Fear and Aggression (43 page)

For her part, she did understand the stress
better than anyone else. She knew that, among other things, the
abortion, and their relationship troubles, must have weighed most
heavily on him. Her heart was beginning to sink. She did highly
value their relationship—what it had been, but she was sensing that
it was slipping away. She was willing—more than willing—to be
patient, but she was beginning to feel that this patience would not
pay off. It seemed more likely than not, at least at this moment,
that it would be gone soon. She didn’t fault herself, at least not
completely, but she felt an awful sense of regret; but not of
remorse. She searched in her mind for a topic of conversation that
would be more pleasant, more appealing. “Stress is a funny thing,
you know.”

Nobody looked up from the cards that they
were fixing in their hands, but she continued on. “Our sympathetic
nervous system, along with cortisol and adrenaline are very
helpful—very critical. It’s what gives us the ‘fight or flight’
response. As long as our stressors are things that we can attack,
or flee from, it works great. We get the blood flowing to our
muscles; we get the heart rate up; our body is geared up for the
task at hand. But, in our modern world, it doesn’t work so well. We
have so many stressors that are abstract. They cannot be run from
nor attacked. So, the sympathetic response stays in place, over
long periods of time. Our body was never built for a sustained
sympathetic response. That is how we get stressed, and it can do
strange things to us, mentally and physically.”

“
Yeah, there is nothing
worse than being worked up about something that you can’t do
anything about,” said Mike.

“
That’s why you go to the
gym, and have a good workout. You hit the weights, and run on the
treadmill—fight or flight,” said Kenny.

“
That doesn’t work as
well, because the stressor is still there,” Tammy
countered.

“
Still helps, though,”
explained Kenny.

“
I like to watch a
football game. Watch those guys battling for three hours. Hitting
each other and trying to get an advantage. That’s my kind of stress
relief,” said James.

“
Speaking of, it’s getting
to that time of year. I hope that we will be back in time for some
football. You know what else is good, is a great action movie; one
that sucks you into the plot. If I feel like I’m there, then it
makes me feel like I’ve done some battle.” Mike was starting to
think that that sounded like more fun than a card game right
now.

“
That’s what we should do
on Thanksgiving; watch a great action movie. Have we ever shown
Aspiria a movie?” James asked.

“
No, we haven’t. Somehow,
I don’t think that she will appreciate something like that. We
might have to break her in on an old Disney flick,” Tammy suggested
to a light chuckle.

“
You know, she is really
great. Of all the things that have surprised me on this mission—and
there have been an awful lot of them—that has been the most
pleasant surprise. She is an amazing person. Considering her
situation—her position—she has definitely made lemonade out the
lemons that she has been given. If something like this had happened
to me, I would have never made it out of solitary confinement. I’d
have killed someone, anyone; everyone, if I could have. She has
become our friend. She helps us, and even cooks some of the best
meals that I have ever tasted,” said James.

Kenny nodded, and Tammy said, “I sure wish
that I could bring her back to earth. I think that everyone would
just love her. It would fix so much.”

“
It’s not happening. There
is no way that the President would risk that. I know she’s great,
but who knows what could happen. She’s not going to set foot on our
planet; not anytime soon,” explained Mike.

Everyone nodded, and play commenced.

***

“
Okay, so this is the
feast of the year! Most everyone does turkey; have you had turkey
yet?”

Aspiria turned and winked at Tammy, as she
left the lab. “No, I don’t think so.”

“
It’s a bird, a big bird.
You get lots of brown and white meat. It can be a little dry—if you
don’t do it right—but if it’s done right it is so moist, and has
such an amazing flavor. The kitchen is going to smell like heaven!
Then you stuff it with bread and herbs, and it makes this amazing
turkey stuffing. You get sweet potatoes—I don’t know if you will
like those—and then green bean casserole. I like a good spinach
salad, and then pies—lots of pies. You eat until you can’t put in
another bite. Then you crash on the couch for a couple of hours,
watch football, and then eat pie until it hurts again. For the next
two days you just keep eating left-overs, and pig out. Then it’s
time to get ready for Christmas.”

