New Look!

Update 4-16: I have finished giving Echoes its new look.

Echoes of Eternity is going under some construction, LOL, if you were wondering why the blog looks a little wierd and plain compared to what it was before. I had gone in just to change the background image and then it just opened a whole new can of worms that I don't want to start at 10:52 at night. XD

I will be doing some HTML coding stuff tomorrow to prettify it so it will look less wierd. Just thought I'd give you a heads up if things just randomly change for no reason if you're reading the blog. LOL. Of course, the blog will stay open and you can continue to read, my edits won't change anything I've written, I'm just editing design.

Love ya all,
Late Knight Simmer

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Patrick's Character Study

I have been doing character studies for past heirs, and I just now finished Patrick's. It's over at my WordPress blog, so just click the link below if you want to check it out. Enjoy!

Character Study: Patrick Hunt (Gen 2 Echoes Heir)

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Armand Seven, Part Two: Let it Go

"Grandpa Max!"

"Dad!"

Dad and I got off the couch and had a group hug with Grandpa Max, who looked great, as always. He was fifty-eight, and although his hair was now mostly gray, he didn't have a lot of wrinkles or health problems.

"Where's Mom?"

"Oh, she's downstairs with your fiancee, Patrick. Congratulations on the engagement, by the way. Ephemera's a sweet girl, I'm happy for you two. How are you doing, Armand? You look good."

"I'm fine, Grandpa Max. I've been having a great time back at home."

"School going all right?"

"Yes, I got on the Dean's List."

"Aah, that's amazing! I'm glad to see that your dad passed on the good old Hunt family intelligence to you."

"How are you, Grandpa Max?"

"Pretty good. I just got done filming a movie where I'm a mob boss. It's really exciting. I can't wait till it's released. How about you, Patrick? Besides being engaged, how is everything?"

"Going well. I have an opportunity to perform in Las Vegas next month, so I'm coming up with some new illusions for that."

"I am really glad to see you happy again and doing what you want, Patrick. I was worried about you when you were working at the accounting office, I knew that wasn't good for you."

As I was standing watching Dad and Grandpa Max talk to each other, I could see where Dad got his concern from. Grandpa Max was showing the same worry that Dad had shown me when I wasn't happy. At this point in my life, I was still way too young to even think of having a kid of my own, but if I did have one someday, I hoped I could be as understanding as Grandpa Max was to Dad, and Dad was to me. I felt a lot of warm feelings in my heart seeing the two of them interact with each other, and I could see how much their relationship mirrored mine and Dad's. Grandpa Max was often busy with work, as was Dad, but for them, it wasn't frequent get-togethers that kept them close, it was the mutual trust, respect, and love they had for each other. That was true for Dad and I as well, with me being away at college, I did call Dad and email him sometimes, but we didn't talk every day like some people did. However, we were still as close as ever. It was something I hadn't noticed with Mom and Dad. The first time I saw them have a fight, it was because Dad had stayed over at Emmanuel's house, and Mom was mad he wasn't there in person with her. From what I saw of how a good relationship was supposed to work, I felt like Mom didn't trust Dad, or respect the fact that he had a friend to hang out with.

Even though I felt much better about myself, there was one thing that was still on my mind, which was had I loved Mom? I knew what I had said at the hospital four years ago, but was that just me venting my frustrations, or did I actually truly hate Mom for all the things she had done to me? I knew no one would blame me if I said I didn't, or that I didn't know, because I came from a family where people were accepting of each other, and I guessed I didn't really need to answer that question right now, especially since no one had asked me. Why was I even thinking about that anyway? Who really cared? Why did I care so much about that stuff? I sighed a little at myself quietly, while trying not to make Grandpa Max or Dad feel like they were the source of me sighing, and tapped my fingers on my arm, trying to calm myself down.

Suddenly, I remembered the painting I had made earlier in the week that I wanted to give as an engagement present to Ephemera and Dad, wondering how I could unveil it. I thought it might be fun to do it after dinner and give a little speech or presentation about it. It was just a little piece of my style that I wanted to give to them. Dad and Grandpa Max were chatting away with each other, so I excused myself. They nodded and smiled at me, saying they'd see me down at dinner, and I made my way to my room to get the painting ready. I had been storing it on an empty nail hook on my wall until Thanksgiving, and I pondered what I should do. Did I really want to just lay it against the counter or something? It couldn't do any harm, it's not like anyone would knock it down, but I didn't want the canvas to get dirty either. I finally decided that I would just bring my easel downstairs and set the painting on it with a blanket over it.

Now that I had figured that out, I wanted to dress up a little bit, so I put on a different shirt before heading downstairs. As I arrived in the kitchen, I was greeted by Grandma Soleil.

"Armand! Hi, sweetie! How are you?"

"Hi Grandma Soleil, I'm good. You?"

"Doing well. Do you want some help with that?"

Grandma Soleil held onto the painting while I set up the easel. When I was done, she placed the painting on it.

"Is this an art presentation?"

"Sort of. I want to share it with everyone after dinner."

"Hey, you two, the table's set, I think dinner can start now."

