FIC: Memories of Past and Present

 I have several chapters written, I just need to go through and edit them and make sure they are alright to post. But, I got distracted crocheting a baby blanket! I'm hoping I'll get a better schedule and finish this series as well as my Zombie story!

Here's the next part in the What Lies Between which is a part of the Another Life Series.


Title: Memories of Past and Present
Characters: Sasha/Lennon; Greer
Series: What Lies Between; Another Life


Lennon didn’t want to open his eyes. He knew it was morning as the sun was trying hard to penetrate his eyelids, but he was still tired. He had stayed up with Sasha until the early morning hours listening to the storm and telling each other of their childhoods. But the smell of coffee was too much to resist.

He threw off the blanket and stood up. The pull out couch wasn’t the most comfortable so he stretched out the kinks in his muscles. He folded the blanket and put it on the side table, then stripped the sheets off the thin mattress. He put the pillow on top of the blankets and folded the bed into the couch.

After a trip to the bathroom, he followed the alluring scent that had given him the courage to get up.

“Morning,” he mumbled to Sasha, who was sitting at the table.

“Good morning! You’re up early.”

“Yeah. Can’t resist a cup of coffee.” Lennon remembered where the cups were and got a mug down. He poured a cup and took a large gulp. “Ahhhh, that’s good.”

“You didn’t have to get up so early. We were up pretty late,” Sasha said. He took a bite of cereal and then continued, “Cereal’s on the fridge.”

“Thanks. I can’t eat first thing in the morning. I have granola bars in the camper, I’ll grab one for later.” Lennon was more interested in getting another cup of coffee than eating. “Have you heard about storm damage?”

Sasha swallowed the cereal. “So far it seems the worst of the storm skirted us. Several of the towns around us were hit hard though. I want to get up to the site and see if there’s any damage there.”

“Oh shit. I’m sorry. You could have gotten me up earlier.” Lennon felt bad he was keeping Sasha from the work he loved so much. “I folded up the couch, so I’ll just head on out.”

“Lennon. Stop.” Sasha’s voice was quietly strong. “I’m not trying to get rid of you. Stay as long as you like. I was just explaining that I’m heading out soon and why.”

“Oh. Ok. Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. I just don’t want you to think I’m rushing you out.” Sasha stood up and took his empty bowl to the sink. “Don’t rush. Take a shower, eat a little something, and when you are ready come on out. I’m not even sure there’ll be anything for you to do today. If the storm hit the site hard, I might be roping off areas and stuff again.”

“Ok.” Lennon nodded but knew he’d rush a little bit. If there was a lot of damage, he wanted to be there to help Sasha. He shook his head to himself. Would Sasha even want him to help?

“Quit worrying. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Lennon stared as Sasha walked out the door. How did he know he was worrying? And how had he never noticed Sasha’s tight butt? Lennon laughed at his thoughts. It was Greer’s questions the day before that made him look at Sasha’s ass. He reassured himself he would never have noticed that tight, sweet butt if it hadn’t been for the ghost.

He walked over and rinsed out the coffee mug and placed it carefully in the sink. He did a quick walk through the house, making sure everything was in order, then shut the door behind him.

Everything he needed to work at the site was still in his car, but he wanted to double-check that the camper hadn’t been damaged by the storm. As fierce as the storm was the night before, the camper looked exactly the same except for one lone small branch laying on top. The inside was just as he left it.

Driving out to the site, Lennon’s stomach twisted into knots. Tree’s had been uprooted, houses had been torn up, he wouldn’t be surprised if they’d declare this area a disaster site. He just knew the Osage village was probably demolished.

The village was in a large field, but there were a few trees scattered about. The field was also surrounded by forest on three sides. Chances of a tree being thrown about or the fierce winds destroying the dig were high.

His stomach dropped when he turned down the rough, dirt road. Several farmers were at the side of the road with chainsaws, axes, and handsaws cutting a large felled tree. It seemed that the farmers had pulled all the debris from the road. Parts of roofs, drywall, as well as large branches and trees lay on the sides of the road. Large swatches of their fields were torn up. Their crops were destroyed in the storm.

Lennon blinked as he pulled into the gravel parking area of the historic site. He couldn’t see the village from this angle, but the trail leading to the site was clear. Sasha couldn’t have had time to clear off any branches or trees.

He grabbed his backpack that had water, granola bars, and bug spray and started up the trail. He’d come back for the sunshade and laptop if there was no damage. Before he could shut the door, he heard Sasha yelling.

“Wait! Wait!” Sasha was hurrying down the path.

Lennon swallowed hard. His imagination ran riot thinking of the damage that surely was on top of the small hill. Maybe there was something dangerous and that’s why Sasha was all but running toward him.

“I’ll help you carry your stuff,” Sasha panted out. “There’s going to be tons of stuff for you to put into the spreadsheet!”

“Wait. What?” Lennon shook his head. There was stuff to put in the computer? It wasn’t all destroyed?

Sasha grinned. “It’s the most amazing thing! The site is untouched! It’s perfect. But just to the west, a tree toppled. And it revealed a longhouse! Well, the remnants of a longhouse. And so many artifacts!”

“You found some stuff?”

Sasha laughed. “Oh, yes, Found some stuff, indeed. Come on, let’s get you set up!”

The two men gathered all the equipment and made their way up the hill. Lennon looked around and saw what Sasha had said was true. Everything looked exactly the same as it had yesterday. He could have left the sunshade, table, and chair and it seems they would have been still here.

“Let’s put up the tent and table, then I have to show you what was revealed!”

