Chapter Three

 

Vincent continues to tell his childhood story…

 

 

“My Granny, well she is the greatest! I know that she was very disappointed when the nurses would not let her in to visit me, even though she brought jars of strawberry jam and gave one to each of them. She had Nurse Jill tell me that she was praying for me continuously, every time she thought about me, and that was almost always.”

You see, they didn’t know how Polio spread. It was estimated that ninety-five percent of the local folks contracted the disease and that the vast majority of them were carriers, contaminating others.  But only a few would be stricken as badly as Vincent was.

Granny Em came to visit every day for two weeks, holding onto the hope that the nurses would change their minds, and believing that she would be the first to hear the good news of his recovery.  But there was no such announcement. Still she clung tightly onto faith, and hope. The nurses would tell Vincent that she was there, peering through the window at the end of the long corridor. He couldn’t see her, but he felt her presence and prayers.

When they finally convinced Granny that the isolation ward would not be breached by a visitor, she began writing letters.  Every night before she went to bed she wrote Vincent a short note that was delivered the next day. Granny told him about their relatives and friends, even noting the weather, which he had no awareness of as he could not see outside. She described beautiful sunsets, refreshing showers, the arrival of blossoms and bees, and the mother robin that persistently fed her new hatchlings. And there were updates on the coming June crop of strawberries: which fields looked the most promising, when rain was needed, how Pops was getting along with the help, and more.

Granny was instructed to write on just one side of the paper so that her letter could be posted above the patient’s head. It would remain on his reading board until the next one arrived.

“I can’t tell you how much those letters meant to me,” Vincent related.  “Her writing kept me connected, as a force that mends broken links in the chain of life, the life I needed to desire still. I later realized that hope cannot be lost, or all is soon gone, and I was really struggling to hang on.”

His mind drifted away as his spirit desired to flee. He was weakened by the endurance required to survive each and every day as the disease lingered on and on, and dreams brought the relief he needed.

 

#

 

 

Jewel turned to go, with a hop and a skip, and then stopped to wave goodbye to the little man and his other self. She felt that they had become friends and wondered about their warning of Raven. She should have asked more about the creature that sounded to be threatening.

Although this two-faced man was strange in his own way, he – they seemed to be honest, not saying different things in order to gain the listener’s approval, yet their disagreement was very funny.

As she walked a shadow crossed on the ground in front of her. It had the shape of a large bird, wings outstretched. She quickly ducked beneath a lilac bush and watched the giant fowl float away on the wind. But Jewel was a strong and determined little girl. She swallowed her fear, gathered her wits, and determined to march on. She had to find the three-eyed frog, the wise wizard of this strange land. Her footsteps quickened and then she began to run, paying close attention to the splits in the trail, and remembering the directions given by Me.

Soon the weeds along the edge of the path became higher and the ground became soft like a sponge; it squished water out from under her shoes. Towering over Jewel were giant catty nine tails, their brown plumes like that on a soldier’s hat when wearing his dress uniform, attire suitable for a king, or a wizard. The sun sparkled on the water visible through the reeds.

She arrived at the shoreline of the Great Lake.

Jewel shaded her eyes with her hand held against her forehead and squinted at the sun’s reflection as it shimmered on the water.  She saw lily pads and large yellow flowers with thick pointed pedals floating on the lake. There was a slight breeze and ripples formed on the flat surface, rolling away like an army marching in straight rows toward soldiers hidden on the opposing shore.

Leaves rustled and she heard a buzzing sound. A large dragonfly flew by. Its wings were clear film, its eyes dark red balls that seemed ready to pop out of its head and its body an iridescent blue, shining in the bright light. The dragon fly darted back and forth and headed toward the lily pads.

And then it was gone.

His tongue snapped like a whip and snagged that fly, recoiling to deliver it into the frog’s large mouth, an appetizer before dinner. The motion of it caused the frog to twist and turn slightly on his raft that consisted of a large lily leaf. Jewel distinctly saw his three eyes, lined up in a row, straight across his slimy forehead. 

