The Wish - Week 1

THE WISH

Have you ever imagined that your life could somehow be better… happier? Have you ever wished that you could change even just one thing about your past, knowing that it would perhaps be all that you would need to do in order to live the life you desire? Have you considered the consequences of altering even one tiny fraction of a detail from your past? Would you be willing to take that chance? Are you sure?

WEEK ONE

The early March air was brisk and crisp. Light traces of snow still lay on the ground as if to subtly remind all who saw it that winter still held everyone in it’s icy grip. Basil dug his hands deeper into the pockets of his Armani suede jacket. Quietly, he stood alone, observing the small group of mourners that was gathered around the gravesite. He shivered as the brisk winds whistled and whipped itself around him and all those there, snaking in and out, making sure to embrace each one. He watched, and quickly stepped aside as a teenaged boy ran past him, chasing a woman’s hat that the wind had blown from it’s perch on top of her head. But no one seemed bothered by the wind or the cold other than Basil. Quickly he reached for the collar of his jacket and lifted it, pulling it in closer to his face. He knew he could leave anytime he chose. In fact, he had no real reason for being there other than to see her. Her… Mrs. Maris Winters. He felt like a school boy with a crush just thinking about her.
Maris had been the love of his life in high school and in college. In fact, they had even gotten engaged during their sophomore year. Life had been seemingly perfect then… perfect until she suddenly dumped him for Blaine Winters. Blaine Winters, star football player- guaranteed to go pro. Every girl on campus would have killed to go out with him. He could have had his pick from hundreds of girls, all would have been willing to give up their current relationships to be with him. Even Maris. His Maris. Beautiful, sweet, shy Maris. Blaine chose her . It had shocked every female on campus. After-all, she wasn’t a cheerleader, she wasn’t president of anything or captain of anything. She was just one of a hundred or so straight-A students, studying for a degree in political science.
In fact, the only noteworthy thing she had done at the time was to drop out of the pre-med program and change her major to political science. But even that wasn’t huge news. You could always find someone changing majors.
A sudden shrill wail of grief rang out and carried in the wind, from someone in the front of the group. Instantly, Basil was snapped back from the past. Was it Maris? He wondered as he curiously made his way closer to the front for a better look. Upon getting close enough, he could see a thin, but curvaceous figure draped over the casket. He was enchanted by the long, thick mink-brown hair that cascaded over one shoulder and down her back. His heart did a little dance. He knew it was her.
Without actually meaning to do so, he moved a little closer. And then again. Before he knew it, he was close enough to reach out and stroke the soft waves of her hair.
Basil took a deep breath. He was so close. Close enough to lose himself in the intoxicating scent of her perfume. Like a hug from a dear friend, it enveloped him, holding him a willing captive.
“Sir, please give us some room. She needs some air,” an unfamiliar voice urgently requested.
“I… I’m sorry,” Basil sputtered, stumbling backwards out of the way. Suddenly, he felt frozen in time and his breathing became labored as he watched a tall thin man and a woman who was a very attractive, though much older, version of Maris, usher her quickly to a seat. He stood motionless as he watched them take a seat beside her in the row of cushioned chairs underneath the huge ivory canopy.
Basil knew instantly that the older woman was Maris’ mother. She really had not changed very much. The years had been most kind to her. But who was the rather distinguished looking man? Maris had no brothers and he wasn’t aware of any male cousins. He could spend countless hours guessing, and perhaps he would never know. But he did know who it wasn’t. It wasn’t her husband, Blaine Winters. He after all, was the reason for the gathering. There, just a few feet away from him, dressed in a very expertly tailored and very expensive suit that Basil could easily identify as the stylish quality of Neiman Marcus, lay Blaine Winters, thirty-seven year old- self made millionaire.

* be sure to look for the next posting of THE WISH next Saturday January 24. Please remember to share your comments with us, we love hearing from you!

New story

Dear readers,

Due to a delightfully hectic schedule, the next Pajama Shorts' story will be featured on or around January 15, 2009. Please look for us then, as we look forward to sharing "The Wish" with you.

