"There, child, this is why I've brought you here."
The girl stood on her tiptoes to look through the dirty glass. The long room was filled with beds, each one separated by a fraction of space, at least three dozen beds lining each side of the huge room. Each bed contained a patient, each patient lying back on their pillows, many moaning, the sound escaping the room, an eerie and disturbing sound.
"What's wrong with them?" she whispered, not able to tear her eyes away from the pitiful scene of suffering and death.
"This hospital was originally established to administer to lepers. It was a place for terminal cases, for the dying. Then, with the advent of AIDS, and the ostracism that accompanies the disease, the sisters started taking in those patients as well. This is a hospital of death, child, filled with terminal patients of all kinds. A terrible, sad place, don't you think?"
Jody didn't reply, her attention riveted on the nurse who was beginning her rounds starting at the opposite end of the room. The old woman was stooped, as though she was afflicted with a spinal defect, her thin, wispy red hair streaked with stands of gray cropped close to her scalp, boyishly short. The nurse's body was dangerously emaciated, bordering on starvation. Jody could see her sunken cheekbones, black rings encircling her dead eyes, the woman moving in a trance, her exhaustion obvious. When she talked to the patients, with was infrequent, her black, rotted teeth were visible, thin lips pulled back in a grimace. Her skull was that of a corpse, the thin, brittle skin pulled tightly against bone. A walking dead woman, obediently serving the living dead.
Oh, Jesus, that's me. Jody knew it instantly, her heart fibrillating out of control, her throat constricting. Don't let that be me, she screamed inside her mind, feeling her sanity slip dangerous low, losing her last ounce of control, knowing immediately that this was her penance for a life of confusion. Can that possibly be me, oh Sweet Jesus, what, in forty or fifty years? Please God, not this; I didn't deserve this, did I? I'm so sorry.
"What year?" she whispered hoarsely, not trusting her voice. "What year is this?"
She was sick, afraid of the answer, not wanting to hear. She watched her other self, never once seeing the old woman smile, checking temperatures, taking pulses, feeling for fever, apathetically pulling a filthy sheet over the head of a dead man. Not one recognizable clue to the beauty of her first eighteen years, nothing but a ghastly spectrum of someone, something she once was. The woman running on automatic; running on empty.
"2022," he whispered so low she could barely hear.
Squeezing her eyes shut as so tight that she hurt...twelve years, that's me. That's me, Jody Reed, me at 30. Oh God, oh my God, no.
"Get me out of here!" she cried, turning from the horror inside the building, trying to run, slamming into the Wizard, the strong arms holding on to her wrist tightly, his arms going around her.
"Please, I don't want to be here, I never want to be here, take me home, please..."
And the fog came, surrounding them, the girl crying, her arms around the Wizard, afraid to let go, afraid he would leave her in the nightmare, leave her to become the ghost she had seen through the window.
"Faith, child, I told you to have faith. Now, you have your options, now you've seen your futures. The rest is up to you."
28
The couple was sitting closely together on the picnic table, staring out at the dark lake, sitting in silence, the boy deep in thought, the girl willing to wait for her moment while planning for a lifetime. The full moon was shining off the calm water, illuminating the lake enough that the couple could see the far shore, make out the tree line of the forest.
Rod got off the table, walked to the edge of the water and knelt down, pausing a long moment, appearing to pray. Tammy watched him pick up several rocks, stand and begin tossing them one by one into the water, skipping the stones across the top of the water
"I've got this idea, Tam. I know it sounds stupid as hell...but if this guy is what he seems to be, you know, a Traveler or something from some other galaxy or something, and I think he is, I really believe him, maybe my idea isn't so far out," Rod was saying softly, as if talking to himself.
"I don't think any idea you have is ever going to be stupid," Tammy whispered, walking up behind him, thrilled that Rod was confiding in her. Finally, after years of praying for this moment of closeness, she felt that she was about to realize her dream of capturing her Golden Boy.
