Fernweh #27

Mother - Part Ten

Previously: Four years after the phone call with you aunt, we got a letter … She froze to death … You tried to help someone and you got hurt. It’s a family tradition … When Jeremiah was ten, his cousin Ed took him to a meeting of men who said they were going to set the country right ... They told him he was special, and that the Good Lord had put him on Earth for a reason … A ghost is a continuation of the conscious mind … We think our thoughts to feel normal, to pretend we’re still alive.

Last Week:

Take it from the top:

fernweh (fern-way) n.

1.        An ache for distant places

2.        Being homesick for anywhere but home

You, Jackson, are going go back to Chicago after deciding not to press charges against the boy’s father. You’ll look anywhere and everywhere for news about Ana. You’ll visit her mother all the time for a while, have dinner there at least once a week, sometimes stop in on a Saturday or Sunday for a few hours, but you won’t hear anything about Ana, and within the year you’ll decide to move on.

You won’t go back to work at the grocery store, your savings will dwindle and you’ll make plans to leave Chicago. You’ll take the train to Pilsen to have one last dinner with Maria and her family. As you clean the table, you all will promise to stay in touch and update each other the minute you hear any news. You’ll tell Maria about your plan to take the train to Portland, a two-day ride from Chicago, and stay with a friend for a while.