Author: mitchellsthoughtsphotosetc

• 

Marc spent the next morning roaming the camp. He went to the bog, Rock Lake, the sawmill, swimming hole and remnants of dining halls and latrines.  He spent some time at the dam where he, Alana and Anat had an earlier battle with Jay.  The first place where he was arrested. 

• 

Marc thought a lot about his encounter with the Woodsman.  He had to get back to the city and hang with Alana and his other cronies. He did have a wall to break.  That would take time. But break it he will.

Marc hiked out of camp and back to the bus station. He jumped on top of the bus. He rode right into the Port Authority Bus Terminal and jumped on the E subway line to get back to Queens.

Alana was sitting at home. She was getting nervous. She knew Marc was likely fine.  She missed him.  She went to her parents in Sheepshead Bay. She hasn’t been there in a while.  All was well on 13th Street. They grabbed roast beef sandwiches at Brennan and Carr and sat in their sauna-like apartment and argued with each other. But the arguments would be silly. Of course, they’d tell her to wear some other color but black. They’ve been telling her that since the sixth grade.  They would tell her to marry Marc.  They’ve been saying that for decades.  Her parents didn’t understand kids. Funny, Marc and Alana are too old to be kids. But to their parents’ kids they shall be.

• 

Jay also traveled back to the city. He stole a car from a used car lot. It had no plates on it. He found plates on a flatbed truck in the lot.  The facility looked dormant. COVID-19 probably kept people away. He figured he could get away with it. He would ditch the car when he got to the city and travel by foot. His long hair and beard should disguise him.

• 

He kept within the speed limit and didn’t drug up before he got behind the wheel. Judas Priest was blasting.  Anat was taking Jerry to the park. She wished Broadway would reopen. She wanted to take him to kid’s shows.  He loved watching the “Lion King” and other movies on Disney+.  He’s still a little young for Broadway. But she remembers the shows her grandparents got her tickets to see. The ones where she got to color and be part of the show. She usually shied away from being part of the show. Most of the kids didn’t want to play with her.  She took Jerry to the Guggenheim. He’s a little young for that, too. Sadly due to the virus they didn’t have the children’s art programs going. She wanted him to sit with the other kids and work with an instructor to draw the Monets, Cezzannes and Picassos.  She wanted his worldwide open. She still had to test him to see what powers he had.

Right now, he was just a quiet, fun good little boy. The world was waiting for him to break loose.

Jay was continuing to prepare for his re-entry into society. It was going to be grand and deadly.

Meanwhile. Alana was freaking. She still hasn’t heard from Marc. She didn’t tell anyone he was missing. She didn’t even know if he was. Just because he didn’t respond doesn’t mean he’s missing. But she was concerned.

Marc just finished a long hike from the bagel store to the Sullivan Catskills region. He rode the bus for part of it. Marc hates buses. And now with the virus, he’s more worrisome. So he rode on top of the bus. No one noticed. The ride took him to Tusten. He jumped off the bus. And hiked. And hiked.

He wound up in his holy place. His summer camp. He walked up to a picturesque area. It was too grown in. He Sat down on the dry ground and said a prayer. But not one based on his religion. But rather what they said at induction ceremonies while camping.

His phone was still fully powered and overwhelmed with messages from Alana. He was missing her. But he was in no mood to be around anyone. He had to mediate. Nowhere was better than the venue he was now at. He only wished this part was still operational. Sadly the people that run the place are illiterates.
Friday night fell. Marc had nothing for Shabbos. He cared and he didn’t. He built a small fire and sat by it. The hours grew later. The birds were singing. He saw some other animals wander around his makeshift campsite.

He shut his eyes. But didn’t sleep. He heard the birds singing louder. Then he heard the sounds of a herd of buffalo. He was aghast. He knew the Woodsman was lurking. He hadn’t seen him since he, Alana and Anat were in a different section of the camp plotting their takeout of Jay.

