Let's Get Together in Norfolk, Virginia:)
Why don’t I have a book signing in Norfolk, Virginia and then I can meet you all in person? (well at least the local folksJ What a great idea? Well it’s in the works! Discussions are underway with the Barnes and Noble in MacArthur Mall for a May book event to welcome the newest addition to the vampire saga, Operation Save the Innocent. I’ll let you all know more as we get closer. However, if you want to ensure that this happens, flood the store with requests for my books and especially mention that a book signing would attract thousands and thousands…well I think you get the gist.
Anyone feel like Columbus, Ohio? Well that is the next event coming up in February, it’s a convention called ITSNOTACON…this should be interesting, but I am looking forward to it. Many times the smaller conventions are4 a lot of fun and you get to just hang out and have fun. I will also be flying Skybus for the first time so if any of you have any comment s on them-please let me know-soon.
So a story for this week-well why not. Here is a little gem written quite a few years ago. The point-well I think it will be obvious to you so go ahead and enjoy and let me know what you think. Have fun!
Human Nature
JAMES LAY IN bed watching the blackness turn to gray and then to golden yellow as dim sunlight crept through the bedroom window. He hadn’t slept well and realized there was no point in trying to doze anymore. He slid out of the bed, trying to minimize the disruption of the covers so he would not wake his wife. Last night they had discussed their daughter’s college education, but the conversation had turned frustrating for both with the realization that they could not afford tuition.
Quietly, he crossed the bedroom and retrieved his clothes from the clothes tree. As he made his way to the kitchen, he heard the repeating prose in his mind that he’d heard all night. Its litany presence, engrained upon all citizens and passed down from generation to generation, was common at times such as these. It served as a constant reminder that he faced a tough decision, as those who had come before him had, but that an answer was near at hand.
In the beginning there was nothing. We came with a dream. We asked for help, but none was given. We were alone-but we survived.
He filled the coffee pot with water, added the grounds, turned it on, then watched as the liquid began to trickle into the pot. Task completed, he headed for the door and carefully opened it. Between the groans, creaks and accidental slamming, this door was notorious for waking up even the soundest sleeper. When he had successfully navigated his exit in silence, he carefully closed it ensuring no disturbing sound was heard. It was early and there was no sense in waking everyone else up yet.
This time of the morning was a sacred experience for him. He would retrieve the newspaper, quickly scan through it, and separate the sections. The funnies for his daughter, which she never seemed to outgrow, and the coupons for his wife. Then he’d leave it on the table as if it were a present waiting to be discovered.
As he made his way down the driveway, James liked the sound that his boots made in the gravel. The crunch of the stone under his feet gave him physical reassurance of some sort and made him feel good, in touch with himself. He loved the morning. The clean smell of a new day. If only the problems from yesterday would vanish with the night before. What was he going to do about his daughter’s education?
We found ways to sustain ourselves. We grew in numbers. It took a very long time. We made changes from our past. We survived.
Being retired was not all it was cracked up to be, James thought as he rubbed the calluses on his hand-hard calluses, developed from many years of manual labor. It was great not having to work in the factory any more, but living on a reduced retirement check was a problem the government hadn’t considered when they came up with the mandatory early retirement age at forty-five. He could live, but not a whole lot more than that. Stupid law. James never understood why you were not allowed to work anymore. People who created those laws were arrogant bastards who made so much money they didn’t know what to do with it. Damn politicians.
We learned new techniques because we had to. If we didn’t, we would have certainly perished. Yet we survived.
The sky was a clear crisp blue. Not a cloud anywhere. The intensity of the blue always amazed James. He remembered growing up as a child; there were clouds in the sky all the time. Then the clouds and cold gradually went away and were replaced by a warmth he had never known or felt before.
Our discoveries did not go unnoticed, and interest began to mount. We kept all the secrets, and vowed never to share. We survived.
Money. Money always seemed to be the root of his problems. Now with his daughter approaching college-bound age, he wondered how he would afford it. Maybe he could convince her to attend the local community college. Sure, it was not as prestigious as the big schools, but what the heck. It wasn’t so much the expense of the education as it was the knowledge that they gained. Right? James wasn’t sure whom he was trying to convince-himself or his daughter.
We developed our own culture and a way of life. We adapted with every change, the only alternative being death. We had to mold and shape this new land. We did it carefully, trying to not make the same mistakes again. We survived.
What if she wanted to live away from home? The bucks would really start adding up, then. Room, board, and tuition. Then she would need spending money for food if she wasn’t eating at home anymore. The dollar signs were getting mind-boggling. Maybe she could apply for scholarships? But her grades weren’t the best. They weren’t bad by any means, but the word “average” seemed to fit most comfortably. There was a time when being average wasn’t enough.
There was fighting among our own, those who did not wish to go the course we had plotted. Those who thought there was always a better way. We survived.
James eyeballed the garden as he walked to the newspaper drop off site. He thought the garden was robust and looking good this year. His wife would brag to the neighbors and friends about all the delectable vegetables they would pick. Not a bug-eaten leaf in sight. Still, they were small in comparison to the pictures he had seen in the gardening magazine at the archives. Those plants had...what’s the word...substance to them. They looked abnormally healthy. They were large and fat and had fruit and vegetables all over them.
We searched for lessons from our own past. Made the changes that needed to be made. Found the common ground, which we all could stand on. We survived.
What about boys at school? She would be away from his watchful eye. Who would screen these guys? She would have to rely on her own judgment now, and that was a scary thought. He knew she had to grow up sometime and learn to be independent, and he had heard the stories of some children never leaving home. He didn’t want that, but he certainly didn’t want her to leave until she was ready to go out in the world and fend for herself. But he knew it was inevitable at some point.
We forged through all that needed to be done. It was a long, hard struggle and very costly. Many perished but we did what needed to be done together. We survived.
He looked at the bushes that were finally starting to show some growth. It had taken years but they finally were getting taller. He thought if he had the money he could pump some growth hormones into them or pay for additional growing time. But that was expensive, especially right now. Living within certain restrictions was a part of his life now.
We are what we have become. Through crisis and struggle we have become stronger. We stand together as one-we are united. We survived.
The military? If only she could be convinced to join the military. They would pay for most of the college costs. Maybe if he approached it from the travel standpoint. See the world and all that hype. It had worked before.
James felt the stomach acid beginning to churn. Too much heavy thinking before breakfast. He knew there was an answer, it just had to be reckoned with as with most things in life.
Now they are envious of us. They turn to us for answers after all the years that have passed. We have chosen to stand-alone. We survived.
James removed the paper from its holder, unfolded it and scanned the headlines. He always felt special, scanning the headlines before he brought the paper back into their living quarters; it gave him an added thrill to say what story was more important than others.
He read, “Independence Day Celebration Plans are released by the Mars Coalition Government. Mars will celebrate the 200th anniversary of its liberation in glorious fashion and tradition in recognition of its breaking of all political, social and economic ties with Earth. Remember our preamble: We Survived.”
We have molded Mars into our home. Earth left us a long time ago. We have left Earth behind forever. We are Martians, and we survived.
“Give it a rest,” he said as he headed back the way he had come. “Maybe things would have been better if we had stayed on Earth.”