Bright Times Don’t Last
Jax’s had worked for HP&G Insurance, this allowed her to set up a policy for both her and Seigh. When she died, she was on call, that had meant she was on the clock and her death resulted in an enormous insurance payout. This policy worked out for Seigh and their children. He was set for the rest of his life, and his kids were set for more than half of theirs. He opted to invest the money and simply live off the interest, leaving the remainder for his children, he hoped they would do the same for their children. He offered a large amount of money to her parents, as well. But, they were already well off and would have none of it, even though he had insisted.
The one bedroom apartment where they lived was certainly too small to raise a family. The lake that he visited as a child always crossed his mind and the town happened to be near by. He puchased a house in the quiet lake community of Collings Lakes. It’s where he remembered some of the last of his happiest times as a child. Seigh was able to find solace in this home and he enjoyed turning it into a hobby. Using his imagination he was able to turn the house into a home. Over time, every inch of the home reflected a part of him, and all his sublte touches brought about a sense of peace through arrangement, he had finally found that place to put to rest all the demons that plagued his mind.
He still made weekend appearances for Mark (Davidson’s was only a twenty minute drive up the road) on his own dime. The children would get to spend weekends with their grandparents. Be it at their shore house in Seaside, or if Clark and Clarissa would decide to visit them. They were still young and the exposure to someone other than their father was a good change for them. Seigh didn’t have any family left, Jax’s side of the family was the only way they would learn any real sense of having someone other than him to rely on. He appreciated them for this, they made him feel the sense of family that he didn’t ever learn growing up. As sad as it is to say, Jax’s death brought about more happiness in his life than when she was alive.
The house was humble and sat on two lots that equalled about one square acre. The hums of the Black Horse Pike would come echoing from across the lake, it was a reassuring sound. Reminding Seigh that life still existed outside the confines of his mind. The home relaxed him on nights that he couldn’t sleep, and the distance from the neighbors was just what he needed. There wasn’t a fast-paced sense of being in this area. People minded their own business and the spring brought about a lively amount of activity with the small woodland creatures. That was all the hustle and bustle he really needed.
He would also take his kids fishing quite a bit. Together they’d would walk the trails that riddled the area. Many of them led to long abandoned sand quarries that would give a feeling of emptiness and exploration. Their favorite adventures to go on involved following old tracks into the woods of the Pine Barrens. Sometimes they would take day trips to Batsto Village, and take in the old town as if they were a part of it. Over the years they frequented the Cape May Zoo, but that wasn’t much of a trip considering when they animals would always try to free themselves from their enclosures. Six year olds are something to protect, and despite how much Seigh wanted to put the animals in their place, he had felt a goodness about them, and couldn’t bring himself to attempt to control them beyond their will. He had felt at those moments, that it would have been like taking his own children and lifting them up just to scare them. This happened at every zoo they visited, so they simply stopped going.
Most of the time the children would be content playing in the yard and he would use his best imaginations to show them a world that they would begin to develop on their own. He told them about 1derland and it’s magnificent creatures. Trickle and Mt. Misery, the war between the angels and valkyries. Solomon the AI desk, the loubdres and four armed creatures that lived there and all the societies that existed in this realm throughout its history. They would enjoy hearing their father speak of his imaginary companions that he made up. He sometimes wondered if Jax would have squashed all of this impractical thinking. Those thoughts would vanish when he would see them smile and refer to her as the goddess of their imagination. It was a line they had picked up from one of Seigh’s favorite songs. They thought it made mommy immortal, he would listen to this and sometimes consider writing a story about who she was, just so he could make her immortal, it would all be lies though, he would have to make up much of the good things, and that just didn’t feel right.
They imagined themselves in the world he had created. Little did Seigh know that this would be the greatest gift that he would ever be able to give them. For him, it was as simple as enjoying them run free and not be held up by the troubles that affected the world around them. The small acre that they lived on supplied more than enough covey places for their wildest dreams to come to life. There was high grass on the empty lot and trees that looked like something out of an enchanted forest. They could begin to build their own world from this, he hoped it to be a much happier place than what his 1derland had become.
He would often wonder if they possessed any of the traits that he did. He never noticed anything out of the ordinary, but he could feel it inside of them. At their young age, it was probably what they would define as normal and that everyone was like that. Unbeknownst to him though, they would attract all the animals outside. The bees, squirrels, and birds would just be drawn to them. Stray dogs from the neighborhood would come and sit if only just to be near them. Had Seigh seen these little shows of the animals, he may have put two and two together about the zoo. Seigh never really thought twice about it though. He was only looking for specific traits, the traits he could recall of the other kids he had grown up with at the Indigo House.
Through Mike and Darling, his inner world had become more vivid, even in his own mind. There were things put there that he didn’t remember imagining. The fable creatures and the brightness of 1derland had been constantly bouncing through his subconcious. It was as if he had inadvertently passed the torch onto them. This worried him in some ways, but they made the place feel happier, before them it had been a dark gray area that was withering and dying in his mind. Seigh had tried his best to explain to them the type of people they were bound to grow up to be, and to stay open with communication with him at all times. That they were different, and people wouldn’t be able to understand it. Instead of speaking to them at a young age and perhaps frightening them, Seigh decided to begin writing it all down rather than taking the risk of scaring them.
