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Chapter 1 - Escape from Paradise.Breakfast came early the next day. The sky was already aglow with the hue of the dawn when the alarm clock rang. The view from the motel window revealed a giant tree silhouetted against the sky in the direction of the coming sunrise. An oak, I thought. It seemed to predate every building around, a sentinel of a time that had long passed away. It alone remained. Its black shape stood eerily against the glow of the morning. It startled me as if it echoed something that I did not yet understand. I paused and pondered it for a minute, on my way to the bathroom. Was it a foreboding of something, something big? What was it that made me stop? I looked back to it from the door to the bathroom and shook my head. We had a long way ahead of us, a big day with endless hours on endless seeming roads. Our plan was to be home before midnight. The old tree was long forgotten by the time we set out for breakfast, Sylvia and I, just as the sun came up on this cloudless Kansas morning. Our motel was just a tiny place, the only motel for miles around, located in the middle of nowhere at a highway crossing south of Witchita. The only other 'attraction' was an old fashioned diner that served a truck stop across the street. "We are always open," read its sign in red letters, mounted on an iron post behind the lawn in front of it. It was an iron post as far as I could make out as we walked by, something strong and enduring. Oh, there was that notion reflected again: something strong and enduring. What did it mean? Since it couldn't figure it I let it drift away and mingle with the smell of freshly baked bread that greeted us as we entered the diner. Its big windows were facing directly towards the rising sun where a tiny sliver of it had just cleared the horizon. The owner of the diner was about to roll down the binds as we entered. I bade him not to, and ordered coffee. I loved to see the sun rise in the morning with a coffee in hand. That's how I had greeted the new day countless times form our porch back home in North Carolina, with the sea still dark behind us. It was Sylvia's turn that morning to call Fred and report on the day before. I smiled to myself since it left me free with little to do except to order our eggs and gaze into the sunshine that was rapidly becoming brighter with the promise for a glorious day. "Sunny side up?" asked our waitress, jokingly. I nodded. "Two orders please with bacon and rye." I barely looked up at her, and this only for a moment. I smiled at her, but my thoughts were focused on the sunrise. Its brilliance reflected the way I felt. A bright new day was unfolding. I glanced into the blinding light and sipped the freshly brewed coffee that she had bought. That's when my eyes were drawn to the tree again near the motel across the street. It stood against a darker background now, hugely imposing. It stood several times taller than the motel. A robust tree, something enduring indeed! I shook my head. Where was this thought coming from, about something enduring? While I was waiting for Sylvia's return, the waitress returned and wanted to roll down the blinds, but I wouldn't let her. I loved seeing the sunshine, as blindingly brilliant as it was. Too many wonderful moments were connected with the brightness of the morning, of wonderful days shared with Heather, Olive, Anton, Sylvia, Ushi, Ross, Indira, Helen, and others. Was it that, which I felt urged to acknowledge, as being enduring? Perhaps it was, but why now? Why this morning? I found no answer again, so I put the question aside and took another sip. We had been instructed to call Fred early that day. Fred had gone to Germany for a security conference that he had decided on at the last minute to attend. I hadn't paid much attention to Fred's trip. It just didn't seem important. The early phone calls we could handle without a problem. || - page index - || - chapter index - || - Exit - ||
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