A Loop in Time

by Clark Graham

  John just smiled back. Telling her no was a really hard thing to do.

  The two couples did get together again two years later when John and Emily went down to see the twins that Susan and Tim had adopted. They stayed a few weeks to help Susan adjust to the new family members. The girls were gorgeous. They both had blond hair. The twins were about a month old when they got them. One child had been a lot easier to raise than three. The twins seemed to take turns being awake.

  John went back after a week, but Emily stayed. John and Susan were the only relatives that each other had so they both vowed to spend more time together. The families would spend each holiday at one of their homes. They would take turns. They never wanted to go as long as two years between visits again.

  One Christmas Susan got John aside and asked, “is there anything coming up that I should worry about?” Ten year old Steven chased a ball that he had just received, with his two sisters close behind.

  “What do you mean?” John asked, although he knew perfectly well what she was referring to. Emily had learned not to ask over the years, but Susan ignored ‘the rules.’

  “Everything is going so well. I worry about what the future holds.”

  “Pretend I know nothing of the future. There are bridges that have to be crossed, but you handle every situation perfectly well.”

  “You’re not going to tell me about those bridges, are you?” Susan looked at him intently.

  “No, I’m not.” John said. It would be the last time Susan asked.

  They all went in for the Christmas dinner that Emily had made. While she was eating, Susan was worrying. There was a sadness in John’s eyes that she wondered about. She felt like something bad was going to happen, but John was keeping it to himself. What would be so awful that he would not talk to her about it?

  John and Emily attended every major function in the children’s lives. The school plays, the Christmas pageants through graduation from high school. Then college started and then came the weddings. Susan didn’t ask, but she worried that the kids had picked the right ones. John didn’t say anything so she figured that they did.

  Steven sat on the front porch swing with Uncle John during one of his visits. He got a serious tone all of a sudden and asked, “How do you know when you found have the right one? How did you know you should marry Emily?”

  John had to think about how to answer that one. He decided not to. “Are you thinking of asking someone to marry you?”

  “Yes. Her name is Judy. She’s adorable, she has this cute little button nose and dark black curly hair. I mean, not the type of curls that pile up on top of the head, just a kind of wavy hair.”

  John smiled to himself as Steven described John’s mother. “What is your heart telling you?”

  “It’s telling me to go for it.”

  “Then that’s what you should do.”

  “Thanks, Uncle John. I talked to Mom about it and she says you would have more insight than she does.”

  “She did, did she?” was all John dared to say.

  Steven married Judy from Nebraska. John cried at the wedding. When Emily asked what was going on, he replied that he had never seen his mother so happy and carefree. Emily wanted to ask what made it so she was not so carefree and happy in the future, but she bit her tongue.

  When the children started to come into Steve’s family, John and Emily’s visits became more frequent. John liked nothing more than to hold little Jason in his arms. He said this particular boy would need a lot of loving.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  When young Jason was around eight years old, John got up in the middle of the night and woke up Emily. “We have to go.”

  “Where are we going? It’s the middle of the night.”

  “Today’s going to be very bad; we need to be there for Susan and the rest of them.”

  Emily did not say another word, but got dressed. They drove down to Susan’s home in near silence. When they arrived at the house, there was a police car in the driveway.

  John jumped out to go up to the door, but Susan came out to the porch and slapped him hard.

  Her face was red and puffy and she had been crying. “You knew. You could have stopped this, but you chose not to.”

  Emily was shocked at what had just happened. “John knew what?”

  “Steve was killed in an accident today.” The words brought more tears from Susan, then she got angry again. “Why didn’t you say something? He didn’t have to die.”

  “He didn’t have to die on Second and Elm. He could have died on First Street or on Main. He would have died anyway. Time does not let you cheat death. If you are destined to die, you will die. It was his time. You have lost a son today. How about me? I have lost a son and a father. Do you know how painful that is?”

  Susan didn’t understand his reasoning, but she saw the pain in his eyes and it softened her heart towards him. She threw her arms around him and then started crying on his shoulder. Emily went inside to comfort Tim. When she walked through the door she saw that Judy was there too, so she hugged her.

  Judy was puzzled. “How did you get here so fast? Why did Susan slap John?”

  “John had a premonition, so we started driving. Susan is just upset, she’ll get over it.”

  Tim got up from the couch where he had been holding a crying Jason. He went over to Emily and hugged her. “Thanks for coming.”

  Judy had heard everything that Susan and John had said to each other. It upset her, but still she didn’t know what it meant. Now was not the time to ask questions.

  Susan and John came into the house still holding on to each other. Susan had cried some more but she was getting her composure back. “Judy, you and Jason can move in with us until you get back on your feet. We can move your stuff into the garage. We don’t want you going to find a job just yet.”

  Judy nodded. Her eyes were bloodshot and she knew that without Steven’s income, she could not make the house payment.

