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A FORTNIGHT LATER~~~
He walked with Sarah. The rain had stopped. It was cold and windy. Jonathon was still weak. She made sure he dressed warmly. Edith (for she was back too) made him a muffler and in the way of her people, in the way of The Pines, she prayed over every stitch. Sarah put it on him. All is as it was. The townhouse was ready. Loyal 'familiars' saw to that. The floors were buffed. The rugs were cleaned. Even the windows sparkled. And you know how hard it is to engage residential window cleaners this time of year. Edith bought candles, the green apple kind vampires like. True, Jonathon was still mortal, but he noticed and he thanked her.
Now they passed through the narrow streets he loved so well. Sarah held his hand and put it in her pocket. Jonathon said - I like the air and the wind and the damp. I like all of it. ..... Sarah said - I'm glad. And do you like the food? Edith wants you to gain weight..... Jonathon whispered - I like the food. The first I've had since (he exhales and thinks) the year they call ten ninety seven. Forty eight fifty eight by my reckoning. You know, I always refer to myself as 'one thousand years old.' But I'm not. I'm only nine hundred and thirty five, or there about. ..... She squeezed his hand and said - Oh, so young.
Then they went by Head House Square, an old, long, red brick, market pavilion going back centuries. It was empty now. Three thirty in the morning. Clubs and taverns closed ninety minutes ago. But the diners and coffee shops were still open. So they turned onto South Street and made for a place that had good omelets. Jonathon liked it there. He usually sat in the back nursing a mug of tea. He liked hot tea. This time he'd have a little bit more.
The waitress knew them. She didn't know about the vampire part, but she knew. She knew there was some special quality, some elusive difference. They helped her once when her little daughter was sick. Doctors and hospitals would only do so much. Her insurance, such as it was, wouldn't pay them any more. So she took the little girl home one night and bought her the doll she'd always wanted. Then, as her mother was watching over the child, she sat outside, on the low, white, marble steps and had a cigarette. While she thought, or tried to think, Jonathon and Sarah came by. The vampirino said - What's wrong, Joann (for that was her name)? Why are you shaking?...... The waitress told him. She said she'd been everywhere and tried everything..... Jonathon sat down by her and quietly answered. He said - Everything is everywhere..... Now the waitress was puzzled by those words. But Sarah knew. It was his way of saying nothing is impossible, or almost nothing.
The next morning a package arrived, delivered by a 'familiar.' As he was neatly dressed and well spoken, the grandmother accepted it. She took in inside and opened it, finding what looked like a genuine pharmaceutical parcel. Then she ran next door and asked a neighbor lady to read the directions and explain it all to her, for the grandmother was born in another land and had not sufficient knowledge of the language. Well, the prescribing physician's name was right. The pharmacy was right. It all seemed so proper. She tried to call her daughter. She phoned the diner. Upon hearing the particulars, the waitress was shocked. Maybe he did it? Maybe the doctor came through? The pills... The medicine... Seven hundred dollars a capsule.... That's it. He did it. He sent it. And in her heart she blessed him for righteousness not his own.
Five capsules. Five shiny red capsules. One each day with her evening meal. So the grandmother made the tuna croquette and the macaroni and cheese and brought it up. There was applesauce for the medicine. She carefully opened the capsule (the instructions said she could do that) and mixed in the glittering dark red crystals. No one ever suspected it was vampire blood, whether Sarah's or Jonathon's is immaterial. Vampires, moral vampires, aren't like that. But, thank God, the little girl lived and got well. Small infusions of night-folk blood can work miracles.
Help is all around us. Solutions may be elusive, but you can find them.
Everything is everywhere.
The townhouse has been made right. And Jonathon, though in an ever so slightly altered form, is back.
Call me Johannon. We've spoken before. And I have returned to this place too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
click THE SUN ALSO RISES to see all Vampire Wonderland episodes.
click YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN to join me and a whole lot of supportive, talented people on Twitter.
please COMMENT. thank you. and if you got powerful media friends, send them around too.
