Saving Eddie (Abridged)
By Hallett German
.v02i November 8th 2014
Copyright 2014 Hallett German
Illustrated by Alessandra R. German
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Works by Author:
Series Books
Amazi Chronicles:
Story #1: How I Overcame My Inventor's Block
Book #1: Automatons for Peace
Book #2: Translators for Peace (Future)
Corporate Intent:
Story #1: Missing Profits?
Book #1: Missing Employees?
Book #2: Missing Owner?
Book #3: Missing Company?
Book #4: Missing Syndicate?
Olivia Plymouth, International Traveler and Fashion Consultant:
Story #1: Joyous Travel with the Wrong Suitcase
Book #1: Brazilian Quest
Book #2: Boston Wedding
Book #3 The Year Fashion Changed (Future)
Book #4 TBD (Future)
Non-Series Books
Combustible Networks
Ghosts vs. Robots!
In Small Doses (A Collection of Short Stories)
In Small Doses 2 (A Collection of Short Stories)
In Small Doses 3 (A Collection of Short Stories)
Killing Thoreau
Saving Eddie
Why I Document (Short Stories)
Musings (Non-Fiction Collection)
More details at https://sites.google.com/site/hallettgermanfiction
Cover Art Credit:
Elleth-stock at Deviantart.com
Cartermark at freeimages.com
Chapter 0: Preface
While not known at the time, this book began when the following appeared in Killing Thoreau:
Helen started to talk and Henry calmly listened. Perhaps she was talking about the publication of a popular work that came out earlier that year by an unusual author called Edgar Allan Poe named The Raven. Henry would have liked the somber nature of the poem and the use of The Raven as a character device.
But the "real" beginning came much later. In July 2014, I watched an online video on Edgar Allan Poe and his stay in Poe Cottage. I had visited there several times in the past. Also, I had spent time in many of the same cities and locations where he lived. After the video, I was intrigued to learn more about this unusual and brilliant man. It is fascinating how much that we do not know about him. The major reason for this uncertainty is the many question marks, curious omissions, and contradictory accounts about his life. Because Poe’s life is largely an unsolved mystery, it makes him an attractive subject to explore in a fictional work.
Fellow poet Arthur Rimbaud wrote on how life consists of a series of seasons. A season is an intense emotional period in one’s life concluding with sequences of painful moments and redefining realizations. Edgar Allan Poe’s life has many such periods. Some of these are the result of bad luck and others are self-inflicted. This work covers below seven such seasons. They
were times filled with loss, growth, confrontation, and reinvention. Although there was much sorrow in his life, Edgar experienced many happy moments. These are covered below as well.
Both Thoreau and Poe had older brothers that died before them and one or more sisters that outlived them. Poe’s brother had a bigger impact on him than is usually acknowledged. This work explores their bonds.
Saving Eddie presents a unique viewpoint on Edgar Allan Poe and his life. It is told mostly through two fictitious journals/diaries. One is the imaginary words of his real life short-lived brother. His name is William Henry Leonard Poe or commonly called Henry Poe. Very little is known about Henry. The second are the initially romantic rantings of Phoebe Susan Grey which starts in Chapter Four. She is an imaginary female admirer of Poe that watches his activities mostly from a safe distance. Her transformation while observing Edgar’s life is a key part of the story. An otherworldly set of "answers" to some of the unknown circumstances of Poe’s life is provided. Many of Poe’s fans are not happy with any published biography whether historical or fictional. They want less about this topic and more about that one. Certain choices are made herein that may not be popular with all readers. These are covered in the References chapter. Still, I hope that the overall product is entertaining.
In many ways, Edgar Allan Poe is far ahead of his time. One has to wonder how he would fit in and react if he lived today. Would he end up as an artist instead? Would he become an indie e-book author so not to be subjected to the whims of today’s publishing market? Would he be a richer man than he was in his time? Would the healthcare systems of today save any of his ailing loves? Finally, would he be tormented by the capabilities of today’s weapons of war? We will never know the answers and can only speculate.
My journey exploring his life is completed and you are holding the result. It is my wish that you have as much fun reading it as I did writing this work. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Prologue (1826)
Although he did not know it at the time, Thomas Jefferson was engaged in the last year of his long life. He had retired in 1809 after a successful forty-year career serving the young United States of America including two terms as its President. At eighty-three, he was still an imposing figure with a 6’ 3" frame, penetrating eyes, and white hair kept a little longer and wilder these days. His time was largely confined to staying at his home Monticello-- the "little mountain." Just under half of his life was consumed with the building and perfecting of this masterpiece. This included creating the twisting, narrow wooded roads called roundabouts that encircled the mountain where his home resided; horticultural and agricultural projects growing the various seeds sent by admirers; modifying popular inventions; spending time with his two daughters, their husbands, and grandchildren; and acting as gracious host for the nearly nonstop parade of visitors. He also had accumulated over $100,000 in debts from living beyond his means, lax bill collection, and accumulating financial obligations from friends and family. There were many
mouths to feed including his family, over a hundred slaves, and his ever-constant stream of guests. A large house with five thousand acres meant constant upkeep. But as years went on, some of this needed work was neglected due to Jefferson’s last big endeavor.
