{"id":6299,"date":"2024-04-15T19:38:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T13:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=6299"},"modified":"2024-04-15T21:37:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T15:37:08","slug":"the-hohner-comet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=6299","title":{"rendered":"THE HOHNER COMET"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 You’ll probably be confused by the title\"Scott<\/a> of this blahg but if you give me a moment, I’ll explain. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>I’m going to take a break from my DVD reviews and post something fun…at least for me.\u00a0 The title refers to a recent purchase I made at a local thrift store.\u00a0 It’s a Hohner Comet harmonica made in Germany that I found for $20.\u00a0 Here are some photos of my purchase:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve always wanted a nice harmonica and this one is more than nice.\u00a0 It is fantastic but I need to spend some time to learn how to play it. I’ll update you on that later on.
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 After I purchased the Comet I began to have the threads of a short story idea bouncing around in my head.\u00a0 The result is the short story below that bears the same name as the harmonica and the title of the blahg.\u00a0 Short blahg this time around but a longish short story.\u00a0 I hope you like it.
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

The Hohner Comet<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

By Scott Henderson<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Comet was a thing of beauty against the sky.\u00a0 The sun caught it just right and it glimmered and glistened and caught Wade Benson\u2019s focus.\u00a0 He slowly lowered his hands and brought the Comet to his mouth and blew.\u00a0 It sounded even better than it looked.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Hohner Comet was the harmonica Wade had denied himself all these years.\u00a0 In fact, he didn\u2019t know he really wanted it until he saw it and even then convinced himself he had wanted it all his life.\u00a0 He\u2019d affirmed himself of that and the first sounds he produced from it made him believe even more that the purchase was warranted.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019d had a toy plastic harmonica when he was younger and there was a small metal one tossed in a junk drawer years ago but they were nothing like the Hohner Comet.\u00a0 The Comet was a gleaming metal masterpiece just over six inches in length with double rows of twenty holes front and back and curved from side to side like a crescent moon more than a comet.\u00a0 At its maximum width on both ends it was three inches and required two hands to handle it properly.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade couldn\u2019t believe it when he saw it in the glass case of overpriced items at a local thrift store.\u00a0 He\u2019d almost passed it by because it was surrounded by small antiques and cameras and graphic novels and action figures; all ticketed higher than their value.\u00a0 Nestled in the middle, barely visible in its slightly closed gold case with red trim and lettering, the Comet called to him and this time the price label didn\u2019t induce sticker shock.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cCan I see that case in the middle?\u201d he had asked of a teen-aged attendant.\u00a0 He tried not to show enthusiasm.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The salesperson grabbed up the harmonica and handed it to Wade.\u00a0 It was just another piece of merchandise and the young woman offered it up without any expression or any words passing between her and the potential customer.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade gently opened the case and casually removed the Comet and flipped it over and examined both sides.\u00a0 The case was in good shape but the Comet was remarkable.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll take it,\u201d Wade said, not trying to betray exuberant interest.\u00a0 He handed over the exact purchase price and slipped it into his jacket pocket.\u00a0 He exited slowly and methodically and didn\u2019t look back.\u00a0 Twenty dollars was a bargain and he almost felt like he was stealing it.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Outside, he quickly removed the Comet and held it up against the sun.\u00a0 The Comet was a thing of beauty against the sky.\u00a0 The sun caught it just right and it glimmered and glistened.\u00a0 Wade lowered it to his mouth and blew gently against the scale of notes.\u00a0 The sounds that emanated were even more beautiful than the Comet itself.\u00a0 This was when he knew for a fact that the Comet had been calling to him all his life.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cLorna will hate it,\u201d he said aloud to himself.\u00a0 Then he realized that Lorna wouldn\u2019t be at home to see it.\u00a0 They were on a break.\u00a0 She\u2019d never understand anyway, he thought.\u00a0 There were things about him now that even he didn\u2019t understand.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It had been a rough year for Wade.\u00a0 It had started with the death of his Father.\u00a0 Wade hadn\u2019t found a way to recover from that.\u00a0 His Father had been sick for some time but with his passing, Wade found himself racked with guilt; lost and searching for something.