1985
Earth
Houston, Texas
***
Annie Crichton sat up in her bed, as wide awake at that
moment as she had been asleep the moment before. The room
was cold, she could see snow falling outside her bedroom
window. There was a noise again, the one that had awakened
her.
Swinging her freckled legs out from under the covers, Annie's
toes searched the dark for her yellow Converses, the ones
without laces. Then she froze. The noise was now outside,
near the garage. Where was Mad Max? The rotweiler puppy
Dad had given her on her last birthday should have been
kicking up a fuss by now.
Meowing softly at her door was Maggie's cat, Princess. Why
her twin would have chosen a fluffy kitten for a gift instead of
a real pet, like a dog, was just beyond Annie. But then, no
one ever believed that they really were twins. Where Annie
was tiny, with light brown hair and blue eyes, her twin was
tall and elegant, with dark hair and green eyes, a girl child
with the promise of great beauty. Not a freckle marred her
perfection.
Scooping up Princess, Annie began creeping down the hall.
Her sister's door was closed, as was her parents'. "Shhh,
kitty. Don't make a peep," she whispered as she slipped down
the stairs clad only in a huge grey t-shirt, and into the living
room. It was dominated by a large fir tree, decorated as
always with homemade ornaments and colored lights. Even
now, when everyone was asleep, those lights were kept on.
Annie plopped the cat onto the sofa and covered her with a
blanket; Princess wouldn't move again until morning. Even
while patting the cat, Annie's head was craning to look out
the large window toward the garage.
Sure enough, someone was out there, crouching in the snow.
Rats! Max was growling now, and trying to knock the intruder
over. How had he escaped from the warm garage? Dad was
gonna kill her!
Grabbing her blue ski parka and shoving a knit cap onto her
head, Annie eased the door open, but not before lifting her
lucky baseball bat and slinging it up over her shoulder. "This is
no time to get chicken" she told herself and marched out to
defend her home and her dog.
A little yip of welcome from Max, and the intruder stopped
playing tug-of-war and turned to grin at his baby sister.
"Merry Christmas, Birthday Girl," he said softly, with a warning
glance to the bedroom windows as a reminder to keep her
voice down.
Not that Annie could get a word out. It had been three
months since Johnny had left for college. Three months since
she had seen him last. She took off in a dead run, flinging the
baseball bat into the the Texas snow. Without stopping or
even slowing down, the young girl plowed straight at her
brother, trusting that he would catch her, like always, and
swing her around till they were both dizzy.
"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, Johnny, you're here!" she finally
squeaked out, when her balance finally returned.
"Yep, I drove straight through instead of stopping over at
Aunt Martha's in Oklahoma. She knows, don't worry. Did you
think I'd miss your birthday? Miss out on giving you twelve
birthday whacks?" John Crichton Jr. shouldered his duffle bag
and pushed his baby sister towards the garage.
"Is my room ready?" he asked, knowing full well that Mom
would have everything in perfect order. They climbed the
stairs to the big room over the garage that had served as
John's bedroom and work room after they had moved here two
years ago. Dad was stationed at the Houston Space Center,
and Mom taught at a small private college nearby.
"Oh, yea, look at this. Everything looks the same." John
touched his bed, the desk and even his prized Farrah Fawcett
bathing suit poster. Max jumped up onto the red comforter,
turned around twice and laid himself down, wet paws and all.
"Man, that dog has grown!" John shrugged off his letterman
jacket from the Naval Academy and sat down on the edge of
the bed.
"You did too, Johnny. Are those muscles?" teased the child.
Proud that he had made the football team as a freshman, John
flexed his biceps and wiggled his eyebrows to make Annie
laugh. It was the greatest sound. "Sure are, Pip-squeak. We
aren't much of a football team, and I'm not much of a
quarterback, but hey, it drives the chicks crazy."
Leaning over and pulling a long, slender package from the
duffle bag, John handed Annie her birthday gift. He had
always been careful to give each of his sisters two gifts, one
for their birthday and one for Christmas. Lots of people just
lumped the two things together, but he thought it was hard
enough for the girls to have been born on Christmas Eve.
