Another Time, Another Place

“Yes, honey,” April said. “I’m fine. My nerves are much better now. I’ll be out in a sec.”

April intently looked at her reflection in the mirror for no reason other than to see if she could view her alternate self. Moments into the hypnotic gaze, a sense of peace overcame her. She didn’t understand why, nor did she question it. She simply felt that a buried desire was about to be answered. As April exited the powder room, Virgil grabbed her cut hand by the wrist, swabbed the cut with peroxide and bandaged the hand.

“Your cut doesn’t look deep,” Virgil said. “It looks to be about a quarter-inch deep. However, it will take a few days before it heals, but you’ll

be fine. And, if I were you, I wouldn’t plan on doing your aerobics class tomorrow,” Virgil suggested.

April regarded her husband’s caring in the same way that his words made her feel. It was a warm sensation already known, yet it felt new as it swept through her. She smiled.

“What?” he said. “The way you’re looking at me, I’d swear you were seeing me for the first time.”

“No. I’m looking at you like I have a husband that adores me,” April responded.

“That I do. You are the core of my universe,” Virgil replied. “And to prove it,” he continued, knowing what he was about to say would please her, “if you really want to work, then by all means make yourself happy.”

April regarded him strangely without an understanding why the statement baffled her. It just did. She stood, walked toward the bedroom and stopped when she saw the bow window. The deadliest part of the storm had subsided and passed over their area just after lightning struck their house. She walked toward the bow window hopeful that the remaining rain dancing on the panes like individual splashes of memory would add clarity to the confusion. She sat in the seating area of the bow window, pulled her knees toward her breasts and watched the rain. After a short moment all of their possessions came into view—the in-ground pool, tennis court and an exercise track. Suddenly, a good part of her felt blessed. Everything that she’d always wanted was before her. She sensed that all the hard work of her life had paid off…and couldn’t understand why Virgil’s comment about working made her feel as though she’d missed something. Virgil approached her from behind, started rubbing her tense shoulders.

“Honey,” April said. “I work?” she asked with a state of confusion displayed on her face. “I mean, I don’t want to work,” she continued tenderly. “I want to continue to be a homemaker. I only ask that you share what’s going on at work. This way I’ll feel connected with it. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to add an insight you could take into consideration.”

Virgil kissed the back of her head. April’s usual comment was, “How was your day?” He always felt that it was the proper thing to ask, but this time he believed she possessed a genuine interest in the company affairs. Something had changed within her. He couldn’t grasp the exact extent of the change, but her persona and sentiment had evolved. Something about her was uniquely different.

“You never cease to amaze me,” Virgil said as he walked away.

He crawled onto the bed and spoke his favorite phrase. The words “thunder from down under” made her giggle as if she’d heard them for the very first time.

“I’ll be in bed shortly,” April said. “The storm has lessened and missing the last part of the rainfall is like skipping the end of a good movie.”

“You get stranger by the day,” Virgil joked.

“You may be on to something,” April responded.

ELEVEN

Ariel watched the gigantic rectangular hole in the backyard’s ground through the bow window. She closed her eyes; she envisioned a pool filled with water. She vaguely recalled already floating in the pool, but the one before her now had yet to be completed. Both visions were real to her; both realizations helped her understand exactly what had happened. She glanced at the bandaged hand and her memory flashed back to the sight of the crack traveling across the bathroom wall. Oddly, she remembered her attempt to move out of harm’s way, but the hand wouldn’t release from the mirror. It was as though her hand was glued to the glass with the strongest epoxy. The sting of the glass cutting her palm replaced the lightning’s electrical energy. A quick pinch of the skin on the wave of natural phenomenon was all it took to allow the essence of another to enter a new soul. Memories, thoughts and feelings transcended between April and Ariel, displaced between another time and another place.

Even stranger was her inability to stop the self-pleasing act. Realistically, she didn’t want to. During the frightful moment she was far too close to the grand finale to be deterred by a lightning strike. To top it off, the sight of the almost identical likeness of herself reflected in the mirror in an identical erotic state demanded a competition between the two before the crack reached them. Neither knew who came first. All they knew was they saw each other at the mystical moment.

“Sweetheart,” Steven said. “Are you sad that the storm has pretty much passed over us?”

“I could watch them for days so I’m satisfied with the two-and-a-half nights of bliss.”

“Understanding that my competition is weaker, I bet I can turn you on tonight.”

Ariel smiled and turned toward her husband.

“You have always stimulated me. Lightning storms excite me in a different manner.”

“How about this?” Steven suggested.

He stood on the bed and the lower pointer finger was erect like a spear with deadly aim. Ariel’s curled legs swung around, straightened and her feet hit the floor with a rapid pace. She was summoned by the magic wand.

“You’re lucky the storm has passed. Otherwise, one might think you’re trying to attract lightning with that thing.” When she touched his member with her hand, the strangest thing happened. A vision of holding a penis with two fingers flashed through her mind. She gazed at the hand holding him in awe. She became amazed at the new reality and allowed the memory of a smaller pleasure tool fade into the distant past. She closed her mouth around a bigger and better treat. It was new; it was different so much that being electrocuted would’ve been considered an understatement. She marveled at the grander size and attacked it with reckless abandonment. April was so pleased to have something to work with; her aggression was well beyond an animal in heat. She became so overbearing with excitement, Steven became apprehensive about the forcefulness.

“Chill for a minute,” Steven said. “This isn’t your last meal before execution. What’s gotten into you?”

“I’m sorry,” she said while holding the hardened member just out of the sanctuary of her mouth. Her warm excited breath blew heavily from her nostrils. “I’m just captivated by your size tonight.”

Steven regarded his spouse strangely.