Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2012 06:42:16 -0700 (PDT) From: Brian Roberson Subject: Quincy and that unusual friend of his chapter 15 All the usual caveats apply. Story is complete fiction. "Quincy And That Unusual Friend Of His" Chapter 15 The old woman sat in her bedroom as a chilly rain pelted the window behind her. She sat and stared at the collection of photographs on top of the small table under the mirror, just as she had every day for the last thirty two years. Ilse Westergaard had lived with her grand niece Freja, and Freja's husband Hans, in their nice Copenhagen home for the last ten years. They were the only family that she had left. She was 94 years old, frail, and no longer able to care for herself. Her husband Jensen had died in early 1981, not long after they had returned to Denmark from America. The official cause of Jensen's death was a massive heart attack, but Ilse knew better. She knew that Jensen could not bear the loss of their "Little One". Ilse began to hum a little tune as she slowly brushed her long, grey hair and stared at the photographs in front of her. Ilse and Jensen had been elderly parents. They had been childless for the first twenty five years of their marriage. She had had two miscarriages, and a baby daughter named Anna, who had died two days after her birth due to a lung defect. They had resigned themselves to being a childless couple, until she discovered that she was pregnant shortly after her fiftieth birthday. The doctors had urged her to return to Denmark for an abortion due to her age and her history of failed pregnancies. She and her husband decided to accept the risk though, and nine months later, she had given birth to a beautiful and healthy little baby boy. He was perfect in every way, and the sheer joy of his birth had given her happiness on a level that she had never experienced before or since. She felt like God had given her and Jensen the boy as a divine gift. She and Jensen decided to name him "Erik" after Jensen's father, who had died in World War 1. Erik grew into a rambunctious, intelligent, and high spirited boy who could often be quite a handful. He had a sweet nature, and he was the light of his parents lives. He would often bring flowers to Ilse that he would find growing around the woods that bordered their McLean, Virginia home, and Ilse would always put them in a glass vase on the kitchen table. Erik loved hugs and kisses and would give them out freely to both of his parents. Every night when Ilse would tuck Erik in, she and him would sing a Danish folk song called "I Skoven Skulde Vaere Gilde", and this became a private ritual between the two of them. It was this song that Ilse was now singing in front of the mirror. One August evening, right before Erik's eleventh birthday, she had heard a car screeching to a halt right out in front of the house. She went out and and saw her little Erik lying dead in the road. Her mind went blank and she sat down on the steps while humming "I Skoven Skulde Vaere Gilde" to herself over and over again. As the days, weeks, months, and years went by, that was all that she would do. She would sit and hum that song. Jensen almost never stopped weeping right up until the very day he died, but Ilse never wept, and hardly ever even spoke. She just sat and hummed that song, over and over and over again. This was what she was doing now as she sat and stared at a collection of photographs of Erik and Jensen, both of whom she had long since lost. Freja was coming up the staircase holding a tray with a teapot full of English Breakfast tea, two cups, a small jar of berry preserves, and a plate of aebelskivers that she had just made. She put the tray down on a hall table, and lightly knocked on the door. "Auntie? Auntie Ilse?" She said in Danish. "I have your tea for you. Auntie Ilse?" Freja opened the door, gave a silent little gasp, and put her hand over her mouth. Ilse was slumped over on the table dead, her hairbrush still clutched in her hand. Quincy rushed out of the building right after school had ended. He jumped on his bike, went across the street to the 7-11, and bought a package of chocolate Tastykake cupcakes that he then put into his book bag. He then rushed home as fast as he could, pedaling like crazy. When he arrived at home, he quickly went into the garage, dumped the cupcakes into the freezer to keep the frosting from melting, and grabbed the shoe box that he had waiting for him. He then sprinted out to the Williams' yard, cut through, and rushed down the path to the creek. Once he was at the creek, he filled up the shoebox with a bunch of sand, mud, and pebbles. He looked up nervously at the sky and saw the sun starting to get low. He knew that timing was going to be of the essence for his plan to work, if it in fact did work. Once the box was filled, he put the cover on it, and rushed back up the path towards the house. He sprinted back across the Williams' yard and back into his garage. He then took the wrapping paper and tape that he had stashed there earlier, carefully wrapped up the box, and put a little bow on top of it. He took out the cupcakes, ate two of them, and put a single candle on top of the third one. He took one of the matches that his dad kept with the barbecue equipment and lit it. He guessed that his mother was in the kitchen, so he took the box and the cupcake around to the front door. He entered and ran up the steps. "Quincy! Why are you coming in that way?" His mom yelled. "Just felt like it!" Quincy yelled back from the top of the stairs. Quincy then went down the hall and opened the door to his bedroom, where Erik was waiting. "Hi Quincy!" Erik chirped. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Dear Erik, Happy Birthday to you!" Quincy sang as he entered the room with the lit cupcake on top of the wrapped present. "Oh my God!" Erik said as his face lit up. "OK, you gotta blow out the candle and make a wish!" Quincy smiled as he handed Erik the cupcake. Erik grinned at Quincy, looked down at the cupcake in his hand, closed his eyes tight, opened them, and made the candle go out. Quincy smiled and clapped. "What did you wish for, Erik?" Erik grinned. "You know it's supposed to be secret, Quincy!" "Oh, right. I forgot." Quincy smiled. Erik smiled as he put the cupcake on the desk, which Quincy immediately grabbed and ate after removing the candle. "Well, here's your present." Quincy said as he chewed the cupcake. He handed the present to Erik who was absolutely beaming. "Oh wow, you got me a present too!" Erik smiled. He then unwrapped the present and opened up the shoe box. "What's this?" Erik asked as he looked at all the mud and sand and pebbles. "Well...I kinda didn't really have enough money to buy you a present, so I went down to the creek and got this. I kinda figured that you could keep it and always remember the good times we had when we went down there and have it with you when you're stuck in the house. Erik grinned. "Wow, it even smells like the creek, thanks Quince!" He then put the box down, got up, and gave Quincy a hug. "This is the best birthday present I've ever gotten!" "OK, well, we need to get you to school now. Are you ready?" Erik began frantically looking around the room. "But I don't have my book bag with me!" "That's OK, I'll bring it to you. We need to go now so that you're not late". "Oh, OK." Erik said. Quincy quickly changed clothes, and went downstairs with Erik following him. "Mom! I'm going out on my bike for awhile!" He called from the front door. "Don't be out too long! Supper will be at six!" Carol said from the kitchen. "OK!" Quincy replied, knowing full well that it would probably be well past that point before he got home. He and Erik slipped through the door. Quincy got on his bike and Erik hopped onto the bar. Soon he was peddling down the side of Chesterbrook Road. As they rode along, Erik was chattering excitedly about his first day of school, and how much he was looking forward to it. Quincy turned onto Old Dominion Drive and crossed over onto the bike trail that ran parallel to the road. Eventually they were in downtown McLean and were headed towards Dolly Madison Boulevard. Quincy rode on the sidewalk that ran along the boulevard as the thick traffic whizzed past him. Quincy had done some research on a computer at school during study hall. He discovered that the Madera School had closed in the early 1990's, and that the building had been demolished. A senior citizen community had been built on top of it, the site of the school itself was now one of it's parking lots. Quincy was looking at all the address numbers going by and saw that he was getting closer and closer. "Quincy! Quincy! It's right up here!" Erik said excitedly. Quincy rode another couple of blocks in the white, glaring late afternoon sunshine. He then saw the senior citizen center to his right. He rode into the right hand parking lot and started pedaling towards the back. "Whoa whoa Quincy! Stop! You almost hit the building!" Erik shouted excitedly. Quincy stopped his bike in the middle of the lot between two cars. Erik got off of the bike while Quincy looked on sadly. "You promise that you'll bring me my book bag. Right?" Erik said. "Sure." Quincy said as he forced a smile."I'll bring it right to you." "OK, well, hear I go! Thanks for bringing me to school today!" Erik smiled. He then turned and walked a few steps before vanishing. Quincy could almost make out a door like shape that Erik went through. After a few seconds Erik returned through the same portal. He had a happy, exhausted look on his face. "Hey, Mother! Thanks for picking me up!" Erik said. He then came over and mounted the bike frame. Quincy turned around and they started heading back to the house. "So how was school, Erik?" Quincy said. "Oh, Mother! It was so wonderful! The teacher had cupcakes for the whole class, and we sang and played games! Some of the boys picked me up on their shoulders and carried me around the room! I made all kinds of new friends today! It was so great! I can't wait to tell Father!" Erik said dreamily. "I'm glad that you had such a good time!" Quincy said. "I feel really tired..." Erik said. "I know you do. We'll be back at home as soon as I can get us there." Erik then started chattering away in Danish, and Quincy interupted him. "Erik, we live in America now, you have to speak English here." "Oh right, sorry Mother." They rode on some more. As Quincy pedaled along Old Dominion Drive, Erik began humming that song again that he had heard him humming when he saw him in his room right after they had met. It was a strange, lilting melody that he didn't recognize. "Quincy.." Erik then said. " I feel like I'm ready to go." "I know that you do, Erik. You've been around for a long time." "I feel like it's time for me to rest." "I know it is." Quincy said while trying not to cry. "Just try to hang on until we get back to the house." "I don't feel scared, I feel glad." Erik said. "I'm going to miss you, Erik. I'm going to miss you alot, but you're right, it's time for you to rest." "Everything is starting to look fuzzy..." Erik said. "Just hang on..." Quincy said. He then turned onto Linway Terrace, which would take them back to Chesterbrook Road. Cars were passing dangerously close, but Quincy kept pedaling as hard as he could. He knew that if Erik faded out then he would just be back the next year again. He had to get Erik back to the spot of the accident so that he could pass all the way through and finally rest in peace, and it had to be before the sunset, and right about the same time that the accident had occured. Quincy tried not to think that he was about to give up his best friend to eternity as he pedaled full strength down the road. Quincy finally reached Chesterbrook Road. He shot across the street and began speeding down the asphalt path towards