Barbara watched her son and the young girl with mounting concern. She recalled how this girl coming in to her dream had commanded her not to worry about her son, and against all reason she had stopped worrying. Despite the fact that she had not known the doctors had made an error, and that his neck really wasn’t broken, she had indeed been comforted by the directions of the girl. And she had done this despite the obvious fact that her only child had been kidnapped at the time.
Since his return her child had acted in a manner that was totally different from how he had been before the kidnapping. He had flatly refused to go to the hospital the night he had come home. Her shy son had stood toe to toe to an FBI agent, not only defying him, but almost provoking him. Now he appeared to put his feelings for this girl, this person who he had just started seeing, a person who had previously hurt him as deeply as he had ever been hurt, ahead of his feelings for his parents.
This was far more than puppy love, it was almost as if the girl were somehow controlling him.
Suddenly, the dates came clearly to her mind. She couldn’t understand why anyone would ground a child for 10 weeks for a 90 minute indiscretion, particularly trying to see an injured classmate. But going back ten weeks would not have been Friday, it would have been late Monday night.
Joey had returned home shortly after their own son had returned to his home. Whatever had happened to her son in those 72 hours, Joey had been there. She had been a part of it. If she wasn’t involved in the kidnapping herself, she must know who was.
Barbara thought back now with fear to the girl coming in to her dream. That had clearly been Joey. Had she imagined her because she had seen her at the hospital? Is that why she knew she had those blue eyes? The yearbook would not have told her that. Or was it something more sinister. Had Joey hypnotized her son? Could she somehow control his mind, go in to his thoughts, as she had come into Barbara’s?
As she looked at the young girl, Barbara Douglas felt her fear grow stronger. Every attention Andrew paid to the young girl, every time their hands touched, or his hand reached to encircle her waist, Barbara became more convinced. This was not normal. This was something to be worried about. This was something to fear.
Joey (AA/CC teen) [WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
Roger Douglas noticed the concern in his wife’s eyes as the two couples dined at the pizza parlor.
When the meal ended, Joey indicated that she would be going to the library to do some research for a term paper. Andrew immediately indicated that he’d go with her, but Barbara suddenly said, “Andrew, you need to come home with us. There’s something you need to talk about.” “What’s that?”, Andrew asked. His mother looked upset and said, “We aren’t going to talk about his here, we need to go home.”
‘That’s it,’ thought Roger. ‘She’s wanting to tell him about not giving him permission to turn out for football next year, without embarrassing him publicly or having a family fight in public.’
Again Andrew seemed ready to challenge his parents, but again a look from the young blonde girl seemed to calm him down.
“Really, Drew,” she said, “It’s alright. I’ve got to do the research and then I’ve got to get home. With today’s afternoon basketball game, the research I need to do, and the homework I have for his week, I’m probably going to be tied up the rest of the night. And it’d probably be a bad idea to miss curfew the day I get ungrounded. You go with your parents, we’ll have other days. Thank you all for the meal, it was very nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Douglas. Oh, and Andrew….when you pick me up for the dance next Friday, you’ll need to come a half hour early. You’ll have to be subjected to the “dad talk” from my father, I’m afraid.”
“The ‘dad talk,” said Roger Douglas, “What’s that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never dated before so my dad’s a little nervous I think. Mom said he wants to meet Andrew, probably to tell him to not get too fresh with his little girl,” she said with twinkling eyes, as she gave Andrew a quick kiss on the cheek. “Goodbye dear.”
As the young girl left the pizza parlor Roger remembered the postgame kiss, and the obvious casual intimacy the girl and his son had shared tonight and thought, ‘Never dated?’
He looked then at his son who he knew had also never dated. ‘Damn,’ he thought. ‘They are sure quick studies….’
Three feet to his right, Barbara Douglas watched the girl leave with mounting fear.
When the meal ended, Joey indicated that she would be going to the library to do some research for a term paper. Andrew immediately indicated that he’d go with her, but Barbara suddenly said, “Andrew, you need to come home with us. There’s something you need to talk about.” “What’s that?”, Andrew asked. His mother looked upset and said, “We aren’t going to talk about his here, we need to go home.”
‘That’s it,’ thought Roger. ‘She’s wanting to tell him about not giving him permission to turn out for football next year, without embarrassing him publicly or having a family fight in public.’
Again Andrew seemed ready to challenge his parents, but again a look from the young blonde girl seemed to calm him down.
“Really, Drew,” she said, “It’s alright. I’ve got to do the research and then I’ve got to get home. With today’s afternoon basketball game, the research I need to do, and the homework I have for his week, I’m probably going to be tied up the rest of the night. And it’d probably be a bad idea to miss curfew the day I get ungrounded. You go with your parents, we’ll have other days. Thank you all for the meal, it was very nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Douglas. Oh, and Andrew….when you pick me up for the dance next Friday, you’ll need to come a half hour early. You’ll have to be subjected to the “dad talk” from my father, I’m afraid.”
“The ‘dad talk,” said Roger Douglas, “What’s that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never dated before so my dad’s a little nervous I think. Mom said he wants to meet Andrew, probably to tell him to not get too fresh with his little girl,” she said with twinkling eyes, as she gave Andrew a quick kiss on the cheek. “Goodbye dear.”
As the young girl left the pizza parlor Roger remembered the postgame kiss, and the obvious casual intimacy the girl and his son had shared tonight and thought, ‘Never dated?’
He looked then at his son who he knew had also never dated. ‘Damn,’ he thought. ‘They are sure quick studies….’
Three feet to his right, Barbara Douglas watched the girl leave with mounting fear.
Roger Douglas had expected some hard feelings when he told his son that he couldn’t go out for football next year, and he wasn’t surprised as his son protested that decision, the family sitting at the kitchen table. He was rather surprised that his wife hadn’t leaped in to help him since it was largely her insistence that had led to the parents’ decision to withhold their permission.
Looking at his wife’s worried and tearful face, however, he knew he wasn’t being set up as the heavy here. She seemed to be agonizing, struggling to say something to her son.
When it finally came out it surprised Roger almost as much as it did Andrew.
“And another thing, Andrew, you are never to see that girl,…Joey, ever again. You are not to date her, you are not to talk to her. I don’t want you to be around her at all. I don’t want you to have anything to do with her.” Roger was uncertain where that had come from but before he could decide what to do his son replied.
“I love Joey, and I am going to be with her.”
The tone and the expression were one they’d heard before, shortly after Andrew’s return from his abduction. There was not the same kind of anger or petulance that had been there moments before over the issue of playing football. This was a calm statement of fact, not even a challenge. This was not the opening ploy for negotiations between a teenager and his parents. Roger could tell that intuitively, even as his wife screamed at the boy, “Love? You barely know her. You don’t know anything about her, about what kind of person she really is.”
Andrew looked up at Roger then and he could see concern in his eyes for his mother, and whatever mental demons seemed to be possessing her. His face turned back to his mother and he said, “I know she loves me, mother. And I love her. I know that we are meant to be together, now and always.”
“No,” said Barbara, “You are not to see her again.”
Roger Douglas watched the two most important people in his life engaged in a conflict that he did not understand, wondering how it had happened. Superficially, Andrew’s position was the most understandable, despite his assertion that he was willing to commit his life to someone he barely knew, two weeks before their first date. He would have written it off to teenage hormones run wild, were it not for the way Andrew had started, stating he was going to be with Joey as if it were some immutable law of physics, not subject to challenge, doubt, or even discussion.
Barbara’s position was even more irrational though. What had compelled her to try to ban her son from seeing the young girl? Joey had been polite enough, if a bit overly affectionate with Andrew. Her folks had seemed reasonable enough. Roger doubted that Joey and Andrew would ever have more than a few months of dating before one or the other moved on to someone different. Why did Barbara do something so deliberately provoking, to further antagonize their son when he was already upset over the football permission issue. Why stir up this much contention?
The football issue was going to be difficult enough for Andrew to accept. The business about Joey seemed to Roger to be almost inviting their son to defy his parents, and for no good purpose he could see. Roger was frightened as Andrew returned his mother’s stare unblinkingly.
The body language told it all. Their formerly shy son was not backing down, would never back down. And as she looked at him, Barbara knew it too. Abruptly, she turned and left the kitchen.
Looking at his wife’s worried and tearful face, however, he knew he wasn’t being set up as the heavy here. She seemed to be agonizing, struggling to say something to her son.
When it finally came out it surprised Roger almost as much as it did Andrew.
“And another thing, Andrew, you are never to see that girl,…Joey, ever again. You are not to date her, you are not to talk to her. I don’t want you to be around her at all. I don’t want you to have anything to do with her.” Roger was uncertain where that had come from but before he could decide what to do his son replied.
“I love Joey, and I am going to be with her.”
The tone and the expression were one they’d heard before, shortly after Andrew’s return from his abduction. There was not the same kind of anger or petulance that had been there moments before over the issue of playing football. This was a calm statement of fact, not even a challenge. This was not the opening ploy for negotiations between a teenager and his parents. Roger could tell that intuitively, even as his wife screamed at the boy, “Love? You barely know her. You don’t know anything about her, about what kind of person she really is.”
