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The New
A short story by gregory@injersey.com
I was quite surprised to see how quickly my Internet
mail had connected and how I only had one letter. Rarely was I ever connected
easily or not burdened by junk mail. My surprise instantly changed to anxiety.
Visions of the past, present and future overcame me. I did not seem to
make my own choices but was governed by the actions of my body like a puppet
on a string. I felt week and wanted to sit though I quickly grabbed a pencil
and paper to write the information down that I had waited for thirty-five
years to come. The message read, I would like to do the interview with
you on July seventh of the thirty fifth year. Please arrive in the morning.
The letter was dated thirty five years prior. The directions were clear
and I knew that if I left in one hour I could arrive by sunup in the morning.
It would take twelve hours for me to arrive. I shouted to my husband "William
come here" he came running into the room, thinking I was hurt. I looked
at him and thought I must look like him right now, he was pale with wonder.
He stared at me for a moment and he looked at the letter on the screen.
He then said, "look at the date". At that moment the letter disappeared
and the screen went blank. As he and I looked again at each other it seemed
as if I saw my reflection in his eyes. He knew what I wanted to say. "You
will have to go alone, I will call Theresa (our daughter), you can make
it there by morning" he said and his face then turned back to his
regular and he went to the garage to check over the automobile. I gathered
some food, a recorder, a writing pad, and all of my pertaining notes, writings
and information that I had safely placed in the cedar closet in the attic,
they were in a leather briefcase just where I had put them many years ago.
The flow of my emotions had began to overwhelm me and I began to feel slightly
faint again when William yelled from the door "going to juice up the
car, be right back". The door slammed and the phone rang. "Hello"
I said, " where are you going tonight mom?" my daughter Theresa
said. I told her "I have an interview", "an interview, for
who" she asked, "I am working on my own on this" I said,
Theresa was worried. It was late Saturday afternoon and she was very concerned.
She wanted to know where, why, how, and every other question she could
think of in a blast of questions that were spoken in one minute. I said
"I have an interview with him in the morning". Theresa was speechless,
I had told her a bit about him after she had learned in college about him
and how he said he would give one interview, and that would be to me. I
said, "I will be home as soon as possible and I will call you tomorrow
night, I love you and everything is alright". As I placed the things
that I would bring with me I went to the front porch, William pulled the
car up and he neatly placed everything on the front seat. He opened the
door for me and stood back as I went to get inside "thank you love"
I said to him and stopped for a feeling of extreme sadness came upon me.
In an instant I saw everything William had been to me. He truly loves me
and he had given me my child. I was saddened by the thought of if he never
was, then I could never have been who I am today. I stared at him for a
minute, at the same time we said; "I love you". He closed the
car door and I was on my way. I drove out of town to the highway; my whole
life seemed to be passing before me. I then began to remember the beginning
of the assignment I was chosen for thirty-five years ago.
I had just finished a article about a young teenage couple
who had killed there newborn child and put the child in a garbage dumpster.
The young couple was sentenced to prison for years. I was then working
on an article about two boys who had opened fire with semi automatic weapons
on their classmates at the time. The two boys were eleven years old and
they killed 14 children. No one could make sense of why the children were
killing each other in this horrible manner. It was the second story of
that nature I had worked on that month, I was very disturbed about these
articles, as anyone should be, mostly because these actions were happening
so often and spreading across the country at an alarming rate. My not so
nice boss (Clyde) had left a note in my mailbox saying, I need a woman’s
libber woman to cover another woman’s rights story, and you are
the one. Clyde had been picking on me since I did my first article on woman’s
rights and had always treated the woman colleges like ants building a bridge
for him. A bridge he thought would take him higher in the company. Clyde
had been sitting with his feet up on his desk when I entered his office
"you are going to love this one, this guy is trying to cash in on
his girlfriends abortion" Clyde said. I was shocked at his statement
as it still is imprinted in my memory today "what" I said, for
that was all I could say. He then explained as if it was some kind of joke,
that a man has filed suet against a abortion clinic in another state for
the affliction of calamity upon him from the negligent acts of industry.
