Under The Wings of the Angel

Rev: 4/29/03

This is a book that Claudia wrote in the final two years of her life. She worked on it on and off for many of those years. The book was very important to her, so I have published hear as-is. --Richard Lowe

Introduction

Hello! It is very nice of you to stop by to visit with me for a while. Thank you for being kind enough to ask how I am doing. At this moment, I cannot answer your question as my future is uncertain. Before we go any further, let me introduce myself. My name is Moonbeam. While I wait for transport to my final destination, I am compelled to tell you my story and the story of many others who are in the same or similar situation as mine. I am sure that we can do that while we wait together. Right now I can use some company.

When I was a child, my next-door neighbors where from afar. I used to believe that they belonged to a very exotic place located on the other side of earth. As I grew older, I learned that I was right. As a result of my fascination with their culture, I loved visiting with them every afternoon so I could not only admire the way they decorated their house, but I could learn about their customs, history, and language. My fascination with them was beyond comprehension. Every time I was near them my imagination would take flight and transport me to this beautiful land that I had created in my mind. I was able to dream and I believed that by associating with them, my dreams would come true.

When they first moved to the neighborhood, they had not been accepted. The women of the neighborhood got together and decided they needed to do something about our new neighbors. They believed that allowing them to stay would guarantee the neighborhood would go to the dogs since many more aliens would be moving in making life difficult and miserable for the residents. They believed that anyone who was different, from another culture, another race, or another religion was not allowed to live in that area, much less associate with the neighbors. During those first meetings, the women kept their comments about the new neighbors among themselves. As the days went by, the women had not come up with a solution to their problem so they started discussing the matter with their husbands. In no time, the conversation moved to each family’s dinner table where their teenagers and children would hear what was discussed about the problem with “those people”. Everything else that had been important to them prior to the arrival of the new people was dropped and the obsession with getting rid of them had started consuming their lives.

Eventually they came up with different plans to terrorize the new arrivals. They were vandalized, big lines and blotches of paint started to show on the walls of their house, their mail got lost, their flowers started to die and a host of other hateful things happened to them. Even in the face of such adverse circumstances, the new neighbors continued with their daily lives. They went to work, walked with their children, cleaned walls, repotted plants and never complained or retaliated.

One of their youngsters started to attend school with me. From the first moment I saw her I liked her and decided that she would become my friend despite the other children, their parents, neighbors and everyone else. When I returned home that afternoon from school, I begged my mother to bake some cookies to take to them. My mother finally gave in, after much pleading from me, and baked the cookies which I took to their house.

A beautiful lady about sixty years of age opened the door. When she saw me standing there with a plate of cookies, she could do nothing but smile. She graciously accepted the cookies from my outstretched hands. When she said "thank you," I turned around and ran home. The next morning when Jasmine arrived at school, she wore a big smile and thanked me for the cookies. At that moment we became friends.

Rain had been pouring down for days making it necessary for almost everyone to stay indoors. The hostility towards the neighbors had gained momentum with several plans coming about to ensure they would leave once and for all, but it would have to wait until after the parade.

The 4th of July was a couple of days away and everyone in the neighborhood had plans to go see the parade in the morning and the fireworks in the evening. Everyone was ready for cookouts. The women were going about making sure that all the fixing and trimmings were perfect. All the food was properly seasoned and cooked so it could be taken out to be barbequed on that day.

The 4th of July arrived and everyone got together, got into their cars and headed for the parade. There was only a handful of people that stayed home, mainly the elderly who were not able to stand or be left unattended for long periods of time. Some of these folks were left behind by their families as they were not in the mood to lose some entertaining time by taking care of the needs of their elderly relatives.

Mr. G was about seventy-five years old. For a man of his age he was a very active person, very well liked and respected by everyone. His family was one of the first families that had moved into the area so he was considered the patriarch. He followed the same routine day in and day out. By ten in the morning he was always seen in the front yard taking care of his beloved plants. In return, the plants were always growing healthy, spreading new shoots, and systematically returned all his care and love.

