The Peach Pit?
After The Last Full Measure (AU)
Re: After The Last Full Measure (AU)
Who knows?
“For a brick, he flew pretty good!” Sgt. Major A.J. Johnson, Halo 2
To err is human; to forgive is not SAC policy.
“This is Raven 2-5. This is my sandbox. You will not drop, acknowledge.” David Flanagan, former Raven FAC
To err is human; to forgive is not SAC policy.
“This is Raven 2-5. This is my sandbox. You will not drop, acknowledge.” David Flanagan, former Raven FAC
Re: After The Last Full Measure (AU)
The faster the drive thru, the faster it goes from inlet to exhaust
Re: After The Last Full Measure (AU)
Or comes back the way it came (it happened to me once)…
“For a brick, he flew pretty good!” Sgt. Major A.J. Johnson, Halo 2
To err is human; to forgive is not SAC policy.
“This is Raven 2-5. This is my sandbox. You will not drop, acknowledge.” David Flanagan, former Raven FAC
To err is human; to forgive is not SAC policy.
“This is Raven 2-5. This is my sandbox. You will not drop, acknowledge.” David Flanagan, former Raven FAC
Re: After The Last Full Measure (AU)
That was a compressor stall
-
Johnnie Lyle
- Posts: 3151
- Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2022 2:27 pm
Re: After The Last Full Measure (AU)
23 March 1991
Kathy Barzanian's Townhouse
West Valley, UT
After a simple, relaxed dinner, they sat down on Kathy's couch. She took his hand in both of hers.
"Josh, it's been three dates now." She smiled. "Would you like to see my etchings?"
Josh smiled. "I'd like that very much, truth be told."
Kathy shifted slightly to begin getting up, and Josh said, "But."
Kathy settled back in.
"But?"
"I gave my word that I would abstain from certain things while a student and a faculty member at BYU. I do not drink coffee or tea. I refrain from using profane or obscene language."
"And you promised to abstain from sex?"
"Outside of marriage, yes."
Kathy smiled. "Who'd know?"
"I would."
Kathy let out a long sigh. "And that would be enough, wouldn't it?"
Josh nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
Kathy sighed. "And it's one of those things I love about you--and I do love you. That said . . . I don't have a lot of time to wait around for marriage and children to happen. So I have to ask . . . where are we going?"
"Hopefully, to the altar. Because I love you, too."
Kathy blinked. "You want to marry me?"
"Yes. But I want to be sure. I want this to work, Kathy. Because if it doesn't . . . then we've both wasted time."
"Josh, it's more acute for me than you, you're younger than I am."
"Neither of us has time to waste, Kathy. I may die tomorrow. So I say we live while we can, and we see if we can be together as husband and wife."
Kathy asked, "Do you see any barriers?"
"Aside from getting my own head spacing right, no. That's on me. And I will do that."
"Well, I have some things to tell you."
* * *
After she finished, Josh was silent.
"Sireli, please tell me what you're thinking."
"Sireli?"
"It means 'beloved' or 'darling' in Armenian."
"Ah." Josh took a deep breath and said, "Kathy, darling, sireli . . . I probably couldn't have survived that at all. Either I would've eaten a bullet, or I would've broken completely."
"Can . . . can you live with me having lived through that?"
"If you can . . . whither thou goest, darling. And if you need me to carry you, I will."
* * *
25 March 1991
I-15, Southern Utah
The mixtape seemed like a time capsule of before.
It seems so long ago.
Night Ranger asked Sister Christian what was her price for flight, Don Henley sang about the boys of summer, Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics sang about sweet dreams, and Styx was rocking the Paradise.
The Subaru Amadeus sport wagon--what the cousins across the pond called a "shooting brake"--was new and extremely comfortable, but it just didn't feel the same as his trusty old Celica liftback. It was smooth, sure-footed, steady, without the quirks of understeering or the rear end breaking loose when he put his boot in it.
It was yet another reminder of Roberta; they'd ordered it while he was at Bragg, against the day they would have children. He'd taken delivery just two weeks earlier.
He'd kept the order because he wanted to believe in a future.
And now, maybe the future is here. So why am I so afraid?
He switched to the CD changer and was rewarded with Survivor's "Across the Miles."
