Harmonizer's Evolution (Balancer's Soul cycle) (9 page)

Connor
then noticed the gold band on each of their left
hand ring finger
s. He
grinned and said “Congratulations
you two. Welcome to the club.” Connor
raised
his
left hand to show them
his
steel wedding ring.

Janet walked bashfully up to her new husband. “Thank you. We’re happy to join. It’s been awhile since we’ve done this. What do you have planned for us this weekend?”

They were both smiling as
he
told them the plan.

The next family to arrive
was Manny’s. It was then that Connor
understood his enthusiasm over the phone. He and his entire family had lost
a lot of
weight. They were no longer husky and very overweight, they looked healthy now.
Connor’s
mouth moved before
his
head
could filter
the
words
. “Wow, just what have you guy’s been up to? All of you are looking better than ever.
”

“Thank you for the compliment.” Manny’s wife, Susan said gratefully. “We’ve all been on a diet
for five months
and we have begun to exercise regularly.
When we couldn’t do this during the winter months we decided to drop some excess
weight
and show
off
the results.
I’ve lost
over
thirty pounds, Manny’s lost fifty five and Terri and Troy have
both
lost about twenty.”

It was true because the family of four looked
to have lost about that much. He
remembered Susan telling
him
that Troy and Terri were homeschooled
and that information kept him
from asking why they didn’t go to school today.

By the time they
all shook hands and greeted each other after all this time, the final family arrived.
Connor’s
back was turned to the parking lot as
he
continued talking with
the
patrons. Then
his
instinct told
him
of
something approaching
from behind. He
wheeled around defensively just as two bodies wrapped their arms around each of
his
legs.

“Connor!” Two childi
sh voices said simultaneously. He
looked down to see Tyler an
d Billy clutching each of his
thighs. Billy was easily excited and distracted and Tyler usually went along with his little brother’s antics or initiated them
if he
became
bored
and had nothing better to do
. Billy craned his neck back and spoke cheerfully. “It’s good to see you again Mr. Connor. Where have you been? Daddy said you went out on a vacation!
Oh and Mommy told us that since we’ve been on such good behavior that Tyler and me could skip school for once. Isn’t it great! We can get to hang out with you again. Oh I’ve also been practicing the knots you’ve taught me
!
”

“Come on boys. Give Connor
some room to breathe.” T
heir mother Brittany chastised
with a calm smile
.

They heeded her advice and
released their hold on
his
legs. Before they could do anything
else
Connor
grabbed
his
pack from the bench an
d pulled out a bundle of rope. He
knelt in front of them and handed
it to
them. “I want to see how well the two of you are at making knots. Show me how much you’ve been practicing
and their might be a reward if you do it right
.”

As they uncoiled the rope and began working
,
the boys were
in fact
a little taller and their features were sharpening into early adolescents. They were still great boys.
I wonder if I’ll ever…
t
hen a new thought slammed into Connor’s
conciseness
. This was something he
had
n’t
considered
before
,
but it could be possible?
What if I could have…
I didn’t have all the answers back
then, but
now that I know more
?
Maybe…just maybe
…

Connor
left the
entertained
boys to do their thing a
s he moved over a
nd greeted
both
Brittany and Jim. They hadn’t changed
much since
he
last saw them and they were as pleasant as ever. They were both still in their late twenties to early thirties and they were good parents.

“Ready to head out, Connor?” Mark asked and gained everyone’s attention.

“Wait a moment…” Tyler said while he focus
ed
on the rope. “Almost…
T
here!” He held one end of the rope while Billy held up the other end. “All done!”

Connor
knelt before the boys
and they didn’t shrink away as he
grasped for the rope. They had made several
sturdy knots and he
said “You
have
been practicing. These are very well done. I’m proud that you did such great work, boys.” Despite their hard work
he
easily undid the
simple knots
, but they were giddy from being praised. While coiling the rope
he asked
“Alright boys, what would you like to eat if we find something out here?”

The brothers sounded like twins when they simultaneously demanded “
SNAKE
!!!”

Everyone around began laughing because they fell in love with that meat.