That particular day was especially hot and humid. Even in the early morning it was 85 degrees. While attending to his plants, Mr. G started to have a pain in the pit of his stomach which he attributed to his breakfast. He had definitely eaten something that didn’t agree with him, he thought. He continued tending to the garden. In a matter of a minute or so, the pain started to shoot to his arm and soon became unbearable. All of a sudden he dropped to the ground and remained motionless.

The beautiful lady I had given the cookies to appeared from nowhere and started applying CPR to Mr. G. Five minutes later the ambulance showed up. The paramedics used all of their skills and knowledge to keep him alive. Mr. G had suffered a heart attack. He had to be taken to the hospital immediately. The beautiful lady talked to the paramedics to check on his condition and to find out which hospital he was going to be transported to. Immediately thereafter, the ambulance left with Mr. G. After knocking on his front door to no avail, the beautiful lady ran to her house, came back with a piece of paper and taped it to the door of Mr. G’s house. She quickly got into her car and drove away.

Five hours later everyone came back from the parade. As Mr. G’s daughter approached the house she noticed the paper hanging from her door. She crumpled it and threw it onto the floor of the porch without reading it. Her husband, who was locking the car, saw what happened and for some unexplained reason walked to where his wife had thrown the paper, picked it up, and read it. When he finished reading the paper he was yelling for his wife to come out of the house as they had to leave immediately. Grumbling, his wife grabbed her purse got into the car demanding an explanation. Her husband handed her the paper and gave her the order to read it.

As they arrived at the hospital, in a panicked voice, Mr. G’s daughter asked which room he was in. As they waited for an answer, a doctor came out to tell them that he had suffered a serious heart attack. At that moment he remained under the constant vigil of the emergency room doctors. However, they were also told that if they wanted more information about Mr. G, the beautiful lady could give it to them. She could be found in the waiting area, the doctor informed them as he left to return to his patient.

Uncertain as to whom this woman was, husband and wife headed to the waiting area where they found the beautiful lady. They were astounded to find her there. When she saw them she rose, bowed her head and briefed them on the condition of Mr. G. She left the hospital knowing that his family was there and that she had done all that she could have to help the man.

The couple went back to the information area to see if they could find more information on how Mr. G had ended up in the hospital. At which time they were informed that the beautiful lady had seen Mr. G collapse. According to their records, she had given him first aid, followed the ambulance to the hospital and for the past five hours had stayed there keeping a vigil over the gentleman.

Mr. G fully recovered and with proper medical instructions went back home to continue his daily routine. However, there were many things the doctors advised him not to do. He was no longer allowed to spend so much time in the hot sun tending to his beloved plants. Mr. G agreed to follow their instructions to the letter. Before he arrived back at home, he had already decided that he was going to ignore the doctors instructions. He would continue with his daily routine like nothing had happened; after all, when his time finally came he would go with or without doctors’ instructions.

Mr. G had never attended any of the neighborhood meetings, and it was believed that the old timer had no idea as to what was being planned. Imagine everyone’s surprise when he showed up at their next meeting. Quietly, he sat on the last seat next to the farthest wall and intently watched everyone. As usual, the meeting was about how to deal with the new neighbors. His daughter was the first one to speak. She suggested that they had to find a way to make sure that the drastic measures planned to eliminate the thorn on their sides would be put into effect. Mr. G got up slowly and with a commanding voice, ordered his daughter to be silent.

He addressed the attendants by reminding them that it was because of the beautiful lady that he was still alive. With reproachable eyes he looked at his daughter who lowered her own eyes after seeing her father take such a stand and listening to his what he had to say. Mr. G continued by telling them that he would appreciate it very much if everyone left the new neighbors alone. He cautioned them that if anyone continued to terrorize them he would never speak to them again and would withdraw his support of the offender.