Cera Dark

Full Circle - Day 18

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Day 18

Viola was startled awake. Rolling onto her side, she watched as Ivan thrashed about in the bed. Sighing, she reached for the lamp and turned the light on. “Ivan,” she called out, shaking him gently. Nothing. Shaking him a little harder now, she continued to call out his name. This was the fifth time this month that he had had a nightmare. All he would ever tell her was that each dream was exactly the same every time.
“Ivan,” she said, giving him one final nudge. “wake up.”
Ivan tossed and turned for a moment before sitting straight up in the bed. “Oh thank God,” he whispered, sweat pouring from his face. He looked over at Viola and said nothing as he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.
Viola held him quietly for a moment. This time he seemed to be really shaken up. She had never seen him react quite this way before. “Ivan,” she began, hesitantly. “I think maybe it would help if you talked about it. If not with me, then with someone… anyone.”
Ivan shook his head as he lovingly rubbed her tummy that was stretched to capacity with their twin daughters. Leaning over her, he kissed the babies that were to be born in just two weeks. “Hello, Victoria,” he whispered. “Hello, Camille. Daddy loves you both so very much.”
Viola felt her heart do a leap. This was new to her. In the entire thirty-six weeks she had carried the babies, he had never once showed an ounce of emotion, good or bad, toward the babies or the pregnancy. She had even been convinced that he viewed them as nothing more than a sizeable tax deduction. “Ivan, this is wonderful, but I have to ask… what’s gotten into you?”
Ivan laughed as he lovingly gave her tummy another kiss. “Viola, I don’t know if I could ever explain it all to you. Let’s just say, I’m awake… I’m alive… and I love my family- perfect or otherwise. I’m so sorry that I didn’t make this experience as special for you as it should have been. I can’t change that. But I promise that things are going to be different now. And it starts with this… I too, want our babies to be born in the hospital.”
Viola gasped. “Oh Ivan, are you sure?” She could hardly believe what she was hearing. From the moment they had shared with Ivan’s mother the fact that they were having twins, everything changed. She had somehow become in charge of all of their prenatal visits and had strictly advised them to tell no one that there were actually two babies instead of just one. Viola had asked repeatedly why Ivan had gone along with his mother and insisted that they do exactly as she instructed. But he never took the time to answer her. So now to see him make such a huge decision without first consulting his mother, was tremendous.
Ivan laughed at the shocked look on her face. “I am beyond sure. And I know it’s quite late in the game, but in the morning, I am going to make some calls and get the best obstetrician in this state to care for you and the babies. And after breakfast, we are going to take a tour of the best hospital and get you all registered in. I want everything to be perfect… for you,” he added softly.
Viola beamed. “Thank you so much, Ivan. I’m not sure why, but I feel like this is going to be really good… for all of us.”
“More than you know,” Ivan whispered into her neck as he held her in his arms. “More than you’ll ever know.”
THE END
We hope you have enjoyed this PAJAMA SHORT, ‘Full Circle’ in its entirety. Please share your comments and thoughts with us about this story.
And be sure to look for the next PAJAMA SHORT to be featured on approximately December 1,2008.
Our next selected story is ‘THE WISH’
If you have ever wished you could change one thing that has happened in your life, this story is for you.

Happy reading and we look forward to hearing from you!!!

Full Circle - Day 17

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Day 17

The room, if possible, became even quieter… still. It was as if no one even dared to breathe. Victoria gasped. “No,” she whispered, “you said she died because I had turned up the thermostat. You said the heat caused her organs to shut down. Didn’t you just tell me that?” Her eyes pleaded with him for some sort of explanation.

Ivan shook his head. He couldn’t imagine that his heart could hold any more pain or guilt than it did at this exact moment. “Yes, Victoria, I did tell you that. That’s what I told all of you. But I can’t… I can’t let you continue to be the one that everyone hates and fears. I turned the thermostat up. I told your mother and sister that you had done it.”

“But why?” Victoria asked, tears falling freely down her cheeks. ‘‘Camille was already dead.’’

Ivan looked away now. “I… I knew how attached you all were to Camille. I knew her death would be difficult on all of you. But especially you, Victoria. I realized you were not going to be able to cope with her death rationally. At that time, you became a liability to me. I… I was afraid.” He paused. “Afraid you would maybe tell someone. There was too much at stake. I couldn’t let that happen. You have no idea how messy that would have been. Not just for me, for all of us. Camille was the secret we all kept.”