Connor
had the first aid kit inside the wooden wagon and slid on
his chest strap. While he
strapped up, everyone started putting on their backpacks. Everyone knew the rules so no one brought any food because the fo
rest would provide everything they
would need.

Mark tapped
his
shoulder and smiled. “Let’s get to work, Buddy!”

They
were going somewhere new
this time
and
Connor
knew they might
enjoy the subtle change. He
took the lead
and everyone followed behind
; except for Tyler and Billy.
They walked to either side of Connor
and aid
ed
him
in
his
instructions.
They really enjoyed the attention as everyone listened to them name the different plants and animal tracks
they came across
. They had to ask for help every now and then, but they remembered their lessons remarkably well.

Since
they
were going somewhere new
,
he
told them that it would take a li
ttle bit longer to arrive at their
destination. While
they
were over halfw
ay there Connor
already felt that Sarah had awakened because her emotions were too alert to be calm a
n
d sleeping.

He
then felt her mood shift from
a calm
alert
,
to excited, but it only lasted for a minute. Then something happened and
he
could feel her fright. Her emotions then began to fluctuating from fright to curiosity. Then she was confused for a second.
So Grandma and the other girls finally sprung the
baby shower
trap
for Sarah.

Suddenly
all the hairs on the back of his
neck stood at complete attention when Sarah’s emotion changed once again, but it w
as a feeling of annoyed spite. Connor
knew Sarah
began
plotting her revenge and
his
instinct
warned of danger
.

Connor
glanced behind
himself
and the only one who noticed
the
change in
his
behavior was Mark.
His body language
remained
undisrupted but that was a minor comfort.
His silver eyes seemed to bore themselves
i
n
Connor
,
in an attempt for an answer. He wasn’t worried, but he was intently curious. When
Connor resumed looking forward he
entered
Mark’s
mind.
“Don’t worry about it.”

“What’s going on Connor? Even
Kara
seemed odd
all
this week. She didn’t tell me what she’s up to and it’s
only
the scariest thing on earth when my mate
actually
goes
silent
.
When Kara is quiet
,
it means someone is going to be in some kind of
imminent and life threatening
danger.
Tell me what is happening
with her
.”
Despite h
is
words Mark’s
mind
stayed
calm and serene.

“All the girls
have been plotting
a surprise baby shower
for Sarah. It is happening as we speak
.”

Mark chuckled and everyone glanced at him. “Don’t worry I just remembered something funny that happened this week.” They acknowledged him and resumed following
Connor
.
“No wonder why things were so secretive.
There is a
t least
some comfort in
know
ing
that
I
won
’
t be in any danger when I
return
home.”

“Yeah. But I’m the one who will though.”

The
party finally arrived at
the secluded
destination and everyone enjoyed the
serene
view.
They
came across a hidden lake that very few people kn
e
w about and there was a small clearing and the place
gave a
quiet
and
tranquil
feeling
.
A
n osprey
suddenly swooped down and
captured a fish on the other side of the water and Troy commented on the sight. It wasn’t a big lake, but it
i
s a
clean and
safe
for every
one.

After
everybody
finished gawking
,
they
all worked together on building five shelters.
Tyler and Billy decided to make their own
by themselves
and they did a decent job. Troy and Terri had their own shelter as did every other couple.

Everyone
grew
hot and sweaty from the trek here
and the building
of their shelters,
so Connor
allowed everyone to go for a
relaxing and cool
swim. T
hey didn’t need to be told again
. Brittany and Susan had become good friends and they beat everyone into the cool water.
Tyler and Billy were
n’t
too far behind.

About an hour into everyone’s frolicki
ng Jim yelled. “Connor, Mark!”
They
turned to look at him as his sons
and Troy
were
all
playing
Marco Polo.
“You started th
at
fire twenty minutes ago. How about you
come in and
join us!”

They
glanced at each other.
Mark
smiled
and shrugged
“Why not!?”

They
both walked to the brownish water’s edge and kicked off
their
shoes. Just before
they
entered the water Troy said “Take your shirts off. Men don’t need to wear shirts to go for a swim.”