“Hey you, Mister Three-Eyed Frog,” Jewel called and waved her hand at him. The critter looked her way and gently paddled in the water with his webbed feet to adjust his view, but he made no response to her calling.

“Well, are you a wizard, or not?” Jewel challenged.

These words aroused the frog and it leaped into the clear water.  Jewel watched him swim into the deep, his legs forming a fan that he pushed outward to propel himself forward like a torpedo. She strained her eyes to follow him, but he soon disappeared. She waited and watched. She waited some more, and began to be afraid that the frog had fled to his castle for safe refuge. Surely, she reasoned, a wizard must have such a place.

Suddenly water splashed into her eyes and the amphibian popped out of the lake, landing on a flat stone, directly in front of her. A chorus of cicadas buzzed in announcement of his appearing.

He stood tall and wore a purple cape that hug loosely around his long, hugely muscular legs. On his head was a hat, a tall cone, also purple in color with a yellow crescent moon surrounded by stars that glittered in the sun.  His left hand held a staff, topped with a large diamond. This he grasped tightly with his long fingers and as he tapped it on the stone a laser beam shot upward into the azure sky, exploding there like fireworks.

All three eyes were clearly focused on the shocked little girl, as Jewel gasped in amazement, stunned by his beauty and performance.  She instinctively bent her knees and curtseyed before his royal highness.

“Be at ease little girl,” the wizard instructed. “Your respect is noted, and accepted,” he continued. The center eye lid closed momentarily as he considered his next question. “How may I be of service? Have you lost your way?” the frog asked with intuition.

“My d, do, dog,” Jewel stammered, feeling insecure.

“Was he a puppy still, black and white in color?” the frog suggested. “Raven has caught him, I saw him carried overhead, clutched by the beast’s talons. The poor little dog was whimpering like a baby.”

“Oh no!” Jewel shouted and began to cry. “It can’t be! Tell me it isn’t so.”

“What is your dog’s name?”

She sniffled and said, “Her name is Ransome.”

The wizard frowned. “That explains it. Raven has kidnapped your puppy and is holding her for payment. He is a foul fowl, and tries to intimidate us. But his power and influence is limited.”

“What should I do?” Jewel demanded as she shifted on her feet. “What can I do?”

“Oh my, dear, oh dear!” the wizard stroked his white beard that suddenly appeared. “That vulture is incomprehensibly inconsiderate and insensitive to your concerns. Dear, oh dear. I don’t believe you will be able to pay his ransom.”

“Please!” Jewel pleaded. “You are wise. Please think even harder. There must be some way that I can get my puppy back.”

“Well, there may be one way,” the wizard remembered and stroked his beard again, as it suddenly grew longer, reaching all the way to the ground.

“It’s a magical berry. If you can find it and eat it, your nightmare will end. You will immediately be transported back to your home and Ransome, as well as any evidence of your being here, will go back with you.  But it is an arduous journey that will lead you to the berry patch, and there is many a peril.”

Jewel nodded and the wizard continued. “The wild strawberry grows at the bottom of Angels’ Landing, a butte composed of pure citrine quartz that encompasses many precious stones. The berry patch is alongside the pool at the foot of the waterfall. These cascading currents tumble down from five thousand feet above, the top of the butte. When the moon is full and bright, a moonbow forms at the foot of the waterfall, lighting upon the patch of berries. You must pick one that was touched by the spectrum of beautiful color dispersed by the moonbow.”

Jewel’s mouth hung wide open and she spoke not a word, gasping in wonder at the wizard’s description of a place too wonderful to be true.

“It’s really the most beautiful place you will ever see,” the wizard warned. “But don’t be enthralled by it, consumed by its charms, enticed by its luring, or you will never return home,” he emphasized the point with a single finger held high in the air, and then concluded his statement, “I visited there once, and barely escaped with my life.” The balled tip of his long, slender finger slowly returned to its place alongside the others.

Jewel returned a puzzled look.