Andrew looked up at Roger then and he could see concern in his eyes for his mother, and whatever mental demons seemed to be possessing her. His face turned back to his mother and he said, “I know she loves me, mother. And I love her. I know that we are meant to be together, now and always.”
“No,” said Barbara, “You are not to see her again.”
Roger Douglas watched the two most important people in his life engaged in a conflict that he did not understand, wondering how it had happened. Superficially, Andrew’s position was the most understandable, despite his assertion that he was willing to commit his life to someone he barely knew, two weeks before their first date. He would have written it off to teenage hormones run wild, were it not for the way Andrew had started, stating he was going to be with Joey as if it were some immutable law of physics, not subject to challenge, doubt, or even discussion.
Barbara’s position was even more irrational though. What had compelled her to try to ban her son from seeing the young girl? Joey had been polite enough, if a bit overly affectionate with Andrew. Her folks had seemed reasonable enough. Roger doubted that Joey and Andrew would ever have more than a few months of dating before one or the other moved on to someone different. Why did Barbara do something so deliberately provoking, to further antagonize their son when he was already upset over the football permission issue. Why stir up this much contention?
The football issue was going to be difficult enough for Andrew to accept. The business about Joey seemed to Roger to be almost inviting their son to defy his parents, and for no good purpose he could see. Roger was frightened as Andrew returned his mother’s stare unblinkingly.
The body language told it all. Their formerly shy son was not backing down, would never back down. And as she looked at him, Barbara knew it too. Abruptly, she turned and left the kitchen.
As his mother left the kitchen Andrew’s eyes turned toward his father.
Even before the confrontation over playing football he could tell that they’d been uneasy about him getting back out on the field. And though he hoped he could eventually calm them down and get them to approve of it, playing football certainly wasn’t a life or death issue with him.
When his mother had, all out of the blue, forbidden him to be with Joey, it crystallized in his mind that being with Joey actually was a life or death issue, as far as he was concerned. He loved his mother, would always love his mother, but despite whatever fears had driven her to attempt to keep him away from Joey, he knew that Joey was his future. He hoped that his parents would accept that, that one day even they might be able to know the truth about what had happened that weekend, but no matter what, he was not going to walk away from Joey.
He looked at his concerned father, hoping that he might be able to help, might find some way to help mom back down from the position she had taken. “Dad, do you have any idea why Mom seems to hate Joey?” Roger actually was wondering that himself, but chose to answer, “We’ve all been under a lot of stress since your accident. I honestly thought she wasn’t going to make it through the day that Saturday after you were kidnapped. I think she just needs time to get her world back in order, Andrew. But you need to give her some help too. Deciding that Joey is your one true love who you are going to be with forever even before you’ve had your first date with her is probably a little over the top and not helping the situation with Mom any.”
Andrew was going to argue but stopped himself. ‘Dad doesn’t need this right now,’ he thought. ‘He looks like he’s just as concerned about Mom as I am.’
Even before the confrontation over playing football he could tell that they’d been uneasy about him getting back out on the field. And though he hoped he could eventually calm them down and get them to approve of it, playing football certainly wasn’t a life or death issue with him.
When his mother had, all out of the blue, forbidden him to be with Joey, it crystallized in his mind that being with Joey actually was a life or death issue, as far as he was concerned. He loved his mother, would always love his mother, but despite whatever fears had driven her to attempt to keep him away from Joey, he knew that Joey was his future. He hoped that his parents would accept that, that one day even they might be able to know the truth about what had happened that weekend, but no matter what, he was not going to walk away from Joey.
He looked at his concerned father, hoping that he might be able to help, might find some way to help mom back down from the position she had taken. “Dad, do you have any idea why Mom seems to hate Joey?” Roger actually was wondering that himself, but chose to answer, “We’ve all been under a lot of stress since your accident. I honestly thought she wasn’t going to make it through the day that Saturday after you were kidnapped. I think she just needs time to get her world back in order, Andrew. But you need to give her some help too. Deciding that Joey is your one true love who you are going to be with forever even before you’ve had your first date with her is probably a little over the top and not helping the situation with Mom any.”
Andrew was going to argue but stopped himself. ‘Dad doesn’t need this right now,’ he thought. ‘He looks like he’s just as concerned about Mom as I am.’
As Joey left the library and headed home, she really didn’t give much of a thought to the darkness.
Despite the changes in the rest of the world, Roswell was still a small town without much in the way of violence. Although she could have called her parents to pick her up it was only about 6 blocks to walk to get to home. Most 15 year old girls in Roswell wouldn’t have been worried and Joey in fact had even less reason to worry. While the “Czechoslovakians” of her father’s generation had rarely used their powers as children, concealing their existence even from their own foster parents, Joey, her brother, and her cousins had been encouraged to discretely practice their powers, to increase both their strength and control of them, since early childhood. To many of these alien-human children, this had become onerous homework, to be resisted actively when possible, passively when not. But Joey didn’t approach it that way. To her, it was much like sports training, just something you did to reach a goal. As a consequence her powers at 15 years of age were probably the highest in her peer group, likely stronger than those of all of the adults save her father and Uncle Max. And that is why she was relaxed as she walked toward the parked car, remembering the events of the day, the basketball victory, and savoring her moments with Andrew.
And as she came alongside the car, she was startled to hear a female voice say, “Stop right there. I have a gun.” She turned to see Barbara Douglas in the driver’s seat of the car, pointing a rather large appearing .45 automatic at her.
“Mrs. Douglas?? What’s going on???”
Barbara Douglas opened the driver’s door then slid over into the passenger seat, the gun held shakily in her hand, but nonetheless pointed at Joey. “Get in,” said the woman.
“You drive. Keep your hands on the wheel, and go north out of town.”
“I don’t have a license,” said Joey. The shaking stopped and the gun was squarely sighted at Joey. “I don’t care,” said Barbara, “Drive!”
Joey slowly entered the lakefront park parking lot, deserted on an early December night at 9:30PM. Her eyes returned again to the frightened woman. She had given Joey only the briefest of directions, “Right here. Left over there,” but the directions had served to get them to this deserted parking lot about eight miles out of town.
She had given Joey no indication of why she was doing this, and Joey was frightened. Here, with no one around, she could easily use her power on the woman, throwing her against the side of the car with crushing force. Heck, she could likely throw her through the side of the car if necessary.
But she was Drew’s mother, one of the two most important women in his life. She knew that she would never, could never, bring herself to harm someone Drew loved so much. Nor could she simply squeeze her carotids and force her into unconsciousness. That had been effective enough for the two ambulance drivers, but each had given a convulsive jerk of all their extremities, just before they lost consciousness. Such a thing with Barbara Douglas would likely pull a trigger, sending the large bullet downrange, possibly hitting Joey.
But Joey thought there was an even more urgent reason she could not use her powers against this woman. If she and Drew were going to have a normal life together, this woman would need to be part of that life. Eventually, she would need to know the secret in any event. Joey’s future, no Joey and Drew’s future, depended on her winning this woman over, and attacking her was not the likely way to do that.
And even more than that, she really blamed herself for the terror in the eyes of Barbara Douglas. Barbara could have had her son back that Saturday morning, well but for a couple of iridescent handprints. If it hadn’t been necessary to conceal the handprints, conceal them mainly to protect Joey and her family, it would have spared this woman three days of torture.
And if Joey had been thinking, she needn’t have gone into Barbara’s dream as Joey. In the dream orb she could have been anyone, Izzie had later told her. You could project any face into someone’s orb, changing your face as easily as slipping into a white string bikini.
Andrew’s mom was terrified Joey realized guiltily, because of her. This wasn’t a problem she could solve by force.
Despite the changes in the rest of the world, Roswell was still a small town without much in the way of violence. Although she could have called her parents to pick her up it was only about 6 blocks to walk to get to home. Most 15 year old girls in Roswell wouldn’t have been worried and Joey in fact had even less reason to worry. While the “Czechoslovakians” of her father’s generation had rarely used their powers as children, concealing their existence even from their own foster parents, Joey, her brother, and her cousins had been encouraged to discretely practice their powers, to increase both their strength and control of them, since early childhood. To many of these alien-human children, this had become onerous homework, to be resisted actively when possible, passively when not. But Joey didn’t approach it that way. To her, it was much like sports training, just something you did to reach a goal. As a consequence her powers at 15 years of age were probably the highest in her peer group, likely stronger than those of all of the adults save her father and Uncle Max. And that is why she was relaxed as she walked toward the parked car, remembering the events of the day, the basketball victory, and savoring her moments with Andrew.
And as she came alongside the car, she was startled to hear a female voice say, “Stop right there. I have a gun.” She turned to see Barbara Douglas in the driver’s seat of the car, pointing a rather large appearing .45 automatic at her.
“Mrs. Douglas?? What’s going on???”
Barbara Douglas opened the driver’s door then slid over into the passenger seat, the gun held shakily in her hand, but nonetheless pointed at Joey. “Get in,” said the woman.
“You drive. Keep your hands on the wheel, and go north out of town.”
“I don’t have a license,” said Joey. The shaking stopped and the gun was squarely sighted at Joey. “I don’t care,” said Barbara, “Drive!”
