A Mystery of Terror in South Africa

South Africa had always been a place that I dreamed of visiting until those dreams became nightmares. Everything that I had hoped to find on holiday became a terror to me at night.

I saved money for the last five years to be able to fly from New York to South Africa and then spend three full weeks there before flying home. Now after just a couple of nights there I was already thinking about flying home right away even though I would have to pay a fortune in change fees.

The flight had been a long one and I had gotten some rest on the plane. I was grateful for that. Upon arrival, I was swept up in the beauty that is South Africa. As soon as I could I got out of the airport into the countryside away from the city to see the land and relax and read and write and be restored from working so hard all the time. I really needed this time away and the first day went great. I had made arrangements to live with a family who would provide a room for me to sleep and food for me to eat and the chance to experience South Africa in a more personal way.

They were great people, so welcoming and it seemed like we were family almost from the first moments. Right away we were out riding in a Range Rover and seeing the beautiful scenery that was all around and even a few animals. I loved the sound of my hosts’ voices and the joy they seemed to possess just showing me their home country. I learned more that first day than I had learned in the previous months of studying up for my trip. It was an amazing first day.

As they showed me my room which was actually a separate one near their house, I was told that they hoped the bed would be comfortable for me. I replied thank you and that I was sure it would be. The husband and wife looked at each other in a kind of strange way and then told me to make sure that I slept in the bed. I thought that was odd because of course that is what I was planning to do.

Their response was to repeat themselves and tell me that I was to sleep in the bed. Even if it ended up not being comfortable for me or it seemed hot I was to sleep in the bed. I told them that it would be fine and that I had slept on the plane coming over and if I could do that I could sleep easily in this bed.

They looked seriously at each other and then smiled at me and wished me a happy sleep and said they would have breakfast for me at 8 in the morning which would allow me to sleep in a little after the travel over and the ride around that we had done all day. I thanked them for their hospitality and told them that I was definitely climbing in bed right away to get a good night’s sleep to be ready for the adventures of the next day.

As soon as they left I put on my sleep shorts because the room was hot and then I sat on the edge of the bed and looked around the room. I noticed as I sat that the bed seemed higher than normal. My feet barely touched the floor even as I stretched them a little. Otherwise, the bed looked pretty normal to me, a nice big bed that was perfect for me with plenty of room to sleep. 

As I sat there more with the door closed the room got even hotter. I had expected heat so that didn’t bother me but the height of the bed still seemed strange. I looked underneath it and saw that the legs of the bed were up on bricks. It was the several bricks that made the bed so high. But the bed was sturdy and I wasn’t worried that the legs would come off of the bricks so I just laid back to get some sleep.

Instantly I was out. If there is one thing that I know how to do it is sleep. Fast. I was asleep so quickly that I hadn’t even pulled a cover over me which actually turned out for the best because when I woke up a few hours later I was sweating a lot even without covers on. Wow, this place was hot. I needed some air.

I walked over to open the door but discovered that even with it open it was as hot as before so I went ahead and closed it and walked back and sat on the edge of the bed. As I sat there sweating I realized that my feet were cooler than my arms. It was cooler down on the floor which of course makes a lot of sense since heat rises.

It didn’t take long until I decided to just sleep on the floor because it would be cooler but then I thought of what my hosts had told me, to sleep in the bed. I wondered what their anxiety was so I looked around on the floor for bugs and spiders and such but the floor was very clean just like the whole room was. So I threw a sheet on the floor and a pillow on the sheet and lay down and promptly fell to sleep again. I told you I was a fast sleeper.

Fast asleep and then fast awake. I felt something sliding up my chest towards my neck and I opened my eyes and saw a horrible creature. It was very small and a cross between something human and some primate of some kind. I had never seen anything so ugly and it was staring me in the face as it crawled up on me. I rolled over and it fell off but as I lay still and thought that I must be having a very bad dream it touched my bare legs with its bony fingers and I saw blood, my blood, as it scratched me more and more. 

This time as I rolled away I got up onto the bed as fast as I could and looked down into the darkness and couldn’t see anything. The rest of the night I hunched in the middle of the bed and eventually fell into a fitful sleep just before dawn. 

At 8 my host knocked on the door and said that breakfast was ready in their kitchen and to come over as soon as I was ready. I threw on my pants and then socks and then shirt and ran my hand through my hair and dashed over to breakfast. I must have been quite a sight to them.

