FAMILY LINK:
A story from the point of view of Link's (Encino Man) daughter...
People always ask me if I believe in strange things. You know, like aliens and ghosts and stuff. I always tell them that anything is possible; it wasn't until recently that I actually meant it.
It all started about 16 years ago when I found these old Polaroids in a picture frame at my Uncle Dave's house. I wasn't exactly sure what they were of, but they must have been important. So being the curious little ten years old that I was, I asked my uncle Dave. What he told me is something that I have never forgotten.
"Jules," he said, "your parents are from right here in Encino. I found it curious that my uncle would find it so strange that my mom and dad were from Encino. After all, he too was from Encino; along with my Aunt Robyn and uncle Stony.
I had always bee told that my parents came from Estonia as some part of an exchange program. My dad, Linkavich Chomofsky, came at the beginning of the year and through some mix-up my mother, Betty Nuggs-Chomofsky came at the end of the year. About 3 months later they were married, my dad went to college and got a degree in art (pottery being his favorite) and then he joined the army just after my mother got pregnant with me. Uncle Stony told me that it took them a while to learn English, but now there isn't even a hint of their old language in their voices.
"I don't understand." I said, still thinking. "What does that have to do with these pictures?"
He replied, "I know that it doesn't make any sense to you why we would keep something so stupid from you. And I know that you are a big girl now," Having just turned 10 I had made it perfectly clear that I was no longer a child. "So I'm just going to say this. Jules, your parents are cavemen."
I laughed harder than I think I have ever laughed. I stopped right away when I saw the look on my uncle's face and I knew that he was 100 serious.
"But that's impossible. If mom and dad are cavemen, they would have died years ago."
Dave took my shoulders in his hands and made me face him, looked into my eyes and said, "Jules, I need you to make me promise. It's very important that you don't tell anyone about this." What? The first really cool thing to happen to me and I tell anyone?
"Why not? I think it's neat." When I looked into my uncle's eyes, I could tell that he was trying to think of some way to explain it to me.
So he bent down to my eye level and said, "We need to keep it a secret because if we don't then some
Bad men will come and take them away. You don't want to loose your mom and dad, do you?" I shook my head, loved my parents.
"Promise?" He said, holding out his hand for our secret handshake.
That was the last time I thought about it; well that is, until recently. A few months ago my mom started getting sick. It was just a normal cold, to begin with. Then it got worse. After my dad took her to the hospital, he called me.
The drive to the hospital was one big blur. I barely remember even getting into the car. When I got there, I rushed into the waiting room where I saw my dad. I gave him a hug, but not before I saw the look of worry in his face, but his eyes (now wrinkled with old age) told me that he was glad to see me.
"Is she okay? Have the doctors looked at her yet? Did they order blood tests?" I rattled off the questions faster than my dad could even register them.
"Whoa there Jules; one at a time! The doctor looked at her and they have a few theories, but they are looking at the blood do-hickey now to make sure what it really is. He asked that I wait out here."
When the doctor came out about 5 minutes later, I thought that it had been an eternity. As I looked at his face I could see that he was hiding something; I held my breath.
"Mr. Chomofsky? Hello. I'm Dr. Campbell." He said in a rather pleasant voice. Then he nodded in my direction as he shook hands with my dad. Then I remembered, Bill Campbell! He was the guy in medical school that had charmed the pants off of a few of my friends. This guy had made a mess of a few women in his day. But I wasn't going to think about that right then.
"How's my mother? Have the blood tests come back? What were the results? Do you have a diagnosis yet?" Then Bill did the most infuriating thing, he laughed at me!
"Does she always do that?" He asked my dad with a smile still on his face.
"Yep, ever since she was a child. But doctor, she does have some fairly good questions that I wouldn't mind knowing the answers to."
"Of course, you're right. I usually stay in the lab, but the doctor that checked out your wife didn't know how to explain this. S I'm out here. Your wife is resting quite comfortably in a room down the hall. As for the blood tests, if you two could please follow me." He led us down the hall to the hematology lab. There's no way I could have anticipated what he was thinking. At the time, I had a few of my own thoughts going through my head. When we got to the lab, Bill gestured towards the microscope and started to speak.
"You see, while your mother's blood does have the basic elements of DNA, it's not complete. It's almost as if, well, as if her ancestors completely blocked out the evolution process."
