Chester (Part Three)

Eve and I took an immediate liking to Chester and wanted to help him.  He was one of those rare people in this time and place that had empathy for those around him, causing him to try and fix the pain and suffering exuding from people.   He had given away most of his money and gold, but had considerable wealth in livestock and land.  We supposed he really didn’t understand that he could sell off the land and livestock and remain comfortable the rest of his life.

“Chester, who are the caretakers of your father’s land and livestock?” I asked.

He replied, “The old woman’s husband and four sons.  They take care of those things.”

Eve and I realized this family of caretakers was taking advantage of Chester and hiding this from the authorities that protect the ruling class families in Rome.  The old woman is sent to keep him happy while the others pilfer his live stock holdings and farming properties.  She keeps him fat and immobile while the others steel from this defenseless young man.

“Chester, we want to help you.” Eve said in her moist consoling voice.  “We believe there are people that are doing bad things to you and keeping you from the truth.  Where do the old woman and her family live?”

He thought for a moment. “I really don’t know. I haven’t thought about it.  She comes here and takes care of me and that’s all I know.  I usually provide fifty denarius a month for her to take care of everything.”

When Eve heard this I saw her beautiful face go red, then ugly. She had that dangerous look she gets when she feels someone has been wronged.  I would always call her my “avenging beauty”.  She was always getting into trouble  . . . .

We asked around and found that Marianna, the old woman and her family lived about two miles down the main road that leads out of Rome.  I convinced Eve that we should wait for the old woman to confront her about Chester’s father’s land and livestock before we go marching into their home to cut off heads.  My “Avenging Beauty” agreed --- late one evening we waited for her to visit Chester’s house.  That was the beginning of some bad things for all of us.

We surrounded Marianna and confronted her for the truth.  She wasn’t very happy with the fact that she and her family’s integrity were being questioned.  And it didn’t help matters that Eve grabbed her by the chin and pushed her against the wall to pry out the truth.  Marianna’s motherly demeanor disappeared and a horrid old woman’s anger emerged, slapping Eve’s hand away and while kicking her in the groin in one swift movement.  Eve fell to her knees as the woman ran to escape us.  While she was running we could hear her threats, “My sons will come back and take care of you and the fat man.”

Rome in 80AD was a good place to take these threats seriously.  We knew that we would have to gather our household men to protect Chester.  Eve was fuming about the old woman’s kick to her groin and wanted to grab a blade and remove her head that same night.  I calmed her with some wine and soft words and after, I told her to run back to our house to get help in case of a fight, while I stayed with Chester.

I sat with the young man, not letting him know that a grave situation was about to occur, but this didn’t matter.  Marianna’s family descended upon us with a group of twenty men. They first grabbed me (I was without a weapon), as ten of them pulled Chester from his bed and began to viciously beat him.  He screamed and cried to have mercy, but here was none.

The old woman’s husband came to me and spit on me, then called me a filthy “Roman whore.”  After I spit back he took his blade and ran it though my heart.  I was really enraged that I was caught so unaware.  As I lay dying for the thousandth time, I knew Eve would be back, she would be outraged at what she would see.

“Oh well”, I thought as I heard the assassins leave. It’s time to die and wake up again . . . .

To Be Continued . . . . .

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Greetings From Rome!

Hello everyone.  I thought I would remind you that I will post the third part of the story "Chester" next week when Eve and I return home.  We want to be with all our friends back in the Midwest in time for Christmas and New Years Eve. 

Thanks to all of you that read this blog and go to our store House of Ancient Coins and Curios at http://www.ancientscoin.com .

Remember to read all of the comments that accumulate while the current blog is posted.  

And Jago ----- quit being an ass to everyone. Nobody likes you when you drink and talk.  Mona, keep him as sober as you can :-)

Until next week, my friends . . . .

-Joseph-

Christmas Vacation

Hello my friends.  I am sorry, but Eve and I will be out of the country for Christmas.  We want to visit the places we called home many years ago.  I will return with Chester (Part Three) next week.

**Don't forget to read the comments below the blog for hints to future stories.**

In the meanwhile visit  House of Ancient Coins & Curios (http://www.ancientscoin.com) for great and unusual gift ideas.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends.