In the early part of 1826, his time was focused largely on what he called "his last act of usefulness that he could render." And that effort was creating a University to teach the sciences, be free of religious influences, and would espouse the ideals that he thought all students should aspire for. Jefferson strongly believed that a well-educated populace would bring about self-government, conquer apathy, and harness the human condition. His thumbprint was all over this newborn enterprise including choosing the faculty and first batch of students, designing the layout and buildings of his academic village, choosing what will be served in the student’s daily meals, and planning a thousand other small details to make the birth of this new organization a success.
He had several ways to gauge the relative success of his creation. The first technique was looking out from his property (i.e. the North Pavilion) with his spyglass on the construction of the campus buildings. He would review progress regularly.
A second method checking on the source of his worry was putting on his brown and black riding boots, head down the mountaintop on horseback, and visit the University six miles away. Once arrived, he took on the role of Rector and Founder. The school was in the middle of its second term (year) with just under two-hundred students and a handful of teachers. It was based on the ideals that Jefferson envisioned. The staff were well-versed in their subjects including ancient and modern languages, mathematics, philosophy, electives, and more. But, the students were far from the moral scholars that he had envisioned. There were frequent reports of fighting, gambling, and partaking in other unsavory vices on and off campus. To curtail this behavior, students were punished immediately and expelled if caught. But, the idealistic Jefferson then refrained from continuing the punitive approach and started promoting self-government as an alternative. Over time, the school environment improved and the number of graduates with prominent legacies grew.
The last way to study the relative health of his creation was the most personal of the three. Almost every Sunday, he would invite a select group of students and faculty to Monticello to dine and converse. A student dare not refuse this request from their Rector. Because if the invitation was turned down, a second more insistent request would come from Mr. Jefferson. The former president did not like to take no for an answer. Thanks to the availability of countless folding tables, dinners at Monticello could serve up to fifty visitors. But for his University diners, he liked to keep things intimate. As with his faculty, the ten dinner attendees were handpicked. The right combination of students and faculty were needed to maintain a memorable but orderly meeting of like-minded gentlemen. He was always careful not to invite conversation killers. These included avoiding students that would keep their tongue to themselves and be quiet all night. At the other end, any young man that would make a spectacle of themselves or monopolize the conversation would not be welcomed.
Mr. Jefferson carefully chose the students for next week’s Sunday dinner. There were four chairs yet to fill. He had come to the name of Edgar Allan Poe and was debating internally to include him or not.
He had seen him watch intently the construction of the new library and school building. Jefferson himself designed this new building, the Rotunda. The Rector loved to go to the second floor of the uncompleted building and gaze across the vast expanse of area known as The Lawn. It was the one place where he could see the campus all at once. And, he could dream of what the University could become.
He had also seen Mr. Poe many times immersed deeply in a set of books from the current University library. He could see readily that the young man was lost in reading and wanted to capture all of the knowledge that he could. This student looked so entranced in his thick books that Jefferson refrained from making contact. This side of the undergraduate in question made him a worthy attendee.
The faculty provided him notes on each student and this was a major factor in Jefferson’s dinner selection. This is what he read on Mr. Poe:
Master Poe is an excellent student of various languages including Latin and French. We find him most of time to be orderly, intelligent, serious, and quiet. He has shown interest in joining the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society. E.A. Poe was born of parents that both belonged to the unsavory profession of actors. After their deaths, he was adopted by a wealthy family in neighboring Richmond. Young Edgar is said to be enamored with a young woman back home. With his fellow students, he has been rumored to stray into the the nearby Ragged Mountains on occasion. Once, they did this to avoid arrest. Originally living on the West Lawn with Miles George, this appears to be terminated after a gentlemen’s disagreement over some unknown subject. So, Master Poe moved to the unruly West Range that was more to his liking. There is hearsay that he holds mysterious nightly sessions in his room. One catches a whisper that these late night gatherings allow the room’s sole inhabitant to recite recent poems and stories that he found time to create between studies. This is accompanied by his creative depictions of key scenes on his domicile’s walls. He creates these offerings by using pieces of charcoal. And most disturbing, has been persistent talk of frequent gambling, occasional drinking, and increasing his already large debt all over town by over purchasing fine garments to cover his personage. His associates are also known to have the same loose hold on moral restraints.