Joey slowly entered the lakefront park parking lot, deserted on an early December night at 9:30PM. Her eyes returned again to the frightened woman. She had given Joey only the briefest of directions, “Right here. Left over there,” but the directions had served to get them to this deserted parking lot about eight miles out of town.
She had given Joey no indication of why she was doing this, and Joey was frightened. Here, with no one around, she could easily use her power on the woman, throwing her against the side of the car with crushing force. Heck, she could likely throw her through the side of the car if necessary.
But she was Drew’s mother, one of the two most important women in his life. She knew that she would never, could never, bring herself to harm someone Drew loved so much. Nor could she simply squeeze her carotids and force her into unconsciousness. That had been effective enough for the two ambulance drivers, but each had given a convulsive jerk of all their extremities, just before they lost consciousness. Such a thing with Barbara Douglas would likely pull a trigger, sending the large bullet downrange, possibly hitting Joey.
But Joey thought there was an even more urgent reason she could not use her powers against this woman. If she and Drew were going to have a normal life together, this woman would need to be part of that life. Eventually, she would need to know the secret in any event. Joey’s future, no Joey and Drew’s future, depended on her winning this woman over, and attacking her was not the likely way to do that.
And even more than that, she really blamed herself for the terror in the eyes of Barbara Douglas. Barbara could have had her son back that Saturday morning, well but for a couple of iridescent handprints. If it hadn’t been necessary to conceal the handprints, conceal them mainly to protect Joey and her family, it would have spared this woman three days of torture.
And if Joey had been thinking, she needn’t have gone into Barbara’s dream as Joey. In the dream orb she could have been anyone, Izzie had later told her. You could project any face into someone’s orb, changing your face as easily as slipping into a white string bikini.
Andrew’s mom was terrified Joey realized guiltily, because of her. This wasn’t a problem she could solve by force.
As they drove in to the parking lot, Barbara Douglas was starting to question her own sanity. It had seemed so reasonable, only a half hour ago. Take the girl, force her to tell the secret, force her to tell what someone had done to her son. Now as she looked at the young girl, who looked so small behind the steering wheel, she wondered if she had not made a disastrously bad mistake.
Joey had made no resistance except for her initial protest about driving, not that Barbara was sure what she’d have done if Joey had. For all Barbara’s fears about this girl, for all the terror that Barbara had gone through when they thought Drew had been paralyzed, and when he had been kidnapped, the only real connection to Joey had been her face in Barbara’s dream and even then her image had treated Barbara kindly. Barbara knew she’d been frightened almost to the point of insanity by Andrew’s apparent injury and his later kidnapping, and her mind had not yet totally resolved this terror.
Seeing the changes in Andrew, seeing Joey’s face, seeing the way the two of them had acted together had somehow resurrected the terror in her mind surrounding Andrew’s abduction, all the questions she had left unanswered, ignored in her happiness at the return of her child.
Her voice was almost apologetic as she looked at the small girl behind the steering wheel and said “I think I almost went insane when Andrew was kidnapped. And he came back changed, different. You were there, you were in my dream. What was done to my boy? What are you?”
'There it was,' thought Joey. 'The questions were out'. She looked up into Barbara Douglas’ eyes and made her decision. She would bet her future that the woman who had given birth to Andrew, who had raised him to be the person he was, would share his compassion, share his values. She looked out above the steering wheel into the darkness and started to tell the story.
“The story really starts in World War II. It was a time of horror when millions died and the whole world went insane. Even the United States, protected by two oceans from most of the violence, was affected by the insanity. There was a wave of fear towards the foreigner, toward the alien. Even native US citizens were interned, locked up not because of anything they did, but merely because of where their ancestors were born.
In this time of insanity wars were fought across those oceans, and the aviators fighting them saw things they couldn’t understand. They called them foo-fighters, balls of light in the sky. Most were probably ball lightning or some other natural phenomenon, but some appeared to be actual vehicles, superior technology to anything the US possessed, superior even to the technology of their enemies.
The US government feared that these were allies of the enemy, that perhaps the Nazis or the Japanese had contacted whatever race controlled these foo-fighters. They created a small very secret agency in the FBI to investigate any appearances of these vehicles, to capture their occupants and to insure that they could pose no threat to the country.
The secret Executive Orders signed were even more draconian than those for the Japanese-Americans who were interned. No tactics were too extreme, no violence too excessive, to control this threat. No one cared, for whatever creatures might be in these machines, they clearly couldn’t be human. And there was a war on, and the survival of nations at risk.
But then the war was over, the Allies were victorious. They found in the records of the enemy military that they had seen similar lights, similar vehicles, but they knew no more about them than did the Americans.
Whatever they were, they really had posed no threat to anyone, and took no side in the war. But while the war was over, the secret agency lived on. It did what all government agencies do, it sought more manpower, more budget, it inflated the threat posed, for in fact no actual damage had ever been done by these foo-fighters.
As the rest of America got back to normal, as the government made apologies for the paranoia of the war years to their Japanese American citizens, this agency continued to grow in secret. The draconian Executive Orders were never changed, in fact, outside of the secret agency, few knew they even existed. And in 1947 something finally happened. One of these foo-fighters crashed near Roswell New Mexico.
Of the ship’s actual crew, there were no survivors. But two individuals did survive, artificial life-forms, bioengineered to be Guardians, to protect eight embryos that were in stasis pods in the ship. These pods stopped time, or at least greatly slowed it. The embryos were part human-part alien. Were they to be ambassadors to the earth from some other society? Were they the offspring of aliens with human partners? Were they the vanguard of some invasion? Nobody really knows, but in their pods they survived the crash that killed the crew, and the guardians that survived with them hurried to conceal them in safety.
One guardian escaped with its 4 pods to the East Coast and concealed the pods in the forgotten subway tunnels of a large city. The other concealed his charges near Roswell, but was himself captured by the secret agency. He was tortured for two years before he escaped and the torture drove him insane. He held the human race itself responsible for his imprisonment and torture, and killed any that stood between himself and freedom. Eventually both guardians disguised themselves as human, blended in to the population, and would return only rarely to check the concealment and safety of their charges.
But no power source lasts forever, and it took great power to bend time. When power reserves hit a certain level, the pods could no longer stop the embryos from aging and they worked instead to bring the embryos to a level of development that might allow them to survive on their own, outside of the failing pod. Under the city, four children were born of these pods, growing up on the streets, without any real homes.
Near Roswell three of the pods opened. Two children, a brother and sister, were found walking along the road by a childless couple who eventually adopted them. Days later the third was found, placed in an orphanage, sent to foster care.
The fourth pod was just releasing the last child when the guardian returned. Even insane the guardian still followed his mission, and so he raised this child. He taught her his contempt for people, his treachery.” Eventually the insane guardian died, and the fourth Roswell alien died later as well. One of the other four had died on the streets of New York. There were only six left by then, high school age in appearance.
“I know best about the three alien children in Roswell,” said Joey. “They had blended in to the human community, were raised as humans. They almost thought of themselves as humans, but they knew they were different. They had powers, they could move things with their minds, visit other people’s dreams, change the shape of things just by concentrating hard. But they kept these things a secret, even from their own parents. They were safe, but only because they kept the secret.
Then it happened. One alien had loved a human girl since he’d first seen her, in third grade. There was a shooting where she worked, it was senseless really, she wasn’t even the target. But he had to decide right there whether to watch her bleed to death on the floor in front of him, or to risk discovery. All of the aliens could heal their own small injuries, but this one could do more, he could heal even those near death. And he couldn’t let her die.
Although it was covered up, eventually the secret got out. By that time all three loved humans, one was already married to one. The secret unit came one day to kill them, to kill them and the humans who loved them. They ran away from Roswell then, taking their friends who were also threatened. The boys married their girlfriends and took them along, the girl sent her husband off to keep him safe by staying away from him. A couple of times they were almost captured in that next year, and then came the day that one of the East Coast aliens was captured, and turned over to this special unit. The unit decided to get information the way they had always gotten information, by torture. Not just the torture of the female alien they had, but to capture the adoptive parents of the two young aliens, the parents of the girls, the parent of a friend who had fled with them, anyone who might give them information.
The three Roswell aliens, and those they loved decided they would run no further, they would go back and fight for their parents, fight for a life free from pursuit. They found the center and attacked it. The other two East Coast aliens were there too, trying to free the girl who had been captured. When one saw that she had died of vivisection, that she had been cut apart while still awake to try to see what made her work, the alien who had grown up with her, who had loved her, went insane with rage. People died, and eventually he died. Now there were only four.
The Roswell three rescued their parents but they also found records, detailing what the secret unit had done. Over almost 50 years, they had killed dozens of people, kidnapping them, torturing them, trying to prove they were aliens or to get information from them. The Roswell trio had the records and they contacted people high in government to tell them they were going to make the information public over the internet. They would run no longer. If they could not live normal lives they were going to expose the violence done against them, against many people, by the paranoid sociopaths the government had funded.
