shadowChild

Prelude - A New Dawn

Jake looked outside the airplane window and saw the open, blue expanse that was the sky. It seemed somehow funny that he could see the approaching darkness that was night. They were heading right into it and within a few minutes the day would be behind them and he would look forward to getting some rest. It never ceased to amaze him; the concept of watching oneself crossing that barrier of daylight and immediately being in the night. Watching the sunset was so different. It took longer and seemed to prepare you for the darkness. Being in a plane is quick. It only takes a second before you cross the darkness barrier.

He grinned as the darkness enveloped the plane. He looked out the window, in the direction from which he had come. His grin widened as he realised that he could still see the daylight even though technically they were in the dark now. Another few seconds and he wouldn't see even that. He leaned away from the window and sat back. He felt the tension in his neck and rolled his head to try and ease it. The motion didn't help.

Looking up, he recognised the movie that was being played as one he had already seen. That left one thing that he could do and that was sleep. He'd been awake for more than thirty hours, making last minute arrangements for his mother, making sure that she would have everything she would need while he was away. She had laughed and told him she would be fine. He knew she was right but that had not stopped him from bustling over her anyway. After all, he would be away for at least a year.

When the opportunity to go to Botswana had presented itself, Jake had jumped at the chance. It had seemed like an excellent break for him. With no ties other than his mother to think about, moving to Botswana for a year or two had seemed perfect. Perhaps he had become jaded by the constant disillusionment he faced within his life in New York City. There was nothing new any more. Everything was a constant struggle and he felt he had lost sight of the reason why he had become a doctor in the first place. Moving to a foreign country for a while would help him reassess his life and, who knew? Perhaps he would find something that he had not been aware that he had been missing.

Jake raised his bottom a little from the seat and pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his pants. He opened it and took out a snap-shot. In the picture was a five-year old boy holding an infant. The baby had the boy's left pinkie finger grasped tightly within its own hand. It was a baby girl and she stared myopically at the young boy who held her. Jake didn't remember her well. His memories of the time he had spent in Jakalas II as a boy were distant and almost non-existent. The only things he remembered really were what his parents had told him.

His dad had been a doctor before him and had worked in most of Southern Africa. He and his parents had lived in Botswana for two years and during that time they had moved from village to village, helping the Batswana where they could. His father had loved it and his mother had dutifully traveled with her husband. One of the last villages they had gone to was a small village called Jakalas II. The village lay about sixty kilometers from Francistown, which was the second largest city in Botswana. That was where this picture he held had been taken. It had been about thirty years ago and he barely remembered the picture being taken at all.

When his mother had learnt that it was to Jakalas II that he was going, she had remembered the picture and looked for it. It had taken about three weeks to find but she had been determined to find it. And she had. Jake remembered how she had called him late one night and announced triumphantly that it had been tucked away in an envelope with some letters she had written all those years ago. When she had shown it to him, he could honestly say that he couldn't remember it. All he saw was himself as a boy and a beautiful baby girl wrapped in a baby blue blanket. On closer inspection Jake noticed that a wall of shadows surrounded him and the baby he held in his arms. He had frowned, wondering what had caused them.

Even now, as he looked at the picture, the faint shadows were visible behind him and the baby. It was a pity his mother couldn't recall her name. Perhaps she was still living there and they would bump into each other. It was highly unlikely though. A lot of things would have changed in thirty years. She would be a woman now, perhaps with children of her own and a husband. Perhaps she had held many little ones wrapped in little blue blankets the way he had held her all those years ago.

Again the shadows in the background caught his eye and he pulled the snapshot close to his face to take another close look at it. He had thought before that the shadows looked distinctly humanoid but he wasn't sure. The picture had been taken inside and he couldn't really tell much from it. Perhaps he was just being a little too analytical. Perhaps there really was nothing to it. Shrugging slightly, he pushed the picture back into his wallet and then the wallet back into his pocket. He leaned back and closed his eyes. He smiled as he thought of meeting people that he had lived among, at least for a while, thirty years ago. He hoped, he really, really hoped, that he would meet that child he had held so close once before. It was something to look forward to anyway.

Within seconds, the smooth slightly rocking motion of the airplane had lulled him into a deep slumber.

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Hi y'all.

Meet Jake, the first of many people who will have interesting stories to tell. I hope you stick around to discover who he really is...

Please vote and comment if you like the story.

L.