by Shawn Inmon
Larry nodded at him, smiling himself, tears now in his eyes.
Quietly, almost to himself, Nathaniel said, “And that’s just as true for me, as it is for anyone. This is the path I chose for myself, long ago. This is my lesson to learn. We choose what problems we want to have in this life, based on what lessons we think we need to learn.” He chuckled a little. “Laura, I just had a breakthrough here, right before your eyes.”
“The Master has a moment.”
“If you will, yes.” Nathaniel looked up into the bright lights, but in reality, he was looking beyond.”
“It’s nice to see someone like you is still learning, too. It gives the rest of us hope, I suppose.”
“Oh, I still have so much to learn. Learning can take many forms, though. When I was young, I read science fiction books a lot. Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein. One of the greatest sci-fi writers, Arthur C. Clarke, posited Three Laws. The third law was, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” He was thinking specifically of technology, of course. Meaning, that if we touched down in the Middle Ages with the technology we have today, we would appear as magicians to everyone.”
“Sure, of course.”
“But, I believe the same is true of spiritual advancement. When someone who has chosen to be more advanced in this lifetime comes along, the rest of us look at him, and declare his deeds to be miracles. But, healing people, stopping people from killing people, like I did yesterday, those things are no more magic than a tank would have been a thousand years ago. Make sense?”
Laura smiled. “I suppose. I have this feeling that like everyone else, I am going to be dissecting this interview for years to come. I don’t suppose you could just give me some of this miraculous perspective you have, and make it easier on me, could you?”
Laura laughed a bit at the idea, but Nathaniel said, “I could, yes.”
Laura’s eyes flew wide. “Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
“Would you?”
“I will, but I have to warn you. It will be a temporary glimpse, and for a time after, this reality will seem drab.”
Laura nodded. “Thank you for warning me, but I’d like to see it.”
Nathaniel reached his hand out. Laura debated for several seconds, but then, in one swift motion, offered her own. Nathaniel held her hand and closed his eyes. He released her.
Laura sat up, jolted by an electricity that ran through her body and straightened her spine. “Oh!” If her eyes had been wide before, they were now flung open as far as they could go. They were alight with the vastness of the universe. She didn’t blink, she didn’t focus. A moment later, she said it again, softly. “Oh.” A single tear spilled onto her cheek. Ever so slowly, the light in her eyes faded, until she looked herself again.
The silence stretched out, seconds into minutes, as the camera continued to roll, the one-eyed machine of record. Laura didn’t move, didn’t speak.
Fully three minutes of silence later, she regained the power of speech. “I ... I don’t know what to say. When will I feel that, know that again?” She stared at Nathaniel, her eyes burning with a need she never knew she had.
“That’s what awaits us all, in good time.”
“Whoo. I feel so strange.” She used the sheaf of papers to fan herself, as though the studio lights had just now become hot.
“Your consciousness was far away. Think of your daughter. Hold her in your mind. That will help bring you back here.”
“Yes. Yes. Good.” She absent-mindedly wiped the tear away.
“Any more questions I might have had are gone, lost in the ether. I’ll just ask, what’s next for you? Where do you go from here?”
“Home. I’m going home.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
In their borrowed car, Nathaniel behind the wheel, heading north on I-5, Violet said, “Well, that was certainly interesting.”
“My big star turn, direct from the media hotspot of Eugene, Oregon, and that’s all you can say? Interesting?” Nathaniel smiled at his mother. “Thank goodness that is the only time I’m ever going to do that. Put a camera in front of me, and I turn into a blabbermouth. Laura seemed to think that people will dissect what we talked about for years to come, but I think everyone will soon be flipping over to those Criminal Minds reruns she mentioned.”
“I’m sure some people will, yes. Not everyone is ready for what you’ve told them, are they?”
“No, we all travel our own path up the mountain, at our own chosen speed. That’s the way the universe is designed. Who am I to question it?”
