"Children of the Universe"
"Acts Of Future Past"
Chapter 49
XLIX
It was about 1 jodari after mid second cycle on Antar, 2nd Cycle 51 or 2'51 as most on Antar would say, about an hour after sundown, and Maria and Michael were preparing for bed. Maria was gazing out the window into the early evening moonlight with a nostalgic, emotional look.
"What you lookin' at?" Michael asked.
Maria shook her head and smiled. "Oh, I was just thinking about when the kids were younger and they would be playing out in the yard there catching flash bugs and asking to have campfire cookouts and stuff. I was thinkin' about how much we missed out on during these last nine years." Maria rubbed a couple of tears out of her eyes.
"Well, if the Krolians are right, sooner or later, we're gonna get those years back again. We just don't know when it'll happen."
"Or if it'll happen," Maria said. "The Krolians are going from a very limited experience after all. And it's been almost two weeks already…"
"Yeah, I know, Hon, but I still think it could happen."
Maria took one last look out the window and sighed deeply then climbed into bed.
"Look out there, Michael. Look out the window at the flash bugs lighting up the night and the moon shining and tell me you don't remember."
"Of course I remember, Maria! You know I do!" Michael pulled the covers off and stretched his body across Maria's to look out the window. His well-toned abs and arms seemed to ripple in the moonlight as he stretched. Maria made a mental note to ask Michael to look out the window more often when she was in bed.
Michael looked at the flashing bugs, called jaras droosh, and the moon above the trees then returned to his place in the bed. Maria was smiling.
"You remembering something else, Maria?"
"Yeah… something not so long ago, though… something else I just realized I'm missing right now."
Michael looked at her face and slowly began to grin. Slowly, but deliberately, his lips met hers. Maria put her arms around Michael and rolled him over on top of her as they kissed. Then she pulled the covers up over their heads…
"What you doin'?"
"Wrapping you in my cocoon with me," Maria said seductively. "It's just you and me, Spaceboy. Now turn me into a butterfly or something."
The night suddenly seemed to sparkle with the brilliance of the flash bugs, as the gentle waves of the Golden Sea just beyond the trees moved in and out, in and out… caught up in their graceful, eternal ballet.
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In the palace, Liz was standing on the balcony watching the flash bugs and the same bright moon shining on the rippling waters of the Golden Sea not so far away. And she, too, was remembering. Max walked up behind her and put his arms around her.
"A kyrin for your thoughts."
Liz smiled, but there was a sadness there, too. "Do you think the Krolians might have been wrong about everybody reverting, Max?"
"I guess we won't really know until it happens," Max said. "But give them credit. They've been pretty accurate about everything so far."
"Do you think we'll remember these last nine years, Max… or will we just forget everything? In some ways, I think it would be better to remember and in some ways, I think it wouldn't. I mean… I don't want to forget all the good that's happened… how everyone has worked together to rescue the children and all the good it has done in bringing Antar closer to so many other planets. But then there are the kids. I wouldn't want a six-year-old troubled by the memories of all the bad things that happened… in some cases, when they were older. Alyyx would be seven again, but right now he's sixteen. He and Jayyd went through a lot together when they escaped and ran from Hosk on Gadyslar. They were inseparable. They may even be in love. The others went through a lot, too. I wonder if they'll forget everything…"
Max nodded. "The Krolians promised us that there was someone who could explain it all to us when it happens. They seem to think it will all work out. I think we can only trust and pray that they're right. Admiral Borkelis said that most people would have no memories of these nine years at all, at least at first, but some might remember some things, especially as time goes on. He seemed to think that the memories would return to the children as each one reached the same age they were when the event happened to them in the alternate time… and that adults might remember sooner.
Liz turned and looked again at the bright moon above and the flashing of the flash bugs. In spite of her concerns, she couldn't help but smile. Max noticed and wrapped her in his arms. For a while, they stood there on the balcony, embraced, watching the lights of the night and the night reflections on the softly swaying Golden Sea nearby. Then Max picked Liz up in his arms and carried her to bed.
Across the city, on the other side of CoruzAntar, Alex and Isabel were sitting outside their home on a swing together watching the stars and the flash bugs light up the night. The stars had always belonged to Alex and Isabel. Isabel smiled and laid her head on Alex's shoulder, and Alex put both arms around her, pulling her closer. As he did, he looked into her eyes and saw the stars shining back. Alex allowed his lips to touch hers, lightly at first, then more sensually. At some point, the swing ceased to swing, but neither one noticed.
It was a night of stars and moonlight and the twinkling brilliance of the jaras droosh all across Antar, a night like none in recent memory.
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Michael awoke to find Maria looking out the window again.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Maria said, smiling.
"What time is it, Maria?"
"It's two hours in the first cycle."
"Nine o'clock! Geez! I overslept!"
Michael and Maria frequently mixed Antarian and Earth times together in a way that only they could understand. Maria spread herself out over Michael.
"Now I'll never be able to get up," Michael said.
"Do you want to?"
Michael shook his head and smiled. "What were you looking at out the window?"
"Just the kids. Max and Liz brought Alyyx and the girls over early this morning to play with Zorel, Kryys, and Jayyd."
Michael nodded and looked out the window. He lay back down with a confused look on his face.
"Maria… you remember when we were on our moon and Jim said that that rock he was sitting on made men want to kiss the girls?"
Maria laughed. "How could I forget?"
"Well, you remember how Alyyx Evans reacted after that every time Jayyd smiled at him or was near the rock?"
Maria laughed again. "He ran like a scared puppy!"
"Well,
not anymore! I'm gonna have to speak to Max about that kid of his!"
Maria looked out the window. Maya, Andya, JoLeesa, Kryys, and Zorel were
playing hide and seek in the trees, but seven-year-old Alyyx and six-year-old
Jayyd were nowhere to be seen… at first. Maria looked further then spotted
them… sitting on a log just inside the edge of the woods… arms around each
other… kissing.
Maria looked at Michael and her mouth dropped open. "I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself. Where do you think he –both of them- got that idea?"
Michael shook his head. "You got me!"
--------------------------End of Chapter 49