Marc braced himself. It was very unheard of to see him more than once a decade. He was very mysterious. He was also very busy. He had to watch over the facility, which was in dire need of dozens of repairs. He had been working on them for decades. But had to tend to his garden.

Marc stood up. The Woodsman placed his hand on his shoulder and looked straight into Marc’s hazel eyes. Marc stood strong. But felt his knees tremble.
The Woodsman backed up and started to feed the fire. Marc watched. The Woodsman pulled out his iPhone. Marc had no service on his. The Woodsman’s was perfect. He pointed to the wi-fi router he installed near the site of an old dining hall, which was torched by the “rocket scientists” that ran the camp. It took the Woodsman about 10 years to install the router.

He played Marc greetings from his rabbi in the Old City in Jerusalem. They were short but monumental. Then the Woodsman offered Marc a bottle of ice-cold Genesee Cream Ale and a box of Freihoffers Chocolate Chip Cookies. They clinked their bottles and sipped. When they finished, standing by the fire, the Woodman addressed Marc.

“Marc. I have only done this type of private meeting once before. Oddly enough, that was many years ago… It was on this site. The young lad I addressed grew into one of the people you admire most of all. I know how much you learned or as some of you like to say “leeeeaaarrned” from him. Think deep. That girl loves you. I know you love her. You two will never marry. Just carry on the way you are. You heard what the man from the Old City said. His words speak true. Stay true to yourself. Don’t worry about the crazies. They are destructive. But mostly to themselves. Stay on the clear path.”

Marc felt relieved. He was very impressed that the Woodsman met with his guide. He wondered where they sat.

Marc woke up early and noticed some water spilled on the floor of the kitchen. Alana was doing laundry. Perhaps water dripped from the laundry she was carrying up to dry. They didn’t dry much in the dryer. Marc and Alana took turns doing laundry and air-dried as much as possible.  They were low on paper towels. A new shipment was FreshDirect was en route.

Marc was about to start morning services when he realized his talit, which he draped over himself would be a perfect towel. He thought about it for a second. He was getting fed up with the phoniness of religion. He feared things. But not a supernal being. He needed proof of its existence. To date, he’d received none.

Alana came upstairs with the clothing that came out of the dryer. She rubbed a towel on Marc’s face. She knew he’d love the warmth. He smiled and said he go pick up bagels.  

Marc left and started walking to the store. He was enraged by the people traveling on electric scooters. Some environmental mess people say helps with sustainability. One almost hit him. The driver was too busy texting and was blasting country music out of his earbuds. Marc was normally calm in these situations. However, he fired a battery of pomegranates at the scooter rider. The rider fell right down. Marc laughed and walked to the bagel store.

Meanwhile, Jay was still in Buffalo preparing his return. His beard grew longer. He got dirtier.  He was getting higher. In his mind, he thought he was the king of the world. That’s just the drugs talking to him. He had no way to communicate as he left his phone in the police car he escaped from. 

Alana was waiting for Marc to come back with the bagels. She took out orange juice and some vodka to pour in.  She texted him to pick up a few other things. No response. Quite unusual. He hated being on his iPhone. But always quickly wrote back to those he knew that reached out to him. He did his best to block the spammers. 

Marc was still pissed at the scooter rider. He noticed a few others riding onto grass, tossing their cigarette butts onto the ground. He walked up to the front door of the bagel store. He was about to go in. Then he turned around and kept walking. Hours later Alana was freaking. He answered nothing. This was not like him.