“Do you think it was wise to announce we were going home? That program will likely air before we can get there.”
Nathaniel put his hand on his mother’s arm, “They’ve had my house staked out since the bombing. They weren’t going anywhere. There just might be a few more of them, now.” He took his eyes off the road for a moment to glance at his mother. “I won’t hide anything anymore. That’s what I realized as I was talking to Laura. That’s what I had to learn in this life—to simply be and be willing to accept the consequences, whatever they are. So, no more running, no hiding. Whatever’s next, we’ll face it head on.”
They passed a sign that said, “Sally’s Diner, featuring our World Famous Chicken Fried Steak, next exit.”
Nathaniel looked at his mother and raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“Oh, fine. We might as well, the whole world knows where we’re going anyway. Surprised we don’t have a parade escort already.”
They pulled off the freeway, found Sally’s Diner and pulled into the parking lot. Nathaniel took a deep breath, threw the car door open, and said, “C’mon, I’m buying.” He stepped out of the car, patted his pockets, and said, “Ooops. Forgot that I gave all my money to Laura. I guess you’re buying after all.”
“This goes a long way toward explaining why I don’t date any more. Men always forgetting their wallets.”
“The least I can do is hold the door open for you then,” Nathaniel said, whooshing the door open with a “ding.” No one noticed them as they stood by the “Please Wait To Be Seated” sign.
A moment later, a heavy-set woman with painted on eyebrows and a big smile said, “Just the two of you tonight? Please tell me you’re not two chaperones of a bus full of hungry basketball players. I don’t know if I can survive another one.”
“No, just the two of us,” Nathaniel said.
“Follow me, got the best seat in the house lined up for you.” She turned halfway, then stopped so abruptly that Violet nearly stepped on her. She didn’t say anything, though, just gave her head a little shake and led them to their table.
Following, Violet leaned over to Nathaniel and whispered, “And so it begins.”
Once they were seated, she said, “The special tonight is meatloaf with all the fixin’s, and of course, there’s—“
“—the World Famous Chicken Fried Steak?” Nathaniel guessed. The way he said it, you could almost hear the capital letters.
“Ah, you’ve seen our billboard. Yes, the chicken fried steak is excellent.”
“Any vegetarian recommendations?”
“Find a different restaurant?” the waitress said, but laughed. “Yeah, sure hon, this is Oregon, land of the tree huggers. There’s a whole section of the menu for you guys.”
After she was gone, Nathaniel leaned over to Violet and said, “I believe I have just been identified as part of a group. Vegetarians. ‘You guys.’ I feel like I’ve joined a club.”
“You go ahead and be a vegetarian, honey. I’m having the chicken fried steak.”
Five minutes later, they had placed their orders and were drinking coffee out of heavy ceramic cups.
Nathaniel smacked his lips. “So much better than what they serve at the Middle Falls police station.”
A young woman with a toddler on her hip tentatively approached their table.
“Here we go,” Violet said softly.
“Mr. Moon?” the young woman said. She had a sensible, short haircut, and the bags under her eyes told the story of several sleepless nights. Nathaniel glanced over her shoulder and saw an even younger child in a car seat behind her.
“Yes, but call me Nathaniel.”
She blushed a little and said, “I’m so sorry to bother you. My husband Billy told me not to, but I saw your meals hadn’t arrived yet.”
“It’s no bother at all.”
“I don’t need anything. I just want to tell you that what you did means so much to us. There’s so much bad news, it makes us scared for our kids sometimes. I told Billy the other night that if we saw one more school shooting, we were going to homeschool our kids. I’m getting so I’m afraid to let them out of our sight.” She glanced down at the toddler, which Nathaniel now saw was a little girl. “Seeing what you did, just meant so much to us. It gave us hope that there’s good things in the world, too.”
“What’s your little girl’s name?”
“Oh, this is Bethany. That’s my husband Billy. And Billy Jr. is in the car seat over there,” she said nodding over her shoulder.
