Susan's Wish

(This story contains one sexual episode)

Very early in the morning, Susan walked down to the lake’s edge to watch the ducks.  Gentle light drifted above still, calm water. Mirror like, the lake reflected the great green forest that surrounded it.  All was peace. Except Susan.

Susan stood bathed in grief and sadness. Marianne was so close to dying now with her unique form of cancer, uncurable even untreatable. Fortunately, she was not experiencing much pain. It was a blood cancer that after about four to six weeks just stopped her heart. She felt it and it was uncomfortable. She knew she was dying and she was very, very brave about it. Her courage made Susan constantly on the verge of tears. In fact, she just started crying and was on the verge of a breakdown.

The girls came running down the grassy slope from the small cabin that she owned. Her husband had died a few months ago from a massive heart attack. He had just started a new job with Apple and had invested all their savings in First Republic stock. When First Republic was shut down by the government, they lost everything except for this small lakeside cabin. Scott, her husband, was overwhelmed by the loss.

The cabin was rustic and old, but it had three bedrooms and a great, modern kitchen. It was comfortable for Susan and the girls. Marianne was eight and Carol was twelve. They were very close and Carol also lived on the verge of tears knowing her wonderful little sister was about to die. The three of them worked hard to get through every day comforting each other and trying to stay positive. Marianne was the calmest because she had accepted her fate and wondered at times what it was going to be like to die. They did not talk about it.

Susan laughed as she saw that they were wearing swimsuits and jumped right into the chilling, early morning water. Carol screamed OMG! Marianne was laughing and splashing Carol. “Did you girls think to bring towels?” Carol asked.

“Well, of course, Mama,” said Marianne. “Look,” and pointed to two fluffy towels lying in the morning dew.

“You girls are so smart,” exclaimed Susan. “But it is a chilly morning and I don’t want you catching cold. Play a little bit and let’s go back inside for a nice warm breakfast.

“Yes, Mama,” yelled Marianne as she toppled Carol with a mighty push.

Carol came sputtering out of the water, “You dog, I’m coming after you,” she shouted as she ran towards Marianne. Marianne squealed and ran to the shore laughing. She ran up to the towels, wrapped herself in one and yelled back at Carol, “Got you.”

In one quick moment, Carol came on shore, grabbed the other towel and pinched Marianne’s arm. “Ow,” shouted Marianne, “I am going to get you again,” and they both started running towards the cabin.

Susan, smiling now, sighed and headed toward the cabin. She reflected on the beauty of her two girls, their vivaciousness and spirit. They were both extremely talented and intelligent. Marianne, in fact, skipped third grade and went straight to fourth grade. There was a discussion of even sending her to the fifth grade, but Susan did not like that idea. They were both outstanding, natural musicians, Carol on the violin and Marianne on clarinet. They both sang well. Scott had been a gifted tenor saxophonist. Susan sighed and went inside.

“OK, I have six pancakes here. How many does everybody get?” Marianne piped up, “I get four and you get two. Carol isn’t hungry,” she exclaimed.

“What?” shouted Carol. “You pig, you aren’t going to get any.”

“OK, that’s enough. We all get two. Here you are,” Susan said as she placed the pancakes on each of their plates and put the syrup on the table. At that moment, there was a knock on the door.

“Whoa, who could that be?” Asked Susan.

“I’ll get it,” yelled Carol as she ran to the door.

“No, wait Carol. Don’t…”

As Carol opened the door, Susan mumbled the finish of her sentence quietly “…open the door.”

Carol stood staring at a tallish man dressed in shabby clothes. She started to run and then saw his face. She stopped and continued staring as Susan and Marianne reached the door. Carol stepped aside as Susan moved to face the man. “Let’s talk outside,” Susan said to the man and closed the door behind her. Carol and Marianne ran to the nearest window to watch, scared but excited.

“Hello, Susan,” said the man, smiling.

“Wait. How do you know my name?” cried Susan. She too was now scared.

“Do not be afraid,” he said. “I am a traveller. You can see by my clothes that I travel lightly. I do not stay long in any one place. But, I stopped here to help you. I want to be your friend.”

Susan stood staring at the man. The more she looked at his face the more shocked she became. He wasn’t just handsome. In fact, he really wasn’t handsome at all, yet the only word she could think of was “beatific.” “What?” she thought, “Who is this person?” Somehow, her fear was melting and she started feeling trust.

“I can imagine how uncertain you must be. And every bad man always says that you can trust him. In this case, I am not a bad man and you can trust me,” he said. Susan trusted him. As he took her hands in his, she could feel the trust and just a little arousal. His smile was almost blinding.

“What is your name?” Susan asked.

“Just call me Cal,” he responded “Let’s get Carol and Marianne and go for walk,” he said to Susan.

