¡°So close, so close. You have done well these many centuries. The forces of light have grown stronger with every soul who has been guided to a higher path. I sense Dar K¡¯fors feels a disturbance in his power. We must move quickly now. There is no time to lose.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Part 3: Chapter 8: Ann Ann Savidge found the canvas chair with her name on the back and let herself sprawl out in it. A stagehand came by with a beer and handed it to her. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome¡± She took in a deep breath and sipped from the bottle. The coolness moved down her throat to her stomach and spread to the rest of her body from there. ¡°Ah,¡± she said. It was a long, drawn-out sound of relaxation. From where she sat, she could see the director walk to the microphone, carrying a clipboard. ¡°Good work, people,¡± the director said into the mic. ¡°We got a lot done today. We¡¯re right on track. If we maintain this level of progress, we will certainly be ready to open in a week and a half. Now, for the notes.¡± She looked at the clipboard. ¡°Gloria, you don¡¯t have to let Roger say his entire line before you interrupt him. The important part of that exchange is the interruption, not his line. Devon, you¡¯re doing a great job of keeping your face more toward the audience pretty much all the time. In the apple scene, though, you need to remember to face a little more toward Bernice than you¡¯ve been doing.¡± She continued through the notes for another ten minutes and then said, ¡°And that¡¯s all I have, a nice, short list. Go home and get plenty of rest. We¡¯ll polish Act 2, Scene 1, and Act 3, Scenes 2 and 5 tomorrow. If we have time, we¡¯ll run Act 1 from start to finish. It¡¯s Friday and since we¡¯re doing so well, we¡¯ll knock off early.¡± Everyone cheered. The stage suffered momentary chaos while the actors and crew busily put things away and left. Ann and Gloria were among the first to finish and exit. ¡°Let¡¯s stop by Charlie¡¯s for a few minutes,¡± Gloria said. They walked to Charlie¡¯s, conveniently located directly across the street from the theater. As they walked in, Ann said, ¡°I¡¯m not drinking on an empty stomach.¡± ¡°They have pizza,¡± Gloria said. They ordered a pizza and soft drinks, asked for the bill to be split, and each paid half. Ann picked up her change and gave it a quick look, as usual, for interesting coins. ¡°I got a wheat penny,¡± she said, delighted. ¡°What¡¯s a wheat penny?¡± ¡°It¡¯s one minted before 1959, so it¡¯s old. Oh, and look! Here¡¯s a half dollar. You don¡¯t see those anymore.¡± She turned it over. ¡°Oh, my goodness. It¡¯s a walking liberty.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a¡ª¡± ¡°A walking liberty is one minted between 1916 and 1947. Let me see your change.¡± Gloria poured hers on the table and Ann looked at it, pushing the coins around with the tip of her finger. ¡°You have a wheat penny, a King George penny, an Indian head nickel and a walking liberty. This is no coincidence.¡± ¡°Tony,¡± she called the bartender. ¡°Just a minute,¡± he answered. He finished making change for another customer, then walked over. ¡°Did you get any change today differently than usual? Did someone come in with a bunch of coins and ask to exchange them for bills or something?¡± His eyebrows shot up. ¡°How did you know? A guy came with a bag of rolled coins. He said he didn¡¯t use banks, and none of them would exchange his coins without charging him a fee, so he asked if we would. I said ¡®sure¡¯.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that kind of risky? Suppose he made some of the rolls short?¡± ¡°I weighed them. We have a machine that weighs the rolls and says how much money is in them. So, how did you know?¡± ¡°You have an unusually large number of older coins, coins that are mostly out of circulation these days. They could be worth a lot some day, maybe for my great-grandchildren, or their great-grandchildren. I¡¯d like to buy them from you.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re in luck. I just put the first few rolls in the cash register. The rest are stilled rolled up. You can have them all for just a thirty percent markup.¡± ¡°What? You can¡¯t do that. You¡¯re not a licensed coin dealer. You can¡¯t charge a fee.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t expect to get them for face value, did you? You know they¡¯re worth more than that.¡± ¡°I could buy them at an on-line auction for a lot less.¡± ¡°Then I guess you better do that.¡± ¡°Huh. I wouldn¡¯t even pay normal retail prices for them. Definitely not your unwarranted inflated price.¡± She sighed and turned to Gloria. ¡°I guess it was too good to be true.¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± The bartender snorted and walked away. Ann put her elbow on the bar and leaned her chin in her hand. ¡°Everybody always tries to take advantage of me.¡± ¡°Not me,¡± Gloria said. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean you. Men, mainly.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, men. Beasts.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Um, does that include Thomas?¡± Ann thought. ¡°Thomas has been okay so far, but they always disappoint in the end. So, probably, yeah.¡± ¡°Oh, too bad. I like Thomas. He seems really nice.¡± ¡°They can really surprise you.¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± The pizza came. They each picked up a slice to eat. The bartender came by. ¡°Okay, you win,¡± he said. ¡°Twenty percent markup.¡± ¡°Get lost.¡± ¡°Ten percent.¡± ¡°Look. If the total face value is over $100, I¡¯ll give you an extra ten bucks.¡± ¡°Might as well not bother.¡± ¡°Up to you. Like I said, you¡¯re not a dealer, so anything is gravy. Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know you¡¯re sticking the extra in your own pocket.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± The bartender glowered at her then stalked away. He returned in a few minutes with a heavy bag of rolled coins. He handed her a slip of paper. ¡°This is the tally. The bag will be short one roll each of halves, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± She wrote out a check for the amount on the slip, less the missing rolls.¡± I¡¯ll give you cash for the extra after I count it. Gloria and I will take it to that table right there,¡± She pointed to the closest empty table, ¡°and count it right now.¡± She picked up the bag. ¡°Woh, heavy.¡± Gloria rubbed her hands together. ¡°I love counting money.¡± They went to the table, sat down, and started counting. First they counted the rolls of each denomination and matched the total to the tally on the slip. Then they measured all the rolls against each other to make sure they all contained the same number of coins. Next they opened a roll of each and counted the coins inside to make sure it held the full amount. Last they added all their totals together and compared the end result with the amount on the slip. It matched.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Ann pulled out a ten-dollar bill and started to get up. ¡°Wait,¡± Gloria said. ¡°How do you know they¡¯re all old coins?¡± ¡°Oh, good point. We¡¯ll have to open every roll.¡± Gloria smiled. ¡°Yeah. I love handling naked money. Even if it isn¡¯t mine.¡± One at a time they opened the rolls. Ann and Gloria looked at each coin, exclaiming over the dates. When they finally finished she sighed. ¡°One hundred fifty dollars¡¯ worth of history. A few coins weren¡¯t very old at all, and I didn¡¯t see any that were extremely rare or precious, but altogether a very nice bunch to add to my collection.¡± She picked up the ten and took it to the bar. ¡°Here you go,¡± she said to the bartender. ¡°You¡¯ll be pleased to know I didn¡¯t see anything in there that will make me rich.¡± He snatched the ten and put it in his pocket. ¡°Like you would tell me if you did.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right, but it¡¯s true this time.¡± She went back to the table. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to head home,¡± Gloria said. ¡°I need to get up early for swimming.¡± ¡°As usual,¡± Ann smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at the pool at six.¡± They left the bar and went to sit at the bus stop. Gloria¡¯s bus came first, and Ann¡¯s wasn¡¯t far behind. Ann disembarked at her apartment building, stopped in the lobby to check her mailbox, and took the elevator to her floor. Once inside her home, she kicked off her shoes and went to put her new coins with her collection. She didn¡¯t sort and put them away; that could wait until she had the time to savor the experience. She went back to the kitchen, sat down at the table and looked through the mail. Nothing much; just a bill, two advertisements, and a magazine. She was reading the magazine when her phone rang. She dug it out of her purse and looked at it. It was Thomas. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hi, Ann. How was your day?¡± ¡°Tiring but good. How about you?¡± ¡°Boring. I¡¯m glad tomorrow¡¯s Friday.¡± ¡°Me, too. I love my work, but I need to relax.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s find a good movie tomorrow night.¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± They talked for a while. Ann told him about her new haul of coins. Thomas complained about work. ¡°You¡¯re always complaining about work,¡± Ann said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you look for a different job?¡± ¡°Maybe I will. In fact, one of the guys at work was talking about a place he and his wife visited last week. Memory Grove Village. It sounded great.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an odd name for a town. Memory Grove. And you don¡¯t hear any place being called a village anymore.¡± ¡°I know. He said it was a small town, only about five thousand people, but they have everything. Museums, concerts, theater, and I don¡¯t know what all.¡± ¡°How can such a small town support all that?¡± ¡°I think they get a lot of tourists. He said their hotel room was awesome, and the price was really reasonable, too. Anyway, maybe I¡¯ll check it out.¡± They talked a little longer, and then Thomas said he was getting hungry for his supper, so they said good-bye. ¡°Memory Grove,¡± she mused. ¡°I need a vacation. I think I¡¯ll look it up.¡± She booted up her laptop, opened the web browser, and typed ¡°Memory Grove Village¡± into the search engine. There were millions of hits. She amended the search to ¡°Memory Grove Village vacation¡±. Still a lot of hits. She looked through the first page of links. One mentioned tourism, so she clicked on it. ¡°Need to relax?¡± the page asked. ¡°Visit Memory Grove.¡± ¡°I do need to relax,¡± she said aloud. She read the list of attractions and activities. ¡°Impressive.¡± The list included paintball, live theater, indoor and outdoor concerts, climbing walls, water slides, cross country skiing, gym and spa with a pool, museums, fine dining, hiking, an amusement park, an aquarium, and the list continued. There was even a small zoo. ¡°As soon as this play is over, I¡¯m taking a vacation. Maybe I¡¯ll be lucky and the play will be a flop and close early. Bite my tongue. I shouldn¡¯t be wishing for a flop.¡± **** Friday¡¯s rehearsal went very well and the director dismissed everyone at noon. Ann and Gloria decided to go do a little shopping. Ann could have spent the rest of the day browsing the numismatic section of the hobby shop, but Gloria wanted to shop for clothes, so they compromised and spent fifteen minutes in the hobby shop before shopping for clothes the rest of the afternoon. Time passed quickly and soon Ann was saying, ¡°Oh my goodness, I have to get home and get ready to go out.¡± ¡°You and Thomas having a night out?¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re going to a movie.¡± ¡°Oh, which one?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. Thomas always chooses a few and I pick one from those. If I don¡¯t like any of them, I choose a few more and he picks one from those.¡± ¡°Well, have fun.¡± ¡°We will, thanks.¡± **** It was a nice night, so after the movie Ann and Thomas walked from the theater to a little bar and grill they liked. On the way they passed an open square with a water fountain. Ann had often thrown pennies in the water and made wishes. The wishes were always for inconsequential things, like a sunny day, a good hair day, no junk mail for a week, things like that. She had a penny, so she tossed it in the water. ¡°Penny for your thoughts,¡± Thomas said. She laughed. ¡°I wished for a late winter. I¡¯d like to postpone the cold weather.¡± ¡°Good luck with that.¡± She sat on the edge of the fountain pool and took a deep breath. ¡°Sometimes I just love the smell of fresh air.¡± ¡°Sometimes?¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. All the time.¡± Suddenly Thomas dropped to one knee and grabbed both her hands. ¡°Ann¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Ann was startled. Her heart started to race, kicking the inside of her chest with every beat. She felt panicked. Thomas opened his mouth, his smile replaced by a worried look. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Stop, stop, stop,¡± Ann said frantically. Thomas got up and sat down beside her. He put his arm around her, but she held herself rigid against him. ¡°Ann, what¡¯s wrong? Come on, breathe. Everything¡¯s okay.