It had been a long time since she moved into the house. She loved the country which surrounded it. Just a few miles from the beach and yet there were hills and mountains all around. Sometimes movie companies would come into the area to shoot films. Westerns mostly because of the back drop of the landscape.
It was her, her husband and two children. Her daughter and her son. The life was good and the children grew up and most if not all about life was good. Then the great war came and the son joined the Army-Air Corps.
One day, an officer visited her in her home and gave her the news she had been dreading. Her son served his country well and had made the ultimate sacrifice. It was hard news. The kind a parent never wants to hear. She never really recovered from this. His room was kept as it had been when he left. Memories of his childhood and then high school days. Good memories. At the same time, sad memories because, there was one inescapable truth. He was gone. She continued to live in the beautiful home, in the beautiful countryside, not far from the ocean and in the mountains. Burning blue skies, deer and coyote and other wildlife all around. One day her beautiful country side would become a park, where others would come to enjoy its beauty and escape their lives in the city. Where other mothers and other sons would come to enjoy some time together. But not her son.
Life carried on as life does. Changes happen and eventually change caught up with her.
These days there are times, when many strangers are camping in her beautiful countryside. Just on the other side of the road and the fence, outside her house. She watches them from an upstairs window and enjoys seeing the children play and she likes to people watch. All kinds of people come to camp just outside her house.
When she is not watching the people, she is taking care of her house. She tends to her son's room. The house is not as it once was. Strange changes take place in her home. The bedrooms seem to have become offices now and people wearing beige and green uniforms with badges and insignias strange to her. Not all the people wear uniforms though. Some are women and they seem very nice. Its nice to have people around and even though they are strangers in her home, she doesn't mind it as much, as she did at first. She never liked being alone and they do not stay all the time. They leave at night and go away. Perhaps to their own familes and homes but they always come back. Sometimes, some people go away and others take their place.
One day, one of the ladies she knows, who she sees most days in the house, had some new strangers over. These people were unusual. They came in asking questions about things happening in the house. They asked about her and about her son and her daughter. They asked the lady she had heard or seen any strange things in the house. "Strange things in my house?" She wondered.
She watched the strangers for a while as they laid out the stuff they had brought with them. Strange devices. Some familiar and some not. She knows what a camera is and they all had cameras. They were taking pictures. Some had funny little movie cameras and others had little boxes that worked like tape recorders. They all sat down, around the big table in what use to be her dining room and they asked that whomever was there to effect their devices and tell them things. "Whomever was there?" she thought. "Who did they think was there?"
These strange people were very intrusive. They ran about the house and didn't ask her permission. Some went into her son's room and they asked questions in there. They walked about the house and asked questions as they walked about. They were everywhere. She would tell them "Please do not come in here" She asked them to leave her son's room and she would say many things to them. Some they heard when they replayed their recorders and they all seemed very pleased.
Soon they would pack up the equipment, say their goodbyes to each other and the lady she knew. Some even thanked her for allowing them into her home and asked that she not attach herself to their energies and follow them home. "Good Lord!" she thought to herself. "Why would she follow them home and leave her own beautiful home?" She was sure they would return as she heard them talk about it to the lady she knew.
After they were gone, she sat down and enjoyed the quiet. As she thought about her son and many things. The thought crossed her mind, "Why are they here?"
REPRODUCTION OF THIS STORY WITHOUT MY PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED
It was her, her husband and two children. Her daughter and her son. The life was good and the children grew up and most if not all about life was good. Then the great war came and the son joined the Army-Air Corps.
One day, an officer visited her in her home and gave her the news she had been dreading. Her son served his country well and had made the ultimate sacrifice. It was hard news. The kind a parent never wants to hear. She never really recovered from this. His room was kept as it had been when he left. Memories of his childhood and then high school days. Good memories. At the same time, sad memories because, there was one inescapable truth. He was gone. She continued to live in the beautiful home, in the beautiful countryside, not far from the ocean and in the mountains. Burning blue skies, deer and coyote and other wildlife all around. One day her beautiful country side would become a park, where others would come to enjoy its beauty and escape their lives in the city. Where other mothers and other sons would come to enjoy some time together. But not her son.
Life carried on as life does. Changes happen and eventually change caught up with her.
These days there are times, when many strangers are camping in her beautiful countryside. Just on the other side of the road and the fence, outside her house. She watches them from an upstairs window and enjoys seeing the children play and she likes to people watch. All kinds of people come to camp just outside her house.
When she is not watching the people, she is taking care of her house. She tends to her son's room. The house is not as it once was. Strange changes take place in her home. The bedrooms seem to have become offices now and people wearing beige and green uniforms with badges and insignias strange to her. Not all the people wear uniforms though. Some are women and they seem very nice. Its nice to have people around and even though they are strangers in her home, she doesn't mind it as much, as she did at first. She never liked being alone and they do not stay all the time. They leave at night and go away. Perhaps to their own familes and homes but they always come back. Sometimes, some people go away and others take their place.
One day, one of the ladies she knows, who she sees most days in the house, had some new strangers over. These people were unusual. They came in asking questions about things happening in the house. They asked about her and about her son and her daughter. They asked the lady she had heard or seen any strange things in the house. "Strange things in my house?" She wondered.
She watched the strangers for a while as they laid out the stuff they had brought with them. Strange devices. Some familiar and some not. She knows what a camera is and they all had cameras. They were taking pictures. Some had funny little movie cameras and others had little boxes that worked like tape recorders. They all sat down, around the big table in what use to be her dining room and they asked that whomever was there to effect their devices and tell them things. "Whomever was there?" she thought. "Who did they think was there?"
These strange people were very intrusive. They ran about the house and didn't ask her permission. Some went into her son's room and they asked questions in there. They walked about the house and asked questions as they walked about. They were everywhere. She would tell them "Please do not come in here" She asked them to leave her son's room and she would say many things to them. Some they heard when they replayed their recorders and they all seemed very pleased.
Soon they would pack up the equipment, say their goodbyes to each other and the lady she knew. Some even thanked her for allowing them into her home and asked that she not attach herself to their energies and follow them home. "Good Lord!" she thought to herself. "Why would she follow them home and leave her own beautiful home?" She was sure they would return as she heard them talk about it to the lady she knew.
After they were gone, she sat down and enjoyed the quiet. As she thought about her son and many things. The thought crossed her mind, "Why are they here?"
REPRODUCTION OF THIS STORY WITHOUT MY PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED