Kirkegaard Prophecy Part 2

The roar of the gunshot split the air.

Karen fell to the ground.

"Karen!" screamed Elise, squinting through the driving rain. "Are you hit? Did you get shot?"

"No," hissed Karen, "but I’m certainly not going to stand there and make a nice target for Elmer Fudd, wherever he is. Pipe down. Let’s get out of here, like we should have done before."

The two girls crawled on their hands and knees through the high grass and the rainstorm, fighting to keep from slipping as they headed toward the road.

"You two!" bellowed a deep voice. "Stand up! Stand up, I said. What are you doing trespassing on private property?"

Elise rose from the ground and saw an older man in a bright yellow rain poncho and John Deere baseball cap, standing at the fence with a shotgun pointed up in the sky. He was on a separate piece of property, hidden away from Timmy’s grandparents’ farm by a large stand of trees. Enraged, she pulled out her deed and waved it over her head.

"This is my property! I have the deed right here! How dare you shoot at us! How dare you!"

The man was unmoved. "I know the owner of this property and his name is Cable Myers."

"Well, my good man," said Elise, stomping toward him with her arm extended, holding the deed held out in front of her, " I happen to be Elise Myers, Cable’s granddaughter."

"Hey, have him put away the shotgun before you go prancing over there," called Karen. But Elise’s anger was too great for her to stop. Thrusting the title deed under his nose, she narrowed her eyes. "I hope you’re not too old to be able to see this print, " she panted, "but if you can, you will see that this deed entitles me to five acres on the edge of my grandad’s property, where I am now standing at this very moment. "

The man glared at her and took the deed. He read the front page, shielding it from the pouring rain. Glancing back at her, his eyes softened. "Guess it’s so, isn’t it? Well, my name is Lonnie Gund, and I’ve lived here for over twenty years. Listen, I’m sorry about the gunshot and all. I just shot it in the air as a warning. We’ve had some strangers tromping these fields, you see, and - "

"Well, since it seems that we will now be neighbors, Mr. Gund," Elise huffed, "I would highly recommend that you might keep your shotgun inside if you come with reach of my property."

"It’ll be done, true enough, Miss Elise, and my deepest apologies," said the man, tipping his cap. "You’ll have no more such traumatic memories to relate to your grandchildren one day."

Karen laughed aloud, but Elise held her stare. "Good," she said, taking the deed back and tucking it in her pocket. "Have a nice day." Turning quickly, she headed down the hill toward her car. The rain slowed to a light drizzle, but both girls were soaked.

"What gives, cowgirl? The man apologized. It’s not like he tried to drill us, "said Karen, trying not to slip in the mud. "Lighten up."

"Just like Kierkegaard said," sneered Elise, sniffing deeply and looking at the horizon. "The universe is confusing and yet we’ve all been put here, trying to make sense of it. Things can be totally irrational sometimes. Life can be overwhelming."

"You sound weird when you talk like that," said Karen, squinting.

Elise turned toward her, nostrils flaring. "Well, here’s my philosophy. The strong survive. Okay?" She pointed a thumb in the direction of Mr. Gund, who still stood by the fence line. "The sooner I let people like him know that I mean business, the better. Where’s my treasure stuff?"

"Guess I’m confused," said Karen, handing her the blue-steel box. "If you want him to know you mean business, just what is your business - pushing people around? Becoming the queen of your own kingdom?" Karen stepped over to her car at the edge of the road. "Philosophy is more than a shopping spree. You shouldn’t pick and choose the sections that appeal to you most. Sit down and read all the way through. And…let me know when you decide what you want to be. Until then, have a good time with your friend Kierkegaard. Just don’t forget one thing," she said as she opened the door of her Civic and got in. "You ought to leave a little room for Jesus." She closed the door and drove off, leaving Elise standing in the drizzle.

------------------------.

The next day’s afternoon weather was sunny, and Elise had made sure that the weather forecast promised it would stay that way. She carried a lawn chair and a cardboard box up the hill to the center of the property. Though it was late in the day and the air was warm, the ground was still wet. Time to sit and make some plans away from the distractions of her everyday world. After all, things were different now, weren’t they? She was a landowner, and had a good start on life. This is what existing was about - getting your footing and taking charge. Nearing the center of the property, Elise unfolded the chair and sat down. She placed the cardboard box on the ground and removed the blue treasure box. Let’s take a look at those baseball cards, she thought, and try to sort out this mystery. Then I’ll draw out some plans for the property.

The first card was of an old Yankee baseball player named Gehrig. There was a bend in the corner of the card. Nuts! Karen said damage would hurt the worth of the card. Elise turned the card over in her hands. The company was Fleer, and the date of the card said 1961. Nothing special, and it wasn’t in a casing of any sort.
Oh, well...

She picked up the second card and looked at the front. The same player, but from 1940...or was it 1941? It was hard to read anything on it. The card was full of bends and wrinkles. Looks like someone had crumpled the card into a wad before smoothing it out once again. Worth money? Probably not worth a cent from all the damage and the handwriting scrawled across the back. But it was the writing that made this so interesting... if I could just figure out what the meaning could be...

Elise glanced around and then held the card close, re-reading the stunning words printed in block letters across the back side of the card in an unusual white ink:

This is too much to bear.
One death and now another on the way.
When will I stop?
Can I overcome the guilt?
Please God, help my soul.