Marc just got back from morning prayer services. He had no clue why he still went. But continued to attend. He was hopeful. But at the time discouraged. Alana was toasting bagels to the tunes of Duran Duran. They were trying to find Jay. This was their obsession.
Anat and Jen set up a play date for Jerry and Benjamin. Anat wanted her kid to have friends and be fairly normal in society. Between the background and former situations of the two of them that was going to be tough. But tough Anat is. The ladies and kids showed up by Riverside Park. The two women made casual conversation, while the kids kicked around a soccer ball. Jen was one of the few who knew of Anat’s powers. Of course, she knew of the other two’s. They saved her engagement at Coney Island and with the help of a herd of the mighty buffalo saved her wedding.
The kids were getting along. They ran over to their moms for lunch. The ladies each brought sandwiches. All Jerry wanted were brownies for dessert. Anat searched and searched. She couldn’t find any. She couldn’t even find brownie mix to bake her own. She promised him next time. She did have a thermos full of ice-cold milk for him to drink with his peanut butter and jelly. And of course, she had boxes of raisins. Playtime was nearing an end. The kids and ladies made their goodbyes and went home.
Jay was emerging from his cave in of all places in Buffalo, NY. He was quite hairy. He grew a long beard. He figured he could hide out in Buffalo. The only problem was despite the virus the city would be busier with the upcoming Bills playoff game. He knew there would be extra law enforcement. But he also knew they’d be closer to Bills Stadium in Orchard Park. He was planning to keep moving. Eventually, he’d get back to NYC to take back Jerry. Diane was still imprisoned. Her release date was nearing. He had no interest in going back to his wife. He had no cares about her being released or staying in jail.
He was getting angry when he saw people driving their cars towards the stadium. He began to shoot glass at the tires. But he quickly stopped. He wanted to continue to lay low. He was planning a great emergence and needed time to plan.

• 

Dan had to work New Year’s Eve. He and his fellow officers walked around Times Square and kept people watching the ball drop from their pens safe. He did a FaceTime with Anat at midnight to wish her a happy New Year. She held up Jerry. She wasn’t sure if she should keep him up this late. But she figured it was New Year’s.

Alana and Marc did what they always did. They had sandwiches and beer. This year they chose roast beef from Brennan & Carr. Marc visited his Sheepshead Bay-based grandma earlier for her birthday. As usual, they watched Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve. All they watched was the ball drop. Every year the performers get worse and worse. This year they thought it was the worst of the worst. They dreamed of having up and coming new bands. Perhaps the Weird Wolves or Slooshy. And throw in some real talent. Maybe U2, Depeche Mode, Springsteen, Patti Smith or Sting? If only the Ramones were still around.

• 

Just after the ball dropped Marc played the live version of “New Year’s Day.” He chose the Red Rocks version. Man, U2 in 1983. When music was still good. They did a Zoom beer with all their friends. All were in good spirits. By that time Jerry was fast asleep in his baseball pajamas. Anat didn’t know if she should put him in Red Sox PJs or wait till he chose his team. She wanted him to like Boston. But wouldn’t push it on him. If Alana ever gave birth the kid would probably pop out in a Yankee hat and Iron Horse jersey.

Things were quiet. No one knew where Jay was. He was laying low. But they knew he was preparing more havoc. He was still on bolos throughout the USA. No one has seen him.

Jay knew exactly what he was doing. He was living upstate NY in a cave.

The trio knew about Jay’s escape. Here it is Christmas Day and Marc is sitting at home. Normally, he’d go to the movies or be with friends. Alana was in the kitchen. The two were bored out of their minds. The pandemic was getting to everyone.

Marc was still questioning his beliefs. Today is a minor fast day and for some reason, he’s fasting. Later on, he will break it with a nice meal from his friend’s food cart. He picked it up yesterday.

Jay was hiding. He knew they’d find him again. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up. He had to get out of the US. In his disheveled mind, he began to think of a plan to leave. He figured he could not buy an airline ticket. He had to be on a watch list. He thought of sneaking over the border to Mexico. But he’s in NY and he’d have to get there. The police would have put out a bolo on him nationwide.

Marc went outside in the pouring rain to the convenience store. He saw a few kids not wearing masks. 