"Excuse me," my dad said, "but what does that mean?" Of course! Dad had no idea what any of this meant. He was an artist, not a doctor.
"Basically," Bill began, "over time, our DNA, which we inherit from our ancestors, goes through a sort of evolution. It changes from one generation to the next; when there is something that isn't favorable to the survival of that line, it is sort of erased. It is weeded out naturally. Betty's blood doesn't have that; it's as if she had been born in the caveman days."
That's when I remembered what Dave had told me. I had long since dismissed it as a story, another fairytale that had been told for amusement. It couldn't be true! Could it?
"Excuse us for a minute Bill, would you?"
"Of course. I'll just go and visit your mother to make sure that she's okay and then I'll be back." He shut the door behind him.
"Okay dad, the truth now. What's going on? I can tell you know something, so let's have it."
He paused for a moment with his hands on his hips and I could tell that he was trying to think of a way to explain it to me.
"Are you and mom cavemen? Because if you are, we can't tell anyone." It was then that my dad did something that disturbed me; he laughed.
"What exactly is so funny?" I demanded.
"It's just that you really sounded like Dave just then." His mouth forced itself into a frown at the site of my glare, but his eyes kept smiling.
"Well? Are you?"
"Yes." His answer was simple, but the concepts that it implied would turn my life upside down. My dad may not have understood what this meant, but I certainly did. Since their DNA had not evolved, they would be immune to most strains of bugs and diseases, but there have been some totally new ones developed since the old days. They could die from a simple cold! DNA wasn't the only thing that had evolved, after all.
Then Bill walked back into the room. He told us that he would continue to try to figure out what was going on with my mother's blood and that he would try to keep me and my dad informed. I thanked him and then I walked out to my car and drove home. There was nothing I could do, but wait.
The next few months were hell for my dad and I. My mother had slipped into a coma, and it was a constant fight to get her to wake up. I went to visit her constantly, while my dad never left her side. He never gave up hope, always reading to her, always talking to her in hopes that she would wake up and talk back.
Then, I decided that enough was enough, I had to do something. So I stalked into the Hematology lab with a purpose; to get a hold of Dr. Bill Campbell.
"Oh, Hey Jules." He said looking up from his microscope. We had become better friends in the past couple months. "I was just going over your mother's latest blood test. There's still no change."
"I need to tell you something Bill." I said quickly. The faster I could get this over with, the better. "But I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone. I'm serious now Bill, I mean it."
"Serious? You? Never!" He said with a chuckle, but I was definitely not amused.
"Forget it. This was a stupid idea anyway." I said as I turned to head out the door. I didn't get very far; as soon as I took my second step Bill grabbed my arms.
"Jules, wait. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made a joke out of it. Please tell me." His eyes that were the same color as honey shone with honesty. So, I took a deep breath and told him what my uncle Dave had told me all those years ago. Halfway through what I said, he sat down on one of his ratty old stools. It took me about a half an hour to convince him that I wasn't pulling a prank.
After that, we worked night and day for weeks on a cure. We told no one, not even my dad; I didn't want him to worry. Sometime in those few weeks, we became the best of friends. We would joke and horse around, even as we worked.
Then one day I looked over and Bill had this strange look on his face. "Are you okay Bill? Is something wrong?" Then he smiled.
"Jules! Jules! I've got it! I've got the cure! Look!" I ran over immediately to his microscope and I saw it, the cure; at last! I jumped and wrapped my arms around him. I was so excited! I gave him a kiss of gratitude. Before I knew it, it had become more than just gratitude. And that's when I knew; I loved him.
The kiss, although it lasted only a few seconds, seemed to last forever. My arms still around him, I broke the kiss and opened my eyes to look into his. They remained closed for a minute and then they blinked open. He hadn't seen that one coming!
"Wha..." Clearing his throat, "I think we should try that again." He said as he smiled his little side-smile. Then he leaned in and kissed me again, this time taking my breath away. It was a good thing his arms were rapped around me, or I'd have fallen over when he released my mouth.
"Come. Let's go give your mom that cure." And he grabbed my hand as we went down the hall.
My mom recovered swiftly and my dad and she got remarried the next week. Next thing I know, Bill and I are married and have three children. Funny how things work out, isn't it?