Okay. Since SGU hasn't given us any definitive age for Rush I'm going to go with the age of Robert Carlyle – which is (in 2009) 48 years. If anyone actually DOES know his age I would be very thankful of them if they could inform me. Also, I don't know the exact age of Eli's mother either, so I've taken an educated guess and gone with her being 43 years.
Anyway, enjoy.
"To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed." - Bernard Edmonds
Four
The word dream is a noun that is used to describe the actions of the subconscious mind, when the consciousness has given control to the subconscious mind and is given time to recharge for want of a better word. A dream is generally considered to be a succession of images, thoughts, sounds or emotions that pass through the mind during sleep. No-one can ever give a full, definitive reason for dreams and their purpose but many suppose that it is the subconscious trying to tell the dreamer something. Throughout the recorded history of mankind dreams have always been a thing of interest as many have sought to understand what a dream means, whether they have hidden messages or warnings hidden within their layers.
Many cultures practise the ritual of 'dream incubation' with the intention of cultivating dreams of the future, what most would call premonitions, or held secret messages from the divine being that is prominent in whatever religion the ritual is performed under. In Judaism there is a traditional ceremony known as Hatavat Halom which literally means 'making the dream a good one'. Via this ritual a person's disturbing dreams can be transformed to give them a positive interpretation by a Rabbi or a Rabbinic court.
There are several hypotheses that focus on dreams, not unlike the one aforementioned, such as the idea that dreams allow the repressed parts of the human mind to be satisfied through fantasy while keeping the conscious mind from such thoughts that would cause a person to awaken due to the shock of the nature of these dreams. Another such theory is that of Sigmund Freud who suggested that bad dreams allow the brain to learn to gain control over emotions resulting from distressing experiences, which would be considered as being nightmares nowadays. Dr Carl Gustav Jung, who was a Swiss psychiatrist, proposed the idea that dreams were a way of compensation for a one-sided attitude that people had when they were conscious. He believed that people would benefit from incorporating spirituality into their lives to help balance themselves out.
Regardless of what the true purpose of dreams are one cannot deny the fact that a dream can take on almost any appearance and can seem just as real as reality itself is, and this is what could be of the greatest assistance to humanity because, through dreams, one can learn from the mistakes that they have yet to even commit.
-SGU-FB-SGU-FB-
June 19th 1982
He stood over her grave feeling as though the world was about to end. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. Only a month ago he'd spoken to her over the phone and she'd sounded fine, sounded like the world was her oyster. It just couldn't be.
He held onto the single rose he held in his hand, hesitating to place it upon the newly placed grass covering her. A single rose that showed his love, a single rose. Single. Just like him.
He turned away from her grave fully intending to walk away and never return but he froze for a moment. Looking down at the rose he held clenched tightly in his hand he felt a tear fall free from its perch on one of his eyelashes and open the doorway for all the others to follow. Hot, angry, grief-filled tears fell onto his hand onto the single rose that he decided to place upon the marker of her grave. He hiccupped quietly as he gently placed the single rose upon the white marble of her resting place.
"Goodbye my love. Goodbye."
-SGU-FB-SGU-FB-
September 21st 1983
He worked furiously, typing crazily as he tried to forget what day it was. He couldn't think of her today, if he did that he'd be a wreck and then he'd never be able to get any work done... and he'd lose the respect – okay, the fear – he instilled in others around him. If he lost that then no-one would listen to him and he wouldn't be able to handle that loss of power, of control, not after everything that had happened to him.
At the age of twenty-two he was the youngest person working on this program and he knew for a fact that he was important; even if no-one else realised that. He had his job here and that was all he needed. He had no ties, no relationships, nothing to divert his attention anymore from his work. He was free to spend sleepless nights in his lab working without having to rush home to great a lover or a friend or anything like that.
But that still didn't mean that he didn't miss having to rush home and apologize profusely for being late or for forgetting a dinner-party. But that was another life, another time and he had to stop living in the past and focus on the future; even if it was dark and empty.
But that didn't make him feel any better about it all.
"Damn it!" he growled, he couldn't do it anymore. He had to get out, had to find something to get his mind off of his problems. He stood up abruptly, his chair crashing to the floor in a cacophony of noise, and stormed out of his lab, barrelling down the corridors past the startle scientists and security personnel as he made his way to the elevator that would take him up to the surface and to the outside world, "I need to get pissed."
-SGU-FB-SGU-FB-
September 22nd 1983
He groaned as he woke up, he felt awful, he really did. 'I'm never getting that pissed ever again,' he thought to himself as he opened his eyes and squinted at the blinding light shining through the window of his bedroom in his seldom used apartment.
He sat up slowly, taking in his surroundings with a sluggish mind and mostly closed eyes. He yawned and stretched out an arm which he suddenly noticed was completely free of clothing; all of him was clothing-free in fact. The thin cover-sheet of his bed was the only thing that covered him.
"Oh..." he breathed softly, what had he done? The last thing he remembered was talking to a pretty woman about his own age, maybe younger, at the bar he'd been visiting regularly for the last year or so, "Oh dear...." 'What have I done?' he thought as he looked out of the partially open curtains and saw the high rise of the buildings, each one of them reflecting the bright sunlight of the sun that was high in the sky, "What have I done?"
-SGU-FB-SGU-FB-
They watched and waited in silence as the creature flew away, screeching in anger and frustration at being denied a meal. They waited for it to disappear into the dense trees before any of them moved towards the collapsed travellers; they knew they were not in danger for they were already dreaming, each of them unconscious and, most importantly, safe.
When they were certain it would not return they left the safety of the trees and, carrying little make-shift stretchers, they made their way swiftly over to the sleeping travellers. With infinite care and delicacy they lifted each one of the four onto the stretchers; making sure to keep the two who had been performing the ritual they had seen earlier close together. Once the travellers were all on a stretcher each, they silently made their way back into the trees and away from the great circle, off towards their underground abode.
-SGU-FB-SGU-FB-
May 14th 1984
"Come on now darling, you just have to push a little more," the doctor said encouragingly as the woman currently trying to deliver her first child screamed from the effort and pain, "Just one more push."
With a screech of pure agony and determination the child slipped from its mother entirely and entered the world. Within moments of its birth it began to cry in earnest, begging for attention and for warmth and food. The doctor smiled and said, as he wrapped the child in a blue blanket and snipped the umbilical cord, "congratulations. It's a boy."
The exhausted woman smiled and took the bundle from the doctor and held it close to her bosom, a wide smile breaking out upon her tired face, "my boy. My baby boy."
The doctor smiled happily at the sight before saying, "may I ask darling, who's the child's father?"
Before the woman could answer a man burst into the room looking for all intents and purposes like the world was about to end. Just as the doctor was about to say something the woman cut in, "look... our baby... our baby Eli."
She ignored the stab of doubt that hit her in the gut as she said that, it was her baby and the man in front of her, the man she loved was its father. No-one else. No-one else.
Alright, I hope you've enjoyed this and please do review. I'm finding it rather difficult writing this because I'm having to research some of the details which don't really exist (darn SGU and its lack of pointless facts unless used in a fic). Anyway, please do review and I'll put the next chapter up as soon as I can.
KaseyKC