Next morning at his usual time Mr. G went out to his garden. He cut some of his most beautiful flowers and headed to the neighbor’s house. He knocked on the door and when the beautiful lady opened it, he presented her with the beautiful flowers to thank her for saving his life.

From that day on, at ten in the morning, Mr. G could be found having tea with the beautiful lady. Nevertheless, some of the destructive and misguided teenagers still refused to accept the new neighbors. They continued vandalizing their homes until they got caught by their parents or the local police and found themselves in hot water for a long time.

As days passed by and I saw Mr. G. and the beautiful lady having tea together every day, I started to wonder if there was something happening between them. I thought it would be incredibly romantic for them to get together and remain together for the rest of their lives.

The Beautiful Lady and I

Once the other children realized that Jasmine and I had become friends, it was only a matter of days until they were allowed to play with Jasmine too. I was finally on my way to see our exotic neighbors’ house! It was even more beautiful than I had imagined. I discovered silk, falling in love with the feeling as soon as I touched it. I realized that silk was everywhere as well as a lot of ivory and other materials that I had never seen before. There were different sizes of statues of people that I didn’t recognize. I saw the beautiful rug resting in the middle of the living room and immediately thought it was a magic carpet. In my mind, they kept the coffee table on top of it so it wouldn’t fly away.

I decided right there and then that one day I would move the table and fly as far as the carpet would take me. I didn’t have to be told nor asked not to touch anything, I instinctively knew not to do that.

Even though I was smitten by their mannerism, food, language and heritage, it was the beautiful lady who I always looked for. She kept her long, silky dark hair tied in the back of her head with a knot. Despite being in her sixties, she was just starting to show a strand or two of white hair near her right side temple, and a small wrinkle under the left eye. For someone who didn’t know her age, the guess would be that she was in her forties.

Of all the children that visited her every afternoon, I was the one who grew closest to her. She became a very important person during my formative years; I idolized her learning a great deal from her. I used to count the hours and then the minutes left before I could go to her house. Many times I had dinner with them getting to know the entire family well. I found out that they did belong to a very exotic, distant and beautiful place. The family consisted of the beautiful lady, her daughter, her daughter’s husband, and three grandchildren. Against the rules and costumes of her country, where women are less than objects, being raised only to get married and have children, she had found a way to secretly educate herself and later on her daughter. She had gone through great danger to ensure that both of them could survive on their own as she had dreamed of leaving her country to come to this one so she could be free and enjoy a good life.

After overcoming the obstacles that came her way, she managed to see her dream materialized. It was a month after she arrived to our country that she moved to our neighborhood. She showed me the pictures of the most beautiful and holy places her country had to offer. She also showed me pictures of the most abandoned people and places which comprised the majority of her nation.

Women walked behind men having no voice. They were to obey their husbands no matter what it was demanded of them. From a very early age, she was taught that the only person who counted on the entire nation was the male. Some of them viewed females not even as objects. Dirt had more value than a woman. If a woman did not obey her husband, or made him upset, he had all the right in the world to kill her. Women were brought up to believe these costumes were part of a normal way of life. The beautiful lady never understood or accepted the concept; she would do what she was asked to do, finding invisible ways to sabotage what she was supposed to do. When her husband found out that she had educated herself and their daughter he was going to kill her. She found the strength to hit him with a cooking utensil running away with their daughter. It was too late for the boys. They already had the mentality of their father being in agreement with him that their mother should be punished by death. After she ran away, her husband never saw them again even though he had bowed he would go to the end of the earth to kill her.

During the hours we spent with her, we never saw her upset nor angry. She always had a wonderful story to tell, provided that we were done with our homework or chores keeping good grades at school or good behavior at home. Going to see her and spending time with her was a reward for our hard work. She always encouraged us to ask questions. She used to say that the more we knew, the better we would fare as adults.

Of all the stories she would tell us, there was one I memorized. This was the story I wanted to live, this was the story I wanted my life to parallel. I wanted to be the main character of the story. When I grew up, I would be in daily life the heroin of the story. I had my mindset; I would mimic that woman one way or the other.