She looked at me and asked how I had slept. I lied and said it was a great night’s sleep and that’s why I was late for breakfast after sleeping in. With knowing looks they murmured to each other and then asked if the bed was comfortable for me. I told them the bed was great and that I looked forward to sleeping in it the rest of my time with them.

As I ate I kept picturing that horrible creature. What was it? Had it just been a nightmare after my long trip and lack of sleep the last few days? In any case, I had a long way to go on my three-week stay and I’m sure tonight would be better. I put it out of my head as I got energized with breakfast and went out on what was a normal day for my hosts but was what I would call a safari.

All that day we saw antelopes and elephants, hippos and rhinos, and even more. Of course, they weren’t all together but stretched out during the day and we had lots of time to talk about the animals and the culture and the land and history. I saw so much and took some notes, but mostly just looked and talked and looked some more. I took pictures that I knew were all the best that I had ever taken. I couldn’t get enough of it and the day stretched out longer and longer. My host, who was also a great guide, was very excited seeing how excited I was and he took me further and further to see more and more.

Then as we saw the most beautiful sunset that I had ever seen he told me that we had better turn towards home. I told him that I wish that we could just camp out here and enjoy what must have been an explosion of beauty in the stars at night. A terrified look came over his face and he said no, he would never camp out here and that we must get home. With that, he turned towards home and we came back at quite a pace, bouncing and careening around corners through the dark until we reached his home.

Upon arriving back he walked me to the door of my room and reminded me to make sure I slept in the bed and wished me a good night’s sleep. I told him thanks and that it had been an even better day than the first one and that I was looking forward to tomorrow. I got ready for sleep, pulled out my journal, and slid onto the floor with my back against the bed to take more notes of the day, things that I didn’t want to forget. I wrote and wrote and wrote until, exhausted, I fell asleep and rolled onto my side on the floor.

I was in a deep sleep for several hours and then started having the strangest dreams. I say dreams because they kept happening one after the other as one would end and another one begins. That creature who I had seen the night before was in every dream. Scratching me with his long bony fingers. I would push him away and fall fitfully asleep again but then the next dream would start and be even worse than the first as I felt deep scratches in my back. One was so horrible that I awakened with a lurch and saw him reaching towards my neck and I jumped up and into bed, crawling to the center of the bed. I breathed heavily for a long time and moaned and seemed to hear another moaning that was not my own. 

Totally exhausted I collapsed onto my side on the bed and slept until once again I heard a knocking on my door and the voice of my host that hoped I had slept well and that my breakfast was ready for me.

I lay there a bit longer and then pulled on my clothes and walked over to breakfast, not even attempting to hand comb my hair. I sat down in the chair and just started eating, slowly, and drinking in the coffee cup after cup. My hosts didn’t say a word. I was thinking of having them drive me to the airport. But this had been my dream. I wasn’t giving up. Yet.

After breakfast I had my senses back it seemed so I asked if we could go out in the other direction where we hadn’t been and see more of the countryside. Yes of course was the response and after splashing some water on my face I was off with him for another adventure day.

It is hard to even acknowledge this but it seemed that this third day was even better than the others. I hadn’t thought that was possible. We saw more elephants walking and then splashing in the water and saw birds that I had only imagined flying above and making the most beautiful sounds. The sky looked amazing and the pictures I was taking would probably be incredible to see when I looked at them later.

Then a lion walked towards us. Easy going. Not a worry in the world. I was terrified but my host told me that I could take a picture of the lion if I did it all very slowly. No fast movements. I slowly raised my camera and snapped one picture. The lion just kept walking towards us. I froze as it stopped. I took another picture and then another, not even daring to breathe.

Then the lion turned and slowly walked away, and that was that. I could breathe again. I told my host that we could go back now. That was what I needed for that day.

As he drove home we chatted more about what we had seen and how the animals were part of his homeland, of his life. He looked at me and asked me if the lion being that close was the most afraid I had ever felt. I said no, not even close. He nodded and said, make sure you sleep in the bed tonight. I nodded back and said yes sir.

Lucky: A Mystery

Dressed in red from her tight dress to her high heels I couldn’t miss her and didn’t want to. Even her lips were sealed with red lipstick that begged to be kissed. Her eyes begged also.

