Reunion

Reunion

by

Matthew Coley

Contents

Introduction            

Chapter One All in the Family            

Chapter Two Visitors            

Chapter Three Images In Time            

Chapter Four A Blinding Light            

Chapter Five Boy Genius            

Chapter Six The Awkward Years            

Chapter Seven The Impossible            

Chapter Eight Computers and Black Holes            

Chapter Nine Of Cats and Dogs            

Chapter Ten Fade To Black            

Chapter Eleven Reunion            

Chapter Twelve The Rabbit Hole

Introduction

This book is dedicated to my mother, who, when she was a single mother for a few years, sacrificed to make sure that we always had a roof over our heads and food on our table. It is also dedicated to my stepfather, who was always there when my cars had mechanical problems when I was younger.  My stepfather always had a solid work ethic. My stepfather instilled in me a determination to be a success, no matter what obstacles may stand in my way.  In the workforce, my best managers taught me to see obstacles as opportunities.

In 2015, during a long period of unemployment, I decided to make the very most of my time and finally write this novel.    I would search for work by day and write this novel by night.  I have had portions of this book in mind since I was a child, but I never seemed to have time to put the streams of words together into one work.  Portions of the book are actually taken from dreams that I had as a child.  I consider myself lucky, as I have had very interesting and sometimes terrifying dreams for as long as I can remember.  Some people don’t like scary dreams, but I would rather have scary dreams than dull and boring dreams. For periods in my life, I was able to control some of my dreams. In some dreams, I would bodily fly over fields and through canyons. I would make intricate designs in the fields that I flew over.

Copyright © 2024 Matthew R. Coley

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. All rights reserved.

Book Cover - Copyright © 2024 Matthew R. Coley

Book Art - Copyright © 2024 Matthew R. Coley

Chapter One

All in the Family

Chris awakes in bed.  There is a soft glow of light around the window blind at the right side of his bed.  The soft glow of the light on his left cheek is all that it has taken to bring him out of a deep sleep.  Chris rubs his eyes and turns over onto his left side.  He tries several sleeping positions but realizes that there is no going back to sleep.  Chris gets out of bed and walks to the downstairs bathroom, which is just left of his bedroom’s doorway.  As he enters the bathroom, he stumbles into the bathroom door.  The ensuing thumping of the door awakens Steve, Chris’ father.  As Chris relieves himself, Steve walks, as if he is half asleep, toward the closed bathroom door.  Steve taps lightly on the bathroom door so as not to wake up Sally. 

I’ll be right out, Daddy, says Chris.

Chris knew that it was Steve, as any noise in the vicinity of the bathroom during the night would cause Steve’s bladder to wake him for an urgent trip to the bathroom.  Chris finishes his business and goes to his bedroom while Steve takes his place in the bathroom.  After relieving himself, Steve opens the bathroom door.  Chris sees a shadow of his father in the hallway.  The shadow extends into the threshold of his bedroom.  Chris sees the shadow of Steve’s arm moving, and Chris moves in to investigate.  Steve is shaving.  His whole face is full of lather, and he is slowly shaving the bottom portion of his neck.  Chris reaches up to the side of the sink and grabs the shaving foam.  Chris loads his face with shaving foam.

Steve had left the door of his bedroom open, so the light coming from the bathroom had made its way into Steve’s bedroom.  Sally rolls over, hoping to get into a position where the light will not prevent her from sleeping, but the attempt is in vain.  Sally gets out of bed and looks down the hall.  She sees that both Steve and Chris are in the bathroom.  Curious, she walks to the threshold of the bathroom.  She finds Chris imitating Steve.  His face looks like someone had dunked his face into the top of a cake.  He even has shaving foam in his hair.  This similarity is not lost on Sally, as she recalls Chris dunking his face into his birthday cake when he was two years old. 

"I’m glad that I had a second cake ready.  Chris didn’t leave much cake for others to eat." Sally thinks to herself.

Chris shaves the bottom of his neck with his thumb, as Steve refuses to let Chris use a razor.  Chris flicks the foam off of his thumb into the toilet.  Sally smiles at Steve and slaps him on his butt.  Sally walks into the kitchen.  Sally fries eggs and bacon, for the family.  She places three tall glasses, of orange juice, on the kitchen table.

What is that heavenly smell? asks Steve, as he walks, down the hallway, while buttoning his shirt.

That would be the bacon, honey, Sally says.

What is that, in the pot? asks Steve.

That is my family’s famous country sausage gravy, says Sally.

You spoil us, babe.  You really spoil us, says Steve as he embraces her from behind and kisses her on the nape of her neck.

I know, says Sally, with a grin, as she looks up into Steve’s eyes.

Sally is a five-foot, nine-inch brunette, while Steve is just over six feet tall.  With his eyes, Steve traces her hair, down the sides of her face, down her neck, and glances at her breasts.  He then traces her figure, from her curvaceous hips down to her ankles.

Steve slaps Sally on her butt, which seems to almost lift her off of the floor. 

