Galaxy Unleashed:Prologue

September 4th seemed like a magnificent month, for Mr. and Mrs. Walter had become parents of two wonderful girls. That whole first week they had their children out of the hospital was chockfull of dirty diapers and baby vomit. The smell had even seeped its way into their car, not just their home.

Tonight, Arica and Swan, their gracious twin daughters, were lying in the plaid purple and pink stroller, lifeless and dreaming their little new-born baby dreams. An occasional whimper would emanate from one of the two sisters when Mr. Walter pushed the stroller over a bump. Mrs. Walter walked alongside him with a broad smile across her face, watching her children crammed next to each other. There was something about being a new parent that made her feel happier than ever, nothing else compared.

The family of four strode past the parks of Cortland, New York; the buildings they passed seemed like a fraction away from touching the late night sky. Its atmosphere filled with beautiful white and blue stars.

As they strolled along, Mrs. Walter recollected the few months before the twins were born. She remembered sitting on the sofa as Mr. Walter slowly massaged her mountainous belly, whispering the sweetest things to their children, promising impossible things to the two infants that lay inside, safe and warm. She always told him they couldn’t hear, but he didn’t stop. And she was kind of glad that he hadn’t.

            Memories like this had kept them together for five years. Sure they had some tiny ruts in their relationship, but after the girls were born, those ruts were like ghosts resting in peace. Long gone and forgotten.

            The night the Walters had taken Arica and Swan home from the hospital for the first time, Mr. Walter had made his wife promise him that she would never leave him—right there in the bedroom they slept in. They sat on the queen sized bed, Mr. Walter painted pictures of how devastated and scared he would be if she deserted him and the girls. She had then sworn that she would not abandon her dearest husband and that she would stay and help him in his time of need. She burst into laughter when he picked up the floor lamp and dubbed her the most wonderful and trustworthy wife in all of the land, or at least the borders of New York. But to her, it felt bigger than just New York. As big as the whole galaxy even. Their love would keep them together forever, or until death separated them. Those were the things she treasured, and she knew in her mind and soul that her daughters would love him just as much as she did. When they strolled down Floral Avenue, she smirked again at her spouse, realizing he was probably thinking the same thing as she was.

            They walked about seven more yards until they came upon a damp park bench near their home. It was old, rusty, and wet, but it was perfect to them. "You want to take a seat, or are you afraid of getting your skirt wet?” said Mr. Walter with that warm Russian chant to his voice—though not an overwhelming accent, just there hiding behind his words. His green eyes glowed in the night, as well as his smile. His rusty-red hair swept to one side, he looked like a qualified young father.

            “After having the girls, sitting on an old, wet bench is like tying a shoe.” She countered. He laughed.

            Right when the couple sat down, Arica started to cry, which triggered Swan’s crying, too. It was an adorable yet an annoying symphony of crying. Mrs. Walter took Arica and hugged her. Mr. Walter removed Swan from the stroller, and nuzzled her delicate face.

            Mrs. Walter never knew something could be as delicate as they, so easily broken by hurt and easily built back up by love.

            She thought about her own father. When her mother died, he became something else. He became consumed by selfishness and relentless destruction; he’d turned into some kind of monster. An absolute beast. She hoped neither Swan nor Arica would become as hateful as their grandfather, where every day was like an animal picking and eating away at their broken hearts. It would hurt them and everyone around them, remembering her father’s nastiest state when he drank to get over her. It seems like their relationship of father and daughter grew extremely distant. She guessed it is why she moved from Oregon with her husband to New York. She had gone just as far away to her father physically as she had mentally. Once she had moved out her father had called to say he never ever want to see her again. But she said she hadn’t cared at all.

            Feelings kept nibbling at her brain as she took out Arica’s bottle of milk, she thought: She is so calm, she wouldn’t hurt a fly. So is Swan, they’re perfect.

