A Turtle's Journey Beyond
Chapter 7: The Spirit of '43
Leonardo felt as though he was losing the connection of body and mind as he warped through pale and distorted pieces of monotonous imagery. Had he been more aware of his surroundings, he could pin-point the exact location his being made an unusual turn for. An unknown window opened up and pushed him into another waver of blinding ray of light, the tunnel seeming endless from each floating step he took.
Soon enough, the AMBER headset vanished from his face, his physical body seemed weightless, and he no longer felt himself standing on solid ground. He tried to lift his arms, but only saw thin air in their place. He looked down to his feet, only to find a bottomless, gray, pit. When his full senses came into focus, his eyes met with another glazed pair staring right back at him.
"Oh, my God."
On the floor beside a bed, Leonardo gawked down to a very dead woman, her eyes gazing lifelessly up at him. An old lamp on an end table laid on its side with the light giving off unusual beams on the walls. Next to the lamp was a pair of framed pictures, both of them splattered with blood stains. It was at that point he knew exactly where he was. Right back where he left moments ago. The spare bedroom in Roxanne's house. However, from what he gathered, the question was more like 'when' he was. Judging by the clothes she wore and the decor of the room, he could strongly guess he was taken 60 years into the past, back when this poor woman lost her young and beautiful life. Suddenly, a female voice, unfamiliar to him, rang out from his ears:
"Ooh! Awful! Who would do such a thing?"
"Who's there?" Leo whipped his head all around, noting the room was completely vacant. "Guys? Master?" The radio started to play a jazzy 40's tune in the background as Leo took a full step away from the body, feeling a sort of pity wash over him. He could plainly see it was an instant death with a bullet to the head and the gun resting against her shattered temple. The room itself was in shambles, a sure sign that there was a definite struggle. Leo thought back to Michaelangelo's question that had now been asked by the mysterious voice. Who would do such a thing? "Well, I guess I'm about to find out."
The room was the same as when he last left it aside from this woman's decorations. The top of the bureau behind him now had a much smaller mirror, an old-fashioned oil lamp, a hairbrush, a clock pointed at 4 o'clock, and five interesting metal boxes in the shape of people's heads. Leonardo looked over the heads and lifted each lid to hear five different words spoken by a deep man's voice:
"miss...I...gie...you...Mag..."
"Hmm..." Leo tried again, lifting each box in the appropriate order.
"I...miss...you...Mag...gie..." All five of the lids lifted at once and uttered, "I miss you, Maggie."
"Maggie?" Leo repeated. The female voice wondered the same.
"I recognize that voice. Is my name Maggie?"
Exactly. By the vibrations in his ears, Leonardo soon realized the woman's voice was coming from inside of him. He was an invisible force of matter guiding Maggie's spirit through the course of this unparalleled world. More voices reached his ears as he looked up to the reflection in the bureau mirror to see not his own self but another room more present than his. Figures walked around, searching high and low for something. It was his family!
"Leo?" One figured echoed through. "Where are you?"
Leonardo touched the mirror again, hoping to break the glass and get back to his own time. Similar to disrupting a still pond, the results only rippled the reflection.
"How odd!" Maggie exclaimed through him.
"I've got to get out of here." Leo murmured, already feeling home sick.
"Oh, no! Another run in your stockings!" The announcer appeared on the radio, making Leonardo glance over to it. "Unlike the old days, you can't just replace them! Well gals, your problem is solved with the new Miller Run Mender! The Run Mender repairs runs in silk hosiery and lingerie and without the use of thread! The Miller Run Mender! The thrifty solution for times like these!" After his little speech, the same song came back on again, giving Leonardo a good reason to make a squinty-eyed expression.
"Um, I've really got to get out of here!"
Leonardo floated across the room toward the closed door and stared at it. He wasn't sure what to expect now that he was in another dimension. Yet, this seemed like the only way out, and from the looks of it, he was running out of options. Opening it up, the sound of clocks ticking roared in his ears as a wave of white static started seeping through the doorway. With a gasp, he slammed the door shut and the room snapped back to normal.
"Well, that was a waste of time!" Maggie muttered coolly.
"Indeed." Leo agreed. "Let's not do that again!"
Leonardo looked back to the small mirror on the bureau and stared longingly at it. If only it were a full-size, he could probably attempt to climb through it, just like how Alice did when she ended up in the strange, and sometimes dangerous, Wonderland. By then, the song ended and the announcer came back on the air.
"You're listening to WBRD with your host, Lee Franklin! This is the Jimmy Victor Orchestra with Touch of Glass!"
