Demon
Chapter 43

Timothy’s

The situation with Timothy’s father is troubling. It has been many months since he returned after his long deployment, and he has had a sequence of troubles since that time. His nightmares were keeping him awake and causing much distress to both of Timothy’s parents. Then when he met the new neighbors and began using a substance provided by them to alleviate the sleep disturbances, there was some reason for hope.

However, now that remedy has begun causing problems of its own. It has led to conflict between Timothy’s parents, which is beginning to impact my dearest one directly. It was quite distressing for him to witness their argument this evening. The situation has been going on for some time, but he has been so absorbed in his own interests that he did not pay any particular attention to it. Now, however, it has imposed itself upon his consciousness, and it has upset him.

I was pleased that he received my message encouraging him to comfort his mother with a hug, in the same way he assisted the Seer a few months ago when she was distressed. He felt my presence more strongly as I pushed energy into my thoughts, and I was able to cause him to remember how he had assisted Natalie. He proceeded to take the appropriate action to console his mother.

His assessment of our level of communication is accurate. He rarely hears my specific words unless he is drifting in or out of sleep. However, he frequently senses my intent and presence as a more nebulous, non-verbal message. The form of communication is imprecise, yet is an amazing achievement. He cannot appreciate how unprecedented it is for him to regularly converse with his Guardian. Only Seers can do this, yet he has found a way. His success continues to be astonishing. He, however, has come to accept it as simply another aspect of his life, as a discovery he has made with the use of the scientific method. On top of the intense love that I bear for him, my admiration of his intellect grows daily.

I have updated Angel regarding the events of today, including the unfortunate developments regarding Timothy’s father. In return, Angel shared with me his remorse over disappointing the Seer. He bears a heavy burden as the Guardian of a Seer. His responsibilities far exceed those of ordinary Guardians. I try to offer him support and insight, sometimes even advice.

I savor our regular conversations. The relationship which I have developed with Angel is an utter novelty, something which I never experienced before. But it has become deeply important to both of us. Our communication, our friendship, benefits us both, and helps us each in our quest to better Guard. It is remarkable and delightful.

Timothy slumbers, and I wait through the quiet hours of the night, observing his dreams in silence. He is not awakened by his father returning home in the early hours of the morning, even though there is a substantial amount of noise involved in opening doors and walking up the stairs.

I consider the words I should use to update Timothy about Natalie’s day when he awakens. I must choose very wisely, knowing that he will hear me for only the briefest of moments. It has become an interesting exercise, to carefully select the phrases that will impart the most information with the greatest economy.

Stefanie

My Spring break happens to coincide with Jonathan’s this year, but unfortunately I’m not planning to really spend extra time with him. I’m trying to finish up all of my internship hours this week, so that for the rest of the semester I can focus on my classwork. I still have to study for finals and write a couple of papers. I’ve cleared it with Meg to just get as much work done as I can this week, then I’ll be taking a break until after the baby is born. I’m still thrilled to already have the job lined up with her, to continue as her research assistant after I’ve taken maternity leave.

I’m plugging away on the data entry for her project, using the information from the files that I had already organized. I’m glad that I’m finished with the organizing part, so that I’m not doing as much lifting boxes as I had to at first. That would be harder now that I’m so far along. So I just spend my time here sitting in front of a computer, having to reach past my belly to get to the keyboard.

Meg comes in during her morning break, after seeing her first couple of patients. “Hi, Stefanie, how was your weekend?”

I push back from the computer and stand up, stretching my back out. “Good,” I tell her. “Jonathan’s friends are on vacation with their family for Spring break, so I was worried that he’d be missing them and totally mopey, but it’s really the opposite. He was super full of energy yesterday. It was exhausting just watching him!”

She chuckles. “What’s he doing for the rest of the week?”

“Brad has shifted his schedule around, so that he can stay with him during the day. Hopefully they’ll go do something that requires a lot of physical exertion - Jonathan really seems to need to burn off some energy somehow. I think they were just planning to hang around at home today, and I’ll bet he’s driving Brad crazy.”

She puts down the mug of coffee she’s drinking. “You know, I have a couple of guest passes for the zoo that are about to expire. Think they’d want to use those?”

“Oh, that’d be perfect! Are you sure you don’t need them?”

“Nope, I just get them with my annual pass and I haven’t had any visitors this year that wanted to go. I’ll go get them out of my purse. Hopefully they have a good time.”

“That’s really nice, thank you!”

I really lucked out with this internship. I love everything about this job.

Frank

I hang up the phone. “That was your Mom,” I tell the grandkids, who are sitting in front of their breakfast, watching me and waiting for my report. “She said that she and your Dad are going to stick to themselves today, but they’ll be here tomorrow morning to pick you up and go out to do something.”

Gabe shrugs, and Natalie nods.

“So,” I ask them, “what do you want to do with your ol’ Grandma and Grandpa today?”

They look at each other. “Could we go out to eat again?” Natalie asks. “Maybe someplace with more Mexican food?”

Gabe laughs and lightly noogies her head. “You just want some more sopapillas with honey, don’t you?”

She grins. “Okay fine, yes, I do. They are the most delicious thing I’ve ever had.”

“It’s nice for you to seem hungrier than me for once!” he replies, and they both guffaw.

Brenda has often lamented that they can’t replace sopapillas in California. It’s hard to believe that Mexican restaurants everywhere don’t include this with their meals. The little fried puff of doughy bread, drenched in honey, is exactly perfect to douse the heat from spicy food. But I guess this is a strictly New Mexico tradition.

Margaret is watching this whole exchange. “Sure, kids, let’s plan to go out for lunch on the way to the airport to see off your Aunt Caroline. The timing will work out with her flight.”

“Excellent plan,” says Caroline. “You can’t get sopapillas in Maryland either. I agree with my niece about how delicious they are. I’ll appreciate one more chance to have some.” She waggles her eyebrows at Natalie, who giggles.

“Well, that leaves the whole morning,” I point out. “What next?” It’s been a long time since we had children here to entertain. I’m not sure what kids like to do these days. Do they still watch cartoons?

Caroline says, “If nobody else has any suggestions, I have an idea. It’s a beautiful day, and I’d love to go see the Rio Grande while I’m here. Maybe we can take a walk along the river like we used to when I was a kid? They have a visitor center that Gabe and Natalie might enjoy.”

Margaret says, “That sounds like a lovely idea, dear. How about it, kids? Want to go walk along the river?”

“Sure,” Gabe says. “I didn’t even know there was a river in Albuquerque.”

Natalie just smiles. She always seems happy to do everything. Or maybe she’s just dreaming about sopapillas.