"Calamity" said Clyde, laughing and reaching for his dictionary,
I thought I new what it meant but the meaning changed to me when he read
it out loud, "one: a state of deep distress or misery caused by major
misfortune or loss, two: an extraordinarily grave event marked by great
loss and lasting distress and affliction. See disaster." Clyde spoke
this as to mock the whole case "a big waste of money, and who cares
about abortions anyway" he said. I was shocked with how he presented
me with the information, mainly for my personal reasons though also I thought,
for a senior reporter he was out of line. He continued though the facts
of this story greatly interested me. My husband and I had been trying for
a child for six years and we had given up hope, I refused to try any form
of fertility drugs or treatment for I had studied this and felt the risk
of experiencing some of the exposed horrors was not an option. This made
me relate with this incident. The news of this case was spreading, mainly
because most believed he had no right to try to gather any reward from
the decision of the mother and to the large amount of money he was suing
for. Most believed the case would not be even make it to court. My feelings
were that of curiosity to view something that seemed so unusually cold,
a man trying to get money from something he must not really care about.
I staid in a bed and breakfast owned by a foreign couple the same age as
me. They had a five-year-old son with dark curly hair. The young boy was
what I remembered most of the bed and breakfast. He would be waiting for
me every morning that I was there. On the first day of the proceedings
the defense for the abortion clinic and the lawyer for the plaintiff did
the work they needed to do. There was one other reporter and myself to
cover the story. The courtroom was a newly built building. The plaintiff’s
lawyer was a middle aged small - red hared man with very white skin. There
were three men for the defense, these men were very strong looking men,
and it seemed that if it even made it to trial this little man would be
crushed. After waiting for two days it was announced the case would be
heard in one month. For the next month I did a lot of research about some
of the past abortion cases. Of all the cases the landmark case Roe v. Wade
1973 moved me most. Roe, the woman claiming to be raped had sued the district
attorney Wade for her right to choose an abortion and have it performed
if she wished so. Although the case was granted in her favor, by the time
the ruling was granted she had already had the child and given the child
up for adoption. She later seeked out and found her child, then a grown
woman. Learning who her real mother was appalled her and she would not
speak with her mother. The daughter did later speak with her. Roe went
on to be a big supporter of the pro-life movement, she died.
As I drove on through the night I saw visions of the
past going by as quickly as the trees along the side of the road. Dusk
was now coming upon me; I reached to turn on the headlights manually, taking
my eyes off of the road for a fraction of a second. As I looked back forward
a big bolt of lightning crossed horizontally across the sky, a storm was
up ahead. The lightning had sent an instant sharp fear into me and I saw
the remembrance of the first time I saw him. The time had passed and the
case was ready to be heard. The courtroom was half filled with people.
It was hard to tell who the people were. I thought mabey they were reporters,
pro-choice, pro-life, religious people, or just people interested in the
case. It did seem like something was really happening there. The jury was
selected, a mix of every different races and ages. His lawyer was well
dressed in a multi colored suit; he was neatly organized with an extra
large amount of paperwork and He had a very determined look about him.
The three men defense team was wearing matching dark colored suits; they
were well organized with an air of confidence that seemed unbeatable. I
started to get the feeling that no one had ever seen this man. I asked
a few people around me if anyone had ever seen him and they all said no.
The judge came in and sat down, he questioned the mans attorney, as he
did the man came walking from the back of the courtroom and stood next
to his attorney. He starred straight ahead. I did not see his face because
I was reading my notes at the time, he stood very still. From the back
he was a slightly tall, medium build, straight brown hair, and had broad
shoulders. As I looked closer at him I saw he did not move, he stood completely
still. That day he stood in front of the bench for hours, completely still.
I saw how extraordinarily strong he was. At the end of the first day he
walked by himself to the front of the courtroom and through a door that
led somewhere into the building. As he closed the door behind him I felt
this man was very alone. I walked back to the bed and breakfast that first
day. On the way home I picked up a pinecone from the ground and continued
walking. As I began to wonder about the mother of the aborted child my
briefcase slipped out of my hands, when I picked up the brief case I realized
that I securely held the pinecone in my hand and I would not let go to
free my hand to pick up the papers that I had dropped.
The news of the case seemed to gather some more interest
as the days passed and more people came to see the case. He stayed the
same. Every day he would walk in alone from the back of the courtroom and
stand completely still for all day and walk out the front at the end of
the day. I seemed to miss seeing his face every time, only to catch a glimpse
from the side on a few occasions. He seemed to become stronger every day
with a cold determination that was solid as a rock. As he would stand there,
his lawyer would talk to him from his side, he seeming to be answering
questions and guiding his lawyer without moving or saying a word.