Are you sure that you have to go to work, honey? says Sally playfully as she stirs the gravy.

Steve looks at the form of Sally’s body in her nightgown.  He bites his lower lip and lets out a deep groan.

Steve drinks some orange juice and holds the glass next to his face as if he needs the cold drink to cool him off. 

Chris makes his way to the kitchen and sits at the kitchen table next to Steve.

You still have a little foam right there, says Steve, pointing to his own right ear lobe.

Chris grabs the paper towel spindle from the table, tears a couple of sheets, and wipes his neck and ears.

I think that you missed a few hairs, Chris, says Sally.

Steve and Sally both chuckle as Chris feels around his face for any trace of facial hair. 

Steve gets the newspaper off the front porch.  He shuts the front door and sits in his recliner in the living room. 

Steve lights up a cigarette.

What did I tell you about smoking in the house? says Sally.

Steve acts as if he doesn’t hear Sally.  He takes a drag of the cigarette and sets it in an ashtray on the footstool next to the recliner.  Steve keeps the footstool on the left side of the recliner when he wants to smoke so that it is out of view when Sally is in the kitchen.

While Steve removes the rubber band from the newspaper, Chris takes the lit cigarette out of the ashtray, runs to the bathroom, and throws the cigarette into the toilet.  Steve doesn’t try to stop him.  Steve and Sally follow him to the bathroom.

Why did you do that, baby? asks Sally.

You said that smoking is bad for Daddy and that we should not have smoke in the house, says Chris.

Your son may only be six years old, but sometimes he can be wise beyond his years, says Sally.

Steve and Sally both wipe tears, from their eyes as they laugh. 

Alright, that’s it.  That was my last cigarette, says Steve as he flushes the toilet.

If it’s that easy, maybe I should have a talk with Chris about some of your other annoying habits, says Sally.

Oh, you’re just on a roll, aren’t you? says Steve.

Steve turns on the television in the living room and turns, to the channel airing the The Flintstones cartoon.

Chris rarely misses an episode of The Flintstones, no matter how many times that he has seen the episodes.

Steve skims through the newspaper and reads a couple of the comics in the comics section.  Steve chuckles and puts the newspaper on the coffee table in the living room. 

Okay honey, I’m off, to the office. says Steve.

Sally hands him his lunch box.

Steve inspects the lunchbox to find that it contains sandwiches that Sally had put together for him, along with stalks of celery.

Thank GOD it’s Friday, huh? says Sally.

Steve winks at Sally and kisses her.  He then walks to his car, with his lunch box in hand.  Steve opens the driver’s side door of his car, pauses, and longingly looks at Sally before getting into his car.  For a moment, Sally had thought that maybe Steve would take a day off and spend it with her.  When Steve gets out of the driveway, Sally goes back into their house.

Sally vacuums the house while Chris watches cartoons in their living room.  Chris struggles to hear the television, as the vacuum puts out a lot of noise.  After a couple of hours of doing house chores, Sally checks in on Chris and finds him sleeping on the living room floor.  She puts a load of laundry into the washer and then gets dressed.

Sally takes Chris to the local mall. Sally tries on clothing in a couple of women’s clothing stores while Chris sits and waits for her. Sally comes out of a fitting room to find that Chris is no longer sitting in the seat in which she had left him when she had gone into the fitting room. Sally begins to panic when she sees Chris run past the hallway entrance of the store. Sally puts the dress that she had tried on on the checkout counter and runs out of the store. Sally grabs Chris by his left arm.

I thought that I told you to sit in the chair and wait for me, says Sally.

Can we go home, Mommy? says Chris as he struggles to get free. Sally walks him back to the chair in the women’s clothing store. She grips her hands around Chris’ shoulders and sits him back in the chair.

While trying on another dress in the fitting room, Sally can hear Chris kicking the legs of the chair in which he is sitting. Knowing that this has to be getting on the nerves of the other women in the store, she changes back into her own dress before she has had a chance to check out the fit of the new dress. Sally hangs up the dress that she was going to try on. She then grabs Chris with her left hand and walks him to her car. She had been shopping for two hours but did not buy anything.

Why can’t you just sit still? asks Sally.

Sally drives them home.  As they pull into their driveway, a girl down the street sees Chris getting out of Sally’s car and runs to him.

Hi Chris, do you want to play?  Can Chris play Miss Grant? says Michelle.

Sure, I could use some quiet time, says Sally.

Chris and Michelle go to Michelle’s house.  Chris walks while Michelle skips.  They play on the swing set in her backyard.  They swing on the swings for a while and then play on the teeter-totter.  The teeter-totter makes an annoying grinding noise, each time either, of their seats, reaches its peak, so they are not, on the teeter totter, for long.  Michelle takes Chris up, into the tree house, that her dad had recently built, for her. 

Michelle’s mother climbs the ladder of the tree house and pops her head up through the access hole. 

How about some Windmill cookies? asks Lisa.

Sure, thanks, says Chris, as he grabs a few cookies from the cookie container.

Michelle grabs a couple of cookies, as well.

