In His Nature

A story of now and then from a slightly different perspective. Could it be true? As true as Merlin, Frodo, Hari Seldon or Moby Dick. As true as any work of fiction can be true. This is a love story but not a stroke story. It is my wish that it gives you something to consider and some enjoyment.

* * *

Mike saw him coming. He knew the man walking towards him. Not personally, but he knew him. The man looked focused and strong. Mike didn't think he was as strong or as focused. He looked around. No one near him was even looking at him. He didn't recognize anyone. He looked back at the man walking towards him. Fred Mitchell. How did he know that?

Karen Mitchell's husband!

As the realization hit Mike, Fred pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed it at Mike. The muzzle flared and the world went dark.

Heart pounding, Mike sat up in bed. His eyes were open but in the dark he couldn't see anything. He staggered from the bed and found his way into the bathroom. He bent to the sink and splashed water on his face. He peed in the sink so the noise wouldn't wake Shelly, his wife. He thought about how scared he was of Fred Mitchell and wondered what he would do if he ever actually saw the man coming towards him. 'Run like hell,' he thought and staggered back to bed.

In the bed he didn't notice he was alone. He went to sleep and saw the event happen again. He sat up in bed again realizing he had cried out. 'That must have woken Shelly,' he thought. He looked and Shelly wasn't in the bed with him.

She never got up in the middle of the night unless one of the kids was sick. But, that couldn't be. Adrian was married, Todd was at Stanford and Beth was living in London. He got out of bed and opened the door into the hallway.

Only, it wasn't the hallway in his house. It was a long hallway with many doors and beside each door was someone sitting on a folding chair. The person sitting next to the door Mike had just opened stood and introduced herself.

"Hi, Mike. I'm Shelly. I'm your guide for a while. Are you ready?"

"Who the hell are you? Where is my hallway?"

"Oh, you just woke up. Let's go back inside for a talk." She ushered him back into his bedroom and turned on the light. He sat on the bed. The woman, Shelly, sat on the chair.

"What do you remember?"

"A nightmare."

"Oh, good. Tell me about it, please."

"Who are you?"

"Shelly."

"You are not my Shelly."

"No Sir. We thought it might make things easier if you didn't need to remember a new name. Please tell me about the nightmare."

"Fred Mitchell was walking towards me on the boardwalk in Venice Beach. He pulled a gun and fired. I woke up."

"Good. That is an accurate memory."

"Memory? You mean he actually did it? He shot me?"

"Yes."

Mike looked at himself. No wound, no pain. A few seconds and he noticed the scar from the removal of his appendix was gone. He was no longer circumcised! He looked up at Shelly. His words didn't come out.

"Oh, good. You noticed. Your body has been returned to original condition and maintained at the age you were when Fred shot you."

"What? How?"

"Mike, please sit down. I'll explain. You were having an affair with Fred's wife. She got pregnant from that time when you two were in Newport Beach and the condom broke. Fred figured that since he had a vasectomy three years ago it couldn't be his baby. He hired a PI and the PI found you. When he discovered that under California law the husband must pay child support for the first eighteen years of the child's life even if the child isn't biologically his, he went a little crazy."

"When he found you on the pier you had just come from having sex with his wife. He shot you and then headed for the hotel room, intending to kill her as well. The police stopped him a hundred yards from the hotel."

"What about me?"

"The bullet entered your right eye and did not exit. It was a twenty-five caliber and so did not have the punch to get out once it got in. Your brain looked like it had been in a blender."

"My eyes work fine. How long have I been here?"

"You still don't get it, do you? Mike, you died. In Long Beach, California, where you died, twenty hours have passed."

Mike sat on the bed. 'Dead. It sounds so final.' He thought. 'Am I in heaven?'

"No. This is your first stop. All that stuff you remember from childhood about heaven and hell, it isn't that way any more."

"I'm dead?"

"Yes."

"What about you?"

"Died September fourth, 1923 in London, England. Stabbed by my husband's mistress."

"Damn! Your... old. You look about twenty-five."

"I was twenty-seven when I died. My body still is. If I was living in England I'd be just about one hundred twelve years old."

"Why are you here, with me?"

