Little Cherine Book 08 - BPost049
“Maybe we should leave it for tomorrow?”My heart sank, but I sat up. “Tell me Cherine. Who and why.”
“No, tell me now. Sam?”
5381
“Sam?” She laughed. “Pappou, should I be jealous, it is always Sam this and Samantha that.” She got her laugh, but her face was tender when she turned back to me. “She has her problems, but she’ll work her way through them. Robert, I was talking about Candy.”
I could feel the panic growing in me and I was not helped when Iziko roughly demanded to know what is wrong with her.
“Robert, you really have not noticed? How many years has she been a five year old? Free her heart also my love. She needs our help. I saw it some time ago, but I kept on putting it off, hoping our love would heal her fears.”
“What fears. Cherine, please don’t play with me, tell me outright, have I done something wrong?”
“Not you, her father. Why do you think she is locked into the age of five? It was after she was five that her father began to hurt her. Maybe something inside her thinks that if she stays five she will not be hurt?”
“Oh god love, how can I help her? Themi?”
“My kind of therapy could take a year or two Roberto, your way is better.”
“But what do I do? How do I convince her subconscious that it is safe for her to grow up?”
Iziko growled, “Is she safe? Is she not adored because of who she is, as she is?”
“Are you suggesting we should leave her as she is?”
Cherine told me, “No. Robert, you cannot cure her just with love. We’ve all loved her enough to make any child happy and confident. You must find another way.”
“Cherine, you’ve had time to think of this, any ideas?”
“None. I’m sorry.” She buried her face against Alki. “Pappou, I’m sorry I had to spoil this day for him. It just felt to me like he can do anything after what he has already done today.”
I walked over to her and crouched by her side, my hand on the back of her neck. “I’m only angry with myself for not realising a long time ago - or rather, not facing what I already knew, and dealing with it. You have not spoilt my day love, it is still the most wonderful I’ve lived through for a long time. Go back to our loves and relax, enjoy being with your Robert. Has he shared with you his last experiences?”
“You are my Robert. No, he does not want to.”
“I’m glad. I just wish he could share with you the love that carried him while he faded into nothing, his very last thoughts of you holding his heart open and loving almost beyond his last conscious thought. Share that from Syrina, if he will not. Tell him I ask, would I have left my loves with any man who loves you less than I do? Go and heal him with your cheeky smile.”
“We told him about the other Robert, the one that used to be the Shadow and he wants to meet him.”
“He will be proud of him my love.”
I wanted to spend the rest of the night walking or sitting by myself, but Samuel stuck by me, refusing to leave me alone. After I told him for the tenth time to go home he asked me, laconically, sort of tongue-in-cheek, whether I was trying to make certain Samantha never loves him. I laughed.
“I hope today did not give you any wrong ideas.”
He grabbed my shoulder and swung me around so that I faced him. “Tonight seems to be your night for strangeness and strong emotions. Samantha thinks I hate you and when you are hunted I will be one of the hunters.” His fingers dug into me. “I make you this promise; whether I think you are wrong or right, I will suspend judgement and stand by you. If you are wrong, when it is over, you will have to face me.”
5382
“Why stand by me then?”
“I am convinced that those who hunt you will be even more wrong - anyway, I do not join hunting packs, I take care of my problems on a one to one basis. I have a suggestion if you will listen to me. It is about Candy.”
“First Syrina, now you! What a day. Of course I will listen.”
“Send her on an adventure with Wendy. Block her memories so that she only remembers her five year old memories and thinks Wendy is her mother, real or adopted. It would be good for Wendy also.”
“An adventure, it might work. Where though and what kind of adventure?”
“Ask Arthur for a world of fantasy with dragons and magicians.” He laughed. “Perhaps the wizard who helps them is Christós?”
“With faeries, elves and goblins? Samuel, you and I are more alike than you may wish, we are both romantics. I’ll throw the idea at my girls.”
“Look! Is that the Vatican?” He was suddenly staring at our screens.
