{"id":4663,"date":"2021-07-12T18:41:07","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T22:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4663"},"modified":"2021-07-12T18:41:07","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T22:41:07","slug":"twenty-three-01-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4663","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-three – 01"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thomas Merlin Ambrose’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been looking everywhere for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that Carolyn said it so softly, so gently, made it almost worse.\u00a0 Sitting in the grass in front of what was supposed to be his parents\u2019 grave, I expected her to be angry\u2014I expected all<\/em> of them to be angry after I pulled my disappearing act and ventured off alone.\u00a0 I knew that they were worried about me, but they were worried about all<\/em> of us, even themselves.\u00a0 They knew that something was out there, stirring.\u00a0 I knew it, too, I just hadn\u2019t wanted to believe it until I\u2019d gotten jumped in the ravine.<\/p>\n

I still didn\u2019t know what the vision I\u2019d had down there meant, what I\u2019d experienced meant.\u00a0 What was it, anyway?\u00a0 Some kind of dream or vision shared across time?\u00a0 A spot where reality folded enough that I\u2019d glimpsed my parents as they\u2019d been when they were barely older than me?<\/p>\n

I stared at my hands and the journal in them.\u00a0 It was one of my father\u2019s.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure why it was that particular one that I\u2019d brought out here with me, but I had and I\u2019d found myself thumbing through it, looking for answers I wasn\u2019t sure I\u2019d find anywhere.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t even sure what the questions were anymore.<\/p>\n

Carolyn sat down next to me, watching me for a few seconds before her gaze drifted to the headstone.\u00a0 \u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not there, are they?\u201d<\/p>\n

If the question startled her, she didn\u2019t give any sign.\u00a0 She just sighed quietly.\u00a0 \u201cHow long have you known?\u201d<\/p>\n

My fingers tightened around the journal.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ve always suspected.\u00a0 There was just\u2014none of it really made sense, you know?\u00a0 I knew Mom had been sick.\u00a0 But her and<\/em> Dad at the same time?\u201d \u00a0I sighed and rubbed my face.\u00a0 \u201cSomething didn\u2019t add up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost everyone else believes it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019ve never asked and just kind of let it go.\u00a0 But now…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now you have questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had questions.\u00a0 I just never asked them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you going to ask them now.\u201d<\/p>\n

I closed my eyes for a second.\u00a0 \u201cIf I do, would you answer?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can,\u201d she said softly.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

I nodded slowly.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know why?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they had to,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cBecause they had no choice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thomas Merlin Ambrose’s point of view.] \u201cWe\u2019ve been looking everywhere for you.\u201d The fact that Carolyn said it so softly, so gently, made it almost worse.\u00a0 Sitting in the grass in front of what was supposed … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[336,337,373,14],"tags":[340,150,163,171,170,149,148,168,147,165,200,146],"class_list":["post-4663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-23-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-carolyn-roberts","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thomas-merlin-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-1dd","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4663"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4664,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions\/4664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}