“Because you made us keep her a secret, Father,” Alexandria snapped.

Ivan shook his head. “The reasons why were never important. Things were on the verge of becoming very complicated. Very, very messy. I had to do something. I had to find a way to get Victoria out of the picture. She was emotionally unstable and potentially a threat to this family. So I had to present her to both of you as an actual threat to this family. I had to make you look at her differently. I had to,” he added, grimly.

This news took everyone by complete surprise. Viola had always believed she knew all the details of that night. Although she had never personally viewed the tapes, Ivan had insisted it would be far too painful for her, he had given her a brief and very believable explanation of what happened that night.

This new revelation from Ivan was almost as heartbreaking as Camille’s passing. How dare he do this to the family? How dare he use them as pawns in his very own game of life. She glared at him now. “You did this for your own selfish reasons? You tore our family apart. We had just lost one daughter and you had to take Victoria away from me too? How could you?” Viola turned away. She couldn’t bare to look at him now. No one could. So no one noticed when he slipped his foot under the bed and slid the gun out.

Reaching between his legs, Ivan picked it up and held it.

All the movement caused Viola to turn to him again. Her eyes widened in disbelief when she saw the gun in his hand. “Oh God, Ivan!” she screamed, jumping up and rushing over to her daughters. “Would you really kill your own daughter?” Protectively she wrapped her arms around both of them.

Ivan laughed. But it was a laugh filled with contemplation and weariness. He looked across the room at the three of them huddled together, frightened of him. At that moment, he knew his heart had just made room for the last bit of pain it was able to hold.

Looking down at the gun, he traced his finger along the length of it. “I would never do that,” he said, still looking at the gun and not at his family. “I’m really not the monster that you all now believe me to be. I’m just tired. I don’t know how to do things any other way. I am who I am. I am a Van Cort… Only the strong can survive.”

And with that, he placed the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger…

Think it’s over? Not quite. Catch the final installment of THIS story in three days. You don’t want to miss the ending!!!

Full Circle - Day 16

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Day 16

By now Viola was crying too. She remembered the lengthy conversations they had had with the doctor who cared for the babies after their birth. He had asked so many questions about their family history and neither she nor Ivan had given him any information that would indicate why Camille would have been born with such a debilitating condition. But why had the doctor not known? After all, Ivan’s own mother had sent him to them. Had her own sister’s birth been their family secret? And where was she now? No one had ever seen nor heard of her until now. Perhaps Olivia had a few secrets of her own. Now so many things were beginning to make sense. But it was all far too late… for Camille anyway. Viola wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “You should have told me,” she said, her words cutting him like a knife. “Maybe there was something…”
“No,” Ivan said, cutting her off. “It would not have made a difference. I’m so sorry,” he added softly. “I wish…” He didn’t bother to finish the sentence. What difference would it make now anyway?
Viola shook her head. “But how do you know it wouldn’t have made a difference? You didn’t even try.”
Ivan took a deep breath. “I just know, Viola. Please trust me.”
“I’ve always trusted you, Ivan. Now I wonder just how wise that decision was.”
The words ripped Ivan’s heart into pieces. “I don’t know how to fix this. Tell me what you want me to do.”
Viola shrugged her shoulders sadly. “Do? There’s really nothing you can do except fill us in on all the other things that you have so skillfully kept from us for so long.”
So with words filled with great pain, Ivan continued to tell them all the agonizing details from the night Camille died and the days following. He also told them how Sophia, his mother’s twin sister, had been born with exactly the same heartbreaking disabilities as Camille. He told them how his grandfather had always told his own daughters ‘only the strong can survive.’ He told them how Olivia had loved Sophia and how devastated she had been when her twin had died. Ivan went on. He knew they all wanted to know how Sophia had died and what happened after her death. But no one asked and Ivan felt it wasn’t really that important to them right now anyway. What they all wanted… needed, was closure for Camille. So he reluctantly went on to tell them how it had been Olivia, his mother, who had been the one to decide that Victoria, though stronger than Camille both physically and emotionally, did not really have the true Van Cort strength. She, in Olivia’s opinion, did not have the steel nerves to maneuver in such a powerful empire that her own grandfather had built up on reputation alone.
Ivan paused now. As much as all that he had already told them had been difficult to say, the worst of it all was still yet to come. He looked at his family. And now for the first time, he felt that he could truly see. All along, he had thought his mother had been the driving force in his life. He had always believed that he drew his strength from her. But now looking at his family, he knew that they had really been what kept him going. They were beautiful and wonderful and had quietly walked behind him in traditional Van Cort fashion. They were really all that he had. He only hoped they were also forgiving.
With pain staking detail, Ivan continued to free himself from the past that had haunted him… all of them. No one dared to move. Night changed to morning and then to night again as he continued to draw them deeper and deeper into the past with each word.
Finally, he sighed and took a deep breath. He actually felt more alive than he had in years.
“Victoria, “ he said, slowly, a sad heaviness still lingering in his voice. “Camille died when you took the chain from around her neck. It was an accident, though. The chain strangled her as you tried to release the clasp.”
Countdown to the exciting conclusion.
Be sure to look for the continuation of this story in about 3 days.