his neighborhood. Erik had become whoozy and was starting to nod back and forth. "I'm fading away, Quince..." "Just hang on...we're almost there." "I'm finally going to get to cross over, I can feel it. I''m finally going to get to rest. It's been so long..." "What will happen when you cross over, Erik?" "I'll finally get to sleep...to sleep in the stars." "Just hang on..." By now the scene was bathed in the fading red sunlight of the end of yet another day. Quincy rode hard right to the front of his house, and came to a hard stop. Erik slipped off the bike and landed on his back onto the grass. Quincy came over to help him up, but he gasped in shock as his hand went right through Erik. "Erik, you're fading. I have to get you into the street. Please, try to make yourself solid just long enough that I can carry you over." Erik closed his eyes tightly shut for a couple of seconds. "OK, now try it." Erik said. Quincy touched him again and saw that he had returned to being solid. Quincy picked him up and carried him on his shoulders over to the spot where Erik had been hit. He gently put him down on his back in the road. Quincy kneeled down next to him and rubbed his hand through Erik's hair. "Oh...!" Erik said with a dazed and joyful look as he stared at the sky. "It's so cool! I can see now! You get to fly around the whole Universe! It's so beautiful..." Quincy felt a lump forming in his throat. "Is that what you see?" He asked in a shaky, sobbing voice. "Yes. You can see the whole Universe all at once. It's so cool!" Quincy then grabbed Erik's hand. "I'm going to miss you, Erik...I'm going to miss you so much..." "If you remember me, I'll always still be around, at least in that way." Erik's eyes then began to flutter open and shut. " Quincy...?" He finally said as he looked like he as about to lose consciousness. "Yes?" Quincy said as tears began to flow out of his eyes. "Quincy...thank you..." Erik smiled. He then closed his eyes and blew away like dust, just as Mattheuis had. Quincy stared blankly down at the now empty pavement below him. He still had his hand in the same position where it had been clutching Erik's. It was then that he heard a bird starting to sing in the trees above him. He looked up and saw a bird flying around in a circle. Just then, two other birds appeared, and they began flying around each other and singing in what looked to Quincy like a joyful reunion. Just then, the first bird that he had seen flew down and landed on his shoulder. It made a joyful sounding series of tweets and whistles, and then flew back up into the air to join the others. The birds then flew upwards as a group into the dusky sky, right towards where the first stars of the evening were, and then they all vanished at once. The scene was then washed out as a wall of tears began pouring out of Quincy's eyes, and he sobbed harder than he ever had in his life. He sobbed for a boy who had lived and died long before he had even been born. He sobbed for the loss of the best friend that he had ever had. Fat tears plopped down onto the pavement, where so much horror and grief had once been witnessed. He then heard a car horn and realized that he was bathed in headlights. A car passing through had stopped right to his left. He got up so that it could pass. Once it was gone, he cried on the lawn for another couple of minutes before he regained his composure. He then grabbed his bike, took it into the garage, and went back into his house. ********************************************************* Epilogue The car slowly rolled into the parking lot of the cemetery, and had found a spot near the gated entrance. Quincy got out of the drivers seat, grabbed a bouquet of flowers that were in the car, and shut the door. His wife Vanessa got out of the driver side passenger seat. They both opened the back seat doors and reached in. Quincy grabbed their six year old daughter Caitlinn out of the back seat and held her in his arms. Vanessa grabbed their two year old daughter Tamara out of the booster seat. She had a pacifier in her mouth and a teddy bear in her hand. The family then headed into the cemetery. They went over to the small gravestone in the corner that Quincy had visited every August 31 for the past twenty years. Quincy and Vanessa put their arms around each others backs as they held their children and stared down at Erik's grave. "Is this the boy that you talk about, Daddy?" Quincy's daughter asked as he held her. "It sure is, Caitlinn." Caitlinn then rubbed her eye and put her head down on Quincy's shoulder. "I feel sad." She said. Quincy smiled. "Now how can that be, Caitlinn? You've never even met him." "Because you talk about him a lot and I feel sorry for him for having to be in the ground like that." "That's only part of him in the ground, Honey. The part that counts is up there." Vanessa said as she pointed up to the sky. Caitlinn looked up into the sky and then looked back down at the grave. "You miss him a lot, don't you Daddy?" "Of course I miss him, but I know that he's happy where he is." Quincy answered. Caitlinn then put her arms around Quincy's neck and he held her tight with his eyes closed. "Oh I love you..." He whispered. He then got the bouquet of flowers and got ready to drop it down onto the grave. "Daddy, can I put the flowers there?" Caitlinn asked. Quincy smiled. "Of course you can, Honey." He said as he gave her the bouquet. Caitlinn then dropped it down and it landed right in front of the gravestone. The family all looked down at the flowers on the grave in silence for several seconds. Quincy then cleared his throat and smiled. "Well, enough of this!" He said as he wiped a small tear from the corner of his eye. "Who wants pizza?" "Me! Me!" Vanessa and Caitlinn said at once. The family then returned to the car laughing and talking as the honey colored sunset splashed across the trees and the gravestones, and as the cicadas hummed all around. The End