-Joseph-

Chester (Part Two)

The elderly woman that pleaded for us to help the young man disappeared as soon as we took charge of the situation.  Eve found a clean cloth, dipped it in some nearby water and wiped the blood out of Chester’s face.  I pulled him around and laid his head gently on my knee.  He began to weep in frustration, not caring that two strangers attended to his dilemma with grace and compassion.

“Thank you my friends, thank you!” He wept. “My servants have long since been gone and I cannot fend for myself due to my illness.” (He referred to his obesity as an illness).

“There now”, Eve said in her most comforting voice, “we won’t abandon you. My name is Eve and this is Joseph.  When you feel ready, we will help you to get inside your house and find you a comfortable place to rest.”

He introduced himself and carried on about how his family was once rich and how he didn’t understand where all of his wealth had gone. He explained about helping as many people as he could, whenever they would ask, but he was sure the wealth his family had amassed was much larger than it seemed.  He could no longer pay his servants and the old woman that brought us to him, checked in on him because she felt obligated to his parents after working for them for so many years.  He had just enough funds to sustain him and to his pay taxes and tribute when needed.  He was all alone. . . .

After he calmed and we finished cleaning him, I began to seek more answers. “Who gathers food for you and tends to the house?” I asked.

“Marianna, the old woman . . . she takes care of me --- but not as much as she used to.  I can no longer pay her, so she either comes here or sends her son takes her place.  He is very cruel to me.  He calls me names and spits on me, but I have to take it or suffer.”  He stared into my eyes for a moment and burst into tears. “I don’t want to die.  Not like this.  I am only twenty years old…what am I to do?  What can I do?”

Eve and I looked at each other.  We didn’t have answer for him.  We wondered if he was born this way or if his entire family was like him.  It seemed there were more and more large people in Rome these days.  Most died at an early age and some fell down, broke a hip or a leg and infection set it, causing their death.  We didn’t know how we could help Chester become healthy again or if he was ever actually healthy.

After we assured Chester that we would check on him in the morning he closed his eyes and went to sleep.   We made our way back home and discussed his situation.

“Eve, I feel very bad for this young man.  He is twenty years old, but might as well be a hundred.”

“I am sad for him too, Joseph --- but what can we do?  We can’t keep watching over him day after day, night after night.  He will be living in the streets soon and he is so large that he makes almost three of me in girth --- he won’t survive alone. If he tries to walk he will fall due to his size.  If he tries to move fast it will burst his heart.”

“Well, either way,” I said, “there is no future for him.  He will die young and no one will remember how generous he was and how he saved other families from slavery.”

(He told us stories about some of the people he had helped).

“I have been curious about something, though --- what if we gave the medicine to someone like him?  Would it cure him? Fix him like it did Mona?”

“Joseph, what if the medicine kills him?  If he drowns in his own fluids like the others?  There are already five of us, should we make another?  Do we have that right to decide on our own, now that there are more of us?”

“It’s for me to decide, Eve.”  I said sternly. “I made the potion and I will distribute it as I see fit.”

“What ---by killing an innocent young man?” Eve replied with equal force in her voice.

I looked into her eyes.  “I love you. And I hear what you are saying, but Chester deserves life and he will also help us understand the medicine and how it works.”

“If it doesn’t kill him.” Eve snapped.

"If it doesn’t kill him.”  I snapped back.

(To be continued . . . .)

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Chester (Part One)

Hello reader, I hope your holiday went by slowly enough for you to enjoy your family and friends.  We usually have a huge spread of food on Thanksgiving.  Not just turkey and the all the great sides that go with it, but also roasted pork, beef fillets marinated for weeks and many great deserts.  Now, none of us will die from over eating (we’re immortal) so we indulge until we can’t stand it!  Jago is prone to consuming more alcohol than food, so we watch him closely on days where celebrations become a great excuse of becoming blind drunk.  He has a tendency to rip off his clothes and go running about wherever he is drinking. The funny thing about our metabolic rate is that we can become obese and sleep it off.  To put it more clearly, the medicine will shut us down for maintenance if we over indulge and become obese…our body chemistry will always conform to our top genetic makeup …we are always in shape unless we are forced to hibernate via the potion due to obesity.

That brings Chester to mind.  We met him around 80 AD in Rome.  He came from a rich family that over indulged every chance they would get.  In the large cities like Rome there were many obese people because of the abundance of food and drink at their beckoning.  Now, my dear reader, keep in mind that back in that time the number of food and sex orgies going on was grossly exaggerated by historian and record keepers.  These ‘events’ started out as parties that grew into drunken raves by the middle and lower class groups.  The ruling class was much more discreet and would keep such gatherings secret because they didn’t want the lower class people associating with them while they were in such a vulnerable state…the lower class would always try to take advantage if they could ... could you blame them?