Full Circle - Day 15

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Day 15

No one seemed to notice that the sun was beginning to rise. No one thought of anything . other than the events that took place four years ago. Ivan did not allow himself to succumb to the exhaustion he now felt nor to the nagging ache in the back of his throat He had to bring closure for his family… for Camille.

Viola too, ignored her own fatigue but was unable to watch Ivan try to go on as exhausted as he was. He had been standing for hours now, deep in thought, lost somewhere in that tragic night. “Ivan,” she said softly, grasping his hand in her own, “sit down. I’ll make us some tea. We really don’t have to do all of this right now, you know. You need to get some rest. We all do.”

Ivan smiled weakly and shook his head. “Viola, it’s been long enough. I don’t want to carry this secret to bed with me another night. I want it finished.”

Viola nodded. She knew her husband would not be persuaded to do otherwise. Giving in, she gently led him over to the bed. “At least sit,” she encouraged.

Ivan gave her hand a gentle squeeze and sat down on the bed. Viola sat next to him. He looked across the room at his daughters. He could see that they were both extremely exhausted but equally determined to know all that had taken place that night. “Well,” he began slowly, allowing himself to again be transported back in time, “that locket was very old and very, very special. The locket used to be yours Victoria.”

Victoria looked astonished, but remained silent.

“Your grandmother Olivia, my mother gave it to you when you were just about a month old,” Ivan said, remembering the beautiful silver locket that was etched in gold. It had meant a lot to his mother when she was just a child and it had meant so much to him when she had decided to pass it on to one of his daughters. He smiled. He had been so proud; the locket held such a very powerful symbolic meaning. “You simply adored that locket,” he said, looking directly at Victoria now. “When you were about four years old, you absolutely refused to take it off. You wore it everywhere and showed it to everyone.”

Victoria laughed softly, for a moment forgetting what this whole forum was really about. “The locket,” she said, dragging out each syllable as if hearing the word for the first time. “That means there was probably something inside of it. What was it, Father?” She wasn’t sure if she had simply forgotten, or that she had ever even known the contents of the locket. But no one other than Ivan had ever known. They had been unable to open it and had just assumed that it was due to the age of the locket.

Ivan thought for a moment. But he didn’t really need to. He could never forget what was inside of that locket… nor the inscription it held. “A picture,” he said, finally. “There was a picture inside.” Would that be enough for them? He knew it wouldn’t be.

A picture of whom, Father?” Victoria asked solemnly.

Ivan frowned. Now things would certainly begin to get complicated. “The picture,” he paused, “the picture was of your grandmother… and her twin sister.”

The revelation of this was so dramatic, it was almost tangible. The girls had no idea that their grandmother had had a twin sister.

Viola had not even been aware of this. Her eyes widened with disbelief and betrayal. “Ivan,” she said, her words thick with raw emotion. “I… we had no idea. Who was she? Why was this such a secret to be kept from your very own family? From me?” she added, her throat suddenly tight with pain.

Ivan could not face her. Until now he had not allowed himself to feel any degree of guilt for keeping any of this from his wife.

“Ivan.” Viola whispered, her eyes pleading with him to finally grant her entrance into his secret world. “Please tell me why you would have to keep your aunt’s existence a secret from us… from me?”