As soon as he finished his speech, the same ridiculous song repeated itself for the third time! Leonardo gave the radio a harsh look. The continual lively music started to grate on his nerves, not to mention it clashed with the poor woman lying dead in the room.
"On account of my ears still working, there's got to be a way out of here...or a better station." Leo crouched down at the radio and started flipping the dial around, not realizing the background behind him turned to white static. Just like the sensation of when he opened the door, the room began to fizz and blank out from view. Flipping to a another station, the static ceased and the room was clear again. A new jazzy song played, one that didn't sound any better, but was nonetheless different.
"There, that's..." Leo turned and dropped his jaw, seeing the change in the radio station had also sent him to a new room in the house. He wasn't in his own time, but it certainly was a change from that horrible death scene. Looking around, he blinked in awe to see he was now located in the kitchen. "How...did I get here?" Leo waited to hear Maggie speak, but even she seemed as much in a fog as he was.
From where the radio sat, there was a standard metal dining table, a tall but stout refrigerator, a cute little white stove, and the cleanest counter and cupboards he had ever seen. Maggie fell silent as he took in this new atmosphere, having a bit of fun with turning on an old-fashioned egg beater or opening and closing the cupboards. Moving over to the stove, he spied a 2 layer cake resting in the center of the burners with only a portion of what she started to write with the icing:
Welcome Home
To the right of the stove above the dining table, he spied a calendar, thankful to finally see what date and year it was. April 14, 1943. Maggie had put X marks within the square spaces up until the 14th, or the current day he was reliving for her. He could feel he dropped his brow when he saw she circled April 16. She also drew a heart and the word 'Ted!' within it.
"Ted?" Leo said aloud.
"Oh, that's right. Ted's coming home!" Maggie beamed happily.
"Well, this answers some of the hidden clues to your death." Leo said to himself. "Ted must have been fighting in the war and got discharged. You baked him a cake while waiting for his safe return. But, that still doesn't explain who killed you! Could it have been a jealous boyfriend?" He gazed to the ceiling briefly. "Help me out here, Maggie! I just don't understand what is going on."
"Attention, young Americans!" The announcer appeared in a serious, broadcast-sounding tone. "I know that in this time of crisis, you might think 'what can I do for our country? I'm just a kid!' Well, remember President Roosevelt has called on your assistance in winning this war by attending the weekly salvage drive at Franklin Middle School. You can make a difference!"
A new song appeared, one that wasn't too bad but one he couldn't stand for very long. It sounded like a jazzed-up version of "Cruella DeVil" from the Disney classic, 101 Dalmatians. He remembered how much Shadow loved that movie when she was a child. She saw it enough times for him to recite dialogue and its songs from beginning to end. As he looked around the room, humming to the terrible music, he spied a dirt box on the kitchen counter, one that was full of little planted veggies. Next to the box was two packages of Fieldson Farms seeds.
"Looks like you were doing some gardening, eh, Mags?" He lightly brushed an invisible hand across the veggies, making their leaves sway.
"I think I remember something about a victory garden." She said absentmindedly.
Leonardo looked into the cupboards above the box, finding several rows of jars with some sort of contents in each of them. Maggie was very organized with her storage of food and keeping her kitchen tidy. Michaelangelo would have been very pleased if he could have known a woman such as her. The Cruella DeVil song wavered on behind him, again grating on his nerves. He was almost excited to hear another announcement appear on the radio.
"Have you planted your victory garden yet?" The announcer asked the unwilling listeners at home. "Remember that America needs 22 million victory gardens by next year! In order to achieve this goal, we need more urban gardens, better plan gardens, and more productive gardens! Why should you grow a victory garden? First, it will release food for our soldiers. In addition, it will save transportation and reduce spending. Don't forget! It's up to all of us to raise food for victory!"
Leonardo felt he had enough of this room and turned back to the radio, flipping it around some more. The kitchen started to fade out like a discarded memory as another vision quickly took over. Quiet, breathing lamps glowed dimly in the background of what appeared to be the dining room quarters. He could see there was much exploration to be done in this nicely furnished room.
Maggie seemed quite content, if not a little saddened by what the room contained. Leonardo took a step to the left, noting a small wall unit with some framed pictures surrounding it. The top left picture showed four men seated on a staircase in military uniform, looking a little smug. The bottom left picture was of a young woman seated at a table, smiling in a very friendly way. The top right picture showed another woman with curly-brown hair, holding a cute little baby, and finally, the bottom right picture showed two young men also dressed in military uniforms, both looking very prestigious. Leonardo felt a sudden pain when he stared at their warm eyes and innocent faces. Friends, family, or both, this woman certainly had a lot of loved ones missing her.
