Savior of Ages

Reunion

Lenny was on his feet in less than a second running to his brother. He saw the smoking hole in the center of Ben’s shirt. He checked for a pulse in his brothers neck and found it steady and strong. He saw no blood so he scooped up his brother and made a dash for the cellar.

 

The cellar was more a disused World War II bomb shelter than an actual cellar. They used it for a canned good storage, poker night and riding out storms. The way Ben looked their little hide out was about to become a triage and possibly surgery.

 

Lenny lay his brother across the old walnut dining table they used for the monthly poker game. To Lenny’s amazement there was still not a drop of blood soaking through Ben’s shirt. All he could see was a fist sized hole burned through the center of his brother’s shirt.

 

Ben seemed to be breathing well and his heart rate was strong and steady as a rock. Lenny went to the small makeshift kitchen they used for canning and making chili for poker night. He got clean towels, soap and hot water. 

Returning to Ben’s side he used his pocket knife to cut Ben’s shirt from his body so he could asses the damage. At the exact moment Ben’s shirt fell open so did Lenny’s mouth.

In the center of Ben’s chest there was a shining jewel imbedded through the skin. Lenny had never seen anything like it. It was beautiful to behold. Striking and mesmerizing at the same time. The color never stayed constant. Almost like an oil sheen on water in sunlight. It seemed to have light radiating out from it that had a sort of rhythmic cadence to it’s pulses.

Lenny grabbed Ben’s wrist and to his utter astonishment the Jewel was pulsing to the beat of Ben’s heart.

 

Lenny could resist no longer the allure of the pulsing, shining, ever changing beauty of the Jewel. He reached out his hand and gently touched it with the lightest of feathery touches his hard callused hands could offer.

 

Ben’s eyes flashed open as he sat up gasping for breath screaming, “Please don’t die brother.” over and over. His eyes focused on Lenny and he calmed down realizing his brother was in no danger.

 

He looked down and saw he was missing his shirt and lying on the card table. He could not see the Jewel imbedded high in the center of his chest from his perspective.

 

“Lenny, what happened to me? Why am I half dressed and on the card table?”

 

Lenny couldn’t seem to find words so he went and found the mirror the used for throwing trick shots at the dart board. When he held the mirror up in front of Ben his mouth fell open.

 

“What on God’s green earth is on my chest Lenny?” Ben said with not a small amount of fear in his voice.

 

Lenny’s reply was slow coming but this was normal for him. He always had been one to think before speaking.

 

Finally after much thought Lenny looked his older brother in the eye and said, “not a damn thing” .

 

Now Ben was extremely confused. “What the Hell is that supposed to mean? I see some kind of crazy crystal thing in my chest.”

 

“Now you’re a little closer. How I see it is that nothing from God’s green earth is on you, but something from the Heavens has found it’s way in you.”

 

“Smart ass” Ben said while getting up from the table.

 

Lenny always had been one to find levity in bad situations. When things were looking bleak he would find someway to make everyone around him find a smile. Even if for just a moment.

 

To Ben’s surprise and relief nothing hurt. Not one thing. His back had been hurting for over a year and his left knee for even longer. No pain at all when he got up. Not even where the Jewel had embedded in his chest. He felt as though he was a teenage boy again, but it was more than just that. He had never felt this alive. It was beyond his limited experience with the euphoric things in life to even come up with a rudimentary explanation for how he felt.

 

He told Lenny what he was feeling and Lenny confirmed that he was walking straight and his limp was gone.

 

The stormed seemed to be over so they ventured outside. What they saw stole away the good mood from Ben’s miraculous survival.

 

The barn was a mangled husk of burned timbers and the house much the same.

 

“What are we gonna do Ben?” Lenny said with a hitch in his voice.

 

“We got some kin in town. All we can do is pray they don’t turn us out. I need to go see Doc anyway. Just because I feel damn good don’t mean I ain’t going to die.”

 

Lenny nodded his agreement and they started walking. The old pickup they used for hauling grain was a smoking pile of scrap and the horses had either run off or been killed in the barn. All they could do was walk.

Ben looked around at the devastation. They had lost everything. All of the savings they had put back for the hard winter months were up in flames burning along with the house. All the livestock was either dead or gone and their crops were destroyed. Thing were looking bleak.

 

The walk into town was a long one. It was close to thirty miles with not much in between but a few scattered farms that didn’t seem to have fared any better than theirs.

 

About four hours into the journey a car came along the old red dirt road and skidded to a stop just past them. The reverse lights came on and it spun up dirt as it sped back to them. The doors flew open and their cousin Jimmy and his brother Bill came flying out.

 

“We saw on the news about the meteor shower and I told Jimmy we’d best come check on you guys.” Bill said.

 

“Good thing we did to. Lenny looks like he’s about to pass out from this heat and all the walking.” Jimmy said eyeing Ben curiously. “Ben, how do feel? You don’t even look like you’ve worked up a good sweat yet.”

 

“I feel great Jimmy. That’s the thing. I’ve never felt better. My aches and pains are gone, my thoughts are clear and I think it’s because of this.” 

 

Ben pulled his shirt open as he said the last line and Jimmy and Bill gasped when they saw the fist sized Jewel in Ben’s chest.

 

Bill was literally entranced by the beauty of the stone. “Can I touch it?” he asked.

 

Ben was hesitant but agreed with a slow nod of his head. After all Bill was his cousin and in his book that was just as close as brother.

 

Bill slowly reached for the shimmering, pulsing beauty of the Jewel. It enthralled his mind and all he could think was that it was probably worth a Large fortune.