We started calling this man Jim and he became our biggest supporter.
CHAPTER 31
It turned out that convincing these people to try the caves was the easy part. Teaching them to relax and have fun was the hard part. Work and science had been so important to them for so many generations that trying to relax and have fun were very stressful to them.
Our group became counselors and we found out that these people had much guilt when they relaxed or tried to have fun. Some of them admitted to us that they had been guilt ridden for days after our picnic and concert. We had our work cut out for us and time was running out.
Our men took their men out on fishing trips, hiking in the woods and hills, camping and telling jokes around the campfire, which most of their men didn’t get and let’s face it, when you have to explain a joke it doesn’t work. But they kept at it.
Joe’s band taught some of the men to play musical instruments and they began to express emotions.
Our women and children took their women and children inside the city in our cave and we swam in the lakes and had picnics on the hillside.
The children didn’t have as much trouble adapting as did the adults and they soon went off with our children to play on the swings and monkey bars, in the sand boxes and in the lakes, and ran in the hills.
We let the women try on our clothes and taught them about makeup. We taught some of them to sew and taught them to dance. We all cooked together and in general, taught them to live a simple life.
We talked them into getting out of those boots and go barefooted. Some of them actually giggled as they wiggled their toes.
As the days and weeks went by more and more of them had shed those horrible uniforms and were dressing comfortably. Some were going without shoes even in the city. The women seemed to favor the mid-calf length gauzy skirts and peasants blouses.
We hadn’t realized it but the short curly hair all of them had were wigs. That’s why they were all alike. When the women took them off, their hair was so silky, long and beautiful that I asked one woman why they hid it beneath the wigs.
She frowned at me and then explained as if she were explaining to a small child, “It takes less time to put on a wig then to fix our hair.”
They were beautiful women when their hair was unencumbered by the wigs and they wore more feminine clothes.
At the end of our training period, Joe brought the men back to the city inside the cave and the men stood in awe of their women.
The men were wearing bellbottom jeans and comfortable shirts. They hadn’t shaved but they were clean. They had on sandals.
The men and women shyly eyed each other but when Joe ran to me and picked me up, swung me around, and kissed me, they copied him. The women giggled as the men kissed their necks, ears, and their mouths.
The men took the women by the hand and ran with them toward the cottages that were unoccupied. I looked at Joe, “Where are they going?”
He laughed in delight, “I told them what a wonderful experience it was to make love on a sleeping sphere. What do you think, you beautiful wife? You want to try it?”
I winked at him and nodded. As we walked toward our house he said, “You know, I think in about nine months we will have a lot of babies to enjoy, if we’re still all together.”
“How do you know they take nine months, Joe?”
CHAPTER 32
Even though we had taught many of Foe’s people to relax and have fun, there were, like in any situation, some diehards. As more and more people started abandoning technology, these diehards began to fight.
They were angry that their equipment, they had worked so hard to build, was being abandoned. They were angry that their people had become lazy and didn’t want to work anymore. They were angry that we had come to their planet and ruined everything for them. Foe couldn’t reason with them and they were determined to change things back the way they had been before we came to their planet.
They had no interest in seeing the inside of the caves or watching the way they could fly and take them to safety. They could not think any other way but the way they had always known, even if it meant spending their last breath working on the spaceships to take them out of there.
There were only eight in this group and they finally took up weapons against the others, breaking into their houses at night and killing whole families if they wouldn’t agree to come back to the old ways.
“It’s just like on your planet, Joe,” I said, “And like the Mansonite planet. Isn’t it interesting how, no matter how much you can offer in the way of improvements and ways to make their lives better, there are always those who fight it?”
“It sure is. It’s like their brain is frozen in one place. They can’t imagine how anything could be any different than what they have known all along. It amazes me that scientists can be so narrow minded. From what I understand, the eight trouble makers are hiding out in the woods which means they can’t finish building the spaceships anyway.”
“Yeah, Foe said they will be put to death if they are caught so they’re screwed. They will probably come down out of the hills and continue killing people now just for pure spite.”
“Hmm well if that’s the way it is, then I don’t see why we even need to stay here, do you?”
“But, Joe Homan hasn’t given us any kind of a sign, so I guess we continue to wait and keep doing what we’re doing. Why don’t we all have a big picnic and concert today, but have it inside Homan this time so we will be safe from the rebels. If everyone is here then, who knows, maybe Homan will decide that we’re ready to go.”
It didn’t take long to get everything ready and everyone inside the cave. We women prepared so much food that we doubted it would all be eaten. All of the children went to the various lakes and streams to play and Joe and his band began practicing with the men from the planet who wanted to play in the band.
Joe had written some new songs and Josie was going to sing some of them. Joe and I had been teaching some of the couples how to dance and they really liked it. Excitement was running high.