The people in government they contacted claimed ignorance, the funding was only one item of millions in the budget. The Roswell group didn’t care. For too long the government had funded this group, given them money, authority, power. There would be accountability, even if it cost them their lives.
Senior politicians in both parties looked at the crimes that had occurred, looked at the years that each party had voted the unit money, the years that they had never provided oversight. The administration looked at the secret Executive Orders, what the United States had authorized these sociopaths to do for a half a century. Politically, both parties would be devastated.
While the aliens might become sideshow freaks, never having a normal life, it would damage, maybe even bring down the political structure in Washington.
Eventually a political decision was made. The Executive Orders were rescinded. The funding and manpower authorizations went away. The unit would be no more.
As for the aliens, they were a political liability. Their existence would anger some churches, but they couldn’t be killed because they had a dozen secret websites that would start downloading the whole story, providing the truth of the crimes the politicians in both parties had voted to fund.
So eventually a political compromise was made. A study was done. There were only four remaining aliens. Three were already married to humans. No one knew if they could have children together, but it really didn’t matter. If they could not, the alien story would end in one generation with the four survivors. If they could, it still didn’t matter. The DNA of four aliens was trivial compared to the DNA of 300 million Americans.
Like a myriad of small Indian tribes that once existed, the aliens would soon be diluted out of existence.
The special unit members would be tried for any crimes that could be proven, without any alien connection. The aliens and their families would just be allowed to go, on condition that the websites never put out that data.
The three Roswell aliens, joined by the female survivor of the other pods, licked their wounds and returned back to relatively normal lives.”
Barbara Douglas looked at the face of Joey Guerin as she told the story. Joey peered out into the darkness, telling this amazing tale, almost as if in a trance. Did Joey actually believe that story? Could it possibly be true? Could Andrew’s injury have been real after all? Could an alien have somehow actually repaired Andrew’s neck, something the emergency room doctor had told them no one could do? And how did this young girl fit into the story?
And then Joey turned to her, looking into her eyes, her own glistening with the start of tears, “And it turned out that the aliens and humans could have children together. I’m one of those children.”
Joey had made no resistance except for her initial protest about driving, not that Barbara was sure what she’d have done if Joey had. For all Barbara’s fears about this girl, for all the terror that Barbara had gone through when they thought Drew had been paralyzed, and when he had been kidnapped, the only real connection to Joey had been her face in Barbara’s dream and even then her image had treated Barbara kindly. Barbara knew she’d been frightened almost to the point of insanity by Andrew’s apparent injury and his later kidnapping, and her mind had not yet totally resolved this terror.
Seeing the changes in Andrew, seeing Joey’s face, seeing the way the two of them had acted together had somehow resurrected the terror in her mind surrounding Andrew’s abduction, all the questions she had left unanswered, ignored in her happiness at the return of her child.
Her voice was almost apologetic as she looked at the small girl behind the steering wheel and said “I think I almost went insane when Andrew was kidnapped. And he came back changed, different. You were there, you were in my dream. What was done to my boy? What are you?”
'There it was,' thought Joey. 'The questions were out'. She looked up into Barbara Douglas’ eyes and made her decision. She would bet her future that the woman who had given birth to Andrew, who had raised him to be the person he was, would share his compassion, share his values. She looked out above the steering wheel into the darkness and started to tell the story.
“The story really starts in World War II. It was a time of horror when millions died and the whole world went insane. Even the United States, protected by two oceans from most of the violence, was affected by the insanity. There was a wave of fear towards the foreigner, toward the alien. Even native US citizens were interned, locked up not because of anything they did, but merely because of where their ancestors were born.
In this time of insanity wars were fought across those oceans, and the aviators fighting them saw things they couldn’t understand. They called them foo-fighters, balls of light in the sky. Most were probably ball lightning or some other natural phenomenon, but some appeared to be actual vehicles, superior technology to anything the US possessed, superior even to the technology of their enemies.
The US government feared that these were allies of the enemy, that perhaps the Nazis or the Japanese had contacted whatever race controlled these foo-fighters. They created a small very secret agency in the FBI to investigate any appearances of these vehicles, to capture their occupants and to insure that they could pose no threat to the country.
The secret Executive Orders signed were even more draconian than those for the Japanese-Americans who were interned. No tactics were too extreme, no violence too excessive, to control this threat. No one cared, for whatever creatures might be in these machines, they clearly couldn’t be human. And there was a war on, and the survival of nations at risk.
But then the war was over, the Allies were victorious. They found in the records of the enemy military that they had seen similar lights, similar vehicles, but they knew no more about them than did the Americans.
Whatever they were, they really had posed no threat to anyone, and took no side in the war. But while the war was over, the secret agency lived on. It did what all government agencies do, it sought more manpower, more budget, it inflated the threat posed, for in fact no actual damage had ever been done by these foo-fighters.
As the rest of America got back to normal, as the government made apologies for the paranoia of the war years to their Japanese American citizens, this agency continued to grow in secret. The draconian Executive Orders were never changed, in fact, outside of the secret agency, few knew they even existed. And in 1947 something finally happened. One of these foo-fighters crashed near Roswell New Mexico.
Of the ship’s actual crew, there were no survivors. But two individuals did survive, artificial life-forms, bioengineered to be Guardians, to protect eight embryos that were in stasis pods in the ship. These pods stopped time, or at least greatly slowed it. The embryos were part human-part alien. Were they to be ambassadors to the earth from some other society? Were they the offspring of aliens with human partners? Were they the vanguard of some invasion? Nobody really knows, but in their pods they survived the crash that killed the crew, and the guardians that survived with them hurried to conceal them in safety.
One guardian escaped with its 4 pods to the East Coast and concealed the pods in the forgotten subway tunnels of a large city. The other concealed his charges near Roswell, but was himself captured by the secret agency. He was tortured for two years before he escaped and the torture drove him insane. He held the human race itself responsible for his imprisonment and torture, and killed any that stood between himself and freedom. Eventually both guardians disguised themselves as human, blended in to the population, and would return only rarely to check the concealment and safety of their charges.
But no power source lasts forever, and it took great power to bend time. When power reserves hit a certain level, the pods could no longer stop the embryos from aging and they worked instead to bring the embryos to a level of development that might allow them to survive on their own, outside of the failing pod. Under the city, four children were born of these pods, growing up on the streets, without any real homes.
Near Roswell three of the pods opened. Two children, a brother and sister, were found walking along the road by a childless couple who eventually adopted them. Days later the third was found, placed in an orphanage, sent to foster care.
The fourth pod was just releasing the last child when the guardian returned. Even insane the guardian still followed his mission, and so he raised this child. He taught her his contempt for people, his treachery.” Eventually the insane guardian died, and the fourth Roswell alien died later as well. One of the other four had died on the streets of New York. There were only six left by then, high school age in appearance.
“I know best about the three alien children in Roswell,” said Joey. “They had blended in to the human community, were raised as humans. They almost thought of themselves as humans, but they knew they were different. They had powers, they could move things with their minds, visit other people’s dreams, change the shape of things just by concentrating hard. But they kept these things a secret, even from their own parents. They were safe, but only because they kept the secret.
Then it happened. One alien had loved a human girl since he’d first seen her, in third grade. There was a shooting where she worked, it was senseless really, she wasn’t even the target. But he had to decide right there whether to watch her bleed to death on the floor in front of him, or to risk discovery. All of the aliens could heal their own small injuries, but this one could do more, he could heal even those near death. And he couldn’t let her die.
Although it was covered up, eventually the secret got out. By that time all three loved humans, one was already married to one. The secret unit came one day to kill them, to kill them and the humans who loved them. They ran away from Roswell then, taking their friends who were also threatened. The boys married their girlfriends and took them along, the girl sent her husband off to keep him safe by staying away from him. A couple of times they were almost captured in that next year, and then came the day that one of the East Coast aliens was captured, and turned over to this special unit. The unit decided to get information the way they had always gotten information, by torture. Not just the torture of the female alien they had, but to capture the adoptive parents of the two young aliens, the parents of the girls, the parent of a friend who had fled with them, anyone who might give them information.
The three Roswell aliens, and those they loved decided they would run no further, they would go back and fight for their parents, fight for a life free from pursuit. They found the center and attacked it. The other two East Coast aliens were there too, trying to free the girl who had been captured. When one saw that she had died of vivisection, that she had been cut apart while still awake to try to see what made her work, the alien who had grown up with her, who had loved her, went insane with rage. People died, and eventually he died. Now there were only four.
The Roswell three rescued their parents but they also found records, detailing what the secret unit had done. Over almost 50 years, they had killed dozens of people, kidnapping them, torturing them, trying to prove they were aliens or to get information from them. The Roswell trio had the records and they contacted people high in government to tell them they were going to make the information public over the internet. They would run no longer. If they could not live normal lives they were going to expose the violence done against them, against many people, by the paranoid sociopaths the government had funded.
The people in government they contacted claimed ignorance, the funding was only one item of millions in the budget. The Roswell group didn’t care. For too long the government had funded this group, given them money, authority, power. There would be accountability, even if it cost them their lives.
