Intro:
Lucille and Brent knew each
other from long ago. So long ago that when they first saw each other in a
crowded Iowa bar the long estranged childhood friends didn't at first realize
they were reunited. Lucille scribbled down her email on a napkin, and then
promptly spilled her martini on it. So she filled out another and was sure to
get it into a sober bartenders hands to be delivered to the other side of the
packed establishment.
When
Brent got the napkin and saw the email, containing the name of his long lost
childhood friend he didn't believe it—at first. It had to be some coincidence,
he told himself walking home that night to his place in the trendy East Village
neighborhood adjacent to downtown. Brent was the kind of guy who didn't rush
into things, but certainly who didn't forget about people from his past. So he
sent an email the next day to see what would happen.
Lucille
replied, and fate set the long estranged friends in motion back toward each
other. But this time they weren't children playing in the fields and woods
around Bristol, this time they were adults in a world that had been hard on
them. They both wanted to meet, but it took a few weeks for their schedules to
line up. Timing, fate, everything seemed to be lining up. They both wondered if
this wouldn't be the start of something very special. Neither was sure, and
neither would be able to live with the doubt of what could have been.
As
the appointed time for the meeting approaches Lucille's thoughts start to race.
Her heart speeds up while time seems to slow down. What will happen? What will
she do? Read on to find out!
World of Echos
Lucille
Middleton hadn't seen Brent Ramsey in years, but here she was, waiting for him
at a park. They hadn't really known where to meet when they found out that they
were both living in the small town of Des Moines, Iowa. They'd both grown up to
make something of themselves, Lucille becoming a teacher and Brent, she learned
from him recently in jilted communiques, was a pilot. Really they had smaller
jobs inside of the bigger machine that were the movers and shakers of the
Midwestern town—Lucille taught the children of the middle class that worked at
the huge insurance firms at Des Moines heart, and Brent flew the more important
parents all around the world whenever the need arose. There had been other
options but it hadn't seemed appropriate to meet for the first time after so
long, and being separated so tragically, at some chain restaurant, or even at
places that were fancier and offered more privacy.
Lucille
tried not to think about the past. It wasn't something she liked to dwell on,
especially since so much time had passed and there wasn't really any reason to
think back across the gulf that had widened between her and the events that
always seemed to be waiting on the edges of her dreams. Back in Bristol, when
she'd been a kid and everything had been great. From what she remembered
anyway. That was the funny thing about memory, she'd learned in recent years,
sometimes it had a way of fooling you.
As
she looked out across the park, which was just north of the Des Moines
International Airport and comprised mostly of a serene lake surrounded by a
paved walking path and a fringe of woods. She'd heard there was a family of
eagles that were roosting not far from the lake. The public had been instructed
by local authorities through the media not to interact with the wildlife, no
matter how good their intentions. Lucille wondered if she'd be able to contain
herself if she saw one of the parent eagles out flying around the lake,
swooping down to snatch a fish from the water's surface. Moments like these
were why Lucille always found it worthwhile to come to Gray's Lake. It wasn't
that it was tucked away, in fact, it was very centrally located. It was
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