Then, there was the wall unit itself full of interesting things to look at. Maggie seemed to be quite a collector of various knick-knacks. The top shelf held a small glass frame with a single four-leaf clover inside. Leonardo smiled at it but quickly frowned when the glass suddenly cracked right before his eyes. It was then he realized he wasn't the only one who could touch, and break, objects!
"Mags? What did you do?"
"Oh, dear." Maggie mumbled shamefully. "That can't be good."
Sighing, his eyes moved down to the second shelf, staring at two wooden rabbits, one larger than the other. Next to the rabbits was a pair of dice and a 2 of Hearts playing card. The third shelf contained nothing except a single rabbit. It looked very sad sitting all by its lonesome self in the corner. As Leonardo turned to the dining table, his friendly radio announcer appeared, beaming with a joyous tone of voice.
"It's a special presentation of Buster Cruise Orchestra Music here on WMDR, your favorite for lasting, soothing melodies and dreamy harmonies! WMDR, 68.5 on your radio dial!"
"Great, another special presentation." Leo looked over the contents on the dining table. A teapot, a cup, a box containing another clock, a pen, and an envelope marked M.B. in a beautiful cursive handwriting. Remembering his curiosity almost got him in trouble with Roxanne's diary, he decided to leave the envelope closed. "Wait a minute. What if contains something I need to know?" Maggie didn't answer him and the precious minutes were ticking away. "Fine, I'll read it fast." Leo reached out and before he could touch it, another force lifted the envelope and opened it for him. "Whoa, Mags. You're more curious than I am!" Looking down, Leo read the note carefully:
Dearest Ted,
I spent all day trying to find a card that would tell you how I feel. All to no
avail. I guess the card companies don't understand how hard it is to be apart for so
long. I love you so much, sometimes I can't bear missing you. I found this
marine clock, and it reminded me of the time we went boating on the lake...I hope when you
look at it, you will think of me with my hair wet and blowing, my face glowing with
sunshine, my eyes filled with love. I wish you could take me with you, but in lieu
of that, let this clock count down the hours until we are together again. I will be
here waiting for your return.
Forever,
Mags
Leo pulled back and stared at the letter. "Oh, Mags. This is very touching."
"I've been real sad since Ted left." Maggie told him. "Sometimes, I get real blue just thinking about it."
Leonardo shifted away to look around the room again. After reading her note, the situation was becoming more and more upsetting to him. Her beloved Ted was coming home and, for the shock of a lifetime, he was going to find his beautiful wife dead in their bedroom. Why did it seem as if bad things always happen to good people? He never understood good luck turning bad or the best of times turning to worse. As he pondered these thoughts, his eyes caught another paper sitting on a bench beneath a window near by. More letters, more words of hopeless sorrow.
Leonardo slid along the bench and stared down at the letter already out of its envelope, almost as if it wanted to be read by an unsuspecting person in the room. Reading to himself, he felt a lump in his throat start to grow with each new sentence.
Darling, Mags,
You're never going to believe this! We just heard that we are going to be escorting
a convoy back stateside, and that means a seven day leave for everyone on the ship!
We'll put in at Norfolk on the 15th of April and I should be home the day after
that.
I heard from Randy recently, they've been flying some plundering raids over Germany. He says the weather is terrible so they have to keep changing targets. And what makes it worse is the German pilots are tough to beat. But there's plenty of good news. He wrote that one of our B47's came back from a strike with a S106 missile, and that it landed under its own power! Amazing, don't you think? Sure makes it seem quiet out here in the Atlantic.
Mags, you've been such a sport this last year, I know that we vowed never to be separated, and that neither of us are happy with this situation. But what else could I do? On the bright side, I can't believe this war will go on much longer. Trust me when I say that once this is over, I will never allow you out of my sight again.
See you soon, my love,
Your Husband,
Ted
"Well, Mags, it looks as though he's coming home and you won't be able to greet him. What can I do now? Where else can I go?" Leo looked to the radio again. The bedroom was pointless to return to, the kitchen had its share of nothing but small clues, and now the dining room was nothing but a place filled with fond memories and depressing letters. The announcer soon appeared, giving Leo an idea.
"Looking for the latest news from the front? Then, join us this evening at 7 p.m. when WMDR's new sister station, WLVN premieres at 129.8 on your radio dial!"
"I wonder what time it is. I don't want to miss that broadcast."
Maggie sounded interested in hearing the new station, and Leonardo couldn't agree more to leave the dining room, and its sad feelings, behind.
"Let's go try it out." Leo moved back over to the radio and flipped the dial all the way down to 129.8, a new station and a new room in the house. To his dismay, the music became more slower and sounded just like the song he heard when he first saw Maggie in the mirror back in his own time. In one swift turn, he looked to see he ended up in a cozy little room, perfect for reading, sleeping, or to simply relax with the one you love.