“We each have our place in this world, and our time to serve, just as I am here for you now. We must fulfill our destiny. That requires courage and determination, but we will only know redemption upon completing the intended purpose of our life. So, you must not be bamboozled, to be deterred from it!” Realizing that he was nearly shouting now, the three-eyed frog lowered the volume of his voice and continued to teach the little girl.

“The dishonesty of deception is a subtle influencer,” the wizard warned. “If you do not make a choice, a firm commitment, you will become two-faced,” and he paused for effect but then continued to make his main point, “We cannot serve two masters, for we will be devoted to one and despise the other,” and he concluded with an asking, “I don’t want to be the one despised, do you?”

Looking deep into Jewel’s eyes, the frog saw confusion with his most perceptive, center eye, and knew that she did not fully understand his question.

“Do you know how fast you are moving right now, even as you’re standing still?” the wizard was getting chatty and decided to test her with some trivia.

“Well,” he continued, “We’re on a carousel that is spinning at a speed of one thousand miles per hour, and it’s not stopping to let us off. I say giddy-up to every morning, a new beginning, to do and say the right things.”

There was a pause, as the wizard waited for her to respond.

 “Why is it called Angel’s Landing?” Jewel finally found her voice strong enough to speak again.

“No one has ever been to the top of the butte,” the wizard said as he told the tale shared by millions of critters for thousands of years. “It is said to be the place where Heaven touches the earth. The angels are messengers, guardians, and warriors. They come to deliver blessings for the people of the world.”

The wizard’s beard was now so long that it curled upon the stone and began stacking itself into a coil that grew taller.

There was a rhythmic sound like that of a beating drum, or was it a giant clock? Her time with the three-eyed frog wizard was coming to an abrupt end.

 

It was the banging of the nurse’s thick heeled shoes, painted with whitener to promote cleanliness, which echoed in an adjoining hallway. Miss Jenkins, Supervising RN, was about to begin her shift. A clock in the hospital’s foyer with Westminster Chimes sounded the three-quarter hour for six in the morning.

 

“But how do I get there?” Jewel asked anxiously. “Which way is it from here?”

“You must cross the Great Lake,” the wizard instructed as his beard began to recede. “Go to the beach on the south shore.”

 

Jenkins yanked on the heavy door that was the entrance to the isolation ward.  She pulled on a cord that slipped from her hand and a window blind shot upward, slapping the glass as it spun around the spring loaded dowel that anchored it there.  Daylight spilled into the room, an unwelcomed interruption for those sleeping in the metal cylinders. The nurse reached for a wall switch and fluorescent tubes made the room instantly bright, their soft humming unnoticed, masked over by the whooshing noise of the air pumps.

 

A black cloud moved away from the sun and the lake’s water again reflected a stunningly bright light. Jewel’s pupils constricted and the appearance of the wizard dimmed before her. The sound of the wind rustling through the reeds suddenly became much louder. The frog turned to face the lake, squatted and leaped into the air, his costume disappearing before he hit the water. And with a BIG splash, he was gone.

 

Nurse Jenkins strolled down the aisle between the rows of polio patients, their bodies aimed in opposite directions so that their heads were at the center of the room, along each side of her walkway. Like the crankshaft driven movements of a machine, her head turned swiftly, side to side in a timed fashion, checking for signs of life among the souls caged there.  She stopped at Vincent and tapped him on the cheek. “Com’on Sweetie, back to reality.”

He moaned and turned his head away. With his eyes still closed, he sought a replay of the dream, desiring the mystical land of the moonbow, a place serviced by angels.  Vincent wondered why he could not, why he should not go there, for surely it was better than where he was, better than his sad existence in this place, his hell on earth.

The nurses would soon begin their rounds with medications. This day he needed an extra dose.

 

 

CLICK HERE for Chapter 4

 

Edify - Encourage - Empower!

"This book is meant to be shared."  Tell your friends to visit UpdykeBooks.com.

 

Blessings! Alan Updyke