All characters and places in this story belong to the Disney Corporation, just like Lucasfilm,
ESPN, Pixar, Marvel, Jim Henson Productions and ABC do.
The original creators were Mark McCorkle and Robert Schooley.
I receive nothing for the writing of this story.
Something has changed. Not in what I was going to do with the story or how I plan on finishing it, but I got a review that does change how I feel about it.
"Zaratan chapter 8. Nov 11
Not quite where I was planning on going with it, but very nicely done just the same. Feel free to take this where you please, as I have been indisposed for far too long."
Whoo hoo! Extra Hoo! I can now sat that this is my ending to his story.
I wanted to get something out before the Holidays got hetic so this chapter is short. Shorter than I really wanted it to be, but this is the only point to break it. Please forgive me and I promise to make it up in the next one.
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Since we are so close to Thanksgiving,
I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the memory of my father
who passed away early one Thanksgiving morning
many years ago at 6:45 am.
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I still miss him.
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Previously:
Ron took one more look at the plaque before turning to head toward the ladder that would take him up to the place where Rufus spent his last moments. He only had one more chance to talk to his best friend before his own life ended. When it was over…there would be no graveside prayers or prayers offered up in his name. The Jewish faith doesn't give those honors to those who end their lives in this way.
Prayers for the remaining family? Yes, but not for the dead. From this he had so little hope of making it to any kind of heaven. Only that it would be the end of the pain he carried for so long…as well as his soul.
Once and for all.
'It should have been raining.'
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After using the ladder he'd added years ago to climb into the tree house (it had been added for Michelle and his sister's friends to use since not everybody was as nimble as Hana), he had to rub his eyes several times to be sure of what he found inside; a 'vision' of what had been from a much earlier time in his life before it all went down the drain for him.
He saw the overstuffed blue couch draped with the souvenir Mexican blanket he'd won from Bueno Nacho to hide a few holes there…Then there were the game and GWA posters (Global Wrestling Association) that used to hang on the back wall…The painted 'No Girls Allowed!' sign, and…and even the picture that Hana said Rufus had somehow saved from the trash and had hidden so it wouldn't be thrown away.
They were all back…Then…unbidden, he could almost hear a haunting voice, "Put the slingshot down, Huck Finn.", ringing in his ears, still taunting him after all this time.
But, after rubbing his eyes and shaking his head a few times, he saw things as they really were from when he and Hana had been up there. The heavy overstuffed couch, there for so long…and so full of so many good/bad memories, had been thrown away and replaced with a lightweight futon and blanket for chilly nights.
All of his and Hana's childhood things, except for the movie poster of 'Mulan', had been replaced with pictures of Sensei, Yori, family photos and reproduced weapon charts taken from the scroll archives of Yamanouchi.
As this 'vision' cleared, he again 'heard' the voices. Though diminished in volume for a time, they returned. A rising crescendo since he'd turned away from Rufus' grave, the individual voices, again, started in on him. Each randomly yelling over the other, different 'suggestions' at him, now seemed to coalesce into a low-level common chant, a beat or a rhythm…
All telling him the same thing,"Do it!", over and over as a background to 'her' voice blaring, "End this! Once and for all!"
This…he reflected…wasn't why he's agreed to move back to Middleton…He agreed because of his daughter's marriage, to help join her with the love of her life, to build a family of their own.
Nothing more, and in that order. Unlike her Father, she hadn't found herself with a surprise pregnancy, and then left to try to find the love after the marriage began.
He came here to help give her the chance to have a happy life…Much unlike his own.
Again he reflected…His relationship - with Kim failed because he wasn't 'enough'…Good enough-brave enough-smart enough-handsome enough-…Just fill in the blank.
Strike one!
His relationship with Bonnie? Same results for similar reasons, but he had always tried to be a good husband to her.
He knew he hadn't been a proper husband, but he'd tried to be a good one for her. Thanks to her father making sure that there was no way his daughter, or anybody else, could get their hands on the money he'd set aside for her college education, it was impossible for Ron to recover any of it after Mr. Rockwaller disowned his daughter. The only way the money could be spent was if it was paid directly to the school of Bonnie's choice that she attended.
Since attending college anywhere near Middleton was out of the question, Ron made sure she finished college after moving to the west coast.
Back when the first restaurant was starting up, and while pregnant, she worked there doing whatever was needed, from busing tables to waitressing after her studying was done for the day. She had done what she could, what she had to, he believed, so that they could succeed.
After all that…he'd thought she changed. He'd thought they had a chance, but after Rufus died, that all went away and a full blown bitch Bonnie Rockwaller returned making his and Michelle's lives miserable. He had always thought that some people couldn't change, that it was just Bonnie's basic character coming back…That is until just a little bit ago when he remembered that alcohol buried memory of him saying someone else's name instead of hers at the worst possible moment of their lives.
Strike two!
His talk with Hana last night hadn't helped matters. She thought he was being foolish when he wondered if the problem was that he hadn't put his relationship with Kim behind him…that he still carried the scars from his failure. She said she thought better of him than to hold onto her failure and not move on. In that moment though, he thought that their talk had created a hole in their relationship.