"I work with people making their transitions. We walk down the hall and sit by a door. When the door opens we know every detail of your life. Before it opens we don't have any idea who we'll get. The last guy I got was a soldier from the Congo. I spoke and understood perfectly so he could understand me. He was a tough case. He hated whites and women. I'm both."

"Back to me, please. What happens now?"

"Are you comfortable nude? No, of course not. You live in California and you were raised by Mormons. So, we'll get you dressed." She opened a door and found a closet full of clothes, all Mike's size. She tossed underwear, socks, shoes, jeans and a shirt to Mike. He dressed.

"Now, we'll go to processing and tomorrow you'll be on your way."

"On my way?"

"Yes, you can't stay here." She stood and walked through the door that had just been filled with clothes. Mike followed. The clothes were gone and they were on a path through a meadow. When they had walked a minute or so a building appeared. The building had no walls, no windows. It was five stories tall and Mike could see people working on every floor. He followed Shelly into the building and into what Shelly called a lift. The lift had no doors and no walls. It was a square on the floor and Shelly stepped into the square and said, "Five."

Mike looked and they were no longer on the ground floor they were on the fifth floor. Shelly stepped out and Mike followed. They went to a desk near the edge of the building. Behind the desk sat a big man. Bigger than Mike by six inches easily. He looked up and said, "Hi, Mike. I'm Roger. I'm your first appointment. Let me tell you about what we're doing. Ok?"

"Yes." Mike sat with his hands folded in his lap. Shelly bent near him and said, "I'll be here to collect you, when you two are finished."

Mike nodded and when he looked up she was gone. Roger started right in.

"Mike we have some testing to do while the committee evaluates your case. The testing won't be hard. We just want to know what you learned last time."

"Last time?"

"The last time you were on Earth. When you were Mike."

"Was I someone else?"

"Good. Your memory is still single generation. Don't worry about it. All your memories will be returned before your next transition."

"Shelly called when I died a transition. Am I going to die again?"

"You didn't die last time. You cannot die. Want proof? You're here."

"But..."

"When you were little you lived where?"

"In Idaho."

"Last week where did you live?"

"In Malibu."

"Did you die to get to Malibu?"

"No. I moved."

"That was a transition. Having Fred put a bullet in your brain opened a door for another transition. This is it."

"Oh."

"You spent a lot of time on the computer. Good. We'll give you a desk and a computer to answer the questions. All we ask is that you be honest."

A young woman stood beside Mike and Roger said, "Marie will take you to the computer. She'll bring you back here when you're done."

Mike stood up and followed the young woman. She was about five three, slender and had long straight brown hair. She wore running shorts and a jog bra. From the way she moved she stayed in great shape.

"I haven't run a step in twenty-six years." She said. Mike realized she had heard his thoughts.

'I better keep clean thoughts in my head,' he thought.

'Think whatever you like. I think newbie thoughts are cute."

"Newbie?"

"Here is your terminal. Log in and take the prompts. I'll be back when you are done."

When he sat down the computer screen lit up. In the center was a log in screen. It asked for his screen name and password. Mike typed in the one he used at home; Bigmike and Master. The screen changed and said, "Welcome, Mike! If you are ready hit continue."

"On each page you will be asked questions. Answer them honestly. When you are done with a page hit "continue" at the bottom of the page. You cannot go back a page. Once you move on those answers are gone. When you are ready hit Continue."

Mike hit Continue and an * showed in the center of the screen, then a new screen showed. There were five questions on the screen.

Answer Y for yes and N for no to each of these five questions.

1.You first had sexual feelings for another at the age of six? Mike typed Y. He remembered seeing his older sister naked when he was six and knew he wanted to touch her breasts.

2.You wanted to learn how to cook when you were twelve. Y. He remembered being told No by his father. Men don't cook.

3.Your best friend in middle school was Brian Cartwright. Y.

4.You stopped being best friends when Brian tried to kiss you. Y.

5.In your first living-together adult relationship you expected her to give you oral sex ("suck you off") whenever you wanted her to. Mike typed N.