As the weeks went by, more people began coming to the
trial, the news had spread. Some people were arguing back and forth about
rights, freedom, liberty, life, live and let live, society, burden, and
everything else imaginatable. Every day the courtroom would become more
and more active until he entered the room. When he entered everything went
quite, maybe people were waiting and hoping to hear him speak or maybe
they were afraid of him, what ever the reason it would always get completely
silent. Silently he seemed to be starting a small war. On the third week
of the trial an extra lawyer came to help represent him. The extra lawyer
sat and studied the books through the trial. His main lawyer Tim would
consult back and forth between him and the other lawyer. He seemed to be
building something. As the case went on every other day another lawyer
would join his team. The once strong defense team looked as if they were
just plain. It was day before the hard facts were presented when he seemed
to become angry. His expression was still the same, he stood all day completely
still like a statue though I thought I could feel his anger. The next morning
more lawyers than the day before backed him up It was unlike what I have
seen or heard of in the courts before. Tim would stand next to him for
moments and then walk to the other lawyers. Back and forth all day. They
were all so seriously presented by their power; their team grew to seven
men and five women.
The defense had called him to the stand. As he was sworn
in I stared at him, only to see his strong features from the side. He turned
and faced the courtroom for the first time. He looked so very cold and
determined. He looked over the courtroom so coldly, as if he was personally
blaming every person for the death of his child. He then stopped and starred
straight at me, I became breathless, his eyes were so very large, looking
at me as to judge me, to sentence me, and I was terrified. He then sat
down for the first time since the trial began. The defense asked him many
questions. He would still not speak a word. Tim answered all of the questions.
The questions of how he was an orphan and was abandoned at birth. He worked
at the church Christmas tree farm growing the trees from seeds until they
were ready for sale. How he earned only minimum wages and lived in a one-bedroom
cottage. How he did not have a birth certificate and who raised him and
questions about family values and principles. The questions the defense
asked were related and unrelated to the case. Then the question of how
did you meet the mother. All went silent with a spooky feeling "she
came for a tree, I gave her the tree" he said. Those were the first
and only words he spoke until the closing statement of the case. More witnesses
were called, representatives of the churches he was raised with and worked
at. The questions if he was a suitable father to raise a child, if this
was a suitable environment to raise a child and more and more questions.
The teachers who raised him were questioned. He was educated in all the
aspects of learning. They all spoke as if he was taught many things and
they spoke as if in some ways he was teaching them. They all were proud
of him. The defense was trying to build a character of him that was not
appropriate to be a father. They tried to claim his surroundings and his
upbringing was not worthy of fatherhood. It just was going nowhere and
he was being put on trial. After his testimony he went back to his place
at his table and continued to stand again. The doctors for the abortion
clinic were brought to the witness stand and questioned by Tim, was there
a healthy heartbeat of the unborn child at the time of the abortion? The
answer was yes. Was the child given any blessing before or after the child’s
death, the answer was no. What did they do with the dead child body afterwards?
The remains were sent to a disposal unit. Still he did not move and faced
straight ahead. More witnesses had been called and the testimonies went
on. The mother of the child had finally taken the stand. Through her testimony
she was asked many questions though she spoke only twice, "I asked
him for a tree" was her answer to how did you meet him. "Yes"
was her answer to the question if he was the father. She was very beautiful
and the same age as him. She starred straight at him through her testimony,
as if she was hoping he would look at her, she never took her eyes of him,
he never once looked at her.
Of him and his team he was the last to speak. He said,
"I have chosen the American Justice System to support my rights as
an American. I had a child; I heard my child’s heart beat while
she waited for me. I felt her, I loved her, I waited for her, and I worked
and prepared for her. I planned for her future and I was well prepared
to raise my child. I have a right and obligation to protect, provide, care,
nurture, guild, teach, watch, see my child learn, to live, laugh, cry,
love, walk, talk, grow older and produce offspring of her own. If my child
should die I have the right to bury my own child. From the time I plant
the seed of my child until I am completely unable to do so this is my God
given right and responsibility, there is no lapse of time, not a day, or
a week, or nine months, or years. I have the right for my seed to be carried
on to future generations. I gave my child to a woman to hold. In a time
of confusion that sought advice from an industry of professionals. That
industry took my child from her protected surroundings without first giving
me any knowledge or asking me for my consent. They did this for profit
This industries acts of business are completely irresponsible, negligent,
misleading, and distrusting. They took what was rightfully mine and left
me in return a calamity that will never leave me. This is the United States
of America and business of any proportion is to be governed fair and just.
