The Mechanics

She tapped the screen of her phone, "The GPS isn't working and there's no signal on the mobile phone either. How are we going to find the place? At least we know we are in the right town, I saw the sign at the entrance."

Brian, her husband shook his head, he was fine driving but could get lost at the drop of a coin. "The estate agent picked me up from the station. Maybe we should find a shop or somewhere to get directions."

A little voice piped up the back seat, "Mummy, Daddy where are we going?"

This mother smiled, "To our new house, my darling. That is if we could only find our way around the streets.”

"I know where we are, it's easy to find. Shall I tell you where to go?"

The parents looked at each other. Kids could say the cutest things, but right now was not the time to appreciate it.

"That’s lovely of you to offer, my love, but you and I have never been here before, only Daddy came to see the house and bought it.”

“No Mummy, I lived here before.”

“Darling, you could not have lived here, I just said we have never been here before.”

In a matter-of-fact tone, he continued, “I mean before I was born this time. I lived here when I was a little boy long ago. With another mummy and daddy.”

By now Brian had heard enough, “Don’t be silly Tony, now is not a good time to act like an idiot.”

Young Tony was now close to tears but still insisted he knew the way “Daddy if you turn into the road on your side and go along a little way I’ll tell you where to turn again.”

His father shrugged “We might as well follow the instructions of a 3-year-old, it can’t be any worse than not having any GPS.”

His wife nodded agreement. They turned down the street as the child instructed, then turned right, this street lead sharply uphill.

Brian exclaimed, “I think I recognise this area. The house must be somewhere around here now.”

Little Tony confirmed they were close, “Yes Daddy, if you turn into the road on your side the house will be a little way along on Mummy’s side of the road. Does it still have a red front door?”

The house just along the street had a large sold sign out the front.

Brenda cried out, “Look, Brian, isn't that the house? Would you believe it, there is the red front door! How did you know that Tony?”

Brian grunted, “He must have seen the sales flyer.”

A quiet little voice questioned, “What’s a sales fryer, Daddy?”

His mother was thoughtful, “You know love, he couldn’t have seen any paperwork you kept everything in your briefcase. I am flummoxed how he knew anything about this place.”

Once again the excited child’s voice chimed into her thoughts, “Mummy, I told you I lived here before. This used to be where Gethyn lived with his mummy and daddy. His daddy was a painter like you, Daddy. We could not go up to the top of the house unless he said we could. It’s a long room with big windows, you can see the sea from there and it had windows in the roof too.”

The parents looked at each other. The child had described the loft studio correctly. How did he know about it?

Days later when mother and son walked down the hill young Tony held his mother’s hand and gently pulled her down a small road. “I used to work along here in my garage.”

Every now and again for a few weeks, he volunteered snippets of information. Then at breakfast one day he matter-of-factly said, “Can we go to where my garage used to be? Today’s the day I died there.”

This stream of strange talk about a past life made Brenda uncomfortable and concerned. She thought it came from loneliness and being slightly disturbed by the move. There was a nursery school nearby which she thought would help the child to make friends and not concentrate on these facts from a supposed previous life.

She went to check it out and register Tony. The principal was very helpful and informed her there was an unexpected vacancy and Tony could start on Monday. Mother and child walked down the hill to the school, Brenda worried about how her son would take what he might interpret as leaving him, but Tony was calm and looking forward to this new experience.

The teacher took them into the classroom, “Children, say hello to Tony who has just moved to the town.”

A chubby-cheeked blonde lad ran up and flung his arms around Tony, “Dylan, I’m so pleased to see you.”

The teacher intervened, “No Gareth, this is Tony.”

However hard she tried, the boys insisted on being called Dylan and Gethyn. They went everywhere together. A few weeks later, as the mothers were waiting at the school gates, a small lady came up to Brenda, “Hi, my name is Arwen I’m Gareth’s mum, I believe you are Tony’s mum?”

The two women chatted and soon they were visiting each other while their sons played. Eventually, Arwen brought up the subject of the two boys' change of names, “It’s so strange Gareth insists we call him Gethyn all the time now. How is Tony coping with the change?”

Brenda smiled wistfully, “To be quite honest, I’m not sure. Did you know when we arrived he could tell us where the house was? Brian came here on his own after reading about the studio in the loft so Tony and I had never been here before but he insists he has lived here, does Gareth do the same?”

Arwen looked thoughtful, “He has said nothing until he saw Tony now all I get are stories about when he lived here before, it's uncanny really. Do you have any idea what it could all be about?”

“Well, at first I thought it was because we moved, but now I don’t know what to think. According to Tony, when the boys lived here before this house was Gethyn’s family home. His father was also a painter like Brian. Have they talked about what happened back then?”

Sitting on a stool in the kitchen and sipping coffee, Arwen told Brenda what she had learned from her mother, who was only a small girl when the accident happened, but it had a considerable impact on the whole community. She said Dylan and Gethyn were very close friends, as both their mothers had been close too. The boys were born about a week apart, so they grew up together. Later Dylan married Gethyn’s sister, which made them even closer. They had two sons. At the time of their deaths, Gethyn was engaged to a nurse at the local hospital.

Both boys were mechanics, and eventually, Dylan bought the local garage. They worked together, but then one day there was a dreadful accident. The guys were working under a car. The jack failed and the car slipped and fell on them. It crushed Dylan who died instantly, but Gethyn was still alive when they lifted the vehicle and rush him to hospital. He had massive internal injuries and died the next day.

It shocked the whole town. Both young men were well known and popular. After the funerals, Dylan’s wife wanted the building torn down. She had it made into a park as a memorial. There is a plaque there in memory of both guys. 

Brenda nodded, “I noticed that but did not want to say too much to Tony. I have heard about déjà vu but this seems to be so much more.”

“I was talking to a friend of mine who works in Cardiff, she says it sounds like an authentic case of past-life recall. Apparently this ability to remember so vividly tapers off as they get older.”

Smiling Brenda quipped, “I wonder if they will go back to their given names or still cling to the old ones? One thing is for sure though, I will never allow Tony to become a mechanic.”

Two little boys entered the kitchen at that point. They banished the peace and tranquillity as they demanded juice and a biscuit while pushing toy cars around.