Every day around five in the afternoon, the beautiful lady would come out, sit on the swing and ask us questions about what we had learned or done that day. She always encouraged us to be busy at all times. We enjoyed telling her of our accomplishments without being afraid of telling her of our failures as well. She would be supportive or helpful either way.

My favorite day was Saturday afternoon as that was story time. Her eyes, the color of onyx, were so intense that her pupils could not be distinguished unless we were at a nose distance from her or the sun would shine on her face.

She would gather us all asking if we wanted to hear a new story or one of the old ones. All the boys would always request a new story wherein men were the conquerors and were invincible. All the girls would request our favorite story, the story that I had already memorized. The beautiful lady was the greatest storyteller I have ever known. As she was about to start narrating the story, she would look at me straight in the eyes and would smile at me with hers. She seemed to know what was happening in my world without ever asking any questions.

I looked at her as a princess who lived at the edge of the world, who was the last human anybody who crossed her kingdom would see before continuing their journey into the sky. She treated us as people and not as children. She believed that children were to be seen and heard. We also learned from her that even though we might get in trouble by telling the truth, we were always better off than telling lies. There was no question we asked that was out of place or embarrassing to her, she always answered with a smile. If she didn’t want to answer one of our questions, she would smile and test us on what did we know about our question? She would encourage us to follow our dreams and most of the time, after she had finished with the story, she would ask us to make drawings of it, always reminding us that we should work as a group to come up with the best interpretation of the story. Therefore, we learned to separate the story in chapters among all of us working very hard in producing drawings that would please her the most and were accurate and true to the story.

Upon completion of the drawings, we would very carefully walk inside the house to show her what we understand the story to be. She would look at the drawings always praising us for how talented we are. In her eyes, we never did anything wrong. Through her we learned we could be great painters, writers, mathematicians, scientist, and architects. She reminded us that we held the key to the universe and infinity. Don’t think for a minute she didn’t correct us; it was the way she did it what made us behave. She would tell the boys to never speak ill of a woman, she explained that speaking ill of a woman would show that they didn’t love and respect their mothers, sisters, cousins, and friends, as a consequence, they wouldn’t respect their wives and daughters. To us, she would say to never speak ill of anyone, not ruin anyone’s reputation by spreading rumors as we didn’t know if it was a fact or hearsay, she taught us that if we did know someone who had done something wrong to keep it to ourselves and not to go around telling others, unless their behavior endangered others’ lives. Moreover, by respecting others we would be respecting ourselves thereby we would be prepared to teach our children to respect themselves and others. We also learned that we all teach by example. It became obvious that a person doesn’t have to say a word for someone to learn from them. We influenced others so much, that it takes no time for them to learn from our behavior modifying it to fit their personalities and necessities. Part of our lessons was to never speak ill, never lie, never steal, never kill and always respect our elders; we were reminded that we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t because of our ancestors. We learned to take pride in our customs, ideas and heritage. Once, she took all the girls with her to show us a beautiful photograph, when we asked what we were looking at, she smiled and said that we were looking at the universe. After looking at our puzzled eyes, she smiled and she said “always remember that women are the mothers of the universe”. I saw her as the personification of wisdom. When it was time to go home, she would walk every single one of us to our front door making sure we arrived safe. I truly loved her. She was one of a kind. I knew that I would never find someone who was better, more human or wiser than her. How I wish that my mother treated me the same way this wonderful lady did. Life would have been easier for me if she had done so.

My mother had grown knowing only a patriarchal line. For her that made all the difference in the world. In a nutshell, matriarchal lines respected women – patriarchal lines diminished them, making them servants to their husbands, and in-laws.

Before I go on a tangent, here is the story she used to tell as many times as possible in order to please me. This is the story I memorized and the one I thought I would grow up to live.