I groaned. “Shit, they sure choose their moments. Freddie, call for volunteers please.”
“I have done so Robert. Sparklers and Anadir are there already and about eight hundred others are on hand, ready to save lives.”
“Not just lives Freddie! The Vatican has some of the greatest art treasures in the world, it must be protected.”
“Hettie and Eddie promise to watch over your art works Robert.”
I asked Samuel, “Did that sound patronising of Freddie or is it my imagination?”
“The Pope has spoken out against us, I would not be surprised if your concerns over the property of the Church upset him.”
I sat on a rock. “Sometimes it gets too much.” I drifted off in my mind and when I returned hours later I found he was gone. Samantha certainly has a gift for making strange friends.
I returned home in the early hours of morning and found it empty. I could not go to bed so I made coffee and sat smoking as I watched Freddie bring us dawn. I cannot say what my feelings were. At times it felt good knowing I’d helped liberate my love from her guilt, and then their absence would make me feel sad. I was happy my girls are with him and felt he deserves this time with them, but on the other hand, I thought of how much I have changed since he split off from me and because I know my loves miss the Robert I used to be, I fear they will choose to stay with him. We all love to dramatise such moments and imagine the worst scenarios we can imagine. I was no exception. Let us say that what is good in me was happy, but the rest of me gave me hell.
The hours passed without anyone coming to me. Despite myself, a dark rock of bitterness grew in me. Not bitterness at my loves and friends, it was only aimed at myself. I first thought of Candy, and from her my thoughts travelled in a logical order so that I thought of my Cherine, Samantha and so on, until I’d seen how every one of my loves has been failed by me at one time or another. If they had not watched out for each other and helped me see the need or pain in the one I had to help, if they had not found answers for me most of the times, how long would I have carried on without doing anything?
I examined the ways I have changed since the splitting of my soul and compared how sensitive I had been to my loves and the way I have become. I do not regret saving or helping various species and people, but it became apparent to me I have changed the focus of my existence, become too obsessed with being the protector of all life to remain the true protector of my primes.
I suppressed my need for my loves so that I could find the courage to see myself clearly and determine what will best benefit my loves. Painfully I came to the conclusion that the Robert we have brought back is a better Robert than I, that he will be a true protector for our loves. As he had acknowledged (showing the courage to admit the truth that I had lacked), neither of us can bear to share our loves.
5383
I did not dare allow myself to feel the pain for then all would have sensed me. I cut off the part of me that needed to scream at the agony that threatened to overwhelm me and tried to think of what I must do and the messages I have to leave.
My loves, I have left this on the screen so that you know that my absence is not a reason for you to torture yourselves. I have not left because of any lack of love from you. The opposite is true. I have to leave because I know how much you love me. This Robert is a part of the Robert I leave with you, love him and forget this one who does not deserve you. He will be a true Robert for you and I am certain he will not allow his primes to take second place as I have done.
Robert, keep our dream alive, help all worlds become Cherinians so that our loves can become The Light alongside Cherine. If you are successful, you might someday help the world I am going to and make me a Cherinian again, a wiser Cherinian with the correct priorities this time. Do not fear that I will return to claim our loves as mine, all I will keep for myself are the slivers, so that they help me grow and keep my heart open to love. I will keep a space reserved for my sweet Rania and I will fill it with love in the hope that she forgives me for leaving before she was born.
Patera, you have a mind that always sees clearly and your heart is the fort that protects my family. Be strong for my loves and help all Cherinians stay as one so that no human need ever suffer again.
Goodbye.
I have chosen a world that does not have a Cherine or Robert. Lynda saw it a long time ago and because it was so close to the way ours is in all other ways, we did not visit it. I timed my arrival so that I would arrive late in the year 2004.
I do not want my departure to be seen as a sacrifice, so I did bring with me a few things to make life easier for me. From the cash held in Freddie I took $400,000 plus €300,000. I copied our diary onto an old CD I still had, and I took, I hope I am forgiven, a recent picture by Jade. It is a family portrait she made about three months ago. I am not in it, she had painted all of them as a gift for me.
