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fruzicleThis entry, like Part I, is a continuation of a longer story. In it Janie is searching for her brother who inexplicably disappeared a few months ago. In case you forget the details, I have provided links so that you can refresh your memory. When you see a (1) or other number in the text, that will indicate the link you should follow to learn more.
(1) https://furzicle.livejournal.com/458629.html In which Janie begins her search for Alex
(2) https://furzicle.livejournal.com/459027.html In which Alex gets the feather in Guinea
(3) https://furzicle.livejournal.com/459502.html The Majick Sorceror, in which Janie acquires the feather
(4) https://furzicle.livejournal.com/462960.html Part I
For some reason, every time I time travel, I end up ravenously hungry. As I plow through Alex’s cupboards, I find the expected trove of high-quality chocolate. I brew up some tea and carry it out to the back porch. I gingerly find a perch on the obviously second-hand sofa, and settle in to replenish my waning energy.
It’s a spacious, albeit un-tamed, backyard. Yellow straw-like grass serves as a reminder that this season has been drier than usual. I decide to turn on the sprinkler I see set up in the middIe of the yard.
I watch the beehive set up fifteen feet from the porch. Dozens of bees are arriving and departing every minute, It's so constant, you might be excused for saying it was boring. But I soon begin to notice the small dramas that are playing out. I watch one bee dragging out the corpse of one of its hive mates and unceremoniously dropping it over the edge of the hive box. A lizard darts forward from below and gobbles up the carcass. Meanwhile, a jay swoops down and actually snaps up the living bee that delivered the erstwhile bee to its disposal.
The sprinkler is wetting the hive box. Bees abandon their foraging in the yard for the moment and begin to return. There's a bit of a crowd management issue as they gather up, waiting to reenter. Their little bodies are coated with orange pollen they are bringing back to safety. No wonder Alex finds these creatures fascinating.
I glance at the sky. There’s nothing to see there; it’s so filled with smoke and mugginess that it is only a yellow-tinged white. I remember the clear blue sky from my time travel several month ago when I saw the koalas. Not today! In fact, my eyes feel a bit of sting and my nose knows a bit of stink.
I am just beginning to wonder if Alex will even show up today and what I will do for dinner if he doesn’t, when I hear the sound of a car crunching down the driveway on the side of the house. Car doors slam and suddenly there is Alex stepping up onto the porch. And, what is this? Another lad follows close behind.
“Janie!” Alex exclaims. “How’d you get here?”
Far from the suspicious ‘How’d you get here?’ I received from Lynn earlier today (4), Alex’s voice reverberates with joy and delight.
We leap up to give each other a very enthusiastic hug. Though we have thousands of things to talk about, we’re both so stunned, for the moment, we can only stare at each other.
“You smell like you’ve been rolling around in a campfire,” I finally blurt out. “But it must be the firefighting.”
“Yep, you can say that again,” he replies. “All the stink, and no marshmallows.
“Hey, Janie, I’d like you to meet my mate, Duncan."
I turn to look at his companion more closely. I swoon just a little bit. I don’t know, is it just because he, too, is dressed in firefighting gear? Or is it because he’s genuinely handsome?
I actually stammer a little bit as I respond, “Pleased to meet you. I’m Janie.”
My God, those piercing green eyes. I think I’m in love.
Alex, of course, is completely oblivious. ”I picked up some snags at the corner grocery,” he says, holding out the bag. Turning to Duncan he remarks, “I guess we won’t get three each like we planned.”
I am torn. I want to ask Alex how he traveled all over the world (1) and what he knows about Alexei from The Majick Sorceror (3), and what’s up with the time starting and stopping. Perhaps most importantly, what does he know about the beautiful blue-black feather? (2)
But then I look at Duncan and I swoon again. I am forced to put my questions on hold while his friend is here. Smelling the sausages as they sizzle on the barbie is a helpful distraction.
