by David Harp
Chapter 5
The Birthday
The first five children Haley met at her new home were boys who shared a common birthdate. They didn’t know at the time, but it was also Haley’s birthday.
On September 11, 1999, Daniel Naidoo and his four best friends were beginning a celebration. They dove into the cool waters of the Weeki Wachee River at 5:03 a.m. to mark the moment they entered the world, then climbed aboard the Naidoo family boat for the annual birthday fishing trip. The early swim had drained their energy which allowed them to enjoy a peaceful boat ride to the Gulf.
The sunrise painted an eerie orange glow against a black sky while mist blanketed the river in a thick gray fog. The boat’s large motor purred like a docile kitten as the wake lapped gently against ancient Cypress trees. A heron flew in front patrolling for fish. Turtles slipped silently from their log perches and mullet performed a surreal ballet, jumping into the air as they approached.
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Sixteen years ago, Dan’s friends (Chris, Steve, Brian, and Matt) entered the world simultaneously in a tiny medical clinic 55 miles northeast of the river. Their births were highly unusual. Dr. George Davis loved to tell the story:
“The day of the boys’ birth didn’t start well for my wife Rachel and me. President Reagan had already designated it as a National Day of Mourning in tribute to the slain passengers of Korean Airlines Flight 007. Rainy weather added an ominous feeling of impending doom.
Rachel is also a doctor. The two of us operate the local medical clinic. Within a period of five minutes, we were abruptly awakened by three frantic phone calls from the husbands of women in labor. I managed to contact every nurse on our call list to ask for help, but not one was available.
The deliveries couldn’t be performed by a single doctor, so Rachel volunteered even though she was also pregnant and her baby had dropped. That meant the situation could become even worse if she went into labor. Rachel would become a fourth patient instead of the second physician.
We arrived at the clinic and worked frantically to set up birthing stations. The process appeared to be going well, but then all hell broke loose along with Rachel’s water. The primal screams of four women in labor sounded like the end of the world. Then I blacked out along with everyone else. None of us remember what happened until the miraculous moment of birth.
The clinic was silent as four baby boys slid out unassisted. It looked like they were being ejected from a copy machine. The phenomenon was strange but beautiful, the most incredible thing I ever witnessed.”
Daniel was also born at the exact same time as the other four boys, but at home in accordance with his parents’ South African tradition. That brought the total births to five, the most ever recorded on a single day in their hometown of Wildwood, Florida.
Stories recounting the boys’ birthday grew more outrageous each year. People said the sky turned dark with ominous clouds shimmering with bolts of wicked lightning. Some even said the simultaneous arrivals were miracles from God.
Even though Dan wasn’t born in the clinic with the others, his birth at the exact same moment was also considered a miracle. Until today he thought the endless tales of peculiar phenomena and bizarre storms were mere exaggerations, but the events they would experience this morning would change his mind.
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As the boys continued their fishing trip, the river widened. Giant Cypress trees gave way to grassy marshlands. They could see the Gulf of Mexico and Bayport pier illuminated by the sun’s red reflection off low-hanging clouds.
Streaks of lightning flashed like delicate fireworks on the distant horizon. The dull rumble of thunder reminded Dan of something his Dad often said, “Red sky at night sailor’s delight; red sky at morning sailor take warning.” But this was their birthday. It had become a treasured tradition, so a little bad weather wasn’t going to stop them.
An old hippie pulling in crab traps from the pier waived as they passed. His hair was long and stringy, his feet were bare, and his clothes looked like an old bath robe. The only thing missing was a sign, “The end is near.”
Dan steered the boat to the left a few hundred yards beyond the pier before the last channel marker. He disengaged the outboard, started the little trolling motor and skimmed silently over the shallow flats.
A few large jagged rocks passed inches below the surface as Chris grabbed a gig pole and began pointing the way. They cruised over the clear sandy flats for less than three minutes before Chris thrust the long spear into the water.
“I got it,” he shouted! “It’s a big one, get a net.”
Steve grabbed a fish net and rushed to the front of the boat. In a few seconds a large flounder was thrashing on the deck. Brian held it down while Chris dislodged the gig.
“Way to go Chris, you’ve crucified another one,” Matt laughed.
“That’s not cool,” Chris responded with a disapproving tone. Chris didn’t approve of jokes which made light of his faith.
The sun had risen above the shoreline as they relaxed in the warmth while fixated on a peculiar shaped storm cloud to the west. “Is it me or does that cloud look like Etz Chayim?” Chris asked.
Chris spoke Hebrew, but his pronunciations often sounded like a bad cough.
“Did you ask a question or were you getting ready to spit?” Steve asked. He hated it when Chris spoke Hebrew. It made him feel inadequate.
“The Tree of Life, Etz Chayim is the Hebrew name for the Tree of Life,” Chris said with a smirk. “I assumed everyone knew.”
Steve was visibly irritated. Pretentious twerp, he thought.
“We know you speak Hebrew preacher man. You are just showing off. Why not say it is shaped like a tree?”
Now Chris was getting irritated. “I am speaking figuratively,” he snarled.
Brian tried to ease the tension with a joke. “It’s a heavenly buoy marker pointing the way to the promised fishing hole.”
“Very funny,” Chris said. “I’m trying to be serious. That’s no ordinary cloud. What does it look like to you Dan?”
Dan couldn’t pronounce any of the Hebrew words Chris used. Most of it sounded like gibberish, so he decided to make a joke of his own.
“I agree with you Chris, it definitely looks like a Ritz Cracker.” Brian and Matt laughed, but then they were blinded by an intense flash of lightning.