The owner of Monticello put aside his notes and paused. This activity was taking more out of him that he admitted. His hand was hurting when he wrote. No, he would pass on Mr. Poe. This bright student would upset the gentle balance and bring far too much attention to himself. However, as compensation, he would pass on to the smart young man, some literary and philosophical recommendations to be awaiting him at the University’s library.
The dinner party was a success and no one was the wiser about the small list of dropped attendees. Including Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. The seventeen-year-old Poe appreciated Mr.
Jefferson’s advice and read thoroughly each recommendation. In December of that year, Edgar Allan Poe made it to the base of Monticello. On a rainy and windswept day, he was one of the few students that said his goodbye to the former Rector while he was buried. Then, a few days later, the emerging writer of seventeen left Charlottesville to redefine himself still again.
Chapter 2: Season 1: Rudderless (1811)
Henry Poe’s Journal
Eliza and David
Hallo, ghostly and living creatures of the earthy plane! When I was alive, my name was William Henry Leonard Poe or Henry Poe for friends. I lived a short and frantic existence and died during my twenty-fourth year. I passed through one situation to another, frivolously and without much success. Then after a downturn of much personal excess, I expired prematurely.
Then, I left the Earth for an indeterminate period. Where I was and what I did during that time is unknown. Still, a small part of me knows that something took place. Afterwards, I returned to my birth planet but in a different form. This time, I became a ghost, a specter, a wight, a glimpse of light seen momentarily out of the corner of one’s eye. Making this new adjustment was quick. But there were still things to learn. Early in my ghostly "career," I ran into another of my kind. Typically, fellow ghosts avoid each other’s company and spend their days and nights in solitary company. However, this experienced "colleague" had a rare fit of kindness. Seeing how lost I was as a new spirit, she took pity on me and mentioned the various benefits of being an apparition. As said already, you have as much time as needed to do whatever you wish. Without the necessity to eat, sleep, go to a job, or commit any of our former sins, a ghost’s calendar is far from filled.
Having frittered away invaluable years in a human body with bouts of desperation, I wanted this new "lifespan" to be of some value. So my thoughts returned to my two siblings and finding a solution to save them. I have found a good use to dealing constantly with more free time than I need. It can be filled by going backwards or forwards during the lifetimes of my parents, my siblings, and myself. That covers the years 1784 (my father David Poe Jr.’s birth) to 1874 (my sister Rosalie’s passing). In addition, I run sometimes into ghosts from a later timeframe that can tell me what has happened up to your time. That gift provides me an additional perspective of seeing what took place before and after my lifespan. This helps me reflect on how well we had lived during our duration on this planet. Often, I revisit and relive each of my own and my family’s lives. I see now the countless hardships endured and how we raced recklessly through the few hours that we are given. We are all an unfortunate lot.
But, Edgar and yours truly bore the brunt of misfortune’s calling. Yes, there were occasional encounters and short periods of happiness. However, the two of us often made the wrong choice at inopportune times, and were pursued by bad luck all of the other times. Still, we bodiless
forms have a slight chance to do some good. We get one and only one opportunity to break the cycle of ill fortune and set things right. If I can select a point in Eddie’s life where my intervention can make a difference, then I can materialize briefly and try to change his course for the better. This rare gift needs to be used wisely.
Ah, Eddie, there are so many things that I would do differently now. I did not appreciate how dear you are to me. I did not see how much that you loved me. Forced by society to inhabit different places, we did not have much chance to spend time together. And the time that we had was used unwisely. You and, to a lesser degree, Rosalie are so precious to me. I plan to do this small act to show my love. Nearly all of my time is consumed with my unfulfilled mission -- to find a way to save you. After that, I can move on with peace and perhaps contentment to whatever the next stage in my becoming will be.
Once again, I will review your life and determine where I could make the most difference.
If there is a good place to begin, it is reviewing of the events of 1811. That year is the start of the dissolution of Elizabeth and David Poe’s small family. Our mother, Elizabeth or informally called Eliza undergoes many dramatic changes in her short, difficult life of twenty-four years. She is born in England. When she reaches age nine, Eliza loses her father, makes her stage premiere, and moves to the United States. Three years later, her mother dies as well. At age fifteen, she is an established actress and is married for the first time. Three years later, her husband’s life expires. Eliza is growing up still and is a widow already at age eighteen. Fortunately, she would not retain that status for long. Love would come her way again in less than a year. She will marry my father, David Poe Jr in 1806. Eliza has three children between the years of 1807 and 1810. After the arrival of the last child, in 1811, my father leaves my mother. And all too soon, both of my parents die. Those that know the family story see my parents as tragic victims of the so-called "Poe Curse." However, there is no curse befalling my family. It is just hard living and misfortune being present more than desired.