I did not dare cut my link as Cherine would have felt it. It does not matter, as being in a new reality without a Cherine means it does not exist anymore. I did not want to mention it in the diary, but before leaving I did block off all the powers from Eddie. I still have most of the gifts from Cherine, so I had to give my healer specific orders. It will not automatically heal me. It will allow me to age and only rejuvenate me when I give it a direct order. If I am not in a position to decide and my life is about to end, it is allowed to save me. I owe it to my loves that my soul and their slivers are not wasted.
There are many reasons for me not to stay in Athens. My loves might see my departure as a sacrifice, I fear Robert may also, despite my last words. The first place they will search is in every Athens and so it is where I will stay so that they can stop searching a little sooner (if they decide to search). Being here will also be a constant reminder of my loves, but I don’t care. This is my home and I welcome the pain of memories. I have no wish to forget my loves.
Arthur, will you keep me company?
It has been two weeks now, Arthur, please reply. If you are angry with me I will understand, just reply please.
5384
I have been here one month now. I do not believe Arthur would refuse to speak to me out of anger, I think that because the diary remains in Freddie he cannot see my writing here. That means it is safe for me to write, my family will not see my words either, just as I don’t see theirs. Since my life here as a Normal (in most ways) is bound to be boring, it is just as well my entries will remain private.
Why am I writing? Because I’m afraid. With time certain gifts seem to have become permanent so that we can jump without Cherine and still be able to return. None of us have ever stayed away for more than a few weeks. What if they are not permanent? I do not fear losing my other gifts, but I live in terror of losing my Cherinian memory and the ability to feel the slivers I hold.
I am reserving at least an hour every day for using my gifts in the hope that practice will keep the doors open.
I arrived here via three other non-Cherine worlds, keeping a watch in all three for anyone following me. The first weeks I spent searching for a small house close to Kefalari. I also bought all the financial magazines and newspapers and searched the Stock Market pages. I have identified two new software companies and one hardware company that multiplied in value in our reality. I spent a few days jumping to countries where the banking laws are more relaxed and opened accounts. I deposited small amounts (10,000 of each currency). I will return in one month and if they have not identified the notes as being duplicates of the local ones, I will transfer the money to an offshore tax haven. From there I will make my investments.
Keeping in mind the many comments about my driving skills, I bought a car large enough to protect me should I crash. I found my usual supplier of art materials and with a good stock in my boot I drove out of Athens.
Since winter is coming and there are very few tourists, I was able to find a house in a seaside town for a low rental. I have a good view of the sea and I can hear the fishermen when they return with their catch of the day.
I spent my first weeks painting portraits of my loves. The portrait of Alki took pride of place, positioned where I can see it each time I return home, though I am aware that my subconscious is playing games with me. His face was painted with the serene look of strength and love I treasure and yet, each time I enter my home and see his face, his eyes seem to stare into mine with a sad reproval, as if I betrayed him.
The television weather report warned of bad weather over the next three days, so I got up early this Thursday to buy fish from the boats when they come in. I had to wait a while as they moored and placed their catch on shore in baskets. I thought about what a cliché such scenes have become in the art world. An idea came to me so I moved out on the quay and looked back at the boats with the houses in the background.
A week later I carried my painting to the quay and waited for Giorgio to finish delivering his catch. I gestured for him to come to me. Since I often buy from him he walked over, no doubt curious also about what the canvas portrayed. I stood where he would also be able to see the picture and felt him when he saw it. The picture was of him, his rough hand and the side of his face identifying him. He was looking towards the village with a tired but tender look as his son ran towards him, the little face showing his love for his father.
“Do you want it?”
“How much?”
“Have I succeeded? Can you see the love in his eyes for you?”
“Yes.”
“That was the price. Take the picture so that it reminds you of how much you are loved. You think of yourself as a poor fisherman Giorgio, it is not true, you are wealthier than most men who are rich with money.”
