The Chardon Chronicles: Season One -- The Harvest Festival

by Kevin Kimmich

  Dana said, “It’s never dull here!”

  Matt drank a big gulp of coffee. “Mid life crisis? Shouldn’t I get a sports car and another girlfriend?” he laughed. Johnny high fived him.

  Telia held up her hand and shushed them, “Quiet!” she whispered. The others listened. “Hear that?”

  They heard Amy retching. Matt got up. “I guess that’s my mid life crisis calling me. Hey Dana, do you know anything about addiction? I thought you might be able to get a read on this girl.”

  She stood up and followed Matt up the stairs.

  Telia walked around behind Johnny. She put her hand on the back of his neck and stood very close. “Do you want to go work on the reflector today?”

  Johnny was used to Dana getting into his personal space and being sexually provocative at random times, but Telia was throwing him severely off balance. His brain zeroed in on all the spots her body was bumping into him. He tried to remain casual, but his voice cracked a little, “yeah, sure. There’s always more to do.”

  She lightly kissed the back of his neck and rubbed his shoulders and pressed her body against him. “Excellent. Let me know whenever you’re ready. I’ll be on the patio.”

  Chapter Seven

  The bathroom door was open slightly. Matt knocked. “Hey, Amy? You alright?”

  “No.” she groaned.

  Dana opened the door. Amy was on the floor next to the toilet. Her nose and the side of her face were crusted with snot. Dana knelt down, “Oh, ugh.” she put her arm in front of her nose.

  “Sorry about that smell.” Amy mumbled. “Can’t help it.”

  Dana inspected Amy and put a hand on her chest. Dana could feel her heart racing. “Well, girl, you are nowhere near death’s door physically, I can feel that, but man, there’s not much you left.” She stood up and looked at Matt and shrugged.

  “Well?” he asked. “What’s your take?” They stepped out into the hall.

  Dana said, “I really don’t know. When I do readings, all kinds of people stop in. Believe me, there are lots and lots of addicts walking the streets that are otherwise normal functioning adults. They all feel the same: nobody home in there.” she patted his chest and left her hand there. “You, or Johnny, or Telia, I feel a presence. With you, it’s really strong.”

  Matt asked, “What did you do for them?”

  She furrowed her brow. “Unfortunately, they are really hard to reach and pull back. I did work with a college girl who was an Adderall tweaker. It was like she had to work her way out of a maze, and eventually she did. But, she was really intelligent.”

  “Alright, so I guess it really depends on her. We can try to help, but maybe not expect much.”

  Dana nodded, “seems about right. Anyway, good luck.”

  Chapter Eight

  Dana grabbed a couple pieces of now cold toast and walked out toward the Flying Fox. Telia was on the patio, stretched out luxuriously on a lounge chair.

  “Dana!” she called out.

  Dana stopped in her tracks. She rolled her eyes, then turned around. “Yeah?”

  “Oh come here, girl!” she beckoned.

  Dana took a bite of the toast and walked over to the patio. Telia was stretched to her full length on the lounge chair. She was wearing a light weight T-shirt that hugged her curves and some light weight white linen pants. She shifted languidly onto her side and patted the lounger.

  Dana sat down. Telia rubbed her back and said, “I am in the mood to do some clothes shopping today. I know it’s not your normal thing, but I think it would be really fun for us to go together. I’ve always liked your style. Maybe you can help me try something new. A real change of pace.”

  Dana laughed, “You mean hipster pin-up girl with practical shoes?” She put her arm on Telia and kicked one leg in the air, striking a pose.

  Telia laughed and Dana put her hand on Telia’s chest and looked at her. Telia smiled slyly, “Aren’t you at least going to pinch my nipple?”

  Dana laughed. “Tee, you sure turned over a new leaf! Why don’t we go this afternoon?”

  “OK. It’ll be fun!” Telia said.

  Dana continued on to the Flying Fox. Johnny was on the computer answering some emails. She kissed his head. “Hey, I’m going shopping with Telia later, she likes my style, now.” she chuckled.

  “I thought you didn’t get along?” He said. “Is she always like this? I mean, extremely, well, what’s the word, aggressively affectionate?”

  “As long as I’ve known her, she’s been really square, I mean totally constrained. Maybe we finally rubbed off on her.” Dana smiled.

  “Well, she almost rubbed off on my back this morning.” he laughed.

  “Oh reaaalllly, whatever do you mean?” she asked coyly and wrapped her arms around his head and pressed her womanhood against him.

  He laughed, “a little like that, but not that much.”

  “Maybe she just likes your man stank.” She inhaled.

  Chapter Nine

  Telia walked slowly around the reflector while Johnny booted up the computer and powered up the control electronics. The quiet warehouse hummed with the sound of cooling fans. He kept a wary eye on her. Telia had dropped all boundaries she had with him previously and he still wasn’t sure how to respond.

  She made her way around and stood behind him, “hey can you show me how to do all this myself?” she gestured at the controller.