When I'm all alone on a distant path
And my ticket home has been torn in half
Oh, I can hear your voice, girl I can feel your touch
Across the miles tonight
On the road again, will it always be
That the dream gets changed on its way to reality
Oh, but the thought of you, strange how it pulls me through
Across the miles tonight
And I am sending you this message through the wires tonight
Just close your eyes and hold on tight
And here I am, concentrating girl with all my might
Now the sound of your laughter trails off through the midnight sky
As the miles go by, cities come and go
When you close your eyes and listen to the radio
Girl, can you hear my song, the signal is clear and strong
Across the miles tonight
And I am sending you this message through the wires tonight
Just close your eyes and hold on tight
And here I am, concentrating girl with all my might
Now the sound of your laughter trails off
Across the miles
Mantell sighed. Give me a steer, Roberta, darling.
* * *
25 March 1991
Fullerton, CA
Karen Mantell answered the phone on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hello, this is Judith Levy. Is this Karen Mantell?"
"Speaking."
"I'm a friend of Josh's."
Karen felt her pulse pick up. "Is he okay?"
"We're not entirely sure."
"Who's 'we,' exactly?"
"Me--I was a friend of Roberta's from kindergarten--and Sophie Henrix.."
"What's going on?"
"He's headed down to San Diego. Look, he's probably fine, but he's apparently getting serious about another woman . . . but I do need to talk to him to be sure. Sophie Henrix is worried about him, and I know he can be a tad depressive if he lets himself dwell on the negative. Any idea where he's likely to go?"
* * *
27 March 1991
Cowles Mountain
San Diego, CA
The hike up in darkness had been familiar, even though he hadn't done it in years.
Mantell sat on the ground just below the crest of Cowles Mountain, the highest point in the city of San Diego. To the northwest, he could see NAS Miramar's runway lights, and watched a flight of four F-14s take off for BARCAP over the Imperial Valley, afterburners lit against the darkness to the west.
A familiar voice said, "Your sister said you'd be hard to find."
He turned and smiled at Judith Levy. "Usually, when I come here, I want to be alone."
"Usually?"
Mantell sighed. "I'm trying to . . . well, I'm trying to talk to Roberta."
He winced at how that sounded.
"She's not here, Josh."
"Define 'here,' my friend. She's not at Miramar Cemetery, that's for sure. Her body is . . . but what made Roberta who she is . . . well, she's somewhere." He chuckled lightly. "You're probably as close as I'd come to being able to talk to her. You guys were . . . you were like sisters."
Judith sat down on the ground next to Josh. "Fair enough, my friend." She sighed. "Sophie called me, I called your sister, she suggested I should here bright and early." She paused, then said, "Josh, we're all a little worried about you."
"Same here."
"What's troubling you?"
Josh was silent for a long moment, then said, "Judith . . . can you keep this under your hat?"
She smiled and said, "Absolutely." She pulled a kippah from her backpack. "I intend to become a chaplain, so I'm going to use you as my first case of learned rabbinic counseling."
She put the kippah on her head and her demeanor changed, growing both more serious and yet tender at the same time. "So, out with it."
"I'm feeling . . . some guilt."
"Would Roberta want you to be miserable? Or would she want you to find happiness?"
"The latter."
"So what's the guilt about?"
"Um . . . well . . . I was attracted to Kathy back in high school."
"Kathy?"
"The woman I'm dating . . . the woman I've fallen in love with. Kathy Barzanian."
Judith's jaw dropped. "Wait, you're dating Ol' Sugar Tits?"
"Seriously?"
"That was our nickname for her, especially those of us who are on the Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Look, let's get something straight, you and every other guy who wasn't an absolutely flaming homosexual was attracted to her, along with any girl who was a lesbian or even just slightly bisexual. Now, I understand you've got a right proper case of the Catholic guilts about looking on another woman with lust in your heart . . . "
Judith's voice trailed off as she stared at Josh. "Oh."
Josh sighed. "It wasn't just lust."
Judith's mouth worked, but no sound came out for a while.
Finally, she said, "Oh, Josh, honey, you do have a type, as frustrating as it was for any of us girls who weren't extremely smart and curvy brunettes . . . "
Josh blinked. "Wait, what?"
"Josh . . . did you really have no idea how many girls had crushes on you? Including, incidentally, me?"
"I'm not a ladies' man--"
"Exactly. You're Joshua Mantell. That's what made you so attractive to those of us who weren't interested in the bad boys. You're sincere, honest, loyal, intelligent, a gentleman . . . and ruggedly handsome, of course. Look, you were attracted to Kathy, but your heart belonged to Roberta and you didn't try to act on that attraction. And if you'd tried, I'm sure Sugar-Tits would've shot you down."
Josh said nothing.
Judith's expression grew concerned as she asked, "She would have shot you down, right?"
"She's none too sure about that. Because she was attracted as well."
