Lucky for them, he thought.
It was late afternoon as the flock approached the ravine. Greshmere noticed a full moon already rising to the east as he followed the rest through the trees down to the cave. When he landed, Greshmere recognized Mitzy’s Doo-Key Harpy and a few other familiar faces waiting to greet them.
“Did you have a good time?” Harpy asked Mitzy.
“It was a blast! And look who I ran into!” she said, motioning to Greshmere.
“Hello, Greshmere. Welcome back to our humble abode!”
“Thanks, Harpy.”
“Will you be staying the night?”
“Yes, he will,” Mitzy answered for him. “And even longer than that, right Greshmere?”
“Uh, yeah. I suppose so.”
“Well, you make yourself comfortable and let me know if you need anything,” Harpy said.
“Thank you.”
Greshmere watched as Kenzy and Brea landed. They immediately headed over to another bluebird that had apparently been awaiting them. What caught his attention was how much Kenzy resembled the adult female. Except for their size difference, they were almost carbon copies of one another.
“Why does the other bluebird and Kenzy look so much alike?” Greshmere asked Mitzy.
Mitzy looked over and replied, “Because she is Kenzy’s mother.”
“You mean they arrived here together? Isn’t that unusual?”
“Oh yes, it is rare. But it does happen once in a while.”
“But I thought you said that Brea was Kenzy’s Doo-Key. What does she need a Doo-Key for if her mother is here, too?”
“I see why you’re confused. Why don’t I just introduce you to Jazzy and let her explain it to you?”
Greshmere followed Mitzy over to the small group.
“Jazzy, I’d like to introduce you to Greshmere.”
The bird glanced over at him and said, “Nice to meet you.”
Greshmere couldn’t believe what he’ just heard.
Her voice sounded exactly like Megan’s!
He stood there speechless for a moment, shocked and unsure of what to do or say. Was it possible? Could this be Megan? Why else would she sound just like Megan?
Surely he was imagining this.
Surely.
“Nice to meet you, Jazzy,” he managed to get out.
“And I assume you’ve already met Kenzy,” she said.
“Uh, yes. She didn’t have much to say, though.”
“She’s shy around strangers. Once she gets to know you though, it’s hard to get her to stop!”
Mitzy said, “Greshmere just asked me why Brea is Kenzy’s Doo-Key since you’re her birth mother. I told him that you could explain.”
“Oh, I see. Well, when I first arrived here I found myself in a nest high up in a tree in the middle of a huge park. As you no doubt already know, I had no idea who or where I was. I also had this little chickadee all snuggled up against me, crying her head off. Greshmere, I don’t know how long you’ve been here but I’m sure you can remember how strange and surreal those first few moments are when you wake up in heaven. It was overwhelming!”
Greshmere was trying his hardest to not focus on her voice and focus on her story. It was nearly impossible to do.
He said, “It wasn’t that long ago for me, either—I can still remember those moments like it was only yesterday.”
Jazzy continued. “So I remained there for several minutes while Kenzy just kept crying and crying louder and louder. I was absolutely clueless what to do. I was afraid to leave the nest because of Kenzy, but I knew I had to do something. I had no idea how to communicate yet, so I just started chirping like mad in frustration. And this just made Kenzy cry even louder!
“Then a miracle happened. Out of nowhere, Brea appeared and began communicating with me. She told me where I was and how I got here. She then explained to me that I had passed away while pregnant with this child. That explained Kenzy at least. She then went on to say that she would be Kenzy’s Doo-Key until the both of us could make it here on our own.”
“So how did Kenzy learn how to speak so quickly? I mean, she’s only a baby,” Greshmere asked.
Jazzy replied, “Amazingly, it didn’t take her long at all to pick it up. You were speaking by the end of the third day in fact, weren’t you, Kenzy?”
She nodded her head. “Yes, Mommy.”
“Everything is easy with you, child,” Brea declared. She turned to Jazzy. “She’s flying like an ace, Jazz. She kept up with us all the way to Raven Rocks and back without a hitch.”
“That’s my girl,” Jazzy said proudly.
“I think I’m ready to do a flip!” the little bird blurted out.
“Well, we’ll have to see about that, Kenz,” Jazzy said. She looked at Greshmere. “So anyway, that’s why Kenzy has a Doo-Key in addition to me. We both still have much to learn and Brea has been a most gracious mentor.”
Greshmere said, “What I still don’t understand is how a virtual newborn can learn so much so quickly. It’s remarkable!”
“Brea says that by being so young, a baby has the ability to grasp new things at least ten times faster than an adult can. Being in heaven seems to have a lot to do with it, too,” she added.
“Yeah, a lot of things are different here,” Greshmere declared almost under his breath.
There was a moment of awkward silence. Greshmere suddenly realized that Mitzy in the meantime had gone over to talk to Harpy, leaving him there on his own. He did not want his conversation with Jazzy to end, yet he wasn’t sure what else to say.
What he now knew for certain, as incredible as it seemed, was that Jazzy had been his wife in his former life. It all added up.
