FIC: Restoring the Past for the Future

Here's the next bit of What Lies Between. If you'd like to read more about Sasha, Lennon, and Greer or the Another Life series, check out the Another Life Blog.


Title: Restoring the Past for the Future Part 1
Characters: Sasha/Lennon, Greer
Series: What Lies Between; Another Life
POV: Lennon

Lennon bit his lip as he waved Sasha back. He’d never hooked up a camper to a Jeep before. Or to any car. He’d never even been camping. But when Sasha had given him the choice between going with him to his cabin or staying at his house, Lennon didn’t want to stay in Sasha’s house without him so he chose to go.

“Is it lined up?” Sasha’s shout brought Lennon’s attention back to the task at hand.

“Yes. About two more feet back.” Lennon held up two hands. One he held up all five fingers signaling ‘stop’, with his other hand he crooked his fingers and used a ‘come on’ gesture, hoping Sasha would understand.

Once the ball was directly under the hitch, Lennon held up both hands and yelled, “Stop!”

Sasha jumped out of the Jeep and walked back. “Perfect!”

Lennon watched as the other man connected the ball and hitch and then plugged in some wires. He wished he could be more of a help, but he’d never done anything like this before. He tried to remember everything Sasha did so he could be more of a help next time.

“Ok. Jump in and we are off!” Sasha said.

Lennon got in the passenger side of the Jeep and Sasha pulled out onto the street. The bit of debris from the storm had been moved from the streets, but Lennon could see small piles at the side of the road. He watched as Sasha slowed to a stop at the intersection, and then turned onto the street.

“Is it hard to drive with that on the back?”

“On a straight-away, it’s not if the wind isn’t too strong. Backing up can be a bit of pain. Do you want to give it a try?” Sasha asked encouragingly.

“I don’t know if I could do it.”

“Oh, I’m sure you can. You can do anything you set your mind to. If you want, you could take the wheel in Nebraska. There’s a long stretch that’s flat with nothing but farmland for miles.” Sasha glanced at him and smiled.

“Nebraska? We are going to Nebraska?”

“No. Idaho. We have to drive through Nebraska to get there. Where did you think we were going?”

Lennon thought a moment. He didn’t know. “Um. Your cabin.”

“Yes. My cabin in Idaho.” Sasha looked at Lennon. “So you decided to go with me without knowing where you are going?”

“Um. I guess I thought it was around here. You never told me where it was. I guess I just thought it was around here!”

Sasha slowed down at the next intersection. Once stopped he looked at Lennon again. “You are right! I’m so sorry. I thought I’d told you, but I didn’t. Does anyone know you are going with me?”

“Greer does,” Lennon stated.

Sasha gave a huff of laughter. “So no one with an actual pulse. Go ahead and call your mom. Let her know that you are headed to Idaho. Sawtooth Mountain range to be exact. There’s no cell service but let her know that as soon as we get back, you’ll call her again.”

“Seriously? I’ve not told my mom where I’m going since I was like twelve.” Lennon’s stomach dipped at the strange, almost stern look Sasha threw at him.

“Just do it.”

Lennon shrugged and flipped through the contacts on his phone. Finding the right number, he soon was saying hello to his mother. “Hi, Mom. I’m on a trip with a friend…..he wanted me to let you know that we’d be in Idaho….in the mountains with no service. I don’t know. I guess he just wanted someone to know in case there was an emergency. Um. Yeah, I’ll let you know when we are headed home. Ok. Bye.” He turned and looked at Sasha. “She was surprised but then said she was glad I did call her.”

“You should always let someone know where you are. It’s just being safe.” That hint of sternness was in Sasha’s voice again.

“Do you tell someone when you go away?” Lennon challenged.

Sasha glanced at him. “Of course. I called my parents last night. I also let a colleague know. He and I always let each other know what’s going on.”

Lennon watched as Sasha skillfully navigated the Jeep with the camper hooked to the back onto the highway. He smoothly steered off the entry ramp to the right lane. Of course, there was little traffic in the country at that time of the day, but Lennon was still impressed. “So Greer told you to go to your cabin? And you just jump in your Jeep and go?”

“I know it sounds crazy-“

Lennon laughed. “You introduced me to a ghost. I think I can handle anything else you might have to say.”

Sasha looked at him and laughed too. “You got a point. Yes. Greer told me to go to the cabin. He, um, tells me things.”

“Tells you things? What things?”

“Things that happened in the past. But not to him. To other people. Sometimes the other people are distant relatives of mine. Sometimes he tells me things that haven’t happened yet.”

Lennon gave out a low whistle. “That’s kind of spooky, yeah? So like, what? Once you’re dead, you know everything?”

“I don’t think so. I think someone….or some THING…is telling Greer this stuff. Then he tells me.”

“So he’s like a messenger?”

“I think so.”

“But he can’t come with us?” Lennon wished the ghost could’ve come with them. He had a bunch of questions to ask.

Sasha shook his head. “No. He has to stay where he’s connected to the land. Or that’s what I think.”

“That’s kind of sad when you think about it. He and his sister were trying to go west. If he could go with us, he could see a little of what he missed.” Lennon laughed a little. “I’ve never been west either. How do we get there? What states do we go through?”

“We’ll head north of Kansas City, then for just a bit we cross Iowa into Nebraska. We’ll drive the whole length of the cornhusker state, then across Wyoming. We’ll hit the top of Utah, and then we’ll be in Idaho.”

Lennon felt excitement rise in him. He’d never been to any of those states. “How long will it take?”

“Normally it takes about twenty hours, give or take.” Sasha turned and smiled at him. “But it might take a little longer this time.”

“Why?”

“Well, if this is your first time, we should stop and let you see some things.”

“Really? That’d be cool!”

“Look up things to do that are close to interstate 80. That goes across Nebraska and Wyoming. The first pit stop is just this side of KC.”

Lennon pulled his phone out of his pocket and started searching for things to do. He felt a twinge of sadness that Greer wouldn’t experience it, but he promised himself to take a lot of pictures to show the young spirit.

TBC