Just as quickly as my eyes took her in she turned and ran down the alley. How she ran in those heels I'll never know. But she did and made it look easy.

I rushed away from my blind date that I had just come out of the coffee shop with and charged down the alley. Shouting back to the woman smartly dressed in sensible shoes and a proper skirt and blouse I told her I had business to take care of. I would call her. Thanks for a nice evening. She frowned and then turned brusquely and hailed a cab. Don’t bother to call she yelled at me as she got inside.

That fast that date was gone from my sight and from my memory as I pursued this lady in red. Cliche I know but she was actually in red. But probably no lady.

I saw her go out of the alley at the end of it and run to the right. I picked up my pace but by the time I got to the end of the alley and turned she was gone. Looking down I saw her red handbag. 

Why would a woman who could run like that in an alley have dropped her handbag? I had no idea but opened it to see if there would be any hints inside of who she was or where she lived. 

I pulled out a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, and a small revolver. Then in a corner of the bag, I saw a pack of matches. Why would a woman with a lighter need matches? And where was this Lucky’s that it advertised? That’s all that was in there.

I didn’t smoke and didn’t need a gun that could potentially get me in trouble. So I tossed the bag into the alley against the wall. I tucked the matches into my shirt pocket and walked down the street where she had disappeared.

I looked in every store on that street for blocks. She was nowhere to be found. Sometimes I asked a store clerk if a pretty woman in red had been in today. The usual response was no and if they had seen her they would have remembered. I agreed. I sure did. Remember.

After searching late into the night I got hungry and thirsty and decided I had better get something. I wanted to get her but that wasn’t happening yet so I called my buddy and told him about my blind date and my evening since.

He laughed and said that he was never going to fix me up again but at least I got some matches out of it. Funny guy. Just before I hung up he told me that when he got home that night there was a pack of matches leaning up against the front door. He hadn’t thought anything of it and had just kicked them aside and gone inside. 

Go outside. Now. Find those matches and tell me what they advertise. I hadn’t told him what was on the outside of the ones I had found in the lady’s purse. Get them if you ever want to borrow my car again.

Ok, ok, he told me as I heard him walk to the door, open it, and go outside. Hey, here they are. Good thing the breeze hadn’t blown them away yet.

So where are they from? What does it say? Hold on a minute take it easy he said. Ok, here it is. I’ve never heard of this place and you know I’ve been to a lot of places in town. Lucky’s. That’s what it says.

I went silent. Lucky’s? I knew that was it but to be sure I pulled out the matches that I had from her purse. There it was. Lucky’s. How had those matches gotten to my house?

And now I knew why she had dropped her purse when she obviously knew how to run in heels like an athlete. She dropped it for me. She wanted me to find it. But why?

If she wanted me that bad all she had to do was wait at the end of the alley when she saw me chasing her. No need to drop her purse and then drop matches at my place. Why was she doing this? What did she want to see? What was she after?

I grabbed some coffee and a danish, both day old by that point, and sat on a bench. Drinking and eating I tried to find Lucky’s on the browser of my phone. Nothing was showing up. It looked like I wasn’t getting lucky that night, or the bar.

So I went home, grabbed a shower and a few hours of sleep, and then headed back out to look for her. To look for Lucky’s. Didn’t the bar or whatever it was, know that these days if you wanted to survive you had to have a website? Or at least be listed on Google. 

Nothing. All day long I looked. In the evening I went back to where I had first seen her, parked, and was getting out of my car across the street. There she was. Dazzling. Seductive. Smiling over at me as she turned and walked down the alley. Dressed in red again. A different dress this time but still red. Still tight and showing every curve she had. The dress was different but the heels were the same. Red. Luxurious bright red. High heels. Spiked.

I walked quickly across the street and followed her down the alley until she twirled around and stopped. Right in front of me. I could breathe her in. But barely. I could hardly breathe. My heart pounding out of my chest.

Tag. You’re it. She said as she gently touched my chest. She stepped closer until her face was inches from mine. I think you have something I want she whispered. I know you have something I want I whispered in return.

She kissed me. Gently at first. I pulled her tight and felt her bend against me as the kiss lingered.

Then she pulled back and put out her hand and asked for the matches. I gave her the pack from the night before. 

Then looking past her to the end of the alley I saw my blind date from the night before. She walked towards us. She smiled as she reached into a red handbag, the red handbag, from the night before. 