This reminded him of his episode in the pharmacy months ago. He looked at the kids and they laughed at him. Marc shot pomegranates at them. Marc was not one to use his powers if unattacked. But he felt people not following the PPE rules was attacking society. He used that for his justification. He really unloaded. The kids went down. He bought a few things and went home.

Anat, also fasting was warming up the food from the cart.  

Anat was home with Jerry. Dan was over. They were playing games. Dan checked his phone and saw a text about Jay. It seems that he was seen running through the Bronx. The NYPD was searching. Anat texted Alana and Marc. They said they’d go out there if need be. Marc kept his interlude with the unmasked kids quiet for now. But he knew eventually he’d tell Alana.

Marc broke the fast while humming U2 tunes. The police were near Yankee Stadium. But couldn’t find Jay. They deepened the search.

Marc hadn’t been to weekday morning services in days. Yesterday, he sat through them. He wondered whether the religious scriptures were the first comic book? He read the different pages and wondered if Stan Lee looked to these for his influences. He figured when the scriptures were written how stoned the writers were.

Let’s face it if today someone said a serpent told me to eat the forbidden fruit, they’d be placed in Bellevue. Perhaps in those times, they didn’t have mental hospitals and psych evals. The times were more primitive. Marc dreamed on during services about the truth of anything.

He figured the stories were passed down through the years and like when someone wakes up from a drunken night they remember things differently than what happened. Plus, the substances they ingested changed their thoughts and vision. Marc still wanted to believe. However, he needed real proof. That is his problem. He’s a researcher. No stone goes unturned

Meanwhile, Jay was seated in the back of the squad car. He was being taken to a maximum-security prison. He was jittery. But was hatching a plan. He has done this before. He knew it was a matter of time before he pulled a fast one. His hands were cuffed. That will slow him down. But that isn’t a problem. The car drove along.

Jay knew it was time. He started aiming glass through the barricade at the driver. Glass shot out of his eyes and nose. He hit the driver in the neck. The glass sliced through his skin. The car started to swerve. The cop in the passenger seat tried to grab the wheel. As he did, Jay fired glass at his eyes. Direct hit. The car was moving in a such way that it’d be pulled over for DWI. As the car shimmied, Jay rolled over to the back driver’s side door and kicked the lock open. His foot opened the door and he rolled out. The car flew into a tree. There were two police vehicles behind it. They slammed on their brakes and came to a shortstop. Jay still cuffed shot glass at the tires of the cars. Those cars barreled into each other. Jay managed to get glass into the locks of the cuff. They snapped right off. He ran.

• 

Marc saw the police car pull into the lot. He heard more sirens and figured more were on the way. Everyone knows the threat Jay is. Marc smiled when he saw the two cops. Jay was tied to a tree.  

Marc was happy to see Joe and Kelly coming to the scene. Marc and Joe worked together as teens in a fast food restaurant. Shortly after college graduation, Marc briefly dated Kelly. They all exchanged pleasantries. Of course, they know Alana from back in the day. Other officers arrived.

Jay was shackled and dragged into a police vehicle. Marc and Alana held each other and kissed. Better late than never for those two to fool around in the park. They felt relieved, as the Sisters of Mercy played from Alana’s iPhone.

Alana was behind the wheel of her car with Marc stretching out in the passenger’s seat. He briefed Anat via text. Alana drove on to the sounds of Slooshy, Viva Gore’s band. Her sister’s band, Weird Wolves would play next. As they reached the BQE their dad’s band, Depeche Mode was playing “Behind the Wheel.” It was perfect music for the downtime after catching a criminal.  

They knew their work was not over. No one expected Jay to remain in prison. No, it was not the judge that would release him. They knew he would hatch another escape plan.

Anat was still delivering groceries. She still wanted to help. She took Jerry along in his stroller. He was not going to need it much longer. He was always itching to get out and walk by himself. Soon enough. Anat wanted to instill giving back to Jerry at a young age. He enjoyed the ride and the candy he got for staying quiet.