Chester, (which is his given name about two thousand years ago), was from a prominent political family in the ruling class.  As a boy he was pampered and fed whatever he desired.  Although Chester was spoiled rotten as a child and young adult, he maintained a compassionate disposition for the poor and downtrodden.  You would almost think he was psychic because he had a keen empathy for everyone around him  -- he would tell us later that he could feel what others felt, sometimes leading him into a false state of depression, which caused him to eat until he felt totally full to the point of nausea.  Food made him feel better and gave him a feeling of control …. most situations were out of his control, so food only gave him a false compensation for lacking the ability to make decisions.

His parents took ill when he was nineteen years old --- they succumbed to a bacterial infection and died.  He had no siblings so he was left alone and unsure what to do with his life and inheritance.  Due to his gift of empathy and his good nature, he began to give away most of his wealth.  People took advantage of him because he was overweight and needing to fit in --- the money allowed him to buy some temporary friends.  When we met him, he had just enough funds to continue to eat heavily and maintain his parents’ villa.  Chester was almost a head taller than me and must have weighed about thirty stone or over 410 pounds.  He was enormous and he waddled when he walked - due to lack of exercise his hip and leg muscles atrophied, making mobility quite a chore for him.

 

We purchased a house in the hills just across the way from where Chester lived.  After a few weeks in our new residence, we heard someone calling in a panic on a peaceful mid-summer’s day.  “Can someone help us?” A woman’s voice pleaded in the distance.  Eve and I ran out to see what the problem was and found an elderly woman running up the road to our home.

“Please master and mistress,” she addressed us, “the young master has fallen and is bleeding and I cannot pick him up because I am too frail and he is too large.”

With our curiosity blazing, we followed the woman to the nearest house.  Upon arriving, she led us to the courtyard and we found Chester bleeding from his forehead, attempting to raise himself to his feet, falling back down each time he tried.

 

(To be continued . . . .)

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My Wife

What exactly is a “wife”.  She is not someone we get used to and have sex with when the weekend comes around.  She is not the person that holds down a full-time job and keeps the household in order while the husband does “man things” and has the guys over for “the game” on Sunday night.  My wife has always been above and beyond this.  She knows what I need before I ask and she smiles when she knows that I will scratch my head wondering how she knew what to do to make something work that I had been puzzling over.

Although we have been together for many centuries, we have established a bond that goes beyond the husband / wife relationship.  We are truly kinfolk and we are truly one flesh and one mind and one soul.  Now please dear reader --- please, let it be known that we have our moments of disagreement, but we always make amends after talking things over (or Eve gives me a swift kick to the gonads to make me realize I am at fault). Eve is not an ordinary woman by any means --- she has timeless beauty and a keen awareness of everyone and everything around her coupled with an intuition that is almost psychic and all seeing.  The other ladies in our family of immortals were somewhat jealous at first, but grew to love her as I do and would go to her for motherly (or sisterly) advice when a situation prompted them to seek assistance.  My wife is my best friend and I am confident that anything I tell her or give to her will remain a secret until I say it wasn’t necessary to hold it inside any longer. 

Over the centuries she has given me sound advice and wisdom when I have needed it -- or helped me when my own emotions and thoughts clouded my judgment.  The others will never know if I had made a mistake because Eve is always there to fix things when I falter.  What a great friend she is!

On a different note, she is very playful and she is often able to surprise me when I least expect it. Whether it’s out to dinner and all she is wearing under her long coat is panties or surprising me in the hot tub by being the aggressive lover.  She always laughs at my jokes even when they are stupid and she fixes a joke if I get it wrong in front of friends. She has a contagious personality that people cling to and they walk away feeling positive after being around her.

One thing about Eve --- do not make her mad or get on her bad side.  She will descend on an enemy like trapped prey, either humiliating them into submission or taking the knife she conceals out of its hiding place and slicing them into little pieces.  (Of course it has been many years since she’s had to fight in such a manner, but Jago has coerced her into a rage so often that she has stabbed him through the heart at least 10 times in 2000 years).  Yes, such a dangerous beauty and yet so frail and tender at times.