Judith laughed, then shook her head. "Thank God you had some good sense, then. But that's all in the past, along with Roberta. Quit staring into the rearview mirror, Josh. Keep your attention on where you're going. Go and tell Kathy that you love her, and that you want forever."
Josh nodded. "Easy enough in theory. But am I moving too fast?"
"Josh, grief is not something that you do on a set schedule. Let me tell you something else about Josh Mantell. In your personal life, in your relationships with friends or the woman you love, you're never early, and you're never late. Joshua Mantell is always exactly on time."
Josh considered this for a long moment.
"Judith . . . thank you. I think you helped me get my head out of my fourth point of contact."
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "That's what friends are for, Josh."
Kathy Barzanian's Townhouse
West Valley, UT
After a simple, relaxed dinner, they sat down on Kathy's couch. She took his hand in both of hers.
"Josh, it's been three dates now." She smiled. "Would you like to see my etchings?"
Josh smiled. "I'd like that very much, truth be told."
Kathy shifted slightly to begin getting up, and Josh said, "But."
Kathy settled back in.
"But?"
"I gave my word that I would abstain from certain things while a student and a faculty member at BYU. I do not drink coffee or tea. I refrain from using profane or obscene language."
"And you promised to abstain from sex?"
"Outside of marriage, yes."
Kathy smiled. "Who'd know?"
"I would."
Kathy let out a long sigh. "And that would be enough, wouldn't it?"
Josh nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
Kathy sighed. "And it's one of those things I love about you--and I do love you. That said . . . I don't have a lot of time to wait around for marriage and children to happen. So I have to ask . . . where are we going?"
"Hopefully, to the altar. Because I love you, too."
Kathy blinked. "You want to marry me?"
"Yes. But I want to be sure. I want this to work, Kathy. Because if it doesn't . . . then we've both wasted time."
"Josh, it's more acute for me than you, you're younger than I am."
"Neither of us has time to waste, Kathy. I may die tomorrow. So I say we live while we can, and we see if we can be together as husband and wife."
Kathy asked, "Do you see any barriers?"
"Aside from getting my own head spacing right, no. That's on me. And I will do that."
"Well, I have some things to tell you."
* * *
After she finished, Josh was silent.
"Sireli, please tell me what you're thinking."
"Sireli?"
"It means 'beloved' or 'darling' in Armenian."
"Ah." Josh took a deep breath and said, "Kathy, darling, sireli . . . I probably couldn't have survived that at all. Either I would've eaten a bullet, or I would've broken completely."
"Can . . . can you live with me having lived through that?"
"If you can . . . whither thou goest, darling. And if you need me to carry you, I will."
* * *
25 March 1991
I-15, Southern Utah
The mixtape seemed like a time capsule of before.
It seems so long ago.
Night Ranger asked Sister Christian what was her price for flight, Don Henley sang about the boys of summer, Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics sang about sweet dreams, and Styx was rocking the Paradise.
The Subaru Amadeus sport wagon--what the cousins across the pond called a "shooting brake"--was new and extremely comfortable, but it just didn't feel the same as his trusty old Celica liftback. It was smooth, sure-footed, steady, without the quirks of understeering or the rear end breaking loose when he put his boot in it.
It was yet another reminder of Roberta; they'd ordered it while he was at Bragg, against the day they would have children. He'd taken delivery just two weeks earlier.
He'd kept the order because he wanted to believe in a future.
And now, maybe the future is here. So why am I so afraid?
He switched to the CD changer and was rewarded with Survivor's "Across the Miles."
When I'm all alone on a distant path
And my ticket home has been torn in half
Oh, I can hear your voice, girl I can feel your touch
Across the miles tonight
On the road again, will it always be
That the dream gets changed on its way to reality
Oh, but the thought of you, strange how it pulls me through
Across the miles tonight
And I am sending you this message through the wires tonight
Just close your eyes and hold on tight
And here I am, concentrating girl with all my might
Now the sound of your laughter trails off through the midnight sky
As the miles go by, cities come and go
When you close your eyes and listen to the radio
Girl, can you hear my song, the signal is clear and strong
Across the miles tonight
And I am sending you this message through the wires tonight
Just close your eyes and hold on tight
And here I am, concentrating girl with all my might
Now the sound of your laughter trails off
Across the miles
Mantell sighed. Give me a steer, Roberta, darling.
* * *
25 March 1991
Fullerton, CA
Karen Mantell answered the phone on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Hello, this is Judith Levy. Is this Karen Mantell?"
"Speaking."
"I'm a friend of Josh's."
Karen felt her pulse pick up. "Is he okay?"
"We're not entirely sure."