“I cannot take it for nothing!”
5385
“I got from it what I wanted, it is yours now.” I handed over the canvas and snapped shut the easel and walked back home.
I still do not understand people. I could live in a beautiful house, frequent exclusive clubs and make friends with those who are wealthy or powerful, and not one of them would know me. Here, in the village, I keep to myself, only go to the local kafeneio for a coffee and sit by myself, do my shopping and walk along the rocky beach for hours, staying in my house the rest of the time. The men do not realise my hearing is better than average and I hear them talking while I have my coffee. They speak of me as being a tortured soul and a saint. I know it is not true, for I maintain my block so that I cannot feel anything too strongly, but it does makes me cringe. Luckily something happened that amused me, preventing me from totally insulating myself in self-pity.
A woman who is having an affair was given money by her lover to help her, as her husband is not employed out of the tourist season. She must have worried as to how she would explain it to her family and she came up with a clever idea. She told everyone that she saw me walk past her house, stop for a moment at her mailbox and then leave. When she looked inside she found €40. Next thing I knew I was being blamed for anything good happening. Her lover and I did exchange amused glances once, but neither of us spoke about it. I did my best to keep away from her husband.
I had no intention of staying in the village for long, so I did not mind, but it did get me thinking about how I should live my life in this world. A recluse who dabbles in art, or a man who honours the role he was meant to play? Once I allowed myself to become troubled by such thoughts, it was no surprise that my sleep was filled by nightmares. Luckily none of them were about my loves. They left me alone, as if respecting my decision.
I returned to my house in Kefalari and my dreams changed. The message was obvious, but I needed time to think about it.
I have been seeing abused children. They cry for me and I feel their despair as I run away.
Paul, my stock broker in New York, called me in March 2005 to let me know that one of the companies I had invested $100,000 in has received a take-over bid and their shares are now five times the value I had bought them at. I instructed him to sell, send me $100,000 and use the balance in a new company that had just placed their stock on NASDAQ. I phoned Tasso and asked him to call on me.
“My business is private and I must be certain you will keep it private.” He reassured me he would. “Are you willing to leave the company you are employed by and work for me exclusively? I will pay you €4,000 per month plus expenses.”
“What kind of work?”
“Some detective work, but mostly arranging documentation for people who need it.”
I felt his disappointment, he had been excited by the high salary I’d offered. “I’m sorry, I do not want to get involved in anything illegal.”
“Even if it saves lives?”
“Not if they are criminals.”
“Tasso, what if they are children?”
“Illegal adoptions? I’m sorry.”
“Let me tell you about one of them.” I told him about Aganthi. I must have been too explicit in the details for he was sickened. “None of the children will be adopted by me. I have someone else in mind, if I find him and he agrees. He will be responsible for all the abused children we help. He is a good man and loves children. He must have papers to show they are his or else he could end up in jail.”
He finally agreed to find Aganthi for me as a private job and I gave him an advance. Now I had to find Allan. I jumped to Johannesburg.
5386
His friend had never met him. I went to the house of his brother, but he has never lived there. I asked a detective agency to trace him, but they did not find him. I was about to give up when I took a chance and looked for his sister. She is still married to her first husband, but nobody knows where they are. The detective agency found them. They are in London.
“Allan? He lives in Chelsea. He has an apartment overlooking the river Thames.” She gave me his address. I was pleased to find she does not have the severe medical problems ours had, but I sent my healer to fix her anyway.
I bought a laptop, installed Office and copied our diary.
When I rang the doorbell he asked who it is. “My name is Robert Teller. I met your sister and she suggested I call on you here.”
“She told me you visited her and asked for me. I’m sorry, I do not think I wish to meet you.”
I leant closer to the grill. “Does the name Little Cherine mean anything to you?”
“It does not.”
“If I told you she has extrasensory powers, would you be interested?”
“You obviously have done your homework and know I’m interested in the paranormal, but I have no wish to meet with you. I don’t like liars Mr Teller.”
