Soldier

He calls every now and again asking me to get together with him, I always have some excuses, its..its..really hard."

"I know it is, but they cant know, if they did..everything that they are could be in danger. Would you put your son through what happened to you?"

"Never, noone should have to suffer through that. But I mean, cant we tell people? Cant we show them?"

"Yes you can, there is always disbelief, sometimes people will see you a certain way because they expect it, but there is always a chance that they'll see you the way you are, that can be dangerous."

"Why? I mean, why cant I just tell him."

"Because, we have..we have the ability to push people out of their life just like we slipped and fell out of ours, but for the people that this happens too, it is rarely as bearable as our experience was. With us, the burden of something that was so..great changed us enough that our minds were ready, with someone else..they are not ready John..and it can kill them."

"Ready. You asked me if I was ready. Ready for what?"

"I told you 35 years ago that you would learn the rest of the things you needed to in time. Im ready to show you now, and to tell you. But, you need to do something first, and youre not going to like it."

"I havent much liked anything about any of this Russ. What do I have to do now? Go off somewhere and live like a hermit until the world ends? Huh? Or maybe I have to try again is that it? Go through hell again?" As he raised his voice a few people jogging by turned their heads towards them. Russell looked up at them and then looked back to John.

"Hell? Is that what you call the birth of your son? Look, I cant make this any easier but you do have to let go. You have to leave your life the way it is now, you dont have to live like a hermit but you do have to disappear."

"Its a helluva alot harder than all of that Russell, I mean all emotions aside, there are practicalities, my mortgage, my car, my job, my.." Russell interrupted him with a wave

"..How much of that matters anymore John? Will your house be that important 200 years from now?"

"I..thi..this is..hard, ho.how can I just let it all go..I.." Before he could finish speaking the first pangs of a sob shook him, he looked to Russell with pain drowning his eyes. Russell reached up and gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"John, you dont have to do it all at once, you dont even have a timelimit, but you have to start, if you dont..the darkness will come back..and this time it wont leave you. You could become just like the people I have been protecting you from." John looked up with pain and confusion mingling together into something that was deeper than the sum of its parts.

"Protecting me? That..day..you were scared, was it..What is it that you are protecting me from?"

" I told you that there are others, well there are some like us, but we are definitely the minority."

"Others? Protecting me? Jesus christ Russ, you have to explain this shit to me. Who are these people, what do they want?" The sadness began to ease somewhat replaced by a hopeless anger, that again caused his voice to rise. Russell glanced around and lowered his voice in response.

"Depends on the person. Some are harmless, just alittle crazy, those ones typically live alone, and dont bother anyone. Some are close to us, but instead of doing what I do, they try to control people, they think that they know how best to control things.