"Breathe, Love," whispered Mike as he eased me to the ground. My Omega patted my back. I forced images of young eighteen-year-old boys in green uniforms away.We were kids. Babies.
I concentrated on breathing and Mike's grip.
"This is where most pups ask what's next," said Mike. "Well, time went on. It was a hot summer, and the sixties disappeared forever. Charles Manson and his followers made sure of that."
Now it was my turn to squeeze back. That decade was special to him, and it ended in blood and war. All the social changes they thought they'd see never happened.
Mike's eyes shone while he remembered.
"I hitchhiked around the country," I said to change the subject.
"He was trying to be like me," said my Omega with a slight smile. "We kind of reversed."
"Like politics?"
"No." Mike said the next part carefully. "Todd, uh, lost a girl. I found one I could loveandher girlfriend."
***
Chapter Twelve
January 1st, 1970
Mike
One second after midnight, men and women, with most in bell-bottom pants, screamed into the dark Texas sky. "Happy New Year!" Some wore cheap novelty glasses in the shape of '1970'.
"Goodbye, sixties," I whispered from a suburb on the outskirts of Dallas. The cheers died down, and nearly everyone had another hand to hold. If Bobby hadn't left for Vietnam, I might have gone back to LA. Guilt washed over me as I thought about his letter in my backpack. He finished Basic, and he'd go off alone. He needed someone to look out for him, but I just couldn't bring myself to go.
What's braver? Going to war or telling a friend… a brother, no?
Please universe, can you send someone like Bobby to protect him?
No answer came. All I sensed was the smell of alcohol on people's breath and what had spilled on the sidewalks. I scratched my arms. Todd always said ESP wasn't real, but itfeltlike I was close to something.
Todd?He couldn't be here. He must have already signed up.
Why am I even thinking about him?We had one experience in a bar and later a few hours together. It wasn't enough time to know a guy.
I fidgeted in place, which almost turned into a small hop. I had to get away and do something Todd would admire. John Lennon said, 'Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.' A lifetime would pass, no matter what. Hitchhiking was fun, and I met interesting people, but I couldn't do this forever.
I thought I'd find that special something or someone, but like with the sixties' utopia, it never happened. Kennedy and King were supposed to lead us into a new brotherhood, and both got shot in the head. Singers whospoketo me via music died from overdoses. Vietnam continued, police dogs attacked college protesters, and I never discovered ESP.
Is it time to give it all up? Learn a trade or something?
Asking around gave me directions to a bookstore still open late on New Year's Day. I could turn in my books and study something practical.
The bell dinged softly as I entered the carpeted store. Overhead fluorescent lights buzzed, and the place had to be a repurposed grocery store. The faint fruit and vegetable smell confirmed it. Handwritten signs in bold black paint advertised everything from sci-fi to mystery. I didn't see as many psychedelic or mental power selections as I did a few years back.
The world moved on, so I'll join them. Get a job somewhere and put all this magic behind me.
I wouldn't change who I really was, but I had to adapt. If it weren't for a twenty-year-old blonde bumping into me, I might have thought about it more. She was pretty, just a bit shorterthan me, with a flower-child aura about her, even if she didn't dress like one. Her tight blue jeans had faded, and her pink top was loose for comfort.
She smiled with gleaming white teeth.
"Sorry," I said.
"Do we know each other?"