“I did not really lie.”
“My sister did not suggest you meet me. Good afternoon Mr Teller.”
“I said she suggested I meet you here. That was not entirely a lie. I have flown all the way from Greece to meet you, give me at least ten minutes.”
I know my Allans, they are softies and I persuaded him to let me in. Once he had, I knew he would be too polite to throw me out.
“Can I offer you a drink?”
“If coffee is not too much trouble I would enjoy it. No sugar, white please.”
I could feel I had cheesed him off, but he politely said he would have one also so I set up my laptop while he made coffee. As he carried the mugs towards me, it was obvious he thought I was a salesman and was irritated.
“Do you believe in alternate realities?”
“Why, are you going to sell me one?”
It took me a second or two to realise he had cracked a joke. I decided he may be different, but I like him and I’m going to get him.
I sipped my coffee. “The Allan I know is different from you. I should have found out more about you before coming here. Allan, this reality does not have a Cherine, mine does. Because of her we have a kind of magic your reality does not have. I have brought our diary for you to read, but before I give it to you, I think I should give you some proof first or else you will not read it the way you should.” I felt him get the shakes. “I promise you, you will not be hurt.”
“If it is true, why come to me?”
“You have a gift I need.”
“I haven’t. I know.”
“Actually, you have a couple of gifts. You probably do not think of them as gifts. One of them is a wild imagination. You see, I told you that you would not think of it as a gift.”
As I’m getting used to with all Allans, his mind shot off at an angle. “You are not going to do card tricks to prove you have powers? I hate card tricks.”
5387
I grinned for the first time since coming here. “No, nothing as boring as that, I hate card tricks also. How about teleportation? If I take you to a beach outside of Dar es Salaam for supper, would that be proof enough for you?”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“I…I think I better take a spare pair of trousers and underpants with, I’ll probably end up crapping in my pants.” He was trying to use humour to cover his fear, so I sent my healer to him.
I stood up. “It’s better if we both are standing, I might not find a chair for you there and you’ll fall on your arse.” I reached out and he touched me after hesitating.
“God!” He was violently shaking. “I’ve dreamt of this, just wishing I could have one experience to prove paranormal powers exist. Thank you.” Bemused by his thanking me while still shaking, his knees ready to give way, I suddenly felt I loved him as I should have loved my Allan. I kept talking, giving him time to recover before walking to the restaurant. We got a table and I ordered for both of us.
“Doesn’t drinking beer affect your ability to…”
“No. You can also smoke if you want, I will.”
“It goes against everything the gurus say.”
“Just like driving a car, it is not a good idea jumping while you are drunk, but it won’t affect your ability to jump.”
“Why have you come to me? I mean, surely you have to keep your powers secret?”
“An alternate of yours gave us our powers, Allan, we prefer to call them gifts.”
“You can’t use them to kill?”
“Not even to hurt - usually.”
“I’m not going to ask.”
“You won’t need to, you’ll understand when you read the diary. Allan, let us just say that I am a compulsive protector, especially of children.”
“Are you going to help me get any of the gifts?”
“We don’t have a Cherine, I can’t do much for you.”
He ate for a while as his mind raced. “Is my gift something that will help you get back to…Cherine?”
“No. I can never return.”
“Are you going to vanish after I’ve helped you?”
“It depends on you. You might decide you won’t help.”
“I have the feeling I won’t have a choice.”
“Once you start, you won’t.”
“Can you read my mind?” He was starving for proof of other gifts and I promised he would experience them all.
He phoned me that same night. “This is disgusting Robert! Are you admitting you have sex with children?”
“Where have you got to?”
5388
“With Dommi. With others too?”
“Please try not to judge until you’ve read at least up to Book 03.”
He phoned the next day. “Are you certain there isn’t a Cherine on this world? I mean, this reality?”
“Yes.”
“A pity. It might be just as well, I feel I might fall in love with her if she does exist here.”
He kept on phoning me. Not to ask for explanations. He was so obviously in love with the idea of us existing that I knew I could have cut it short by telling him what I wanted him for and he would have volunteered. I waited.