None of us can have children – this has weighed heavy on her, more so than the other women in our group.  She is a mentor, sister, best friend and mother to all of the people we have given the gift to – we are time walkers now (a phrase created by Adam many years ago), and we support one another the best we can, but Eve would give up her life (if it were possible) to protect any of us from capture or recognition. Since none of us have any living family,  she has been appointed the unofficial Mother of the group.   

We tried very hard to have children and even tried to use science to assist, but the potion or medicine (as we call it) will not allow this.  We are unchangeable and a child in one of our ladies’ bodies will not take because it is “change”. So, my five foot five, auburn hair wife with the body that launched a thousand ships (I joke about that with her since history said her face launched the ships) is truly loyal to our family of friends and we are blessed to be able to walk through time together like a family.  But Billy has changed the pattern of things thanks to the meteor residue on the ancient coins….that is another story to be told soon.

So men who read this … love your wives and woman who read this be patient with your husbands . . .  whether we men are 25 years old or 3000 years old, we are still boys at heart.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday.

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Billy (Interlude Number Two)

Billy was growing tired of watching his neighbor’s bizarre group of friends (or family?) from afar, and concocted a plan to get closer.  These people seemed technologically astute, so Billy thought that offering his services as an electrician and home network installer would get their attention. He printed out a hundred flyers and circulated some to about 20 houses around the block. He paid two twelve year old kids twenty-dollars to put them in mailboxes and in doorways, and then he had them repeat this three times over two weeks. He wanted to make sure someone in the household looked at one of cheap promo’s he was offering, hoping he would get a call.

Two weeks went by and several neighbors called inquiring about his service, but Billy put them off by saying their setup would be a thousand dollars more than he was offering in the promo because of wiring.  After two more weeks of waiting, Billy decided to help matters along by calling on the Ancient’s regarding his services.  He knew they must have received at least three flyers with his name and phone number enclosed, and he could prove he was a legitimate technician due to his certifications (if they asked for them).   He worked up the nerve to walk down to their house, knock on their door and introduce himself.  Eve answered the door and Billy tried as hard as he could not to stare at her or work his eyes downward to her breast and legs.  He had never seen someone so beautiful and sensual in his life.  Even in jeans and a tee shirt she appeared to be flawless and had a certain command about her, as if she were someone to worship.

“May I help you?” she asked with the partially opened door chained from the inside.

“Yes ma’am,” he answered politely, “I’m a neighbor from across the way and I sent out some fliers to the neighborhood --- now I am following up on those.” He smiled with a charming grin at the end of his introduction.

“Oh, are you the one that works on the home networks?” Eve asked

“Yes, that’s me. I . . . .”

Eve interrupted, “Hold on,” she said as she unchained the door, “Joseph, that guy that does the home network stuff is here.” She called out and Billy’s surprise. He wondered if they could read minds, too.

Eve lead Billy to Joseph’s home office.  Billy looked over everything he passed with laser like attention, remembering as many things as he could as he passed them.  He wanted to save any bit of information he could for analysis later.  He was taken directly to Joseph’s home office and introduced by Eve.

“So”, Joseph said, “you’re timing is excellent.  I don’t have time myself to hook up what I want so I think I will rely on you.  What’s your name, again?” he asked extending his hand to shake.

“Billy, Billy Hollander.” He said as he took Joseph's hand. “What do you need?”  Billy asked as he sat in a chair in front of Joseph’s desk.

While Joseph was explaining how he wanted his network to work, Billy’s eye shifted back and forth looking for information on the desk, on the book shelves and every where he could -- to learn more about the Ancients.  His eyes moved to a table sitting to the left of Joseph’s desk.  There was a microscopic device in the center of the table surrounded by hundreds of old coins … ancient coins.  He wondered what all that was about and made certain to remember what he saw.

“So that’s what I need, Mr. Hollander.”

“Call me Billy.” The younger man said. “No problem, Mr. Ancient.  I will get an estimate together and bring it by tomorrow afternoon.

“Please.  We’re neighbors, call me Joseph.”

Billy smiled and got up from the chair and Joseph walked him back to the front door.  They exchanged a farewell and Billy headed back to his house, barely containing the excitement he was feeling.  At last he could find out first hand what was going on in the Ancient’s household.