They went back to the house and gathered up the girls. They could see that their mom trusted this man, but they were still a little apprehensive. Still, they put on their shoes and out the door they went. “Girls, I have told your mom that my name is Cal. Please call me that. Let’s go around this side of the lake.”

They reached the water, then turned left and started around the lake. The lake was serene, calm with a little bit of beach fringe stretching all around. They walked on the beach. “Can either of you skip a rock?” Asked Cal.

“Yes, yes, I can.” Shouted Carol. Marianne looked down at the sand and sadly said “I have tried so many times, but I just can’t get right.”

Cal had picked up two rocks and gave one each to the girls. Carol stepped forward and in one very fluid motion sent the rock sailing out of the lake. It skimmed the water once, twice, three time then fell. Cal and Susan clapped loudly. Marianne grimaced.

“Marianne, come here. Let me give you a little instruction on rock skipping. Stand right here and let me take your arm.” Cal stood a little behind Marianne, careful not to touch her, and lifted her right arm. “Show me how you hold the rock.”

With her left hand, Marianne placed the rock in the palm of her hand and clenched her fist around it. “OK, there’s one problem,” said Cal. He stepped to Marianne’s side and took her hand. Opening her fist, he guided her thumb and forefinger around the edge of the so that just those two finger were holding the rock. “Now let me see you cock your wrist back and forth, like this.” Marianne did a good job of cocking her wrist back and forth and Cal praised her.

“Let’s get into position,” Cal told her. Marianne faced the water and Cal took his place back behind her lifting her arm. “Now, I am going to pull your arm back. When, I say ‘now’ you sling your arm forward and just before you release the rock, snap your wrist. He pulled Marianne’s arm back just a bit.

“Now,” he said. Marianne threw her arm forward and snapped the rock out over the water. It hit the water flat and skipped, once, twice, thrice, and four times before it fell.

“Yippee,” exulted Marianne. “Oh my god,” cried Carol. “You did it! You did it!”

Marianne stood still with an enormous smile on her face and tears in her eyes. Susan was smiling and laughing and ran to hug her daughter. Cal was chuckling. “See, Marianne. You will always remember how to do that.”

“Well, I won’t get to do it for very long,” and Marianne started crying.

Cal smiled, knelt down and wrapped his arm around her. “Don’t be sad. You may just be alright. Be glad for what you accomplished and don’t think about anything else.

Susan felt quite angry as she turned toward Cal. But Cal smiled at her and put a finger to his lips. “Save it for now. Celebrate.”

Susan gave Marianne a big hug, took her hand and the continued the walk. They walked for a long time and the girls gathered wildflowers. When they returned home, it was late afternoon. “Oh my gosh,” exclaimed Susan, “it’s four o’clock and we missed lunch. Is anybody hungry? Girls? Cal?”

“We’re good, Mom,” cried Marianne.

“Am I invited?” Asked Cal.

“Well, of course you are, please stay for dinner. It won’t be much but it will be warm and it will be tasty.”

“Great,” replied Cal. “I’m good.”

Susan went out to the kitchen while Cal and the girls sat at the table. Shortly, Susan brought out small bowls of beef stew for everybody along with some crackers and jam. “Ah, looks good,” said Cal.

“Mommy’s stew is always delicious,” exclaimed Carol.

“Cal, would you like to say a blessing?” asked Susan.

“Of course,” answered Cal. “Dear Heavenly Father, please bless this food and this household. We give thanks to you.”

The girls were quite hungry and dinner went quickly. After dinner, they moved to the sofa and chairs. Carol and Marianne ran to their bedrooms and came back each with a portfolio. “Cal, we would like to show you are artwork. We go to a Waldorf school and we start art in the first grade. We work hard at it and love what we do. Would you like to see it?” Asked Marianne. 

“Yes, yes, I would like to see it. Bring it over here.”

Susan moved off the sofa so the girls could sit on each side of Cal and show their work. “This is fantastic girls. You learn how to do this at school?”

“Oh yes,” said Carol. “Our school is so good. We learn to draw, to sing, to play an instrument. We learn math, physics, chemistry, history and we write. Every year we put of a play and this year my class is going to do “Midsummer Night’s Dream. Every day at school is a full day and we love it. Yes, Marianne?”

“Oh yes,” said Marianne, “our play this year is “The Wandering Ghost,” and I get to play the lead. I am so excited.”

“Wow, that’s great,” laughed Cal. “C’mon, let’s play some games. Do you know “Clap, clap?” So the evening went for a couple of hours. “Off to bed girls. Give Cal a hug and let’s go,” said Susan.

They both ran over, gave Cal a big hug, and ran to their rooms. Susan tucked them both in with goodnight kisses. She went back to the sofa and sat next to Cal.

Cal looked Susan straight in the eye and said, with a smile, “Susan, I wonder if I could stay the night?”