"I don't like coming in here." Maggie said with much discomfort.
Leonardo ignored her and continued to look around. Judging by the floor plan, he could see he was in the African-decorated living room, or in this era, was used as a plain study room. The empty entryway where he and his family stood during the ghostly activities now had two doors for an exit and the two identical sofas he remembered were replaced with three striped chairs. The three-way windows he once stared out of were all drawn shut with floral curtains, giving him a sense of feeling trapped in a tight, smothering enclosure.
A roaring fire crackled softly in the fireplace, the only other sound compared to the radio playing out that familiar, sad tune. Leonardo turned to survey the contents upon the mantle, noting the items were things a sailor would collect. He found yet another clock in the shape of a light house, a model of a ship inside a wide bottle, and a large painting of a magnificent vessel. In the corner behind two of the chairs was a small end table with two model airplanes resting on them. Not only was Maggie a collector of knick-knacks, her husband, Ted, took an interest in collecting models of sea and air contraptions.
Maggie's uncomfortness gave Leonardo something to ponder about. She didn't like coming in here. Why not? Was it because it was her husband's room or was it because a bad incident happened in here? Maggie's ghost had obviously been to this place before, but did her best at avoiding it at all costs. No matter how long it took him, he wasn't going to leave until he found out why.
"Hi, folks, I'm Arthur J. Campbell." The announcer appeared in a soft-spoken voice. "I want to welcome you to our new station and a big thank you for tuning in to our very first broadcast this evening. Now, for all you who may have been separated from a loved one by this war, here's Spanky Armstrong with 'Don't Say Good-bye.' "
"Don't say good-bye." Leo repeated, hearing the song play over again. "This is it. This must have been the song Maggie heard when she..." He shook his head, wondering if he was getting closer to solving this mystery. Stepping over to the twin doors, he spotted a large cabinet and desk with another model airplane upon it. Maggie was becoming more and more uneasy.
"I don't want to stay in here."
"Sorry, Mags. I don't know where else to go. I'm running out of rooms as well as radio stations." As he moved closer to the desk, he felt his invisible leg bump against something by the desk. "Oops." A wastebasket tipped over, spilling scraps of paper onto the wooden floor. "I'll get that." Leo kneeled down and started to gather the scraps, hearing her worried voice speak out to him again.
"I must have thrown this away for a reason. Better leave it alone."
Leonardo's face crinkled as he stared harder at the scraps. The pieces were squared as if she folded it over many times to tear it up. He could see he was on to something and couldn't leave this evidence alone. Maggie seemed to step away while he worked at the pieces like a puzzle, becoming agitated at each one he slid around. From the style of the penmanship, he could tell it was no love letter to her husband, nor a note he sent to her in regards of his returning home. No, he could plainly see it was an official document. Placing the last piece in a corner, he sat back on his haunches and stared at the message. He read it over a second time, and a third. Suddenly, his heart sank and the tears reached his widened eyes.
FLW548 34 GOVT=WUX WASHINGTON DC 1670 1P
MRS MARGARET BUTLER
REGRET TO INFORM YOU YOUR HUSBAND LIEUTENANT THEODORE
F BUTLER WAS KILLED BY DETONATION OF DEFECTIVE DEPTH-
CHARGE DETAILS FOLLOW DIRECT FROM OFFICE OF CORONER
COMMANDER J RING
"Oh, no. Oh, my God." He gulped, swallowing the lump in his throat. Squinting, he could hear her voice wail out in sheer agony.
"Nooooo!! Pleeeease....nooooo!!"
Leonardo became numb with a sympathy pain striking him all over. Her lingering doubt had finally been answered, and it was time to move forward into the next realm of existence. Without warning, a gust of wind silently picked up the document and discarded it from sight. Leonardo looked up to see he was now drifting down an empty, dimly-lit hallway. An old photograph of a man floated past his face, light fixtures above swayed from side to side and the 40's music slowly decreased in volume. At the end of the hall, a door revealed an inky black outer space with dazzling swirls of golden stars. A strange orb of light winked from the center of the swirls, almost as if it was trying to signal them. A giant weight lifted from his body and a second orb flew out to the center. The two sparkled together and Leonardo smiled, hearing one last faint word from her:
"Ted?"
"Yes, you're free, Maggie. I hope you both have a wonderful eternity." Leo stared at the orbs, tears shimmering in his eyes. While her journey to the light had ended, his journey back to his own time was just beginning. He couldn't help but grin when his body began to feel a lot heavier than before. "Guys, I'm coming back."