(End of Interlude Number Two as told was told to and written by RJ Perry)

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Leneeca (Conclusion)

We ran up behind Leneeca and watch her immerse her naked body into a lake.  She let out a scream of delight as the water swallowed up her body to the tip of her chin.  She turned and looked at us and went under water, disappearing completely from our sight which caused Eve to panic, forgetting that the young woman cannot die.

“Joseph!” Eve punched my arm to go after her. “We’ll lose her the same way we lost Jago.”

“Wait!  I’m not going to freeze in this cold morning air --- in the cold water!”  Eve saw that I was serious and that I wanted to wait on the shore because I knew Leneeca was in no danger of drowning.

Without hesitating, she ripped off her clothes straight down to her skin and ran into the water.

I could only stand there with my mouth opened wondering how I was going to explain my two naked companions.  I watched on with a very small smile on my face as Eve and Leneeca came to dry land with skin glistening and their hair drenched and stuck flat to their heads.  Eve went to kick me in the groin again as she helped the younger woman to a seat in the grass, but I was too fast this time and dodged the attack.  I guess I shouldn’t have been laughing at this because she swung around with a left hook and caught me square in the jaw.  (I have to say --- that really sobered up my attitude).

The young woman stared out at the water as Eve covered them both with one of Eve’s robes.  Leneeca sat shivering with the clothing around her shoulders and both hands clenched over her mouth just underneath her nose.  Eve wrapped her arm around Leneeca to warm them both as well as to comfort her --- I looked on rubbing my jaw, daring not to interrupt the moment.  After a long silence, Leneeca spoke.

“I’m sorry for the way I have been behaving,” we waited for her to continue, “I don’t know why I cried so much.  I suppose that all of the pain and suffering I have seen has finally caught up with me.  I hate the Romans and I forgive both for associating with them.  I know you are ‘not them’ and I have grown to love you like family.” She sat in thought for a moment, “I am immortal?  How?”

We told her our complete story up until the present – right up to Eve and her sitting naked on the shore of the lake.  She shook her head and said, “I guess I will have to leave this place.  I am so tired and need a different life.  After all I would have died anyway and my story would have ended here.”

The ladies split what clothing they had and we headed back to the village.  The three of us agreed to depart from the village and the Romans in the middle of the night, traveling together the Arabic territories where no one knew us.  There were many Christian groups migrating away from the persecution in the Roman territories so we could mingle among them and hopefully not be noticed. Last we heard, Mona and Jago were moving about in tents and tending sheep, so we were going to join them for a while.  It’s been many years since we have seen them.

Leneeca’s immortality didn’t seem to intimidate her as much as we thought it would.  She‘d ask questions and experience the heeling when the normal aches and pains of the life would surprise us, but she seemed to adapt well to her new situation.

“Where are we going again?” she asked as we traveled.

“We’re going to Egypt,” Eve responded.

“I’ve heard of it. Is it as old as people say?”

“Yes,” I replied, “very old -- older than Eve.” I joked.

“Be careful baldy,” she returned, “I have very fast feet and fists.”

Leneeca smiled as we bantered on.  She seemed to enjoy our company and she loved to sit and watch Eve and me carry on about things. At first I thought she just found us to be entertaining, but later she revealed that we reminded her of her family and this made her feel good – to know she had family that could share in her very long life.  We were grateful that our journey to find Jago and Mona was uneventful and we found our friends happy and just as loving as we left them.  Mona was tan and very beautiful from all of the hard outdoor work she was finally able to experience – she was far removed from her former physical state.  Being able to walk and run and climb filled her with such happiness that we knew we did the right thing when we gave her the potion.  Jago was still very blunt and just as juvenile as we left him, but he and Mona complimented each other and created a perfect balance in their relationship.

We sat around the open fire drinking wine and laughing about the ‘crazy time’ each of them experienced.  The subject once again came up – “Joseph, what did you do during your time of insanity?” They asked.  Eve smiled and looked up at me from where she was seated because only she knew what  I did many hundreds of years before we met.  I smiled and replied the usual prepared statement, “I didn’t have a crazy time”.

When we finally settled down to relax for the night, Leneeca asked us all a question.  “Could any of you survive without the other --- to have your mate, lover, best friend  --- walking through time with you?”

We all just looked at her. “I only love one man, and he was murder before my eyes.  I miss him so much . . . .” A tear rolled down her cheek as she continued. “I wanted to have his children.  I wanted to grow old with him and watch our babies become adults who would also have children.  I only know one thing --- that as long as I live, I will never take a mate.  I’d rather be alone and help those around me that need to be cared for and loved.”  She stopped talking, wiped her tears away, and got up and went to her tent for the rest of the night.

