Prelude: Pearl - April 2014
Velen and I have been here a little over a year. We're still putting together the bits and pieces of the whats, whys, and wherefores of what we are supposed to do. Are we even supposed to right something else? Perhaps, there is a tear in the fabric of time that wasn't there when we lived through this when the first time, but may have been created by our very presence here.
It would not be the first time such a thing had happened. I have heard the story of Gabriel Wilson, who returned with others of his generation, only to learn that in this time and place, he was not meant to be the same person. If Amber Custer had not taken the steps backward in time then we might not be here now. I often wonder, how much of what was done during her journey caused these ripples in time and space. Each life touches others and when changes are made in one life, they are made in those of that person's closest company as well.
My parents were supposed to have been a bit of a May-December story. I don't remember where I learned of it. What I do know is that when Mama took her steps backward in time, she changed what might have been into a happier life for herself and Da. Had she not taken that chance, there would not have been a Kit, a Rick, or a me. By making that choice, Mama also changed life for her younger self. I think it was a change for the better. My Aunt Rhiannon was not meant to be my mother. While Da is good match for Mama, he would not be for Aunt Rhi. I know how that probably sounds, but time and experiences change people and how they view life. My mother finds joy in family life, teaching, and public service. Aunt Rhi needs and wants something else.
I should explain that in that history my father, Dennis Harker, was drowned saving several children. I should also explain that Kit is the name my younger sister, Catherine, goes by. She started calling herself that at about thirteen. I guess it suits her since she will fight tooth and nail to do what she believes is right.
When Velen and I came from, Uncle Eregor and Aunt Rhi were pretty much joined at the hip, as that saying goes, and happily raising their own family. They have never let the raising of their children slow them down any. Much like the children in rest of my grandmother's line, the kids were taught a healthy respect for and how to properly use weapons beginning at a young age. Aunt Rhi was in charge of weapons training and Uncle Eregor nurtured their magical gifts.
As a child, I had a love of learning new things. I still have that within me, but it's become far more. It's not quite an obsession, but I do tend to get lost in the reading of dusty old tomes. There is nothing like the smell of old books. However, I digress.
When I grew into a teenager, I had a bit of sit down with Gran. I asked her why she believed in training young children how to defend themselves. That was when she told me about her sister. Gran never talks much about her sister. We know her name, Celia, is on the family tree, but not much else. A kidnap attempt was made when she was ....twelve, maybe younger. Gran said she might have allowed the theft of her grandfather's horse, but never her sister. She vowed that none of her line would ever be defenseless. It might be one of the promises she not only kept, but my mother, her brothers and sisters have as well.
I'm certain, or, as Gran would say, 'Certain sure' that the hard fluctuations that have happened with Nexus shift did not happen during our childhood. Did our arrival cause them' I doubt it was as simple as Velen and I arriving. While both of us have been able to see and speak with the dead since childhood, I cannot recall either of us having caused any to rise from the grave to live again.
Velen and I have been here a little over a year. We're still putting together the bits and pieces of the whats, whys, and wherefores of what we are supposed to do. Are we even supposed to right something else? Perhaps, there is a tear in the fabric of time that wasn't there when we lived through this when the first time, but may have been created by our very presence here.
It would not be the first time such a thing had happened. I have heard the story of Gabriel Wilson, who returned with others of his generation, only to learn that in this time and place, he was not meant to be the same person. If Amber Custer had not taken the steps backward in time then we might not be here now. I often wonder, how much of what was done during her journey caused these ripples in time and space. Each life touches others and when changes are made in one life, they are made in those of that person's closest company as well.
My parents were supposed to have been a bit of a May-December story. I don't remember where I learned of it. What I do know is that when Mama took her steps backward in time, she changed what might have been into a happier life for herself and Da. Had she not taken that chance, there would not have been a Kit, a Rick, or a me. By making that choice, Mama also changed life for her younger self. I think it was a change for the better. My Aunt Rhiannon was not meant to be my mother. While Da is good match for Mama, he would not be for Aunt Rhi. I know how that probably sounds, but time and experiences change people and how they view life. My mother finds joy in family life, teaching, and public service. Aunt Rhi needs and wants something else.
I should explain that in that history my father, Dennis Harker, was drowned saving several children. I should also explain that Kit is the name my younger sister, Catherine, goes by. She started calling herself that at about thirteen. I guess it suits her since she will fight tooth and nail to do what she believes is right.
When Velen and I came from, Uncle Eregor and Aunt Rhi were pretty much joined at the hip, as that saying goes, and happily raising their own family. They have never let the raising of their children slow them down any. Much like the children in rest of my grandmother's line, the kids were taught a healthy respect for and how to properly use weapons beginning at a young age. Aunt Rhi was in charge of weapons training and Uncle Eregor nurtured their magical gifts.
As a child, I had a love of learning new things. I still have that within me, but it's become far more. It's not quite an obsession, but I do tend to get lost in the reading of dusty old tomes. There is nothing like the smell of old books. However, I digress.
When I grew into a teenager, I had a bit of sit down with Gran. I asked her why she believed in training young children how to defend themselves. That was when she told me about her sister. Gran never talks much about her sister. We know her name, Celia, is on the family tree, but not much else. A kidnap attempt was made when she was ....twelve, maybe younger. Gran said she might have allowed the theft of her grandfather's horse, but never her sister. She vowed that none of her line would ever be defenseless. It might be one of the promises she not only kept, but my mother, her brothers and sisters have as well.
I'm certain, or, as Gran would say, 'Certain sure' that the hard fluctuations that have happened with Nexus shift did not happen during our childhood. Did our arrival cause them' I doubt it was as simple as Velen and I arriving. While both of us have been able to see and speak with the dead since childhood, I cannot recall either of us having caused any to rise from the grave to live again.