  “Oh sure, it’s really easy. I’ll walk you through the steps.” he shut the systems down.

  “Really, all you need to do is power up this panel,” he flipped a switch on the controller, which was mounted in a tall narrow rack. “Wait a few seconds until this light turns green.” He pointed at the light. It changed color from yellow to green. “Then power up the computer. It’ll start the right program automatically.”

  She nodded. He plopped down in the chair by the computer. He pointed at a notepad on the right of the computer and said, “These are the coordinates.”

  She sat on his lap and said, “let me see. Then put them in here?” She typed in the terminal tower coordinates.

  “Yep. Click on the ‘GO’ icon. Then the system will point the reflector. It’s that easy.”

  She clicked the mouse button and the gimbals swung the reflector and chair around.

  “I feel something else pointing.” She laughed and wriggled her butt. She put her arm around his shoulders. “I’m going to go over now.” she took a swig of the peyote tea. “It’s an acquired taste.” she kissed him on the lips.

  “Ugh, yeah.” he wiped it off. “Hey, by the way Telia, I really like your openness, but I’m not sure what it means. I’m not too swift when it comes to these things.”

  She pointed at the reflector. “Did anything ever happen to you that completely changed your perspective, that totally rendered your prior beliefs ridiculous?”

  He nodded. “Yes. Really that’s why I’m here.”

  “Going over there makes everything here seem so extremely real and beautiful. I can barely stand it.” she embraced him with all her strength. He squeezed her.

  She climbed up into the chair. “See you soon!” she waved at him in a few moments she connected to the other side.

  Chapter Ten

  Robbie called Matt, “I got your text about Amy. I know a guy in Phoenix that does an intensive addiction recovery program. Does stuff with psychedelics and meditation, but that’s about all I know.”

  Matt sighed, “She’s a wreck right now. It’s hard to imagine a cross country trip in that condition. She’s basically living in the bathroom.”

  Robbie grunted. He scratched his head and asked the question that puzzled him since he got the text. “How did this happen? What’s your connection to this girl?”

  “I really don’t know how it did. She seemed completely lost when I met her, and I thought we could help her out. I mean, that’s what we do, right?”

  “I can’t argue with that.” Robbie said. “So have you put the work with the re
flector on hold?”

  “I’m taking a little break. I hit a mental roadblock on it, but Johnny is refining the thing and Telia’s been helping him out.”

  “Really? Telia helping. That’s great!” he laughed. “Is she building the thing? It’s hard to imagine her wrenching on a project.”

  Matt laughed, “yeah, I guess she was actually really good at it. She’s also made a couple of trips to the other side.”

  Robbie frowned, “You think that’s wise? We really don’t know what might happen, Matt. She’s totally new to this world. She hasn’t seen what we’ve seen.”

  Matt was quiet for a few moments. “Who am I to prevent her from trying it? I think it’s OK, anyway. It’s been a life changing experience for her.”

  Robbie sighed, “I guess you’re right. I’m going to head back home tonight. David’s going to stay out here, but I need a break from the road. Is there room?”

  “Oh yeah, plenty. Johnny and Dana stay out in their tour bus.”

  Chapter Eleven

  When Telia arrived on the shore, the scene was almost as vivid as real life. The gray sky was now a dark blue and high wispy clouds rolled by. She imagined the computer screen back in the warehouse, and she saw a ghostly image of the room and saw Johnny sitting there making notes.

  “Johnny, you should shave your beard.” she thought. She tried to run a hand through his beard, but it was like touching vapor.

  “Hallooo.” She heard voice call her. She returned her attention to the caller. It was Louis and Samantha. She embraced them both and held onto Samantha’s hand.

  “You seem different!” Samantha said.

  “People keep telling me that.” She smiled.

  Louis held his arms out and breathed deep. “Oh, you bring that breeze. It is wonderful.”

  Telia asked, “You mean it’s not like this all the time?”

  “No, you bring this with you. Usually it is very dim and dull.” Samantha said. She stroked Telia’s arm, then pulled her close. “Let’s go back toward the city. We have some plans to talk about.”

  The walk to what they called the city seemed much shorter than last time. There were a few houses with walls of white stacked stones that were built into the hillside.

  Louis sat on a rock and invited Telia to sit. Samantha sat next to her.

  “We think your machine could help it be like this all the time here. It would heal this land, which is so sick.” Louis said.

  Samantha hugged her, the touch was electric again, “If we heal this place, we heal your world, too.”

  Telia’s face became serious. “We do have plans to make another one. I’m not sure what it will take…”

  “Money?” Louis asked.

  “That’s part of it. We usually don’t need any money to do these projects, but it makes it much easier.” She said.

  Samantha chuckled, “Oh dear thing, money’s no problem.” She stroked Telia’s thigh.

  Louis laughed and nodded and held his two fingers close together. “Tiny problem. Money is as fake as this place!”

  Samantha asked, “Do you remember that trick with the crow?”

  Telia nodded and smiled, “I tried something else today. I could see into the other world. I tried sending a thought to my friend. When I get back, I’ll see if it worked.”

