Perception

by A. L. Waddington

  “I tried to get in touch with Monte Thursday evening, but Vivian told me that he and Nicholas went to New York for a conference and would not be back for a couple days.” Robert shifted in his chair. “I’m not sure how he is going to react seeing us all here on this plane.”

  “Are you ready for this?” Jackson smiled gently in my direction.

  “I suppose so,” I sighed.

  ***

  Robert guided the Durango through an older section of town lined with old large Victorian era homes. They were all beautifully kept with decorated lawns covered with mature trees and most with white picket fences. I could see why it appealed to my uncle so. It was like taking a step back into simpler times.

  We stopped in front of a huge old white home with dark blue shutters and a porch that wrapped around the house. Butterflies danced in my stomach and my palms began to sweat before I even got the passenger backseat door open. The cool air hitting my face was a welcome relief as I took Jackson’s hand. We followed his parents up the cobblestone walkway to the front porch.

  My eyes scanned over the area absorbing everything in sight while Robert rang the bell. A few feet from where we stood rested two wooden rocking chairs with a small table placed between them. A short way from them swayed a wooden swing gently in the cool breeze. The sleeping lawn was thick, without a weed in sight. The mulch was placed carefully around the large trees and slumbering flowerbeds.

  The front door creaked open causing me to jerk my head back around. There on the other side of the screen stood my dad’s younger brother, Nicholas, dressed in khaki slacks, a sweater vest, and long-sleeved, collared shirt. He looked every bit of what I imagined a college professor to be.

  “Oh my Lord!” he gasped. “Robert . . . Emily!” my uncle fumbled to open the screen door between them.

  “Hello, Nicholas. Surprise!” Robert grinned.

  “My lands, come in, come in,” he gushed, holding open the screen door and stepping back a pace.

  I squeezed Jackson’s hand tighter, walking purposely behind him as we passed through the door hoping my uncle wouldn’t immediately see me.

  “And Jackson? Boy, this is wonderful!” Jackson shook his hand excitedly. Nicholas leaned a little closer to me causing me to look directly at his face for the first time.

  The air rushed from his lungs as the four of us stood there watching the blood drain from his face.

  “Whoooh . . . there, Nicholas.” Robert grabbed a hold of his arm. “You should sit down for a moment.” He guided my uncle to the nearest chair.

  “I do not believe it. Jocelyn? Is that you?” His eyes were glued to my face.

  I smiled softly. “Yes, it’s me, Uncle Nicholas.”

  “I do not understand this. What are you doing here? And with them?” His eyes drifted over to Jackson’s parents.

  “Apparently you and Uncle Monte forgot to share a little inherited family secret with me.” I smiled over towards my new family.

  “I had not realized your barrier was disintegrating already,” my uncle muttered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

  “Monte did. He came and spoke to us about Jocelyn last spring when their engagement was announced. So we moved to Chicago to find her,” Robert explained, taking a seat on the couch across from my uncle. Emily joined him and Jackson and I hesitantly sat down with them.

  “He never said anything to me,” my uncle replied in a low voice. “Most likely because Shane and I no longer speak.” He looked back up at the four of us.

  “I would imagine so,” Emily carefully answered.

  “How long have you known?” Uncle Nicholas turned his eyes on me.

  “They explained everything about EVE on Halloween.”

  “Has the barrier completely diminished?”

  “Almost. I am remembering the majority of things, but they are mostly out of order or incomplete. Therefore, a lot of it still doesn’t make much sense,” I explained.

  “I see.” He rubbed his chin again. “And how do you feel about all this?”

  “Honestly? I don’t know. I mean, it’s so bizarre and still feels very surreal.” It was hard to find the right words since there really weren’t any.

  “Understandable,” he smiled gently at me before shifting his gaze to Jackson parents. “It does me good to see you all here. Robert, you never told me your family had the gift as well.”

  “We were unaware that you had the gift. Monte never told us about you.” Robert put his hand on my uncle’s shoulder.

  “I am not surprised. He always viewed it more as a curse than a gift. He hated living dual lives and never understood what a truly amazing and unique gift it actually is.”

  My uncle’s point of view did not surprise me in the slightest. No wonder he was not afraid to confide in my dad after Monte’s funeral. Still, he must understand how someone who did not live with this gift would have extreme difficulty believing it possible.

  “Are you married here also, Uncle Nicholas?” I blurted out without thinking.

  He laughed and sat back in his chair. “My . . . you are certainly very different here, aren’t you?” I could feel myself blush. It was not the first time I’d heard those words. “No, I am not married here, only there. Like my brother, I found the perfect woman for me and there is no one else I could ever imagine loving. But unlike my brother, I see the benefits of existing in two drastically different worlds.”

  “Benefits? What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Take all the technology we have. It gives us an unlimited amount of resources, references, and information that is unavailable in the nineteenth century. There is a wealth of information all at our fingertips that would take years to compile and be almost impossible to uncover there. I could never conduct my research during that time period.”

  “What type of research?” I got a sickening feeling in my stomach.

  “On EVE of course.”

  “How do you mean?” Even Robert’s voice sounded a tad less steady.