  “Never mind that. I will pay off your mortgage. It is important to me that you stay living in the same place. It is a good area to raise children.”

  Judy was eternally grateful. She went over and hugged Uncle John. When she looked him in the eye she said, “Your cheek is really red.”

  “Just a little misunderstanding.”

  “Thank you, Uncle John, for your huge generosity. I will never forget it. What can I do to ever repay you?”

  “You can raise that boy to be a good man. That is the only payment I will ever need.”

  Susan started misting up again. She now understood what was going on. Everything happens for a purpose. It had all happened before and would happen again. Still, she had lost a son today and was sadder than she thought she could ever possibly be.

  John and Emily stayed the week to take care of all of Steve’s affairs. They paid off the house, paid up the insurance on it for a couple of years and then dealt with the taxes, too. He made it so all future tax bills would go to his address in Idaho.

  The funeral was held in the local cathedral. It was well attended as Steven was well known in the community for his volunteer work. Afterward John and Emily did not even go back to the house, but excused themselves and drove home.

  On the way back Emily asked, “Can we afford all of this?”

  “Easily. My investments are worth almost a million. I don’t want to cross that line because people start looking into who you are if you get the title ‘millionaire,’ so we are just under it.”

  She sat back in the seat and relaxed but added, “I would like to travel someday. Italy would be nice, Paris too.”

  “I know my Uncle John took a cruise to the Caribbean. I don’t remember what year that was. Do you want it to be this one?”

  “Yes, but I get to plan it. I will be calling a travel agent as soon as I get home.”

  John smiled. “Fair enough.”

  It was an evening several weeks after the accident and the funeral that Judy was visiting Susan and
Tim. She had wondered what happened and what was going on after she saw Susan slap John. Now was the time to get some answers. “What exactly is the relationship between you and John?” she asked Susan.

  “He’s just a good family friend,” Susan replied. Her heart twanged at having to tell a lie.

  “That’s the answer I expected, but it’s not the complete truth. I overheard you on the porch the day of the crash. You slapped John and asked why he didn’t say something and that Steve didn’t have to die. How would John know that?”

  Tim walked into the room at that point and Susan looked up in panic to him. He got the message that the conversation was taking a bad turn.

  Susan replied, “John is pretty good at predicting the future, is all. I would have thought he could have figured it out or something.”

  “But in fact he did know somehow, didn’t he? He was there before we could call and tell him. Then he said that time does not let you cheat it, if you are going to die then you die. What does that mean?”

  Tim was about to excuse himself but he saw how Susan was struggling so he jumped in. “Every family has its secrets. John is our secret. He does know the future. I cannot tell you why because you wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

  “You did say family. I was led to believe that he was only a friend, but you said family. He said that he lost a son and a father that day. I heard him say it when he was still on the front porch.”

  Susan let out a long sigh. “I was married to John before Tim and I tied the knot. Steven was John’s son, not Tim’s.”

  Judy was wide eyed when Susan said it. “Wow, so I should have Jason call John Grandpa instead of Uncle.”

  “No, he is to remain Uncle John.” Tim replied. “He would be very angry at us for telling you any of this.”

  “Why?” Judy was puzzled.

  “Because, Honey,” Susan replied. “John’s real name is Jason, as in your Jason. He was in a plane wreck that somehow brought him back in time. That is why he also lost a father that day.”

  Judy sat down. “I knew it. I mean I didn’t know it, but when I look into his John’s eyes, I see Jason. The facial features are the same, the crooked smile and that sense of humor. I watched them both one day, playing on the kitchen floor. They were laughing at the exact same thing.”

  “You mean you believe us?” Tim asked.

  “A mother always recognizes her own son, no matter how old he gets.” Judy looked over to Susan and said, “It must have been really weird being married to your own grandson!” She sounded accusatory if one listened really closely.

  “He had amnesia at the time. Right in the middle of a wonderful honeymoon, his memory came back. It was very awkward.”

  Judy tried not to, but she ended up giggling which caused Susan and Tim to laugh, too. It cut the tension.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  It was at the graduation of Jason from the Air Force Academy years later that Judy finally revealed what she had known all of those years earlier. She had sat next to John as the diplomas were handed out.

  “How long do I have left with my son?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  She turned to face him. “How long do I have my son until the accident that takes him away from me?”

  John faced her, “Mom, I will always be with you, as long as I live. He will take his loop in time in four years, but you have had two of us. That is more than most moms get.”

  Judy began to cry and wrapped her arms around John, “I love you, Son,” she said through the tears. “Thank you for being here for me.”

  “I love you, Mom. You have been a great mother for me.”

  They sat there and held each other for the longest time with the people around them in the audience wondering what it was about the graduation that had the two of them so emotional.

  That night there was a big family dinner at a local restaurant. John had rented the hall for the occasion. There were toasts all around and then dancing and music. Jason had brought a girl with him.

  Emily was a little jealous. “Who’s that?” she asked. “Your younger self seems to like her a lot.”

