Solstice - Of The Heart by John Blenkush

coffee mug down. “What
exactly do you know about the Lemurians?”
    I had to think about that one for a
minute. I had ingested so much information over the course of the
last few days it was all balled up in my head.
    “Well, from what I’ve read they were
an ancient race. Their continent sunk and most of them
died.”
    “You got that part right. But do you
know why their continent sunk?”
    I shrugged. Was I supposed
to?”
    “Because the Lemurians were
anarchists.”
    “I don’t remember reading anything
about that.”
    “You wouldn’t because it’s not
written. It’s told.”
    “By who?”
    “My grandfather, for one.”
    “So how did them being anarchists
cause their continent to sink?”
    “They were at war.”
    “With who?”
    “Atlantis.”
    I nodded as it came clear to me. “The
other ancient civilization.”
    “Yes. And the Lemurians were
defeated.”
    “But some escaped.”
    “We believe so.”
    “We?”
    Cherrie looked a bit flustered, but I
couldn’t tell if it was due to the conversation or the three cups
of coffee.
    “We,” she said, “meaning those who
tell the story.”
    “So,” I said getting up while checking
my watch again, “you think if Aaron is a descendent of Lemuria he
is going to try and do what? Overthrow the government?”
    Cherrie let out a laugh. “Not at all.
You know of their powers.”
    “What I read, yes.”
    “And what you think you
saw?”
    “Oh, you mean the,” I tapped my
forehead, “bulge.”
    “And the strength to lift a
car.”
    “I didn’t say he lifted the
car.”
    “Look Julis, I just want you to be
cautious is all.”
    I checked my watch again.
It was half past eight. “I’m late for school.” I grabbed my beanie,
jacket, and back pack.
    Cherrie got up. “I’ll drive
you.”
    “That’s okay. By the time you have
that clunker warmed up I’ll be there. If I hurry I can make second
period.”
    Cherrie blocked the door. She took me
by the shoulders and held me steady. We locked eyes.
    “Julis,” she said, “if nothing else I
want you to remember one thing...”
    “And that is?”
    “… according to the story tellers, Lemurians require mass amounts
of energy at critical times. I’m not talking about gasoline or
electricity here. I’m talking about the human aura, human
energy. Our energy.”
    “Can we have this conversation later?”
I made a point of checking my watch. “I’m going to be
late.”
    Cherrie let me go. “Sure. Come by when
you get home.”
    As I walked down the road I looked
over my shoulder. I saw Cherrie heading home, but with an eye
peeled toward me. Suddenly I felt the chill of the drizzly morning
along with her cold stare. I pulled the collar up on my jacket and
the beanie down to my eyes. I could smell Aaron.
    My heart warmed.
     
     
    8 LIVE PIG
     
    As I entered the school grounds, I
heard the bell for the end of first period. Bernard stood out
front, picking up the before-school-in-session trash. He carried a
pail and one of those trash grabbers, which clicked every time he
snapped up garbage from the ground. There was a bit of a melody to
the way his keys jangled and the synchronization of the snapping of
the trash picker. He stepped out in front of me as I walked up the
sidewalk.
    “Good morning, Miss Grant.”
    “Hi, Mr.Delmon.”
    I made an attempt to step around
Bernard.
    He stepped in front of me and cut me
off.
    “I didn’t get a chance to ask you if
you were okay,” Bernard said.
    I tried another end around.
    He blocked it by poking his trash
picker at a gun wrapper.
    “You know. Up at Shasta. When you
drove off the road. I was concerned you might have been
hurt.”
    Yeah. Sure.
    “Oh, no. I’m okay. We’re
okay.”
    “Good thing you were driving Garl’s
Lincoln. You could back right out of there, huh?”
    I could tell by his eyes he was
searching for something far more different than what he voiced. He
was testing me to see if I knew Aaron had helped us. After seeing
Bernard’s reaction