Clicking Stones

by Nancy Tyler Glenn

  Erica decided to test the waters. "Did you have a nice time?"

  Morgan nodded and then looked at her lover. "No, I didn't have a nice time. I hate staying in motels by myself and I was disappointed that you didn't meet my friend, Janet." She put down the orange and wiped her hands on her jeans.

  Erica held out her arms.

  Morgan moved into Erica's embrace and then deftly lowered her lover to the ground.

  When Erica finally noticed, Morgan was sitting on her pelvis. She lifted her head once or twice to pull away.

  Morgan looked down at her captive. "Are we ready to put our heads together and work this thing out?"

  Erica looked up at her and whispered, 'Yes!" It was the exact picture she had always seen when Morgan was riding Mignon. Head high and eyes direct - sitting as proud as the animal beneath her.

  Later, Erica was to find two tickets to Paris sitting next to her computer.

  * * * *

  November 16, 1986

  Dear Kelly,

  Just got back from our fabulous trip through Europe. Hope you got all the postcards I sent.

  Morgan showed me the Paris of her student days- though she did say it had changed quite a bit since the late fifties.

  When I sent you the postcard from Sweden, I told you I had a surprise for you. Here it is. We met the woman Theya (the Captain of the spacecraft) was talking about. Her name is Mrs. Olson. She is now producing Livemore by the tons. You aren't going to believe this right away - it took me a while to get used to the idea: Livemore reduces the aging process to the extent that if you take it you will age only one day for every year of your life. Mrs. Olson is sixty-five plus two, which means she is really sixty-seven, but biologically she is sixty-five years and two days old.

  The only drawback to taking Livemore is you have to keep taking it. If you stop, the process reverses and you age one year for every day until you reach your chronological age, so if Mrs. Olson stopped she would be sixty-seven in two days. Also, you can't start again once you have stopped. The body wouldn't tolerate it twice.

  Of course all the Livemore in the world isn't going to help you if you step in front of a Lamborghini Countach S, which Morgan almost did in Italy. Swear-to-god, though, it looked to me as though it was aimed at her. A gorgeous dark-eyed beauty was driving it, and as she drove by she flipped us an elbow and screamed, "Fettucini!"

  I got a supply (of Livemore, not fettucini) for my mother and for Undine. Morgan doesn't want us to start taking it until we reach our peak. Imagine being at one's peak for three hundred and sixty-five years.

  Mrs. Olson says that Livemore has been available to government leaders and big businesses for about nine months. She thinks this accounts for the change in attitude about nukes. The old guys with the position of 'who-cares?' are suddenly taking a different view of things.

  In this country it is going to be available through Pacific Health Foods. That was the real reason Theya went to see Billy. If you want to get some before it is available here, I'll give you Mrs. Olson's address in Sweden.

  One thing that happened on the trip has us a little bit upset. We were just fooling around one night and decided to Click a stone statue. Then we had a little wine and decided to Click every stone sculpture we could find. Then something happened. I was walking behind a statue to hold it for Morgan to Click, and she Clicked it too soon (before I was even touching it) and it lit up anyway. She didn't believe I wasn't holding it so I proved it to her by Clicking another statue by myself and it lit. Then we discovered that only the works of the great masters light up with only one Clicker, the lesser works required two. Morgan was very anxious to get home and start Clicking her own work. It didn't light, and now she is very upset. She has been sitting in her studio since we got back just staring into space. I talked to Britt about it. She said when Morgan is like that, just let her know I'm there and make sure she has plenty of nourishment.

  The impact of your book in Europe is phenomenal. We saw people reading it on buses, trains, and in restaurants. It seemed that everybody had a copy of >The Indestructible Body>. People reading it were laughing and crying - sometimes both at the same time. Morgan and I always read something from it every day, and we've both read it through several times.

  Today I was reading the chapter on healing (which Jes has memorized). I have been thinking all day about one remark you made: The old order to society was HEEL, SIT and STAY. The new order to society is HEAL, LAUGH and PLAY.

  One of the kids I used to play with, Jimmy Clark, has a son who plays ball in the big leagues now. James II is a Clicker and has turned the club and the fans on to Stones. So now, when they play at night, the stadium looks just like it did two years ago at the summer games. Did we joke about flying everyone over a brilliant light?

  The girls are going to spend Thanksgiving with us, which reminds me I have to call about insulation. Jes has decided (at age eleven) that she is going to be a dynamicist and a physician. She says they are two sciences that need to be combined. Morgan doesn't take her seriously. She is convinced Jes is going to be an artist and will change her mind when she finally realizes how much talent she has.

  Isi is studying Korean. Isa has promised to take them to the summer games in Korea in eighty-eight.

  My dad loves his new job at Pacific College. He just works one day a week, his class The Humor of Philosophy is very popular. He and Jenny are very happy. She bought a franchise for one of Billy's stores.

  Isa talked to Julie the other day. Julie decided to go into the business of selling women's books. You know women's issues were always her greatest concern. She connected with Nicole and Sally who, as you know, organized women's bookstore owners into a system similar to franchises. They use the same computer system Billy has in her stores. It has increased their purchasing power and stretched their advertising dollars. In addition, there is immediate communication within the community. Women can check at their local bookstores every day for all the news they can't get on their local stations. What a way to network! Computer bulletin boards!

  I am fascinated with the subject of your new book, Fascination.

  Gotta go now. One thing computers won't do is keep me in shape. I haven't done my aerobics yet today.

  Give my love to wED.

  Love,

  Erica

  ~ Chapter 47 ~

  Erica was drinking her first cup of coffee when the phone rang. "Damn!" she muttered. She had forgotten to set the timer on the telephone. She hurried to pick it up so it wouldn't wake Morgan.

  "Erica, how are you, darling?"

  "Mom." Erica beamed into the phone. "How nice to hear from you."

  "I had to call you, darling. George left me for his secretary."

  "That's terrible!" Erica gasped. "How long has he been seeing her?"

  "Him, darling. George's secretary is a him. I always thought he had male secretaries to make me feel more secure. It's that Livemore stuff. When George realized how many years he had to live he decided to come out of the closet. You know, attitudes have changed so much since he was a boy. They've been lovers for two years."

  "Has he filed for divorce?" she asked, stunned.

  "Oh, no. I never told you, darling. George and I were never married."

  Erica was concerned. "Then what about a settlement? Without a divorce there won't be any alimony."

  "I know, isn't that great?" Paula said cheerfully. "He was going to hit me with a palimony suit but I talked him out of it."

  "What are you talking about, Mom?"

  "He wanted half of the money I earned," Paula pouted. "When your father was working for the studios I didn't waste that money. I bought Xerox stock. Do you know when they first started you could buy their stock for a song? Then I bought Singer stock."

  "Singer Sewing Machine or Singer Aerospace?"

  Paula laughed. "I forgot, you never read the newspapers. It's the same company, darling. In nineteen eighty their stock plummeted from ninety-three to six and a half. I bought t
en thousand shares. You know what advances they've made in the past eight years. I'm a wealthy woman. While you're going Click-Click-Click - I'm going Clip-Clip-Clip. You know, Erica, with a little effort you could become alert to the changes going on around you in time to anticipate the impact they could have on your life."

  "I'll think about what you've said, Mom. How's everything else? Are you lonely?"

  "No, darling. The main reason I was calling is to tell you Donna and I are buying a house in Rancho Mirage. I'm going to enroll in some classes at College of the Desert. You know it's important for women to have an education."

  "Mom, you're going too fast for me. What do you mean you and Donna? Are you..."

  Paula laughed again. "Of course not, dear. We're friends. It was just natural when Ted ran off to be with that Swami Whatzisananda..."

  "Chichi," Erica reminded her. "I didn't know."

  "Yes, that's it - Swami Chichi. Didn't Morgan tell you?"

  "No, Mom. We've been very busy, we're going next week to see her show installed. It's going to be in the biggest gallery in New York, Atlantic Art Gallery. Mom... aren't you a little old to be starting college? You're seventy-three now aren't you?"

  "No, darling. You forgot Livemore. I'm only seventy-one plus two. I won't be seventy-two for another three hundred and sixty-three years. I've never felt better in my life. Once I realized how long I had to live I started exercising and eating nutritious food. How are the girls?"

  "They're fine."

  "How is Morgan? Donna told me she works very hard."

  "It's true, and it has me worried. She won't take time to relax any more. We're only fifty, but to hear her talk you'd think there isn't enough time left to do everything she wants to do."

  "When are you two going to start taking Livemore?" Paula asked.

  "I'm not going to nag her about it, Mom. She says she feels fine and enjoys the changes we go through. She says in many ways it just keeps getting better, and, I have to agree with her."

  "By the way, dear, I just finished reading your friend's book, Fascination. It was really fascinating! Is she working on another book now?"

  "No, she and wED are visiting a tribe of Aborigines. Mom, I think I hear Morgan. I promised her breakfast in bed this morning. Thanks for calling with all the wonderful news."

  * * * *

  When Erica brought the tray into the bedroom Morgan was sitting up in bed waiting. Erica stopped and looked at the beauty of her lover's throat and bare shoulders.

  Morgan smiled. "What are you doing?"

  "Taking a picture," Erica told her.

  "Without a camera?" Morgan teased.

  "I don't need one," Erica whispered.

  * * * *

  May 2, 1994

  Dear Kelly,

  Mondays aren't usually this hectic but the girls were here for the weekend. It was great seeing them and I think they enjoyed seeing each other. It surprised me when they decided to spend time apart. This isn't the same as their stand for independence when they were fifteen. At that time they were fanatic about it. If Jes liked something, Isi hated it. Now it is just a thing of each wanting to find out what she really likes. It was a decision they made together.