Susan flushed a little, kept his gaze and replied, “Cal, I was hoping you would.” Cal laughed, stood up, took her hand and led her to her bedroom. Once inside, he took off his clothes and exposed a rather large erection. Susan gasped as she became so very aroused. “Cal, I…I…”

“Shhh,” said Cal and he started unbuttoning her blouse. Susan’s face was very red, but she reached down and removed her pants. Cal then removed her bra and panties. He took her in his arms, tightly, and kissed her with passion. Susan almost fainted. 

They climbed into the bed and Cal rolled up next to her. He leaned into her face and kissed her once again, running his tongue into her mouth. He placed his hand on her left breast and then moved his mouth to suckle her nipple. Susan was in full heat, moaning as he lifted above her, lowered his body and gently moving into hers. “Ahhh,” moaned Susan.

They made love three times that night and after the last time, Cal held her head and whispered to her. “That was so wonderous, Susan and you are so beautiful, so graceful. I love you and your girls. You have lived a good life. It’s late night, early morn. Let’s sleep but when you wake up, I will be gone. Treasure this brief interlude and all that follows,” and he kissed her. Susan felt calm, complete and said, “I love you,Cal.” She went to sleep.

In the morning, when she woke, Cal was gone. She felt a twinge of sadness, but no regret and felt a strong sense of well-being. She rose and went to fix breakfast. Shortly, the girls came running in, “Mommy, Mommy where is Cal?” they both asked, looking around the room. Susan smiled, “Cal could only stay the night but he asked me to say goodbye to you both and tell you how much he thought you are so special.”

The girls took on sad looks on their faces, but, then, Marianne’s face changed. “Mommy, there is something different inside. I feel very different. I don’t know how to describe it Mommy but it is very different. I think I should see the doctor. I don’t know whether it’s right of wrong, but it is very different.

Susan looked closely at Marianne’s face. It was different, very different. Susan gasped and ran to the phone. She called Dr. Swanson’s private cell phone. “Doctor, I am sorry to bother you so early, but something has happened to Marianne. I cannot describe it but I am certain that it is significant. We need to see you immediately. Please, please.”

“Well, my goodness Susan, you really sound urgent. I have a very busy day ahead but if you can get to the office by 9:30, I can see Marianne.”

Susan almost shouted, “Doctor, we’ll be there.”

“Girls, get dressed quickly. If we leave right away, we can get to Dr. Swanson’s office by 9:30.”

Both girls squealed and ran to their rooms. Scant seconds later they came running out and they all got into the car. Susan pulled the car out of the driveway and headed to the highway. Just as she reached the highway, her cell phone rang. It was her friend Shirley and though she didn’t talk on her cell phone while driving her car, she took the call on the car’s sound system.

“Shirley, hi, I am driving Marianne to the doctor’s office, but for some reason I took your call. What’s up?’

“Oh, Susan I hope Marianne is OK, but I have some good news for you. I sent your resume to Jane, my friend in HR over at AI Now. She showed it to the CEO, Carl Feathers, and he wants to see you tomorrow at 9. Could you make it? Jane told me it is a really good job.”

“Oh my god, Jane, of course, yes, yes, yes. We are almost at the doctor’s. Let me call you back in about an hour. But, did I say ‘yes’?”

“Well, that’s what I heard. Good luck with Marianne, I hope it goes well. Don’t forget to call me.”

Susan pulled into the parking lot at the cancer clinic and rushed the girls inside. “Good morning, Susan,” said Dr. Swanson, who had been waiting for them in the reception area. “Good morning, Marianne,” he said as he looked down at smiling little girl. “My goodness, look at you…Well, let’s go take a closer look,” and they all trooped into his office. 

“Susan, at first glance I can see that her eyes are much clearer and her whole persona, seems, well, brighter. I am going to take her into the lab and run a few tests. Bev will help and I would like for you to stay here. I know that will be hard but it will be best. Can you do that?”

“Yes, doctor, I can but please, please…” Susan eyes started watering like a rainfall. “Please…” That was all she could say.

“Of course, come along Marianne. Let’s go play with the lab equipment,” Dr. Swanson said to Marianne. She smiled and took his hand.

It was two hours later when Swanson returned with Marianne in tow. Susan was completely consumed with anxiety. “Doctor…” started Susan. Dr. Swanson quickly spoke, “Susan, please get control, please calm down. We have a most unusual situation here and I need to further examine the results. I really don’t want to tell you this, but I can see the need. We could find no trace of the cancer in Marianne. It doesn’t make sense and we examined her thoroughly twice. I don’t know what else to do, but we want to keep her overnight.”

Susan fell to her knees, full on crying, almost hysterical. She could barely speak and she knew the findings were right. She tried to get control of her thoughts, her speech, but all she could say was “Doctor, doctor, I….I….I…”