  “Not openly,” Nicholas smiled coyly. “But I do believe you would be very interested in what I have put together.” He moved to the edge of his chair.

  “Monte mentioned you were doing some fascinating work, but he failed to offer details.” Robert straightened up slightly.

  “Will you all please follow me to my study? There are a few things I believe you would find quite interesting.” My uncle rose to his feet and we followed him down the corridor.

  As I followed them all down the hallway I scanned over his furniture, pictures, and knick-knacks. Almost all of which were antiques and very carefully maintained. It was clear that his home was in desperate need of a woman’s touch, but overall it was a very elegant home.

  His office, on the other hand, was not nearly as organized as the rest of his house. There were papers scattered about on every surface imaginable, a dual screen PC, and history books of every time and era stuffed into every inch of the numerous bookcases.

  My uncle apologized for the mess and hurriedly picked up the stacks of papers and books off the brown leather sofa. “Please have a seat, make yourselves comfortable. I practically live in here when I am not on campus so it stays an organized mess.”

  “You have me intrigued, Nicholas. What exactly have you been working on?” Robert asked as the four of us sank into the oversized couch.

  I wasn’t sure what was going on and had no idea what my uncle could possibly be up to, but he held the undivided attention of both Jackson’s parents. Even Jackson sat on the edge of the sofa with seemingly bated breath. I wish I understood a little more about EVE so I too could be as interested in historical research as they were. I was still trying to wrap my brain around the whole concept of a dual existence. To entertain anything beyond that was more than my fragile mind was willing to accept at this moment.

  “First off, I began with the basics. I looked through every historical document I could get my hands on. Secondly, I read about every historical philosophy book, article, paper . . . you
name it. I dug into everything I could think of and even some illogical things that seemed silly and trivial.” Nicholas sat down in his desk chair and I immediately knew what it would feel like to be one of his students. “Finally, I found the common trend that I had been searching for.”

  “I’m sorry, Nicholas. We are not following you.” Robert looked over at his wife and son who wore the same confused expression that rested on my face.

  “I am sure you have all heard of Nostradamus, right?” We all nodded. “What about Edgar Cayce, Joseph Smith, or William Branham?”

  “The names sound familiar, but I cannot place them. Were they prophets also?” Jackson asked.

  “They were proclaimed prophets, either by themselves or by others depending on the source.” Nicholas turned and searched through some papers on his desk. “Yes, here it is,” he said, turning back around.

  “Perhaps you had best start at the beginning, Nicholas,” Robert interjected.

  “Yes . . . yes, of course. I apologize. It is so exciting to share this with people who can truly appreciate and understand the significance of what it means.” My uncle rested back in his chair. “I have never had that before outside of my brother, Monte, and well, as I said before, he views EVE more as a curse than anything else. I am quite curious to get each of your reactions on it.”

  “Well then, you have our undivided attention.” I could tell how anxious Robert was to hear more about Nicholas’s theory.

  “I am sure you are all familiar with Michel de Nostradamus and his Almanac of Prophecies, the first of which consists of twelve four-line poems called quatrains.” He raised his eyebrows a bit looking us over to see if his words were registering with us. “Anyway his most well-known work, The Centuries, which he began in 1554, contained ten volumes of a hundred quatrains each. Volumes one through four were published in 1555, the following three later that same year and the final three in 1558. Although they were not initially widely distributed, they have consistently been circulated and reprinted for over four hundred years.”

  “My grandmother had told me that there was speculation among those with the gift of EVE that Nostradamus had inherited the gift. She explained that he was not prophesying future events but because his dual lives were set so vastly apart, he cataloged major historical events in order to track which ones had a major impact on the world and changed the dynamics of life during those time periods,” Robert explained.

  “Yes, I believe your grandmother may have been correct. Looking at how his work was organized — the writings and the recently discovered drawings, it cannot be happenstance. There are far too many accurate similarities. Plus, the numerous prophets, seers, and such dating back to the first recordings of history — they each fill in specific holes and they all stop at a particular time. Almost as if they could not see beyond a certain point in time,” my uncle said excitedly. “If you look closely at documents throughout history as far back as ancient times they provide us with significant evidence that the gift of EVE has transcended generations.”

  “I don’t understand what you mean. Are you saying that this EVE thing has always been around and no one has ever put the pieces together before?” I asked.

  “Exactly,” Nicholas smiled. “There are documents dating as far back as ancient Greece beginning with the Delphic Oracle. I am sure you all have heard of the Sphinx, Dionysus, Zeus, and Apollo?” Again we all nodded. “Well, they were considered all-seeing, all-knowing about future events in ways that mystified everyone around them and the only individuals who also had these magical talents were related to them or direct descendants of them. Each were said to have the ability to uncover and understand the will of the gods by being able to predict the future before it occurred, which in some cases, made them considered as gods themselves.”

  Robert narrowed his eyes in a thoughtful manner and rubbed his chin.

  “Similar documents can be found in every culture in various countries and continents across time from Native Americans, Romans, England, to Greece and on and on. Each had their own ways or devices in which they predicted upcoming events, but the majority of them used various methods of trances. Our history is literally cluttered with them. There are even more recent ones today that are all over the Internet. Of course a great many of them regard themselves as spiritual or biblical seers,” Nicholas explained.