Thanks, Mom. says Michelle.

Lisa walks toward her house.  She can hear Chris and Michelle laughing.  This gives her a warm feeling inside as she enters her house.

Michelle and Chris blow bubbles and compete for distance.  There is a slight wind, and one of Michelle’s bubbles soars into a neighbor’s yard.  The bubble expands to four times its original size and bursts.

Wow!  Good one! exclaims Chris.

You guys have been up there for over an hour.  It’s time to come down, says Suzie, Michelle’s older sister.

Suzie walks Chris and Michelle back to Chris’ house.  Suzie knocks on the front door of Chris’ house.

Hi Suzie, thanks for bringing Chris home, as usual, says Sally.

It’s no problem.  I’m babysitting for extra money now, so let me know if you need a babysitter, says Suzie.

That is good to know.  I’ll definitely give you a call if we need a babysitter, says Sally.

As soon as Suzie walks into her house, Lisa tells her that Sally is, on the phone and wants to speak to her.

Umm, hi Sally… says Suzie.

Hi Suzie, I know that this is last minute, but can you babysit Chris tonight? asks Sally.

For how long and how late? asks Suzie.

For three hours, says Sally.

Sure, no problem, Sally, says Suzie.

Fantastic, I’ll give you a few extra dollars since this was last minute.  Please come by at 6 pm, says Sally.

That sounds good, Sally; I’ll see you then, says Suzie.

Sally meets Steve at the front door when he arrives home from work.

Sally wraps her arms around Steve’s neck and kisses him. 

Are we resuming where we had left off this morning? asks Steve.

I have a babysitter for tonight.  I made reservations for us at our favorite restaurant.  We can have dessert at home. says Sally.

Sounds like fun, says Steve, with an impish grin.

Steve takes a nap in his recliner while Sally finishes the laundry.

As Sally is walking a basket of laundry from the dryer to the parents’ bedroom, there is a knock at the front door.

Sally sets the basket of laundry on her bed, walks to the front door, and opens the front door.

Hi Suzie, thanks for coming early. says Sally.

You’re welcome.  I am only a few minutes early.  No big deal. says Suzie.

Steve drives Sally to their favorite restaurant.  It’s not a fancy restaurant, but Sally and Steve love it because it’s known for having the best club sandwiches in the area.  And their favorite waitresses are good with kids.  Sometimes, they will give Chris a free hot fudge Sunday, but not with just one scoop of ice cream.  They give him three scoops of vanilla ice cream, topped with fudge and with whipped cream on top. 

We’ll have the usual, says Sally to the waitress.

Yes, we’ll also have a bottle of your best Merlot wine, says Steve.

Honey, you know how tipsy I get when I drink wine, says Sally.

Steve was being sarcastic, as the restaurant doesn’t serve high-end wine. 

So that will be two coffees and a Coke, right? says the waitress.

Yea, it will be the usual, says Steve.

Sally grabs Steve’s hand and gazes into his eyes.

Steve holds both of Sally’s hands, one on top of another.  Steve plays with Sally’s wedding ring, leans in toward Sally, and kisses her.

Sally removes the red, high-healed shoe from her left foot with her right foot.  She runs her left foot up Steve’s right leg as they playfully gaze at each other.

Hey lovers, get a room, says the waiter as he delivers a tray of food to a nearby table.

Sally and Steve smile at each other as they hold hands and gaze into each other’s eyes.

The waiter brings their food to their table.

Prepared, just the way you like them, says the waiter, who purposely imitates a snooty waiter.

Sally and Steve laugh as they eat their sandwiches.

You have some mayona… says Sally, as she dabs mayonnaise off of Steve’s chin.

After enjoying their meal, they head home, which is a short drive.  As Steve parks the car in their driveway, the car’s brakes let out a screech.  Steve gets out of the car, walks around to Sally’s side of the car, and opens her door. Once she gets out of the car, Steve closes her door, and immediately lifts her off of her feet.  He carries her, to the front door.  He sets her down on the front porch, only long enough, to unlock and open the front door.  He picks her up again and carries her, over the threshold.  Steve closes the front door and locks it.  She expects him to set her down, but he continues to carry her to their bedroom.  He sets her down on their bed.

You know, I have not had a shower yet.  Why don’t we take a shower together? says Steve.

Fantastic idea! says Sally.

We can both try out the new showerhead, says Steve.

Steve notices how her hair is draping down the side of her long, graceful neck, over her left breast, and is forming half circles around the nipple of her left breast.

They take turns, rapidly undressing each other.

The master architect knew what he was doing when he created you. Steve says as he looks over the form of Sally’s body.

Steve and Sally share a very long shower.  When they finally exit the shower, the bathroom is filled with steam.  Sally draws hearts on the medicine cabinet’s mirror, with her right index finger.

The doorbell rings while they are putting on their robes.

Just a minute! yells Sally.

Sally and Steve scurry to their bedroom and get dressed in a frantic fashion.

They both put on lush and full-length robes.

Sally opens the front door.

"I’m glad