Ephemera came over and grabbed our attention, and I was glad I had covered up the painting so I could still keep it a surprise even though it was down here. Grandpa Max and Dad came downstairs, and we all took our places around the dining room table. As Ephemera started passing some bowls around so we could each take a helping, I realized this was probably the first Thanksgiving dinner I was experiencing with a true family feel.

Past times, the only good Thanksgivings I remembered were when Grandpa and Grandma stopped by because Mom would try to behave herself to look good for them. Dad would cook a meal and we'd all eat together out on the back patio with an extra table to make room for the extra people in the house. When Dad worked at the accounting office, Mom tried to get something fancy planned, and we'd all eat dinner with tension so thick it needed to be cut in order to see the person at the other end of the kitchen bar. Mom would complain that Dad was sad and the dinner would be unpleasant, to say the least. Then when I started hitting adolescence, we quit having Thanksgiving all together because Mom and Dad were fighting nonstop. I supposed it was for the best because it wasn't like we had a whole lot to be thankful for other than being alive.

"I have an idea. It's something we've never done before, but I think this year is a particularly good year for it. Let's go around the table and share some stuff that happened that we are thankful for. I'll go first. I'm thankful for my upcoming gig in Las Vegas next month."

"I'm thankful for Armand, and my new-found friendship with him. I'm happy that he and I are getting to know each other better."

"I'm thankful for my health. I am still blessed with the ability to do my job without any major aches and pains. I really love it and I cannot imagine doing anything else."

"I'm thankful that Patrick is happy again. Your father and I were worried for you when you were going through your depression. I'm very glad you pulled through and rediscovered yourself."

Everyone had gone and said what they were thankful for, and it was now my turn. I was a little nervous, since like Dad had said, we had never done anything like this before as a family. I thought he was right though, this year was the best time for it because I felt like I did have things to share.

"I'm thankful for Ephemera. She has shown me what it's like to have a mother, and even though she isn't my biological mother, she has definitely been there for me, teaching me deep truths in the short time I have gotten to know her."

After our group sharing, we all continued catching up with what was going on in each others' lives, and also talked about random topics. When I saw that dinner was winding down, I decided it would be a good time for me to unveil my gift to Dad and Ephemera. I made an announcement to the table, and everyone stopped talking, eagerly awaiting what I was going to do. I got up, and retrieved the painting from under the blanket, displaying it to everyone as I did.

"I painted this on Tuesday morning. It's not really of anything, but it symbolizes what I have been feeling ever since I came home to visit. My mind and emotions have been all over the place, because as all of you know, this house didn't hold very many pleasant memories for me, up until now. These yellow streaks I painted are rays of positive energy that mimic the new memories I've made in these few short days. I used to think this house was full of sadness and despair, but now I view it as full of love and acceptance. Ephemera, I am truly sorry for how I acted when I heard about you and Dad's engagement. I hope you know what I said was not how I actually felt at all."

"I know, sweetie. Your father told me about the conversation you had after you stormed out. Apology accepted, of course, no doubt about that."

"Thanks, Ephemera. Dad, I'm sorry too."

"Water under the bridge, son."

"Last but not least, this painting is my engagement present to you guys. I'm really grateful that you will be my stepmom, Ephemera. You make my dad happy, and you make me happy too."

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Armand Seven, Part One: Let it Go

Dad and Ephemera stopped being gross, and then Ephemera came back towards me, leaning on the counter as she did.

"How about you and your Dad have some more catch up time, and I relieve you of your duties as my sous chef?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to leave you high and dry."

"I'm sure. I don't have much left to do, all the mixing is done and I just have to put stuff on the stove and watch it, it'll be boring, so you two run along and have fun."

"Ok. Ephemera? Thank you, for the talk, and for being so understanding."

"It's not a problem, honey. I'm always here."

I followed Dad upstairs and we went out on the balcony, where I remember having a talk with him shortly after Mom died.

"Armand, thank you so much for being willing to give Ephemera a chance. I know you were the one who told me to go for her, but it is different hearing about me dating someone, and then having them live with me, so I wanted to let you know I appreciate your support."

"I just wanted to finally see you happy, Dad, and I love that you are."

"Thank you, I was pretty paranoid that my decision to ask Ephemera to move in would have been too soon for you or something, and I just got scared that I might have been stuck in the middle again, like when you and Mom would fight and I didn't know what to do. When Ephemera was unsure because of how she thought it would affect you, half of the weight was lifted off my shoulders, but I was still concerned how you would take it."

"Ahh, Dad, you knew I would support you, right?"

"Yeah, deep down, I did, but I guess I still have those false thoughts creep up once in a while. I got used to just feeling like things were always going to go bad. I should have listened to my heart more about how you would react."

"It's fine, Dad, really. I love how you always worried about me so much when Mom was here, but you don't have to worry anymore. I'm okay. Everything's okay."

"I'm really glad to hear that. I know how much Mom damaged you, so I'm glad you're home to talk about it. Was Ephemera able to answer any of your questions?"