This is what we will do here. This issue is not about a woman’s
right, that is not my concern here. This fight is for my rights; I fight
against an organization of professionals whose acts violated me. My family
may not be the same as some, though it is the family that I have and love.
I do ask of you people not to judge me, we are all different here, how
we were raised and the families we have are different. You may feel I am
cold and maybe insensitive by undressing this from a business view, this
is how I chose to deal with this, I am sure some would have chosen a different
way. I plead for justice to be given to me. If you do wonder how I feel,
I grieve and I am very angry. Maybe you could ask yourself some question.
How much would you sacrifice for the safety of your child? How would you
feel if your child was taken from you without your knowledge or consent,
your only child? Do please try to understand. My rights are clearly stated
in the Constitution. Is it your obligation as a free American to protect
your fellow mans rights". I was very surprised to hear how gentle
and well spoken he was. I felt a sadness come over me, that of great loss.
My heart went out to him.
The sky had begun to lighten. I new I would soon be there.
I had been driving north all night and the anticipation of seeing him conquered
my need for sleep. I called William on the car phone to tell him all was
all right. As I drove into the driveway of the address I was given I felt
this my have been a mistake, the driveway led to a small opening of field
grass, bordered on each side by large evergreen trees. There was no house
or dwelling. There was a sign posted Park Property. I double checked my
map and noticed this was a State Forest Preserve. I got out of my car and
walked around for a moment. A began to feel scared for a moment when a
soft voice said "Hello" before I turned around I was already
put at ease. I turned and looked at him, I was taken by surprise and by
wonder. He looked so much different than he did thirty-five years previous
though he did not look older. He seemed shorter, his hair was darker, and
his eyes looked the same though they were filled with curiosity, happiness,
and adventure, like those of a child. I said "thank you" to him;
he said "thank you" and smiled a warm smile. "Would you
like to take a walk and talk," he said in a gentle and sincere manner.
"If you would like I said", and we began walking. We walked to
the edge of the grass to a small opening between the trees. I felt completely
safe as if I was being protected. We walked through the opening of trees
into the forest. I had never been inside of an evergreen forest before;
I was amazed by the grandeur of this forest. It was so beautiful. As we
walked through the forest he would swoop down, without missing a step or
stopping, and pick up an occasional pine cone. He began to speak about
the pine cone, "not every tree makes pine cones, but every pine cone
makes seeds. Of the trees that produce the seeds, they can make millions
of seeds. Lucky if only one tree grows". I did wonder why he picked
up the cone and said this to me, I wanted to ask him questions though I
was taken by his child like character. He walked with a bounce, he giggled,
and he looked to the ground and then would pick up something and explain
it in a way I never would have imagined. He would look to the sky, to the
trees, all around. He never stopped talking as we walked through most of
the day. Always keeping his joyous spirit. He spoke of little things as
if he held the world in the palm of his hand. I wanted to ask him some
questions but I did not want to interrupt his constant talking. He was
implanting a new wonder of life into me. He seemed to find the most fascination
in the trees. He spoke of the difference between the pines and the spruces,
the conifers and the deciduous trees and how all life revolved around them
all. Instantly then a sharp drop in temperature sent a cold chill through
me. I stopped for a moment and with the blink of my eyes he instantly disappeared.
I stood still and looked for him for. "This tree is special,"
he said in a different voice. His voice had the same tone though the childlike
playfulness had changed to a strong voice of authority and wisdom unmatched
by any voice I have ever heard before. I was unafraid by his mysterious
behavior. I felt protected by elements I could not see. I turned around
to see where he was and as I faced forward again. I was facing the most
magnificent tree. The tree was the tallest I had seen. I looked at it for
a few moments; this tree had the drooping branches of the pines and the
short needles of the spruce. This tree looked like a tree at Christmas.
The more I looked, the more beautiful it became. It sparkled. He then walked
from behind the tree. I was amazed by how clearly I heard his voice though
he was a distance away and by the sudden change in his appearance. This
man had changed from a young man to an old man. His features remained the
same though he had instantly become the age I had thought he would be.
He starred at me for a moment, then said, "I created this tree when
I was still a boy. I had grafted many trees together to create this one.