Senior politicians in both parties looked at the crimes that had occurred, looked at the years that each party had voted the unit money, the years that they had never provided oversight. The administration looked at the secret Executive Orders, what the United States had authorized these sociopaths to do for a half a century. Politically, both parties would be devastated.
While the aliens might become sideshow freaks, never having a normal life, it would damage, maybe even bring down the political structure in Washington.
Eventually a political decision was made. The Executive Orders were rescinded. The funding and manpower authorizations went away. The unit would be no more.
As for the aliens, they were a political liability. Their existence would anger some churches, but they couldn’t be killed because they had a dozen secret websites that would start downloading the whole story, providing the truth of the crimes the politicians in both parties had voted to fund.
So eventually a political compromise was made. A study was done. There were only four remaining aliens. Three were already married to humans. No one knew if they could have children together, but it really didn’t matter. If they could not, the alien story would end in one generation with the four survivors. If they could, it still didn’t matter. The DNA of four aliens was trivial compared to the DNA of 300 million Americans.
Like a myriad of small Indian tribes that once existed, the aliens would soon be diluted out of existence.
The special unit members would be tried for any crimes that could be proven, without any alien connection. The aliens and their families would just be allowed to go, on condition that the websites never put out that data.
The three Roswell aliens, joined by the female survivor of the other pods, licked their wounds and returned back to relatively normal lives.”
Barbara Douglas looked at the face of Joey Guerin as she told the story. Joey peered out into the darkness, telling this amazing tale, almost as if in a trance. Did Joey actually believe that story? Could it possibly be true? Could Andrew’s injury have been real after all? Could an alien have somehow actually repaired Andrew’s neck, something the emergency room doctor had told them no one could do? And how did this young girl fit into the story?
And then Joey turned to her, looking into her eyes, her own glistening with the start of tears, “And it turned out that the aliens and humans could have children together. I’m one of those children.”
Barbara looked at Joey in disbelief. This young girl? An alien? Conditioned by decades of movies about bug-eyed monsters, an attractive blonde 15 year old girl really didn’t seem very threatening. But clearly she had come in to Barbara’s dream, and something had changed Andrew.
“What did you people do to my son?’ she asked. Then thinking of how her son seemed abnormally attracted to the girl said, “What are your plans for my son?”
“I plan to go to the winter carnival dance at school with your son,” she said.
“Not that,” said Barbara Douglas, tell me what you plan for my son in the future.”
Joey sighed, looking at the mother of the young man she loved. She had decided when she had parked here that it was time to tell the truth, time to roll the dice and take her chances. 'Well here it goes,' she thought. She closed her eyes gently, and started to respond.
“There is an arboretum over on the east side of town that looks out on the desert. I plan to walk down the path in that arboretum on the arm of my father, and have him place my hand in Andrew’s hand, to kiss me on the cheek and go sit with my mother. I plan to be with Andrew as long as we live, rejoicing in his happiness and comforting his sorrows. I plan to bear his children, two we think, or maybe three. I plan to live with him in happiness as long as the Creator gives us, and to be in his arms when one of us is finally taken by death. And if I’m first, I will wait for him if there is a hereafter, to join with him once again. And then I plan for our friends and family to gather together, to celebrate our love, and two lives well lived.”
Barbara Douglas’s hand was shaking and tears filled her eyes as she dropped the gun on the seat between them. Whatever the truth was to Andrew’s abduction, this young girl was no threat to her, or to Andrew.
“I don’t like guns,” she said. My grandfather brought that one home from the Korean War, and it has stayed in a trunk in the attic for 70 years until today. I think it’s time for it to be pitched in the lake out there, before it hurts someone.”
Barbara looked out into the distance. “Roger and I wanted three children. We didn’t know until I was near term that I had an abnormality, a bifid uterus. It wouldn’t contract right and finally started to tear, I needed an emergency caesarean section and a hysterectomy. I almost died that day, ….worse yet baby Andrew almost died. They saved us both, but I could never bear another child.
We talked of adopting another child, … we probably should have. It would have been better for us, better for Andrew even. I know I’m too controlling with him, too unwilling to let him grow. But he is the only child I have, the only child I will ever have, and it’s so hard to let him go. When he was hurt I thought I would go insane.”
Barbara Douglas looked at the young girl next to her, the young girl she had kidnapped at gunpoint, and saw tears slowly trickle down Joey’s cheeks.
“What did you people do to my son?’ she asked. Then thinking of how her son seemed abnormally attracted to the girl said, “What are your plans for my son?”
“I plan to go to the winter carnival dance at school with your son,” she said.
“Not that,” said Barbara Douglas, tell me what you plan for my son in the future.”
Joey sighed, looking at the mother of the young man she loved. She had decided when she had parked here that it was time to tell the truth, time to roll the dice and take her chances. 'Well here it goes,' she thought. She closed her eyes gently, and started to respond.
“There is an arboretum over on the east side of town that looks out on the desert. I plan to walk down the path in that arboretum on the arm of my father, and have him place my hand in Andrew’s hand, to kiss me on the cheek and go sit with my mother. I plan to be with Andrew as long as we live, rejoicing in his happiness and comforting his sorrows. I plan to bear his children, two we think, or maybe three. I plan to live with him in happiness as long as the Creator gives us, and to be in his arms when one of us is finally taken by death. And if I’m first, I will wait for him if there is a hereafter, to join with him once again. And then I plan for our friends and family to gather together, to celebrate our love, and two lives well lived.”
Barbara Douglas’s hand was shaking and tears filled her eyes as she dropped the gun on the seat between them. Whatever the truth was to Andrew’s abduction, this young girl was no threat to her, or to Andrew.
“I don’t like guns,” she said. My grandfather brought that one home from the Korean War, and it has stayed in a trunk in the attic for 70 years until today. I think it’s time for it to be pitched in the lake out there, before it hurts someone.”
Barbara looked out into the distance. “Roger and I wanted three children. We didn’t know until I was near term that I had an abnormality, a bifid uterus. It wouldn’t contract right and finally started to tear, I needed an emergency caesarean section and a hysterectomy. I almost died that day, ….worse yet baby Andrew almost died. They saved us both, but I could never bear another child.
We talked of adopting another child, … we probably should have. It would have been better for us, better for Andrew even. I know I’m too controlling with him, too unwilling to let him grow. But he is the only child I have, the only child I will ever have, and it’s so hard to let him go. When he was hurt I thought I would go insane.”
Barbara Douglas looked at the young girl next to her, the young girl she had kidnapped at gunpoint, and saw tears slowly trickle down Joey’s cheeks.
“Do you trust me Mrs. Douglas?” Joey asked. Barbara nodded silently.
“Can I touch you?” As Barbara nodded again, the young girl brought her hands gently to the older woman’s temples and said, “Let your mind go blank. Relax.”
*Flash*Eight year old Joey kicking the soccer ball past Andrew, Andrew congratulating her. *flash* Fourteen year old Joey, her eyes on the ground, telling Andrew she won’t go to the dance with him, that they are too different, her heart breaking, then crying in her room for three days *flash* Joey sitting in the top of the bleachers at the freshman football game, sixty players on the field but her eyes seeing only number 25 *flash*Joey in the stands watching, fear racing through her as she sees the tackle developing, knowing the helmet will strike Drew’s faceguard *flash* Joey in the hospital emergency room, her body numb with fear as she hears the doctor tell Drew’s parents about his injuries *flash*Two ambulance attendants blindfolded and duct-taped to fence posts, Joey checking for bugs and rattlesnakes before she gets in the ambulance and drives away. *flash* Joey straddling a sleeping Andrew on an ambulance gurney, wiping tears from her eyes as she pulls open his cervical collar, wondering desperately if she can really heal him, if she is really that strong *flash* Joey feeling the terrible pain Andrew had felt in the tackle, memorizing it, analyzing it, to use as a blueprint to fix him *flash*Joey striving to feel the nerves, to sort them, to push them toward one-another with her mind. It was so hard, harder than anything she’d ever done, it took more energy than running a marathon, she couldn’t do it, it was beyond her…..but she wouldn’t stop, she’d keep working, if she died in the connection she’d keep working*flash* Joey awakening collapsed onto Andrew’s chest, still on the gurney. Andrew’s neck had two silver iridescent handprints, Joey’s handprints, on either side where she’d been healing him. As she looked at Andrew’s sleeping face and saw that his arms were now working, that they were holding her, her heart sang with joy *flash* Joey in Barbara’s nightmare, driven by compassion to reassure her, your son is safe, he is well, he is loved….*flash*A woman in the cave, telling Joey she should get back home, Joey refusing to leave Andrew until she could return him home, whatever the consequences with her family *flash* *flash* *flash*….
Barbara’s mind reeled from what she had seen, from the emotions she had felt. She felt a sense of awe as she looked at this young woman, scarcely more than a girl. She’d loved Andrew for 6 years, denying him to try to keep him safe, keep him away from her alien world and all of its hazards.
She had been as devastated by Andrew’s injury as Barbara had been herself, but she hadn’t retreated into despair. She had acted with a determination that was really neither human nor alien, but simply driven by her love for Andrew. Barbara was still gasping from the impact of those flashes.
This young lady would have stormed the gates of Hell, she thought, if that was what it took to make Andrew well.
All by herself she had kidnapped him, endured the pain of his injury, and healed him, almost dying to do it. And the moment she had most dreaded was not the pain, not the disapproval of her family or the punishment she would receive, but that Andrew might reject her once she told him the truth.
And as she looked at the blue eyes looking up at her she realized that was still this girl’s fear, not that Andrew would reject her this time, Barbara had seen his reaction, been startled at the blistering passion that had consumed both teenagers for those seconds when they’d first kissed. What now put fear in those blue eyes was that Andrew’s mom would reject her, that she, Andrew’s mom, couldn’t accept the girl’s heritage.
‘And why wouldn’t she think that,’ thought Barbara to herself bitterly. ‘Don’t most teenage girls get kidnapped at gunpoint by their boyfriend’s mom?’
Barbara was bewildered by how quickly her son and this girl had….bonded. How quickly two teenagers who had not yet dated had not only become a couple, but had somehow become an inevitability.
She looked down at those blue eyes waiting for her to speak and found it easy to believe that the young woman would indeed get her desire, and that Barbara too would be there sitting by the aisle when Joey took that walk on her father’s arm.
Her own eyes filled with tears as she pulled Joey to her in a hug, “I’ve always wanted a daughter, now I guess I have one”
“Can I touch you?” As Barbara nodded again, the young girl brought her hands gently to the older woman’s temples and said, “Let your mind go blank. Relax.”
*Flash*Eight year old Joey kicking the soccer ball past Andrew, Andrew congratulating her. *flash* Fourteen year old Joey, her eyes on the ground, telling Andrew she won’t go to the dance with him, that they are too different, her heart breaking, then crying in her room for three days *flash* Joey sitting in the top of the bleachers at the freshman football game, sixty players on the field but her eyes seeing only number 25 *flash*Joey in the stands watching, fear racing through her as she sees the tackle developing, knowing the helmet will strike Drew’s faceguard *flash* Joey in the hospital emergency room, her body numb with fear as she hears the doctor tell Drew’s parents about his injuries *flash*Two ambulance attendants blindfolded and duct-taped to fence posts, Joey checking for bugs and rattlesnakes before she gets in the ambulance and drives away. *flash* Joey straddling a sleeping Andrew on an ambulance gurney, wiping tears from her eyes as she pulls open his cervical collar, wondering desperately if she can really heal him, if she is really that strong *flash* Joey feeling the terrible pain Andrew had felt in the tackle, memorizing it, analyzing it, to use as a blueprint to fix him *flash*Joey striving to feel the nerves, to sort them, to push them toward one-another with her mind. It was so hard, harder than anything she’d ever done, it took more energy than running a marathon, she couldn’t do it, it was beyond her…..but she wouldn’t stop, she’d keep working, if she died in the connection she’d keep working*flash* Joey awakening collapsed onto Andrew’s chest, still on the gurney. Andrew’s neck had two silver iridescent handprints, Joey’s handprints, on either side where she’d been healing him. As she looked at Andrew’s sleeping face and saw that his arms were now working, that they were holding her, her heart sang with joy *flash* Joey in Barbara’s nightmare, driven by compassion to reassure her, your son is safe, he is well, he is loved….*flash*A woman in the cave, telling Joey she should get back home, Joey refusing to leave Andrew until she could return him home, whatever the consequences with her family *flash* *flash* *flash*….
Barbara’s mind reeled from what she had seen, from the emotions she had felt. She felt a sense of awe as she looked at this young woman, scarcely more than a girl. She’d loved Andrew for 6 years, denying him to try to keep him safe, keep him away from her alien world and all of its hazards.
She had been as devastated by Andrew’s injury as Barbara had been herself, but she hadn’t retreated into despair. She had acted with a determination that was really neither human nor alien, but simply driven by her love for Andrew. Barbara was still gasping from the impact of those flashes.
This young lady would have stormed the gates of Hell, she thought, if that was what it took to make Andrew well.
All by herself she had kidnapped him, endured the pain of his injury, and healed him, almost dying to do it. And the moment she had most dreaded was not the pain, not the disapproval of her family or the punishment she would receive, but that Andrew might reject her once she told him the truth.
And as she looked at the blue eyes looking up at her she realized that was still this girl’s fear, not that Andrew would reject her this time, Barbara had seen his reaction, been startled at the blistering passion that had consumed both teenagers for those seconds when they’d first kissed. What now put fear in those blue eyes was that Andrew’s mom would reject her, that she, Andrew’s mom, couldn’t accept the girl’s heritage.
‘And why wouldn’t she think that,’ thought Barbara to herself bitterly. ‘Don’t most teenage girls get kidnapped at gunpoint by their boyfriend’s mom?’
Barbara was bewildered by how quickly her son and this girl had….bonded. How quickly two teenagers who had not yet dated had not only become a couple, but had somehow become an inevitability.
She looked down at those blue eyes waiting for her to speak and found it easy to believe that the young woman would indeed get her desire, and that Barbara too would be there sitting by the aisle when Joey took that walk on her father’s arm.
Her own eyes filled with tears as she pulled Joey to her in a hug, “I’ve always wanted a daughter, now I guess I have one”
They both hugged and wept tears of joy as a pack of coyotes yipped in the distance.
Andrew and his father had driven through the town twice, seeking Barbara Douglas. She had been acting so oddly, so angrily, and then left without a word. Both her husband and her son were terrified that something had happened to her. As they returned to the house Roger remembered that his wife’s car was equipped with a new antitheft device. By keying the cars code number into an internet website, the GPS in the car was triggered, giving the car’s location. “Here it is,” said Roger. “It’s in Lakefront park. We can be there in 20 minutes.”
As they both broke their hug, and wiped tears from their faces, Barbara realized why Andrew had changed. She had seen Andrew through Joey’s eyes, seen him not as she did, as the little boy he had been. Joey saw him as the young man he was, and the potential man he would be.
Joey had changed him alright, changed him in the fashion women had been changing men for ages. Once Andrew understood what Joey thought of him, what she wanted him to be, what she wanted their life together to be, the changes in him were inevitable.
Joey had changed too, she had seen from the flashes. She really was, or at least had been, a shy young girl. And with most people she still was.
But in what she felt for Andrew, there was no holding back, no restraint, hardly even caution. “So tell me, Joey….” Said Barbara Douglas,” how in three short days you and my son became so close that I truly do believe you will walk down that aisle to him one day. How on earth…...” And then she smiled, “how in the universe, did that happen? I’d really like to know.”
Joey blushed, looked at Barbara, and said, “I don’t know the exact moment I fell in love with Andrew. I know that I loved him two years ago, when he asked me to the dance, but I think I loved him long before that. Once I healed him, things changed. To heal him I had to make the connection, a lot like what I just did with you, but far more intense.
My Aunt Izzie told me that she believes much of human courtship is learning to trust the other person.
But trust within the connection is easy. You feel what the other person feels, know instantly their wants, their needs, their desires. You can’t lie within the connection, you can’t be confused, you can’t really be shy, because you know the other person's feelings.
I saw that he loved me, he saw that I loved him. We wanted the same thing, to live our lives together. After that, I couldn’t push him away, even to keep him safe. He was a part of me. I wasn’t sure that he would feel the same way once he really knew about me…you know, being not all human, but you saw what happened. It was almost like he connected with me, just with a touch.
Aunt Izzie says that happens to couples when one is alien after they have been together enough, a year or two usually. It happened with us before our first kiss.”
“That was quite a kiss for a first attempt,” said Barbara Douglas.
Joey blushed furiously. “Aunt Izzie told me that’s a side effect of the connection too, you get in kind of a feedback loop, with the passion of the other person feeding your passion which feeds theirs. We’ve tried not to let that happen much. There is a risk you can get……carried away,” Joey said, her face flushing.
“I see,” said Barbara Douglas, smiling but a little apprehensive. “And has this happened often?”
“Well, we’ve really only kissed each other, I mean for real, about five times. It has happened twice. That first time and today, but today was a special situation.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, since I was grounded I really couldn’t see Andrew in person…..”
“And…?” prompted Barbara.
“Well we dreamwalk sometimes.”
“Dreamwalk?”
“You know, that’s what I did with you, to tell you Drew was OK. I meet Drew in his dreams since we couldn’t really be together. Sometimes we kiss, but since we are really so far away, we don’t get a connection”
“Why was today so special?”
Joey suddenly looked very shy but very happy. She squirmed like a puppy, eager to share good news with someone.
“Can I show you…?” she asked placing her hands to Barbara’s temples. Barbara nodded.
Barbara watched through Joey’s eyes and felt Joey’s feelings as the young couple walked along the white sands of the beach, the light surf sending gentle waves to wash over their feet as they walked along. They had been walking for hours, sometimes holding hands, sometimes with his arm around her waist, sometimes with her head against his shoulder, practicing the gentle little intimacies as if they were a long established couple.
Barbara could sense that this beach was well known to them, that they had been here dozens of time, talking about her, talking about him, talking about life and their future together. They were excited today, realizing that tomorrow the grounding would be over and they would actually be able to touch in person, not just in the dream world.
