After cleaning up from dinner, Dorian left to visit her parents for a few hours.
Brett freed Abby from her kennel and left the room, with Abby following.
She followed him into the garage, where Brett entered the attic and removed a box.
Brett left the garage and went into the den. Abby followed.
He powered up his computer.
Abby rested on the floor by the computer desk.
Brett opened that box, removing a joystick and a Microsoft Flight Simulator software box. He then removed the disc and inserted it into his computer. He connected the joystick to his computer and started the flight simulator program.
A minute passed. Brett flew a Cessna 172 from the Fort Wayne Smith Field Airport flight simulator.
Brett flew around the Fort Wayne area and practiced maneuvers such as power-off stalls, slow flight, turns around a point, S-turns, forty-five-degree banked turns, and gliding spiral turns.
Meanwhile, Sidney and Dorian shared a Fort Wayne gun range stall.
Dorian shot a Glock 23 pistol.
Sidney shot a 44 Magnum.
“That’s my girl,” Sidney said, looking at Dorian’s target, where half of her shots were straight through the heart.
“Thanks, Daddy,” Dorian beamed with pride.
“Does Brett shoot his thirty-eight special I got him?” he added.
“No, Daddy,” she replied.
“That was a wasted Christmas present,” he frowned.
“I know,” replied Dorian.
Dorian and Sidney went back to firing at another target.
Back at the house, Brett closed the flight simulation program and removed the disc. He disconnected the joystick from the computer and put everything back in the box.
Brett returned the box to its secret hiding place in the garage attic, then returned to the den.
Brett walked over to his LazBoy chair and turned on the TV with his remote.
Abby rolled over her back and stuck her legs in the air. She fell asleep.
An hour later, Dorian was drinking coffee at her parents’ house.
Back at his house, Brett was still kicked back in his LazBoy chair, watching TV. Abby was sleeping on her side on the floor near Brett’s chair.
One of Brett’s favorite shows started on the TV. It’s the “Mysteries and the Unknown” show, and he religiously watched the weekly episode.
“This is Tommy Burbank. Welcome to another exciting episode of Mysteries and the Unknown,” said the host.
Brett’s eyelids slowly closed.
“Tonight’s episode is about reincarnation with fascinating stories to share. Our first story begins with Martha Brantley from the quaint town of Marshallton, Missouri,” Tommy addressed the audience.
On TV, middle-aged Martha Brantley sat in a chair in the living room of an old house.
“It all started when I was on vacation. I was driving through a quaint little village in Abingdon, Virginia. Main Street had homes dating back to seventeen seventy-nine. Suddenly, I had this strange sensation that I’d been there before. This feeling became so strong when I stood in front of this one house. A feeling like I lived there before in a past life,” Martha told the audience.
Brett slept in his LazBoy chair. He tossed and turned, then started a dream with a smile.
In Brett’s dream, it was still a cloudless blue-sky day.
Matthew flew his bi-wing Jenny at sixty-five miles per hour, two thousand feet above the beautiful countryside.
Matthew flew Jenny into a loop.
Matthew flew the Jenny into a lazy 8 to the right; he flew the Jenny into a lazy 8 to the left.
He flew out of the left lazy 8, and the engine sputtered.
Matthew glanced at what few instruments were on the console. The engine of the Jenny sputtered again.
He craned his neck to look at the engine cowling. Everything appeared fine.
The propeller stopped. An eerie quiet sound two thousand feet up in the air.
Matthew glanced down below, spotting a big grassy field below and to the right.
Matthew flew over the field and banked to the right.
He descended his Jenny and turned into a right downwind leg for the field.
Matthew descended his Jenny and turned into a right base leg for the field.
He descended his Jenny, turned into a final approach for the field, and flew over a dirt road.
Matthew descended and made a smooth, soft field landing on the grassy field. The Jenny rolled to a stop.
Matthew removed his goggles and leather cap, dropped them in his seat, and exited his Jenny.
He walked over and looked at the engine, then scratched his head. He looked at the field, noticing the dusty dirt road at the end of the field.
He grabbed his suitcase out of the Jenny.
Matthew walked through the field, heading to the dirt road.
Matthew walked down the dirt road and noticed a farmhouse half a mile down the road. He headed over to the house.
Matthew drove down the farmhouse’s driveway and walked to the front door. He knocked on it and waited, but nobody came to the door.
Matthew left, walking down the driveway.
Twenty minutes later, Matthew walked farther down the dirt road, passing a wooden sign reading “Columbus 2 Miles.”
A horse and buggy rode up behind Matthew and stopped.
He noticed a young, pale-skinned strawberry blonde female sitting in the buggy, holding the reins.
“Would you like a ride into town?” the young woman asked Matthew warmly.
“That would be grand, as I’m getting a little tired from walking,” Matthew replied. He climbed up on the buggy with his suitcase sitting next to her.
She drove the buggy off down the road. “Why are you out walking?” she asked.
“My airplane broke down, and I had to land in a field about a few miles back. I need to go into town and send a telegram to my mechanic,” he replied.
Her eyes widened. “So, you’re a pilot?”
“You bet!”
“I take it you’re not from Columbus since you have a suitcase?” she asked.
“No. I was on my way back to Fort Wayne.”
She glanced at Matthew’s hands. “I bet your wife is worried about you,” she inquired.
“I’m not married.”
She smiled. “My name is Anne Whitestone.”
“Hello Anne, I’m Matthew Sims.”
Twenty minutes passed.
Anne drove her buggy down the dirt road, getting closer to Columbus.
“Wake up and get to bed,” a nagging woman’s voice bellowed from the sky.
Matthew glanced up at the sky. “Did you hear that woman’s voice?” he asked Anne.