"See, if he is for real, if Gretta and Susie really took a trip into the future and saw what was going to happen to them, why wouldn't it be possible for me to go backwards, you know, into the past. If he can do it with the future, why not the past?"
"But why? Why the past and not the future?" the girl asked, bending down and picking up a few stones and handing them to the boy.
"Don't you see? For Tony. If he would let me go back three years, I could be there when Tony went swimming at that pond. I could save him. It would stop all the pain, erase the agony. Do you think he's for real? Cause I do, I swear I do, I can feel it."
Tammy didn't believe in the stranger, had her doubts about anyone being able to grant wishes, too much like something out of a fairy tale, something you read to kids before sending them off to bed. In the back of her mind was the thought that this was all some trick, an elaborate setup, wondering who was behind it, who could think of such an elaborate hoax. It would be like Susie, a sick joke with me as the butt, Tammy thought. She could damn sure afford to hire this guy to play the part, something to make me look like a fool, waiting for me to fall for it, then jump out and scream "Surprise."
"Maybe it's all a practical joke, Rod, have you thought about that?" she asked gently, not wanting to upset him any more than he was. "This is like something Susie would think was funny. She probably hired that guy to..."
"No. It's not a joke," he interrupted. "Didn't you see Gretta's face, Tam, she was glowing. She couldn't fake that. It's like something out of the Twilight Zone or something. Remember all those old shows on TV, about the time travel and space beings and stuff. I always thought there was probably a lot more out there in the universe than we know about. It makes sense, everything he said. And Susie, man, she's always so uptight. But when she woke up, she's been like a different person, all giggly and relaxed. I've never seen her like that. It's not a joke, Tam; the guy is for real, as real as you or me."
She wasn't convinced, wouldn't believe it, but she wasn't going to argue with him. The night had been beyond her wildest expectations. This was not the time to tell Rod that he was talking crazy, reaching for an impossible dream. If he wanted to believe in this nut, then she would support him. And then be there for him when the joke was sprung. And it was a terrible, cruel joke, she thought. They have no idea how badly they were tearing Rod up. If Susie and Jody were at the bottom of this, she was going to make sure they paid. Somehow, she was going to bust them.
"If he's convinced you, then he's convinced me, too," she conceded, hoping that her tone didn't give her true feeling away. "All we can do is ask him, see if he'll let you go backwards. It's not such a big difference, shouldn't be a big deal for him. Let's go see what he says."
"Do you think he will?" the boy was pleading, needing reassurance, support.
"I don't see why not. If he does, and if you get a chance, you know, to save Tony, what then?"
"What do you mean what then? Shit Tam, if you could see what this has done to my mom. You see her out in public, her party face, but man, inside she's all screwed up. She has never gotten over Tony's death. It's like she dies a little bit every day. Sometimes, she doesn't know I know, but sometimes she gets up in the middle of the night and goes and lies down in Tony's bed and talks to him. I've sat outside the bedroom door and listened to her. She carries on these conversations with him as if he wasn't dead, as if he was going to school, working part time jobs, hanging around with me and Andy, playing ball. Every time it happens, every time I hear her talking with Tony, it kills me a little more. I cry, Tammy, I cry like a
baby when she talks to him. I can't take much more of it. That's why I picked Indiana, not cause of the football. I picked it because it's so damn far away from Tony... I just can't take it anymore."
"Come on. There's only one way to find out if this thing is going to work, if it's possible. Let's go ask the guy. All he can say is no." Taking his hand, she pulled him away from the lakefront and led him back up the road.
"No matter what happens, Rod, I want you to know I'll be here for you. I've always been here for you, it's just that you never realized it, never realized how much I care. I hope you do now."
As the couple walked up the path, toward the campfire that was glowing brightly in the moonlight, they heard the voices, the laughter of their friends, the cheerful sounds sending chills up Tammy's spine. "You sure you want to do this," she asked as they approached their friends.
