Memories from a Different Future: Jump When Ready, Book 2 by David Pandolfe Page A

With that in mind, they decided to rest
up for two hours first while Simon kept an eye on Earth time to make sure they
didn’t sleep for days or weeks.
    Henry, Jamie and Simon left the kitchen but Nikki
lingered while Naomi washed her dishes. Part of her meant it as a
kindness—after all, it didn’t seem fair to just walk out and leave her to clean
up alone. But Nikki also sensed that it might be a good opportunity to talk to
Naomi. She felt bad about it but she really didn’t spend much time with her
alone and it seemed like lately Naomi might just need another woman to talk to.
Even as she thought it, Nikki paused in thought. Woman, not girl. Was she
herself somehow becoming a woman finally? Was that even possible here?
    “Everything okay?” Nikki said, as Naomi scrubbed a bowl
in the sink. Nikki knew that, of course, she didn’t have to do that. But she
also supposed that this kitchen was Naomi’s version of her own garden. A place
to create things and at least sometimes be alone.
    Naomi nodded, stopping to gaze down into the foamy suds.
“I guess. I’m happy to try and help, if that’s what you mean.”
    “I meant more, overall. You never mentioned those
nightmares before. Are they new?”
    “Kind of,” Naomi said. “At least, I’ve had them more
lately. Whatever lately means.”
    Nikki couldn’t help smile. “Good point. But, say, within
the last ten years or so?”
    Naomi smiled too. “Yes, definitely.”
    “Wow, so they’re new!”
    Naomi laughed and reached for a towel to dry her bowl.
“Like they came out of nowhere!”
    Nikki burst out laughing.  It wasn’t like she’d never
laughed at anything Naomi said before but this time it felt different. She
wasn’t laughing at the words of a little kid, she realized. Naomi might still
be in the body of a girl but that was a totally teenage attitude she’d just
heard.
    “Why do you think you’ve just started having them?”
    Naomi went about drying her spatulas and mixing spoons,
carefully shining each before placing them back into the drawer where she kept
them. Nikki suspected she was taking her time to think before answering.
    “I’m not sure. But there’s something else.” Naomi turned
and their eyes met. “Lately, I’ve been thinking about them more. My family. I
mean, my mother and father. I didn’t have a sister like you did.”
    “Do you wish you had?” Nikki said, the words just coming
to her, somehow knowing.
    Naomi hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, I think so. I never
went back, you know.”
    Nikki had never been entirely sure but she’d suspected.
It seemed strange, given how much longer Naomi had been here in Earth time. But
then she’d been so young when it happened. She wasn’t sure what to say.
    “I never found out,” Naomi said. “I mean, what happened
to them. If they ever had another child. Or maybe even more. Do you suppose
it’s possible?”
    Again, Nikki wasn’t sure how to respond. She wasn’t sure
if Naomi would feel better knowing her parents went on with their lives after
she’d left them or if it would be too painful for her to realize that, at some
point, they might have had to shift their focus onto someone new.
    “Would you be okay with it?” Nikki said.
    “I think so,” Naomi said, her voice small again. The
little girl’s voice Nikki knew. “Yes, I think it would have been for the
better.”
    Nikki couldn’t stop herself. She went to Naomi and put
her arm around her shoulders. When Naomi turned, Nikki wrapped her into a hug.
    After a moment, Naomi drew away and dried her eyes with
the back of her hand. “The dreams aren’t so bad. Usually, I have better ones.
Do you ever, well, think about it? I mean, what it felt like to die.”
    Nikki shook her head. “Not very often. I used to. These
days, I’ve been sort of, I don’t know, too busy I guess.” Which wasn’t entirely
true. There had been a time when she’d had to make herself stop thinking about
it. Not the day when her life ended