The spruces and firs, the pines, the yews and a few others". He grasped
one of the lower branches and said "as this tree grows taller I feel
closer to home, I will be going home soon". I looked again at the
tree, for its grandeur seemed to grow before my eyes. Great care was taken
to have a tree grow so beautiful and stand completely by itself. No other
trees could touch it and any other tree did not block the sunlight. His
next words did not take me by surprise, he continued speaking for the remainder
of our day. "I buried the settlement from the court case six feet
beneath this tree shortly after we won. For one reason, the chlorophyll
from all of those dollar bills is a small benefit to the tree. The tree
was only five foot tall when I planted it here. It is over one hundred
feet tall now. It has always been a special tree to me; it has only produced
one cone in all of its days. It would be burned to waste if that would
replace the loss. The first time I had seen her she was starring at me.
She continued to stair at me as I spoke to her of the child she would bring
to this world. It was the child that she carried that brought her to me.
It was the child that I was here to protect. She would not stay with me
for more than a few days for she became homesick for her own mother. Her
mother said she was to old to give birth to the child and the battle for
the life of this child began then. This child was female who in her turn
would give birth to the special male. Those I could not protect you see
for the ways of this one nation under God had changed from that we had
expected. The ways had changed from the nation of life and liberty to a
nation where unborn children were being voluntarily killed. The truth does
always prevail, you see, these unborn children would have sisters and brothers
who would in turn be angry by the loss of there own siblings. Some of the
young believed there was no life in the new lives. The young were killing
the young. The young were killing there own. The young were growing to
adults and committing acts of brutal cruelty, they were committing brutal
crimes, killing the newborns, and killing the unborn children. These were
only a few effects of killing the unborn children. Do you see what was
happening in your nation? Your nation was the chosen nation to protect
all of the nations, it was failing. I am here to only protect the two children;
the unborn baby girl and the son she would had born. I did not plant the
baby girl, for I have never had these seeds to plant. It is the seeds that
begin the life; these seeds were almost lost. There will soon be a baby
girl born by you, this girl will be the one that holds the answer to the
next question your nation does seek the answer to. This will be a question
of human survival as for this question has been answered many times before.
This must go to her." He handed me the one pinecone that he had picked
of the special tree. I looked at him with disbelief at what he had said.
I was unable to give birth to any more children. He looked at me with a
very warm smile, as I blinked for a second I looked at him again and he
was a distance away. He moved as to be walking away though he was not walking
at all. The air became instantly warmer. I looked at him again and now
he was a greater distance from me, to far for me to hardly see him. He
waved goodbye to me in a friendly wave. I felt he was going home. Somewhere
where home was for him. I looked again and saw the reflection of my car
window from the setting sun.
As I looked backed from the main road I could not see
the driveway to where we had met, it closed as if it had become overgrown
by years of growth. I released the special pinecone that I had firmly been
holding in my hand and placed it on the passenger seat of my car. I called
William from the car phone and told him I should be home by sunup. William
sounded cautious on the phone, like he had something important to tell
me, he told me to drive safely and he would tell me when I returned home.
As I drove on through the night I thought of this most unordinary man.
How he changed in appearance instantly, how he spoke with knowledge that
was greater than others yet so common sense. I wondered if the tragedies
that were happening thirty five years ago really were the outcome of the
abortions that were happening by the millions every year in my country
and how the tides of our lives and for our children’s had changed
from that time on. I wondered if he was really sent here by some higher
being to protect a child that was never born or if he was sent here to
protect the ones who were born due to the ending of the industry he fought
against. I thought of how he won the court decision and the industry shortly
failed afterwards due to the many other suits that followed his. The strange
violence of our nation did all seem to end after he had won that case so
long ago, I wondered if it really was the reason. I thought of him the
whole ride home, trying to piece together all of these pieces. I wondered
how and what I would right in the article and if anyone would believe what
I had to say. I kept seeing his soft smile and his serious eyes. I did
not ask him any questions; he answered more than I had to ask.
I walked into my home surprised to see William and Theresa
awake so early in the morning. They were waiting for me to tell me something.
I could sense this was big news. They asked how my interview went and some
small talk before I asked "well what is it that you have to tell me"
Theresa spoke just as William had began to open his mouth. "I am pregnant"
she said, with a scared look on her face. As I felt a soft smile come to
my face she began to smile also. I could see then how the actions of the
elders govern the actions of the young.
After I had spent time with my family for half of the
day I sat by the brook near my house. I shook the seeds from the special
pinecone that he had given to me into my hand. One by one I placed the
seeds in the brook and watched them travel down the brook. I new some of
them would wash up on a river bank somewhere and news tree would grow.
I held the last seed firmly in my hand, walked to the garden shed for some
potting soil and a clay pot. The end