The Gift

There was a woman who lived in a very special place. She was far away from where lives were broken, where faith and ungodliness walked side by side, where life ended tragically more times than naturally, where money was the ruler, promiscuity was the norm, and lack of faith was spreading as fast as a pandemic threatening to end the world.

She had everything needed and wanted to survive peacefully and happily. The plants were different shades of vibrant green, the flowers were multicolored and plentiful, there was always something to eat, and the animals would come to her for love and comfort.

From the moment she came to be, she was destined to be a certain male’s mate. She didn’t know when it would happen. However she knew that when everything was ready, she would be given to this man as a companion. She had known for a while that she was to spend the rest of time with him, having to do everything he asked of her. Such was the law of the land.

The day when she became her mate arrived sooner that she wanted, even though she was not happy about it, she kept her thoughts to herself knowing that if she expressed her feelings, she would be punished. They started to go through the rest of time following the firmly established rules. Not too long after she embarked into her new life, she discovered that she was smarter than her mate, was more capable, able, logical, and could survive on her own. This was a contradiction on what she was told to be.

When food was needed, she was ordered to provide it; always making sure her mate got the best of it, and ate first. They were on a strict diet of fruits and vegetables. She was also in charge of taking care of the animals, she was held accountable for their wellbeing. She didn’t mind, all the animals were loyal to her and a certain number of them would be with her at all times. When she felt tired, lonely or just needed to express her thoughts, she would talk to the animals that listen to her attentively.

Her mate would nag her about spending time in the lagoon. It was beyond his grasp that the beauty and music coming from the waters, the animals, the wind, and her soul, would have such a strong hold on her. She would get into the amazingly relaxing waters and would swim from one side to the other. This was not an exercise in strength; this action served the purpose of her reaching some of the most beautiful flowers that grew on the other side of the lagoon. She discovered that rose petals would give her hair the most intoxicating fragrance. She would pick all different type of flowers and would make a little crown which she placed on her head. When she came back from the waters, she looked and smelled like a flower, which it was not to his liking, not because he didn’t like the smell, it was because if he liked the smell maybe someone else that would see her would find her beautiful and appealing, hence jealousy was born. She knew there were no words that would ever be able to describe the beauty of the place, and to her, this was her playing field. Father had given it to them, both, so they could enjoy it.

For the first time since she came to be, she voiced her dissatisfaction as to what was needed and wanted, establishing new rules for her daily living. She would let her mate know where she was going. If he wanted to join her or come to get her it was perfectly acceptable. Not only had they worked on their boundaries and duties, but on their relationship as well. Her rules included equality, and the freedom of doing whatever it was needed or desired to survive, without any interference from him. If something was needed or wanted of her it should be asked in a polite and respectful way, after all, she was his mate, not his property. She didn’t take anything for granted, she always had a gnawing feeling that one day all of the wonderful things that surrounded her could be taken away.

Her mate continued to show he was very displeased with her behavior, after threatening several times with going to father to tell him what she was doing, he stayed true to his word; he went to see Father.

Father, the most powerful being in the universe, called her to his presence. In no uncertain terms, told her of his expectations. His orders were the opposite of what she had chosen to be and do.

She respectfully listened to his word wondering how long the chastising would be. She felt pain, a pain that tore her soul in a million pieces and like water droplets, scattered all over the land. So now you know that every time it rains is because after all this time, her tears are still around. She wasn’t aware that she had a heart even though she knew that something hurt deeply. Nevertheless, she didn’t show father what her feelings were. On her way back to her mate, she had to sit down and cry until there were no more tears left. She didn’t comprehend or understand why it was believed, and expected, for her not to be able to think on her own, solve problems and be a competent and independent woman. Slowly, she made her way back to her mate. She failed to understand why her beingness should be wasted in such pettiness when she was able to contribute to everything far more than what it was expected or wanted of her. In contrast, her mate could get away with everything.