I indicate the dried out yard. "I guess I better turn off the sprinklers now. Boy, is everything dry."
“Yeaah,” says Duncan. Did you know this is the lowest three-month rainfall total we’ve ever had? That’s why the fields and forests are so dry and why there’s less water to fight the fires with.”
“Alex,” I tease him, “I guess you shouldn’t have been wishing so hard for warmer, dryer weather all last winter.”
“Well, right now I might wish for some rain to help put out the fires,” Alex replied.
As if on cue, the sky darkened a tad and, unbelievably, a rumble of thunder reverberated in the distance.
A stricken look passed over Alex’s face. “I gotta be more careful with my wishes.” Then he smiled wryly. I could swear he winked at me when he said that.
As the pitter pattering began, Alex and Duncan gave each other a high five. Maybe this would slow the fires down. We all squeezed onto the porch sofa to continue our chat. I didn’t mind too much. The guys didn’t want to sit right next to each other so I got wedged between the two of them. Except for the wet campfire smell, I didn’t mind a bit.
We’d been telling tales of the day for another half hour when suddenly both guys’ phones emitted a warning buzz. “That’ll be the volunteer fire line. Could be lightning started something,” explained Duncan.
Simultaneously, Alex and Duncan pulled out their phones to read the alert. Surely there wasn’t another fire, was there? Both guys looked up and stared at each other with some alarm.
“Can you believe that was actually a FLOOD WARNING?” Alex announced. “Runoff is flooding the town of Inverleigh. We have to take the boat down and stand by ready to transport people out of their swamped homes.”
“Well, good thing we ate.”
An hour later we had picked up the trailered vessel at the fire station and driven out in the direction of Inverleigh. We were backing towards the boat ramp to lower it into the quickly rising Leigh River.
None of us were expert boat trailer handlers so somehow someone had inadvertently unclipped the cable that connected the boat to the winch that holds the boat onto the trailer. In repositioning our truck, we had to move forward. Suddenly, with a quick scraping noise, our boat was no longer on the trailer.
Neither was it in the water!
There it was, high and dry. Its naked hull was resting on the rain-slicked concrete ramp.
OK, this was a game changer. If we were here for a day of pleasure boating, then we’d have to delay our fun. But as people’s safety was at peril, we had to swiftly solve the problem.Our first reaction was to stare dumbly at the marooned boat. But then, ideas started flowing.
First, we each grabbed a gunwale and attempted to lift the boat to man handle it into the water. That was a no go. It’s amazing a vessel as heavy as that can even float.
We watched the water rising, even as we stood there. One of us suggested simply waiting for the river to rise high enough that the boat would begin to float on its own. However, we had to eliminate that option as we realized that we would be sacrificing people’s comfort and safety while we waited.
Duncan pointed out the life preservers. “Maybe we can set those down and use them as cushions to roll the boat on into the river.”
So that’s what we did. Nevermind those preservers had sacrificed their lives to put the boat in the water. Every one of them had been disembowelled in the process.
Hours later, well after midnight, we had relocated dozens and dozens of panicky citizens. Many were in tears and most were shivering. For such an uncomfortably warm day, it’s remarkable how chilled one gets when it is dark and you are wet. Add in nerves, and shivering is what you get.
At the end of that long night, we were driving back home. Duncan fell asleep leaning against the window right away. Once he was snoring, Alex and I finally got to share some words. I told him how I had fallen into this search and he told me how he had suddenly found himself inhabiting the body of an aging Russian. It turns out he had only shared a body with that persona for a couple months, which still didn’t explain how the old Cossack had had Alex’s name. Was there some Greater Being directing this particular adventure?
He told me how he hadn’t been aging since this whole thing began. Shockingly to me, who had only been embroiled in this for a few months, Alex had been caught up in this never-ending time travel for years.
“But you look exactly the same today as you did the day you disappeared!” I whispered with surprise.
