by Ison, S. A.
I was looking forward to another summer. My thoughts filled with things we needed to do, or replace. It is funny, because I would have called you a liar, had you told me that I would have been happy here. We’ve had our moments, some terrifying, some wonderful. Each day of our life is a challenge and we are always on guard, listening and sniffing the world around us.
Harper and I had grown accustom to this new world. We had adapted ourselves to it and had not only survived, but we thrived. It was quite remarkable.
Δ
I was out in the small wheat field when I looked up and saw Isi and her group. My heart leapt with joy. I saw her daughter, and granddaughter, who had grown over the winter. I saw her husband and son-in-law, and I saw another male, this one a little taller than the rest. I waved my hand and they waved back.
“Harper, Isi is here.” I called with joy.
My loves, I will be ending this journal now. I’m almost out of ink and paper. I wanted you to know that with each breath I take, I think of you girls. I hope one day that someone will find my journal and give it to you, so you know that I’m alive and safe. That I did thrive, that I did find happiness and that I did find love. I also found a people here, that are not very different from us. They are so very kind and a loving people. They are familiar, they are family.
One day I shall see you in heaven. Until then, know that each day when I wake, you are on my mind and each night when I fall asleep you are in my heart.
FIFTEEN
My name is Nancy, and I found this journal on my land. My husband and I had purchased six acres twenty years ago, the land had been forested and quite a buy. We had planned to build our retirement home on it. So, a year ago, we started making plans. First, we had roughly an acre and a half cleared, and then we had the foundation of the house dug, I wanted a nice walkout basement.
During the digging, something was uncovered. I found it in a heap of soil that had been dug out from the basement. It had been wrapped in some kind of animal skin, but within was a plastic bag containing a spiral notebook, a beaded necklace, missing two of its strands, and a long arrowhead, chipped or carved from stone. I was curious when I’d found it, it had obviously been deep within the earth. The package had been fifteen feet beneath the ground. Which had been forest for well over twenty years.
When I began to read the book, I have to say, the hair stood up on my arms. I was seeing either an elaborate hoax or something so remarkable, as to be beyond belief. I didn’t know what to do. But, as I read this remarkable journey of these two people, I knew I had to find out if it was true.
The first thing I did, was to take the long stone arrowhead to our local college and they in turn gave me information about the museum, which would be better equipped to analyze the arrowhead. Now I can’t tell you where I am, and I’ve changed the names and location in this journal, for everyone’s sake. No one wants that kind of notoriety. Especially Ivy’s daughters.
It was confirmed that the arrowhead was from the Paleolithic era, roughly 16000 to 16500 years ago. I had also brought the skin that had wrapped the plastic covered journal. That took longer, but I was told later that it was some kind of rabbit skin from the same era. When they asked me where I found it, I made up some nonsense. I did keep the arrowhead and rabbit skin.
I then set out on a journey to find Ivy’s daughters, Mica and Malisa. The year now is 2020 and so the girls are nineteen years old. It took almost six months, because I had to track them down. I also looked into Ivy and Harper’s disappearances. Though I did find several small articles on the internet about the two missing people, there wasn’t a whole lot about it. Since no bodies were found.
It was near November when I finally located the girls and went to their home. When they answered the door, I introduced myself.
“I’m Nancy, and I think I’ve found something you might want to know.”
“About what?” The dark-haired young woman asked, I saw her sister standing behind her. They looked to be fraternal twins, both dark hair and dark brown eyes.
“About your mother.” I said.
The color washed out of both girls, and I wish I could have broken the news to them easier. They ushered me inside.
“Is your father here?”
“No, he’s at work right now.” The first young woman said nervously, her eyes watching me keenly.
“She’s Mica and I’m Malisa.” Malisa said.
We went into the kitchen and both girls sat at the table, holding hands, their eyes large with hope, fear and anticipation.
“First, your mother is alive, in a weird kind of way. And I’m sorry if I don’t explain this very well.” The girls looked at me and then each other.
“Go on.” Mica said, though a hint of suspicion had entered her eyes as they narrowed on me.
I pulled out the spiral notebook, the strand of the beaded necklace and the arrowhead, and lastly, the rabbit skin.
“That’s Mom’s necklace.” Malisa cried grabbing up the necklace.
“How did you get this?” Mica asked, the color once more washed from her face.
“We gave it to Mom for Mother’s Day five years ago.” Malisa said, her voice cracking with emotion.
“That was found, along with this notebook, stone arrowhead and this rabbit skin. It was dug up fifteen feet below what was once a heavy forested area.”
The girls looked at each other, then looked to me. I pushed the notebook to them.
“In essence, your mother was pushed back in time. She and another man, Harper Brison had come across some kind of break in time. They were pushed back roughly 17000 years ago. Before many humans occupied this land.”
The girls were shaking their heads, and I understood why they couldn’t believe me.