Sometimes at night, when he was alone and no one was looking, he’d actually practice his telekinetic ability. Now, having full understanding and an open mind to the past he once buried, he could remember the Indigo House. It was a red brick, three story building located off the Delaware River on King Street in Gloucester. There was a lot of secrecy behind those brick walls, and Seigh was constantly exposed to it and never really noticed the difference. The only time he would ever be able to go out, was when he would be accompanied by teacher Gable.
He preferred to go to the abandoned factories that lined Water Street. There he would take out any underlying pain and frustrations on any window that happened to be left. Teacher Gable would allow him to practice his abilities in this seclusion. Sometimes, they would walk along the river under the cover of the shrubs and six foot tall punk plants that grew there. Teacher Gable would explain things to him, and often ask him questions. One particular conversation sticks out in Seigh’s mind.
“Seigh, you are blessed with a talent that the other children here at the Indigo House don’t possess, or anyone else in the world for that matter. I’m not speaking of your telekinesis, I’m speaking of the times you drift off and where you go in the moments. Be it in class, or when you’re out on the playground. Or, even at lunch when you wander away onto a plane of existence that none but you can see. I have yet to be able to touch that aspect of your mind. Even with my ability to see inside people’s minds, yours remains hidden. It’s powerful, and it’s as if you’ve been able to split your mind in places where you others are not allowed to access. Would you like to tell me about it?” Teacher Gable’s tone had always been soft, yet there was a certainty behind it that complimented his sagely wisdom.
Seigh, now a teenager, was able to map things together in his mind. He had thought numerous times about the figment he had named Square. Teacher Gable’s constant expressions of concern allowed Seigh to feel comfortable speaking to him. He felt that now may be a good time to open up about that. In time, and with much converstation, he would begin to drown out the pain of the thoughts that flooded in through the nexus into 1derland. The effect that it had on him was draining and he had learned to bring the shifting back and forth between both worlds, under control.
“When I was little, our parents used to take my sister and I to a lake. There would always be other kids there to play with. But, we would have more fun playing by ourselves. We always knew we were different from other kids, but our closeness made it easier for us to shy away. We made up stories about how she would be a winged heroine and I would be the person that she was rescuing from a scary place. The last time we played, it was about how The Cranberry King had murdered a group of magical swans. I was then left with the dilemma of saving her from the hands of The Cranberry King, or saving the rest of the world we created. I chose the world, and she went off and held The Cranberry King at bay while we escaped. We named the world 1derland. Not too long after that she had died, I was lost, I still feel lost in a lot of ways. Like, I was supposed to be the one that got hit, instead of her.” Seigh had a hard time opening up about Darling, a tear formed in his eye and he blinked it away.
“I’m sorry about the loss of your sister, Seigh. I know you wish she was here with you now. I can tell you that I do sense another’s energy inside of you. I can only imagine that it is her living on, through you. That’s part of the magic about you that I can only begin to comprehend. It’s almost like it is protecting you, as well as, your natural ability to keep your world barricaded. I just hope you don’t lose your path. You have something magnificent to introduce into this world. If you would ever like to open up to me more, I am always here to talk.” Teacher Gable strolled confidantly next to Seigh, and they both walked a little further along the rivers bank.
“You sound like a man in a dream I had a long time ago.” Seigh said solemnly.
“Are you certain it was a dream, or even a man, for that matter?” Teacher Gable asked.
“No, I guess I’m not too sure about that.” Seigh responded. He told teacher Gable the man’s name, Remliel. Teacher Gable explained the purpose of this angel in particular. That he is the angel of spiritual awakenings, and that he helps us to understand that there is more to our existence than this physical world. Our gaurdian angel calls upon him when we are at quandaries with differentiating illusion and reality. This angel exists as a translater between us and whatever you may think God is.
“Why is it we can’t make God have the same language as us?” Seigh inquired.
“I don’t know, perhaps that is something that your power will help the rest of the world to understand one day.”
The past is gone for Seigh. What he has, is a reflection of he and his sister, through his children. Sometimes they say things about 1derland that he is unsure if he even told them himself. That is an aspect of their abilities that he would be unsure how to explain. Mind reading was not a talent that he possessed. Seigh would write about all his thoughts as much as he could. His hope was that he could look back and have a 20/20 vision in hindsight to lay out for his children so they may have some kind of a guide. He explained his childhood and also their mother. He would write about any questions that they may ask him, so he would already have the answers prepared. He memorized these, so that perhaps they would read it from his mind and that’s how they would learn to communicate with him.
Though, what happened to Seigh should have been regarded as a tragedy for the children. They happened to know more about what was going on than they could even begin to explain in a rational way. Their young minds only perceived things in the world that he had imagined for them. They compared more of their life to that world, than they cared to pay attention to in this world. The events after Seigh’s death perplexed everyone, except for the children that seemed to understand more about what was going on, than could be comprehended.
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