“What do you think will happen if I come home?” he asked. “Will I suddenly age into an old man? Not sure I want to do that. I’ve already been old once, when I was Alexei. Too many aches and pains.”
“I don’t know if I CAN come home,” he continued. I used to have a gorgeous rooster tail feather. I think when I “died” at the Majick Sorceror it got left behind.
“No, I’VE got it.” I corrected him. How do you think I got here?”
“Seriously?” he interjected. “Maybe we can use it together to get back.”
“Yes, I think it’s too risky to be near it by yourself and think about a faraway land,” I replied. “Perhaps if we both hold it at the same time.”
I continued, "That could work. But I’m not sure I want to leave. I’m kind of liking it here.” I thought about Duncan squeezed in on the seat of the car next to me…swoon.
“I like it here, too. How about this,” Alex suggested. “I’ll tell my boss here that I’m going back home for a visit. Then we both go home using the feather. Then later, we both come back.”
“I’d probably have to finish high school,” I say glumly. “I’d probably have to come back the old-fashioned way—with a plane.”
I continued. “Well, I probably could stay a few more days. Time doesn’t seem to pass while I’m gone.”
“Really? Awesome.” Alex was intrigued.
The sun was just rising amidst the gray clouds as we drove up to Alex’s house. We pulled into the driveway.
Duncan awoke and stretched his arms. “Man, did I have the strangest dreams,” he said. As he climbed out of the car, he turned to look at both of us with the strangest look on his face. We, in turn, gave him an inquiring look.
"Well?" we pumped him for more.
“Nah, you’d never believe it in a million years,” he shook his head. “Just a very weird dream.”
He took my hand. “Are you still going to be here tomorrow?”
I caught my breath. Swoon. “Oh yes, by gum, I think I will.”
“Great!” he said with a grin.
I smiled and thanked the Greater Being.
Editorial note: The boat stranded high and dry on the boat ramp really did happen to my father, my friend and I. It was a sailboat and the rising water we were waiting for was the rising ocean tide. Not wanting to wait that long, we did end up using the life preservers, just as Duncan suggested. And yes, they did give up their lives in that service.
(1) https://furzicle.livejournal.com/458629.html In which Janie begins her search for Alex
(2) https://furzicle.livejournal.com/459027.html In which Alex gets the feather in Guinea
(3) https://furzicle.livejournal.com/459502.html The Majick Sorceror, in which Janie acquires the feather
(4) https://furzicle.livejournal.com/462960.html Part I
For some reason, every time I time travel, I end up ravenously hungry. As I plow through Alex’s cupboards, I find the expected trove of high-quality chocolate. I brew up some tea and carry it out to the back porch. I gingerly find a perch on the obviously second-hand sofa, and settle in to replenish my waning energy.
It’s a spacious, albeit un-tamed, backyard. Yellow straw-like grass serves as a reminder that this season has been drier than usual. I decide to turn on the sprinkler I see set up in the middIe of the yard.
I watch the beehive set up fifteen feet from the porch. Dozens of bees are arriving and departing every minute, It's so constant, you might be excused for saying it was boring. But I soon begin to notice the small dramas that are playing out. I watch one bee dragging out the corpse of one of its hive mates and unceremoniously dropping it over the edge of the hive box. A lizard darts forward from below and gobbles up the carcass. Meanwhile, a jay swoops down and actually snaps up the living bee that delivered the erstwhile bee to its disposal.
The sprinkler is wetting the hive box. Bees abandon their foraging in the yard for the moment and begin to return. There's a bit of a crowd management issue as they gather up, waiting to reenter. Their little bodies are coated with orange pollen they are bringing back to safety. No wonder Alex finds these creatures fascinating.
I glance at the sky. There’s nothing to see there; it’s so filled with smoke and mugginess that it is only a yellow-tinged white. I remember the clear blue sky from my time travel several month ago when I saw the koalas. Not today! In fact, my eyes feel a bit of sting and my nose knows a bit of stink.
