Family Intent

Chapter One

“The Escape”

It is happening again, the same nightmare over and over. Each and every night sleep was refused, denied, no -- stolen! No matter how hard he tried, every night bred the same relentless betrayal. Gone! They were gone -- stolen. Awakened now by the cold sweat that ran from his brow, Blake’s heart pounded as though it would erupt from the very place that once held an inexhaustible supply of the very essence that held the bond of children, family, and lovers together.

The sheets now soaked again with the frustration of unforgiving vivid memories so real that even after years of failed relationships, it felt as though it had happened only yesterday. Before his family -- was stolen. Shaking uncontrollably, Blake managed to gather his composure. Knowing it would only be a matter of time, before the episode or saga would be re-lived again. The bathroom tile was cold, hard on the soles of his feet as he staggered weak, towards the bathroom sink. He must reach it! Must see himself, remember who he was.

The coldness was in its own way familiar almost comforting. Yet he knew it was shaded. That feeling now sent shivers cascading up his legs, back and arms. He must not lose control again! He must not retreat to the -- “Escape” that place where all is lost. Hope is abandoned and the essence of your very soul is lost in the void. It had claimed everything that he was, had become and possibly would ever be. Now in the mirror his own eyes revealed the façade that he himself knew he hid behind. “For the eyes are the windows to the soul,” they say. In addition, his eyes though baby blue at birth, were now dark, darker than space itself. Whereas a Black Hole entraps light and time, in a never-ending darkness. Void of all that he was, in the mirror image of his dark eyes he fought the memories. The reality that he could still not believe, let alone accept, they were gone -- stolen. In the mirror, he saw the depth coming. He would be forced to remember when he was complete, able to function in society, a time of peace, tranquility and balance. Oh the joy that filled his soul when she was born. A miracle of heaven and earth joined. He remembered a joy that nothing in the universe could replace. She was part of him, more than he would know. In the same “baby blue” eyes as his, he recognized she held an essence,

-- HER FATHERS.