He walked with Sarah. The rain had stopped. It was cold and windy. Jonathon was still weak. She made sure he dressed warmly. Edith (for she was back too) made him a muffler and in the way of her people, in the way of The Pines, she prayed over every stitch. Sarah put it on him. All is as it was. The townhouse was ready. Loyal 'familiars' saw to that. The floors were buffed. The rugs were cleaned. Even the windows sparkled. And you know how hard it is to engage residential window cleaners this time of year. Edith bought candles, the green apple kind vampires like. True, Jonathon was still mortal, but he noticed and he thanked her.
Now they passed through the narrow streets he loved so well. Sarah held his hand and put it in her pocket. Jonathon said - I like the air and the wind and the damp. I like all of it. ..... Sarah said - I'm glad. And do you like the food? Edith wants you to gain weight..... Jonathon whispered - I like the food. The first I've had since (he exhales and thinks) the year they call ten ninety seven. Forty eight fifty eight by my reckoning. You know, I always refer to myself as 'one thousand years old.' But I'm not. I'm only nine hundred and thirty five, or there about. ..... She squeezed his hand and said - Oh, so young.
Then they went by Head House Square, an old, long, red brick, market pavilion going back centuries. It was empty now. Three thirty in the morning. Clubs and taverns closed ninety minutes ago. But the diners and coffee shops were still open. So they turned onto South Street and made for a place that had good omelets. Jonathon liked it there. He usually sat in the back nursing a mug of tea. He liked hot tea. This time he'd have a little bit more.
The waitress knew them. She didn't know about the vampire part, but she knew. She knew there was some special quality, some elusive difference. They helped her once when her little daughter was sick. Doctors and hospitals would only do so much. Her insurance, such as it was, wouldn't pay them any more. So she took the little girl home one night and bought her the doll she'd always wanted. Then, as her mother was watching over the child, she sat outside, on the low, white, marble steps and had a cigarette. While she thought, or tried to think, Jonathon and Sarah came by. The vampirino said - What's wrong, Joann (for that was her name)? Why are you shaking?...... The waitress told him. She said she'd been everywhere and tried everything..... Jonathon sat down by her and quietly answered. He said - Everything is everywhere..... Now the waitress was puzzled by those words. But Sarah knew. It was his way of saying nothing is impossible, or almost nothing.
The next morning a package arrived, delivered by a 'familiar.' As he was neatly dressed and well spoken, the grandmother accepted it. She took in inside and opened it, finding what looked like a genuine pharmaceutical parcel. Then she ran next door and asked a neighbor lady to read the directions and explain it all to her, for the grandmother was born in another land and had not sufficient knowledge of the language. Well, the prescribing physician's name was right. The pharmacy was right. It all seemed so proper. She tried to call her daughter. She phoned the diner. Upon hearing the particulars, the waitress was shocked. Maybe he did it? Maybe the doctor came through? The pills... The medicine... Seven hundred dollars a capsule.... That's it. He did it. He sent it. And in her heart she blessed him for righteousness not his own.
Five capsules. Five shiny red capsules. One each day with her evening meal. So the grandmother made the tuna croquette and the macaroni and cheese and brought it up. There was applesauce for the medicine. She carefully opened the capsule (the instructions said she could do that) and mixed in the glittering dark red crystals. No one ever suspected it was vampire blood, whether Sarah's or Jonathon's is immaterial. Vampires, moral vampires, aren't like that. But, thank God, the little girl lived and got well. Small infusions of night-folk blood can work miracles.
Help is all around us. Solutions may be elusive, but you can find them.
Everything is everywhere.
The townhouse has been made right. And Jonathon, though in an ever so slightly altered form, is back.
Call me Johannon. We've spoken before. And I have returned to this place too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
click THE SUN ALSO RISES to see all Vampire Wonderland episodes.
click YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN to join me and a whole lot of supportive, talented people on Twitter.
please COMMENT. thank you. and if you got powerful media friends, send them around too.