He called and I could tell he had the shakes again. “Am I right, is this Arthur guy my alternate?”
“Yes.”
“You mean we only exist in his imagination?”
I jumped to his apartment. Startled he put down the phone.
“Allan, don’t torture yourself with questions about Arthur. We’ve done so for nearly half a century and we still don’t have the answers.”
“But, for all this,” he waved at the room, “the whole planet, the sun, the moon, our galaxy, for it all to exist only in his mind, it is not possible Robert. You must have misunderstood him.”
I could feel that for the first time he truly was upset. “He is not a god in that sense Allan. I know you believe that every human being is potentially his own god, so think of him that way. You will learn about assuming later, just read the whole diary as I keep telling you.”
After that he did not call until he finished reading. When he called, I jumped to him.
“How did you type our last conversation since I had the computer?”
“What!” I took a look and saw he was right. I quickly switched the laptop off and jumped back home, switched off my computer and returned to him.
He shocked me by showing he understood. “You are afraid your family are also getting it all?”
“They are not my family anymore.”
“They are not his, not the other Robert, you know that?”
I was reacting so violently that I might have hurt him. I jumped to a beach in Cyprus and walked for hours. I returned to him well after midnight. He was waiting for me, the laptop on and re-reading our diary. I thought he was going to start on me again, but his mind had already taken an intuitive leap. “After Aganthi? Theresa? What about Maria and Marita?”
“How do I help Maria and Marita? I cannot create bodies for them.”
“You’ll have to find a way!”
“I’m not linked Allan, I can’t.”
“Link, shlink…who cares? You are the Protector Robert, you will find a way. I think you can, if it is for a child that needs your help.”
“You want them? You really want them!”
“The others are yours Robert, those two, maybe I could love them?”
“They are all yours Allan. I am not looking to substitute the ones I loved.”
5389
“Do you remember what was written about the Allans, that they never spoke in the past tense about their father? Are you less true in your love Robert, how can you use the past tense?”
“You know I’ve blocked that part of myself! Stop trying to reach through!”
“I wasn’t aware that I was. Perhaps, now that you mention it, that is the real reason you came looking for me?”
I don’t remember when I was last in such a rage. In a cold fury I saw the fear in his eyes as I spoke, “Go to hell!” I jumped back home.
If he’d had the ability to jump to me, I know I would have smacked him in the face with my knuckles. I kept on pacing through my house until morning, my thoughts mostly on the things I wanted to say to him, wanting to wound him. It was nearly lunchtime when I recalled I had left the laptop in his home. I knew he had to go to his office, so I jumped to get it. He was waiting for me.
“Tell me in detail what it is you want from me.”
“Nothing! I came for the laptop.”
“Nonsense! You would not allow the girls to continue suffering because you are angry with me. What were you planning?”
If I had not felt how he struggled to breathe from fear I might have done otherwise. I sat opposite him and told him.
“I don’t need your money Robert, I own two ships and I am well off. I was lucky in that I got the ships when the market had bottomed out and I have good charters. I have invested enough to keep me in luxury for the rest of my life - even if I have a dozen girls. Let us say that you save the girls and they live with me, maybe even love me. Do you really think you could live next door and be a sort of uncle who drops in now and then? You will not look at Aganthi, for example, and hate the thought of her in my bed?”
“I have no choice.”
“Then your dream is smaller than mine.”
“What is your dream?” To be honest, I was being sarcastic.
“I would like to be your fellow protector.”
“You have no gifts, how do you plan to help?”
“We save or find all the girls of your…of the family. You get a Cherine and Robert to come here, split themselves and this becomes a world of Cherinians. You and I then move on to the next reality without a Cherine and do what we did here. Could you make me a part of such a dream Robert? Two wandering protectors who never have a family or home of their own, but still help to spread love and Cherinianism?”
“You…” I could not speak. A suspicion flashed through my mind and I stared at him with awe and fear. “Are you Arthur?”