"Yeah, she did answer quite a few of them. I feel a lot freer now, like I don't feel so numb anymore, but something I still don't know the answer to is if Mom regretted having me. She always made me feel like she wished I had never been born. Ephemera said Mom used to be a surfing instructor, but I don't remember her surfing at all, and I think she quit because she had me. Do you know much about that? Do you think the two are correlated?"

"I remember the day after we brought you home from the hospital, I found your mom in the closet complaining about baby weight, like she was mad her clothes didn't fit. She had said something about no one wants a fat surfing instructor, so I think her self-confidence wasn't the greatest after she had you, but she could have made choices to make herself feel better. We weren't married yet when you were born, so when we were planning the wedding, your mom pushed the wedding date back four times because she wanted to lose weight. After that though, when we finally did get married, I think she had gotten over her weight issues, but she didn't go back to surfing. She had told me she wanted to stay at home to watch you, but from what you told me, there wasn't much watching of you happening. Since it wasn't her weight issues from having you that were holding her back from surfing in later years, like when you got older, I have no idea why she didn't go back to it. My hunch is maybe she didn't like surfing as much as she claimed to, or maybe her love for it went away as time went on."

"Mom was such a mystery to me, all the time."

"To you and me both, Armand. You and me both."

"What was Mom like when you fell in love with her? I know you're smart, so I doubt that you would have gotten together with her if she was treating you like crap when you guys were dating, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. She was really different, cute and innocent, and she actually met me while I was doing street tricks outside the grocery store. I guessed her card, impressed her, and then took her out for coffee."

"Seriously?! She liked your magic?!"

I was shocked to hear Dad say that Mom used to like him for who he was. It just goes to show how much life can change people, sometimes for unknown reasons. I was having a hard time even believing that Mom used to be a nice person, but I knew Dad would never lie to me.

"Yeah, she used to think it was good that I was following what I wanted to do."

"What changed?"

"Honestly? Fear. Your mom let fear run her life. After my accident, she refused to focus on the fact that I was okay, and she kept choosing to dwell on the fact that the person who caused my accident was still alive. She was convinced that if I kept doing magic, I would eventually be murdered. That's why she made me quit. I wasn't scared like she was, but I did take precautions for my safety, and I still use those safety measures to this day. I couldn't convince Mom though, that I was safe."

"She did all that stuff to our family because she was scared? Ephemera said that too, that when Mom was a little girl, she was always scared of what people thought of her, so she did what other people wanted, instead of what she might have wanted. I'm having a tough time wrapping my head around the fact that she was scared, like from how she acted so mean towards me, it's hard to believe. I do, however, think that she might not have been showing me the side of her that was afraid, so I saw something completely different instead of what you or Ephemera saw in her, probably because I was a child. I can see though, that she was using me to get people to like her."

"Yeah, I think that is true. Remember Mom's friend? Mikayla's mother? I found out Mom really wanted Carisa to like her, so that's why she was so controlling of you as a kid. I told her not to do all that stuff, but she never listened to me."

"I don't even know why Mom wanted to be her friend, Mikayla was nice, but her mom was a jerk. I mean, she was nice to me when I went to visit, but she always had comments to say about my appearance. I just smiled politely even though I thought her comments were dumb."

"What did Carisa say to you?"

I saw Dad grit his teeth a little bit as he asked me about Carisa, and I felt bad for him because I didn't think Mom had talked to him much about her friendship with Carisa. I didn't understand why Mom never wanted to share her life with Dad. Wasn't that what it meant to be in love with someone?

"Nothing I took too seriously, but Mom did, of course. Carisa just commented on how grownup I looked if I was wearing a particular shirt, like when I wore a button down shirt, she was impressed. If I went over to her house with a hoodie on, I would get a dirty look from Carisa, and then Mom would look embarrassed. When we came back home, Mom would fight with me about how could I embarrass her in front of Carisa. It was the fights with Mom afterwards that got to me, more than anything Carisa did."

"That's interesting. I knew that Carisa was a terrible influence on Mom, but I was unaware she was using Carisa to pick fights with you. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I saw how much you tried to talk to Mom and I also saw how much she ignored you. I don't blame you at all, and after talking to Ephemera, I've learned that I don't need to blame myself either. Ephemera said Mom acted like she did to us even when she was a child, like she tried to make Ephemera feel bad about herself. It sounds like Ephemera didn't fall for it, though. I feel like I've gained a different kind of strength from talking to her. Dad, I'm glad you encouraged it, I think I needed it."

Dad pet my shoulder and smiled at me, with a proud look in his eyes. For the first time ever, I felt comfortable and welcome in my own house, free from the invisible shackles Mom's memory had put on me so many years ago. I was so glad that I had come home for Thanksgiving, not that I wasn't going to, since I had wanted to see Dad, but I was so happy that things were turning out incredibly well. I had thought that I would be dark and disturbed forever, or something, like I'd be that wierd artist no one wanted to talk to because of how creepy he was. It was crazy how seeing myself in a new light was already reaping such good feelings in me. I saw it in Dad too, and how Ephemera made him happy. Hell, she made me happy. She was good for me and Dad, and I felt like maybe this is how I should have been feeling all along.

My day got even better when I heard a familiar voice at the patio door.

"Hey, how are my two favorite boys doing?"

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