As they walked along hand in hand, Andrew looked off in the distance and asked, “Joey, do you want to have children.” Barbara felt the rising anxiety in Joey as her mind seemed to explode suddenly.
‘What does he mean by that?’ she thought wishing suddenly that they were actually touching each other, that she could connect and see what Andrew wanted to know without ambiguity.
‘Did he mean to ask if she ever wanted children? Well, yes, sure, sometime.’
‘Did he mean to ask if she wanted to have children with him? Of course, she thought. Who else? ‘
‘Did he want children with her….now?’ A picture formed in her mind of a pregnant 16 year old Joey, standing between her father and Andrew, fending off power blast after power blast as her father tried to incinerate him. She smiled briefly but then thought…… ‘well, if he really wanted to, I’d probably say yes even if it meant having to take on Dad.’
Too afraid to know exactly what to say, she said, “Andrew I’m only fifteen…..”
He turned to face her, his arms around her waist. “I don’t mean NOW, silly. I mean after we graduate from high school.”
The word WE exploded into Joey’s brain, sending ripples of happiness throughout her body.
“You know,” he continued, “after we are married.”
The word MARRIED joined the WE in sending waves of happiness throughout dream-Joey.
She looked up at him and said, “Andrew, when the time is right I’d like nothing better than to bear your children.” They hugged for long minutes as the waves lapped at their feet and ankles.
Barbara Douglas sat in the passenger seat of her car, looking at the young girl. Tears of happiness were trickling from the cheeks of both women. Barbara was stunned by what she had seen, and what she had felt.
Joey looked at her and spoke, “In the connection, there is no ambiguity, no questions., no concealment. He doesn’t have to worry what I really think of him, I don’t have to worry what he really thinks of me. We know.”
Joey looked into the distance. “I know that makes you uncomfortable, Mrs. Douglas. I know you think we are too young to make such commitments, but the commitment is there whether we say it or not. Andrew and I both know we would be incomplete without the other. And in the connection, there is no room for doubt. Aunt Izzie says that is why my people marry so young. She was married at eighteen. Her father and mother were so sure she was doing the wrong thing that they almost refused to come to the wedding. Of course, they didn’t know she was an alien then. Come to think of it, neither did Uncle Jesse when they got married, he didn’t find out for three months.”
Joey smiled and shook her head. “I think Izzie is an incurable romantic. She was sure it would work out, and it has. My Uncle Max married Aunt Liz right after high school, running from the special unit, worried about being killed or tortured. Both were eighteen. My Mom and Dad were married at nineteen, but I think they were lovers in high school.
But the same certainty that lets us know we will always love one another does more than just cause us to be close. In the connection, you have nothing to doubt but also nothing to prove. I know I do not have to prove my love to Drew and he does not have to prove his love to me.
What we do when we are together is because we both want to do it, not because anyone is manipulating the other, at least not consciously. We know with certainty that our future is each other, and for now we are content to go slowly. We understand that, and we are trying to let our families adjust to our futures being with each other, instead of with them. We know it’s hard.”
Barbara looked at this young beautiful girl, this strong and capable young lady who she now knew without a doubt would be her daughter-in-law one day. Andrew was Barbara’s son, but there was little doubt that his future would be better in this woman’s arms, than in her arms.
It wasn’t just that she had healed his paralysis, made him whole once again. It was that Andrew was changing to be the man Joey believed him to be, knew he could be. He was changing because of Joey she knew, and Andrew was the better for that change.
Her fears about Joey, about the mystery of the abduction, had been answered. The future would be…interesting, for her son. But it would be a good future. He was a fortunate young man, and Joey was a fortunate young woman. Barbara was more than content.
Joey looked up at Barbara in surprise. “It’s Andrew. He’s here. I’ve gotten that I can sense him when he’s near. Somehow, he’s found us.”
Andrew and his father had driven through the town twice, seeking Barbara Douglas. She had been acting so oddly, so angrily, and then left without a word. Both her husband and her son were terrified that something had happened to her. As they returned to the house Roger remembered that his wife’s car was equipped with a new antitheft device. By keying the cars code number into an internet website, the GPS in the car was triggered, giving the car’s location. “Here it is,” said Roger. “It’s in Lakefront park. We can be there in 20 minutes.”
As they both broke their hug, and wiped tears from their faces, Barbara realized why Andrew had changed. She had seen Andrew through Joey’s eyes, seen him not as she did, as the little boy he had been. Joey saw him as the young man he was, and the potential man he would be.
Joey had changed him alright, changed him in the fashion women had been changing men for ages. Once Andrew understood what Joey thought of him, what she wanted him to be, what she wanted their life together to be, the changes in him were inevitable.
Joey had changed too, she had seen from the flashes. She really was, or at least had been, a shy young girl. And with most people she still was.
But in what she felt for Andrew, there was no holding back, no restraint, hardly even caution. “So tell me, Joey….” Said Barbara Douglas,” how in three short days you and my son became so close that I truly do believe you will walk down that aisle to him one day. How on earth…...” And then she smiled, “how in the universe, did that happen? I’d really like to know.”
Joey blushed, looked at Barbara, and said, “I don’t know the exact moment I fell in love with Andrew. I know that I loved him two years ago, when he asked me to the dance, but I think I loved him long before that. Once I healed him, things changed. To heal him I had to make the connection, a lot like what I just did with you, but far more intense.
My Aunt Izzie told me that she believes much of human courtship is learning to trust the other person.
But trust within the connection is easy. You feel what the other person feels, know instantly their wants, their needs, their desires. You can’t lie within the connection, you can’t be confused, you can’t really be shy, because you know the other person's feelings.
I saw that he loved me, he saw that I loved him. We wanted the same thing, to live our lives together. After that, I couldn’t push him away, even to keep him safe. He was a part of me. I wasn’t sure that he would feel the same way once he really knew about me…you know, being not all human, but you saw what happened. It was almost like he connected with me, just with a touch.
Aunt Izzie says that happens to couples when one is alien after they have been together enough, a year or two usually. It happened with us before our first kiss.”
“That was quite a kiss for a first attempt,” said Barbara Douglas.
Joey blushed furiously. “Aunt Izzie told me that’s a side effect of the connection too, you get in kind of a feedback loop, with the passion of the other person feeding your passion which feeds theirs. We’ve tried not to let that happen much. There is a risk you can get……carried away,” Joey said, her face flushing.
“I see,” said Barbara Douglas, smiling but a little apprehensive. “And has this happened often?”
“Well, we’ve really only kissed each other, I mean for real, about five times. It has happened twice. That first time and today, but today was a special situation.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well, since I was grounded I really couldn’t see Andrew in person…..”
“And…?” prompted Barbara.
“Well we dreamwalk sometimes.”
“Dreamwalk?”
“You know, that’s what I did with you, to tell you Drew was OK. I meet Drew in his dreams since we couldn’t really be together. Sometimes we kiss, but since we are really so far away, we don’t get a connection”
“Why was today so special?”
Joey suddenly looked very shy but very happy. She squirmed like a puppy, eager to share good news with someone.
“Can I show you…?” she asked placing her hands to Barbara’s temples. Barbara nodded.
Barbara watched through Joey’s eyes and felt Joey’s feelings as the young couple walked along the white sands of the beach, the light surf sending gentle waves to wash over their feet as they walked along. They had been walking for hours, sometimes holding hands, sometimes with his arm around her waist, sometimes with her head against his shoulder, practicing the gentle little intimacies as if they were a long established couple.
Barbara could sense that this beach was well known to them, that they had been here dozens of time, talking about her, talking about him, talking about life and their future together. They were excited today, realizing that tomorrow the grounding would be over and they would actually be able to touch in person, not just in the dream world.
As they walked along hand in hand, Andrew looked off in the distance and asked, “Joey, do you want to have children.” Barbara felt the rising anxiety in Joey as her mind seemed to explode suddenly.
‘What does he mean by that?’ she thought wishing suddenly that they were actually touching each other, that she could connect and see what Andrew wanted to know without ambiguity.
‘Did he mean to ask if she ever wanted children? Well, yes, sure, sometime.’
‘Did he mean to ask if she wanted to have children with him? Of course, she thought. Who else? ‘
‘Did he want children with her….now?’ A picture formed in her mind of a pregnant 16 year old Joey, standing between her father and Andrew, fending off power blast after power blast as her father tried to incinerate him. She smiled briefly but then thought…… ‘well, if he really wanted to, I’d probably say yes even if it meant having to take on Dad.’
Too afraid to know exactly what to say, she said, “Andrew I’m only fifteen…..”
He turned to face her, his arms around her waist. “I don’t mean NOW, silly. I mean after we graduate from high school.”
The word WE exploded into Joey’s brain, sending ripples of happiness throughout her body.
“You know,” he continued, “after we are married.”
The word MARRIED joined the WE in sending waves of happiness throughout dream-Joey.
She looked up at him and said, “Andrew, when the time is right I’d like nothing better than to bear your children.” They hugged for long minutes as the waves lapped at their feet and ankles.
Barbara Douglas sat in the passenger seat of her car, looking at the young girl. Tears of happiness were trickling from the cheeks of both women. Barbara was stunned by what she had seen, and what she had felt.