And that made little Kenzy their miracle child.
He felt absolutely elated and frustrated at the same time. There was one major catch to this scenario: Megan is totally unaware of it.
Which in turn made it all irrelevant. And it’s not like he could tell her what was going on. Just come out and say something like, “I’m Daniel, Megan—remember me? I was your husband and father of this child in our former life!”
Not only would she never believe him, it was not his place to bring it up. Shnarker would have a conniption if he were to find out! And besides that, what would be the use? This bird had no feelings for him and he could never in a million years expect her to. Without her knowing their past, their relationship here was a non-starter.
That moment, Greshmere wanted to scream. Could things get any worse than this? He felt like a two-time loser.
But he quickly recovered. He was not about to give up this easily.
He suddenly had an idea.
“Would you mind going on a little flight with me?” he said.
She looked at him oddly—as if she really didn’t know what to say. And then she replied.
“Sure, I’d like that.”
Greshmere nearly whooped for joy.
“Great! There’s a place I want you to see that’s not far from here.”
“I can’t be gone long, though. I have a child who needs her mother.”
“You take your time, Jazz. I’ll look after Kenzy,” Brea said.
“Thanks, Brea.”
Jazzy leaned down and snuggled her head against Kenzy’s. “Love you. I’ll be back soon, honey.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
“I’ll let Mitzy know,” Greshmere said.
He went over and told Mitzy. She didn’t seem surprised, which was strange.
“Have fun!” she simply said.
Does she know something I don’t? he wondered.
He and Jazzy then took off together.
There were a million and one things Greshmere wanted to say as he thought about the bird flying beside him. But it would all have to wait. He wasn’t sure if his plan would work but he refused to dwell on that, choosing instead to focus on the positive. If this was truly Megan, which he knew for certain it was, then this was all supposed to happen. At le
ast it sure seemed that way. Surely, taking her to the Point would jar her memory. It just had to!
His mind flashed back to the very first time he’d taken Megan out on a date. He had taken her for a ride in his old classic VW and had been as surprised then as he was now that she had been willing to go out with him. History seemed to be repeating itself. For the very first time since being in heaven, he was beginning to feel like Daniel Kendall again. It was odd and wonderful at the same time.
Megan was making it happen.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To a place called the Point. Have you heard of it?”
“No. What’s so special about it?”
“You’ll find out.”
They were almost there. They were flying high enough that he could already see the General Grant Bridge in the distance. He wanted to point it out to her just to see her reaction but was afraid to. She needed to view it from the Point.
“Where exactly were you when you first woke up here in heaven?” he asked.
“Chicago,” she replied. “In a city park not far from Wrigley Field.”
Greshmere nearly choked. This made him think of the murderer.
“How in the world did you end up in southern Ohio?” he asked.
“It was actually Brea’s idea. I can still hear her words: ‘Let’s get out of this crazy city, girl! I’m gonna take you to God’s country!’”
Greshmere laughed. Jazzy laughed, too. He’d know that laugh anywhere.
“Did Brea say anything about Kenzy? I mean, like do you know anything about how Kenzy came about?”
“I know all about the birds and bees, Greshmere!” she joked. “But seriously? She just told me that Kenzy’s father must have been a good man because she was such a wonderful child. And that I must have made him a wonderful wife.”
“That I don’t doubt is true,” Greshmere said. “See that clearing down there? That’s the Point.”
They flew through the clearing and Greshmere glided over and came to rest on the railroad tie. He watched Jazzy closely as she touched down beside him. He waited a moment to give her a chance to look around the area. When she spotted the General Grant Bridge, he thought he saw a spark of recognition in her eyes, but he wasn’t sure.
“This is a great view of the bridge. They obviously made this clearing just for the view,” she said.
“You’ve seen this bridge before, right?”
“Of course. I’ve been here for over a month—it’s pretty hard to miss!”
Not what he really wanted to hear.
“Did Brea give you the lowdown on memories? How everything we see that looks familiar is not from memories of our former lives but just a part of the knowledge we acquired?”
“Yeah, she did. Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know, really. I just know that when I was in New York City not long after I awoke, I really felt like I’d been there before and was recalling places I’d been to. My Who-Key immediately informed me that this couldn’t be the case—that I’d just retained knowledge of the place and that’s what made it seem familiar. I had the hardest time believing that for some reason.”
“Why do you suppose that was?” she asked.
“Not sure, really. Have you ever felt that way since you’ve been here? You know, like you’ve been here before—a déjà vu sort of thing?”
“No, not really. But that may be because I haven’t been to any place I’d been to before, yet. How would I know? Take Chicago, for example. The place had been like a foreign land to me! So apparently I had minimal if any knowledge of the place as a human. Same with this place. None of it looks the least bit familiar to me. For all I know, I could have come from another country.”
Greshmere was devastated. Wouldn’t she at least have some knowledge about this place if she were Megan? It was beginning to look like he had been wrong after all.