One day, while at the far side of the river, she saw that behind the waterfall lay in hiding. Excitedly, she made her way into the cavern. After a short walk through a very wet and humid tunnel, she emerged to a world filled with glorious plants and animals. This was the place where she felt at peace and content, a place where she wanted to stay forever. On her third visit to the cave, she met this unassuming, incredibly good-looking specimen. He was so incredibly beautiful that she could not contain her admiration. What she liked the most about him was that he was unaware of the way he looked. Little did she know, that he had been watching her for a long time, she thought it was unusual that only she knew of his existence. What she didn’t count on was that from the first day they met, he gave her the freedom to be who she was without caring if she was smarter, and more capable than he was. He wasn’t there to judge her; he was there to seduce her. Every day that passed, she spent longer time at this man’s side. When she went back to her mate, she would go to sleep utterly exhausted and happy. Those days were the beginning of the most wonderful days of her existence.

Eventually, it was found out what she had been doing all along and the reason for her happiness. The repercussions of her actions were greater than anticipated. After all she had just talked to this man, listen to the stories he had to tell, and when the sun was not too warm, she would take a nap next to him. Father and her mate were making a lot more of the situation than it deserved. Father was so irate that the winds in the garden picked up, creating an immense tempest. Her mate was not only upset, but hurt. He failed to understand that for her life meant more than obedience. Life was to be experienced at its fullest by being who we are, not who we are expected to be. She couldn’t help but to smile when she discovered that what was wounded the most was his ego. As a result of her actions, father cast her away from everything she had ever known. He made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want to see her ever again. She was banned from his presence and his home.

She was beyond wounded as she realized that the punishment was too harsh as she was never told that there were other people living in the same place. She was not told either that she was not to talk to anyone or that she should avoid everyone she met. True, she had made a decision, which would have repercussions, but it never crossed her mind that she would be banned from her father’s presence. She used this opportunity to tell father how tired she was of her useless and possessive mate. The price she had to pay was small compared to a life of servitude; she would never forgive her father for throwing her away the same way one discards something useless. She wasn’t interested in having a relationship with two males that made the world revolved around them and thought that she had to be at their beck and call, condemned to a life that had as its only purpose the serving and worshiping of a male. If that was the case, they both could find a woman who had chosen to be less than she was and who was willing to serve them without even having the right to say “that is not right”. Someone who didn’t have the right to be tired even when her mate didn’t get up to eat. This person should be someone whose only purpose and responsibility was to please not only her mate but father as well. When father spoke, you followed his word or else.

She sat at the edge of the lagoon and cried. As she cried, the water of the lagoon started to rise and flooded the land. The man of her dreams ventured out of the cavern for the first time, walked to where she was crying, and without a word offered her his hand. She looked up, took his hand, got up, wiped her tears out, started to walk with the stranger towards the cavern and didn’t look back. As soon as they entered the cavern, it was sealed.

A new woman was chosen to become her old mate’s new mate. His new mate was as able and intelligent as she was. Out of fear of making father angry, and become an outcast herself, she changed drastically dedicating her time to only please her mate and father. Soon thereafter, she started to believe she was less than her mate that she had no intelligence and her only purpose was to please others.

My heroin was happily going about her business, especially after a lot of the animals chose to follow her. These animals became to be known as animals of pray. She couldn’t help but to notice how much damage had been done to her successor. My heroine could not get near the new woman for fear of driving the woman to madness. She came up with creative ways to see this dying flower without father and the mate knowing. In several occasions she attempted to give her successor back the confidence in herself that she was lacking so she could reclaim her given rights. It was too late; nothing would get her successor out of the deep end. At the beginning, the woman still had enough courage to listen to the first woman, nevertheless as time passed by the damage had been done and the new woman would have to live with the consequences of her choices. The more that the new woman gave in, the greater the pain became until it reached a size of such magnitude that it was unbearable to the new woman. She thought that death would be a better choice than living in this way for the rest of time. Moreover, she continued living under those circumstances becoming what is considered a “real and good woman” in today’s day and age.

The first woman gave up on her and her past; she continued to work on her relationship with her true love.

It took her a little bit of time to realize that her relationship with her new mate was solid and happy. She accepted that she had the freedom to be who she was and who she wanted to be. She could be anything and everything at any time and even though she still felt the pain of father banning her from his presence, she was happy. She lost track of time, knowing deeply inside that she had known him for as long as time existed. As of today, they are still together.

If this is not the best and most loving relationship ever is just because there is confusion somewhere.

I heard a rumor that this fable was about the first woman, the one who came to be before Eve. I wanted to be like the first woman and I wanted to have a love like hers. I wanted to be able to love someone so deeply that nothing else mattered. If I was that lucky, I would never ask anything else from life.

Videl

He had carefully planned his trip. He would handle the situations he encountered as efficiently as ever. After he had gathered the information pertaining to his mission, he realized how much of the problem was hidden without being addressed at all. He started working on the logistics of what needed to be done to dispatch his staff to help with the collection, and transportation of his cargo. Everything would be ready for the arrivals. Videl had already approved the accommodations and as always, there was no doubt or a question that everyone had to follow every single one of his orders to the letter. There were only minor details left to be undertaken to complete the new addition on his main place of residence. Everything would be in order by the time he came back home.

After calling all his assistants to his office, Videl sat at his massive desk giving all attendants the duties they needed to carry out during his absence. As he was giving them the last set of instructions, his realtor called to give him information about the new property he had acquired. This place would be Videl’s abode upon his arrival to the new city. It was agreed that the realtor would fax Videl all documentation and specs related to the house.

Videl had contacted the realtor weeks in advance giving him all the specifications for his new living quarters. He was very specific as to where in the city he wanted to live with particular attention to the type of residence he was looking for. The realtor had some difficulty complying with his client’s wishes. After checking every available place in the City he found one house he thought befitted Videl. On top of all the problems he had encountered finding the house; he was running out of time. His client was arriving in less than a week. True to his words, the realtor faxed Videl pictures of the inside and outside of the house, including the back yard, along with the address, instructions of how to get there from the airport, blueprints and specs. He would also have someone deliver Videl his car.

Even tough Videl had enough wherewithal to live more than comfortably; luxury had never been something he was prone to, he would certainly entice others to acquire wealth while he stayed untouched and unchanged by it. He had chosen an ordinary place filled with every day people where he could disappear among the crowd without attracting attention to himself. After finishing giving the last minute instructions, he picked up his suitcases and left.

Upon arrival at the airport, his realtor was waiting for him. He didn’t trust any of his people would be able to handle Videl properly. After welcoming him, he handed Videl all the deeds to his acquisitions. Videl enjoyed the drive from the airport to the uptown area where his house was located. He found himself lost and asked for directions. He thought it was interesting the way people looked at him when asking for directions; anyone could think that it was because men don’t ask for them; he dismissed the thought as ridiculous. For starters, asking for directions would save an incredible amount of time trying to find the way back to where the person had started from to where he was going.

After a couple of turns, he arrived at his destination immediately noticing that there were four houses to a block. They looked spacious and in very good condition, especially since each one of them was in the age bracket of about seventy-five years old.

The house was located on a very wide street where the medium ground was the length of a block. Each side of the road fitted two cars plus a lane for parking. The front of the house had a medium size yard with a variety of fern planted in two very large concrete pots, a pot on each side of the stairs leading to the front porch. He marveled as to how green and luscious they were. It was obvious that the plants in the yard were very well taken care of. Needless to say, he would keep up the good work with the plants and flowers as he derived pleasure from seeing them healthy and thriving. He looked for a gardener, scheduling him to come once a week to take care of both yards. The house was white with green trimmings. While facing the entrance, on the right side of the door, he could see very large windows extending all around the house. The screen door was metal of wine color. The main door made of redwood, gave way to a small foyer that opened to the entire first floor of the house. To the left were the stairs to the second floor. In the middle, the walkway to the cellar, the kitchen and the back of the house, and to the right the en