The four short years that my parents spend together is an intense lifetime. In public, they are both actors and often share the same stage. David Jr. does not follow his parent’s wishes of becoming a lawyer. Instead, he joins the publically disreputable profession of becoming an actor. In contrast, Eliza had been on stage since a child and watched her mother perform many times. So, the theater is a surrogate parent and natural home for her. They travel and perform hundreds of different roles throughout their short careers including those works of the immortal Bard. In private, they are too drained to give much love to each other or their children.
A happy life together for this young family is not meant to be. An actor’s life wears hard on a tender soul. It means spending time each night in a different city, adjusting to multiple role changes (often at the last minute), pleasing fickle audiences, and keeping the harsh critics at bay. In time, this is too much for our father. There is never enough money for feeding his young children. My father’s acting career starts to dry up after a series of bad reviews. In reaction, David Jr. takes his constant, intense rage inward and begins to drink increasingly. Eventually he can no longer be responsible as a husband and parent, and abandons his wife and young family. My mother bravely keeps things going for a little while longer, both performing and raising a
family. She relies on the help of the acting community and many fans. Sadly, her fate is still tied to her husband’s. Under mysterious circumstances, my father passes away on the same day of her last performance on stage. Without any assistance from the Poe family, her financial and familial burden proves too heavy a weight to bear. Three months later in December, she breathes for the last time after a bout of tuberculosis. She is only twenty-four. I never could forget the emotional ordeal as a young child, sitting by her bedside, watching her suffer needlessly until the end mercifully came. Now she is with the angels who have the pleasure of looking at her gentle gaze, agreeable visage, and flowing hair with irresistible curls. Rest in peace, my dear mother. I am now like you, parentless at a young age. This is a hard fact for me to deal with at age four.
Family Breakup
Sometimes we make a choice, and other times, a choice is imposed on us. I am too young to attend my mother’s funeral. Nor am I present when the inevitable division of the family survivors takes place. We are not separated like cattle or spoils of war. Due to reasons unknown, my grandparents could only take in one of us. I am the fortunate one to move in with them. I also receive a lock of my mother’s hair as a memento. Instead of relatives, two sets of stepparents raise my brother and sister. From that moment on, we all experienced mutually a lifetime of rootlessness. It would scar each of us emotionally in different ways.
My mother made a great impression on some of Richmond’s local patrons of the arts. One of these is Frances Allan who adored my mother. She is married to soon-to-be prosperous tobacco merchant John Allan. The two-year-old Edgar is entrusted (but never formally adopted) by the Allan’s.
The Allan’s marriage is childless. (Although Mr. Alan leaves illegitimate twin heirs in his wake.) However, something must have stirred in frail Frances’ heart seeing this thin, helpless, and homeless child of her favorite actress. After some convincing and pleading, her husband John agrees to bring Edgar, the actor’s child, to his home. But I sense that he is never at peace with this decision. Edgar is supposed to be only a temporary visitor. However, he will be with the Allans for some time to come. At thirty-two years old, John is stubborn and well set in his ways. Edgar adds Allan as his middle name to cement the ties to his new family. But there seems always to be an unspoken and sizable rift with his foster father. John does what he can to make Edgar forget that he is a Poe. This includes limiting visits with his brother and sister, delaying responses to the surviving Poes on Edgar’s health, and being the keeper of Eliza’s mementos to Edgar. This includes her sketches, letters, and portrait. Eliza’s loss is a gnawing and unspeakable pain in young Edgar’s life. Therefore, John Allan’s attempt to obliterate and deny his stepson’s past are not taken kindly by Edgar. Still, Edgar never forgets his past and one of his treasured possessions is a miniature of his mother.
A Richmond family will adopt Rosalie also. Jane Mackenzie is another devoted fan of Eliza Poe and runs a school. She and wealthy husband William legally adopt her. In time, there will be ten children as well as Rosalie. During much of Poe’s life, he will have a strained correspondence with his sister. Sadly, their relationship is never a close one.
With this unfortunate start, one sees easily why my brother and sister feel so untethered and have so much discontent throughout their existence. Providence is fortunate that we remained in contact as much as we did.
I end this journal entry with one unfortunate postscript. Edgar is away from Richmond when the theater where our mother performed catches fire and the seventy lives quickly are extinguished. It is as if some unseen force tries to wipe out all evidence of her existence from our lives. But the citizens of Richmond replace soon the theater with a church which Poe and the Allans will attend.
It may be awhile until I write again. I want to stay in 1811 a little longer and relive the above events. There may be some new insights to gain.
For more information about Saving Eddie go to https://sites.google.com/site/hallettgermanfiction/non-series-books/Saving-Eddie
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About the Author
Hallett German is a fiction and technical subject author on various aspects of IT. His works of fiction cross multiple genres including children, young adult, dysfunctional corporate mysteries/fantasies, historical fiction, and steampunk. His books offer a unique and original ride into other worlds and lives. His books can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/hallettgermanfiction/