"Who's 'we,' exactly?"
"Me--I was a friend of Roberta's from kindergarten--and Sophie Henrix.."
"What's going on?"
"He's headed down to San Diego. Look, he's probably fine, but he's apparently getting serious about another woman . . . but I do need to talk to him to be sure. Sophie Henrix is worried about him, and I know he can be a tad depressive if he lets himself dwell on the negative. Any idea where he's likely to go?"
* * *
27 March 1991
Cowles Mountain
San Diego, CA
The hike up in darkness had been familiar, even though he hadn't done it in years.
Mantell sat on the ground just below the crest of Cowles Mountain, the highest point in the city of San Diego. To the northwest, he could see NAS Miramar's runway lights, and watched a flight of four F-14s take off for BARCAP over the Imperial Valley, afterburners lit against the darkness to the west.
A familiar voice said, "Your sister said you'd be hard to find."
He turned and smiled at Judith Levy. "Usually, when I come here, I want to be alone."
"Usually?"
Mantell sighed. "I'm trying to . . . well, I'm trying to talk to Roberta."
He winced at how that sounded.
"She's not here, Josh."
"Define 'here,' my friend. She's not at Miramar Cemetery, that's for sure. Her body is . . . but what made Roberta who she is . . . well, she's somewhere." He chuckled lightly. "You're probably as close as I'd come to being able to talk to her. You guys were . . . you were like sisters."
Judith sat down on the ground next to Josh. "Fair enough, my friend." She sighed. "Sophie called me, I called your sister, she suggested I should here bright and early." She paused, then said, "Josh, we're all a little worried about you."
"Same here."
"What's troubling you?"
Josh was silent for a long moment, then said, "Judith . . . can you keep this under your hat?"
She smiled and said, "Absolutely." She pulled a kippah from her backpack. "I intend to become a chaplain, so I'm going to use you as my first case of learned rabbinic counseling."
She put the kippah on her head and her demeanor changed, growing both more serious and yet tender at the same time. "So, out with it."
"I'm feeling . . . some guilt."
"Would Roberta want you to be miserable? Or would she want you to find happiness?"
"The latter."
"So what's the guilt about?"
"Um . . . well . . . I was attracted to Kathy back in high school."
"Kathy?"
"The woman I'm dating . . . the woman I've fallen in love with. Kathy Barzanian."
Judith's jaw dropped. "Wait, you're dating Ol' Sugar Tits?"
"Seriously?"
"That was our nickname for her, especially those of us who are on the Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Look, let's get something straight, you and every other guy who wasn't an absolutely flaming homosexual was attracted to her, along with any girl who was a lesbian or even just slightly bisexual. Now, I understand you've got a right proper case of the Catholic guilts about looking on another woman with lust in your heart . . . "
Judith's voice trailed off as she stared at Josh. "Oh."
Josh sighed. "It wasn't just lust."
Judith's mouth worked, but no sound came out for a while.
Finally, she said, "Oh, Josh, honey, you do have a type, as frustrating as it was for any of us girls who weren't extremely smart and curvy brunettes . . . "
Josh blinked. "Wait, what?"
"Josh . . . did you really have no idea how many girls had crushes on you? Including, incidentally, me?"
"I'm not a ladies' man--"
"Exactly. You're Joshua Mantell. That's what made you so attractive to those of us who weren't interested in the bad boys. You're sincere, honest, loyal, intelligent, a gentleman . . . and ruggedly handsome, of course. Look, you were attracted to Kathy, but your heart belonged to Roberta and you didn't try to act on that attraction. And if you'd tried, I'm sure Sugar-Tits would've shot you down."
Josh said nothing.
Judith's expression grew concerned as she asked, "She would have shot you down, right?"
"She's none too sure about that. Because she was attracted as well."
Judith laughed, then shook her head. "Thank God you had some good sense, then. But that's all in the past, along with Roberta. Quit staring into the rearview mirror, Josh. Keep your attention on where you're going. Go and tell Kathy that you love her, and that you want forever."
Josh nodded. "Easy enough in theory. But am I moving too fast?"
"Josh, grief is not something that you do on a set schedule. Let me tell you something else about Josh Mantell. In your personal life, in your relationships with friends or the woman you love, you're never early, and you're never late. Joshua Mantell is always exactly on time."
Josh considered this for a long moment.
"Judith . . . thank you. I think you helped me get my head out of my fourth point of contact."
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "That's what friends are for, Josh."
-
jemhouston
- Posts: 4525
- Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2022 12:38 am
Re: After The Last Full Measure (AU)
Very heartwarming