The silver paper slid from the box, and with reverent hands
Annie lifted a telescope out. There was a stand which John
quickly set up, and showed her how to focus the lenses.
"You can leave it right here at my window, if you want to,
Annie. That way you will have a private place to come and
look at the stars."
Hugging her brother, Annie angled the telescope up to look at
Saturn. "I can see five rings, Johnny. And the North Star!" It
was the greatest present she could imagine.
"Someday, little one, you'll be able to look up and and see me.
I've decided to go into the space program, Annie. I want to
be like Dad, and go to the moon. Maybe far beyond our moon.
What do ya think of that?" John's eyes sparkled, his
excitement contagious. "What do ya think about that?"
***
2000
Erp
Perth, Australia
***
Annie Crichton rolled over in bed, and hugged Mad Max close.
He was an old dog now. Johnny would have known how old in
doggie years, but Annie could never remember how to figure it
out.
It had been "the dream". The same dream that now haunted
her on her Christmas Eve birthday. She swung her freckled
legs out from under the covers and used her bare toes to
search for her worn-out yellow Converses. Her brother's grey
T-shirt was still her favorite sleep wear, even though the
original one had worn out years ago. She had pinched a stack
of them from a box of John's stuff the last time she had gone
to visit Dad.
All of John's possesions were now stored in boxes in a
different garage, far from Houston. Dad lived alone now, in
Deland Florida.
Annie picked up the birthday card from him that had arrived
this morning. There was a photo enclosed of Maggie and her
husband Tim. They looked so happy; with the upcoming birth
of their second son, they should be happy.
Looking at the clock and making some swift calculations,
Annie decided she could safely call her twin in about two
hours. It was still night here in Australia, and their birthday
was over.
Walking to the window, Annie patted her old Telasco scope,
the one given to her fifteen years ago. John's gift had proven
to be insightful, leading her to her chosen field - the study of
black holes, worm holes and other space anomolies.
Pointing it to the skies, Annie searched for and found the
Southern Cross.
Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight.
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.
Closing her eyes, Annie Crichton held her breath and wished
her wish.
"Merry Christmas, Johnny. I know you are still out there. Merry
Christmas."
Earth
Houston, Texas
***
Annie Crichton sat up in her bed, as wide awake at that
moment as she had been asleep the moment before. The room
was cold, she could see snow falling outside her bedroom
window. There was a noise again, the one that had awakened
her.
Swinging her freckled legs out from under the covers, Annie's
toes searched the dark for her yellow Converses, the ones
without laces. Then she froze. The noise was now outside,
near the garage. Where was Mad Max? The rotweiler puppy
Dad had given her on her last birthday should have been
kicking up a fuss by now.
Meowing softly at her door was Maggie's cat, Princess. Why
her twin would have chosen a fluffy kitten for a gift instead of
a real pet, like a dog, was just beyond Annie. But then, no
one ever believed that they really were twins. Where Annie
was tiny, with light brown hair and blue eyes, her twin was
tall and elegant, with dark hair and green eyes, a girl child
with the promise of great beauty. Not a freckle marred her
perfection.
Scooping up Princess, Annie began creeping down the hall.
Her sister's door was closed, as was her parents'. "Shhh,
kitty. Don't make a peep," she whispered as she slipped down
the stairs clad only in a huge grey t-shirt, and into the living
room. It was dominated by a large fir tree, decorated as
always with homemade ornaments and colored lights. Even
now, when everyone was asleep, those lights were kept on.
Annie plopped the cat onto the sofa and covered her with a
blanket; Princess wouldn't move again until morning. Even
while patting the cat, Annie's head was craning to look out
the large window toward the garage.
Sure enough, someone was out there, crouching in the snow.
Rats! Max was growling now, and trying to knock the intruder
over. How had he escaped from the warm garage? Dad was
gonna kill her!
Grabbing her blue ski parka and shoving a knit cap onto her
head, Annie eased the door open, but not before lifting her
lucky baseball bat and slinging it up over her shoulder. "This is
no time to get chicken" she told herself and marched out to
defend her home and her dog.
A little yip of welcome from Max, and the intruder stopped
playing tug-of-war and turned to grin at his baby sister.
