“Hello,” answered a yawning Mom after four rings.
“Hi Mom, Were you asleep? I thought you’d be up by now. Anyway, we’re coming home today.”
“I know honey. Late last night Molly’s Mom called me, called us actually… Tim’s Dad was here so he got the news too. But her Mom sounded strange. Is everything OK?”
Maggie was stunned. So, now they’re an us, she thought. She took a breath and said, “Yes, Mom everything is fine, or will be. I’ll tell you all about it later. And you can tell me…”
“Tell you what, dear?”
“N-nothing Mom. See you later. I love you.”
“Love you too honey. Bye.”
Maggie hung up and sighed. What would she tell her Mom? Mass hypnosis? Alien abduction? Bad mayonnaise? She knew that once she explained that everyone had lost their memories, her Mom would rush her off to a dozen doctors where they’d do a dozen tests and find nothing. And then, after a while, life would get back to normal, the whole episode would be forgotten.
And then she remembered about her Mom and Tim’s Dad… this new us, and her imagination fast forwarded into the future and a wedding. Her Mom looked beautiful. Then she fast forwarded again, this time to her home where she saw herself yelling at her new brother, Tim, to get out of the bathroom. “Oy,” she said aloud.
Maggie shook her head to snap herself back to reality, then went into the kitchen where she found Manny.
“Milda is awake and will be right back,” he warned. “She remembers nothing of the last few weeks. So, let me ask you. What do you and your friends remember?” The question was straightforward and his eyes were watchful.
For a moment Maggie wasn’t sure what she should say. Then she realized his question implied that he himself remembered. “The three of us remember everything,” she said. “The Mistress, the Bear, the Deer… the Hawk. All of it. Everything.”
“As do I. And I must ask that it remain forever a secret between you, Molly, Tim and me. Anyway, who would believe us? Everything is gone. The others do not remember. There is simply no proof any of it ever happened.”
“We can keep that secret,” said Maggie. “You can trust us.”
“I know I can. I am sure of it…” Manny paused, “…but I wonder about this child. Is she who I believe she is? Has she been given a second chance at life? She who had lived long ago, in another place and another time. How do we explain her?” The beautiful baby slept peacefully beside him.
“Maybe you don’t need to explain anything. Maybe you and Milda can raise her as your own?” said Maggie hopefully.
“Maybe,” smiled Manny. “I know Milda would love to hear a child’s laughter echoing through these quiet rooms. As would I, as would I. Children somehow make a house a home. We will see.
“But I can’t help wonder, as she grows, who will she be? What destiny awaits her?”
“Well,” said Maggie, “There’s no way anyone can know. But the way I see it is that, for each and every one of us, anything and everything is possible. There are no guarantees, but also, there are no limits.”
Just then, Milda returned with a warmed baby bottle filled with milk. She gently woke the child, held her in her arms, and fed her.
The need to understand yesterday’s mysteries would eventually fade from thought, as they truly must, because for each of us to move forward, we need to focus on the present and the future. Yesterday warms our hearts, but it is today and all our tomorrows that truly matter.
And today, the child is here, she is safe, and she is being cared for. Tomorrow, with lots of planning and a little bit of luck, will find a way to sort itself out.
The early morning sun filtered softly through the old kitchen window and bestowed a gift upon them. It was a rainbow. And perhaps, it was also a sign.
Maggie, Manny, and Milda looked into the tiny infant’s remarkably focused and attentive eyes, and they couldn’t help but smile.
The end?
No, it’s just the beginning.
Epilogue: 20 years later, a page in Maggie’s scrapbook…
People in the News
A graduate student at MIT has the entire Scientific community buzzing about her bizarre, yet mathematically sound, calculations regarding the structure and mechanics of time. With the unlikely pairing of a major in Quantum Physics and a minor in Applied Mysticism, this insightful young woman has developed compelling new theories into the nature of reality and the intersection of thought and the physical world.
When asked what new advances her research might bring about, this serious scholar with shockingly red hair and piercingly focused eyes, known to her friends as Missy, said, “I hope to bridge the existing gap between what is, what was, and what might have been. In that, there lies an infinite potential and, therefore, infinite possibilities.”
We at New Science News can’t wait to see what that new day will bring.
New Science News
Cambridge Mass.
About the Author
After 35 years of working at a large publishing company, S.J. Armato went back to college to train for his second career. He now works as an Occupational Therapy Assistant, providing services to special needs school children. He lives in New York State with his wife, three cats named Stinky, Cali, and Tippy, and a loopy black Lab named Molly. He is very proud of his two grown kids, his daughter-in-law, and his beautiful grandson. He is currently working on his third novel chronicling the continuing adventures of Maggie and her friends.
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