Aspiria was smiling, not just at Bob’s
excitement, but they had feasts on her world, too. It did sound
like fun. She thought of Caryell, and of the feast she had just
prepared for him, not long before she had come here. Those thoughts
were always bitter-sweet, but she focused, at this time, on the
sweet part. They were just now entering the galley. Danny, as
usual, was quietly hard at work. He looked up with a quick smile
and nod, and then went back to work again. Bob always knew how to
talk the talk, but Danny knew how to walk the walk.

“
Just telling her all
about Thanksgiving,” Bob said as they entered the galley

“
Oh,” Danny said
emotionlessly.

“
I think she is up to
speed, so let’s get it going. Look here; see what a large turkey
we’ve got!”

“
So what is this feast
for? Why is it called Thanksgiving?”

“
You’ve got her up to
speed on the food, but haven’t told her what it’s all about, I
see,” said Danny with a trace of sarcasm.

Bob had to think for a moment. It felt
strange to think: was there more to Thanksgiving than the feast? He
had never done anything else, other than cook, prepare, and eat for
Thanksgiving.

“
Danny, what is it all
about?” Aspiria asked.

“
Many years ago, before
the people on our world even had electricity, one group of people
migrated from a faraway land to another part of our world. The
people that they found, who lived there, were very primitive. The
people who migrated got there too late in the season to plant and
to get a good harvest. They would have starved to death, except for
the primitive people. Although, they seemed very primitive, they
knew the land, and they knew what could be grown. They taught those
who had migrated over what they needed to do in order to survive.
Later, those who migrated prepared a great feast and invited the
primitive people to attend. They prayed and gave thanks to God for
their blessings, in particular, being spared through the help of
the natives. In part to commemorate that event, and to continue to
annually remember to thank God for his blessings, we have a yearly
Thanksgiving feast.”

“
You’re talking about the
pilgrims and the Indians. I remember that now; I guess I had
forgotten that part of it,” said Bob, offhandedly, as he began
taking down various ingredients.

“
I like your,
Thanksgiving—a special feast to thank God for your blessings; that
makes so much sense,” said Aspiria sincerely.

“
Oh…and that’s why we call
it, Thanksgiving. That’s cool, I have never really thought about
all of that before. I just know that it’s great food and a great
time.” Bob, had everything on the island now, and had just brought
up a large mixing bowl.

Aspiria got right to work on that evening’s
meal. She had become very accustomed to cooking in the ship’s
galley over the past week. Everyone on board loved her cooking, and
Danny and Bob enjoyed her help and company. Danny and Bob began to
argue over the Thanksgiving menu. They were almost like brothers;
they fought over everything, but there was never animosity. She had
a way of changing the subject, direction, and tone whenever she got
tired of it; or it had gotten out of hand. She could always draw
them into a discussion. After a few minutes she asked, “Bob, you
said that after Thanksgiving, there was something else to get ready
for. What was that?”

“
Huh…oh—Christmas. Yeah,
after Thanksgiving is over it’s the Christmas season. You don’t
know about Christmas yet, do you?”

Steve walked into the galley. “Christmas? I
thought that you were getting ready for Thanksgiving.”

“
Hi, Captain, we are. It
is going to be amazing! Have you seen the turkey? Check that baby
out!”

“
Hi, Steve, did you need
me?” Aspiria asked with a very pleasant smile.

“
No, I was just seeing how
everyone is doing.” Steve always seemed to have a purpose. He did
not just shoot the breeze. He had been much more relaxed, however,
before Aspiria’s world had been discovered. But, since that time,
he was always busy; always working on something. So, it was
unexpected for the group to see him pull up a seat near the island
that was being used for food prep. For a few minutes everyone was
silent and just working, as he looked on. It was starting to get a
little uncomfortable for everyone.

“
Danny and Bob explained
Thanksgiving to me. It sounds like a wonderful reason to have a
feast. They were just going to tell me about the next feast,
Christmas,” Aspiria said while mixing.

Steve smiled and nodded. “Christmas isn’t
really a feast, like Thanksgiving, although you can have a feast.
It’s really a month-long celebration. Actually, you can have lots
of feasts.”

“
Bob, are you ever
thinking about anything other than food?” asked Steve chidingly.
Bob smiled sheepishly, and Danny, from behind him, looked at Steve
and shook his head.

Aspiria saw Danny’s gesture and she smiled,
and then narrowed her eyes as if to say, “be nice.”

“
I do love all of the
holiday treats, but where I come from it is always snowy at
Christmas time. I love that time of year. It’s dark in the early
evening; everyone puts up bright-colored lights. The snow is aglow
with all of the colors of the rainbow. On my street, everyone was
in competition to see who could ring up the biggest electric bill.
We were the best street in town. People from all over would drive
up and down our street slowly to look at the homes all lit up. We
would go sledding all afternoon, after school. That’s what I think
of most when I think of Christmas,” said Bob with enthusiasm, and
no mention of food.

“
That sounds very pretty,
Bob.” Aspiria had stopped working, and was leaning on the island
towards Bob. Her dark eyes were glowing.

“
Before most of my family
died, Christmas was a wonderful time for us, too. I remember being
indoors, mostly. My mother always wanted to have a huge tree. We
had a great room with a very tall ceiling. We would cut down a
sixteen-foot tree each year. It took a couple of days to decorate
it. My mother always had a theme: angels, the North Pole, Winter
Wonderland, The Nutcracker. Anyway, the tree was her thing, and it
was the envy of everyone. When people stopped by to bring us
treats, they always wanted to come in and see that year’s rendition
of the tree. We had a hard-wood floor and a large fireplace. During
the Christmas season, we always kept a roaring fire. I remember
just sitting on the couch, sipping hot cocoa and watching the fire,
and looking at the tree. That sure brings back some nice memories.
I wish that Mark could have that. It sure isn’t the same since they
all died.” Steve looked a little dreamy, and a little melancholy,
all at the same time.

“
My family are carolers.
It’s kind of an older tradition, and people would look at us funny,
but we would go around to our neighbors, friends, and people from
church. We’d bring goodies to their home and sing Christmas
carols,” Danny mentioned

“
I didn’t know that you
sang,” broke in Bob.

“
I didn’t say that I could
sing, I said that we were carolers. Mom had a good voice, and was
loud; the rest of us just sang quietly and tried not to mess it up.
But it was fun.”

“
I love Christmas carols!
Dashing through the woods, in a one horse open sleigh…” Bob began
to sing, but seeing that no one was joining him he left
off.

“
Christmas sounds like a
wonderful season.”

“
Oh, it is. The whole town
gets lit up, and there are concerts, and choirs. Everyone has
parties, and then everyone gives gifts. We put all of the gifts
that we receive under the Christmas tree, and then on Christmas
morning we open them all up. Then we play with the gifts, and have
great feasts. For an entire month it’s a celebration…” Bob could go
on, but Steve interrupted.

“
Don’t forget about Santa
Claus. We get gifts from everyone: parents, grandparents, aunts and
uncles; but the really good stuff comes from Santa Claus. We put up
large stockings on the hearth, and in the middle of the night he
comes and fills them up, and then puts out really great gifts as
well.” Steve was looking at Aspiria, and she was giving him a
quizzical expression. “He’s an elf—a magical elf. He lives on the
top of the world, and all of his other magical elves make the toys.
He uses his flying reindeer to go by everyone in the whole worlds
homes and brings everyone gifts.” Steve was straight-faced as he
told Aspiria the story.

Aspiria had seen some amazing things since
she had been on this ship. They had traveled all the way from their
world to hers. They did seem to be able to do many things that to
her seemed impossible. Still, this story seemed farfetched, even
for these people. After a few seconds Steve’s face broke into a
laugh and a smile. “It’s a myth. We tell this story to the little
children. The parents give the gifts, and say it is from Santa. The
little children love it. I loved it when I was a child. Someday, I
hope to have children and play Santa for them,” he said in a cheery
tone, just as it reminded him of his sorrow.