The Visionary

"You gotta meet this guy. C'mon, it's your day off, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I know it is, but I don't wanna waste it on some nut either."

"You'll be sorry if you don't," urged Don persistently. "A lot of important people have met him and asked for readings. He's already filled up volumes worth of clairvoyant quatrains. He's been in all the papers. Are you sure you never heard of him?"
"So the guy likes little poems, so what. And in answer ta your question... no, I never heard of 'im. I gotta barbeque ta go to Don, I don't have time for this."

"What time does the barbeque start?" asked Don, a renowned scientist in his own right but a skeptic of clairvoyance until he'd read some of the startling verses in the newspaper, which only lately, had led him to believe otherwise. "I bet we can get there and back before your party begins. How about it? Will ya go?"

"If it's so damn important ta you," replied Lane, a medical Doctor and scant believer in anything that couldn't be proven by formula or lab test. "I guess I can make it if it doesn't take too long. I'll come out and pick you up, but be ready, okay?"

"You got it," answered Donald, and feeling sure of himself that he'd persuaded his friend for all the right reasons, he added firmly and simply into the telephone... "you won't be let down, I promise."

Reid Laurence lived far from the city, in a partially restored turn of the century farmhouse with his wife and two daughters. He had only a sixth grade education, and worked as a janitor for twenty-five years, but when he put himself in a self-induced hypnotic trance, the whole world seemed to open up to him and there was rarely a question - no matter what the technicality or topic - that he was not able to answer. He was truly a scientific and clairvoyant marvel in his own time, but living on sparse donations was very difficult on a family of four. In fact, the donation from his latest reading had gone to a peach tree he'd planted in the front of the old, worn house they lived in, with hopes that it would soon bear fruit and be of some practical use to the hungry, small family.

Mary, his dutiful wife had a pleasant demeanor and an optimistic outlook on life despite her husbands flaws and urged him to ask for more than the small donations they'd been living on. Many times they'd argued the point, but in the end, the answer was always the same... "I ain't gonna start charg'in people more fer someth'in I know they need, even though some of 'em won't admit it. If ah could turn soma the unbelievers ta believers, I wouldn't have'ta raise prices. You'll see," he liked to say. "Someday they'll turn aroun'. Someday they'll believe in me."

Then, on one hot, sunny, summer day, there came a knock at the door and running barefoot to it, the Laurences' youngest daughter Ellie, answered it. Slowly opening it, she muttered a soft, "hello," and asked the two well dressed strangers if they wanted to see her father.

"You bet we do honey," said the taller of the two. "I'm Doctor Lane Bertram and this is a friend of mine, Dr. Donald Neuman. Can we come in? We've driven a long way out here just ta hear your daddy talk. We'll pay 'im for his time. Is that alright?"

"Ah guess," said the ten year old girl, as she opened the door slightly wider, revealing the few scattered pieces of broken down furniture in the home. "I'll git mah daddy," said the young girl, but scarcely a minute had passed before Reid and Mary Laurence realized they had visitors, and the two inquisitive men were welcomed and made to feel comfortable in the humble farmhouse.

"Doctor Neuman here tells me you've seen far into the future on many occasions. Is that right Mr. Laurence?"

"That's right," he replied, looking toward his wife for reassurance and approval as he spoke. "I have, many times. An mah wife here, Mary...she's mah, oh, mah whachamacallit? She sits near me an writes down whateva comes ta me, when ahm in a trance, that is."

"You mean she's your stenographer," replied Donald, who'd been quietly thinking to himself until now. "Do you think," he continued. "We could ask you a few questions, Mr. Laurence? Are you up to it?"

"Oh...ah guess. It does take a lot outta me though, I'll tell ya that right now. I'm more than a bit tired when ahm through with a session. But please gentlemen, call me Reid. Ah feel like I've known you both for a very long time."

"Really," asked Lane. "And what gave you that feeling?"

"Ah don't know fa sure. Ah just do. Anyways, what we usually do is, ah lay down on the couch here, an Mary sits in a chair next ta me with her notepad. We can start anytime you fellas want, ah reckon," he said, as he leaned his back down into the couch and stared up at the ceiling.

Pulling up a frail, wooden chair, Mary took up her position next to him and as the two doctors watched the so-called clairvoyant, he closed his eyes and as he shut them, his eyelids began to flutter nervously. Upon seeing this, and in seeing them suddenly stop, Mary knew her husband was ready to receive questions, and told the two men they could begin whenever they wished.

