Silent Partner ...Finale ...Channeling Another Time
― John Lennon
I joined Ruskin House so I could be part of a philanthropic work but had no idea what I was getting into.
I couldn't fathom the mysterious goings-on around the office and felt unequal to the task I was assigned.
I felt I had no alternative but to resign and amazingly as soon as I came to that realization a secret panel clicked open in the wall opposite me and I was invited into the director's inner sanctum.
It was there I discovered that the firm's guiding light, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, was in fact not just a silent benefactor but also a phantom partner.
It turned out he was a spirit and the beautiful secretary with whom I had been infatuated was also a wraith.
Upon experiencing these revelations, my head was whirling and I felt shaky and faint.
“You’re telling me Jeannie is a ghost, like you?” I croaked.
The phantom held up a hand to stop me. “Oh no, my boy—she’s a ghost all right, but not like me. I’m incorporeal, but she can manifest. She has the ability to re-materialize as long as she remains in this locality. We’re all different, and we all have limitations, and that is hers.”
I tried to process this new fact. “You mean she has to remain in this building?”
“She’s not confined to a building, but a locality. Our office is located here in this tiny Victorian village on the fringes of Toronto, and so far she’s found she can manifest materially if she stays within these borders. It’s not too bad—not terribly confining.”
“I see. So, she’s flesh and blood like me as long as she stays within her allotted territory.”
He smiled, “something like that.”
His explanation made sense but didn't explain everything.
“But even if that’s the case, that doesn’t account for the way she treats me. Why does she dislike me so much?”
“Ah, but that’s just it, my boy—she doesn’t. The fact is she likes you very much and it pains her. She avoids you so she won’t become too close to you. She feels if you both fell in love, it’d be too much to ask for you to give up traveling and seeing the world and be limited to life in this small village.”
“Well, I’d like to have the option of making that choice.”
“Well then, why not stay and give your relationship a chance?”
A silent partner who’s a ghost and a matchmaker—yeah, that sounds about right. Well, it’s typical of my life right now.
I’m continuing to work at Ruskin House and exploring my possibilities.
Actually, life in that other realm is very much like ours, once you get used to it. Admittedly, Anthony gets frustrated at times when he can’t catch hold of things—but then, that’s why he has me.
As for Jeannie, she’s beginning to warm up. We’re not dating or anything, but we are talking.
Unlike Anthony, she lived in a different time closer to mine—only separated by a a few generations.
I’m learning a lot about the 60’s music and fashion—that was her era, before the microchip revolutionized our lives.
I’m starting to like those 60’s business suits, Audrey Hepburn dresses and vintage perfumes and lipsticks.
I can even take Petula Clark singing Downtown ad nauseam on her scratchy vinyl records because the words resonate with me.
Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to
Guide them along.
I like the way you left it to the reader to provide his own ending - but for me, I do not see you left me any choice. He is committed. Anybody who can listen to Downtown more than twice a year is in love.
Yes, he is committed- as for the song, it bore some nostalgia for me - a simpler time, perhaps - we all need something to help us through :)
Sometimes you almost manage to make yourself sound as old as me
:)
Actually, I do like the song...and many more of that period.
ha ha...age is a number, Arthur - Shakespeare wrote, Thou hast neither youth nor age but as it were a kind of after-dinner sleep - I think people pick an age - say, thirty-five, and spend the rest of their life there....Okay, that's what I do, but until I get to the point where I can't actually do something, I do it. I tend to stay in that zone without putting limits on myself such as, is this style too young/old for me? Am I acting my age? Whatever that means - hell, I've never acted my age and besides what's age got to do with it?
Age was important in the old days, as elders were shown respect and often asked their opinion. Then, we were wise; now, no one wants to know our opinion exactly because of age...
Yes, the youth culture dominates nowadays exacerbated by rapidly changing technological advances of which the older generation is largely ignorant - but even if one stays abreast of technology anyone over 35 is considered 'older' - strangely enough, that same phenomenon occurred in the 60's and the motto was, "Don't trust anyone over 35". The more things change, the more they remain the same, lol
Shakespeare - as with everyone else, he had at least two faces, his public one as shown also in his writing, and his private one when alone with friends or when at a pub. I seem to recall him morosely staring into his ale and moaning about old age being a crock full of turds...or something like that.
:)
Yes, he wasn't exactly an outstanding individual and could be very spiteful - in his will he left almost nothing to his wife, except for his 'second best' bed....brutal.
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