  Jes spends most of her time on campus. She never did change her mind about being a dynamicist and physician. This summer she is going to work as a volunteer for a psychic surgeon in San Francisco (Nicaragua - not California). She spent last summer in Mexico with a medicine woman.

  Isi decided not to go to college. Her thing is languages (which she learns more easily with computer instruction) and the study of customs. She is definitely a Clicker - and she feels the best way to get to know a person is to find out something about them first.

  It's hard to believe Billy is almost thirty and Britain is twenty-eight. Since building the new shelter on Emma's old place, Britain has had her hands full.

  My beautiful Undine is seventeen plus eight now. I'm so glad I put her on Livemore when I did. Mignon is six plus six. I was hoping when Morgan decided to start her on Livemore we would start too, but no such luck.

  Morgan would have no objection to my taking Livemore, but we have always been the same age, so if she is fifty-six, I am fifty-six.

  Morgan said she didn't want any Livemore until we both reached our peak, but I think she reached it two years ago. I try not to think about it. The last time I brought up the subject Morgan suggested I start taking GH3. I asked at Pacific Health, and they didn't even know what I was talking about.

  I have to spend the day at the Center Wednesday. There are bunches of old records to go through, from before we went to computer. What a mess. How did we do it in those days?

  Morgan still works her ass off. Sometimes I want to shake her. If she enjoyed it more it would be one thing, but it's like a mission. Every time she finishes a piece we go through the same thing. She wants me to Click it. I'm getting so I dread it when she has something near completion.

  I've been enjoying my flute so much lately. I usually go down by the creek or up to the mesa. It is a wonderful feeling. Sometimes I don't even realize I'm playing. My flute seems to have a life of its own.

  There hasn't been a new book since you visited the tribe of Aborigines. Did the chieftain teach you the art of doing nothing?

  Give my love to wED. We're looking forward to seeing you when you come to visit next month.

  Love,

  Erica

  ~ Chapter 48 ~

  Erica looked at the carefully arranged table and tried to remember the occasion. It wasn't a birthday, their anniversary had been last month - she couldn't remember.

  In the bedroom, the doors to the garden were ajar. She poked her head out the door. Morgan was sitting at the table reading.

  Morgan looked up. "I thought I heard the car. I'm glad you're home." She put her reading glasses and book on the table.

  "The table is beautiful. Did I forget some celebration?" Erica walked over to her lover and planted a kiss on her mouth.

  "It's a brand new occasion," Morgan said slyly. "Are you hungry or would you like to relax for a while?"

  Erica looked at the steam rising from the hot tub. "Maybe a little juice and a soak would be nice. I'd like to rinse off first. I have dust in my hair and teeth from going through those boxes at the Center today."

  In the shower Erica's thoughts darted to the note she had found in the old files today. She let her tears flow freely, hoping Morgan wouldn't notice she had been crying.

  Morgan was already in the hot tub. It had been a long time since Erica had seen her so relaxed. She put her robe across a chair and stepped into the water. "Did you want the bubbles?"

  "Not unless you do." Morgan looked at her. "You've been crying."

  "A little." Erica sat next to her. "I finally got a note today that somebody wrote twenty-five years ago. It said: I have a Stone that has never been Clicked." Tears formed in her eyes again.

  Morgan put her arms around her lover. Erica relaxed against her. "It was different seeing it. When I picked it up I felt you writing it. I felt you waiting for an answer and getting a mimeographed notice. Morgan, I'm so sad."

  "Don't be sad. I can't even recall my feeling at that time." Morgan kissed Erica's hair. "I know what I'm experiencing right now, and I know the ten years I've spent with you have been the happiest years of my life. Don't you have any idea what having your love means to me?"

  "I haven't always felt I was making you happy," Erica admitted.

  Morgan pulled Erica onto her lap and hugged her. "That's my fault. I've been so caught up in my own obsession I haven't taken the time to let you know. Kelly called today."

  Erica was surprised. "I told her I'd be at the Center all day."

  "I think she wanted to talk to me. She said she got a feeling from your letter that you were a little down."

  "I was tired when I wrote it," Erica confessed.

  Morgan rocked Erica, causing the water to slap against the sides of the tub. "She said it was more what you
didn't say than anything you said. She told me some things that made me think. She reminded me of what the old woman told you about going through the soft wall - don't push so hard, just pretend you're walking through water." Morgan moved her hand through the water. "And then she told me something her art teacher told her - when you're in a hurry, take your time."

  "I didn't know Kelly was studying art," Erica said.

  "Performance art. She said that since taking Livemore she feels she has the time to reach the level of achievement she desires for all of her projects. She used the word ripeness."