I loved the companionship of being with all the women. The women from the planet had never interacted with each other much but I noticed some of them giggling together. None of them were wearing their uniforms or their wigs. They all had on long flowing skirts made of silk and silk tees in all colors. They were barefooted and their hair was blowing in the breeze. They were beautiful and looked so happy.
I saw Joe joking with the men and every now and then there would be a loud burst of laughter. All the men were wearing bellbottom jeans and tee shirts. Some were wearing sandals and some were barefooted.
Preparing for the big picnic and concert was as much fun as the event itself. The men had set up long tables for the food and built a stage. As we women carried the food to the tables, the men started whistling and making cat calls. Joe had taught them all that. The women started raising their skirts and flirting.
We were all yelling back and forth to the men and they were making promises for later. It was just a bunch of foolishness but it was wonderful to watch these people who had, not too long age, been uptight, stressed out and knowing nothing but work. Now they were looking so relaxed and enjoying themselves so much.
As the day progressed, the wine flowed and everyone who wasn’t in the band was dancing. The kids went back to swimming after they ate. Later in the evening, after the children had gone to bed, we spread blankets on the thick grass and talked. Everyone looked so relaxed and happy and I wondered how much longer we needed to be here.
Much later, when everyone had begun to yawn, we all said goodnight. We had invited everyone to stay in Homan, there was plenty of room.
CHAPTER 33
Joe and I had made love and were in a deep sleep when we felt the earthquake-like feeling that meant that Homan was uprooting and we were leaving.
We went outside our house and found everyone else there. Homan had become transparent again and we could see all the wa
y around us. This time it was much more spectacular for everywhere we looked we could see the other creatures “swimming” into space.
I could hear gasps, and exclamations from everywhere around us. I then heard someone say, “Look, it’s the outlaws.” When I looked down I saw the eight people who had refused to even discuss any alternative to building the spaceships shielding their eyes while looking up at us. I wondered if they had wished they could come with us.
I looked at Joe and said, “I need to go into the dark passage. I don’t know why and I don’t know how I know this, but I have to go right now.”
He kissed me and said, “Sure, sweetheart. Go,” He gave me a little push.
I sat on the floor of the passage and found the quiet place I had found before. “The student is ready,” I whispered.
“Ashley, as soon as we come to the next planet we will land. The people from the planet below will decide among themselves who will go in which of my children. Each one will occupy a different planet. My love and I will be taking you and your group back to earth to where and when you were before I came back. You will live out this life there. Now go back with the others.”
“But wait, I have some more questions.” I said.
All I got was silence and so I decided to let it go for now.
I found Joe and told him what Homan had said. “I’m sure going to miss these people,” was all he said and he turned away but not before I saw tears in his eyes. I felt like crying also. That was one of the things about this journey we were on. It involved a lot of loss and heartache. But it also involved joy.
I shared the news with the rest of the crowd and they began to talk among themselves trying to decide who was going with whom. They argued and argued until finally Foe took charge and had everyone put their names on a piece of paper which she put into a bowl.
She had one of the little boys draw out eight names. These she said would be in one group. She continued with each group of eight until they were all gone. They all seemed to be happy with the arrangement and I figured it was because of their scientific background, that this was an objective way of solving the problem.
These people would always be scientific and would probably accomplish a lot but now they were also able to take time to relax and have fun. I felt that they were well balanced.
I found Seth later in his room and he was crying. “Is it because you’re going to be separated from Sig?” I asked him as I rubbed his back.
“Mom, I don’t know what to do. I love her but I love you guys too. I can’t go with you and go with her too. What am I going to do?”
“I don’t know, Seth. It’s a decision only you can make. Whatever you decide I will stand by you, both your father and I will. But you will have to decide soon.”
After I left Seth, I went to find Joe. He was talking to some of the men from the planet we had just left. When he saw me he walked over and kissed me on the cheek, “Hi, gorgeous. Did you come to drag me back home and into bed?”
“No, I’m worried about Seth. He’s trying to decide whether to stay with us or go with Sig and her family.”
Then he said something that made me feel like an idiot, “Why not just ask the whole family to come with us?”
We did just that and it was settled and they were coming with us. So, when we landed on a small planet that had two moons, everyone boarded their assigned living spaceships and lifted off. We watched as the offspring “swam” through space and we all had tears in our eyes. I wondered if Homan and his mate were shedding tears and how that would manifest itself.
Soon Homan’s mate lifted off also and then it was just us. I cried while Joe held me and then we went back inside and into our house. We lifted off as soon as everyone was inside and we were on our way back to earth, to 1956.
CHAPTER 34
We landed where and when we left. The same place, on the beach in St. Augustine, Florida, Earth; and the same date, June first 1956. Our houses were where we had left them and it was as if we had never left.