Ivan looked at her, eyes filled with tears. “I couldn’t tell you. Mother wouldn’t allow it. I couldn’t tell you for a million other reasons as well. But I wanted to. So many times I tried to find the right words, despite the consequences. But then when Camille was born…” he paused. “just like her…” his words trailed off. What else could he say?

Countdown to the exciting conclusion.
Be sure to look for the continuation of this story in about 3 days.

Full Circle - Day 14

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Day 14

Everyone silently braced themselves for the next phase of the past they would have to confront. Ivan’s eyes brimmed with fresh tears as he silently opened himself to remember and reveal more and more of the night that had tormented him for so long. “For awhile,” he began, slowly. “I just sat there in the car.” Instantly, the image became all too real to him. He could actually feel the cold leather of the steering wheel in his hands again. “I really had no idea what to do,” he continued. “Part of me wanted to call someone… anyone and beg for help. But who could I have called? No one else even knew Camille existed. I could not even trust to call the doctor that mother had appointed to care for Viola and the babies after the birth. Could I have told him that she was dead? Could I have trusted him to keep a secret of that magnitude? There were no options. I had to handle this alone. So I just started to drive. I drove around for awhile, just trying to gather my thoughts. I didn’t have a plan. I had never expected anything like this to happen. Eventually, I went to the rail yards… And that’s where I buried her,” he whispered, his voice filled with the anguish that had been in his heart for so long.

Victoria stood and walked over to her parents. “I don’t understand. You still haven’t told me how or why I would have killed my sister… my twin… someone I loved so very much.”

Ivan looked into his daughter’s eyes. He saw her desperate need for closure from all of this. “At first we didn’t have an answer for any of it,” he said slowly. “When I got back to the house, I cleared out all of Camille’s things from her suite. I had to get rid of everything. The next day I gave Nanny a very large sum of money and put her on a plane back to her country.” He paused, reflectively. “By this time, you had begun to withdraw completely from reality. You were still clutching something tightly in your hand. At that time, we had no idea what it was. But what we had found out was that you had turned up the thermostat in Camille’s suite. At the time no one had notice, but as we began to clear the room out, I realized the temperature in the room was almost eighty degrees.” Ivan watched as tears began to fall down Victoria’s cheeks as she took in all that he had just said. She could feel her heart ripping in half as she accepted the fact that she had actually been the one who had killed Camille. For so long she had hated her parents and even Alexandria, blaming them all for not loving Camille enough and then ultimately, for her death.

Ivan looked into his wife’s eyes. They both knew things would never be the same again. But perhaps that would be a good thing…. Somehow. For awhile, no one spoke..

Viola silently watched her family, carefully contemplating everyone’s ability to handle all that still remained hidden behind the dark doors of the past. She gave Ivan’s hand a gentle squeeze, encouraging him to continue.

“For several days,” he began slowly, “we tried to get you to open up. But nothing we did seemed to do any good. So we decided to just give you some space, let you work through your grief in your own way. We were all really just trying to deal with it on our own. It actually seemed to be working, for awhile. But we knew we had to do something when… “ Ivan struggled with the words. “when you started to take things down to the rail yards, things that had belonged to Camille… things I had locked away.”

Victoria squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying hopelessly to lock out the haunting images of those trips to the rail yards that were rapidly appearing. “The locket,” Victoria whispered in horror. “The locket.”

Ivan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The locket,” he repeated. “Do you remember what you were doing with it?” he asked. Victoria shook her head slowly, unable to speak. “You were trying to give the locket back to Camille.” he said softly. “The one you took from her the night… “ he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

Victoria gasped. “But why? It was my locket.”

Ivan dropped his gaze and let his shoulders droop. “I don’t know. I still can’t even figure out how you knew where she was. But somehow you did,” he added softly, still not looking up at her. “The fact that you kept going there was enough of a problem.” he continued, “But the night you tried to dig her up… “ Ivan found himself again choking back tears. “You kept saying she needed the locket so… so she could come back home.”

Victoria felt a chill crawl up her spine. She shuddered at very thought of all of this. “What was so special about that locket?” she whispered, unable to remember.

What would have compelled her to go to such great and unimaginable lengths as to try and unearth her sister’s body.

Be sure to look for the continuation of this story in about 3 days.