On the night of October 31st, 1981 Vince lost a friend to a tragedy --- F.M From “A Strange and Distant Land” It had been hours and hours since Mom’s call. He’d walked the perimeter of the pond so many times. Twenty maybe? Even thirty maybe? He didn’t know. The quacking ducks, the honking geese, the beauty of the swans and the bright autumn foliage went unnoticed as Sam focused his thoughts on Albert. A dark country road, jack-o-lanterns aglow, concern about leaving his young brothers before they returned from trick-or-treating, a sharp curve, a drunken driver in the wrong lane, the surprise, the sudden lights, the impact, the fatal aftermath. Sam couldn’t stop sobbing. He’d only talked to Albert a few times after they graduated. They had compared their universities and their friends there and laughed at both the similarities and the differences. This couldn’t be real. “We’re only 21” Sam thought “it’s so unfair.” Sam fought back the strong urge to hate the one who’d caused this. “His brothers must be so upset” he worried “and his mom probably just broke down when she heard.” Sam looked up and asked “Why him? Why not me? Or Tim? Or Donny?” Sam flashed back to an earlier time. They had called themselves “The Four Musketeers.” They sat together in classes, they always ate lunch together, they cheered together at the pep rallies, they devised clever ways to annoy and torture the teachers and hide what they were doing. “One for all and all for one!” It all took the edge off their general unpopularity. Sam remembered moments spent with Albert. They had nicknamed him “Bird.” So many hours of playing chess, Stratego and Battleship during study halls and after classes. Sitting with Albert on the sidelines at football games waiting with him for his chance to enter the field and play the game. “They never let him play much. That really stunk!” Sam muttered under his breath. Long rides around the lakes on their beaten up bicycles, birthday parties, hayrides, wrestling matches. He especially remembered the excitement when Albert’s grandmother had made her grandson’s dream come true by taking him to watch the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. “He was so excited and so happy” he thought “and went on and on about it when he got back.” He could still see the look on Albert’s face when Donny got back from Peru and gave him the biggest gift in the biggest box. “We played so many games of chess on that set” he muttered. So many things they had done together and now? Sam sat down on a nearby bench and hung his head. As he raised his head and stared blankly into the dull autumn sky and watched his fellow students advancing to the student center for dinner he couldn’t help but remember the most important moment he spent with Albert. “Please don’t tell anyone, Sam. If they found out you know what could happen to me.” “I know,” Sam replied, “I promise I’ll never tell anyone ever. You know I won’t. Why do people have to be so mean? Just talk to me about it and nobody else, not even Tim or Donny. You know how they can be.” Albert looked away and said “Yeah, I know. I wish I could though.” “Not a good idea” Sam quickly responded. “You can always come live with us if they find out. We could just run off even. I’m so tired of this town. I can’t wait to move away to college soon. I’m never coming back, Albert, and neither should you. Get out of here and stay out.” Now that Albert was gone Sam knew he would have to honor Albert’s confidence until the end of his own life. “I’m the only one who will ever know now” he thought with sadness. Memories of another holiday and another loss flooded his heart as he struggled under the weight of all the unexpected tragedies. He remembered the sacred words “I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow…” “We’re just The Three Musketeers now” Sam whimpered as tears once again rolled down his cheeks and fell into the grass below. Sadly it would only be a few short years before another tragedy would strike “The Four Musketeers” and Sam would feel the unexpected and sharp sting of loss again.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 03:06:25 +0000
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