I am just beginning to wonder if Alex will even show up today and what I will do for dinner if he doesn’t, when I hear the sound of a car crunching down the driveway on the side of the house. Car doors slam and suddenly there is Alex stepping up onto the porch. And, what is this? Another lad follows close behind.
“Janie!” Alex exclaims. “How’d you get here?”
Far from the suspicious ‘How’d you get here?’ I received from Lynn earlier today (4), Alex’s voice reverberates with joy and delight.
We leap up to give each other a very enthusiastic hug. Though we have thousands of things to talk about, we’re both so stunned, for the moment, we can only stare at each other.
“You smell like you’ve been rolling around in a campfire,” I finally blurt out. “But it must be the firefighting.”
“Yep, you can say that again,” he replies. “All the stink, and no marshmallows.
“Hey, Janie, I’d like you to meet my mate, Duncan."
I turn to look at his companion more closely. I swoon just a little bit. I don’t know, is it just because he, too, is dressed in firefighting gear? Or is it because he’s genuinely handsome?
I actually stammer a little bit as I respond, “Pleased to meet you. I’m Janie.”
My God, those piercing green eyes. I think I’m in love.
Alex, of course, is completely oblivious. ”I picked up some snags at the corner grocery,” he says, holding out the bag. Turning to Duncan he remarks, “I guess we won’t get three each like we planned.”
I am torn. I want to ask Alex how he traveled all over the world (1) and what he knows about Alexei from The Majick Sorceror (3), and what’s up with the time starting and stopping. Perhaps most importantly, what does he know about the beautiful blue-black feather? (2)
But then I look at Duncan and I swoon again. I am forced to put my questions on hold while his friend is here. Smelling the sausages as they sizzle on the barbie is a helpful distraction.
I indicate the dried out yard. "I guess I better turn off the sprinklers now. Boy, is everything dry."
“Yeaah,” says Duncan. Did you know this is the lowest three-month rainfall total we’ve ever had? That’s why the fields and forests are so dry and why there’s less water to fight the fires with.”
“Alex,” I tease him, “I guess you shouldn’t have been wishing so hard for warmer, dryer weather all last winter.”
“Well, right now I might wish for some rain to help put out the fires,” Alex replied.
As if on cue, the sky darkened a tad and, unbelievably, a rumble of thunder reverberated in the distance.
A stricken look passed over Alex’s face. “I gotta be more careful with my wishes.” Then he smiled wryly. I could swear he winked at me when he said that.
As the pitter pattering began, Alex and Duncan gave each other a high five. Maybe this would slow the fires down. We all squeezed onto the porch sofa to continue our chat. I didn’t mind too much. The guys didn’t want to sit right next to each other so I got wedged between the two of them. Except for the wet campfire smell, I didn’t mind a bit.
We’d been telling tales of the day for another half hour when suddenly both guys’ phones emitted a warning buzz. “That’ll be the volunteer fire line. Could be lightning started something,” explained Duncan.
Simultaneously, Alex and Duncan pulled out their phones to read the alert. Surely there wasn’t another fire, was there? Both guys looked up and stared at each other with some alarm.
“Can you believe that was actually a FLOOD WARNING?” Alex announced. “Runoff is flooding the town of Inverleigh. We have to take the boat down and stand by ready to transport people out of their swamped homes.”
“Well, good thing we ate.”
An hour later we had picked up the trailered vessel at the fire station and driven out in the direction of Inverleigh. We were backing towards the boat ramp to lower it into the quickly rising Leigh River.
None of us were expert boat trailer handlers so somehow someone had inadvertently unclipped the cable that connected the boat to the winch that holds the boat onto the trailer. In repositioning our truck, we had to move forward. Suddenly, with a quick scraping noise, our boat was no longer on the trailer.
Neither was it in the water!
There it was, high and dry. Its naked hull was resting on the rain-slicked concrete ramp.