¡± He held her silently until she calmed down and was breathing normally again. When he could tell she was relaxed, he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry for scaring you, but I just want you to marry me¡ª¡± ¡°Aaa,¡± she yelped, stiffening again and breathing like she was cornered. ¡°No, no, no, no, no, no, no.¡± ¡°One ¡®no¡¯ would be enough,¡± Thomas said stiffly. ¡°I didn¡¯t know the idea of marrying me would be so distasteful.¡± ¡°No, no, no,¡± she gasped, ¡°it isn¡¯t you.¡± She paused, breathing rapidly and holding her stomach. She bent forward. ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t feel well,¡± she said. ¡°Are you going to be sick?¡± ¡°No, no, just give me¡­a minute.¡± Thomas sat back down and held her again. This time when she calmed down, he turned to face her, holding her by the arms. ¡°Okay, what¡¯s going on?¡± he asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t know. The thought of getting married just panics me. I don¡¯t know why. It¡¯s been that way as long as I remember.¡± ¡°Something must have happened. A boyfriend who treated you badly? Some traumatic event?¡± ¡°I just don¡¯t know. I think there was something,¡± her breathing quickened again, ¡°but if I try to think about it I get so scared I have to stop.¡± ¡°You need help, Ann. I can help you find a good therapist.¡± ¡°Oh, please, no. I don¡¯t want to.¡± ¡°Sshh, sshh. You don¡¯t need to think about it right now.¡± He sat quietly as she closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder. ¡°Thank you for just letting me lean on you. And for not pushing me.¡± ¡°No problem. Has this happened before?¡± ¡°Once. Since then I¡¯ve always been able to see the proposal coming. Until now. I think I knew, but I have always been more comfortable with you than anyone, and I wanted things just to go on as they were. Indefinitely, I guess. I know that isn¡¯t realistic, but I didn¡¯t think about it.¡± She was feeling a little agitated again. Discussing anything even remotely connected to marriage was somehow disturbing. Thomas stood up again. ¡°Let¡¯s get you home. And we¡¯ll only talk about the movie and maybe one or two other inane topics on the way.¡± Ann smiled slightly. ¡°Okay.¡± **** The play ran for three months. Ann was sorry it didn¡¯t last longer, but she was eager for a vacation, so it was hard to feel too bad about it. On the next to last night, Gloria and Ann stopped for a drink before heading home. ¡°You¡¯ve been talking about needing a vacation for weeks,¡± Gloria said. ¡°When are you leaving?¡± Ann laughed. ¡°I haven¡¯t actually made any plans yet. I¡¯ll call my travel agent tomorrow. Maybe I¡¯ll fly to some remote island. Or go for a long cruise. I want to go someplace different, I think. Somewhere I can relax and do nothing for a couple weeks. Or more. It would be nice to find a place that isn¡¯t crowded.¡± ¡°Well, good luck. I hope you find it.¡± They finished their drinks, walked to the bus stop, and sat down to wait for their busses. As they sat in silence, Ann¡¯s brain was buzzing, reviewing moments in the play, plans for relaxing, and whatever crossed her mind. Suddenly she sat up.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I just remembered something about a place to go on vacation. Memory Grove Village. Thomas told me about it months ago. It¡¯s small but it has everything. I can go to the theater or a museum or an aquarium. Or I can go to a spa, for a wilderness walk, swimming, rock climbing. Anything I want to do. I heard they even have a fancy restaurant where you can ask to be seated with someone at random. That sounds adventurous.¡± ¡°You can do that at any restaurant.¡± ¡°If you did, they¡¯d think you were weird.¡± ¡°I suppose. Can you look around the room and choose the person you want to sit with?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I don¡¯t care. It would be interesting either way. Oh, gotta go. Here¡¯s my bus.¡± ¡°Okay, bye. Have a great time on your vacation.¡± ¡°Thanks. I¡¯m sure I will.¡± Part 3: Chapter 9: Ann Ann parked her car and shut it off in the Village Inn parking lot. She opened the door, stepped out, and stretched. Ah, that felt good. After three hours and twenty minutes of driving without stopping, she needed a break. And she would get one. A two-week break. Maybe even longer. She was on vacation. Her last vacation had been two years prior, so it was past time. Pushing the button to unlock all the car doors, she opened the back door and pulled out her travel bag on wheels. Shutting the doors, she rolled her bag to the main door and in to the registration desk. ¡°Ann Savidge,¡± she said to the clerk. ¡°Yes, Miz Savidge. Your room is ready, number two twelve.¡± Pointing at a diagram of the inn, she went on, ¡°That¡¯s on the second floor. You get off the elevator here, turn left, and it¡¯s the second door on the right.¡± She held out a card. ¡°This is your key. It will get you into your room, the exercise room, the pool, and the back door after hours.¡± ¡°Thank you so much.¡± Ann took the key. ¡°You¡¯re very welcome. We provide a continental breakfast every morning from five until eleven. My name is Gloria, and I¡¯m on duty until seven this evening. If you need anything, just let me know.¡± ¡°I will. Thanks again.¡± Pulling her bag behind her, Ann headed for the elevator. ¡°Oh, I almost forgot,¡± Gloria called after her. Ann turned back to the desk. Gloria held out another, larger, card with a slit and a hole at one end. ¡°This is to hang from the rearview mirror of your car. It¡¯s a parking permit for our lot.¡± ¡°Oh, right.¡± Ann took the card. ¡°Could I leave my bag here for a minute?¡± ¡°Sure, no problem.¡± Ann ran out to hang the card in her car. In moments she was back. Again she grabbed her bag and headed for the elevator. This time there were no delays and she was soon in her room. She opened her bag and removed a few articles of clothing¡ªa couple dresses, t-shirts, walking shorts, another pair of shoes, some underwear and toiletries, a three-ring binder, and two books. She put her things away, hanging some on the small closet bar near the bathroom door and some in and on the dresser on the north wall. The books and binder went on a small table on the east wall. She sat and bounced lightly on the bed a couple times, then tried out the stuffed chair opposite the table. Another chair, made of wood, sat at the table. I think this will do fine. The clock on the nightstand glowed 4:30. Through the window she could see the August sun, still high in the sky. What shall I do first? Take a nap? Find a place to eat dinner? She sat down at the table, picked up the binder, and flipped it open. It held several sheets of paper, each encased in a protective plastic cover. The first one proclaimed in large bold letters, ¡°Things to Do in Memory Grove Village¡±. There were dividers with labels on the sides. The labels read, ¡°Culture¡±, ¡°Sports¡±, ¡°Food¡±, ¡°Shopping¡±. As she paged through the culture section, she considered each activity. I have already planned to attend the live theater production of Pirates of Penzance tomorrow, so I can¡¯t go see that tonight. I need a good night¡¯s sleep before that, anyway. I can¡¯t wait, though. The reviews on their web page say they are amazing for an amateur company. They need to be amazing to have a soprano who can pull off the part of Mabel. She turned to the food section. Let¡¯s see. I think ¡°Pat¡¯s Home Cookin¡¯ for supper tonight. I¡¯ll try the dinner club tomorrow. Back to the culture section. And maybe a stroll through the nature museum. That¡¯ll help me unwind so I can get to sleep. Pat¡¯s Home Cookin¡¯ restaurant was right across the street from the Village Inn¡¯s back door. Ann walked in the door a few minutes after five. Hmm, small place. Sure hope the food¡¯s good. A placard inside the door invited her to seat herself. She chose a table set for two just inside the door. She sat where she could see the entrance. She liked to watch people come and go. The waitress¡ªapparently there was only one¡ªbrought her a glass of water and a menu. ¡°My name is Ruth,¡± she said. ¡°The specials are on the board.¡± She pointed. ¡°Or you can order anything from the menu, if you prefer.¡± ¡°Hi, Ruth. I¡¯m Ann.¡± She studied the board. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the Denver sandwich plain, personal, and loaded?¡± ¡°The plain has just the egg, ham, onion, and green peppers. The loaded has all that plus lettuce, mayo, red peppers, extra ham, and cheese. Personal just means you design your own.¡± ¡°Okay. I think I¡¯ll design my own. Egg, of course, with ham, onion, mayo, lettuce, and cheese.¡± ¡°Got it. You realize of course,¡± Ruth added with a wink, ¡°leaving out the peppers officially disqualifies it as a Denver sandwich.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not surprised, I guess. The world is full of rules. But peppers give me indigestion, so I don¡¯t eat them.¡± ¡°Well, we don¡¯t worry about those rules here. I¡¯ll be back in a jiffy with your sandwich. Do you want anything besides water to drink?¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Coffee, please.¡± ¡°Coming right up.¡± After supper Ann walked to the nature museum. It was on the north side of the street on the next block east of the caf¨¦. It was so close Ann walked a lot more inside the building than out. It took up the entire block, and there was a lot to see. The exhibit she found most fascinating was labeled ¡°Remembering Rock¡±. Posters mounted on the walls of the dividers surrounding the exhibit did little to dispel the mystery surrounding the artifact. The first one read: ¡°This mysterious stone has been situated in the center of Memory Grove for as long as Memory Grove Village has records. Two local families can trace their roots back six hundred years. Their direct ancestors for at least that long have always lived in Memory Grove Village. Several myths regarding Remembering Rock and the grove have been handed down for generations in these families, possibly since the stone was first placed in the grove.¡± On the floor was a scale model of the evergreen grove. At 1/20th scale, it was still large, ten feet in diameter. A section of the grove was hinged and swung outward, enabling the patron to go inside where a replica of Remembering Rock stood in the center. It wasn¡¯t large enough to lie on, but it was easy to see the forms of a man and a woman reclining back to back with their arms intertwined on each side. The sculpture was carved into the top of the rock in relief. To show how someone might look while using the rock, a doll, fashioned to the same scale as the model grove and stone, was placed in a reclining position on one side. A sign near the rock said, ¡°Do Not Touch¡±. A panel outside the model grove said: ¡°The clearing inside is two hundred feet in diameter and is surrounded by three rows of evergreen trees known as Tsuga sieboldii¡ªcommonly called hemlock, not to be confused with the poison hemlock plant. The crushed needles are said to smell like the poisonous hemlock plant, but they are safe and can, in fact, be used to make tea. The trees are planted quite close together and are difficult¡ªsome say impossible¡ªto pass. Legend says only Remembering Rock¡¯s guardian and certain individuals who have been especially invited are allowed to pass through the trees to the clearing inside. According to the legend, the branches move to the side to let the invited ones pass. ¡°The model you see before you has been built based upon reports by people who have been inside the grove. We believe we have portrayed the shape of the stone accurately.¡± The final item in the exhibit was a larger model of the stone. This one was probably full size as it looked big enough for an adult to sit or lie on it. It was roped off to prevent viewers from touching it, and signs on all four sides said, ¡°Please remain outside of the rope barrier at all times.¡± A narrative posted near the model said: ¡°A full-size replica of Remembering Rock. Visitors to the grove are invited to sit or lie on this rock, facing one of the four directions. Some of those who have been invited to experience the mystery of the stone have been interviewed. Based on information from these interviews, it seems there is some significance to the choice of direction to face while on the stone. The person essentially takes a nap and old memories surface in his or her dreams. These are memories that have been repressed until the Remembering Rock experience. After the dreams, the visitor is interviewed by the guardian and has another dream. This final dream triggers an epiphany of some kind, after which the visitor generally experiences a feeling of euphoria. S/he leaves the grove planning one large, or several smaller, changes in his or her life. No studies have ever been done to determine whether, in fact, anyone has followed through on the life-changing resolutions.¡± Ann continued her exploration of the museum, but her mind kept returning to the notes and the models of the Memory Grove exhibit. She found it a little disturbing to see the exhibit presented almost as if it were based on fact rather than only unsubstantiated legend. But why should I care? It means nothing to me. The next morning she was in a mood for a big breakfast, so she bypassed the continental breakfast and went to Pat¡¯s Home Cookin¡¯ Caf¨¦. She was surprised to see Ruth again. ¡°Do you ever have time off?