"Merry Christmas, Birthday Girl," he said softly, with a warning
glance to the bedroom windows as a reminder to keep her
voice down.
Not that Annie could get a word out. It had been three
months since Johnny had left for college. Three months since
she had seen him last. She took off in a dead run, flinging the
baseball bat into the the Texas snow. Without stopping or
even slowing down, the young girl plowed straight at her
brother, trusting that he would catch her, like always, and
swing her around till they were both dizzy.
"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, Johnny, you're here!" she finally
squeaked out, when her balance finally returned.
"Yep, I drove straight through instead of stopping over at
Aunt Martha's in Oklahoma. She knows, don't worry. Did you
think I'd miss your birthday? Miss out on giving you twelve
birthday whacks?" John Crichton Jr. shouldered his duffle bag
and pushed his baby sister towards the garage.
"Is my room ready?" he asked, knowing full well that Mom
would have everything in perfect order. They climbed the
stairs to the big room over the garage that had served as
John's bedroom and work room after they had moved here two
years ago. Dad was stationed at the Houston Space Center,
and Mom taught at a small private college nearby.
"Oh, yea, look at this. Everything looks the same." John
touched his bed, the desk and even his prized Farrah Fawcett
bathing suit poster. Max jumped up onto the red comforter,
turned around twice and laid himself down, wet paws and all.
"Man, that dog has grown!" John shrugged off his letterman
jacket from the Naval Academy and sat down on the edge of
the bed.
"You did too, Johnny. Are those muscles?" teased the child.
Proud that he had made the football team as a freshman, John
flexed his biceps and wiggled his eyebrows to make Annie
laugh. It was the greatest sound. "Sure are, Pip-squeak. We
aren't much of a football team, and I'm not much of a
quarterback, but hey, it drives the chicks crazy."
Leaning over and pulling a long, slender package from the
duffle bag, John handed Annie her birthday gift. He had
always been careful to give each of his sisters two gifts, one
for their birthday and one for Christmas. Lots of people just
lumped the two things together, but he thought it was hard
enough for the girls to have been born on Christmas Eve.
The silver paper slid from the box, and with reverent hands
Annie lifted a telescope out. There was a stand which John
quickly set up, and showed her how to focus the lenses.
"You can leave it right here at my window, if you want to,
Annie. That way you will have a private place to come and
look at the stars."
Hugging her brother, Annie angled the telescope up to look at
Saturn. "I can see five rings, Johnny. And the North Star!" It
was the greatest present she could imagine.
"Someday, little one, you'll be able to look up and and see me.
I've decided to go into the space program, Annie. I want to
be like Dad, and go to the moon. Maybe far beyond our moon.
What do ya think of that?" John's eyes sparkled, his
excitement contagious. "What do ya think about that?"
***
2000
Erp
Perth, Australia
***
Annie Crichton rolled over in bed, and hugged Mad Max close.
He was an old dog now. Johnny would have known how old in
doggie years, but Annie could never remember how to figure it
out.
It had been "the dream". The same dream that now haunted
her on her Christmas Eve birthday. She swung her freckled
legs out from under the covers and used her bare toes to
search for her worn-out yellow Converses. Her brother's grey
T-shirt was still her favorite sleep wear, even though the
original one had worn out years ago. She had pinched a stack
of them from a box of John's stuff the last time she had gone
to visit Dad.
All of John's possesions were now stored in boxes in a
different garage, far from Houston. Dad lived alone now, in
Deland Florida.
Annie picked up the birthday card from him that had arrived
this morning. There was a photo enclosed of Maggie and her
husband Tim. They looked so happy; with the upcoming birth
of their second son, they should be happy.
Looking at the clock and making some swift calculations,
Annie decided she could safely call her twin in about two
hours. It was still night here in Australia, and their birthday
was over.
Walking to the window, Annie patted her old Telasco scope,
the one given to her fifteen years ago. John's gift had proven
to be insightful, leading her to her chosen field - the study of
black holes, worm holes and other space anomolies.
Pointing it to the skies, Annie searched for and found the
Southern Cross.
Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight.
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.
Closing her eyes, Annie Crichton held her breath and wished
her wish.
"Merry Christmas, Johnny. I know you are still out there. Merry
Christmas."