Joe and his band were booked to play in a new club in downtown St. Augustine that night and they took the new members of the band with them. They were planning on introducing them and the new singers. Josie would also be singing.
Ginger, Sandra, Marion, and I went to inspect our shop and we found it just like we had left it. We were excited to open it back up the next day and decided to have a big sale.
Seth was so excited to show Sig and her parents, John and Marsha (Seth had named them from the Snowdrift commercial of that time) around and Sig was excited when she saw the ocean.
The children went back to school the next day and we opened the shop and put out the sale signs. Joe and the members of his band slept late after having played in the club until 3:00 a.m. The rest of the adults went back to their jobs and life went on as it had before we left.
We had only been back for a little over a week when the radio gave the forecast about a hurricane. We started boarding up our houses and the shop and buying the prepackaged foods we didn’t usually eat and filling the bathtubs with water.
The city workers began cutting the coconuts out of the palm trees so that the palm trees wouldn’t act as a slingshot. School was closed and the kids all thought it was a wonderful adventure. The eye of the hurricane was supposed to come through St. Augustine on Wednesday and it was now Tuesday morning.
It was already getting dark and we were worried. When I had lived here in my first life, there had been a terrible hurricane in 1963 that wiped out all of the houses on the beach but it had come straight in from the ocean. Most of them bounced along the coast.
This was supposed to be a mild hurricane and there was no talk about evacuating the beach but they were advising that we move inland. I decided to go into the cave and seek advice from Homan.
I entered the dark passage and sat cross-legged on the floor. “The student is ready,” I said.
“Ashley, you will all be safe. Don’t worry. I will protect you as always.” He told me he would later join up with the rest of his family after everyone was settled onto the planet where they had been taken. “They will be here soon and then we will live in outer space where we were meant to live. I will miss all of you humans but you will be fine without me, Ashley.” I sat there crying, “We will miss you too. Thank you so much for all you have done for us.”
“And thank you. If it hadn’t been for you humans I would have died long ago from depression. I had lost the will to live. Now I will be happy with my own family. It’s the way it was meant to be.”
CHAPTER 35
During the raging winds and heavy rains and the lightening that lit up the sky with bright green, we huddled inside our small houses. We sang songs and played games and ate the junk food we had bought.
One of the children suddenly yelled, “Look, everyone. Look what’s happening.” She was standing at the window looking out and when we gathered at the window we all laughed in delight, for out in the sky as far as we could see were Homan and his family shooting through the sky. It was so beautiful. They had all changed from colorless transparency to every color in the rainbow.
It was like a dance, a very high energy ballet. As we watched, we noticed some of the local folks venture out of their houses farther along the beach and watch. The wind almost blew them down and they had to hold onto each other.
All of a sudden Homan and his family got so close that they looked like one and then they burst off making trails of bright lights as they formed a circle. They come back together and did it again and I realized they were putting on a show for us and that this was their final farewell.
I had already told everyone about my talk with Homan in the dark passage and we stood watching as tears streamed down our faces. They came in tight together one more time before shooting off even faster and we could barely see them they had gone very high into the sky. We could barely see them but could see that they kept coming together and shooting off forming bright lights until we could see them n
o more.
As soon as they were out of sight everything stopped, the winds the rain the thunder and lightning, everything.
“Well, it looks like they took the hurricane with them,” Joe said.
The kids headed for the door but I stopped them, “It’s not over. You can’t go outside yet. We are in the eye of the hurricane.”
Hurricanes spin counterclockwise so that, if the eye comes through a coastal town on the Atlantic, the winds will come off the ocean, then the eye will come through. Then the winds will come off the shore out to the ocean. So you will know which part of the hurricane you are in.
We rode the storm out and when it was over we woke up the next morning and walked down on the beach. The best time to go shelling on the beach is right after a hurricane and we walked up and down the beach picking up conk shells, sand dollars, starfish and thousands of shells of all sizes.
There was also a lot of dead fish and other sea creatures. We spent several days cleaning the beach. We would be able to keep the kids busy with the shells for many hours.
Ginger came up with the idea of making shell jewelry to go in the shop and then I came up with the idea of decorating some of the beachwear with shells. We made belts out of shells and then Sandra came up with the idea of making sandals and decorating them with shells.
Soon word spread and people were coming from as far as Miami to the South and Monroe Beach, Georgia to the North. Our prices were very reasonable and some of the shop owners from up and down the coast ordered dozens of clothes and sandals. We soon had to buy a warehouse and hire more people.
Our operation became so big we were one of the main sources of income in St. Augustine. Joe and his band became so famous that they soon had records that went gold.
At no time were we tempted to build mansions like other stars did, but decided to use the extra to help more people. We funded the rebuilding of houses for people who had lost everything in earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
TIME AND TIME AGAIN The sequel to 3037 Page 10