"I'd give my life to do this, to be able to save my little brother. Wouldn't you?" he asked, conviction in his every word.
"Yes, I guess I would," she answered, walking with him into the fire light.
Gretta and Susie were sitting near the fire involved in an animated conversation, Jody sitting alone, her back propped against a log, her head lolling on her chest as if she were napping. The stranger was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey guys, where'd you go?" Susie asked as Tammy and Rod walked into the clearing.
"Just for a walk," Rod said. "Where's Andy, I need to talk to him?"
"He drove Shauna home. He should be back in a little bit."
Tammy knelt next to Jody, looking into the face of her friend, pushing the thick red hair out of the girl's face. Turning to Susie, she asked softly, speaking in a pronounced, angry tone, "How did he get Jody to do this?"
"They had a long talk, and I think he said some things that everyone else has been scared to death of telling her. It was really cool, 'cause all at once it was like a revelation for her. She kind of changed, seemed to snap out of that nasty mood she was in, the mood she's been in for five years. She really listened to what he had to tell her, and then she told him she'd try it and she was gone. That was about ten minutes ago," Susie explained.
"Where's the Wizard guy?" Rod asked. "I need to ask him something."
"As soon as Jody went to sleep, he excused himself, said he would be back in a minute, and walked into the woods. Maybe he had to use the restroom or something," Gretta answered.
"Which way did he go?" Rod asked.
"Up that path, I think," Susie said. "I wasn't paying much attention."
Gretta pointed. "That way. I don't think he'll be gone very long, Rod, just wait a second."
"No, I need to talk to him now, before I chicken out. If Andy comes back, tell him not to go anywhere. It's real important. I'm gonna go see if I can find this guy. I'll be back in a minute."
Tammy started to follow him. Rod turned around and motioned for her to stay. "I need to do this myself. Wait with Susie, I'll be right back."
The girl looked hurt, started to argue, then decided that would cause even more problems. "I think I'll walk back down by the lake. I'll wait for you there, on the table," she told him, not wanting to sit around with Gretta and Susie.
"Be careful down there. I'll come find you in a little bit, when I'm done here." Leaning forward, he kissed her on the lips. The gesture surprised Susie, who was watching them closely. Turning, Tammy walked back down the path toward the lake. Rod, after watching her until she was out of sight, looked toward Susie, shrugged his shoulders, and walked off into the woods in the direction Gretta had pointed him.
"That was pretty strange," Susie said to Gretta. "Out of all the dances they went to together during high school, I don't think he ever kissed her even one time."
29
Rodney walked up the dark path, the night enveloping him, the path becoming more difficult to maneuver as he advanced deeper into the woods. He tripped twice, falling down on one knee the second time, his foot catching on a tree root sticking up out of the overgrowth. Picking himself up, he walked alone for several hundred yards, beginning to think he had taken the wrong route. When he got snapped in the face with a small tree branch he walked into, the limb leaving a slight scratch above his left eye, he decided it was time to turn around and return to the camp site. Stopping to remove a stone from his shoe, he balanced himself on one leg, his hand resting on a tree trunk. Bending to put his shoe back on, he lost his balance and staggered backwards, bumping into what he thought was a bush.
"There, don't fall down, Rod, it’s pretty dark out here." Strong hands helped him right himself, the voice scaring him for a second, then recognizing it as the stranger, having backed into the man in the darkness.
"Uh, I was looking for you," the boy said when he regained his composure, chiding himself for being afraid.
"I know. I've been waiting for you to find me." It was said simply, Rod believing every word, believing in this stranger.
"I need to ask you for something...a favor."
"Rod, before you ask me this favor, have you thought about the implications, all the different variables of your request, the..."
"But..." the boy started to interrupt, was quieted by a look from the man.
"Please, listen to me for a moment, just hear me out. I think the most important part of this entire wish is your motivation for requesting it. Have you truly thought it out?" He was talking in that soft whisper, his words coming out of the darkness, his golden eyes staring into Rodney's face like the eyes of a mountain lion, holding the boy's attention like nothing ever had before in his life.
