Charlie kept Tut happy, I cleaned up the room and ran through the chores for that morning. I always felt better when my work was done before I did any traveling, red spark or otherwise.
At 11 o’clock, on the button, Tut went to the office for his morning nap and Michael and Lu met Charlie and me in my room. It was a bit odd having Charlie and Lu watch as Michael and I climbed into the middle of my bed and aligned our bodies close to each other and then laced our fingers in a very satisfying and close contact.
Looking at Lu, Charlie said, “We don’t have to be in here to monitor; come on, I’ll show you.”
They went to the living room where Charlie had wired the camera so that they could see us on the living room widescreen TV.
When Ricky presented her particles, we waited until we saw red.
“At first, just a look-see, ok,” I said.
Michael just nodded his head.
“Now,” I said and then I jumped; Michael jumped with me.
Again for me, I could feel the downward pull but was able to retard any decent. Michael was with me and I could feel our connectedness and was fearless with protection for him. In a hovering position for the tutorial, I insinuated a date into the situation so that Michael would be privy to the way the chamber worked. The chamber spun around us and stopped at the date that was my destination. Allowing Michael to see all around the portal and its layers, to recognize the ledges and the sections in time and the individual dates was necessary for his complete understanding. Even though it seemed like it was taking a long time I didn’t pay any attention to that. I pointed out the individual names within a certain date. When I’d showed him everything that I knew about, I repeated the process.
We both opened our eyes into the eyes of the other looking back. I called to Charlie and he and Lu came to us.
“How much time has passed?” I asked.
Charlie looked at his watch and dutifully responded.
“2 minutes and 15 seconds.”
Michael couldn’t keep quiet.
“Helen, how could that be, we were in the portal for what seemed like hours while you showed me the system.”
“Yeah, it’s a strange phenomenon but, like I told you last night, no time seems to pass while we are hovering within the portal and not descending.”
“Well have you got your date chosen for our actual travel?”
“I want to see the day that the band first played the music through you at the Marin Center. Is that possible?”
Michael made his choice.
With just a nod I gave him all that he needed to know.
“Ok, we’ve got a date, incident, and a person; let’s see what we can do. We don’t want to hear people’s thoughts; we’re looking for the big picture, am I right?”
“Right,” Michael said.
When Ricky presented her particles and the red sparks could be seen, I simply said, “Now,” and we jumped.
Within the portal our decent was confusing and I could tell that Michael nearly lost it as his need for control gripped me. We were at our destination within the chamber and could clearly see the ledge for the day and then the names and the incident. With Michael gripping me I maneuvered on to that particular ledge and then we were there seeing what Michael had missed the first go round. We actually were witness to an arching energy of sorts that went from Michael who was on the periphery of the picture to the entire band and then that same arc jumped to me and was the first contact of the band and the drummers down beat. After that we saw that as each of the band members caught on to what was happening, they joined the fun without even trying.
I heard a strange and distant, maybe cosmic voice from within that whole experience.
“She must gain something as payment for her suffering. He’ll continue to need her.”
After I heard the voice all went black.
My eyes opened to see Michael looking back at me. His eyes were liquid with need for me. Neither one of us said anything. We were still close to each other and our connection was strong. Even though neither one of us could move, that only lasted a few minutes.
Charlie came to me and took me out of Michael’s arms and held me to help me gain my strength back. Lu saw what Charlie was doing with me and went to Michael and crawled up next to him and wrapped herself around him. The four of us were quiet and thoughtful.
When my arms were my own again, I drew them up and around Charlie’s neck and wiggled in close to him and whispered in his ear.
“Thank you, Lover. How long did that take.”
“Exactly three hours. Are you hungry woman?”
Charlie was taking care of me.
“Before we eat, can I have you now?”
I whispered in his ear.
Charlie just shook his head and then kissed me like he wanted me to know that he loved me and wanted me too but no, we couldn’t have each other right then.
Charlie took the lead and spoke to everyone in the room.
“Come on, we fixed food.”
He then set me down to test my legs but decided that he should carry me anyway. I liked that and teased him with my kisses and bites on his neck.
At the dining room table, set for the four of us, Charlie set me down in front of my own place setting and then continued to the kitchen. Michael sat across from me and Lu followed Charlie.
Leaning in to me, Michael reached across the table and took my hand, willing me to make eye contact with him. Our reconnect was lovely and the eye-contact reconnect a boost, an additional gift that felt so loving; I nearly cried from it. We both stood and walked around the table and collided into each other to comfort and to be comforted.
I could feel Michael’s body jump slightly from his short sobs, the relief was just that intense. When Lu joined our hug she felt it too and could not hold her tears. I seemed to be the strong one and was able to maintain until the balance and calm insinuated itself into the three of us.
When I looked over to Charlie, he saw my need for him and came to me. Removing me from the 3-person huddle, he wrapped himself around me in the most protective, comforting and soothing embrace.
There, before we sat to eat, the four of us took solace and comfort from within the wrapped arms of our own loves. I remember thinking that we were such a soft and fragile species and that if Michael and I were going to do much traveling together we’d have to learn to buck up.
When Charlie and Lu thought that we would be ok, they left us at the table to finish the meal preparations.
During that short period before they brought the burgers to the table Michael had a few things to say.
“Baby, I love you and I am sorry. I’ll honestly try not