“How does Bethany do with strangers?”
“Oh, she loves everybody. Why? Do you want to hold her?”
In answer, Nathaniel held his arms out for her. Bethany leaned away from her mother’s hip and into Nathaniel’s hands. He brought her to him, and said, “Hello, sweet Bethany. Very pleased to meet you.” In answer, Bethany laid her cheek against Nathaniel’s chest, then reached up and wrapped her messy wet hands around Nathaniel’s long hair and pulled.
“Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry. She does that all the time. That’s why I have this,” she said, pointing to her own closely shorn locks.
Nathaniel laughed a little, freed his hair from Bethany’s chubby fingers, and lifted her out to her mother. “Thanks for letting me hold her. I love these little ones.”
“Of course you do,” the woman said. “We already knew that. Oh, here’s your food!” She stepped back away from their waitress, who was burdened with their dinners. “We won’t bother you anymore. But, thank you. Sincerely.”
As she turned, Nathaniel saw her stick her tongue out slightly at Billy Sr.
“She wasn’t bothering you, was she?” their waitress asked.
“Oh, no. She was very sweet. She just let me hold her baby.”
“Okay, just let me know if you have any trouble. We believe in letting people eat in peace, no matter how famous they are.”
“Do you get a lot of famous people in here?”
“We had the Hager Twins in about ten years ago. You know, from Hee Haw?”
“Of course! I loved that show. I remember them well.”
She sat their plates down on the table and looked thoughtful for a moment. “The man who was in those Don’t squeeze the Charmin commercials was in, too. We get all kind of celebrities dropping in.”
“Well, we appreciate the privacy, but please don’t worry about us.”
“You’re sweet.” She glanced over her shoulder at a man who had his phone out and pointed toward their table. “Jim, damn it, don’t make me drop that phone in a sink of dirty dishes, now.”
Jim guiltily put the phone down.
“Enjoy your meal, and let me know if you need anything else.”
Half an hour later, they were safely out of the diner, and on their way north toward Middle Falls. Violet turned the rearview mirror so she could see if anyone had followed them, but there was nothing but miles of darkened road behind.
Before Nathaniel had a chance to say anything, Violet held up a hand, and said, “We’re just lucky that no one in there was dying of something. If that place had been next to a hospital, we’d still be there while you were setting broken bones and curing cancer.”
“You worry too much about stuff, Mom. Let it go. We’ve made the decision. That was the hard part. Now, we just get to live.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
As they drove, they called Jon and Melissa and left them a message, asking if they would meet them at the house.
Jon called the burner phone back a few minutes later. Violet answered it and put the call on speaker. Jon said, “Take it slow coming down toward your house. It’s quite a parade, but they’ll part like the Red Sea before Moses’ staff, if you give them a chance.”
“Anybody give you any trouble?” Violet asked.
“Nah. Unless you count having several thousand questions shouted at you simultaneously as trouble. I’m a big boy. Didn’t hurt me at all.”
“See you soon, brother. Why don’t you guys open a bottle of wine, and feel free to put Katie to bed in my room. I don’t think I’m going to sleep tonight.”
Nathaniel and Violet rolled down the road that led to his house a little before midnight. As promised, there was a long parade of cars and television trucks parked along the shoulder leading to his house. As they approached, several of the trucks lit up the area with klieg lights.
Nathaniel squinted against them and said, “I wonder if they do that to every car coming down the road, or if they know it’s me? If they do it to everyone, I’m going to have to bake something and take it around to the neighbors by way of apology.”
Nathaniel slowed the car to a crawl and inched past all the vehicles. They had left his driveway unblocked, so he was able to drive right up to his house. As soon as he stepped out, the barrage of questions that Jon had warned him about were shouted at him. Nathaniel noticed that everyone had stayed off his property, though.
Nathaniel looked at the large graveled area he had to the left of the driveway. “Mom, go on inside. I’ll be there in just a minute.”