“You’re joking! I’m sorry, Robert, I had not even heard of you before you came to me. I think you have paid me the ultimate compliment, thank you. So, you like my dream?”
“You haven’t thought it out fully. Allan, it would mean you will never know what it is like to love and be loved.”
“Do you really think so? Do you truly believe I will not love the girls we gather, in every reality? Seeing them become Cherinians, do you think, will not make me happy?”
“Are you certain you are not Arthur?”
5390
“We are all Arthur, Robert. Even you. We are all authors and if we use our imagination to spread love and Cherinianism, are we not also Arthurs?”
“If we do as you say, you would never become a Cherinian. There are realities where the Cherinians do not have an Allan, wouldn’t you like for me to take you there? They would love you.”
“Maybe someday, when you are a Cherinian again. Robert, you are wrong, you fear to write in your diary because you think the words are appearing in your original diary and it will help the girls find you. If the words do appear, then they have already done so. Do not steal the comfort your words will give them. It will strengthen them so that they can wait for you to see how wrong you are and return to them. You know that I am terrified of you, but I swear, if we are to be together, I will never stop trying to force you to grow up. We better concentrate for now on how we go about saving the girls. I also suggest you choose the next reality so that we invest there from now. We must have enough money to leave the new Cherinians in each reality self-sufficient, just in case they do not have an Alki.”
All that I have written above happened just over two years ago. We have lived the dream of Allan and have helped seven new realities acquire their own Cherine and Robert. In six of them we found an Allan. The Cherine and Robert who do not have one have asked him to join them as soon as he can. I shall be glad to be rid of him, for he has been a constant thorn in my side all this time.
I guess you will have heard from the various Cherines that we called upon to split themselves, so not much of this will be news to you. I thought I should give you time to prepare yourselves, we are coming back. I convinced Allan to agree to go to his Cherine if I return to you with him and he sees for himself that I was right, that you have your own Robert now. Robert, I will return two weeks after my departure, but do not fear, I am not returning to challenge you. You are a better Robert and not only does each Cherine deserve a Robert, she deserves the best one.
Chapter Two Hundred Twenty Nine
Cherine has asked me to write here. She may have done so because I have never been a part of the writing of the diary, but I also felt the whole family wanted me to write because of the love they feel for me.
I am no longer the Allan that Robert found. My experiences have altered me to such an extent that I would no longer recognise myself if I went back in time to the day he first called on me. I do not know what has had the strongest effect on me. Having to live these two years with someone as impossible as Robert; finding the girls in each reality and sharing in their pain or, seeing them after they have become Cherinians. I was right, I did fall in love with each Cherine and every girl we helped.
The girls will share the memories and show the highlights in their tellings so I do not feel compelled to write of our two years. I think the homecoming of Robert is what I should write about. I will begin just before he wrote to the girls, which was after the last world of Cherinians came into existence.
As Robert made abundantly clear in his writing, I am a coward and do not handle strong emotions well. After the splitting for the seventh time of a Cherine, Robert and some of the other girls and then the linking of the girls Robert and I had found for them, I needed time far from everyone so as to regain my equilibrium. I was taken to Cyprus, I booked into a hotel and then went for long walks by myself. After a day Robert came walking in search of me. He asked me to sit on a rock as he had something to tell me.
“You are a stubborn bastard and I do not think I can stomach going to another reality with you.” My mouth went dry, but I tried to preserve my dignity by only nodding. “There you go, you are doing it again. Why, since you know I can sense your emoting. Shit! I wouldn’t be surprised if they can sense you back in Freddie.”
“That was not polite of you.”
He laughed and rested his hand on my shoulder. “You expect me to be polite? You are not gracious in victory. I’m giving in, bested by a damn Normal! Not that I consider you a normal ‘Normal’.” He laughed. “Our next stop is Freddie. It is time you become a Cherinian, you have a home waiting for you Allan.”
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)8th February, 2020
- posted: 8th February, 2020
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