Theme Thursday...........SWING

Opal Nation9

I went back to the University, while Father and Mother made friends with their neighbors. Father was at the country club one Tuesday night when he met the Professor. That night changed our lives forever. We were oblivious to what was occurring between Father and the Professor. They both discovered they were connoisseurs of the Scotchworth Special Reserve brand of whisky and of Precious Opals. From that first meeting they quickly became great friends, spending time together in quiet discussions that Mother thought had to do with her parents business.

A little over a year later we learned what they had been quietly discussing.

The Professor had somehow gotten Father to contribute to his Scientifical Time Contraption Corporation or as they called it the STCC. We dumbfoundedly thought Father and the Professor were going to make the most stupendous, celestial watches ever made. It took many months for Mother to catch on. The Professor would stop by for dinner a few nights a week. I was away at University, while Ben was growing up like every young little boy should.

The summer before I was to graduate from University, I came home as usual to spend time with Father, Mother and Ben. I had met the Professor while home for last summer's vacation. I was glad that Father had made such a dear friend. Both Mother and Father continued to go to the country club on a regular basis, while taking Ben and I with them every so often. I had already made friends with some other University students who also were members with their parents. It was a fun time.

My friends would come over sometimes and swim in our pool. Clara would make snacks for us, which the guys greatly enjoyed. But the most fun was when we had Clara make a picnic lunch and we would trek to the rear of our property. There was a large pond located there along with many large shade trees. Our favorite was the one with a large branch that reached out just far enough over the pond to tie a heavy rope for us to swing out over the pond and drop into the middle. We had a lot of fun in that pond.

If you did not let go of the rope just in time, you would swing further over the pond where the water was not as deep. My friend Marcus broke his leg one time by swinging just a little too far and letting go of the rope. He had found one of Father's bottles of Special Reserve and had a little too much to drink. It took us over an hour to figure out that his leg was broken and he was really hurt. We had all shared what was in the bottle. Just a little bit had made me woozy and then lazily lying under the shade trees, not really paying attention to what was going on around me.

I think it took Marcus a while to figure out his leg was broken, because he was pretty well snockered and not feeling much of anything. But as he sobered up and could not move from his spot in the pond, with the pain increasing in his leg, he soon realized his folly. He knew then that he should have held on to the rope and as it was swinging back over the middle of the pond let go of the rope then. His yelps of pain soon prompted the other guys to try and help him out of the pond. One of them, who had still been imbibing, grabbed the rope and with great ineptitude tried to swing to our friends aide. We lapsed into throes of laughter, while Marcus told him to hold on tightly. He swished over Marcus and on the back swing let go in the middle of the pond. He was of no help, being that he was sputtering around in the pond whilst trying to figure out what he was doing. The other guys sporadically made their way to Marcus, who they eventually got to the hosptial where the doctors put a cast on his leg. I cannot recollect who drove us there, but Clara said that one of the groundsmen had safely escorted us to the hospital. After that we were always a little leary of that Special Reserve.

A few weeks later, I was walking by the study and I heard the Professor and Father talking. The Professor was speaking excitedly about a place where opals were revered. I had always liked opals, Mother had an opal necklace that she wore all the time. I had known that Father was obsessed with them, but I had never known the Professor was too.

Father said, "When do you think we will be able to leave to go to the Opal Nation?"

The Professor answered, "I have a few more calculations to make, then we will have a go. Did you tell your family yet that you would be going with me and Carlos?"

I heard Father say, "No, not yet. I do not know how to explain what we are about to do. How do you tell your family that you are going to travel to a time when opals ruled the planet?"

I gasped and sat down on the floor outside the study. Mother would be devastated to hear that Father was going to leave us. Should I keep quiet and let Father tell her? What does one do after hearing a conversation such as this? I quickly ran upstairs to my room to think. I decided to keep quiet, sometimes I was sorry I had not spoken up, but who would believe me anyway? I could hardly believe what I had heard.

For those who missed part 8, here is the link. Which also links to part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.