"Nothing can replace family," Isimply replied. I not only missed my son and wife terribly, butalso Gary and Thad as well, as the three of us had become anextended family of sorts.
He smiled. In fact, it alwayslooked like he had a permanent smile and glowing grin on his face.I often wondered during those years of reflection how one man couldbe so happy, so content with his lot in life? He must have beenaware of something that I had failed to grasp!
He looked at me for at least 20seconds, but it seemed like time had ceased to exist. Was itpossible that he had gently entered my soul and was collectingpearls for next iteration of wisdom?
His face turned serious forperhaps one of the few times in his life, as I surmised that hemight have learned something about himself while foraging around inme.
"Love in here," he said as herested his hand on my chest, "not here," he added, as he touched mybald head. It was strange not having hair, but it definitely cutdown on the daily maintenance.
And then, the last thing the Lamasaid to me, before I saw him years later at a Pearl Jam concertwas, "Family in here, not here," repeating the same gestures hepreviously employed. I didn't really see him at a Pearl Jamconcert, it actually was a philharmonic concert at the White House.Just wanted to see if you were paying attention!
So, I nodded to his most excellentand then walked out of the monastery, and kept walking -figuratively - until I returned to the last place I had been withmy family, San Francisco. The old place had changed considerablysince the war ended and the baby boom began. Families had sproutedup everywhere, and one was living in my house, or a structure thatresembled my old house, which was damaged in the massive earthquakeof 1906. It wasn't enough that the plague took most of the people afew years earlier, then most of the people who were "fortunate"enough to survive the scourge of disease and vampires, they werefinished off by a catastrophic ground shake and subsequentaftershocks.
I glided into the two-storystructure without knocking or alerting anyone of my presence. Itwasn't necessary to disrupt this family of three - mother, fatherand son - which sent me into a deep flashback of my life back inthe more charmed days of my mortal existence. We were happy, reallyhappy! Me, Maggie and Daniel, although we named him Nathaniel inthose days, were a cohesive unit, and I thought our bond wasunbreakable!
But, just as my life had appearedto be an unchangeable impasse before I met Maggie and then aftershe left me, it had become painfully obvious that nothing reallylasts forever.
I started sobbing, which meant mytears instantly froze and turned into ice cubes as they hit the airand then tumbled to the floor. While the parents could not see mebecause I didn't want them to, the young boy became intrigued bythe ice that appeared to falling out of the air.
As he ran closer to me, my formbecame apparent to him. I din't know whether to run, hug him, ordrink him for a snack, so I decided to to something else. He saidto me internally, "Don't cry, mister."
I stopped crying and whispered asuggestion in his ear, "Enjoy every moment with yourfamily."
He smiled at me and then boundedover to his parents, who affectionately gave him a hug. I lookeddown at the puddle of water near my still-bare feet and cleaned itup, because nobody likes leaving a mess, especially avampire.
I left the house and never wantedto return since that October day back in 1958. My heart was brokenagain, like it had been so many times since my family passed. Timehad not healed my wounds and I needed to get away for a littlewhile and burn some more time to bridge the gap between the pastand future, when I hoped that Lowery's pronouncement that I "wouldsee my family again," would come to fruition.
I searched for the most desolateand least populated area I could find in San Francisco and stoppedat the junction of Haight and Ashbury Streets, where I proceeded tosquat in a vacant house after cleaning it up and refurbishing it. Ithen crawled into all of the cannabis and other natural remedies ofescape I could find.
My clothes became tattered as myhair grew back and facial hair developed into a spirited andunseemly beard. To say that I spawned a generation of hippies mightbe a bit of an understatement, now that the cloud has lifted and Ihave a little perspective. I was so lit for that six-year periodthat I didn't realize how crowded the neighborhood had become untilthe light of a network TV camera shined in my eyes and awoke mefrom a drug- and family-induced haze. It was time for me to getback to the East coast and leave all that smelly, filthy nonsensebehind!
TURN
It was almost 18 years to the daythat Eloise Phillips and Mary Brewster gave birth to three childrenin separate, but extremely related births. I remember the day wedeparted and the confused, yet elated, looks on the faces of Thadand Gary. I never wanted to be a burden on anyone, let alone twopeople who I never met before we filled the roles of a vampiretriangle of hunter and protector.
While Mary and Thaddeus Brewsterhad their hands full with their energetic twins, Calvin and Emily,Eloise Phillips had a fairly low maintenance teen in SharonPhillips, who had blossomed and was much more mature than her highschool classmates.
"I don't want to go to the prom!"Sharon shrieked at her mom when chided as to why no one had askedher. Not a sole in her Virginia Beach High School graduating classof 324 had stepped up and popped the question for fear of beingshot down. Not only had Sharon developed into quite a beauty, shealso had broken a few noses and arms of male classmates who thoughtthey could take liberties with her over the years. It was themid-1960s and women's' rights were starting to takehold.
"Maybe you've been a little toorough on