  John smiled, “that’s Lisa. She was my study partner. We hung out a lot together. There is nothing romantic going on between them, I assure you.”

  “I don’t know about her little red dress, and I do mean little.”

  John just laughed, then added, “If we were able to go find you at this age, who would we find you with?”

  Susan just folded her arms. “Never mind that.”

  John laughed again.

  When the song was over Jason and his date came up to his mom. “We have a graduation party to get to. Do you mind if we leave here a little early?”

  Judy looked over at John to see if that was a good idea. He just nodded, so she said, “sure.”

  The two left and John took Susan and danced with her. Tim grabbed Emily and joined them on the dance floor. They stayed on the floor during the next dance but switched partners.

  It was during the band’s intermission that John tried to excuse himself. “I have got to go, but I will be right back.”

  “Where on earth are you going?” Susan asked.

  “I have my future self to save from a thrashing at a bar. The same bar that my Uncle John came in and rescued me.”

  “By all means, hurry,” Judy said.

  John left.

  Jason had dropped off his date and then went to hit a bar before he headed home. It was the same place he had been two days before. That skinny kid he had beat in pool last time had gotten mad, but wasn’t able to do anything about it. This time he had two very large friends with him.

  “There he is,” the skinny kid said as Jason entered. The two large friends started walking towards Jason.

  “I don’t want trouble,” Jason said as they approached.

  “You may not want it, but you got it,” the largest of the friends replied.

  “Stand down, boys,” came a voice behind Jason.

  Jason turned to see his Uncle John standing there. Boy, was he glad to see him.

  “Who are you?” the skinny kid asked John.

  “I am John Buck; you might recognize my name. If not, you might look at your scholarship checks, Randy, you will see my signature on the bottom of them. You wouldn’t want those checks to stop, would you, especially over a game of pool?”

  “Come on guys, it’s time to go home,” Randy said to his friends.

  Jason was shaking his head. “What just happened?”

  “Just a misunderstanding, come, it’s time to get back to the party.”

  “You’re paying his tuition?”

  “Trust me, that boy will pay me huge dividends in a few years, but he will always suck at pool.”

  Jason just looked at him, “you’re amazing, Uncle John. Thank you.”

  “I am positive that you would do the same for me.”

  They both left the bar and went back to the family’s party.

  When Jason got there, everyone gathered around him to find out what had happened. He told them how his uncle had saved his life with just a few words.

  Emily asked him, “What happened to the girl?”

  “Oh, I took her home after the party. She isn’t much for staying out late.”

  Emily smiled, but she should have believed John in the first place and she knew it.

  After the party broke up, John kissed his mother and then Susan and said goodbye. Emily and he started home that night.

  Jason looked at his mother, “You know, he isn’t actually related to us. He is just a good family friend. I don’t know if kissing him is appropriate.”

  “Jason, you have a lot to learn. He saved my son; of course he gets a kiss.”

  “Oh, that.”

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  “There it is again, just like yesterday.” The radar technician looked down at his screen. “Just one blip and then it’s gone again. It’s been five days in a row. What do you make of
it?”

  The lieutenant shook his head. “That is the weirdest thing that I ever saw. Every day it moves close to us, and then disappears. I will inform Command; they wanted to know if it happened again.”

  “Do you think they will scrub the flight test because of it?”

  “I don’t think a hurricane would scrub the test this time around. It has been scrubbed six times already. I think it’s going to be a Go, no matter what.”

  General Avery was going over all of the final reports when the lieutenant was allowed in. He was in his early fifties but very fit and energetic. He was the ideal person to head up a program such as this. If the new engine worked, it would revolutionize fighter development for the next fifty years. It would be way ahead of anything the Russians or the Chinese could do.

  Avery only had a small amount of grey hair on the edges of his sideburns. He stood six two and had a pleasant smile that was sometimes lost in his businesslike exterior.

  “Yes, LT, what do you have?” he asked.

  The Lieutenant cleared his throat. “Sir, the blip happened again. It is still coming closer.”

  “What do you make of it?”

  “It’s like there is something there, but it keeps disappearing. I have never seen anything like it.”

  The general thought for a minute then said, “Keep me posted. If you figure out what it is, let me know right away, even if it’s only an errant weather balloon.”

  “Yes, Sir, do you mean like the ones they have over Roswell, Sir?”

  The General allowed himself to smile. “If it’s a Roswell type weather balloon, I expect you to run, not walk to me office and report it.”

  “Yes, Sir,” the lieutenant said and then he was gone.

  The general went back to his reports, but he was soon interrupted again. This time it was Dr. Andy Zurcher, his chief engineer.

  “Come in, Andy. What’s going on?”

  “Just wanted to see what all the reports say, other than the one I wrote.”

  Avery looked over his desk, “they say that everything is a Go. The engines are tuned, the airplane has been inspected and reinspected. The pilot’s in prime health.”