Before Violet could protest, Nathaniel walked into the glare of the lights, holding his hand up to shield his eyes. He ignored the questions which were machine gunned at him, but held up his hand, asking for quiet. The onslaught continued for a time, but as he looked patiently, and quietly, at them, they eventually slowed to a trickle.
“Thank you. I’m not going to answer any questions. I gave an interview earlier today, and I’m going to let that stand as my statement.” That brought a renewed energy to the crowd of reporters, who began shouting at him again. Nathaniel smiled patiently at them, and raised his hand again, waiting for them to wind down.
“However, you guys are kind of making a nuisance of yourselves by blocking the road out here, and blinding every poor approaching driver with your lights. So, you can all come and park on my property over here.” He pointed toward the half acre of gravel he was intending to turn into a massive sports court once he had saved up the money. “Please keep it to the gravel area. Sorry I don’t have a port-a-potty. You’ll have to figure that out for yourselves. There’s a Texaco station with clean rest rooms about two miles down the road. Have a good night.”
With a wave, Nathaniel turned and made his way back to his house. Behind him, vehicles were starting up and jockeying for the best spots on the gravel.
When Nathaniel stepped through his front door, Jon and Brutus were waiting for him in the entry way. Brutus stretched up and put his paws on Nathaniel’s shoulders and sniffed him deeply. He sneezed, decorating his shirt with dog snot. “I know. I feel the same way,” Nathaniel answered, hugging Brutus close. “Sorry I had to leave you, boy.”
“Tell me you didn’t invite those people onto your property. That’s crazy,” Jon said.
“Just trying to make it easier on the neighbors. They’ve always been good to me—letting me hike across their land, bringing fresh milk over. No way I could repay their kindness by jamming up the only road to their house.” Nathaniel grinned. “It’s not like they were going to go away.”
“True enough. I just hate to see you so exposed.” Jon wrapped him in a bear hug, squeezing him tight. “I know I told you, but thank you. For everyone, but especially for our Katie.”
“It’s all good. I don’t feel exposed at all. This has been bothering me all my life, this idea of needing to hide. Now it
doesn’t. The dreading is so much worse than the actual event. It’s so often that way, isn’t it?”
“I suppose, and I’m glad you feel that way,” Jon said, systematically pulling the shades down on the windows around the house. “Because I’m selfish, and even if I knew it was going to ruin your life, I would have asked you anyway. I’m not much of a friend.”
“Take comfort. I did think it was going to ruin my life, and I chose to do it anyway. Now, it’s been my salvation, in an odd way.” Nathaniel peeked through the blinds at the trucks idling out past his driveway. “I’ll deal with them in the morning. I’d rather be in here, nice and cozy in the perfect little house you built for me, than sitting in an idling truck all night. Hey, did you open that bottle of wine?”
“Not yet.”
“I’ll grab a bottle. I’ve been saving something for a special occasion, and I think this is it.” He opened the recessed pantry, which stayed cool year-round, and rummaged around before he emerged with a bottle. “This is supposed to be a tremendous Chardonnay, and they grow the grapes in the valley just up the road. Mom? Interested in a bit o’ the grape?”
“After the day we’ve had? God, yes.”
“I thought so. Grab us some glasses, will you?”
Melissa came close to Nathaniel and put her arms around him. She laid her head against his chest and broke down for a few moments. Nathaniel rocked her gently back and forth. “Nothing to worry about now. She’s safe and sound and sleeping right in there.”
Melissa looked at him through teary eyes and kissed him on the cheek, then sat down at his long dining room table—the biggest piece of furniture in his small house.
Violet appeared with four wineglasses. Nathaniel corkscrewed the bottle open and poured until it was empty. He lifted his own glass and said, “Good health, love, and laughter.” The four tapped glasses and drank deeply.
“I can see this is going to be a several-bottle kind of night,” Nathaniel said, returning to the pantry for another bottle and setting it on to the table next to its dead comrade.