Free Encompassing Love by Richard Lord

in time.  Persistence’s methods were, very dangerous, but Brian was always thinking everything through before acting, so I suppose she was a good influence for him.  I suspect that is why Phillip was the way he was.  A deep thinker who was always thinking about consequences.”
    “And you?”  Tomorrow asked.
    Adam was quiet for a few seconds and then he responded, “I think about a lot of things, I consider consequences, but I grew up far different than Brian and Persistence.  They had a very unique upbringing.  Phillip too had a very different experience, but I think Brian was influential to our mother and that rubbed off on Phillip a lot.”
    “How did you come up, as you put it. You said you were adopted.  Like a child taken in by another family?”  Tomorrow asked.  She thought of all the families who took in children after the awakening.
    “Yes, I got lucky.  They were good people.  They sent me to college.  That’s a place where you learn a lot of things.”  Adam paused and then lightly punched her in the arm. “Not like what you’ve been learning, but the same concept.  A place to be taught something.  I couldn’t decide what to study, so I studied a lot of topics.  Mostly I wanted to understand how I did what I did when I was a baby.”
    Tomorrow looked at Adam, “What did you do?”
    Renfield lowered his head trying to consider the question no one had ever asked, “Well, after a long time with no food or drink, down in the basement…Umm, lower area of that house, I clicked one day and I was found by a family that took me in.”  Adam explained.  “It was a while before I learned to click again, but I was very good at hearing other people and seeing remote places in my head and what was going on in them.  I also knew, from hearing people’s thoughts, that other people could not do what I did.  I really didn’t have anyone to teach me.  Later, in college, I started visiting myself.  That gets confusing.  But anyway, like I said, different from them.”
    Tomorrow looked at him.  “I see.  Can we go see the cliff?”
    Adam stood and held out a hand to help her up. He walked in a saunter towards the cliff, not letting go of her hand.  Once there, his grip on her hand became tighter as she insisted on going to the edge to look down.  She saw the jagged rocks.  Then she heard what he was thinking.  She felt his grip get tighter and she knew all that had happened there.  Tomorrow realized she was making him uneasy.  That was odd because he always seemed so sure of himself.  Maybe not as much in his explanations, but he never seemed to doubt his actions.  She wanted to ease his tension so she stepped away from the cliff’s edge.
    Adam looked at her.  “You’re getting better at hearing me.  I’m not sure I should have taught you that part of it.”
    Tomorrow punched him in the arm, hard.  Then she put her hands to her mouth.  “I’m sorry.”
    Adam thinks deeply about how all of this effects Tomorrow.  He looks pulls her closer and says, “Through everything, so many love you.  I want to say I more, but that is up to you to decide.”
    “Why do you reject me?  I only want you.  That’s all I want.  I do everything for you because I want you to accept me.”  Tomorrow sheds a tear while trying to hold others back.
    Adam feels the weight of a thousand lifetimes on him as he says, “If I weren’t like I am, I’d be somebody else and then you wouldn’t feel that way.”  Adam grins at her and then reached for her.  He clicks as soon as he makes contact.
    They appeared next to a stream of water.  It was more water than she had ever seen in her life.
    Tomorrow looked up and noticed there were things growing all around her. She walked to the water and there she could see the sun.  She turned back to Adam.  “Where is the water going?  Shouldn’t we catch some before it’s gone?”
    Adam laughed.  “Sure, go ahead.  While you’re at it.  Take off