Seer

Jonathan

Gabe and I are in his room, goofing around. It’s too dark to play outside, but I won’t have to go home for a while. His Dad came in a few minutes ago and told us we should settle down before we break something. So now we’re getting ready to play with his Legos. We had started building that big castle a few weeks ago, so we figure we can get back to doing some work on that.

We are pushing some of his clothes and other stuff out the way to make room on his floor for building. “Hi,” I hear from the doorway, and I look up. There is Natalie standing there, smiling at me.

What the heck? Gabe’s sister never plays with us.

I look at Gabe, and he looks back at me and shrugs. “What do you need, Natty?” he asks her.

“Nothing,” she says. “I was just wondering what you guys are doing. Can I play with you?”

“Um, yeah, I guess,” he says. “That ok with you, Jonathan?”

“Yeah, whatever,” I say. I don’t really care if she plays with us. As long as her dumb friend isn’t around, she can be pretty fun. She used to hang around with us a long time ago. And she’s never tattled on me.

She gives me a big bright smile and sits down on the floor next to me. “So, what are you playing with?” she asks.

“Legos, duh,” I tell her, pointing to the Legos spread all around us.

“Cool!” she says, like that’s the most exciting thing ever. “This castle is so neat! What can I do to help?”

I look over at Gabe again and raise my eyebrows at him. Why is she suddenly being so interested when she never has before?

Gabe always tries to make his little sister happy, though. So he looks at the castle, trying to find something for her to do, and says, “Um, you want to maybe color some flags we can put up on the castle?”

“Sure!” she says, way more enthusiastic than I’ve ever seen her before.

So before long, while Gabe and I are sorting through his Legos to find all the knights and horses and stuff to set up around the castle, Natalie has some paper and crayons and is starting to draw some flags. I have to admit they look really cool, authentic like some of the banners we saw in the Knight’s Tale movie last week. With designs on them like on their shields and stuff. Having her here playing with us isn’t too bad.

Natalie’s

It will never fail to amaze me to watch my remarkable Seer operate. She has launched into her newest enterprise with steely determination and unbridled optimism. Once she has decided to do something, she cannot be swayed from her purpose.

Her current effort reminds me of the endeavor years ago to make Timothy comfortable, after they first met when they were mere toddlers. Their first encounter made her realize that Timothy struggles with social situations, and quickly becomes overwhelmed when his surroundings are challenging. She immediately set out to find a way to bring him peace and happiness. In doing this, she used me efficiently, like a mechanic uses his accustomed tools, to analyze the situation and derive the best results.

She is doing so again. As she interacts with the boys, she is constantly checking with me to see how Jonathan is receiving her attentions, and adjusting her actions to best set him at ease with her presence. She understands that her interest seems unusual for him, so her goal for tonight is simply to play with the boys in a way that will leave Jonathan content to be in her company.

It is working. When she first arrived in Gabe’s room, Jonathan was suspicious, wondering about what motive she could possibly have. However, as their time together has progressed, he simply seems to be a child enjoying playing with other children.

Jonathan is certainly not entirely diabolical. He is, after all, just a human child. His history of tormenting Natalie and her best friend has made me very leery of seeing her in his presence, but this evening is unfolding just as she had hoped.

Jonathan’s Guardian watches the scene with wry acceptance, knowing the girl’s intent. The Guardian anticipates the growth in Jonathan’s soul that might occur as a result of interacting with the Seer.

I need to remind myself that I should always be guided by my Seer, not by my own desires or instincts. She has directed our activities towards experiences that I have been sometimes reluctant to participate in. I have worried that some of her ideas might lead to distressing discoveries, as occurred when I was compelled to explain that God is a myth. But these times have always resulted in growth, and learning, and understanding. For myself as well as for the child. I must follow her lead, do as she wishes, comply with her will. It is not for me to construct her life. I must only accompany her as she walks along the path that she chooses.

If Natalie believes that she can help Jonathan be a nicer person, then I must try to believe the same.

Stefanie

Brad and I are taking advantage of Jonathan being over at his friend’s house to watch some t.v. We record our favorite shows on our VCR each week, then watch them later when we get the chance. We’ve just finished up the latest episode of Smallville.

Brad checks the time. “I need to go grab Jonathan. It’s getting close to bedtime.” He leans over and gives me a kiss. “Be right back.”

I head into the kitchen to clean up a little. As I’m finishing up, Brad and Jonathan head back in.

“Hey kid,” I say, and lean down to give his head a little peck. “Want a bedtime snack?”

“Yeah,” he says.

I get him some crackers and he sits down at the table. I join him and pop one of his crackers into my mouth. It’s nice to want to eat food again, after a few weeks of feeling sick all the time.

“Have fun at Gabe’s?” I ask him.

“Yeah,” he says, munching on crackers, “Natalie helped us with our Lego castle.”

“Really?” I ask. I don’t think that happens very much. Natalie has always seemed too, I don’t know, dainty and intellectual to enjoy the sort of rough-housing that Gabe and Jonathan usually engage in. “Has she done that before?”

“Not really. I thought it’d be annoying to have his little sister with us, but it was fine. She drew some cool flags to put up on the castle. She didn’t bother us at all.”

Huh. Well, that’s nice, I guess. “Ok, kid, time to take a bath.”

“Awwwww! Do I have to? I didn’t even have school today!”

“Oh, ok, I guess you can skip it tonight. Go get ready for bed. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

He pushes back his chair and heads down the hallway to his room. Glad he’s in a good mood tonight.

Natalie

I think that tonight went really well. Jonathan wasn’t mean to me at all, and he didn’t mind me playing with him and Gabe. I kept checking with Angel to make sure I wasn’t doing anything that would bother him. So he was happy the whole time and I think that we were all able to have fun together.

That was the plan for starters. I want to spend enough time with him that I am able to start suggesting ways for him to be nicer. But I can’t do that yet, because he’d just be annoyed. And there wasn’t anything to suggest tonight, since he didn’t do anything bad.

I was also really glad that Gabe had a good time. He told me over and over how cool he thought my flags were, and Jonathan even agreed. I’m happy that Gabe and his friend still get along, even though Angel told me he’s starting to have doubts about Jonathan.

So experiment phase one: success.

Angel laughs at me.

“What?” I ask him. “It went great. It was exactly how I wanted it to happen.”

“Yes, my darling, of course. I only laugh because I am so delighted at how well you executed your plan for the evening. I agree. It was a brilliant success. So far.”

Well, I guess I should do the experiment properly. I get a fresh notebook out. I don’t want to keep notes about this in the same one I use for homework. I open the notebook, think for a minute, then write at the top of the first page, “The Jonathan Project.”