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t describe it.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Slowly, it began to affect his relationship with Lorna.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know what to say to her.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t tell her what he was thinking or feeling because he struggled himself to put words to it.\u00a0 He withdrew from her and the more he regressed into himself, the larger the distance grew between them.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade shoved the thoughts out of his mind.\u00a0 Standing outside beside his vehicle with a glistening harmonica was not the right place or the right time to try to make sense of things.\u00a0 Besides, his mouth was somehow sticky from his attempt at producing music from the Comet.\u00a0 Wade looked at the harmonica and noticed a slight residue on one side.\u00a0 In his excitement of the purchase he had failed to notice it.\u00a0 Wade wiped his lips on his sleeve, returned the Comet to its case, and then opened his car door; placing the harmonica gently on the passenger seat.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the drive home he thought about the Comet and the experience of holding it and playing it in the parking lot.\u00a0 He tried not to think of anything else but thoughts of Lorna seeped in and memories of his Father hung around the edges until everything began to mesh with those faint notes of the Comet.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At home, he diligently disinfected the mouth organ and put an even brighter shine to the metal.\u00a0 He cleaned the case and replaced the Comet and brought it to his desk for further examination.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The first thing he did was to research the age and value of his purchase.\u00a0 He was startled to discover that it was as old as he was.\u00a0 More than a half century before, Wade and the Comet had come into existence in the same year.\u00a0 He\u2019d also been correct about it being worth more than he had paid.\u00a0 His Hohner Comet was worth almost five times the price he\u2019d paid.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t understand why they had let it go so cheaply.\u00a0 He also didn\u2019t know what that residue had been on one side.\u00a0 He tried not to dwell on that.\u00a0 He\u2019d cleaned it well and now it was time to learn to use it correctly.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There had been no instruction manual with the Comet and online information on how to properly play the instrument differed greatly.\u00a0 Wade viewed a few different videos until he stumbled on one that spoke to him about how he felt about the harmonica.\u00a0 It was all about the individual tones and familiarizing yourself with each note in sequence.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t about jumping into trying to play right away or learning an introductory song like \u2018Pop Goes The Weasel\u2019.\u00a0 Wade understood that.\u00a0 The Comet deserved better of him.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the video, the instructor explained the range of notes on the scale and how you could produce different sounds by blowing directly into the holes and by drawing your breath back again through the same openings.\u00a0 He stressed the need to begin with listening to each of the twenty notes individually and not the sequence or even trying to play two or more notes at once.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade followed the advice in the video and used painter\u2019s tape to cover all of the holes except the one note he wanted to hear.\u00a0 The instructor had railed against the use of masking tape because it would leave a sticky residue each time it was removed.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSo that\u2019s what that was,\u201d Wade said aloud to no one in particular.\u00a0 He\u2019d tried not to give much thought to what he\u2019d felt against his lips but the possibilities had not conjured great images. In the end, he\u2019d pacified himself with the notion that it was caused by a child\u2019s grimy hands fingering the Comet.\u00a0 He could have believed that but the residue hadn\u2019t tasted like peanut-butter or jam or anything less offensive so he tried to let it go.\u00a0 The masking tape explanation eventually left him more at ease.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade removed himself to the living room and sat in his favourite chair.\u00a0 It was quiet now without Lorna.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that she made constant noise or talked incessantly but he we accustomed to her sounds.\u00a0 Now, the house was empty and he was alone with his thoughts\u2026and his harmonica.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He held the Comet to his mouth and began slowly with the upper and lower holes on the far left and listened to the lowest register of the scale.\u00a0 He closed his eyes and listened to the notes echo against the walls.\u00a0 He was right, Lorna would have hated it.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cStop it,\u201d he said; again, to no one in particular.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to try harder to push thoughts of Lorna out of his mind.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t easy.