The response changed color and the font size went larger. Just under the response the words appeared. "You promised to be honest." The screen changed again and he heard his own thoughts as he saw himself helping Charlene carry her things into their tiny apartment. 'She'll suck me off every morning if that's what I want... and every night too.'

The screen went back to question five and Mike typed Y.

Screen after screen led him along the path of his relationships and his beliefs about women and men. When he answered question 1125 he was finished. He wasn't tired or hungry. He had no sensation of having been sitting for a long time. He looked away from the screen and Marie touched his shoulder.

He had not heard her approach.

"We can go back to Roger now. Your evaluation will be there when we arrive." She turned and walked away. Mike expected to be stiff when he stood up but he wasn't. Everything worked well.

Marie didn't speak to anyone as they walked back to the building where Roger was. She led him to the desk with Roger and turned and walked away. Mike thought, 'Thanks. It was nice watching you walk.'

She looked over her shoulder and said, "Thanks," smiled and was gone.

Roger pointed at the chair and Mike sat down.

"We made a mistake with you. Too big a jump last time. We thought you might make it, but really, you weren't ready."

"I don't understand."

"Your memories haven't come back, have they?"

"What memories? I remember my life pretty well, I think."

"Yes, the last life. What about the one before the last one?"

Mike was silent for a while and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Without warning they were not in the building and not sitting by Roger's desk. Mike was in a chair, leaned back and a woman in a white lab coat touched his lips with something.

The world in front of his eyes blurred and he saw antelope in front of him. Hundreds of antelope. Off to his right he could see two female lions slowly and quietly moving in front of the herd. To his left he saw two other females moving into position behind the herd. When they were in position he began to move a little faster. Three antelopes raised their heads and sniffed the breeze. They turned to see the danger and he leapt forward. The roar form his mouth put the entire herd in scared flight, half towards the first two females and half towards the other two. In seconds it was over. The nearest live antelope were half a mile away. Each hunting pair of females had brought down good sized antelope. His family would eat.

The world blurred again and he was in front of Roger.

"That was me?"

"Yes. Quite a successful life as a lion. You lived fifteen years and sired forty-three offspring. Your pride once had a dozen females in it and three other males. For seven years you were the alpha male."

"How did that life end?"

"You were shot by a poacher."

"And the life before that?"

"Let's just say that we miscalculated. Four lives in a row as a male predator was not a good set up for life in the United States in the nineteen seventies."

"I did Ok."

"In some ways. You did get an education and you did become moderately successful in business. However, your mating instincts were strong and the cultural norms of the United States didn't sit well for you. You mated with twenty-seven different females during high school. In college you mated with over two hundred females. You started eighteen pregnancies while in college. After college you married Barbara and fathered two children with her."

"Three." Mike said.

Roger looked up and said, "Two, Melissa was not yours. Your minister fathered her."

"During the marriage to Barbara you had sex with eighteen other women.

When Barbara divorced you, you went back on the hunt with enthusiasm. By the time you were forty-six you had mated with a total of three hundred nine women. You married your last wife three years ago. Shelly.

During the reception you mated with her sister. You fathered her only daughter. Shelly does not know. She does know about Karen Mitchell. If you were still alive in Malibu you would be sorry Fred had not killed you."

"Jesus, Am I going to Hell?"

"Why? Would we punish a cobra for striking? Mating is in the nature of Lions. When I was one I once mated fifty-three times in one day. It is in our nature. Our natures can change. I haven't mated in three weeks. We sent you into an environment that was not ready for a predator like you. No, Mike you aren't going to Hell."

"Then, where?"

"Have you ever heard the term "Walk-on"?"

"No."

"I didn't think so. We are sending you back, but not as a baby. We screwed up and we think we can straighten it out. To do so we will have you walk into someone's body who doesn't want to live anymore. They will have attempted suicide and if you weren't ready to step in, it would have been successful. You will live the rest of their life for them. Even though you won't remember this conversation you will remember this, "Life and Love are the path back to God. It isn't just about sex."

"I don't get it."

"Repeat it. "Life and Love are the path back to God. It isn't just about sex."

"Life and Love are the path back to God. It isn't just about sex."

"Good luck Mike."

Roger blurred and was gone. The darkness lasted.