¡± she joked when Ruth came with the menu. ¡°I get what I need,¡± Ruth smiled. ¡°The special this morning is all-you-can-eat scrambled eggs and bacon. We also serve the world¡¯s best French toast and Belgian waffles. Would you like a few minutes to browse the menu?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Do you have eggs, bacon, hash browns, and pancakes on the menu?¡± ¡°We have the two-fer and the three-fer. That¡¯s two eggs, two slices, two cakes or three of each. Plus the hash browns.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have the two-fer with a small orange juice and coffee.¡± ¡°Great. I¡¯ll have your food out in about ten minutes.¡± Inside the grove, Guardian was finishing her breakfast of oatmeal when she felt the call of the Purities. She left her small house and walked to Remembering Rock. Sitting on the grass beside the stone, she stroked it gently and closed her eyes. ¡°I hear you,¡± she said softly. In Pat¡¯s restaurant, Ann was taking her last bite. Her plate still held half a pancake and some hash browns. ¡°All done?¡± Ann jumped. ¡°I didn¡¯t see you there, Ruth.¡± ¡°Sorry. I need to make more noise.¡± ¡°Yes, I am done.¡± Ann groaned. ¡°I can¡¯t take another bite. It was so good. I think maybe you make the world¡¯s best pancakes, too.¡± Ruth laughed. ¡°In my opinion we make the world¡¯s best everything, but I¡¯ve been told I might be biased.¡± Just then the door opened with a jingle, and a short ugly woman walked in. ¡°I think you have company,¡± Ruth said to Ann. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The troll¡¯s name is Guardian, and she only comes in when there¡¯s someone in here who¡¯s been invited to the grove.¡± ¡°Troll? Isn¡¯t that kind of rude? She can¡¯t help how she looks. And Memory Grove? The grove in the exhibit at the nature museum?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± ¡°I thought that was just a legend.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s true there are many legends about the grove, but it really exists and people really get invited.¡± ¡°Oh, I get it. Someone notices if a tourist sees the exhibit at the museum and then they take them out to the grove for a firsthand visit. It¡¯s a tourist trap thingy.¡± Ruth laughed. ¡°We¡¯ll let you be the judge after you¡¯ve been there.¡± Guardian had reached Ann¡¯s table, and Ruth stepped aside. ¡°Let me introduce you,¡± she said. ¡°Guardian, this is Ann.¡± Guardian nodded slowly in greeting. ¡°I am honored to meet you, Ann. It is also my honor to invite you to visit Remembering Rock at Memory Grove.¡± Ann decided to go along with the joke, so she nodded similarly to Guardian and said, ¡°I am honored to be invited. When should I arrive?¡± ¡°It is my hope you will come with me now.¡± Ann was surprised but delighted. She was eager to get a closer look at the mysterious rock and maybe learn more about its background from the small woman. ¡°Let me pay my bill, and I¡¯ll be ready.¡± Part 3: Chapter 10: Ann Ann had planned a hike around town to look at the sights right after breakfast, so she was dressed for walking. She accompanied Guardian as they strode south to the edge of town and the half mile beyond to the hemlock grove. As they walked, at first they talked. ¡°So, what should I call you?¡± Ann asked. ¡°You may address me as ¡®Guardian¡¯.¡± ¡°You mean, like, your name is Guardian?¡± ¡°Yes, like that.¡± ¡°What a unique name. Do you have any other name?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure I must have had a different name once, but I can remember no other name.¡± Ann was astonished. ¡°How old are you?¡± She clapped her hands over her mouth. ¡°How rude of me. I am so sorry.¡± Guardian laughed. ¡°Older than dirt.¡± Ann smiled. She felt so relaxed, so at ease with Guardian. They walked in silence until they came to the grove. ¡°There is no path to the inside,¡± Guardian said, ¡°but the trees will let you through.¡± Of course,¡± Ann smiled. She followed Guardian and noticed the trees seemed to sigh and rustle as they touched the first branch. Then the branches kind of pulled aside just enough for them to pass. I wonder how they do that? Ann looked closely all around as they moved through the trees, but she could find no clue to explain the behavior of the trees. Inside she stopped and looked around the clearing. ¡°It¡¯s so open and airy. Oh, look.¡± She pointed to the east side. ¡°A cabin. Is that where you live?¡± ¡°That is my home. I will show it to you later. Come. Come see the real Remembering Rock. Unlike the one in the museum, this one you can touch.¡± ¡°Did you know I went to the museum?¡± ¡°I guessed.¡± In moments they were beside the rock. ¡°My goodness,¡± Ann said. ¡°The people look so real. Not like a sculpture. It looks like two people got stuck in a rock.¡± ¡°According to legend that¡¯s pretty much what happened.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a story, though. Nothing like that could really happen.¡± Guardian just smiled. ¡°Well, I should probably enjoy the full experience.¡± Ann walked around the stone, look at each side. ¡°I¡¯ve heard it makes a difference which side I sit on, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what some people say, but I wouldn¡¯t worry about it. Just choose the spot that appeals most to you.¡± ¡°Should I go through some kind of ritual or something?¡± ¡°If you feel moved to do so.¡± ¡°I think I should recite something. Is there any poetry or music connected with the legends?¡± ¡°Indeed there is. You could recite this poem, if you like.¡± Guardian took a scrap of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Ann. Ann read it silently. Oh, it¡¯s perfect.¡± As she began to read her voice grew softer and more intense. She instinctively raised her free hand into the air toward the end. Wing of yang and wing of yin Loose the memories within; Find the room shut deep inside; Use the key to open wide. Pain forgotten, let it go; I can do it if I know. Tell me what I need to hear; My salvation will appear. The paper slipped from her left hand, and her right hand dropped slowly back to her side. As if mesmerized, she tipped her head back, eyes closed and twirled around one, two, three times. She reached for the rock and walked around it twice, trailing her fingers along the surface. On the third circumambulation she stopped on the north face and sank into place over the body of the woman. Before she closed her eyes, she glanced at Guardian with a smile and a wink. ¡°How was that?¡± Guardian threw her a thumbs-up gesture. Ann closed her eyes. She was so excited she could hardly breathe. Her first date. Her parents had always said she couldn¡¯t date until she was fifteen. But her birthday was in another month, so they made an exception for the sophomore formal. Ted said his father would be driving since, of course he¡ªTed¡ªdidn¡¯t have his license yet. She ran down the stairs. ¡°Mom, how do I look?¡± ¡°You look wonderful, Dear.¡± Her mother brushed her hand lightly over Ann¡¯s hair. ¡°Don¡¯t forget your jacket. It sometimes gets quite chilly at night this time of year.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Ann looked at the clock. ¡°He¡¯ll be here in five minutes. Oh, I¡¯m so nervous.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be fine,¡± her mother said. She turned toward her father. ¡°Daddy, how do I look?¡± ¡°Like your mother said, you look wonderful. And remember to tell that boy to get you home right after the dance.¡± ¡°Oh, daddy. I¡¯m sure his father will take care of that.¡± She looked at the clock again. ¡°Still three minutes. I can¡¯t stand the suspense.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s play a hand of cribbage.¡± Her mother pulled a deck of cards from the desk drawer. ¡°That will take much longer than three minutes, so he¡¯ll be here before we get done and you¡¯ll forget about being nervous.¡± Okay, but I won¡¯t have my mind on the game, I¡¯m sure.¡± They played. Before Ann knew it, the hand was over. Her mother won. ¡°Oh!¡± she said. ¡°He isn¡¯t here yet.¡± She looked at the clock again. ¡°It¡¯s fifteen minutes after eight. Where is he?¡± ¡°He¡¯s probably running a little late. He¡¯ll be here any minute,¡± her mother said. ¡°We might as well start another hand.¡± They played another complete hand. Her mother won again. The clock said twenty-eight minutes after eight. ¡°Where could he be?¡± Her father looked up from the book he was reading. ¡°Why don¡¯t you call him?¡± ¡°Oh, Dad, I¡¯m too embarrassed to call him!¡± ¡°Maybe something happened and he can¡¯t make it and can¡¯t call and his folks haven¡¯t thought to call you. You can do that.¡± ¡°Well, okay.¡± Ann went to the phone and dialed. A man answered. ¡°Hello?¡± ¡°Hello. This is Ann Savidge. I was just wondering when Ted is coming.¡± ¡°Ann Savidge? Coming where?¡± ¡°Well, he said he would pick me up for the dance at eight o¡¯clock. He said his dad would drive us. That¡¯s you, right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s me.¡± There was a short pause. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to tell you this, but he took Susan Fisher to the dance.¡± ¡°Oh¡­okay¡­thank you.¡± She could hardly speak. She turned to her mother and managed to say, ¡°He¡¯s already at the dance. He took Susan Fisher,¡± before she started to cry. Ann opened her eyes and looked straight up at the sky. Tears were flowing down the sides of her face and into her hair, getting into the tops of her ears. She turned her head and saw Guardian watching her solemnly. ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about that for a long time,¡± she whispered. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to remember it.¡± ¡°I regret your pain. But there is another memory waiting.¡± ¡°Please. I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°It will not last long, and I promise it will be worth it.¡± Ann closed her eyes again. It was a year and a half after Ted stood her up. He had explained how his family had pretty much promised the Fishers he would take Susan to the formal. He was too embarrassed, he said, to tell her. He apologized and said he was more mature now and made his own decisions. And he decided she was the girl for him. They had been going steady for a month. Tonight they were going to a movie. ¡°Baby, this¡¯ll be a night we won¡¯t forget,¡± Ted said. I¡¯ve been wanting to see this movie for weeks.¡± Ann smiled weakly. She wasn¡¯t looking forward to the movie. It was one of those blood-and-guts martial arts superhero movies, long on action and short on plot. She usually felt sick to her stomach afterward, but they were Ted¡¯s favorite, and she wanted to stay on his good side. They had been going steady for a month already, and she was very happy. Except for these stupid movies he liked so much. The movie was as disgusting as she had expected, but it finally ended. Back in the car, Ted said, ¡°Let¡¯s go down to the beach.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Ted.¡± She was worried he would start pushing her for sex again, and she just wasn¡¯t ready for that. ¡°Come on, Baby. It¡¯s such a nice night. There¡¯ll probably be lots of other kids there.¡± ¡°Well, okay. For a little while.¡± If other people would be there, he wouldn¡¯t try anything. When they got to the beach, Ann could see only two other cars. She looked around. ¡°I don¡¯t see anyone, Ted. I don¡¯t think anyone else is here. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Okay, in a minute. Look at that moon. Isn¡¯t it gorgeous?¡± She looked up at the sky through the windshield. Ted slid over in the seat, slipped his arm around her and started kissing her neck. ¡°Ted¡ª¡± ¡°Come on, Baby, give me a little sugar. Just a little.¡± ¡°A little,¡± she relented. It did feel nice. In moments his hands were wandering. ¡°Ted, stop it.¡± ¡°Baby, don¡¯t do this to me. I can¡¯t stand it. You¡¯ve been putting me off for weeks. I can¡¯t wait anymore. If you really loved me, like you say you do, you wouldn¡¯t keep pushing me away.¡± She didn¡¯t know what to say. She did love him. ¡°But I¡¯m not ready for this,¡± she protested. ¡°Listen to me. Either you love me or you don¡¯t. If you don¡¯t, just say so. I won¡¯t bother you anymore. If you do, prove it.¡± He was starting to sound angry. ¡°I do love you.¡± She started to cry. ¡°It just doesn¡¯t seem right that I should have to prove it like this.¡± His voice softened. ¡°I know you¡¯re just afraid. Don¡¯t be. I¡¯ll teach you right. Just relax and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to,¡± she whispered, but she was afraid to say it too loudly. She didn¡¯t want him to stop loving her. She opened her eyes and took a big breath. She was crying again. Or was it still? Had she even stopped crying at all? ¡°It was date rape,¡± she said. ¡°But it was rape. He forced me, more with words than with physical strength, but it was rape.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said Guardian. Ann sat up. She felt drained. Guardian turned toward her cabin. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside for a bit,¡± she said. Part 3: Chapter 11: Ann and Chapter 12: Intermission Inside the little house Ann looked around. She could see everything from the door. So small, so neat, she felt as if she were in the safest place imaginable. ¡°Cozy,¡± she murmured. ¡°Yes, it has everything I need,¡± Guardian replied. ¡°Please sit down.¡± Ann sat at the kitchen table. Guardian poured a glass of some kind of juice or drink and placed it in front of Ann. ¡°This will help you relax,¡± she said. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a cold chamomile tea. Chamomile-flavored iced tea.¡± They sat awhile in silence as Ann sipped the tea. Then Guardian spoke. ¡°You found your memories disturbing.¡± ¡°Yes. I had put the experience out of my mind. Now it¡¯s almost as if it happened only yesterday.¡± Tears once more welled in her eyes. Guardian patted her hand. ¡°Don¡¯t despair. They will soon return to distant memories. First, you must tell them to me.¡± Ann breathed deeply. ¡°Yes, I must.¡± She paused for another breath and then began. As she spoke, her tears ran freely, but she did not falter. ¡°Now,¡± said Guardian, when Ann had finished, ¡°close your eyes for the final memory.¡± Ann closed her eyes. ¡°What!?¡± Ted jumped to his feet. ¡°You¡¯re pregnant? How could you be so stupid? And why do you think it¡¯s mine, anyway? If you did it with me, you probably did it with everybody. I¡¯m not taking the blame for this.¡± ¡°How can you say that?¡± Ann cried. ¡°I¡¯ve never been with anyone but you. You know that. I didn¡¯t have time. I was always with you. What are we going to do?¡± ¡°We? There¡¯s no ¡®we¡¯ in this. I used protection every time, so it couldn¡¯t have been me. Do you hear me? It couldn¡¯t have been me.¡± ¡°But it broke, remember? More than once¡ª¡± ¡°Shut up! It wasn¡¯t me, so get that out of your head. I¡¯m not bailing you out of this mess. You got yourself in it; you can get yourself out. I¡¯m outta here.¡± Ann started to cry again. Between sobs she spoke of her final memory. ¡°Oh, Guardian, how could he just leave me like that? I was so afraid to tell my parents. I put it off as long as I could. My father said very little. My mother was so furious. She was mainly worried about what people would think. She made me go away to have the baby, and I had to give it up for adoption. I was so young, I wouldn¡¯t have known what to do with a baby, anyway. Things were never the same after that. Any time I ever made a mistake or my mother got mad at me, she would always bring up my terrible indiscretion. She never let me forget it.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°What have you learned from your experience?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± There is a saying; ¡®Whatever ill one doth endure, the seeds of hope envelop; And even when the heart¡¯s not pure, a profit will develop.¡¯¡± Ann frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°It means, no matter what happens, no matter how bad it seems nor even if one or more people involved are less than perfect, good can and will come of it somehow. Think about what kind of person you were as a teenager and how you think your life might have turned out if you never had this experience.¡± Ann thought. ¡°Ah, I think I see what you mean. I hadn¡¯t thought about what I would do with my life at all. I figured I would get married, have some kids, and live happily ever after. I was so naive.¡± She shuddered. ¡°I might have married Ted. That would have been such a mistake. He really didn¡¯t care about anyone but himself. It would have been a miserable life. He was so controlling. I don¡¯t know if I would ever have gotten enough courage to leave him. Thank goodness, that didn¡¯t happen. ¡°So that part¡¯s good, but I have no life, really. Just my work, which I do enjoy, but it isn¡¯t enough.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°I would like a family. And the feeling that I¡¯m doing something important. I¡¯m an actor, which seems kind of frivolous, even though it is hard work.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still young. It isn¡¯t too late to have a family.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid to get close to anyone. Whenever I start spending time with a man, as soon as we start getting serious, I break it off. I get too nervous. I¡¯m so afraid of being hurt again.¡± ¡°What do you think might help?¡± Ann laughed. ¡°It¡¯s funny. I already feel less burdened somehow. I¡¯ve denied my feelings for ten years. I was afraid I couldn¡¯t take it if I faced what happened. Well, now I¡¯ve faced it, and I¡¯m still here. I didn¡¯t fall into pieces.¡± She laughed again. ¡°I¡¯m stronger than I thought. In fact, I feel kind of powerful. It feels good.¡± She sobered. ¡°But my fear of men isn¡¯t just going to go away by itself.¡± ¡°You¡¯re very wise.¡± Guardian winked. Ann smiled. ¡°I¡¯m going to find a good therapist. And I think I¡¯ll find out what happened to my baby. I need to know she¡¯s okay.¡± They left the cabin and Guardian accompanied Ann to the edge of the grove. As they walked, they talked. Ann told her about Thomas and how he had surprised her with his proposal. ¡°What¡¯s really unusual,¡± Ann said, ¡°is that, even after his proposal, I didn¡¯t break it off with him. I must have known this was coming. He¡¯s been very, very patient and hasn¡¯t pushed me at all. I¡¯ll have to tell him about my breakthrough. It¡¯s only fair after how supportive he¡¯s been of me. Our relationship has been totally platonic, although I know that isn¡¯t what he wants. And he offered to help me find a therapist. Maybe I¡¯ll take him up on that.¡± At the north edge of the clearing, she turned to Guardian. "I''m sorry. I''ve just been blabbering. I don¡¯t know how to thank you.¡± ¡°There is no need.¡± ¡°Well, thank you, thank you, thank you, anyway. I feel as if I¡¯ve been asleep for years and have finally woken up. In fact, I feel like I¡¯ve been dead and I¡¯m finally alive. It¡¯s amazing.¡± ¡°Never forget how you feel right now. Don¡¯t lose again what you have found.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t; I promise.¡± PART 3: CHAPTER 12: INTERMISSION Guardian sat in the clearing facing Remembering Rock. Her eyes were closed as she spoke with the Purities. ¡°Well done, my children. Another soul has learned to harvest the gain that lies in every tragic event. Her transformation has generated a burst of power for the coming battle. Rest well. Your next task will come soon.¡± Part 4: Chapter 13: Celia Celia woke with a start. She didn¡¯t move except to open her eyes. What¡¯s different about today? I don¡¯t know. She sat up and looked around. Bryan was not on his side of the bed. She threw back the covers and got up. Leaving the room, she stopped at the bathroom door and listened. The shower was running. Her heart was beating too fast, and she couldn¡¯t shake an uneasy feeling. She tried the door to the bathroom. It was not locked. Opening it, she said, ¡°Bryan?¡± ¡°Yes, Dear?¡± ¡°Is everything okay?¡± ¡°Fine. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just feel so unsettled, like something¡¯s wrong.¡± ¡°Well, step in here, and I¡¯ll show you how okay I am.¡± Celia smiled and took a step toward the shower. ¡°Uh!¡± She stopped. ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± ¡°Oof!¡± Thud. Bang. Bryan had fallen. He was moaning. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Celia yelled, pulling back the shower curtain. Bryan was down, facing toward the wall. His body was clenched, his hands in fists and arms criss-crossed over his chest. He tried to talk, but only terrible sounds came from his throat. Celia¡¯s heart was beating so fast, she thought it would burst. ¡°I¡¯m going to call for help. I¡¯ll be right back.¡± She tried to speak calmly, but she was so breathless, she could hardly get the words out. She ran out of the room to the phone in the bedroom. With hands shaking so hard she could hardly control them, she managed to dial 911. She could hear the phone ringing as she ran back to the bathroom. ¡°Help me, please. My husband¡¯s fallen in the tub and something¡¯s wrong with him,¡± she said frantically into the phone as soon as someone answered. She felt like she was whispering and she wanted to scream. ¡°Hurry, please.¡± The 911 operator was very calm. ¡°Where are you?¡± ¡°Oh, oh, um, the address is, um, one twenty-one first street southwest.¡± ¡°Just a moment while I dispatch the ambulance. Please don¡¯t hang up.¡± ¡°Okay. Please, please hurry.¡± Celia was kneeling by the tub grasping at her husband as if she could keep him breathing by getting a good hold of him. She tried to rock back and forth, crooning to him. It was hard to do with one hand. The 911 operator was back. ¡°Are you with your husband now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What is he doing?¡± ¡°He¡¯s lying in the bottom of the tub. He was taking a shower. He¡¯s just groaning. He tries to talk, but it isn¡¯t working. I think he¡¯s in a lot of pain.¡± ¡°How can you tell?¡± ¡°He is kind of curled up and his hands are in fists. He has his arms wrapped across his chest.¡± ¡°Is he lying down?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Can you find something to elevate his legs? Is there a stool or something nearby?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°Can you get his feet up on the edge of the tub?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Should I try? I¡¯ll have to put down the phone. I¡¯ll push the speaker button.¡± She set down the phone, pushed the button, and said, ¡°Okay, I¡¯m trying now.¡± She moved to the end of the tub by his feet, leaned over, and wrapped her arms around them. She tried to lift them up to the edge of the tub.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t do it,¡± she cried. ¡°Just take your time,¡± came the voice from the phone. ¡°Pick up one foot and try to get it on the edge of the tub. Then the other.¡± She tried again. And again. She finally got his feet partway up the side of the tub. ¡°I¡¯ve done the best I can,¡± she said. ¡°Okay, now get a blanket to put over him. You want him to warm up.¡± ¡°I have to leave the room to do that.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay.¡± Celia ran to the linen closet, opened it, and grabbed a quilt. She ran back to the bathroom and spread it over Bryan. ¡°Now what?¡± ¡°Does he have heart trouble? Does he carry nitro?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Is he having a heart attack?¡± ¡°If he had nitro, I would have had you put some under his tongue.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Do you have aspirin?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Try to get an aspirin in his mouth.¡± Celia jumped up and opened the medicine cabinet. It took her three tries to get the bottle out and she had a hard time getting it open, her hands were so shaky. As soon as she knelt down with one in her hand, it dropped and rolled where she couldn¡¯t see it. She cried out in frustration. It seemed to take forever to get an aspirin out of the bottle and into his mouth.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Try to swallow, Honey. Please try to swallow.¡± Tears were running down her face. She wasn¡¯t sure if he had swallowed or not. She looked toward the phone. ¡°What should I do now?¡± ¡°Can you find his pulse?¡± Celia tried to find his pulse on his wrist. ¡°I can¡¯t find it.¡± ¡°Did you try for his neck pulse?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯ll try that.¡± She often took her own pulse that way when she was exercising, so she knew where to feel. His skin was wet, and her fingers were sweaty and wanted to keep slipping around, but she finally did feel a faint pulse. ¡°I feel it, I feel it.¡± ¡°Do you have a clock or watch with a second hand?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Count the beats for ten seconds.¡± Celia looked at her watch and counted. ¡°I get¡­21¡­I think. I don¡¯t know if I can feel them all. It¡¯s so weak and I think it keeps skipping or something.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay. You did fine. Listen. Can you hear sirens yet?¡± She listened. All she could hear was her heartbeat pounding in her ears. ¡°No, I can¡¯t hear anything.¡± ¡°Keep listening. They should be there any minute.¡± She was feeling panicky. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re lost. Maybe I said the address wrong. Are you sure they¡¯re going to one twenty-one first street southwest?¡± ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t worry. They are on the way.¡± ¡°Wait. I hear something.¡± She listened. Yes, there was a siren, off in the distance. ¡°Yes, I can hear them. Oh, I need to go unlock the door. Is it okay if I leave him for a minute?¡± ¡°Yes, you can go unlock the door.¡± Celia leaped to her feet and ran down the hall to the stairs. Be careful, be careful, she said to herself. Don¡¯t fall down the stairs. In spite of her efforts, she nearly tripped and fell, but she made it to the front door safely. She unlocked it and opened it wide. She looked out and saw the ambulance turn the corner at the end of the street. She started jumping and waving. ¡°Over here, over here,¡± she shouted. The ambulance stopped in front of the house, and two EMTs jumped out with a gurney and some equipment. ¡°He¡¯s upstairs. Please hurry.