“She doesn’t understand, Joseph.  Forever is a very long time to be alone.”

I looked at our solemn group seated around the fire and said, “She’s one of us and we will love her through many things.”

End of this story (for now) . . . .

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Leneeca (Part Three)

The mist residue from consuming the “medicine” was slowly dissipating off of Leneeca.  We hadn’t noticed before, but the ghostly vapor lifted the young woman off of the mat she was resting on and made her hover about five inches from its surface.  In ancient times that would have deep spiritual meaning, but in today’s science we know that the mist is displacing the oxygen around her causing the flotation effect.

The pain inflicted on me by my beautiful, but short tempered wife, subsided and my “genitalia” healed nicely.  After she cooled down from her moment of rage, she came back to where I sat recovering. “Why did you lie to me?” she asked with noticeable anger in her voice. “Why did you tell me the medicine was dried up?  Couldn’t you have trusted me and discussed your thoughts about hiding the potion?” She threw up her arms in frustration questioning why I hid the truth.

“I lied because you keep influencing me to make more people like us.  Now there are five of us.  We are not like the others and it’s wrong to put others through this for all eternity.”  I felt my throat 'lump up' as I spoke. “We have no right to disperse this abominable gift.”

Eve drew closer to me and put her arms around my neck, then squeezed, tightly . . . lovingly.

“We are all the same. We just can’t be touched by death or other human beings.  Jago, Mona and Leneeca are special.  They are like family to us and I don’t regret giving them the gift.  I understand your need to control this, but please include me.  We are in this together.  But I do have one question – how did you know Leneeca wouldn’t drown in her own fluids when given the medicine?”

“I didn’t.  She was moments away from death, so I decided to take the risk.  I am happy she is alive.  She deserves life and she will make the world a better place.”

When the mist disappeared, Eve and I bathed Leneeca and made her as comfortable as possible – we knew she would be asleep for a while – maybe days.  The village people that she tended to and healed were paying vigil outside the shelter she used as a “hospital” for the sick.  They sat praying to the gods that she would be made well.  They felt that she deserved life and  quite simply, everyone loved her and said they would gladly take place in death.

Six days passed and Leneeca finally awoke, feeling hungry and very thirsty.  Eve and several other women from the community helped her get cleaned and dressed and eventually fed.  When the three of us were finally alone, I manipulated the conversation to explain her miraculous recovery.

“We are so glad you are well.” I said.

“I don’t know how this can be.  I am sure I was dying.” She replied.

Eve smiled and kissed Leneeca’s cheek, “You were moments from death but we saved you.”

“I was dying. How?” she asked.

Eve and I both explained how we have this medicine that I made many years ago, that when given to someone will make them immortal and untouchable by death.  We also explained about the body fluids and how we can only have one mate for all eternity because our bodies will adapt to the first immortal person we have sex with.  We encouraged her to consider love before sex at all cost, because she will be with that person for all eternity.

“So if I spit on someone it will burn them like fire?  If a man puts his flesh inside of me it will burn up and only one immortal may be my mate for eternity?”  She repeated all she learned. “My husband was murdered by the Romans.  I would have wanted him to be with me forever.“ 

She began to laugh hysterically and then she wept.  We knew what was to follow – the “crazy time” as we called it.  Just after the potion heals it causes an emotional breakdown that could last for hours or weeks.  (We found out later that this was due to the drastic change in the body’s chemistry. The hormones and physical  / chemical changes it brought were extreme.)

Leneeca cried for three days.  We tried to comfort her as much as we could, but she kept dwelling on her husband’s murder and how there can be no one else but him in this world as her love.  The village women began to talk among themselves suggesting that the sickness had driven the young woman mad --- we quelled the muttering and told them that she will recover if left alone.  From that point on we kept everyone away until the crazy time passed.

One late afternoon we heard laughter then a loud crash coming from where Leneeca had her bed.  We ran to see what had happened and found her table over turned and bed ripped apart.  Eve glanced out of a doorway and saw Leneeca running to the woods, ripping her clothes off as she ran.  We immediately chased after her, hoping that no one was seeing her running through the trees like a mad woman.

“Here we go again.” I said to Eve as we stopped to gain our bearings.

(To Be Continued . . . .)

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