OK, this was a game changer. If we were here for a day of pleasure boating, then we’d have to delay our fun. But as people’s safety was at peril, we had to swiftly solve the problem.Our first reaction was to stare dumbly at the marooned boat. But then, ideas started flowing.
First, we each grabbed a gunwale and attempted to lift the boat to man handle it into the water. That was a no go. It’s amazing a vessel as heavy as that can even float.
We watched the water rising, even as we stood there. One of us suggested simply waiting for the river to rise high enough that the boat would begin to float on its own. However, we had to eliminate that option as we realized that we would be sacrificing people’s comfort and safety while we waited.
Duncan pointed out the life preservers. “Maybe we can set those down and use them as cushions to roll the boat on into the river.”
So that’s what we did. Nevermind those preservers had sacrificed their lives to put the boat in the water. Every one of them had been disembowelled in the process.
Hours later, well after midnight, we had relocated dozens and dozens of panicky citizens. Many were in tears and most were shivering. For such an uncomfortably warm day, it’s remarkable how chilled one gets when it is dark and you are wet. Add in nerves, and shivering is what you get.
At the end of that long night, we were driving back home. Duncan fell asleep leaning against the window right away. Once he was snoring, Alex and I finally got to share some words. I told him how I had fallen into this search and he told me how he had suddenly found himself inhabiting the body of an aging Russian. It turns out he had only shared a body with that persona for a couple months, which still didn’t explain how the old Cossack had had Alex’s name. Was there some Greater Being directing this particular adventure?
He told me how he hadn’t been aging since this whole thing began. Shockingly to me, who had only been embroiled in this for a few months, Alex had been caught up in this never-ending time travel for years.
“But you look exactly the same today as you did the day you disappeared!” I whispered with surprise.
“What do you think will happen if I come home?” he asked. “Will I suddenly age into an old man? Not sure I want to do that. I’ve already been old once, when I was Alexei. Too many aches and pains.”
“I don’t know if I CAN come home,” he continued. I used to have a gorgeous rooster tail feather. I think when I “died” at the Majick Sorceror it got left behind.
“No, I’VE got it.” I corrected him. How do you think I got here?”
“Seriously?” he interjected. “Maybe we can use it together to get back.”
“Yes, I think it’s too risky to be near it by yourself and think about a faraway land,” I replied. “Perhaps if we both hold it at the same time.”
I continued, "That could work. But I’m not sure I want to leave. I’m kind of liking it here.” I thought about Duncan squeezed in on the seat of the car next to me…swoon.
“I like it here, too. How about this,” Alex suggested. “I’ll tell my boss here that I’m going back home for a visit. Then we both go home using the feather. Then later, we both come back.”
“I’d probably have to finish high school,” I say glumly. “I’d probably have to come back the old-fashioned way—with a plane.”
I continued. “Well, I probably could stay a few more days. Time doesn’t seem to pass while I’m gone.”
“Really? Awesome.” Alex was intrigued.
The sun was just rising amidst the gray clouds as we drove up to Alex’s house. We pulled into the driveway.
Duncan awoke and stretched his arms. “Man, did I have the strangest dreams,” he said. As he climbed out of the car, he turned to look at both of us with the strangest look on his face. We, in turn, gave him an inquiring look.
"Well?" we pumped him for more.
“Nah, you’d never believe it in a million years,” he shook his head. “Just a very weird dream.”
He took my hand. “Are you still going to be here tomorrow?”
I caught my breath. Swoon. “Oh yes, by gum, I think I will.”
“Great!” he said with a grin.
I smiled and thanked the Greater Being.
Editorial note: The boat stranded high and dry on the boat ramp really did happen to my father, my friend and I. It was a sailboat and the rising water we were waiting for was the rising ocean tide. Not wanting to wait that long, we did end up using the life preservers, just as Duncan suggested. And yes, they did give up their lives in that service.
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