style="font-size:15px;"> “You wear those same overalls every day?”
I looked down at myself. Actually, I had four pair. Mom washed clothes three times a week. We had a wringer washing machine on the back porch. Dad and my uncle Leo had rigged up an old electric motor they’d salvaged from a junk yard, to rotate the drum paddle. But all my overalls did look alike.
“And the same flour sack shirt?” he asked.
“Yeah, I-I guess so.”
“Tell your old lady to use a burlap bag next time. That’s more your style.”
He turned to grin at his pals. They laughed. He looked back at me, waiting, I guess, for a response.
I didn’t have one.
Chapter Three
March 23, 2019
“Caitlion, just listen to me. We’ve had a good eighteen years. Now, you’re going out there and live your life. Go to university, run the company, travel…but promise me you won’t squander your life. Live it to the fullest, for me.”
“Charley,” the man said. “It’s time.”
I nodded.
My little Caitlion held my wrinkled old hand to her cheek. “I can’t let you go.”
“You have to, baby. He said it’s time.”
I waved a hand toward him. She looked around, as if no one else was there.
“I want you to…” I stopped for a breath. “…go get me a Big Mac. Can you do that?”
She sniffed and smiled. “Will they let you have it?”
“The nurse said I could have anything I want today.” That wasn’t true, but it really didn’t matter.
She stood. “I’ll be back in ten minutes. You want fries?”
I nodded and gave her my last smile, then she left the room.
“When you arrive, look for this iPad in the loft of the barn,” the blue doctor said. “It’s loaded with everything; Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia…” He glanced at the glowing screen before him, which illuminated his face in a greenish light. He slid his finger up to the next page. “Every book in the Library of Congress, every invention in the U.S. Patent Office, formulas and descriptions of every medicine known to man, and a lot more you’ll find when you need it. There’ll be a solar charging panel, too. You have to keep everything hidden. They would never understand.”
“What loft? What barn?” I asked.
“The round barn. You know how to work the notebook, right?”
“Yeah, but I can’t even walk. Are they going to take me in an ambulance?”
“No, you’re going to fly.”
I almost laughed. “Oh, okay.”
“We only have a few minutes. All your instructions will be in a folder named ‘Instructions.’”
How clever to disguise the name like that. I never would have figured that out.
“Instructions for what?”
“You’ll see when you get there.”
“What kind of doctor…are you?” My heart did some kind of flip-flop I’d never felt before. Not painful, but disconcerting. My breath stopped for a few seconds.
“…before she gets back,” he said.
“Wha—” Tingling, my legs.
“…but you won’t be able to contact us.”
“Contact who?”
What a strange feeling. Something warm flowing through me.
I heard some erratic beeps, then a long one.
I felt a whoosh, like air pushed out of a tunnel ahead of a speeding train.
Then a jolt.
Chapter Four
September 27, 1945
I felt a jolt, like an electric shock. But there was no pain; just a quick buzz inside my head, then tingling throughout my body. It felt as if all the blood had been sucked out of me and instantly replaced with new blood interlaced with some sort of effervescent bubbly substance. It actually felt pretty good, and my vision sharpened to crystal clarity. I closed my eyes for a moment, savoring the new feeling, then opened my eyes to see the ugly face of Justin Crammer.
“You hear me, asshole?”
“What did you say about my mom?”
“I said, your old lady can’t sew for shit.”
He glanced at Ember and his two boy pals, then grinned. He turned back and grabbed me by the collar.
I didn’t even think; just reacted. Gripping his hand, I put pressure on the back kof his wrist and twisted it to the side.
He went to his knees, crying out.
When he balled his other hand into a fist and swung at me, I twisted more, putting him on the floor.
Damn, where did that come from?
I let him go and stepped back.
I could’ve broken his wrist.
He struggled to stand but only got one knee under himself. Ember reached to take his arm, but he shook her off.
“Get away from me,” he told her, then stood. “I’ll get you for this, Brindley.”
“Okay. How’re you going to do that?”
“You’ll find out.”
“How about push-ups, right now?”
“What?”
“The one of us who does the most in five minutes, wins.”
Someone behind him laughed.
Yeah, I know, he’s the strongest player on the football team.
Crammer grinned, dropped to the floor, and positioned himself on his hands.
I handed my books to Ember and fell beside him.
We began together.
At ten, I started counting aloud.
When we hit fifteen, he slowed a little.
The other kids cheered him on.
At thirty, I said, “One-hand.”
“What?”
