Date: Wed, 9 Jun 93 11:24:28 EDT From: Tracy Finifter To: alt-ql-creative@cisco.com Subject: "A New Face to Reality" Part 12 Message-Id: "A New Face to Reality" by Tracy E. Finifter Part 12 Sam quietly walked back into the bedroom, wondering what the he should do next. Through the window he could see the sun just emerging from the top of the trees, and the light shining onto Sandy's sleeping form, highlighting the tear stains on her pillow. She had all but told him that she was leaving and unless something happened, and soon, he was afraid Tom's life was going to take the same drastic turns it had in the prior history. Sam turned to face the mirror. Tom's reflection provided no clues and Sam sighed, letting his shoulders slump and looking down on the dresser. His attention was grabbed by a photo album, rather unassuming looking, but captivating nonetheless. Though it was drawing him towards it with a strange hold, Sam was deathly afraid to touch it. It would without a doubt provide another piece of evidence proving that Sam's reality was no longer valid, that his memories were no longer true, and that life as he had known it was gone forever. Still, the brown cover continued to taunt him with a strange promise that within its pages was the clue to set everything right. After nearly a minute of staring at it, he slowly turned the cover, only to face the one image that had already been permanently etched into his memory. Maggie Dawson's last photograph. "Who is he?" came Bingo's sleepy voice from the doorway. Sam looked up, startled. He calmed, and looked back at the picture. "Someone very special," Sam answered. He turned around and looked behind him where Al had quietly appeared, out of sight from the younger Sam. He was still in his dress whites and his face held the same expression as it had in the bar in Vietnam. "Someone who sacrificed his freedom for me." Both he and Al knew that the 'me' had meant Sam, not Tom. The younger Sam was confused, but touched, by Sam's evident caring for the man pictured in the photograph. "Do you know what happened to him?" he asked hesitantly. Sandy, woken by the two 'brothers', got up from the bed and walked over to Sam, putting her arms around him. "No," she said. "And that's what's been disturbing your brother ever since the day when he was in Vietnam and he led the mission to free him. The mission he led on April 8, 1970, which failed." "God, Tom, I'm sorry. I never knew..." "No, don't be sorry," Sam cut in quietly. "I know what happened to him. He came home, found a friend who believed in him and someone he could believe in, and together, they set out to make the world a better place for families like ours." "How do you know all that?" Sandy asked. Sam held his gaze with Al, whose eyes shone with something more than the resignation and acceptance of his fate than they held in Vietnam. Now, the older man's eyes were filled hope and caring, for Sam, and for Sam's family. Sam turned back towards Tom's wife. "Does it matter?" "No," Sandy said. "I guess it doesn't." Her eyes held hope too, whereas only a little earlier they were filled with desperation. Somehow, Sam knew that the turning point Al had mentioned at the beginning of the leap had now been successfully crossed. But his questions weren't answered yet. "Well, I'd better start breakfast," Sandy mentioned. Leaving the room, Bingo followed after her. "I'll help you," he said, leaving Sam and Al alone. "Mission accomplished," Al informed evenly. "Which was?" Sam inquired. "Two-fold," Al replied. "I had to show Tom what happened to the man in that photograph..." "That's why he destroyed himself? Guilt...?" "Yeah, over not completing the mission, over Maggie's death, over a lot of things." "But now he knows..." "Now the one last uncertainty that was never resolved is resolved, and he can go on with his life." "What happens to him now?" "He gets some professional help, but he's not bothered by flashbacks anymore. He and Sandy make a new start, and they're very happy now," Al replied, all without once consulting the handlink. "And the second part of my mission...?" Sam asked. "Was for you to get the peace of mind that the choice I made wasn't for nothing; to let you appreciate that it wasn't only you who gained something back in that leap, but Sandy, Rachel, Karen, and Tom as well. And that's what we were fighting for over there in the first place." Tears were swelling in the younger man's eyes, but they never fell. He turned back towards the mirror and took one last look at Tom's image in the mirror. He closed the photo album, secure in the comfort that he was closing a chapter of his life that hadn't been able to be closed, but now could be. Looking back at Al, Sam smiled. "Thank you, Al," he said as the blue light of leaping carried him away. * Tracy Finifter | "Life is what happens to you while * * finifter@gandalf.rutgers.edu | your busy making other plans." * * Douglass College, Rutgers University | - John Lennon *