BOOM!
From Dan’s perspective, the world was moving in slow motion. The loud clasp of thunder was followed by silence. Chris, Steve, Matt, and Brian were tossed through the air in different directions. Each landed face down in the water and lay motionless. The light slowly faded as Dan lost consciousness.
When he awoke, the sky was a brilliant shade of blue. Everything looked different. He was no longer on the boat, but lying on a soft grassy area surrounded by people.
“Sir, are you O.K?” A girl asked with a worried expression. As Dan struggled to stand, two young men rushed over and lifted him. They resembled models from a fitness magazine: flawless skin, glistening hair, perfect teeth.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he insisted. “My foot slipped when I reached to pull an apple from the tree.”
An expression of shock and disbelief filled their faces. Three of them said in unison, “You aren’t supposed to pick the apples.”
Dan’s sixteenth birthday was a vague memory. He was 93 years old, wearing his favorite rumpled tweed coat and bright red bow-tie. His mind was filled with a lifetime of experiences. He felt at home.
A crowd of energetic young students in T-shirts and jeans had gathered and were watching the funny old man. “Is that Him?” Dan heard one of them ask.
He paused for a moment and gazed up at the apple trees adorning the north portico to the University of Georgia campus. The towering branches stretched thirty feet and formed a perfectly sculptured canopy. Each tree was loaded with flawless apples, and underneath was a flashing holographic plaque which read:
THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, GRADY COLLEGE
IS PLEASED TO PRESENT
DR DANIEL NAIDOO
“THE FOUR PILLARS OF THE GREAT COELESCENCE”
UGA was the last remaining major college in the country. Education had changed a lot in seventy-seven years, but the brick and mortar school was a tradition the South was slow to surrender.
Dr. Daniel Naidoo stood quietly relishing the moment. He was scheduled to present a much anticipated speech to one of the largest live audiences assembled in years. His friends had changed the world for the better and he could say with pride, “I was part of it!”
His friend Chris helped enact the Treaty of Religious Acceptance. Steve designed and implemented the Code of Acceptable Practices in Human Genetic Modification. Matt introduced the Sustainable Resource-Based Economic System, and Brian coordinated the Code of Internationally Accepted Standards for Environmental Conservation.
Those accomplishments were known as the Four Pillars of the Great Coalescence. They created a utopian world unimaginable to a sixteen-year-old on his birthday in 1999.
The date was September 11, 2076. Instead of the climate change and polluted environment predicted at the turn of the century, the air was crisp, clear, and fresh. The first hint of fall had arrived in Athens, Georgia. The streets were pristine with silent automated vehicles delivering supplies. Spotless outdoor cafes were bustling with students discussing issues of the day. Incidents of crime were rare, life expectancy had doubled, and common living standards were higher than anything predicted at the end of the Twentieth Century.
Dan had less than thirty minutes before his lecture was scheduled on the far side of the school, so he quickly leapt into the air once again to grab the most beautiful apple within reach. He slipped it into his coat pocket and shuffled onto campus.
At least a dozen students watched in horror as he robbed the tree of a single fruit. This was a place where breaking rules was as rare as printed newspapers.
At precisely 8:50 a.m., Dan arrived at the back door of Chambliss Hall where his speech was scheduled for 9 a.m. He went backstage and peeked through the curtain. Every seat in the enormous auditorium was filled.
His meticulously trimmed gray mustache, long white hair standing on end as if energized by electric shock, tiny antique wire-rim glasses, and large red bow-tie demanded attention if not respect.
There was a reverent silence as he walked to the center of the stage, pulled out an old laser pointer, raised it slowly before taking a long dramatic pause.
The audience rose to their feet and began applauding. The ovation continued for five minutes as he gestured half-heartedly for everyone to sit down. When they were seated he looked at the pointer and said, “Note to self, always begin speech with a laser pointer.” The crowd laughed and Dan began with his favorite joke:
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“The theory of human evolution is a lot like a tree full of naked monkeys. Your opinion of mankind depends upon where you’re standing.”
He directed the laser to a large projected diagram showing a tree with a caveman at the bottom and modern man at the top.
“A prehistoric man would be located near the base of the tree with a view of modern man in the higher regions.”
Dan looked up at the projection as if he were viewing modern man from the cave man’s position.
“Like a tree full of naked monkeys, the only thing you can see from down here is,” he turned to the audience and shouted, “a bunch of assholes!”
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The audience laughed again. Dan waited until the auditorium was silent. He didn’t continue until they began to fidget with anticipation.
“Picture a world where religious conflicts are settled by cutting off people’s heads. Imagine an inefficient economy based entirely on unsustainable growth, and the power needed for daily life pollutes the air we breathe and poisons the water we drink. Envision a society where at least one in ten people are sociopaths and half as many are psychopaths. That my friends would be a world of unavoidable conflict, and that was our world less than a century ago.”
He stepped to the front of the stage for theatrical effect.
“What we have done is eliminate many of the obstacles which made worldwide civil unification impossible. In a period of a few decades we have established a common religion, genetically enhanced our minds and bodies, formed a more efficient system of government and improved the health of the planet. We are witnessing nothing less than the coalescence of man! If there is a God, this must surely be what he intended.”
At that exact moment, a dull pain shot through Dan’s chest. His heart stopped beating and darkness engulfed him. He was floating on a soft cloud and heard a child’s voice singing a haunting nursery rhyme --
“We are all God’s children - he allows us to play - but he calls us home safely - at the end of the day.”