Lennon couldn’t help but grin back at Sasha. The other man’s excitement was contagious. With both of them working together, they had everything set up in less than half an hour. Lennon slipped on his sunglasses as he followed Sasha. The sun was bright, a stark contrast to the dark clouds of the day before. He hurried to keep up. Sasha and he were of the same height and they both had long legs, but Sasha had excitement to give him speed.

After going down a small ravine and then topping the other side, Sasha stopped and spread his arms wide. “Look! The tree must have been dragged through the field. It churned up several layers of dirt!”

Lennon stood shocked. There was a huge tree, roots and all, laying on its side. Right beside it, there were about twenty feet of dirt. Decayed pieces of wood and shards of pottery poked up from the ground.

“They had a large family.”

Both Lennon and Sasha jumped as Greer suddenly appeared.

“You knew them?” Sasha asked.

“Yes, They were a very happy family. The mother was caring for all and the father a brave hunter. He always brought extra for any of the women who didn’t have a husband.” Greer’s face took on a faraway look.

Lennon stayed quiet. He knew Greer was remembering time spent with the family who lived in the structure. This was a life and family that Lennon would give respect to. He startled when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked into Sasha’s deep brown eyes. It was a sweet gesture from the anthropologist-acknowledging Greer’s memories and Lennon’s respect for them.

“Are you holding hands? Did you spend the night together?” Greer’s voice seemed to echo across the field.

“Greer. That’s enough.”

Lennon’s stomach flipped at Sasha’s stern voice.

“What? I was just asking.” Greer’s innocence was easy to see through.

Lennon knew he had to get away before things turned for the worse. “I’ll go back to the table and get ready. I’m sure you’ll bring a bunch of stuff soon.”

“Wait!” Sasha said. “I’ve got a small bit here. I’ve wrapped them in my jacket.”

Lennon watched as Sasha dashed over by the tree and lifted the bundle.

“Here. Take it back with you. Just start sorting by the material.”

“I’ll go with you, Lennon. Sasha is going to be grouchy. He always is when he’s busy.”

Sasha’s voiced dropped and he frowned at the spirit. “Do. Not. Talk. About personal things. About me and Lennon. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.” Greer turned and winked at Lennon. “I won’t talk about you and Lennon and the marriage bed.”

“Get going, you rascal!”

Greer laughed. “Come on, Lennon. I’ll tell you more about the family as you sort the items.”

Lennon carried the bundle to his table as Greer giggled at Sasha. He wondered what was in the bundle. What pieces of life had been revealed due to the storm.

“I won’t tease you, Lennon. I promise. I just can’t resist teasing Sasha. His voice gets all growly. I kind of like that. It’s comforting.”

Nodding, Lennon knew exactly what Greer was saying. Sasha’s “growly” voice was comforting, in a weird way. Wait. He didn’t want to go there. Didn’t want to think of Sasha in that weird, sexual, relationship way. Hoping to change the topic, Lennon asked, “Will you help me identify some of these things? Not just sort them, but maybe tell me what they are from?”

“Yes! If any of the pieces are big enough, I’ll know what they are.”

Soon, Lennon and Greer were under the sunshade looking through the artifacts.

“See that?” Greer pointed to a piece that looked like a clump of dirt. “It’s a piece of a bowl. It probably held some corn. Then the women would grind it with stone.”

Lennon gently poked it with his finger. He was afraid if he picked it up it would disintegrate. “I’ve read about that before, the grinding of corn into meal.” The piece of woven bowl shifted and revealed a piece of wood with some tattered material tied to it. “What’s this?”

Greer smiled. “It’s part of a hoop! It was a fun game! Hard to do, but fun!”

“How was it played?” Lennon looked closely at the torn material. It looked to be very old leather.

“It was a hoop made of wood. They would crisscross leather all around the circle. One boy would roll it and two other boys would throw dulled spears at it. Whoever’s aim was true and the spear stuck into the hoop, would go again against another boy.”

“Did you ever play?” Lennon asked.

“I did a couple of times. My lungs never truly healed. I couldn’t run as fast as the others and I didn’t quite have the strength to throw my spear. But the children in the village always let me play.”

Lennon could hear the love Greer had for the people of the village. “I’ll research it tonight when I get back to the camper. But you gave me an idea. I’ll sort by the material as Sasha asked, but I’m going to make a spreadsheet of my own. I’ll have toys, cooking items, weapons, things like that!”

Lennon started his laptop and opened the program. Then he reached for his phone. He wanted to listen to the radio. There may have been no damage here, but he saw plenty on the way in. He’d have it playing softly as he listened to Greer.

Greer regaled him with stories of his youth and helped him identify the items Sasha had gathered. Not only would the ghost tell him what the items were, but also told him how they were made and used. Lennon kept notes of things he wanted to research when he got home.

Greer stilled suddenly. “Can you make that louder?” He pointed at the phone.

“Yeah. Right here.” Lennon showed him the little button and turned the sound up.

“The storms that tore through our area last night continued across the Midwest causing major flooding. Several roads are closed due to a mudslide and a new virus seems to be hitting the east coast. Tune in to News at Noon for more information.”

“We were so lucky last night,” Lennon said. “The storms seemed to split and go around us. We still got the rain and thunder and lightning, but the really bad stuff went around us.”

“Yeah. Lucky.” Greer seemed distracted.

“Greer? You ok?” Lennon shook his head. Were ghost ever not ok? Or even ok?

“Um. Yeah. I’m going to go talk to Sasha.”

And in a blink of an eye, he was gone. Lennon didn’t think he’d ever get used to that. But then again, he never thought he’d be friends with a ghost.

Read on to the next part Time for the Past