            Swan was different from Arica, but not in a bad way. Swan would always kick and snicker when her father or mother attempted to change her diapers, she was totally on the anti-sleeping for mommy and daddy campaign, and she got into everything, she was a very curious child. Arica was more settled, she never got into much and she slept better. But she had her moments where all she wanted to do was something with Swan. She knew that Swan was more like her father, and Arica was more like her.

            Mrs. Walter looked at her companion, and kissed him unexpectedly on the cheek. “That took a while.” He said with a frown.

            “I was distracted by our amazing girls.” She said.

“I know, they remind me of me.” He replied.  

“I was just thinking the same thing.” They both laughed.

They were both quiet for a minute or two. All you could hear were the chirps of crickets and the clang of cars. “Mordechi?”

“Yeah?”

“What do we do from here?” She asked “I mean, we’re married and we have kids, you know? Like, what do we do now?” She explained. Mordechi sighed; it was obvious he had thought a lot about the babies’ future as well. Wondering how they would be when they were two, getting into everything they could, was alarming. How would they do when it was time for school? When they became teenagers, even! The idea of the twins growing up so fast like that was pushed away every time—it would happen, though. They would grow, move out of the house, hopefully get married, and live a normal, happy life. It was just, too soon for that.

Mordechai swallowed, he spoke with his deep voice and shallow Russian pronunciation. “Karee, I know you’re worried,” replied Mordechi in a calm, wise way “but we need to think about the present. These sweet things are only a few of months old anyway. Let’s think about what we’ll do with them.” He looked Karee in the eye again as he stroked Swan’s bare head. “We’ll raise them…together.” Swan made a cooing sound in the back of her throat. Karee wondered if she would be a good mother to them. She was absolutely sure the kids loved their father. Will they love me too? She became more concerned. What if I’m not good enough for them? Her head began to pound. What if I mess up? Thoughts rushed into her head, making it hurt. To think that maybe the girls wouldn’t accept her in some way made her shiver. Mordechi took her hand gently “It’ll be alright, Karee.” That didn’t make her feel much better, but she knew he was right.

“I can’t help it—“

“I know, I know. It’s our job to worry. We’re parents, it’s what we do.” Karee grinned again, then looked at the ground. It was like she was some code that Mordechi could translate with ease; except by her looks.

His rust-red hair was carried by the breeze as he fed Swan the warm milk. Every now and then, he would tell her how pretty she was. It made him look even more handsome, holding his daughter.

Her gaze dawdled off to the horizon. Karee thought it was amazing how sometimes when you looked at the sky it looked like a big rainbow. Mordechai finally interrupted her strange phenomenon, grabbing her hand and stood up silently. Trying not to wake the children, he beckoned her to stand and walk him again. So she got up, put the babies back in the stroller, and headed off for their family home on Floral Street. They weren’t very far from there, but they walked slowly, just to savor the moment. It was half past eleven o’clock when they got home. Way past the girls’ bedtime, but it was a special night.

Cautiously walking up the groaning steps, opening the creaking door, they went into the family room. The family room had no problems with it at all. On the clean beige, walls hung pictures of Mordechi and Karee. In the kitchen was an elegant 20th century colonial dining set, which was given to them for their wedding by Mordechi’s great-grandmother—sweetest woman on earth. West from that, was a redwood shelf that held stunning china ware, too stunning to be used daily by any old kinfolk. The shelf was probably a quarter the age of the table. Mordechi had made it for Karee as a way to say—‘will you marry me’ when Mordechi worked as a carpenter. It was admirably different from a ring but he made up for it in time. Over to the right of it was a box with old frames that should’ve been accompanied by pictures long ago. Wooden ones, gold ones, silver ones, plastic, opaque, all waiting to be filled with a memory to last. However, babies take up most of your time, especially twin babies.

The clock struck twelve with an ear splitting ding through the silence. They both panicked. If the babies woke they would not go back to sleep. Mordechi mouthed I’ll get it. Karee sped to the nursery while he took care of the clock. She did not want the babies to wake up and not go to sleep for Lord-knows how long. They were even more precious, and pleasant, when they were sleeping.

Karee slowly opened the door to the nursery. The room was flooded with pink walls and white stripes, multi-colored stuffed animals on a book shelf, and a petite music box with silver stars on it. Karee would sometimes play the box for the girls, but tonight was too late. She went over to the cribs that were similar to each other. But she knew which girl went in which. Putting Arica in the left one, and Swan in the right one. Arica’s crib had a blanket the nurses at the hospital had made for her as did Swan. Its fleece was soft, over it were knitted unicorns dancing on the fabric. Arica made what Karee called a “big girl” yawn when she was settled into her bed and curled into a ball, like an armadillo spooked into slumber.  She was still. The expansions of her nostrils were the only signs of life. Other than that, she was out.

            When Karee put Swan down she sprawled herself, appendages were sticking out in all directions, it looked like it hurt; typical. Swan’s blanket had birds and kittens on it playing in a forest, but it still carried the same color scheme as Arica’s. She shook; Swan woke opening her wide green eyes. Her mother was motionless. Hoping the baby would go back to sleep if she were frozen. It didn’t work, though. Instead, she lay there chewing on her blanket and gurgling happily. Happy to see her mother’s face for the hundredth time. Frustrated with her, Karee picked her up and attempted to cradle her back to sleep. “You should be asleep little one.” Swan only watched her with twinkling eyes. Karee kissed her on the forehead, knowing that she would be here for as long as Karee wanted her to be. Close to the two cribs was a rocking chair, woven from bamboo shoots, which made it quite comfortable. She sat sluggishly, fatigued from the nights walk and the daily feeding. She pushed her legs off the floor, lightly, in an attempt to put Swan back to sleep with tender rocking motions. She yawned, but did not look any more tired. “You really need to go to sleep baby girl.” She said in a babyish tone “Tomorrow’s gonna be fun, you’ll get to play with Arica all day long until daddy gets home from work. Won’t that be fun?” Swan didn’t move. Instead, she sat there gawking. Her greenish-blue eyes were droopy, so were Karee’s. “You and I will always be together, forever. I’ll teach you how to walk, how to speak, how to cook.” Swan yawned again. Mordechi poked his head in the room quietly and pointed to his watch. She looked up at the little baby clock ticking softly on the stool. It was one in the morning! Neither Karee nor Mordechi had to work tomorrow. Still, it was late and Swan had to go to bed right now. Karee mouthed “Okay, go ahead, I’ll be there in a minute.” Mordechi nodded and blew a kiss to Swan. She was really falling asleep now; hopefully she would stay that way for a while.

Karee got up and lightly bounced Swan. As she did, she hummed an old lullaby her mother sang to her. Its tone was taking its effect on Swan gradually, every verse her eyelids closed more and more. She was an adorable little infant, from Karee’s perceptive. Mordechi always joked of how Swan looked like him and Arica looked like Karee. Karee yawned and shook her head to keep herself awake. Swan had completely shut her eyes now, appearing as lifeless as Arica had been. So Karee set her down again in her crib. Swan shook a bit, opening her eyes into tiny slits. Karee kissed her on the cheek, which knocked her into slumber. “I love you. I love you both.”

            An hour later, Karee was in bed with Mordechi asleep beside her. It had gotten very late due to Swan’s stalling and Karee had grown unbearably exhausted. Yet, she couldn’t get herself to plunge into the sleep she so desperately desired. She rolled over and started lightly rubbing Mordechi’s shoulder. “Mordechi? Mordechi, you awake?” He didn’t answer. “Mordechi!” He moaned, reluctantly rolling over to face Karee. His eyes were baggy with drowsiness. “W-what is it?” He said “Did you hear something in the house?”

“No” She admitted.

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I can’t sleep. Not at all.”

“What’s bugging you, Karee?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Explained Karee “I just feel like something’s wrong. Something important! Did I forget to turn off the stove?!” She rose up snappishly, about to go check. Mordechi yanked her arm and pulled her back in the bed. His tired eyes looked at the clock over Karee’s shoulder and yawned. “Maybe it’s your instincts going off.”

“Maybe.” She said, not realizing the sarcasm in his voice.

 In the living room, the house phone unexpectedly started ringing. Karee froze, as did Mordechi. They both looked at each other. Karee nodded her head towards the door and Mordechi rose with a heave out of bed. As he exited the bedroom, she strained to hear the conversation that was happening. For a while, she heard silence. Then Mordechi’s voice started. “Hello? Walter’s.” He said. There was silence, then Mordechi again. “Slow down, slow down. What happened?” Karee became tense with concern. Mordechi sounded a bit upset, but why? And about what? “I…I can’t. I have to talk to Karee.” Mordechi fell silent again, but it didn’t last. “What? Okay.” Karee went stiff when Mordechi called for her “Karee, it’s Lora. It’s really important, Karee.” His voice dripped with fear and urgency. She rolled out of the bed, jogged out to the room, and took the phone from Mordechi. He stayed with her while she was on the phone with her friend. Her only friend she had ever had in Oregon. Lora had helped her through the hard times with her mother. Sometimes she would let her stay at her house when her father became unstable. Mordechi stayed, he knew as well as she that Lora never called unless it was important. He was the best husband on earth just for that simple aid of staying with her, when she was scared the most. “Hi?”

“Kerrigan Walter? You will never believe what I heard.”

“What’d you hear?”

“I ran into your father. Your dead-beat father has joined a group of amateur psychologists. Going global and helping hands.” She quoted.

“What?” Karee didn’t know what to think, this did not sound like her father at all. “What? Are you sure you saw dad?” Karee asked.

“Yeah. Same beard, same sunglasses, same biker look. And he asked me, to ask you, if you would loan him a thousand dollars to help a teenage boy, who is a drug-user and has been for three years.”

She froze. All the functions of her body did the same. She stopped breathing, almost releasing the phone from her stone-like grip. Mordechi looked at her in equal horror, but dare not take his eyes off of her. Of all the things he would ask, money to help someone else was different.

“H-how…did this happen?” Karee demanded.

“He said he had changed.” Lora explained

Karee was disgusted. The more her friend told this appalling story the more she wanted to throw up. Her own father might’ve changed! It had to be a sign, a cry for help that Karee wasn’t about to answer. “After he told me all this, he said he wanted to get in touch with you again.” Mordechi looked at Karee with the expression of a beaten pup. Her father didn’t know that Mordechi and she had gotten married—much less that they had had twins. He could hear everything and was just as conflicted by this as she was. “Lord only knows why he has turned like this, but doesn’t it strike you a little funny?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Does he even know about the girls? “, questioned Lora.

“No.” Karee almost yelled, filled with fury and shock. “Look, tell him I’ll think about it.” Or was there time to think about it? The last thing she wanted to do was bale out her drunken father. He deserved nothing. “Okay, Karee.” Lora said as she hung up. For a long time Karee and Mordechi didn’t talk. They were both still soaking in the information. Until Karee spoke up with a shattered voice and a tone of spines did they even look at each other. “I can’t believe it.” She said

“Neither can I.” Answered Mordechi “Maybe, we should help him.”

“What? You want to help him.”

“I mean, he must feel really bad about what he did to you. The least we can do is give him the money.”

“We don’t have that kind of money to give away, Mordechi! Didn’t you hear what he did anyway? He doesn’t really deserve it.”

“I am still thinking about what he has done, Karee. I’m a father and he doesn’t even know it. He wants to get in touch with you. That means seeing the girls and seeing me, too.” Karee went silent; it didn’t occur to her how this would affect Mordechi.

“Karee, he’s your father. You’re just going to let him suffer for the rest of his life. Not only is he asking forgiveness, he’s trying to help someone else.” Mordechi tried to reason.

“Yeah, do you have a problem with that?” She asked.

“I do. It’s wrong, cruel, and selfish. Of all people who wouldn’t care, why you?”

Karee gritted her teeth. “You don’t know what he did to me! I hate that man, the man who ruined my entire life!” Her voice grew into a yell, and she didn’t care.

“He did not ruin your entire life! What about me? What about the girls? Don’t we mean anything to you? Doesn’t your family, and your father, deserve a second chance?” Mordechi said.

“Oh, so you suddenly see an angel in my drunken excuse of a parent!” She exploded rage towards her spouse, as much hatred from those years leaked into her words. 

“I never said that!” He protested.

“You didn’t have to!”

“I’m just saying that we should help him get out.”

“That man is full of nothing but hatred. He was always raising his voice at me for no reason, and never saw the good in anyone!”

“Well, then I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, huh?” He said.

Karee was enraged. How could he compare her to him? Her dad. Mordechi crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

“Well, I guess you can sleep on the couch then.” Karee said with poise.

 “Fine, I’d rather sleep on the couch.” Mordechi went into the bedroom. A minute later he came out with a pillow and some sheets. She was even more upset now. When he did what she told him, like it was nothing, it made her furious.

“How can you want to help him, he doesn’t even know you exist,” said Karee.

“He’s your father, Karee. Hasn’t he been good to you at least once in your life?” He didn’t wait for an answer. Instead he started fiddling with the sheets, trying to make a decent bed out of them. Karee stood there looking at the floor. Again, Mordechi was right.

Before her mother died, he was the best father in the world. Always there for her if she got hurt, if she had a question, or if she just wanted to be with him. Whenever she asked him to play Apples to Apples with her, he would say yes—even if he was working. Karee had loved those times before, when everything to a little girl was based on unicorns and rainbows, and that everybody could be loved. But when she turned into an adult, she grew more and more hateful towards her father—she just didn’t show it. “Look, Mordechi,” She heaved a heavy-hearted sigh “I just don’t want dad to be around the girls. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think he is dangerous. Think about it, Mordechi.” He stopped what he was doing and hugged her tightly. “I know, you don’t have to worry.” He looked her in the eyes again “I’ll protect you.” That didn’t exactly make her feel better. But to be wrapped in his arms, whether something was wrong or not, did. She only hoped that if she did help her father that it wouldn’t hurt her family. She couldn’t stand the thought of it. “Oh, Mordechi.” She whispered. Karee felt his arms squeezing her tighter, she couldn’t be mad at him if it was on her life. He came closer to her ear, “It’ll be okay. You’ll see.” Mordechi kissed her, then went back to fixing up his temporary mattress. Karee felt miserable and guilty. She loved him very much; she hoped that this little quarrel wouldn’t cause Mordechi to do anything, unpredictable.

The faint sound of one of the twins sounded. Karee groaned, she wondered if it was Swan. “I’ll get her,” said Mordechi. He walked into the nursery. She didn’t mind that he could get the girls quiet much quicker than she could. It came in handy, especially at this hour.

Karee walked over to the screen door that had been open long before they left for the walk. Trees adorned the backyard, their smells danced with the indoor scents. Breezes zipped through the door, reminding her of Oregon. She thought about her father again and worried. How could he do this and expect her to help him? It tied a knot in her stomach, throat, and heart. Yet, her husband was all for helping her dad, for what? What would they get out of it? She was sure, if Mordechi wasn’t a mechanic he would be a preacher. Going on about second chances and all that junk. She thought of how she and Mordechi had gotten married, but only invited their friends and Mordechi’s parents. She had insisted that she would not invite her father. Although Mordechi respected her wishes, he still seemed uncomfortable with it. The girls had never met their grandfather. Karee didn’t even know if he knew they were born.

            Eventually, she walked to bed alone, but didn’t fall asleep. She had forgotten how cold the bed could be without someone beside her. Karee tossed and turned causing the bed to creek. That didn’t help. It sounded rather vulgar in the silence.

