Crissa's Mate

Chapter Thirty-Six

The next day Crissa did not get out of her bed until three o'clock in the afternoon. It was not only a case of "jet-lag," expected from coming back halfway around the world to her original time zone. It was also her mind and body needing to 'defrag' itself from so much stress and anxiety. So much had happened over the past two weeks, that even upon waking with the warm sunlight pouring through her large window, and the familiar Canadian beauty outside, she could not move or even think clearly. Her first question was where was she?  She half-expected upon opening her eyes to be still in the small, hard bed back at the village hotel in Eastern Germany.

When she did manage to pull herself into the bathroom and take care of biological essentials, she undressed and stepped into a hot shower to wash off what she felt to be layers of the trips' bad energy. Nevertheless, the feeling of the warm spray caressing her body reminded her of a certain young man, who, as if through some magic spell, had in a very short time made her to feel engaged to previously unknown desires. This came also with an unexpected yearning in her heart for David, a hunger that seemed now essential to continue—even with the onset of those unknown issues that would undoubtedly present themselves.

For though Crissa was shy and had been previously socially awkward, she had never shied away from any challenge she took upon herself to accomplish. But who would have thought a summer excursion abroad would have changed her outlook on the world—including a view of nature's irregularities and its complexity to become the mother of such morphological extremes as she had witnessed? Seeing what had befallen David and Julie through some rare process of blood and genetics was a glimpse into a hidden and ancient modality confining itself to a rare corner of the earth. Call it a mutant phenomenon of evolution or simply an anomaly which had morphed into the path of human history, at this point, back on the North American continent, only Crissa and a few other young researchers had experienced it up close and personal.

Dressing quickly into more comfortable clothes, which helped her realize she was at last in the place and environment she had only known as a child, Crissa went down the stairs to the kitchen where she found an array of breakfast items prepared for her. Her mother was suddenly there in her apron smiling and putting a delicious-looking omelet with sausages into the micro-wave to heat up. A platter of pancakes and maple syrup was also on the table with an empty glass and carton of orange juice, ready for pouring.

"Wow, Mom. Familiar food," she said, stepping closer to give her mother an obligatory hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Well, you better enjoy it while it's here, Crissy. Heaven knows what you were eating over there in Germany. And what they will have for you over at the college."

"No, the German food was OK, Mom. You see I didn't starve. Can't really say how the food will be at UBC, though. But my meal pass says I'll get two full meals a day from the dorm commons."

"Crissy, you're only an hours' trip by car back here if you get hungry. I just always want you to feel  . . ."

"Thanks Mom. But you might not see me right away. You know that, right?"

"And why is that, young lady?"

"Well as soon as I get there next week, Freshman Orientation begins. I'll be pretty involved with stuff. You know . . . signing up for classes, buying books, joining clubs . . .  just getting sort of acclimated to the new life there."

"Crissa, please don't say 'new life!'.  It sounds so . . . like you're leaving, and we'll never see you again."

"Mom!  I'm not going a thousand miles away to McGill or Toronto, OK?  I'll be practically in our back yard. Just not always . . . so visible,  that's all."