  Samantha’s eyes grew large, “Oh my goodness! You are a truly amazing woman.” She kissed Telia on the lips. Samantha’s lips were warm and soft. Telia felt a soft surge through her whole body, like she’d been suddenly immersed in a tub of warm honey. “You are halfway there.”

  Louis held Samantha’s hand, and Samantha held Telia’s. He said, “A lesson, If I pull Sam’s arm, does she not pull yours?” He leaned over and pulled Samantha and she leaned over and pulled Telia.

  Samantha said, “In terms of connections, your world is actually very small. You could be a queen of influence, see?”

  Telia nodded. “I do understand that.”

  Louis said, “So really, there is no problem, right? Especially if you have any wealthy friends already.”

  “I actually do.” Telia nodded. She thought about the parents at Tweedy Pines.

  Samantha and Louis both smiled.

  “Maybe next time you come, you should bring such a friend? It couldn’t hurt. We can’t see where the road leads until we start down it.” Samantha looked deep into her eyes. Samantha stroked Telia’s hair, then kissed her again.

  Telia regained normal consciousness. She felt a strong, lingering, sensual energy like she’d been the object of hours of foreplay. She could almost taste the sensation. She held up her hand to see if she was in the real world. She climbed down the ladder.

  “Oh my god…” she said. Her pupils were dilated and she was flushed and sweating lightly. “It was more intense than last time.”

  “I guess it all goes on up there.” he pointed at her head. “Your heart rate and breathing were normal until the very end, then shot up. Then you woke back up.”

  “How long was I over there?” she asked.

  “Just like five minutes. Actually 5:45.” he looked at his notes.

  “It seemed like an hour, at least. Whew! That time it was like I closed my eyes and was somewhere else, it was like real life.”

  Johnny smiled. “I think we’re perfecting this technology and the technique.” He scratched his beard.

  “Is that thing bothering you?” She ran her hand over his beard.

  “I’ve been farming this thing for about a year, now. It is really scratchy this afternoon. Maybe it’s time for it to go.”

  She smiled impishly. “Maybe it is...”

  Chapter Twelve

  Matt spent part of the morning in the library researching opiate addiction and part of the day playing nurse to Amy. She could keep a dilute sports drink down for a while, but couldn’t eat anything. They were keeping the washing machine running continuously. He feared he’d probably have to take her to the hospital, she was getting so weak she could barely stand up.

  He was folding laundry when Telia returned.

  “Oh gawd!” she said, “A man who changed the world is working as an orderly for a girl he barely knows!” she sat next to him and kissed the side of his face.

  “Yeah… I think I might need to get her to the hospital. She’s in rough shape.” He sighed. “What do you mean: changed the world?”

  She tapped a knuckle on his head. “Hello?! You still don’t see it. You created a way to connect to a whole ‘nother world.” she groaned with exasperation. “It’s incredible, now that we’ve adjusted it. It’s like I close my eyes here and am transported to a different place. It’s green and breezy.”

  Matt raised his eyebrows and put the laundry down. “You’re right…”

  Telia cut him off, “Matt I’ve been able to do things in our world, too. I was able to see through a crow’s eyes.” She leaned back on the couch. “I mean that alone was the most amazing thing that’s happened in my life… It’s like magic is real.”

  “That really is amazing, Tee.” he said. “You’re right, I think my preconceptions about what we’d find really soured it for me.”

  “Anyway, I’m gonna go shopping today with Dana. I hope you can get out of this,” she waved at the laundry pile, “and get back to your real work. Oh! I’m going over to Tweedy tomorrow for Parents Night.”

  “Yeah, I’ll go too. I’ll get Amy taken care of, somehow.”

  She kissed him. Johnny and Dana walked into the house. Johnny was rubbing his clean shaven chin.

  Dana said, “Check out this baby face. It’s so smooth.” she felt his cheek.

  Telia laughed. “You look sooo different. It looks good.” she lightly pinched his chin.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Telia and Dana drove to Cleveland Heights to do some shopping. Dana picked a few different stores to check out: some boutiques and some thrift shops. They went to a thrift shop on Coventry. The place was in an old building with scratched up hardwood floors and expose
d brick walls. There was no discernable system to the racks of clothes.

  “Do you remember the 80’s?” Telia asked. “Well, of course you don’t you were, what, 5?”

  Dana snickered, “Yeah, I was born in 1985.”

  “I had huge hair. Enormous. I am going to bring that back. Well a version of it.” She stopped in front of a full length mirror that was attached to a pillar.

  “You do have great hair.” Dana said. She ran her fingers over Telia’s ponytail.

  “Well, it used to be great, now it’s just a little dried out. I think I’ll see if I can get that glossy sheen back.”

  Dana grunted and furrowed her brow. “Telia, I never thought you were really concerned about your look.”

  Telia nodded, “I really wasn’t. Growing up, my family put less than zero value on appearance. Matt’s family is the same. But, I’m really just starting to appreciate its power.”