The lights came on and eyes opened. A woman about eighteen said, "Momma, what did you do?"

In the soup of her mind she said words and they came out in a voice that she didn't recognize. "I tried to kill myself. It didn't work."

"Why, Momma? Why did you try?"

Memories of a man beating her and mating her in pain surfaced. Her voice said, "Your father beats me and hurts me. I wanted it to stop."

"Momma, he beats us too. All men do. What can we do?"

"Kill him."

Her daughter was silent for a long time. She sat up, her memories filled her mind. Her name was Alia and her daughter, Kalli. She was thirteen years older than her daughter, making her thirty-one. Her husband was her husband and they had never married. In their land a man took a woman and took her by force. He kept her the same way. Women feared their husbands and the wild that surrounded the villages. To run away was to die.

After his last visit he had told Kalli that he would be back in three or four days. He had beaten Kalli after he had beaten and raped Alia. He took his eight year old son with him when he left.

Alia had taken pills to kill herself. She had no idea what the pills would do to her, or even what they were for. They belonged to her husband. He would take one, drink some beer and sleep for a long time. She took ten and drank an entire bottle of beer, thinking that might just stop her heart. It made her sleep and throw up, but not die.

She thought a lot about her life while her husband was gone. She somehow knew that mating didn't always have to be painful even though it had always been painful in her life. Perhaps it was a distant memory from a life long ago.

Butu, her husband, came back, just as he said he would. He entered the house and demanded food and a beer. As he ate the food Alia set in front of him she sat nearby and asked, "May I speak with you, my husband?"

He nodded without looking at her.

"All the men in this area treat women as you do. Am I right?"

"We all treat women as women should be treated."

"Would you treat your horse by beating it?"

"No. I need the horse to carry me and run fast. If I beat him he will fail me."

"I suffer when you beat me. It makes it hard to clean your clothes, take care of your children, make ready for your visits to my body."

"It is the way. If I do not beat you, you will stop fearing me and run away."

"I will not run away! I will know I am the best treated woman in our world and I will want to stay with you."

"It is the way. It has always been this way. The others will think me a fool and will come and take you by force, if they see me as weak."

"In public we will stay as all wives and husbands. Only at home will we be different. I will obey you in all things, but without the beatings or being taken without thought."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you come to me with your power stick hard and force it inside me, it hurts for a long while. If you tell me that when the sun goes down you will bring me your power stick, I will be ready and you will slide right in. It will be slippery inside me and feel good for both of us."

"How do you know this?"

"Once, when I was in the garden, I saw you coming from leagues away. I believed you would want to poke me. I prepared for you and when you came to me with your power stick, you slid right in and it did not hurt."

"All women are dry in the beginning."

"I am not dry now."

He grabbed Alia and pulled her close. His hard callused fingers probed into her sex. He pulled them out and stared at them, glistening in the light. He pushed the food away and dropped his pants.

"On the table." He commanded.

Alia climbed up on the table and put herself in a receptive position, legs spread and on her back. Butu stroked himself twice with his big hand and slid inside her. His eyes opened wide and he stroked slowly inside Alia. She looked at his face and spoke.

"It feels good this way, Butu. Does it feel good to you, as well?"

"Yes." His concentration focused on the sensations he was having as his cock moved inside the woman. At thirty-eight he had mated many women, and could not remember any that felt this way. His nose smelled the scent of her. He had smelled it before and knew it to be a good smell. He knew it meant the mating was good. Any time he had smelled it before it was when the mating was over.

His pace sped up. Faster and harder he pushed into Alia and she responded, not in pain but joy.

"Yes, my husband. You feel so big inside me! You fill me with joy, not pain! Thank you! Thank you!"

Butu felt his juices building pressure inside his body. He knew he would bellow to the Gods that he was a man when his juices deposited in Alia. She spoke again, "Butu, king of my world! Fill me! Please give me your gift!"

Families four houses away heard his bellow. Men took it as a challenge to them to do better. The sounds coming from other houses were sounds of pain as men forced their dry erections into their women. The men in the other homes eventually bellowed their mating success, and when Butu heard them he thought, 'They were in pain.' He liked that his cock didn't hurt after... this time.