But he wasn’t ready to give up yet.
“Did Brea discuss rediscovery to you, by any chance?”
“Is that the thing where souls try to find out about their former lives?”
“Yes.”
“When she told me about it, all I could do was wonder why anybody would want to do that. I have been so happy and content living here with my child! I can’t imagine wanting to know what life was like before this and possibly mess everything up.”
That was it, Greshmere thought. He dare not go any further with this. This bird was not Megan and even if she was, she had absolutely no desire to know about it.
Got to let it go.
It was breaking his heart. But at the same time, he envied her and was certainly not about to take any chance of messing things up for her, too.
“Greshmere, may I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why did you ask me to come here with you?”
He paused a moment, searching for words.
“Well, if you want to know the truth, I wanted to get to know you better.”
“I’m flattered. Really. But why all of these odd questions?”
Lying had always been difficult for him back when he was a human. And since coming here, it had been impossible. The temptation was there, but he could not do it.
“Well, that’s sort of hard to answer.”
“And why is that?”
“Uh, because I don’t want to say anything that might, uh, ‘mess everything up’ as you say.”
“Greshmere, how could anything you say possibly mess things up? We don’t even know each other!”
“What if I told you that I’m not so sure about that? At least, that’s what I thought at first.”
“This isn’t making any sense. Come on, tell me the truth! This is really starting to upset me.”
That did it.
“Okay, I’ll tell you the truth. But just remember that you asked for it. And please don’t be angry with me.”
“Now I’m intrigued! Tell me!”
Greshmere cleared his throat. “I asked you here because I thought you had been somebody in my former life. I had to find out! But I now realize that I was wrong. And for that reason, I am hesitant to say anymore about it because, I don’t know, it’s irrelevant anyway and it might upset you even more than you are now. Now you know why I didn’t want to tell you this. Okay?”
“Not okay! I want you to tell me the rest!”
“Why?”
“You tell me the rest and then I’ll tell you why. Fair enough?”
Greshmere groaned.
“Okay, but only because you insist. I have rediscovered myself, Jazzy. I took the plunge because something inside just told me to do it—no matter what the consequences might be. This place here is what started the whole thing. I kept having dreams about this place and a girl I used to date in my former life. We ended up getting married. They were wonderful dreams that left me feeling content and excited every morning when I woke up. But I wasn’t really conscious of them until later on. It’s like I’d get the vibe from the dreams yet not recall them in my waking hours.
“Anyway, what I did eventually recall was that bridge you see down there. I looked it up on the internet and found out where it was. So I traveled here to see if I could get some clues to who this girl was and who I used to be. One thing led to another, and then I finally found her.”
“That is so awesome!”
“Not so awesome. I no sooner found her then she was murdered.”
“Oh, Greshmere. I am so sorry.”
“Me, too. When it happened, I was really in the dumps. I got together with my Who-Key and he helped me get better by taking me to Europe for a couple of months. I had just returned before I came back here.”
“That is such a sad story. But it sounds like you are at least getting over it.”
“Well, I thought I was before I met you.”
“So why did you think I was your former wife? What was her name?”
“Megan. The main reason was your voice. You sound exactly like her—you eve
n laugh like her! And then I found out that you had a child. Megan had been pregnant when she was killed. We had been trying forever to have a baby…”
“Lord Almighty, Greshmere. No wonder this has been so difficult for you!”
“It’s not been pleasant.”
“I wish there was something I could do.”
“You already have, Jazzy. Just your coming here with me and letting me find the truth has been a blessing. At least I know now. Maybe I can start moving forward at last.”
“There you go! And I would love to see you again. If you don’t think it would be too difficult for you, that is.”
“Really? I would like that!”
“You’ve got it.”
“Okay, now tell me why you insisted on my telling you all of this. Remember our deal?”
“It’s sort of embarrassing,” she said.
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“Well, it just is.”
“Now you have to tell me!”
“Okay, here goes. When you all came back from Raven Rocks, I asked Brea who you were. She told me that you were an old friend of Mitzy’s and that you have come to visit her. I don’t know why, but that made me uh, sort of jealous. It was so strange! Anyway, when you and Mitzy came over to chat, I was so nervous! Again, I have no clue why! All I know is that I was really enjoying talking to you and when Mitzy left I was sort of relieved. And then the bombshell came when you asked me to go fly with you. I couldn’t believe it! So now you know. And I’m really embarrassed!”
“Please don’t be! Are you kidding? You have just made my day, Jazzy!”
“So you don’t think I’m some sort of flighty bird?”
“Nope. I think you’re beautiful!”
With that, there was a moment of silence. Greshmere’s head was spinning. Jazzy was staring out at the General Grant Bridge. The full moon had risen beyond the bridge and was casting soft shadows on the flowing river.
It was like old times.
“Want to walk around a little before it gets too dark?” he asked.
She gazed at him. “Sure!”
They hopped off the railroad tie and walked across the clearing toward the trees. When they reached the beech tree, Greshmere stopped.
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