She pulled out the revolver and pointed it towards me. The lady in red stepped aside and spoke to her. You are such a drama queen. Don’t be mad at him. Who could resist me? Just look at me, and look at yourself. Who wouldn’t choose me?

Anger raged in my blind date’s face. But her hand was steady as she walked closer with the revolver pointed at my chest. She glanced over at the red seductress. You shouldn’t have borrowed my handbag without asking.

I just figured I could take your bag if I could take your man. Sorry for taking it though. I know it’s your favorite. I’ll make it up to you. His buddy is cute. I’ll get him for you.

The bullet tore through my chest as I collapsed in the alley. The last thing I saw was the two of them walking away together. The last thing I heard was the lady in red laughing and calling my blind date by what must have been her nickname, Lucky.

The Bench

So each day, well most days anyway, I take a walk early, except for the times when it is too cold or I just don’t feel like walking early because I didn’t sleep well last night, which rarely happens to me because even though there are plenty of things that I am not great at sleep is one of the things that I am great at, yes I am a great sleeper and glad for it because I know how important it is to get a good night of sleep in order to do your best or even average that day so I try to get seven to eight hours of sleep every night and now I am finding that to get that amount of sleep it is not what time I get up at that matters it is what time I go to bed that makes all of the difference so for me at this point in life I know that I need to get to bed before midnight, or at least not a long time afterwards, if I am going to get the seven to eight hours of sleep that I want to get and even then there is no guarantee that I will get that much and yes it is possible and sometimes it happens that I go to sleep after one a.m. and I still get my needed rest but that happens less and less so as I get up well rested I am able to get out of my front door with my earbuds connected to my phone and listening to a book as I go for a morning walk and if it does happen to be cold I can put on a light jacket or if it is colder I can wear a heavier one and sometimes, just sometimes mind you, when it is really, really, cold, I put on a winter coat, one that I brought from where I used to live in Pennsylvania where it is much colder than where I live now in South Carolina, and sometimes, especially if I recently had a haircut from a salon not real far from our condo where we moved to and enjoy living in now, my ears feel very cold and I wear not only a winter coat but a hat, not the kind with a brim but the kind made out of cloth that is snug on my head and covers up my ears, and of course if I need a hat, and sometimes even when I don’t, I wrap a scarf around my neck and it keeps me warmer and I know I must look a sight when I am out walking and some people are running in running pants or shorts that are tight on them and I suppose keep them warm as well and they have a tight kind of jacket that must warm them up as well and I walk by them all bundled up like Nanook of the North if there is such a person in the South and in particular South Carolina perhaps instead of Nanook of the North I look like Kook of the South but in any case that is only in the winter but in days like in this picture of leaves on the tree and sunlight shining down I don’t need a coat at all or a scarf or a hat for sure but rather I wear shorts and a shirt and shoes and socks and I walk past this bench, and the one that is not seen here but is right across from it, and sometimes I sit on this bench, or the other one depending on which one is cleaner and which one does not have sun in my eyes which is more likely the one pictured here in terms of not having the sun in my eyes and I take a rest there after walking twenty minutes or so from my home and before I continue along my walk for a while after the rest but really I have not sat there a lot yet because during the pandemic which lasted over a year, well of course it actually still continues but at least I am vaccinated now, fully, and I am willing to sit on this bench without having to go home and immediately change clothes, so now I can sit if I wish for rest and especially when I have walked by this area the first time and then walked on for another half hour to forty minutes before arriving back at this bench and by then I am very glad for a place to sit and relax for several minutes and this is great to do and I really wanted to sit here many times the last year but Covid-19 and thoughts of it kept me from sitting down even though looking back there was a very miniscule chance that I could ever have gotten the coronavirus from sitting on this bench so I could have been resting on it all this time but I did not but still I am Okay with that since it is better to be safe than sorry but in this case I am both because I was probably over safe and now I am sorry that I did not sit down on it for all of that time but in reality I made a good choice because it was the one I made and it didn’t matter that I could have sat on it for a year now and in any case now I appreciate it even more that sometimes I rest on this bench on the way which is, as I have said only twenty minutes or so from my house, and I don’t really need to sit on it yet but I do because it is just pleasant to do so and I know that I can still sit as well on the return voyage also on The Bench.

 

Lessons From Dad: I could be wrong.