Elise shivered. A nervous bald man sneaks up here and buries a box on my property... a tortured soul, stumbling through life, just like Kierkegaard said. A soul in confusion who is dealing with guilt about something...

...is this a confession about a murder? Another on the way...

She bolted upright.

Elise pressed her hands against her forehead. Could it be that I’m reading the confession of a serial killer? The designs and the sketches of the property would have to wait.

"Hey, there’s the funny lady again. Loo, loo, loo."

Startled, Elise looked around. Breathing a sigh of relief, she saw him peering over the barbed wire. There was the little boy Timmy, standing in the same place as yesterday, wearing that serious expression again.

"Well, hey," called Elise as she walked toward the fence. "You’re almost like a little ghost, coming in and out of here."

"I almost think I am, sometimes," called the boy. "Anyway, I like being invisible whenever I do my thinking. I brought some coins out here to inspect in the sunlight. Then I’ll think about the Song." He looked up at the sky. "It’s kind of late for you to be here. You shouldn’t be here when it’s dark."

"Oh," Elise grinned as she felt the roughness of the fence post. "I can handle myself."

"Yeah, I saw the way you talked to that other girl. You act like you’re in charge of everything, don’t you? Pretty dumb idea." He shook his head in a reproving way. "I think you’re a little old for that kind of thinking." He shrugged his shoulders.

The comment stung her. Small kid or not, where did he come across with a snide remark like that?

"Well, "she replied, measuring her words carefully. " I think the way things are falling into my lap, I have the right to take control of my life this way." She swung her arms widely. "After all, I’ve been given a pretty good start on life, don’t you think? Five acres. All mine." There. That ought to impress him.

He shrugged again. "The land’ll last longer than you will. Boy, for someone who should think this stuff out, you’re pretty naive." Before she could give an angry response, he titled his head and asked a startling question. "Don’t you ever think of death?"

Elise stepped back. If you only knew from the baseball card in my hand, boy...

He shook his head. "Didn’t think you did. What a pity."

"Oh?" she asked curtly. "And you do, at your age?"

He nodded seriously. "Sure do. In fact, that’s what most of my Song is about."

She laughed without humor. "You couldn’t be more than eight years old. Why would you worry about death?" Immediately she knew she had asked a stupid question.

He looked up. "Listen, it’s getting dark, and I’ve finished my thinking for today. I’ve got to get in and see my grandparents. They want me in before dark." He turned to go. "Loo loo loo."

"Timmy."

"Yes?"

"Your parents... are they both ... dead?"

Tim turned around without expression. "My mom died two years ago, yes, from a bad disease, but I know she’s in Heaven. I miss her, but she made her plans in order for me to get to see her one day. My dad, well, he’s gone, but he’s still alive. I never really saw him. I only heard him once, in another room at my grandparent’s house. I was real sick at the time and I couldn’t go out and see him, but I did hear him talking. I’m not sure he wanted to see me, but I got the Song from him." Tim glanced away before looking back at her. "I don’t know what he looks like, I’m afraid. I think he’s dealing with some things in his life."

Elise’s eyes were moist. "Tim, I am so sorry for you."

Tim looked at her with a kind expression. "It’s okay, really it is. I think you’re a really nice girl, Elise, but I think you have problems without knowing you have problems, and that’s kind of like driving a car that has no oil. The engine’s gonna break down on you while you’re driving on the highway. I think you’d better get away from planning your own corner of the world and get back to the real world."

‘The real world.’ That’s the phrase I used with Karen. Elise smiled. "And just what is the ‘real world’?"

Tim returned her smile. "The one where you open your eyes and look all the way down the highway, not just at your own property." He squinted. "Getting dark. You better get in, especially with that mysterious stuff getting buried in your property. Who knows, the skinny man might come back? Loo loo loo."

He was gone in the late afternoon dusk.

Elise went back and sat on her chair, pondering over a sick little boy and five acres of new land and a baseball card with a murder written on it. Confusion, confusion, just like Kierkegaard said...but don’t walk away from it. Get serious about solving the riddles.
She huffed out loud. Instead of trying to re-write the rules of life on my terms, maybe I need to get back to the basics.
Getting up slowly, she folded the chair and groped around in the darkness for the box. I gotta get back to square one. Why did I leave anyway? How stupid. She bit her lip. Why, when I step into a new stage in life, do my friends and I think that it means to adopt a totally new way of thinking? Why would ‘different’ necessarily mean ‘better’? I got the answers at the same retreat Karen did. Why did I walk away from God?

She reached inside her box and felt around for her Bible. Not there. She remembered that she had left it in the back seat of her car. Gathering her belongings, she headed slowly down the slope to the road. I’ll just do a little long range thinking, like Tim said...

She was startled by the sound. In the darkness she heard the door of her car click open and close.
Couldn’t be Karen, she thought. No.

Someone’s trying to hide in my car. The murderer. Now what do I do?
Another noise. Footsteps crunching on the roadside gravel. Slow, measured steps coming toward her. Too dark to see...

"Elise. Elise Meyers."

Elise stood still, too scared to speak.

"You have something of mine and I want it. I know you do," said the voice out of the darkness. "And I’m coming to get it."