¡± She was wringing her hands. The EMTs hurried into the house. They left the gurney at the foot of the stairs, grabbed a long, wide board with handles, and ran up to the bathroom where they propped the board against the wall. Celia was right behind them. ¡°Sorry, ma¡¯am. We need room to work. Please stay outside the room.¡± She stood outside the bathroom door, watching anxiously as they worked. One assessed Bryan and called out the results while the other repeated the information into a cell phone. ¡°Blood pressure ninety-four over forty-eight.¡± ¡°Blood pressure ninety-four over forty-eight.¡± ¡°Pulse one hundred thirty-two, thready, weak, and irregular.¡± ¡°Pulse one hundred thirty-two, thready, weak, and irregular.¡± ¡°Respirations shallow, 26 per minute.¡± ¡°Respirations shallow, 26 per minute.¡± [I need to find out what normal respirations would be for a heart attack victim. Also, if what I have for blood pressure and pulse is plausible or if it should be changed. What would EMTs assess and what would be likely results for a heart attack victim?] When the assessment was complete, the EMTs moved quickly to start an IV and attach a heart monitor. Celia was distraught. The monitor began beeping erratically, which was very disconcerting. ¡°Why does it sound like that?¡± ¡°The beeps are good,¡± one of the EMTs said. ¡°That means his heart is beating.¡± Speaking quietly to each other, the EMTs laid the board on the floor. With one at his head and the other at his feet, they coordinated a lift from the tub and placed him on the board. They strapped him on and used the board to carry him down the stairs to the gurney. Then they wheeled the gurney out to the ambulance. Celia followed them closely. ¡°You can ride in the passenger seat, if you want to come with us, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t I ride in the back by Bryan?¡± ¡°There isn¡¯t enough room. We need to be able to attend to your husband at a moment¡¯s notice.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± She ran for the ambulance, stopped, ran back to the house and grabbed her purse. Back to the ambulance, she got in the passenger¡¯s seat just as they were ready to take off. She couldn¡¯t stop tears from running down her face, and she sat quietly, holding her purse so tightly her knuckles were as white as the ambulance. She jumped when the driver flipped on the siren. ¡°Sorry,¡± she whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Celia closed her eyes and counted, trying not to think about anything on the ride to the hospital. The activity at the hospital felt like total chaos to her. Everyone moved so fast. She expected people to run into each other, but they never did. The EMTs had her husband out of the ambulance and in through the emergency room doors so fast, she hardly had time to get down out of the ambulance herself. She followed the gurney inside and stopped, wondering what she should do next. ¡°You can wait right over there, ma¡¯am,¡± one of the EMTs said. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, so quietly, he probably didn¡¯t hear her. The medical staff whirled into action. Celia had forgotten about the heart monitor; she had stopped paying attention to the beeping. Suddenly, the beeps coalesced into one long wail that pierced her heart. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± she cried. ¡°Get her out of here,¡± someone ordered. Everything seemed to get darker and darker. It was like a light was shining directly on Bryan but everything else was in the dark. She couldn¡¯t take her eyes away from him. Someone took her by the arm. She heard a voice murmur, ¡°Come with me.¡± She pulled away, but she couldn¡¯t escape the grip. ¡°No,¡± she whimpered. ¡°I want to stay.¡± ¡°They need to be free to work on him. We¡¯ll let you know what¡¯s happening.¡± She couldn¡¯t escape. She had to go. The person with the grip led her to a waiting area. ¡°We have coffee over here. There¡¯s the vending machines. If you need to make a call, you can use this phone. Cell phones are also permitted in this area. The bathrooms are over there. If you think of anything you need, you can ask at the desk, there. I¡¯ll let you know when there is anything to report. My name is Emily. Do you have any questions before I go back?¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t think so.¡± Emily disappeared back into the ER. Celia sat down. She got up. She walked to the vending machines and studied the contents. She looked at the phone. She considered the coffee and decided to try a cup. It was, at least, something to do. After three cups of coffee, she decided to pace instead. She looked at the clock about once every minute. What¡¯s going on in there? A half hour went by. She went to the desk. A woman was standing in front of a computer, typing. Her name tag said ¡°Olivia¡±. ¡°Olivia, can you find out anything for me?¡± she asked. ¡°Try to relax. Emily will be back out when there is something to¡ª¡± The ER doors opened. Emily came through, followed by a doctor. ¡°Mrs Cook,¡± Emily said, ¡°this is Dr Morrison. He is our top cardiologist.¡± Dr Morrison extended his hand, and Celia reached out to shake it. ¡°Please sit down,¡± he said. ¡°Just tell me,¡± Celia gulped. ¡°Is he okay? Will he be okay?¡± Dr Morrison closed his eyes briefly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°We did everything we could. He went into cardiac arrest shortly after he arrived. We were unable to resuscitate him. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Celia felt her knees give way. Her eyesight narrowed to a small tunnel, and then even that disappeared. She felt someone take hold of her by the arms and guide her to a chair. She let her upper body fall forward, her arms crossed on her lap under her head. Everyone should just go away. When it¡¯s all quiet, Bryan will wake up. He¡¯ll come to get me and we¡¯ll go home. Somebody, make everyone go away. She fell into welcome unawareness. When she opened her eyes, she was in a bed in an unfamiliar room, and Tess was sitting nearby. ¡°What you are doing here?¡± Celia demanded. Her voice was trembling. ¡°The hospital called me.¡± Tess¡¯s eyes were red and swollen from weeping. ¡°They thought you would need a ride home.¡± Her voice faltered. The look on her face was pleading. Celia turned her face away and remained silent. ¡°Mom. Mom, we need to talk.¡± Silence. ¡°Please, Mom. Please.¡± Tess¡¯s voice broke. Celia did not move or speak. She fixed her eyes on the wall and her body was rigid. She waited until finally she heard Tess leave the room. Part 4: Chapter 14: Celia Celia Cook finished grading papers, cleaned off her desk and glanced around the room. All the desks were in straight rows and clear of debris. The clock on the wall read 5:30. It was beyond time to go home. She knew she was putting it off. Again. Since her husband had died two months ago, the house was so quiet. She didn¡¯t know what to do with herself. She hated Fridays. The whole weekend, with no distractions to help her forget, loomed ahead of her. One day at a time, she said to herself. What shall I have for supper? She decided to stop by Pat¡¯s Home Cookin¡¯ again. The food was always good, and it was better than eating alone at home. It had become a habit. Breakfast at Pat¡¯s before school and supper on the way home. And why not? It was better than eating alone. I might as well not keep any food in the house. In Memory Grove Guardian hummed as she prepared her supper. She grew a garden every summer and canned almost everything she needed for the winter. It was still early enough in autumn for late crops, and she picked her food just before preparing it. Home-canned food was good, but fresh from the garden was better. When her meal was ready, she ate and then cleaned up the dishes. Just as she finished, she felt a pull from Remembering Rock. Okay, I¡¯m coming. She left the cabin, walked over to the rock, and sat in the grass. Running her hands gently over its surface, she leaned forward and placed her cheek against the stone, warmed by the sun. She remembered the night, so long ago, when the Purities¡ªthe chosen two¡ªdanced around the rock and sacrificed their futures for the futures of so many others. ¡°I am here, Purities. Who is summoned?¡± She let the answer fill her mind. She stayed where she was for a while. There was no hurry. She would summon Celia in the morning. Celia had gotten in the habit of sleeping in a little on Saturday mornings. That way there was less time in the day. Less time to think, less time to miss Bryan, less time to avoid thinking about Tess. This Saturday she slept in until eight o¡¯clock. A new record. Should I be proud? If I had my way, I suppose I would sleep my life away. I might as well. I really have no purpose. She thought of her first graders. Well, except for my class.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. She rose, showered, and dressed. She got to Pat¡¯s at nine-thirty. ¡°Good morning, Celia.¡± ¡°Good morning, Ruth. What¡¯s good this morning?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all good. The usual?¡± ¡°Yes, I think so.¡± ¡°Coming right up.¡± In minutes she was back with coffee and juice. A few more minutes and she was back again with a poached egg and a bowl of oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, and brown sugar. ¡°Thank you, Ruth.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Enjoy.¡± Celia had just finished her food and Ruth was collecting the empty dishes when someone walked in. ¡°That¡¯s Guardian,¡± Ruth said, as they both looked toward the door. ¡°What would she be doing here? She only comes to summon someone, but there¡¯s no one here but you.¡± Guardian approached Celia¡¯s table. ¡°Could she be coming for you?¡± Ruth said. ¡°Or you?¡± They looked at each other before turning back to Guardian, who had now stopped at the table. ¡°Celia,¡± she chimed with her musical voice. ¡°What do you want with me?¡± Celia was surprised to hear her voice quaver. ¡°The Purities have called you, Dear.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to go,¡± she whispered. ¡°I know you¡¯re afraid, but I¡¯ll be with you. Everything will be all right.¡± Celia was more than dismayed. For most of her life she had always hoped she would be summoned. Those who were always returned different, better, happier. After her daughter married, though, she lost the desire. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you come for me years ago, when I wanted to go?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t need us then.¡± Celia sighed heavily. ¡°What do I need to bring?¡± ¡°You already have all you need.¡± Celia turned to pay for her breakfast. Ruth waved her away. ¡°Don¡¯t you worry about that. It¡¯s on the house. In honor of your summons.¡± Celia managed a small smile. ¡°Thanks. Part 4: Chapter 15: Celia Too quickly, it seemed, they were in the grove, standing beside Remembering Rock. But when she touched the rock and closed her eyes, Celia felt comforted. She turned to Guardian. ¡°What do I do?¡± ¡°Just choose a seat and make yourself comfortable.¡± ¡°Does it matter which I choose?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Celia walked around the stone once, tapping it lightly as she moved. She tried the north side. ¡°It isn¡¯t very comfortable,¡± she said. ¡°You can try a different direction. You might find another fits you better.¡± Celia rose and tried each seat--west, south, and east. ¡°Ah,¡± she said, trying to make light of the situation. ¡°I saved the best for last. This one is very comfortable.¡± ¡°Close your eyes.¡± She obeyed. It was 1966, She was eight years old. Daddy was taking her trick or treating for Halloween. At the end of the evening, he got out of the car so she could go out to Grandpa¡¯s house for a last treat. ¡°Daddy, what¡¯s that?¡± Her face was pressed against the car window. Something was hanging from the big oak tree just before the turn to Grandpa¡¯s house. Her father turned his head briefly to look. His face hardened. ¡°Don¡¯t look at it,¡± he said grimly. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Turn your head,¡± he barked.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Tears sprang into her eyes. ¡°What did I do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sugar, it isn¡¯t you.¡± He wouldn¡¯t say any more about it, and he took a different route when he drove back home. After she went to bed, she couldn¡¯t sleep, so she got up for a glass of water. She could hear Mama and Daddy speaking in the kitchen, and she stopped to listen. She couldn¡¯t make out everything, but she heard ¡°Ku Klux Klan¡± and ¡°poor boy wasn¡¯t more than seventeen years old¡± before she crept back to bed. She was shocked. She knew what the words meant. She had heard of lynchings. What she saw hanging from the oak was a body. The body of a black boy. Knowing now what she had seen, she couldn¡¯t get the horrible image out of her mind. Who would do such a thing? Celia knew it wasn¡¯t acceptable to mix with black folks; her parents were clear about that. But they also made it plain it was not okay to harass them or try to hurt them. ¡°They¡¯re just people, like anyone else,¡± her mother had explained. ¡°They think and act differently than we do, so it isn¡¯t a good idea to spend time with them. It just doesn¡¯t look good. But when you have to, always be polite. They can¡¯t help what they are.