“This is her journal of what had happened, and as you will read, you girls were upper most in her mind. She wanted you to know that she didn’t abandon you. That she was taken away from you. That it was beyond her control.”
Both girls were now crying and I watched as they took the notebook and opened it. They began to read it, openly sobbing now. I wept as well, for them and for Ivy and for Harper.
“That’s Mom’s handwriting.” Malisa said, her voice shaking with emotion. I dabbed at my eyes and my nose as well. It meant a lot for me to help these girls with a conclusion about their mother. I couldn’t even imagine what this family had been through at their mother’s disappearance. Gone without a trace.
After an hour of reading, they paused and looked up, their eyes wide with wonder.
“It was like listening to her talk, as I am reading this. So, she is alive or rather was alive. She’s long dead now.” Mica said and then started crying all over.
“Now wait, she is still alive. She was alive three years ago when she started this, so that means she is still alive, only it is back then. As you can see, it is somewhat a daily, weekly and monthly account of her life there. So as long as you are alive, you know she is alive. Does that make sense?” I asked.
The girls looked at each other. Then beautiful smiles broke out on their faces.
“I guess it does. I guess if she were to walk back through, she’d be only three years older.” Mica said.
“Exactly, so you can think of her like she’s in another country. She is still alive and thriving and living a different kind of life, but still alive all the same.” I said.
“Did she make this arrowhead? And the rabbit skin?” Malisa asked.
“She sure did and I had it authenticated, though I didn’t tell them where I found it or under what circumstances. I didn’t think you would want that kind of publicity.”
Both girls nodded agreement. “No, we’ve grieved for so long and the police just said she disappeared because she wanted to. We never believed that but we kept pushing for them to find her. Did you find Harper’s father?” Mica asked.
“Unfortunately, no, so he may well have gone to the future, I just don’t know. I couldn’t find anyone who was related to Harper. B
ut I did find you and so now you know that your mom is still alive. I’ll leave you this journal, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to publish it, under other names, and places so you don’t have to deal with any of the backlash, if there is any. I know a lot of people are going to call BS on it.”
“That would be great. Thank you again for finding us. Our hearts have been so broken since that day. They called and said Mom’s car was abandoned with several other cars. They just didn’t know what happened. Me and Malisa knew something bad had happened, but no one would listen to us.”
We visited a little while longer and then I left them. I promised to come back for a visit after they finished reading their mother’s extraordinary journey. As I drove home that day, I couldn’t help but think about Ivy and it broke my heart in so many ways that she’d never see her children again and she was in fact dead these many thousands of years, gone to dust and ash. But if it was like I thought, only a step through a time shift, then she was still alive, living in a primitive land, no wars, no politics, no pollution. She had her friends, Isi and Peta and I was happy for her. She wasn’t totally alone with Harper there and I was glad.
I’d not told the girls everything, that was something they would discover for themselves as they read their mother’s words. I wondered at what Ross would think when he got home to find that his ex-wife had not abandoned them. I don’t know what happened to the other people, if they’d gone forward into time or if they were torn up into oblivion. I shuddered to think of it.
I also thought about what Ivy had seen in what she thought was the future, a landscape that had been destroyed. I wondered about when that destruction might happen. I did know one thing, I will never drive the route she took that day. I keep well away from it. I had also checked the news and no other disappearances had accrued after. I had also checked 2010 and found that yes, those people had disappeared.
I wasn’t going to open that can of worms. That was ten years ago, and I was sure those folks had moved on with their lives. I did however feel that I needed to let Ivy’s daughters know. I felt it was my duty and it was an honor to do so. A mother’s love spans time like no other.
EPILOGUE
Mica and Malisa sat on the couch, holding hands. Tears running freely down their faces. They’d just finished their mother’s journal and they laughed and cried at the same time.
“Wow, Mom sure had come or rather gone a long way.” Mica breathed, wiping the tears away.
“Should we show Dad?”
“No, he wouldn’t understand and he’s already moved on. He is going to ask Trina to marry him.”
“I can’t stand her, she is so two faced.” Malisa said, her mouth puckering in disapproval.
“Hey, Dad is marrying her, not us.”
“You know she’ll want us out of the house.”
“Yeah, but Dad won’t make us go.” Mica grinned mischievously.
“What do you think of the future Mom saw?”
“I don’t know, that was scary.”
“I wonder when it is going to happen?” Malisa said nervously.
“Who knows, it could be a hundred years from now, or a thousand or seventeen thousand.”
Malisa looked at her twin for a long time.
“What?” Mica asked.
“I want to go to Mom.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“No, I want to go and live with Mom.”
“No way, that is 17000 years ago. We can’t. We have no clue how to survive.” Mica said firmly, her jaw jutting out.
“It is the 29th of November, 2020. The next time that thing comes around is in is in March of 2024. We have that long to prepare. I want to go to Mom.”
Mica said nothing.