She wondered if Mordechi was awake. Would he really be awake at this hour? Her curiosity took over and she opened the door and peeked outside. Mordechi was fast asleep. He looked like he was dreaming, as if he was devising some plan and she hoped it would have nothing to do with her father. She closed the door again and slowly walked towards the bed again. It was still cold.

For about two hours, she read a book. She didn’t have much interest in the book she was reading. She just wanted to fall into a bottomless slumber and wake up to Mordechi snuggled up beside her in the morning. As she daydreamed, or night dreamed, she slowly became dormant. She dreamed of the backyard. Her daughters were around five or six, playing with a grand golden retriever. They had talked of getting a dog for the girls, ironically. Her dream became darker and darker. Feelings of closure started to swallow her. She began to feel air whip past her as she slept. The unexpected feeling of objects going past her at a frightening speed. She felt like she was falling, and falling very fast. A sudden flash of purple blinded her, making everything that passed her disappear. 

The alarm clock went off, it was ten o’clock already. Yet, Karee felt quite restless from the nightmare. She managed to get herself out of bed, just to make sure the girls were still there. When she went into the hallway, she was dumbfounded. Everything in the living room was trashed. Did Mordechi do this? He had never done anything like this before. Papers and pictures were scattered across the floor. The precious China ware was shattered in the kitchen. “What happened? Mordechi!” There was no answer this time. As Karee walked into the living room, she saw that the couch that Mordechi had slept on was tipped over. The coffee table had broken in half and all the work she had was all around it. The mortgages, the bills, mail, work papers, messily distributed all around the room. Could Mordechi really do something like this? She went towards the window in terror, the window was partly cracked. She traced the jagged line on the glass with her index finger. Karee realized that Mordechi wasn’t in any of the rooms she had searched. She was starting to get really worried. The rest of the outside was perfectly undisturbed. Except one thing, the car. "It was gone!" Karee gasped, did he leave? Why, when, where?

Karee remembered the last place she saw him besides the couch. She ran to the nursery and swung the door open. One of the twins woke with a scream at the loud bang of the door hitting against the wall. But only one scream sounded. He left, he left with Swan! Karee’s hands flew to her mouth. Why would he do this to her? Tears came to her eyes. This time, she couldn’t escape the thoughts. That hadn’t been their worst fight. Arica looked in the closet, the tears made her vision blurry. She saw her own fear in Arica’s eyes as she came to comfort her daughter. She picked her up and bounced her “It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be okay.” Arica started to cry. Mordechi had left her, alone with Arica. Maybe he took Swan for a ride and didn’t want to wake her up. But why not take Arica too? They did everything together, they were twin sisters.

She carried Arica into the kitchen, avoiding the broken glass all over the floor.  Maybe if she fed Arica, she would calm down. She opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle, rubbing her eyelids of weeping.

As she fed Arica, it made her a little calmer. Karee kissed her head, but she doubted if Arica had noticed that her father and sister were gone. She was just a baby, not an adult who could actually do something about a situation her parents were in. But even now, Karee felt like a baby. Helpless, putting her fate into an adult. Even though Mordechi promised they would raise them together.

The house was trashed to an agonizing extent. When Mordechi came back, she would have him clean up the mess. She sat for a long time as Arica ate. Minutes, maybe hours had probably passed. She didn’t know when, or if, he would come back. She began to mourn again. Her face was a waterfall, dripping with human tears instead of water. Arica stared at her like Swan did the night before. Karee’s clothes became tearstained; she missed Mordechi too much to bare it. More hours passed.

Now she was starting to worry even more about the two, thinking that the most impossible things had happened to Mordechi and Swan.

Then anger took over her mind. It consumed her with hatred, making her think more clearly now. If he never came back, she didn’t care. If she had to raise Arica all by herself, she would. The thought frightened her, the thought that she might never see her husband or her daughter ever again. No, she had no choice. He left and that was his own fault. He’s the one who would miss out on seeing both his daughter’s grow up, and she didn’t care. She would raise her, the way she wanted her. No father to comfort her or her daughter, Arica would have to grow up that way for the rest of her life. Just like I had to.