¡± Celia didn¡¯t understand. If they were ¡°just people¡±, why was it wrong to be friends? ¡°You¡¯ll understand, Honey, when you get older.¡± Apparently, she wasn¡¯t old enough yet. She didn¡¯t understand at all. Especially why someone would hurt a boy just because he was different. That night she had a nightmare. The boy hanging from the tree had gotten down, but he was somehow still hanging there, too. And he was following her, crying, ¡°Why don¡¯t you help me? Why don¡¯t you help me?¡± Celia¡¯s eyes popped open. She looked for Guardian and found her sitting in the grass nearby. ¡°I¡¯m done,¡± she said. Guardian rose and took her hand. ¡°Not quite, but soon. Close your eyes.¡± Celia tried to hold them open but could not. She whimpered, ¡°I don¡¯t want another.¡± She woke up. Another nightmare. This time she was hanging from the tree. She had had so many nightmares now, she was afraid to go to bed. She looked at the clock. Four-thirty. Might as well get up; there was no use trying to get any more sleep. Later that day in school, she thought she saw him go into a classroom. That was happening nearly every day, lately. She began to sweat and her heart started racing. She couldn¡¯t breathe. A panic attack. Again. Every time she saw someone with dark skin, it seemed. She opened her eyes to Guardian¡¯s touch on her shoulder. Her heart really was racing, but she could breathe and she wasn¡¯t sweating. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside,¡± Guardian said. ¡°Thank you,¡± Celia whispered. Part 4: Chapter 16: Celia Inside Guardian¡¯s cabin, Celia took a deep breath. ¡°Smells fresh, like outdoors,¡± she said. Guardian smiled. ¡°Please, sit.¡± She indicated a chair at the kitchen table. She took a pitcher from the refrigerator and a glass from the cupboard. ¡°This will help you relax.¡± She poured the glass full and placed it in front of Celia. Celia lifted the glass and took a drink. ¡°Cold chamomile tea?¡± she said, surprised. ¡°Yes.¡± Guardian looked pleased. ¡°Do you like it?¡± ¡°I like hot chamomile tea. This is kind of unusual, but I think I do, yes.¡± ¡°Tell me about Bryan,¡± Guardian said. ¡°He was your second choice, wasn¡¯t he?¡± Celia¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Oh, my¡­I don¡¯t want to think about that. He was a good man, and we had a wonderful life together.¡± Her lips closed to a thin line, and her face clouded over. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You can think about it now. It¡¯s safe here.¡± Celia¡¯s eyes closed and her face softened. ¡°I met him in college. I was majoring in elementary education and he was majoring in mathematics. Also education, high school level. We were going to change the world, of course, with our wonderful rapport with young people. The real world of teaching was a little disappointing, but we believed we did make a difference in the lives of our students. We were going to teach another ten years and then retire. We were going to travel, see the world. We always lived simply and saved our money. ¡°And your daughter?¡± ¡°Our daughter is dead.¡± Her lips clamped together. Guardian was silent a moment. ¡°Close your eyes,¡± she said. Celia was excited. First day of college. First time away from home for more than a night or two. She had wanted to be a teacher for as long as she could remember. Finally, she was starting her training for her career. The door to her first classroom was in front of her. It stood open. She walked in. At first, she was self-conscious. Several students already sat in desks around the room. She saw a seat by itself near the front and decided to sit there. Moments later a young man with dark skin sat down right across from her. She sucked in her breath nervously, but nothing happened. No racing heart. No panic attack. She smiled with relief. ¡°Hi,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m Celia.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. He smiled back. ¡°I¡¯m Jack.¡± The vision skipped forward in time. She was on a skiing date with Jack. Skiing felt like flying, and she wanted to fly. She felt so good when she was with Jack. When they were tired from skiing, they sat in the lodge drinking hot chocolate. ¡°You know,¡± Jack said. ¡°We really don¡¯t have to wait until we¡¯re out of college to get married. It would be good to be settled into our blissfully wedded life,¡± he stopped and grinned, ¡°before we start teaching.¡± Celia felt the familiar, uncomfortable knot start to form at the pit of her stomach. ¡°I don¡¯t know, Jack.¡± ¡°Have you talked to your parents yet?¡± She was silent. ¡°They still don¡¯t know about me at all, do they?¡± He frowned. The panic attack hit, full force. ¡°Celia, it¡¯s okay.¡± Celia opened her eyes. Guardian was standing next to her, one hand on Celia¡¯s shoulder and the other holding Celia¡¯s hand. Celia started crying. Then she bawled, and then she screamed with fury. At last she grew silent, drained. ¡°Jack made me talk to my parents. I didn¡¯t know that¡¯s where we were going when I got in the car. I thought we were going to have a day out. He didn¡¯t tell me until we were on the way. I couldn¡¯t very well get out of the car while it was moving, so I was stuck. Of course, my mother was livid. She lambasted Jack and me up one side and down the other. She told us we would never see each other again or there would be serious consequences. I have no idea what they might have been; maybe she didn¡¯t either. Who knows? My dad didn¡¯t say much, just sat there looking grim. ¡°Jack felt terrible, of course. He said bad things about my parents. If he hadn¡¯t done that, maybe I would have agreed to elope, like he wanted. That episode ruined my relationship with Jack, so my mother turned out to be right. We did stop seeing each other. ¡°It¡¯s true, I never felt the same way about Bryan as I did Jack, but Bryan was a wonderful man, and I did love him.¡± ¡°Now tell me about your daughter.¡± Celia started crying again. ¡°Tess met a wonderful boy and wanted to marry him, but he was Native American. I tried to explain to her, like my mother explained to me, that Will was very nice but it was a mistake to mix races. I didn¡¯t get angry, like my mother did, and I thought I remained calm and reasonable. Tess got frustrated and said she would marry him no matter what I said. And she did. It didn¡¯t bother Bryan at all, but I felt so betrayed. It wasn¡¯t fair. I didn¡¯t get to marry mine, but she got hers.¡± Celia stopped, shocked. ¡°Did you hear what I just said? I never allowed myself to think about it at all. And now I know why. I didn¡¯t want anyone else to have what I wanted and couldn¡¯t have. I didn¡¯t want to admit my selfishness. I am so ashamed. I was so angry with Tess, I never spoke to her again. I know Bryan spoke to her and about her, but if someone ever mentioned her in my presence, I would just snap, ¡°She¡¯s dead.¡± The cabin was silent for several minutes. Celia¡¯s mind whirled with epiphany. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve been so blind,¡± she said at last. ¡°I was refusing to think about any of this, because deep down I knew I would find out I was wrong. I couldn¡¯t face that.¡± There was silence again for a few seconds. ¡°This was very hard for me, but it was so necessary. I just hope it isn¡¯t too late to reconcile with Tess. Thank you, Guardian, from the bottom of my heart.¡± She hesitated. ¡°Do I thank the rock, too?¡± Guardian laughed and the somber mood lifted. ¡°I will pass on your gratitude,¡± she said. They left the cabin and Celia walked toward the north side of the grove. She turned and waved once just before stepping into the trees. Part 4: Chapter 17: Intermission Guardian walked to the center of the clearing carrying an old quilt and a pillow. She spread it out next to Remembering Rock and tossed the pillow to one end. She sat down on the pillow and propped herself up with her arms behind her. She let her head fall back with her eyes closed and let the warmth of the sunshine wash over her. ¡°Oh, Purities, does not the time yet draw near? Each remembrance adds strength to the light. Surely Dar K¡¯fors will not remain free for much longer.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Oh my dears, I am so weary. I am indeed glad of your strength. Without you I could not continue.¡± She looked around the clearing. ¡°We have been here, it seems, forever.¡± She let herself recline fully, then turned on her side, curled toward Remembering Rock with her head on the pillow. She placed one hand on the warm surface. ¡°One at a time, I think, my dears. One remembrance at a time.¡± Part 5: Chapter 18: Duncan It was Duncan¡¯s turn. He got up and grabbed the microphone. ¡°Proud Mary,¡± he said to the person tending the karaoke machine. In moments the opening beats of the song sounded loud and clear. ¡°Dut dut dut, daaaah, dut, dut, dut, daaaah, dut, dut, dut, dah, dah, dah, dah,da-dut, daaah.¡± ¡°Left a good job in the city.¡± Duncan¡¯s rich baritone silenced the room. Then dancers began gyrating to the rhythms. Some patrons hooted appreciatively, as Duncan¡¯s voice rolled out, expertly rendering his favorite song. It was a good evening, right through to last call at the bar. Duncan sang and sang. He was the favorite of the evening, and by the end of karaoke night, everyone else just sat and listened, while he sang song after song. He ate it up. When the bartender staff started hinting to the stragglers it was time to go, he was ready. It had been a long day and a long week. Karaoke night was the perfect ending. He was relaxed and sleepy. He and two of his construction buddies walked from the club to their trailers. ¡°Hey, did you hear about Remembering Rock?¡± John asked. ¡°Yeah, isn¡¯t that just a crock,¡± Dale said. ¡°What is it?¡± Duncan asked. ¡°Some old story about a rock that makes people remember stuff they want to forget,¡± John answered. ¡°No way that¡¯s for real, but it sounds like the rock really exists.¡± ¡°Right,¡± said Dale. ¡°You know that grove of hemlock about a half mile south of town? Seems it¡¯s in there.¡± ¡°Hey, maybe we should check it out.¡± Duncan was curious. ¡°Not tonight, man.¡± John yawned, closed his eyes, and feigned sleepwalking. ¡°Well, tomorrow¡¯s Sunday. We have the whole day to ourselves. We can go then, if we want.¡± Dale stopped. ¡°We¡¯re home, guys,¡± he sang. They separated, each to his own trailer. **** In Memory Grove, Guardian stirred and sat up. She looked out her window for a few moments. The moon was high and bright, nearly full. She slipped her feet into a pair of slippers and went out the door. The light from the moon was so strong, she could see all across the clearing. The Purities were restless. Guardian walked toward the rock. ¡°Someone¡¯s been talking about you, haven¡¯t they?¡± She sat on the grass and stroked the rock lovingly. ¡°Nothing new. People talk about you all the time.¡± She paused. ¡°But they don¡¯t always plan to come see you, do they? Well, Duncan would have been here tomorrow at your invitation, anyway. It will be interesting to have spectators. It¡¯s been a while since there¡¯s been an audience.¡± She laid her cheek on the cool stone. ¡°Good-night, dear ones. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± She rose and went back to bed. **** Duncan was up and out first in the morning. He banged on John¡¯s and Dale¡¯s doors. ¡°Get moving, sleepyheads. I¡¯m hungry. I want some breakfast.¡± He heard a muffled ¡°Go ¡®way,¡± from John¡¯s trailer and a ¡°In a minute,¡± from Dale¡¯s. ¡°I¡¯m heading over to Pat¡¯s for breakfast,¡± Duncan said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you when you get there.¡± **** Pat¡¯s was full. It was ten-thirty; most of the crew had been up half the night and was looking for a late breakfast. Duncan had to wait fifteen minutes for a table. As he was being seated, Dale and John came in. He waved them over. ¡°Good morning, sleeping beauties.¡± John just grunted, but Dale replied, ¡°Back atcha.¡± It was another fifteen minutes before Ruth came for their orders, bringing a pot of coffee and three cups with her. ¡°Let me guess,¡± she said, as she poured coffee. ¡°French toast?¡± ¡°Ah, Ruthie, you know us too well,¡± Dale said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the blueberries.¡± John grabbed his cup and alternately blew and sipped without speaking. ¡°Don¡¯t mind him,¡± Duncan said. ¡°He¡¯s still asleep. He¡¯ll eat when you bring the toast, though.¡± Ruth left with their order, and the guys looked around the room. ¡°Seems the guys all stayed up late last night,¡± Dale said. ¡°First weekend in a new town. I suppose they wanted to get acquainted with the neighborhood. Or the people. Or the bars. Whatever.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say anything,¡± Duncan answered. ¡°We did, too.¡± John grunted. ¡°Hurry up and drink your coffee, John. You sound like a hibernating bear.¡± Duncan elbowed him. ¡°What do you know about hibernating bears?¡± Dale asked. ¡°Nothing. But it sounded good. Didn¡¯t it? Didn¡¯t it? Huh? Huh? Didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Man, are you punchy. I don¡¯t think you got enough sleep. Come on, John, we might have to tie Duncan to his bed before we head out to the grove.