Anat saw far too many people without masks and not social distancing. She was annoyed. She saw a few tough kids hanging out on Third Ave. None wore the proper PPE. She got angry. She tried to remain calm. But she knew she had a baby to keep safe.

She asked them to put masks on and think about the people in the neighborhood, especially the elderly. The kids laughed. One of the teen girls threw her lipstick at Anat. It hit her in the head. 

She held the stroller and listened to the laughter of the teens. She smiled. She should have walked away.

But she fired raisins at the girl. The girl had no idea what hit her. One of the boys ran toward her. She fired dates and apricots. One pulled out his mobile to film this. Anat pushed the stroller like a Nascar and was out of the line of sight. The kids were scared and stunned. They didn’t know if they should post something. Or stay quiet out of fear people would think they would need psych evals.

• 

Anat finished her work on an office project. They were respectful of her maternity leave. However, they knew she was the aptest at the assignment they needed to complete.

It took her a short period. She was going crazy over the Jay situation. But she thought it was best to stay home with Jerry.   She didn’t want Jay to see Jerry. Jerry had no interest in seeing him. As a three-year-old, he didn’t come out and say it. But she could tell every time they encountered him, Jerry was scared and cried.  Anat planned to end that.

Anat even had a phone call with Jen.  Since Anat’s shower, the two texted a little bit. Jen was a good soul. A goofy kid. But she never really wanted to hurt anyone. Jen thought one day Benjamin could play with Jerry. The ladies decided they would say they met when they were younger and not get into their real story.  The two seemed happy enough to place that into ancient history.

Meanwhile, Alana was deep into the woods behind Tottenville High School. She remembered the days when the headbangers would be there smoking their joints.  The guidos weren’t too far behind with their stash and their Aquanet girlfriends.  You could hear Motley Crue, Metallica and whatever dance music the guidos liked blasting out of boom boxes or the headphones of their Sony Walkman. A nicer time.

Alana never participated in any of that. She hung with Marc and all black-clad group and swore by Bauhaus, the Cure, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, New Order and U2.  And don’t forget Siouxsie and the Banshees.  The days when goth was goth. And new wave was new.  Oh well. A better time it was.

She didn’t find Jay. She saw broken glass. But it looked like it was from beer bottles. Jay’s was usually from bottles of spirits. 

• 

Marc was on the trails of Wolfe’s Pond Park.  As usual, there was construction. Much of the park was not habitable.  He loved this park. He learned to skate there and attended Cub Scout picnics. Like the woods of Tottenville High School Wolfe’s Pond Park had similar characters.  Sometimes the guys and girls snuck away from the school and came here to for their teen exploits. On warm nights several went skinny-dipping in the water.

He heard a strange noise near the basketball court. He remembered when the NYC Parks Department built that and the roller hockey rink. It was getting darker.  He heard the sounds of the birds flying above him. He wondered why the NYPD wasn’t searching here. He figured they were concentrating on Amboy Road.

Dan just got off his shift and raced over to Staten Island. First stop was to his nephew, Smith in the hospital. His sister was in love with Robert Smith of the Cure all her life.  Her husband was Robert.  He too loved the Cure. They met during the Disintegration Tour at the former Giants Stadium on August 20, 1989.  They shared a pack of M&Ms. Even though they were underage managed to get a Stella, which they shared.

Smith was doing better. He got stitches. Glass from the windows of his home tore into him from his home’s windows when they shattered by Jay’s extra strength glass.

Marc continued to hear noises and slowly crept up toward the site of them. He saw Jay curled into a ball and smoking a joint. He heard Judas Priest coming out his ear pods.  Marc fired honey and barley. Jay was caught off guard. Marc texted Alana.  She responded she was heading over. She knew where they were.  She and some crazy guy in high school once fooled around over there to the sounds of New Order.

