Footprints

Imagine being on the earth long enough to see the effects of a life's work.  Many of us never get the It's a Wonderful Life point of view.  We never get to see the effects of touching other peoples' lives.  Those of us that wander through this life hoping to leave a positive influence on others constantly weigh the consequences of our actions.

Of course we live our own lives, but any time we cross someone else's path we have the opportunity to help; to improve someone's situation.  Now, is this narcissism?  Is this egomania?  No.  It's a personal choice to have a servant's heart.

Unfortunately, one has to strike a balance in order to prevent being taken advantage of and being labelled as naive.  A true servant's heart, however, gets nothing out of helping people other than the satisfaction of a job well done.  Not many of us can claim success in maintaining that purity.  Even if we manage to pull it off, the cynic will analyze someone else's giving heart, trying to find an ulterior motive.

Back to my point, imagine being an immortal.  Imagine being alive when the fruits of your labor come to the front.  This is one of the things that my main character, Adrian, is able to see.  Beyond the first book, Time in Eternity, where we learn about Adrian's role in the discovery of America and Puerto Rico, we learn more about the personal experiences and the lives touched by a 555 year old man.  We learn about narrow escapes, and permanent scars.  We learn about the treachery of family and the motivation of revenge.

Here is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Stolen Eternity.

I awoke to impossible heat!  I opened my eyes to the color of the world, but it was not my world of today.  I let out a scream of agony, realizing that I knew where I was.  I also knew when I was.  It was 1640.  I was in what is now Germany.  It was during the Thirty Years War.

And I was being burned at the stake.

I took in a sharp breath of air, feeling the flames burn my throat and lungs.  I looked out to my accusers.  As I had seen three times before, my accusers could not look at me.  They could not bear to see the outcome of their decisions.  I scanned the crowd, trying to take my mind away from the flames. 

Then I saw them.  They were the only eyes watching me.  Even through the smoke, they were a brilliant and bright blue color.  The narrow angular face that housed those eyes was smiling a cruel and satisfied smile.  I continued to stare at the man, who seemed so very familiar.  His body was similar to mine in height and form.  I realized that he may have been the one to accuse me of the heresy for which I was being burned this time. 

Without having to look, I felt the ropes tying me to the post give way from being weakened by the flames.  I was free.  I moved swiftly, finally taking my eyes off the man that was clearly enjoying himself, and jumped out of the pyre.  The gasps and screams of the crowd pounded at my ears as I broke into a sprint to make my escape.  I could still feel his eyes on me as I ran.  I made it to a barn a mile away and stopped to catch my breath.  I was heaving and coughing in my attempt to spit out the remaining smoke in my lungs.  My skin was tender and pink, but it was already whole.  I had my hands on my knees and my back to the entrance of the barn.

“That was quite a spectacle, Adrienne.”

I whirled around to face who I knew was the immortal from the crowd.  “What do you want?”

“I’ve been looking for you.”  His voice was low and menacing, but he stood there with a guarded expression and waited for me to catch my breath.

“Do I know you, sir?”  He seemed so familiar, but I could not place him.

“I think you do, Adrienne.  I have been looking for you since my parents were killed.  I must say that now I find myself at a loss of how to kill you.”

“I suppose so.  You should know that it is no easy feat to dispense people like us.”

“Yet, we shall certainly try,” the stranger said, making a move toward me.  His breathing was calm, but his aura showed anger beyond rage surrounded by sorrow.  I also noted the solid black border around the outside of his aura.  This man was poisoned by his flaring hatred.  He was the personification of evil.

“I invite you to do so,” I answered, standing up straight and squaring my shoulders to him.  “I appreciate that you are at least allowing me to catch my breath first.”

His action was fluid and like lightning.  He had concealed a throwing dart in his palm and had launched it at me.  It hit its intended mark, stabbing into my left eye.  I realized the subterfuge immediately.  He knew exactly how to kill me.  My hand flew up late, gripping and pulling at the dart that was lodged in my socket.  My adversary was on me at once.  He had pulled out a knife and was going to make short work of me.  I spun at the last second, dodging his strike and launching him past me and into the bales of hay.  I felt a sting in my side as I straightened back up to face him.  I was still working to dislodge the dart with one hand, and checked my side with the other.  The man had not actually missed with his knife strike.

I pulled my hand up from my side and saw that I was bleeding black.  He had sliced deep enough to lacerate my liver.  I needed to get this cursed dart out of my eye before I bled out. 

“Getting a sense of your mortality, Adrienne?” I heard him gloat from behind me.  He had gotten to his feet, and was appraising his work on me.  “You have mere minutes to live.  Your eye damage will take longer to heal at this point than your liver will allow you to live.  It is over, Adrienne.”  He turned to the door.

“Who are you?  Why have you done this to me?” I gasped through the pain.

“You are the reason why our parents are dead, Adrienne.  You were who those men were after that night in the vineyard!”

Through his rage, I could hear the timbre of my brother’s voice through the past, standing in front of me.  “Why am I to blame?” I shuddered as the pain shot through me.

“They saw you fall off your horse and get trampled.  They saw you get up unharmed.  They believed that our mother bewitched you.  They are dead because of your clumsiness!!!”

“But brother, why kill me?  Why have you kept yourself hidden from me?”

“I was captured the day of the fire.  I was made to do their bidding.  I was their play thing and test subject.  I was only able to escape through my superior intelligence.  My life has been ruined by you.  I am simply returning the favor.”  His voice had returned to the cold and menacing tone that began our conversation.

I fell to my knees from the pain.  My body was quickly growing weak from the loss of blood.

“I must take my leave of you now, Adrienne.  I cannot be here when the mob finally finds you.”  With that, the man made a formal Spanish bow to me, and turned on his heel.  In a moment he was gone, and I was left to bleed out on the floor of a stranger’s barn.

Events like this change our lives and change our fundamental nature.  Things beyond our control can make the biggest impressions on our futures.