  “And why has no one ever throughout history explained EVE?” I questioned.

  “Remember when we first explained it all to you? You struggled a great deal with the concept,” Emily smiled and placed her hand over mind.

  A small laugh escaped from my chest. “I’m still struggling with it.”

  “Then you can only imagine how absurd this would sound to an outsider. It would land you a long stay in a padded room after the men in white coats come and take you away,” Jackson laughed.

  “Not to mention the increase in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia,” Robert added.

  Nicholas’s eyes widened with surprise “Yes — the prevalence rate has increased greatly, not to mention the genetic components. Schizophrenia is passed through families at a higher rate than previously recognized.”

  “I believe that is more due to the decline in family dynamics and the lack of a family member with the inherited gift to guide them through the adjustment of living dual lives,” Robert added thoughtfully.

  “Is there a way to differentiate between EVE and schizophrenia?” I looked between Robert and Nicholas. “How could someone, I mean how can someone tell the difference between someone who is truly schizophrenic and someone who has EVE?”

  The room fell into silence. It seemed as if I could actually see the wheels turning in each of their minds as pieces of the puzzle started falling together in sequential order for the first time. I shifted in my seat and tried to grasp the enormity of what I was a part of. This EVE thing appeared to be steeped in history and the scope of it was beyond my greatest imagination.

  ***

  The afternoon passed into evening in a blur. Before I realized it my stomach was growling. I glanced at my watch and was surprised when it read quarter to seven.

  The amount of information, hypotheses, conjectures, and theories my uncle laid upon us was overwhelming. Sitting back on the sofa it all seemed very plausible to my young and naïve ears. Strangely, looking at the faces seated beside me, I knew it did to them as well.

  How is this all possible? How can it be that no one has pieced this concept together before? Even someone who has inherited EVE . . . just to pass this information on to future generations? Obviously the children that Jackson and I are destined to have will inherit EVE and I believe the more knowledge we can share with them will make a world of difference to their transition into living a dual existence.

  Uncle Nicholas smiled and slapped his knee when the old grandfather clock in the hall began chiming. “Well I declare, it’s already seven o’clock. You all must be starving. I know I am. I put a pot roast in the crockpot this morning. It should be sweet and tender by now. Would you all care to join me for dinner? There is plenty.”

  I nodded without thinking to look at Jackson’s parents. Fortunately, the three of them nodded as well.

  “That would be wonderful. Thank you.” Robert slowly rose from the sofa.

  “Sit back down, sir and relax. Jocelyn and I will get everything together.” Nicholas rose from his chair and held his hand out for me.

  I glanced over at Jackson before slowly standing. He squeezed my hand assuredly with a slight grin. I took my uncle’s hand and followed him to the kitchen in the back of the house.

  My uncle instructed me on where he kept his utensils and such then chatted on endlessly while he prepared the food while I set the table. He had a casual air about him and I found him very easy to talk to. He was, in fact, very similar to the man I recalled from my visions there. Plus, several of his mannerisms reminded me so much of my dad. It was easy to tell they were brothers despite the number of years they’d been
estranged. He questioned me extensively over every detail of my life here since Monte’s funeral. It was clear to me how much he missed his family and Shane’s silence bothered him a great deal.

  The dinner was excellent and the conversation superb. We enjoyed a light angel food cake with fresh strawberries grown by Uncle Nicholas himself in his temperature controlled greenhouse out back. Evidently, one of his biggest complaints about this era was all the processed food. My three companions could not have agreed more with him.

  When the grandfather clock chimed ten Robert addressed our host. “My goodness, I cannot believe how late it is. I hate to say it, but we really should be going. We still have to drive back to Indianapolis.”

  “Nonsense, Robert, there is no need to waste money on a hotel when I have all these empty rooms here. You all can get a good night’s sleep and drive back in the morning after a good healthy breakfast,” Nicholas insisted.

  “Thank you so much for the offer Nicholas, but we do not want to impose on you. We realize we stopped by unexpectedly and you have already been hospitable enough. We cannot intrude,” Emily smiled gracefully.

  “Intrude?” Nicholas leaned back in his chair and laughed whole-heartedly. “Don’t be silly, you are family and I enjoy the company.”

  “Well, if you are sure . . .” Robert hesitated.

  “Of course,” my uncle answered with enthusiasm.

  The men carried in our bags and brought everything up to the second floor. After quick showers and hustling about, Emily retired to the large guest room. Robert, Jackson, and Uncle Nicholas retreated back downstairs while I took my time lingering in the bubbles that filled the old fashioned tub.

  The combination of the hot water and the tantalizing fragranced bubbles were intoxicating. I drifted away from all the information that was laid upon my slender shoulders. I didn’t want to think about it, could not let myself think about it or I knew I’d drive myself batty. It all seemed like a not so humorous riddle wrapped up in a concept that felt like the preverbal catch 22. There was simply no room for a plausible explanation that could be shared to make the world understand. How can I expect my family and friends . . . and the rest of the world to understand this EVE thing when the very comprehension of it continues to elude me?