I've been thinking more about an idea in a book that I listened to several years ago in which the author suggested that a good way to actually engage in conversation with people who have different ideas than ours is to say, "of course, I could be wrong." It really struck me, something that I would have to keep thinking about and seeing how I felt about that. What would it mean if on any issue on which I have an opinion, obviously thinking that I am correct, that I would express myself and also say, "of course, I could be wrong." If I were on the receiving end of that phrase wouldn't I be glad that they were open to that possibility and wouldn't it draw me in more to a real discussion?

The problem is that I can get very opinionated. Oh, I may think that I cover that up better than some (or most if I really am expressing my true opinion here) but I still have deeply held thoughts that have become very important to me. I think I'm right and so that means that others are wrong. We need to have right and wrong beliefs, there is a right and a wrong. But the question becomes, do I know it completely?

When my Dad was in the last decade or so of his life, he lived to be 92, he told me that when he was younger he used to think that he was right 75-80% of the time. But then in his later years, he thought that he was right maybe 25% or so of the time, pretty much reversed. I remember thinking that he was probably still right most of the time but as I have thought about it the main thing is that he realized as he got older that he wasn't right as often as he once thought...and he was at peace with that. I find that interesting. It's not that we are wrong, it's growing to be at peace with not always being right.

Is it possible that I don't know everything about how it feels to be a doctor, a President, a mother, an orphan, a Republican/Democrat/Libertarian/Independent? Is there a chance that I don't know the answer to the pandemic or gender issues or race issues or sexual preferences? Do I miss the boat on how it feels to be an immigrant whether legal or not?

I think it is good to learn what we can and to have opinions. We need to strive to do right and avoid what is wrong. But if we are going to enter into the lives of others and open up a real dialogue that builds true friendship and the opportunity for true life change, then we need to remember that sometimes we are the one who needs to change. Not always certainly but sometimes. Of course, I could be wrong.

Reassigned

I remember when I was a Sophomore in High School adjusting to the school district having reassigned high school students from Victory to Franklin High School. I had gone to Victory from fifth grade through my Freshman year after moving there from four years at North Star Elementary in another village where our family had lived until my Dad had been reassigned to different churches. I had such great friends there at Victory and then the districts merged and we had to go by bus 25 miles each way because there was a bridge out along the way. 50 miles each day on the bus with friends from my old school and then thrust into the mix of students from Franklin High School. It wasn’t my choice. I was reassigned.

Then in the middle of my Junior year of High School, after only being there for a year and a half, my Dad was reassigned from one church he pastored to another, from a village to a town. We only moved a half dozen miles or so but it was a different school district, Grove City, and once again I was displaced. It was my third high school and I was with people I didn’t know at all. It wasn’t my choice. I had been reassigned schools because my Dad was reassigned jobs.

In the middle of the year, I had to adjust. I really had no choice but to make the best of it and so I tried to fit in. Fortunately, there were some really kind people at that school who took me in and befriended me as I befriended them. Many of them had been in school together since they were just young children. They knew each other well but some of them, that’s all I needed, some of them were the kindest and the best people to me. I had had such good friends before in my other schools and fortunately, I found some more friends in this new place.

I survived and even thrived in this new school with a new band to play trumpet in, a chorus to sing in, and friends who took a chance on befriending the new guy. I look back on those days with fondness and am so thankful that a time in my life that could have been so lonely, wasn’t.

Perhaps times of change like that when my Dad was reassigned or my school was reassigned prepared me for the life I have lived. Looking back I have been through a lot of changes, lived a lot of places, packed and unpacked a lot of boxes, and experienced both heartache and joy. Reassigned. Following where God sends. Where God leads me I will follow. 

It’s good you know to go when God says go. I’m in no way perfect and so many times in my life I have done less than my best, less than what I knew and know God wanted and wants. But still, I go. Again. And again.

Reassigned.

A Rich Life: How has my life turned out differently than I imagined it would?

My life has turned out totally different than I imagined it would.

When I was in my teens and early twenties I thought that I would be in politics. I believed that I would be successful at it and I knew that a lot of politicians were lawyers so I decided to be a lawyer. That would be my stepping stone to politics. Though I had thought I might go into vocational ministry for a brief time in high school I soon decided on a law career.