Alana sent a quick note to Anat. She quickly responded and said to keep her posted. She will try to get there. But not to count on it. Alana knew motherhood was keeping her at bay. Her heartbeat on. She knew her mission.

In the middle of his babbles, Alana snuck up and fired apples at his chest.  She drowned him in wine.  Jay kept firing. He finally nailed Alana in her left foot.  She went down.  But only for a few seconds. Marc glanced at her and kept firing pomegranates. He knew she was ok.  Marc punched Jay in the face.

Jay got up and started to fire at Marc. He missed and it a few trees.  The birds went nuts. Marc wondered if he should alert the NYPD? So far they’ve tried very hard. But were not strong enough for Jay’s powers.  The two kept at each other. Jay started screaming incomprehensible things. You could tell he was stoned.

He called the cops. He told them he and his girlfriend found Jay. 

Tzipora went into labor. Eran rushed her to Mt. Sinai. Interesting for her to be a patient there since she’s treated so many at this hospital. All went fine.  She delivered quickly and felt ok.  She had a baby girl.  Happiness exploded between her and Eran.

They whipped out their iPhones and shot away.  All of their family and friends were excited. Texts flooded their phones.  They told everyone to watch the naming ceremony on Zoom in a few days. They already named her, Tamar Hannah after Eran’s great grandmother and Tzipora’s grandmother. But only they knew her name.

Late in the afternoon the day after she gave birth, Tzipora took her new bundle of joy home. Eran had their Second Avenue apartment sanitized.  The baby’s room was bright pink.  Alana helped picked some of the furniture and decorations. She pushed for black. But lost that argument.  Alana gave them a case of Pampers and some other things. 

Meanwhile, Anat was doing well with Jerry.  She enjoyed meeting Dan’s family. They liked her.  They made plans to meet again in a few weeks.

Jay on the other hand was stalking Dan’s parent’s house and found out where his sister resides. 

Alana met the baby. She loved her. Again, her heart crumbled. But she knew her role in life is not motherhood. And Marc’s is not fatherhood. She knew if she decided to have a baby, Marc was the only person she would have it with.  Those two were in their world.  But they protected everyone else’s. So let it be.

Dan was listening to the police scanner while in his squad car midtown. He heard of dozens of officers being called to Huguenot. When he heard the Eylandt Street address, Dan slammed the brakes.  That was his sister’s house. He heard the report of a crazed man firing glass at the house, which contained a woman and young boy. Dan called into the 123 PCT to see what he could learn. He texted Anat, who was home with Jerry. She did take maternity leave when Jerry’s adoption was finalized.  However, she still checked in with her office. There were projects that she had the most solid grip with. 

Anat knew what was going on.  She texted Marc and Alana.  They had to figure out how to get to Staten Island to end this. Marc was the closest. He was at Whitehall Street taking pictures of the Staten Island Ferry and other marine traffic. He boarded the Spirit of America and prayed he could get there. It would take forever. Once he got off the boat he needed to catch the Staten Island Railway. He had no idea if it was making all the south shore stops. And once he got to the Huguenot Station he had a 10-15 minute walk to the site. It was not good.

Alana jumped into her car and prayed the LIE and BQE traffic to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge was not at its usual standstill. Covid-19 or not, those roads were still gridlock. Ah, NYC life.

Anat wanted to go. However, she could not take Jerry. That would amp up Jay more. Alana was making good time.  She pulled off Exit 5 of the Pearl Harbor Veterans Expressway. She raced over.  She saw two ambulances and plenty of NYPD cars. She didn’t see Jay.  She hacked into the police scanner and heard he was on the run.  She saw an ambulance pull away.  Dan’s nephew was being transported to the hospital.  The EMTs stopped his bleeding. He needed stitches.

Alana peeled her eyes for Jay. She figured he was probably somewhere in the woods by Tottenville High School or Wolfe’s Pond Park.  Marc was getting off the train when Alana said she would go to the school and told him to head to the park.