Joey looked at her and spoke, “In the connection, there is no ambiguity, no questions., no concealment. He doesn’t have to worry what I really think of him, I don’t have to worry what he really thinks of me. We know.”
Joey looked into the distance. “I know that makes you uncomfortable, Mrs. Douglas. I know you think we are too young to make such commitments, but the commitment is there whether we say it or not. Andrew and I both know we would be incomplete without the other. And in the connection, there is no room for doubt. Aunt Izzie says that is why my people marry so young. She was married at eighteen. Her father and mother were so sure she was doing the wrong thing that they almost refused to come to the wedding. Of course, they didn’t know she was an alien then. Come to think of it, neither did Uncle Jesse when they got married, he didn’t find out for three months.”
Joey smiled and shook her head. “I think Izzie is an incurable romantic. She was sure it would work out, and it has. My Uncle Max married Aunt Liz right after high school, running from the special unit, worried about being killed or tortured. Both were eighteen. My Mom and Dad were married at nineteen, but I think they were lovers in high school.
But the same certainty that lets us know we will always love one another does more than just cause us to be close. In the connection, you have nothing to doubt but also nothing to prove. I know I do not have to prove my love to Drew and he does not have to prove his love to me.
What we do when we are together is because we both want to do it, not because anyone is manipulating the other, at least not consciously. We know with certainty that our future is each other, and for now we are content to go slowly. We understand that, and we are trying to let our families adjust to our futures being with each other, instead of with them. We know it’s hard.”
Barbara looked at this young beautiful girl, this strong and capable young lady who she now knew without a doubt would be her daughter-in-law one day. Andrew was Barbara’s son, but there was little doubt that his future would be better in this woman’s arms, than in her arms.
It wasn’t just that she had healed his paralysis, made him whole once again. It was that Andrew was changing to be the man Joey believed him to be, knew he could be. He was changing because of Joey she knew, and Andrew was the better for that change.
Her fears about Joey, about the mystery of the abduction, had been answered. The future would be…interesting, for her son. But it would be a good future. He was a fortunate young man, and Joey was a fortunate young woman. Barbara was more than content.
Joey looked up at Barbara in surprise. “It’s Andrew. He’s here. I’ve gotten that I can sense him when he’s near. Somehow, he’s found us.”
As Barbara looked around she saw the lights of another car coming in to the park, less than a minute away. She looked suddenly at the pistol, forgotten on the seat between them, and looked desperately for a place to conceal it. Joey looked at her and seemed to read her mind. Joey’s right hand hovered above the gun, and the metal seemed to ripple, never getting hot, but nonetheless flowing into a disk of grey gunmetal. She picked it up in her right hand, lowering the window with her left hand. Holding the disk up in her palm there was a brief glow of white light and the disk sailed from her hand into the darkness. Seconds later there was a splash near the middle of the lake, as if a large fish had jumped.
Joey looked at Barbara with a conspiratorial smile. “I can’t think of any good reason that the guys need to know about the gun.”
Barbara smiled and looked at the teenager in wonder. Joey had let her point a loaded pistol at her, let her put her life at risk to convince her to trust her. Barbara wondered how many other people would have been able to kidnap the girl at gunpoint, drive her to an isolated place without witnesses, and even live to tell the tale? Very few, she decided. She again held her new daughter, laughing and crying at the same time.
Andrew sensed Joey before he saw her. When his mother’s car appeared he was shocked to see Joey behind the wheel, his mother sitting on the passenger side. “Dad, Mom’s with Joey…?”
Roger Douglas saw the girl sitting next to his wife crying and his heart leaped into his throat. He’d known that Barbara had been upset when she’d left the house, knew in fact that she hadn’t really been OK since Andrew’s accident. He’d hoped that she would calm down, that things would get back to normal, but he’d never expected this, that his wife would confront the girl, forbid her to see Andrew.
He knew this would cause a rift far worse than any that had ever occurred in his family. He looked back to this afternoon when his greatest fear was how Andrew would react to being told he couldn’t play football. As much as he had dreaded that, he suddenly longed for that simple a problem.
The night was cold in the high desert. Roger and Andrew got in the back seat of Barbara’s car, both looking at the two women in the front seat with apprehension. As Joey looked into the eyes of Andrew she saw marked concern, his face full of questions and fear. Although they were still feet apart, she was amazed as she felt a connection starting between them, without conscious effort on her part.
She quickly pushed a thought through the connection at Andrew, 'It’s OK, everything is OK. We’ll talk about it on the beach later,' and damped out the connection before it could fully form. Sitting next to her, Barbara watched the soundless communication pass between the two teenagers, seeing her son’s appearance of concern relax suddenly, and relief show itself in his face. She marveled at how easy it was for the two of them, as she looked at Roger’s obvious concern. This was going to be harder.
“What are you two doing out here?” asked Roger, directing his question to Barbara.
Before Barbara could find words, Joey quickly spoke up. “Oh, we were just talking girl stuff.”
“Girl stuff?” asked Roger, whose last memory of his wife was telling her family that she wanted Andrew to have nothing to do with the girl.
“Like what I should wear to the dance,” said Joey. “I really don’t have any appropriate dresses, and I’ve never been to a dance before. My wardrobe tends to run toward running shoes and court shoes, with the odd set of motocross riding gear. I don’t have much in the way of, you know, dance stuff. Mrs. Douglas, my Mom and I are going shopping for a dress for the dance at the mall on Saturday. Would you like to come along? We could all have lunch together.”
“Why Joey, that would be lovely,” said Barbara Douglas, further confusing her husband.
“This young lady is a real sweetheart Andrew, you’d better hang on to her.”
Joey smiled sweetly at Barbara’s comment, giggling. Andrew squeezed her hand softly.
Roger Douglas became further confused. He looked back and forth between his wife and his son's girlfriend.
He was unsure when his son and this girl had become a couple, but how in a matter of hours had this girl and his wife become such good friends, mere hours after she had intensely disliked the girl?
Joey looked at Barbara with a conspiratorial smile. “I can’t think of any good reason that the guys need to know about the gun.”
Barbara smiled and looked at the teenager in wonder. Joey had let her point a loaded pistol at her, let her put her life at risk to convince her to trust her. Barbara wondered how many other people would have been able to kidnap the girl at gunpoint, drive her to an isolated place without witnesses, and even live to tell the tale? Very few, she decided. She again held her new daughter, laughing and crying at the same time.
Andrew sensed Joey before he saw her. When his mother’s car appeared he was shocked to see Joey behind the wheel, his mother sitting on the passenger side. “Dad, Mom’s with Joey…?”
Roger Douglas saw the girl sitting next to his wife crying and his heart leaped into his throat. He’d known that Barbara had been upset when she’d left the house, knew in fact that she hadn’t really been OK since Andrew’s accident. He’d hoped that she would calm down, that things would get back to normal, but he’d never expected this, that his wife would confront the girl, forbid her to see Andrew.
He knew this would cause a rift far worse than any that had ever occurred in his family. He looked back to this afternoon when his greatest fear was how Andrew would react to being told he couldn’t play football. As much as he had dreaded that, he suddenly longed for that simple a problem.
The night was cold in the high desert. Roger and Andrew got in the back seat of Barbara’s car, both looking at the two women in the front seat with apprehension. As Joey looked into the eyes of Andrew she saw marked concern, his face full of questions and fear. Although they were still feet apart, she was amazed as she felt a connection starting between them, without conscious effort on her part.
She quickly pushed a thought through the connection at Andrew, 'It’s OK, everything is OK. We’ll talk about it on the beach later,' and damped out the connection before it could fully form. Sitting next to her, Barbara watched the soundless communication pass between the two teenagers, seeing her son’s appearance of concern relax suddenly, and relief show itself in his face. She marveled at how easy it was for the two of them, as she looked at Roger’s obvious concern. This was going to be harder.
“What are you two doing out here?” asked Roger, directing his question to Barbara.
Before Barbara could find words, Joey quickly spoke up. “Oh, we were just talking girl stuff.”
“Girl stuff?” asked Roger, whose last memory of his wife was telling her family that she wanted Andrew to have nothing to do with the girl.
“Like what I should wear to the dance,” said Joey. “I really don’t have any appropriate dresses, and I’ve never been to a dance before. My wardrobe tends to run toward running shoes and court shoes, with the odd set of motocross riding gear. I don’t have much in the way of, you know, dance stuff. Mrs. Douglas, my Mom and I are going shopping for a dress for the dance at the mall on Saturday. Would you like to come along? We could all have lunch together.”
“Why Joey, that would be lovely,” said Barbara Douglas, further confusing her husband.
“This young lady is a real sweetheart Andrew, you’d better hang on to her.”
Joey smiled sweetly at Barbara’s comment, giggling. Andrew squeezed her hand softly.
Roger Douglas became further confused. He looked back and forth between his wife and his son's girlfriend.
He was unsure when his son and this girl had become a couple, but how in a matter of hours had this girl and his wife become such good friends, mere hours after she had intensely disliked the girl?
Last edited by greywolf on Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:48 am, edited 1 time in total.