As I went through college I studied in hopes of getting into law school and then becoming a lawyer. However, along the way, I increasingly wanted to do music and ended up singing in a lot of musical groups, some that I put together. Then as I was ending college I took the Law School exam and applied to law schools and got accepted at Ohio Northern University College of Law in Ada, Ohio. It was a good school and not far from Findlay where I had just finished college.

That first year of Law School though was very hard for me academically and I discovered that I just didn’t want to spend the time in the Law Library that would be required of me to do well. With my mom going in the hospital and my traveling back and forth that fall and then being surprised by her death that December I was out of energy and the desire to succeed in the field of law. So I dropped out in February of my first year of Law School after completing two quarters. I felt I had failed and didn’t know how I would be able to accomplish my dream.

But life went on and I ended up working at a church as a youth director and then going to Seminary. After that, I was an Associate Pastor at a church before becoming the Pastor of another church. After being there a few years I believed that I should get into politics, while still pastoring that church, and I ran for Congress. Though I lost the General Election I thought that I would get right back into it and run the very next time, keeping my campaign committee going. But the following year on my birthday I found out that I was going to be a Dad and I decided that I was not going to miss out on the early years of that first child and so I ended my campaign committee and thought that someday I would get back to it. That someday never came.

Instead, I had the blessing of not only being the Dad of one precious child but of two. There is no way that I would have wanted to have missed any of my time with them by running for office and serving away from them. I know many do that and that is their choice but as for me I know I made the correct choice.

Connected with that is that I never thought that I would be married and never thought that I would be a Dad. I wondered if I would be a good Dad. But my life has turned out differently than I thought on that matter as well as I have been so fortunate as to have discovered Diane and that she would marry and spend her life with me. That blessing turned into a family of four with Rosie and Emilie joining us.

Yes, my life has turned out totally different than I imagined it would. Thank goodness.

Wrong. Again.

It seemed to be happening once more. Knowing things that didn’t make sense but still being able to convince people to trust that he actually knew what he was talking about. He didn’t quite know if this time things would be different, that he would be right, or if he would be wrong. Again.

Driving home alone from the dance Eric wondered which was the case? And after all, did it really matter? He shook his head when he realized it did indeed make a big difference because if he was finally right on something then he still had no idea how to deal with it. If it was like the past and he was wrong again then he at least had some idea how to approach it. Or did he? 

Confused, Eric drove past his house. The sky was bright tonight with a full moon and lots of stars and not a cloud in the sky. When he got to the interstate he turned south and kept going for hours until the Low Fuel signal beeped and lit up. Then he got off at the next exit and hoped that some gas station would still be open this late. But there were none to be found still open. He sat there at the third one that was closed and noticed a light for a motel next door with a Vacancy sign lit up. 

He pulled over to the motel, parked, and went in to ask for a room. He got a key to one and went to the room with no luggage since he hadn’t expected to be traveling tonight. He locked the door, threw the key on the desk, and plopped onto the bed. After a minute or two, he reached for the remote for the TV and turned it on. That’s when he saw it. The news report. 

According to the reporter, there had been an explosion in the event center where he had been earlier. It must have occurred just after he had left the dance. Oddly enough there were no deaths and it was stranger still that no one had even been injured. Evidently, everyone had gone outside just moments before the explosion to watch a rare eclipse of the moon. 

It seems that someone had told everyone that this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see an eclipse that was so total that the sky would be completely pitch black. At first, just a few people were going out to see it but then the rest decided to join in the opportunity of a lifetime. So everyone was outside looking up at the moon and walking further and further out in the parking lot to see it away from the lights of the building. 

That’s when they felt it and then turned to see it. Not a lunar eclipse but an explosion that leveled the event center and made them all run further away from the building. People were screaming and then looking for the people they knew. Friends were hugging and crying and then the sounds of fire trucks, police cars, and other emergency vehicles were heard getting closer and closer.

Everyone just looked at each other and then realized that if that one guy hadn’t told them to go see the eclipse that they would have been inside, dead or injured. Most likely dead. 

As the fire trucks started trying to put out the fire the police started talking to those outside and trying to get an idea of who might still be inside. But they were told that everyone came outside, even the people working the event. All of them had been convinced that there was going to be a lunar eclipse and that going outside would be something that would change their lives forever. Something not to be missed.

Eric turned off the TV and rolled over onto his side on the bed. He really had thought there was supposed to be a lunar eclipse that night. Just before he fell asleep he thought to himself, guess I was wrong. Again.