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. John looked over Dale¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Oh, good, here comes the food.¡± Dale and Duncan turned as Ruth walked up to the table and handed around their platters of French toast. She set down the syrups and said, ¡°Anything else I can get you?¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re good,¡± Dale said as Duncan and John quickly syruped their slices and started eating. Ruth put her hands on her hips. ¡°Those two don¡¯t stand on ceremony, do they?¡± ¡°Not when they¡¯re hungry.¡± Ruth left and the guys were silent as they ate. In short order the toast was gone and they were sitting back in their chairs, drinking the last of their coffee. ¡°Look at the time.¡± John was facing the clock on the wall. ¡°It¡¯s almost noon. We won¡¯t have to eat lunch.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that,¡± Dale replied, ¡°but we can eat a really late lunch.¡± ¡°We have plenty of time to get out to that grove in the meantime. I have to say, I¡¯m pretty curious.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not touching,¡± John said, ¡°just in case. I don¡¯t want any old memories getting dragged out of me.¡± They got up, paid their bills, and bought some bottled water to take along. It looked like a warm day, and they were planning to walk. Besides, they didn¡¯t know how long they would stay at the grove. **** Fifteen minutes later they were standing outside the grove. Dale went up to the trees and tried to go in, but he couldn¡¯t find a place to get through. ¡°What a pansy,¡± John said, but he had no luck, either. ¡°Hey, guys, over here.¡± Duncan was a few feet away, sticking his head out and waving them over. ¡°We can get in here.¡± He held the branches open for the other two and they were soon all working their way to the other side. ¡°Man, these trees are close together,¡± Dale complained. ¡°And, listen, it sounds like the wind is picking up a little.¡± They could hear the sighing sound of the breeze through the branches. It had been still before. ¡°I swear the branches are moving out of the way for you,¡± John said to Duncan. ¡°Don¡¯t be silly,¡± Duncan answered. ¡°I just know where to walk.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky,¡± Dale said sourly, after getting slapped in the face with a branch for about the twelfth time. They figured out the quickest way to get through was for Duncan to hold the branches and the other two to walk through, then repeat. When they reached the clearing, they stopped and looked around. ¡°There¡¯s the rock.¡± Duncan pointed. They walked toward the rock. Duncan was surprised to find the other two trying to stay behind him. ¡°It¡¯s listening to us,¡± John said when he asked about it. ¡°Anyway, I feel funny, like someone¡¯s watching us.¡± ¡°What a wuss.¡± Dale took a couple bold steps, which brought him in front of John, so he stopped and took a step back. Duncan glanced to the left. ¡°Look, there¡¯s a cabin over there. Do you suppose someone lives in here?¡± They all stopped and looked. The cabin was about a hundred yards away. ¡°Someone¡¯s coming out.¡± John was whispering. ¡°Short person.¡± That was Duncan. ¡°I think you¡¯re supposed to call them ¡®little people¡¯,¡± Dale admonished. ¡°Boy, is she ugly.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll do you much good to be politically correct, if you say stuff like that,¡± John said. Then she was close enough to hear them, and they stopped talking and watched her. ¡°Good afternoon, gentlemen,¡± she said. ¡°I am Guardian. Welcome to my home.¡± She turned to Duncan. ¡°We¡¯ve been expecting you.¡± Glancing back at the others, she finished, ¡°It¡¯ll be interesting to have an audience.¡± Duncan¡¯s eyebrows shot up. John and Dale elbowed each other and made lewd faces. ¡°Knock it off, you idiots,¡± Duncan said. Then to Guardian, ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve heard people are sometimes invited to Remembering Rock, right? You have been invited. And you are so sensitive to the summons, I didn¡¯t even have to go out to tell you.¡± Duncan backed up a step. ¡°Not me, lady, you got the wrong guy.¡± ¡°Well, then, let¡¯s have a party,¡± Guardian said. ¡°I have some cold drinks and snacks ready. I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t provide any music.¡± ¡°Or women?¡± John looked around. ¡°No women, either, I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°Oh, why not,¡± Duncan said. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± They followed Guardian to the cabin and inside. She seated them at the table and went to the refrigerator. ¡°This is awesome wood.¡± Dale was running his hands over the table. He twisted around to look at his chair. ¡°Chairs are made of the same stuff.¡± He looked closer. ¡°Is this ironwood?¡± ¡°Yes, it is.¡± ¡°Should people be making furniture out of it? It grows so slowly, if very many did that, it would all be gone in no time.¡± ¡°Sadly, very true. If I was choosing my wood today, I would choose differently. Back when I built these, there was so much ironwood, no one had any idea it would ever become scarce.¡± Duncan looked at her and frowned. ¡°How long ago was that?¡± Guardian sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t really remember. A long time.¡± ¡°I get it,¡± John said. ¡°You don¡¯t want to give away how old you are.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t hide anything from you, can I?¡± Guardian smiled. ¡°Well, this is amazing wood,¡± Dale said. ¡°I wish I had some. I priced it one time. You wouldn¡¯t believe how expensive it is.¡± Guardian put a glass of something in front of each of the men and a plate of cookies in the center of the table. ¡°Is there alcohol in this?¡± John held his glass up to the light. ¡°None.¡± ¡°Good.¡± He took a drink. ¡°Pretty good. Kind of like iced tea, but tastes different. Better.¡± Dale reached for a cookie. ¡°Say, Duncan, you could provide the music. John and I could do a little dance.¡± "Very funny. I don¡¯t think so. My throat is sore from all the singing last night. This iced tea feels good on it, though.¡± Duncan held up his glass. ¡°Would you like more?¡± ¡°Please.¡± She poured Duncan another glass and said, ¡°Anyone else?¡± John and Dale both held out their glasses for refills. They didn¡¯t have much more to say, as they finished their refreshments. ¡°This party¡¯s getting too quiet. Let¡¯s go back outside.¡± Dale jumped up from the table. The other two rose, as well, and all four filed back out into the sunshine. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s better,¡± Dale said, throwing his arms out and tilting his head back. As if by prior agreement, they all walked toward Remembering Rock. ¡°Looks like two people, lying back to back,¡± John said. ¡°Yes,¡± said Guardian. ¡°Why are their arms linked like that? It was John again. ¡°I¡¯ll show you,¡± Guardian answered. ¡°Stand back to back with Dale, there.¡± They did. ¡°Now link your arms like theirs. Press your backs together and bend your legs until you are sitting down.¡± ¡°Hey, I remember doing this when I was a kid,¡± Dale said. ¡°Stay there, John. Keep pressing back against me and stand up again.¡± John whooped, and they sat down and got up two more times. ¡°We did that, too. And, when we wanted to be more advanced, we did it without linking arms.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s another one,¡± Dale said. ¡°Come here, Duncan. It takes three people. Okay, I¡¯ll stand in the middle and link elbows with each of you, one on each side. Now, you each lean as far over as you can. You¡¯ll be off balance, but you won¡¯t fall, because our elbows are linked.¡± As he was hanging to the side, John said, ¡°This feels kind of weird. Like, dangerous. You¡¯d have to trust the person holding you up.¡± Part 5: Chapter 19: Duncan The three men continued to play like children, laughing and having more fun than they could remember. Guardian laughed and cheered as they played. ¡°This is more fun than karaoke,¡± Duncan said, as the three collapsed on the grass, tired after half an hour of horsing around. He turned and looked at the rock, which was right behind him. ¡°What do you think?¡± he said as he stroked the rock. To Guardian he said, ¡°It looks like a person could sit in any of the four cardinal directions and be fairly comfortable. Other than the fact he¡¯d be sitting on rock. Maybe he could even lie down.¡± ¡°Try it and see,¡± she answered. He got up and sat on the nearest side, the east. ¡°Hmm, not bad.¡± He got up and tried south. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s better.¡± He relaxed back until his head rested on the stone. He closed his eyes. The crowd roared as he flew down the final stretch, bent low, left hand behind his back. He was the fastest skater in the world. In this competition, at least. He was several feet ahead of the man in second place. The race was in the bag. He concentrated on the finish line. No reason not to break a record, even if he was so far in front. It would be so cool if he set a world record. Prestige for him and his school. He never saw the gouge in the ice that grabbed the blade of his skate. He just knew he was suddenly flying out of control, tumbling, twisting. Oh, the pain. When he came to rest, one leg was bent really wrong. He passed out from the pain. When he came to, he was being carried from the ice. ¡°Did I win? Did I win?¡± No one seemed to hear. They were just shouting things like, ¡°Get out of the way. Let us through.¡± He was hustled to an ambulance and whisked away to the hospital where he was admitted to the emergency room. A doctor with rumpled clothing and tousled hair pulled up a stool and sat by Duncan¡¯s cot. ¡°I¡¯m Doctor Tracy. Looks like you took a tumble.¡± ¡°Duh.¡± The doctor lifted an eyebrow and made a note on the chart she was holding. ¡°Let¡¯s get you to x-ray.¡± ¡°I hope it doesn¡¯t take long. My leg hurts!¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be as fast as we can.¡± The doctor got up and moved on. Duncan waited. After what seemed like forever, but was probably more like ten minutes, a nurse went past. ¡°Can I get something for pain?¡± Duncan called. ¡°I¡¯m in a lot of pain.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. She stopped and looked at his chart. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. ¡°There are no orders for pain meds. I can¡¯t give you anything without orders. I¡¯ll check on it for you.¡± Several more minutes went by. Two men came and grabbed his cot, one on each end, and started pushing it down the hall. ¡°I¡¯m on wheels?¡± Duncan was startled. One of the men chuckled but did not answer. They pushed him through a doorway and left him just inside the room. Two or three other cots were already there, each containing a patient. One was groaning loudly; another lay still with her arm over her face. The third occasionally shifted position slightly, as if uncomfortable. A technician appeared and rolled out the groaner. ¡°Thank goodness,¡± Duncan said. ¡°Hey, somebody. Can I get something for pain? My leg really hurts!¡± There was no response. After several minutes the technician brought the groaner back and took the next cot. Duncan rolled his eyes and said, ¡°Oh, no.¡± He was talking to himself now. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much longer I can stand this.¡± He laughed grimly. ¡°So I suppose I¡¯ll have to sit down.¡± He groaned. ¡°Oh, I crack myself up¡ª Oh crap! My leg hurts.¡± He raised his voice. ¡°I NEED something for PAIN.¡± Duncan¡¯s eyes suddenly popped open and he leaped off the rock. ¡°What happened?¡± he demanded. ¡°What do you mean?¡± John asked. ¡°You just laid back on the rock for a second and then you jumped up. ¡°Are you kidding me? I was there a lot longer than a second.¡± ¡°No, really,¡± Dale said. ¡°You hardly got there before you jumped up again.¡± ¡°Well, I fell asleep and had a dream, and it lasted a lot more than a second.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve heard about that,¡± Dale said. ¡°Your brain works so fast, you can experience, like, hours in just a minute or so when you¡¯re dreaming.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t start dreaming the instant you go to sleep, though,¡± John objected. ¡°It takes at least an hour for dreams to start.¡± ¡°If I was only there for a minute, it doesn¡¯t take any hour for dreams to start. I definitely had a dream.¡± ¡°Maybe you had vision,¡± Dale said with a smirk. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be asleep for an hour to have a vision. You don¡¯t have to be asleep at all. Maybe you never fell asleep.¡± Guardian stood, startling them. She laughed. ¡°Did you forget I was here?¡± Then she sobered and turned to Duncan. ¡°What did you remember?¡± ¡°It was something that happened when I was in high school. I broke my leg in a race.¡± ¡°You were a runner?¡± John said. ¡°Not a runner. A skater. I was a speed skater. I was a junior in high school, and it was the finals. I was way ahead of all the other skaters. I had the race in the bag, and then I fell. They said a big gouge in the ice caught my skate. I never saw it. But I twisted my leg really bad and ended up with a spiral fracture. The bones were broken from practically one end of my leg to the other.