“What voice?” Anne responded.
“I said, wake up and get to bed,” the nagging woman’s voice bellowed louder from the sky.
Matthew scratched his head, looking at the sky. Anne kept her eyes on the dirt road.
Back to Brett’s reality.
Brett woke up and then jumped Dorian by his chair, her face covered in green nighttime cream and her body covered from her neck to her feet in a nightgown.
“Turn off the television and get to bed,” Dorian ordered. She turned around and walked out of the room.
“Why did the dream have to end with that green monster staring at me?” he frowned.
“Come, Abby,” he said, getting out of his LazBoy chair.
Abby got up and followed Brett out of the den.
He let Abby out for a bathroom break and then placed Abby in her kennel.
Brett yawned.
The door wasn’t latched.
Brett slowly walked out of the room and into his dark bedroom.
There’s enough light to notice Dorian under the covers.
He undressed down to his T-shirt and underwear, then got under the covers.
“Did you brush your teeth?” Dorian asked.
Brett sighed, got out of bed, and left the bedroom, entering the bathroom, where he brushed his teeth.
Brett rushed back into the bedroom, got under the covers, and closed his eyes. “Please have a dream. Please have a dream,” he whispered.
“Shhh!”
A few seconds passed, and Brett was fast asleep.
Brett’s dream returned.
Anne drove her buggy through the streets of Columbus.
She stopped at the Hotel St. Denis. “You can get a room here,” she said.
“Thank you for the ride.”
Anne hesitated. “How long will you be staying in town?”
“Well,” Matthew said, pausing. “It should take Paul a day to drive down here, then another couple days to fix my plane. So I guess that makes it three to four days,” he replied.
“That’s good, so maybe I can have the pleasure of showing you around our beautiful town?” she asked, twirling her hair with a finger.
“Sure, I don’t see why not,” he replied.
“Why don’t I meet you there in two hours?” she asked with sparkles in her eyes.
“I’ll be ready,” Matthew replied, then got out of the buggy with his suitcase.
Anne watched Matthew go inside the hotel.
She drove off in her buggy with a huge smile.
Matthew settled in a room in the hotel.
He stared at the mirror above the dresser, noticing a handsome man with a mustache and black hair parted down the middle and combed back.
Later that day, in Columbus, Matthew wandered around town. He found the telegraph office, went inside, and wired his mechanic about Jenny’s engine quitting.
Five minutes passed.
Matthew walked out of the telegraph office, where he wired his mechanic.
Matthew strolled around Columbus, enjoying the sights, then soon walked down Washington Street, noticing the Zaharakos ice cream parlor.
“I haven’t had ice cream in a while,” he said, then went inside Zaharakos.
Zaharakos was a beautiful ice cream parlor.
Inside, Matthew saw an onyx soda fountain with an Italian marble countertop that stretched the length of the ice cream parlor’s main room.
In the middle of the counter was a beautiful Tiffany-style lamp with rose, green, and golden yellow stained glass. Behind the counter was a mahogany back bar with a mirror and stained glass.
He glanced around and spotted a giant pipe organ at the room’s rear.
The place was filled with couples and children enjoying ice cream at tables with their parents.
Matthew walked up to the counter, where a young female waited.
The wall behind her hung a calendar with the “July 10, 1918” date.
“May I take your order, sir?” the female behind the counter asked.
“Vanilla ice cream cone, please,” Matthew replied.
The female nodded and walked away. She went over where the ice cream was stored.
She returned with a giant vanilla ice cream cone. With a smile, she handed it across the counter to Matthew.
Matthew gave her a nickel.
He turned around and walked to the door, licking his cone.
Matthew stepped outside Zaharakos and bumped into a beautiful blonde-haired woman.
He smashed ice cream into his chin. A chunk fell off the cone, slid down his shirt, and plopped on the sidewalk.
“Oh my. I’m so sorry,” the beautiful woman said with flushed cheeks.
Matthew’s eyes sparkled, glancing at this beautiful woman. “Ah, that’s okay,” Matthew replied, gazing into her beautiful eyes with a smile.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” the beautiful told Matthew. She grabbed his hand and opened the door to Zaharakos.
She took him back inside Zaharakos and walked Matthew by his hand to the counter.
“May I have a wet rag, please?” the beautiful woman kindly asked the female behind the counter.
The female noticed the ice cream on Matthew’s shirt.
“Right away, ma’am,” she replied and walked away.
The female returned with a wet rag and handed it to the beautiful woman.
She took the rag and wiped the ice cream off Matthew’s shirt, his chin, and his lips. A slurp, slurp, slurp sound echoed inside Zaharakos.
Matthew glanced around Zaharakos to find the source of that sound.
It’s back to Brett’s reality.
Abby was visible next to the bed, licking Brett’s face.
Brett smiled. “What’s your name?” Brett asked in his
sleep.
Abby licked his face again.
Brett woke up, seeing Abby licking his face.
Dorian snored from her side of the bed with a frown.
Brett glanced at Abby, then glanced at Dorian.
He glanced at Abby. “How did you get out?” he asked.
Abby replied with a lick on his face. She jumped around, whining.
“Okay, girl, I’ll let you out before the wicked witch wakes up,” Brett whispered to Abby.
Brett got out of bed and walked out of his bedroom.
Abby followed.
Brett took Abby outside in his backyard and then gazed at the stars.
Abby sniffed around the backyard for that perfect spot.
Three minutes passed, and she found one and peed.
Brett took Abby back inside.
Brett placed Abby back in her kennel in Robbie’s bedroom.
He locked the door.
Brett returned to his bedroom, climbed into bed, and closed his eyes. “Please return,” he whispered.
He fell fast asleep.