Foul ball! - Still Strike Two.
Michelle…Oh how he wished he could go back in time, just to see her little hands reaching up to him as he gave her a bottle. Or the first time they went to Disney Land to see all the cartoon characters come to life…Then later, the emergency visit by his mother from when he was too embarrassed to explain to Michelle how her body was changing. And how to use a tampon when her first period came much sooner than he wanted.
"This is for your own good." her voice echoed in his mind just like her mother had said it.
Strike three! You're out!
Even though he knew what he would have to do to end this misery he was in, he also knew he had two things left before he could do it. Two things that went beyond what and how he felt. One was duty and the other…was friendship and the need to ask one final favor, if that was possible.
Closing his eyes, he silently called something to him that would come no matter what state his mind was in, because it recognized who and what he was: Its caretaker.
The Lotus Blade materialized in front of him, suspended in midair. A floating razorblade that if he want to crouch underneath and then jump up, would easily sever the thread that held him to this mortal plane of existence.
It would do that, but if so he would do the one thing that no one had ever been able to do: Tarnish the blade and all of the good that it stood for, should he use it to for such a selfish reason. To spill the blood of its caretaker, someone who was not…...enough. And one last thing he wasn't meant to be…someone that the Blade should have been entrusted with in the first place.
His eyes pained and tired, "Go home.", his voice cracking, expecting it to know where he meant, but it just stayed there without moving.
His voice firmer, "I said for you to go home. Back to Yamanouchi. Back to the shrine.", and he paused before continuing, "Someone that is really worthy of caring for you and will do you honor when they come to prove themselves."
The Blade moved, but not the way he wanted; it slowly rotated till its handle was pointing towards him and then it started drifting closer to his hand.
Realizing that the sword was offering itself to him, he pulled his hand back as if from a snake, "No!"
"Go back to your shrine." he now almost pleaded. "At least…let me do this one thing right.", he said sorrowfully. "I can't just hand you over to Hana. She has to make the trip and you have to accept her."
The Sword remained for a heartbeat before it slowly started to fade away…which was unusual because it would normally 'Pop!' out of sight. When it finally disappeared, Ron breathed a small sigh of relief that he had at least been able to do one thing right.
He then went to the large flat cabinet near the futon to look for something that he'd made and then given to Hana to hold for him. A Wakizashi, or a Japanese blade that was smaller than the Lotus Blade; something that he'd made as part of his advanced training. Their parents didn't like the idea of weapons in the house so she'd stored it out here where it would be safe, wrapped in oil cloth. He knew he'd need it for what he had to do.
If…...Mrs. Sanders had let him go after he found out what had happened to his relationship with Michelle instead of accusing her of being a…...a slut, then he could have prepared himself after the wedding and simply entered a meditation so deep that he would never have come out of it. Shaking his head, that wasn't possible now since he needed a clear and relaxed mental state to do that and he knew he didn't have that anymore…But then again, he didn't have a lot of things that really mattered to him anymore.
Nodding in finality, he would use a weapon that he had made with his own hands and not one Hana had made during her training…It was his life, his misery that he had also made for himself, so he wouldn't burden her by using something that she had crafted.
Finding the shorter blade, he removed it from its wrappings and set it on the floor near a spot that marked where they had found Rufus.
Sitting down in the lotus position, he knew he had very little chance to speak to his best friend or ask him that favor, since he would need that same relaxed mental state necessary to enter the plane he would have needed to make his heart stop; the source of his problems.
Not sure if he could really talk to the dead, even though he'd spoken with Sensei after attending his funeral thinking he was just his imagination allowing himself to sift things out, he closed his eyes and started following instructions Sensei himself had given him so long ago, he tried to relax…But it seemed that the harder he tried, the harder it became. The voices returned with their relentless cadence of "Do it. Get it over." He tried ignoring it for his friend, but the voices only increased in their intensity with each utterance. When he thought their voice would explode in his mind, he could take no more. Opening his eyes, he reached for the blade, intending to end things in one swift stroke…but the blade was no longer there.
Standing up to do a quick search, thinking that Hana may have been able to sneak in while he was distracted, he found he was once again seeing the tree house as it once was, just like when he first climbed into it. The blade…and cabinet full of weapons were gone. It was then that he realized that he was wearing his old hockey jersey, the one that he'd burned so long ago when he returned from college. And…his hands…looked younger. Just like they had...
"Crunch!", came from behind him.
"Crunch!" It came again as he turned to figure out the source.
Turning, he saw, in the spot where his family found his body curled up in an old photo, a pink naked mole rat sitting calmly, eating away at a basket of Bueno Nacho chips covered in cheese.
Stunned, "Rufus?!", Ron's jaw dropped, not believing what he was seeing.
Looking up, the little guy smiled at him before saying in perfect English, "Hello Ron."
Then pointing at the basket, "Chip?"
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To Be Continued...
As always, if you have a question about something or you find an error, drop me a note or put it in a comment.