¡± Guardian spoke again. ¡°Breaking your leg meant more than losing just that race, didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes. I also played basketball, and I was really good. I had already been scouted by a big league team. My leg healed really well, but it had enough permanent damage that I couldn¡¯t play basketball anymore. My bones couldn¡¯t handle the constant beating they get when you play basketball.¡± He fell silent. ¡°There¡¯s more for you to remember,¡± said Guardian. Duncan looked at the rock and sighed. He sat down and laid back again. But before his head touched, he sat back up. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s all in the past. I haven¡¯t forgotten. I¡¯ll never forget. But I¡¯ve moved on. I¡¯m living my life and I don¡¯t see any point in reopening old wounds.¡± He stood up. ¡°I understand,¡± said Guardian. ¡°Come on, guys.¡± Duncan headed for the north edge of the grove. John and Dale fell in beside him. Guardian watched them walk away. As they disappeared into the trees, she turned to the stone. ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°He will be back.¡± Part 5: Chapter 20: Duncan Duncan stepped down from the stage and handed the microphone to the emcee. The audience was applauding wildly, cheering and stomping their feet. Some of the women smiled and waved at Duncan. He waved back but continued on his path toward Dale and John. ¡°That was great, man.¡± Dale pounded Duncan¡¯s back. ¡°You should have been a professional.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± All three turned to see who had spoken. ¡°Hey, Jerzey,¡± John said. ¡°Won¡¯t you ladies join us?¡± ¡°I should think so. Your last night in town.¡± She affected a pout, as she, Vicki and Wendy sat down. Wendy leaned over and whispered something in Dale¡¯s ear that made him blush. Vicki patted Duncan¡¯s hand and looked to see who was singing next. The evening flew by much too fast. The three friends had grown fond of Memory Grove Village and its people. They had especially become accustomed to spending time with the three women walking with them now. Vicki took Duncan¡¯s arm. ¡°You never told me about your visit to Memory Grove.¡± ¡°Not much to tell.¡± She waited, but he said no more. ¡°I¡¯ve never been there,¡± she said. I¡¯ve tried, but I can¡¯t get through the trees. It¡¯s almost like they won¡¯t let me through. Of course, that¡¯s silly, but¡­.¡± Her voice trailed off. ¡°What does it look like in there?¡± Wendy asked. ¡°It¡¯s an open clearing,¡± Dale said. ¡°It¡¯s only about two hundred feet across. There¡¯s a big rock in the middle and a little cabin on the east side.¡± ¡°I heard Guardian had a little cabin. Did you see inside?¡± Vicki asked. ¡°Did you see the troll?¡± Jerzey asked. ¡°It¡¯s pretty rude to call her a troll, don¡¯t you think?¡± Duncan said. ¡°Everybody says she¡¯s actually a troll.¡± That was Wendy. ¡°It isn¡¯t rude if she¡¯s really a troll.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as real trolls,¡± John said, ¡°but she is pretty ugly.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not nice, either,¡± Duncan said. ¡°But true,¡± Dale added. They walked in silence for several seconds. ¡°Hey!¡± Wendy stopped walking. ¡°Let¡¯s go out there.¡± ¡°Oh, good idea,¡± said Jerzey. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to go inside. I tried, too, but I couldn¡¯t get through. No one can. Unless they¡¯ve been invited.¡± ¡°I think you have to find the exact right spot to get in,¡± Vicki said. ¡°When you¡¯re invited, Guardian takes you, and she knows the way.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t seem that way to me,¡± Duncan said. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m sure Guardian knows the way, but she didn¡¯t show me. I just walked through the first place I tried.¡± ¡°Maybe you accidentally found the right spot. You had really good luck,¡± Vicki said. ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem too likely.¡± ¡°Well, prove it. Let¡¯s go right now and try.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Dale said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t mind taking a last look inside the grove before we leave tomorrow.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Duncan said. They had reached the edge of town by this time, and they all stopped and looked toward the grove. The moon was high and almost full. It was a lot like the last time the guys had been there. ¡°Well, let¡¯s move. We won¡¯t get there by standing here,¡± Dale said. They walked. Nobody said anything for the next ten minutes, and then they were there. ¡°Okay,¡± Duncan said. ¡°Pick a spot. Better yet, all of you choose different spots and try to get in.¡± They did. ¡°It¡¯s just like last time,¡± Jerzey said. ¡°You¡¯d think the trees were trying to keep me out. The branches just keep getting in my way, and I can¡¯t get past them.¡± ¡°Same here,¡± said Vicki. ¡°Me too,¡± said each of the others. Duncan was closest to Vicki. ¡°Let me try,¡± he said. She stepped back and he moved between the branches. ¡°See?¡± he said. ¡°Nothing to it. Are you sure you¡¯re really trying?¡± ¡°Try over here,¡± Jerzey said. Duncan went to Jerzey¡¯s spot and walked into the trees again. One by one, he tried where each of the others was standing. Each time he was able to walk into the trees. ¡°Last time Duncan was able to let us through,¡± Dale said. ¡°Let¡¯s try that.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Duncan stood just inside the grove and held the way open. Two of the women were able to get in beside him, but they couldn¡¯t get any further. He stepped ahead of them and held the branches again. The two women moved forward a little more, but the way closed behind them and no one else could enter. The three of them backed out. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can all go at the same time,¡± Duncan said. ¡°This is so weird. It¡¯s like magic or something.¡± ¡°Whatever it is, we can¡¯t get in unless you help us,¡± John said. They tried a couple more times, but the most that could go through at one time was three, and one of them had to be Duncan. ¡°We¡¯ll make three trips,¡± Duncan said. ¡°I¡¯ll take John first. Then I¡¯ll come back and get Vicki and Jerzey. And I¡¯ll take Dale and Wendy last.¡± The plan worked and eventually they were all inside. ¡°Wow,¡± Wendy said. ¡°Wait till everybody hears about this.¡± ¡°Well, don¡¯t go blabbing around until I¡¯m gone. I¡¯m not going to start ferrying everyone in town through the grove,¡± Duncan said. ¡°Let¡¯s go see the rock,¡± Jerzey said. ¡°Oh, yes, let¡¯s,¡± said Wendy. The six walked to the center of the clearing. ¡°Look at the carving on the rock,¡± Vicki said. ¡°It looks like a man and a woman kind of lying back with their arms linked,¡± said Wendy. ¡°Guardian calls them the ¡®Purities¡¯ and talks to them,¡± Duncan said. ¡°I¡¯ve heard people lie on the rocks and have visions,¡± Jerzey said. ¡°Is that what happens?¡± ¡°Yeah, what happened to you?¡± Wendy asked Duncan. ¡°Not much,¡± Duncan answered. ¡°I didn¡¯t have any vision. I started thinking too much, though, and I practically relived an accident I had a few years ago.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Vicki. ¡°I suppose you don¡¯t want to talk about that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no big deal. It was about five years ago. I was a junior in high school, and I was on the speed skating team. I blew the most important race of the year because I wasn¡¯t paying enough attention. I caught my skate in a gouge in the ice and fell. I was going really fast, more than 35 miles an hour.¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t fast,¡± John said. ¡°It is on skates,¡± Duncan answered. ¡°Try it sometime. Anyway, I was going around the last curve when I caught my skate. I ended up with a broken leg.¡± ¡°And not just a little bit,¡± Dale added. ¡°I looked up spiral fractures¡ªthat¡¯s what he had¡ªand they¡¯re serious.¡± ¡°Any broken leg is serious,¡± Duncan said. ¡°Look at me,¡± Wendy interrupted. She was lying on the rock, facing north. ¡°I¡¯m not having any visions.¡± She squirmed. ¡°This is incredibly uncomfortable.¡± She got up. ¡°Let me try,¡± said Jerzey. She sat on the east side and laid back. ¡°Yuck,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re not kidding about uncomfortable.¡± ¡°Guardian said some directions are more comfortable than others for some people,¡± Duncan said. Jerzey and Wendy walked around the stone, trying each direction. ¡°They all feel bad to me,¡± Jerzey said. ¡°Me, too,¡± Wendy said. ¡°I¡¯ll try,¡± said Vicki. She tried all four sides and also pronounced them extremely uncomfortable. That was the cue for the men to try. Dale and John both concluded no one could possibly be comfortable anywhere on the rock. ¡°I was,¡± said Duncan. ¡°I only tried the east and south sides. South was the best.¡± ¡°Try the other sides,¡± suggested Jerzey. ¡°I¡¯d rather not.¡± They all stood and looked at the rock. Duncan seemed restless. He stepped toward the rock and backed away a couple times. Finally, he said, ¡°Oh, all right.¡± He sat back on the north side. ¡°Nope.¡± He tried the west. ¡°Don¡¯t like that, either.¡± ¡°So?¡± Wendy said. ¡°Try the south again.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡­oh, good grief. I guess¡­.¡± He marched resolutely to the south side and sat down. He hesitated, then laid back. He could hear people yelling and bells ringing, but he was so relaxed he didn¡¯t care. Where was he? He didn¡¯t know. Wait. He remembered taking some pills. Yes, that¡¯s it. He took lots of pills. Oxycodone. No wonder he was so relaxed. He tried to giggle, but nothing happened. Now what? They were pushing something down his throat. He gagged. He jumped off the rock like it was hot. ¡°Oh, that way¡¯s bad now, too, huh?¡± Wendy said. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± a new voice said. Everybody jumped and Jerzey screamed. ¡°Sorry,¡± said Guardian. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to scare everybody. Welcome back, Duncan. I see you brought more of your friends this time.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Duncan said. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have come.¡± ¡°No, not at all,¡± said Guardian. ¡°In fact, I was expecting you tonight. I understand your construction project is finished and the three of you will be leaving town tomorrow after the dedication. Let¡¯s go inside and have a farewell cup of tea before you go.¡± She turned toward her cabin. Jerzey turned and walked a couple steps north, then turned back. She clasped her hands in front of her and twisted them palms out. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Doesn¡¯t feel like a good idea.¡± Wendy was shifting from foot to foot. ¡°Me too. I mean, I agree. Seems wrong.¡± Vicki nodded. ¡°Dude.¡± Dale and John spoke at the same time and stopped. They both looked uncomfortable. Guardian looked back at Duncan. ¡°Your friends are uneasy here. They would like to go.¡± All five of them turned and looked north. They were leaning slightly, as if they wanted to get moving. ¡°Maybe we should go then,¡± Duncan said. ¡°Do you want to go?¡± Guardian asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± he said slowly. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to keep my friends here if they want to leave.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll mind if you stay for a while.¡± The five all spoke at once. ¡°Sure, you stay.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just go, and wait back in town.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want us to stay here with you?¡± ¡°Right, we don¡¯t mind.¡± Duncan laughed. ¡°Fine, get out of here, you fair-weather pals. I¡¯ll see you later.¡± "But how can we go without you to get us through the trees?" Dale asked. "I believe you''ll find it easier to get out than to get in," Guardian replied. "Oh, good!" Vicki sounded relieved. In moments they were out of sight. Duncan and Guardian walked toward the cabin. ¡°I¡¯m surprised I stayed. I¡¯m certain I don¡¯t want to experience any more of this¡­this¡­whatever it is, and yet, here I am. Apparently, I don¡¯t know myself very well.¡± ¡°As a matter of fact, you are correct. Ah, here we are.¡± All the lights were on. Duncan felt as though electricity was flowing through his body. He was extremely alert, kind of like he was caffeinated. He sort of skipped around, as if he couldn¡¯t stay still. ¡°I¡¯m nervous. I feel like I¡¯m going to take a test and I forgot to study. I feel like I¡¯m suited up for a game, but I¡¯m all out of shape. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going to happen.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not surprised. You¡¯ve suppressed painful memories. You did this because remembering was an obstacle to moving forward with your life. This suppression was a defense you needed. You don¡¯t need it anymore. Now, instead of allowing you to live your life, it has become a hindrance. You need to let it go. You¡¯ve sensed this, and the idea is scary, so you¡¯re nervous. You¡¯ve never done anything like this before, so it¡¯s like taking a test without studying, as you said. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m here. I¡¯m your safety net. You will be okay. You can relax and do what you need to do, knowing I¡¯ll be taking care of you.¡±