"Go ahead Don," remarked Lane. "Ask 'im something about the future."

"Alright Reid," asked Don, looking intently on the clairvoyant as he lay there in deep hypnosis. "Why don't you tell us about the future...what will happen in the near future Reid? Go on, tell us." But even as the scientist spoke, the once quiet, summer day began to turn cloudy and the bright sunlight that had only moments before lit the room soon vanished. In its place, a dark threatening gloom had gathered outdoors and even in the house, giving the two doctors a most unsure and insecure feeling of where they were and of what they were doing.

"He's gonna speak now," said Mary. "Ah kin tell, he's gett'in ready." And when he did, this is what he said...

"An evil one will rise to power
A world will rage, inside the hour
Of Hister be his name it's true
This day, I give this heed to you!"

"What's he talk'in about?" asked Lane, as lightening raged outside the home and bursts of sudden thunder roared, causing the Laurences' eldest daughter Natalie to come running into the room from where she'd been. "Is daddy giv'in anotha read'in momma? Ahm scared."

"He is honey," answered Mary. "Hush now."

"What's he talk'in about?" asked Lane a second time. "Who's Hister?"

"I think he's talking about Hitler," answered his friend. "But why he's referring to the past, I don't know. I'll ask him again," added Doctor Neuman. "C'mon Reid. We wanna know about our future. What's going to happen? Tell us."

"He's gett'in ready ta speak agin," said Mary, watching for the familiar signs on her husbands face that she'd herself read so many times before and all at once, uncanny poetic life returned to her sleeping mate and again, as thunder clashed and lightening struck he began to speak...

"A horseless carriage takes him there
A trip to end in great despair
A hail of metal taking life
Great country lost in grief and strife."

"What the heck is he talk'in about?" asked Lane. "It sounds like he's talking about the past again. What's with the horseless carriage?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure," returned Donald, puzzled as to why the clairvoyant had made references to the past again. "But it sound to me like he's talking about when John Kennedy got shot. Why, I have no idea."

"We came such a long way Don, an he's not telling us anything we don't already know. Ask him about my office. Will it grow? Will I increase the staff?"

"Okay," answered the bewildered scientist. "What the heck. I'll try again," he said. "Reid, can you hear me? Can you tell us if Lane's business will grow? Answer me if you can." And this is what he said...

"A thinker sets the world on edge
As atoms crash, he makes amend
A terrible force he does unleash
Great foe will fall, I do bequeath!"

"Oh no!" muttered Lane, as thunder boomed outdoors and the two children in the room cringed, huddled in fear of natures own terrible threat. "He's do'in it again. Don't tell me," he said to his friend. "He's talking about Einstein, right? As atoms crash and all that. C'mon Don, forget it. He's not gonna tell us anything. Maybe he's just having a bad day or something."

"No wait," replied Donald. "I wanna try one more time, hold on." And as the scientist glanced out one of the only windows in the small room, he readied himself to ask one more question, and pleaded with the clairvoyant to make his answer good. "Reid," he began. "I know you can hear me. Stop playing games. I know you can do this. Now tell me, what is in our future? What lays in store for us? Answer me, and I'll give you a great donation. I know your family could use it. Honest, you won't be sorry."

But as Doctor Neuman finished speaking, lightening struck one of the big oak trees on the property, cleaving it in two and rendering it to firewood and kindle in mere tenths of a second.

"He's 'bout ready ta talk agin," whispered Mary, shaken by the supernatural forces of nature and the uncanny connection of her husbands psychic ability to them. "Ah kin tell." And seconds later, this is what he said...

"The writing's on the wall."

"Now what?" asked Lane. "I told ya, he's not gonna tell us anything."

"Wait," replied Donald. "What does he mean?" he said, turning to Mary. "What does he mean by 'the writing's on the wall?' Does he mean the answer is obvious and that we should know?"

"No," answered Mary, pointing to a spot on the wall that even she hadn't seen until now. "He means... the writ'in's on the wall, an there it be."

Then, walking to the location on the wall that Mary had pointed out, Donald read the shocking message out loud for all in the room to hear...

"Can't talk 'bout no future taday, cause the next two years a Bush is too dang scary ta talk 'bout!"