"I've thought about everything, about why you're here tonight, why you happened to walk into our lives, why you have this unexplainable power. You know what we're thinking, what we've been doing, you know everything about us. I don't know all the answers, but I think one of them is that you came so that my brother can live. That's got to be the reason, it's got to be."
Taking the boy by the arm, the stranger led him to a tiny clearing well off the path. Sitting on an uprooted tree trunk, he motioned the boy down beside him.
"Let me explain something to you, Rodney, and please listen to me. I was sent here, as I've been sent many places during my travels, to be with someone very special. In tonight's case, circumstances have given me the opportunity to be with that person as well as several other special people, people who have some very important decisions to make about their futures. And people who might need a little nudge, a tiny bit of guidance, a little help in making these difficult decisions. Do you understand this so far, what I'm saying?"
"Of course I understand," he replied, the aggravation in his voice caused by impatience. Slowly, patiently, as though he were talking to a child, Rod began again.
"I'm not sure there is anyone in our group who, what did you say, is confused, who needs guidance about their future. Think about it, 'cause I've known these guys my entire life and I know what I'm talking about. Jody Reed knows exactly what she wants, no question about it. She's always been really goal-oriented. She's going to Notre Dame, easy as that. And Susie, all she wants to do is to keep playing basketball. She's going to come into so much money in a few years she'll never have to work a day in her life. She's the perfect little rich girl, that's what makes her happy. She'll come back to Radford and own this town. Case closed. I don't know anything about Gretta, but Shauna damn sure seems to have things pretty well planned out. And me and Andy, we know exactly, absolutely what we're going to do. Andy's going to be a Navy pilot, and I'm gonna be a doctor. A pathologist. The only one who might need help is Tammy, and I don't think she's accepting any guidance tonight, just giving. She's interested in partying, I think, not much else. It doesn't appear that she has a lot of goals, nothing beyond going to State. But overall, this group has their shit together, their futures pretty thought-out, don't you think?"
"Rodney, if it could only be that easy," the Wizard replied in a weary voice. "So easy if things turned out the way we plan them when we're young and so idealistic, ou
t to save the world. But yes, this group does have their, how did you so eloquently phase it; they have their shit pretty well together. But even so, several of them are in for a few surprises."
"I think you're wrong, dead wrong," the boy shot back.
Staring hard at Rodney, looking deep inside the boy, the traveler finally made up his mind. Shrugging his giant shoulders in resignation, he asked; "Now, what is it that you want from me, Rodney Littleton?"
Taking a deep breath, Rodney described in careful detail the story of his younger brother and the fateful day Tony had walked home alone, walked away from the golf course to his death, the pain that his mother had lived, the agony that had descended over the entire family.
"Don't you see, if you can really do this stuff, if you are really sending the girls into the future, why can't you send me backwards, back to that day, July 17, 2007, back so I can save Tony, save him from drowning, so he can live again? Can you do that, can you save Tony, let me save him? Please."
"Oh Rod, I don't think so. It's not a good idea to change the past. That may sound like a contradiction coming from me, when looking at what I do, but there's a fine line there, the difference between looking at something that hasn't really happened and changing something that is done, that is already history. I've never permitted something like this; really have never been approached about it. People are more than anxious to see how things are going to be in the future. That's what I do, not the other. No, I don't think so, my friend." His voice was full of sorrow, feeling the pain that the boy felt, wanting to reach out and comfort him.
Rod was on his feet, screaming, any thought of control lost. "No, goddamn it, don't say that, you have to let me go! You have to let me! You can do it, damn you! You have the power...don't say no to me. Please, I'm begging you, I would give my life to have my brother back...don't you understand, I'd rather be dead, wish I was." His tears were rolling freely, his nose running, attempting to sound out his need, instead only communicating his anguish, the words pouring out in a jumbled, incomprehensible rush.
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