\u00a0 He knew the break was his fault.\u00a0 He knew it was coming.\u00a0 Lorna hadn\u2019t said anything but Wade had seen the signs and he\u2019d done nothing to prevent it.\u00a0 Even his children knew.\u00a0 They were grown and had homes of their own and did not drop in as frequently as they once did.\u00a0 Even his youngest had chosen a University far enough away so that she\u2019d have an excuse not to visit as often.\u00a0 Wade was sorry for all of that.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI said stop it!\u201d he said again as firmly as he could.\u00a0 Try as he might, though, the thoughts kept coming.\u00a0 Wade was a man alone with his thoughts and alone in the world if he couldn\u2019t find a way to pull it all back together.\u00a0 He was trying his best to concentrate only on the Comet but as the notes reverberated they stirred everything in him he\u2019d been unable to communicate.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade was alone.\u00a0 He\u2019d done this to himself.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t better off alone despite what he thought.\u00a0 His Father\u2019s death had made him feel abandoned and he didn\u2019t know what to do with that.\u00a0 He\u2019d questioned everything and wondered if he\u2019d always felt this way.\u00a0 His Father was gone and so was Lorna.\u00a0 Wade had even distanced himself from his Mother.\u00a0 He took all of that and heaped it onto himself.\u00a0 Sitting there with the Comet breaking the silence he wanted desperately to know what to feel.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He worked his way up the scale; removing and moving bits of tape and covering all the notes he didn\u2019t intend to play.\u00a0 He listened to each solitary note and tried, as the video suggested, only experiencing each note, one at a time.\u00a0 Each note, however, seemed so familiar and significant to him while the recollection and knowledge of all of his relationships entangled with the music; resonating against the walls and returning to envelope Wade in a symphony of memories he struggled to grasp and hold onto.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He paused for moment before attending to the last note on the far right which would issue the highest note in the registry.\u00a0\u00a0 His hands were trembling and tears were falling against his face.\u00a0 His lifetime was at his fingertips and each note was as joyous and painful as they could possibly be.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade wiped the tears and closed his eyes.\u00a0 He braced for the final experience.\u00a0 His breath caught in his throat and struggled to blow through the remaining holes.\u00a0 It would not be a long note because there was little left in Wade to give.\u00a0 His body shook and everything folded in on him as he produced the final sound.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He sat silently and listened to the echo of the final note.\u00a0 Oddly it came back to him in steady intermittent tones.\u00a0 There seemed to be a pattern to it and a steady reverberation every few seconds.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade opened his eyes and was met with the brightness of a room that was no longer his own.\u00a0 He was in some kind of medical setting and he was seated in a chair next to a hospital bed with an individual linked to life support.\u00a0 The steady tones he had heard were the chirping of a life support mechanism.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade stood up and looked down on the man in the bed.\u00a0 It was his Father.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNo, no, no, not here.\u00a0 Why am I here?\u201d\u00a0 Wade stumbled and sat back down.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t possible.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t really be there.\u00a0 But it was true.\u00a0 He knew this room and he somehow knew the day.\u00a0 This was when it had all ended for him.\u00a0 It made sense.\u00a0 He\u2019d been at his Father\u2019s side constantly in the last days and had stepped out only briefly to speak to his Mother and Lorna.\u00a0 When he\u2019d returned, the machinery had settled into the final unending note that had signalled his Father was gone.\u00a0 Now Wade was here in that moment of his own absence.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t been there when his Father had died.\u00a0 Now he was.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade rose again and grabbed at his Father\u2019s hand while his other hand held the Comet.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m here Dad.\u00a0 I\u2019m here now.\u201d\u00a0 The tears began to come again.\u00a0 How unreal this all was.\u00a0 Wade reached out and stroked his Father\u2019s face and leaned in and kissed him.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening Dad.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if this is real or not.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry I wasn\u2019t there.\u00a0 I\u2019m here now.\u201d\u00a0 He leaned in and kissed his Father.\u00a0 He reached out with both arms to hug his Father and then realized he was still holding the harmonica.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cLook Dad, it\u2019s a Hohner Comet.\u00a0 It brought me back to you.\u00a0 I\u2019m here now.\u00a0 You\u2019re not alone.\u201d\u00a0 He added softly, \u201cI\u2019m here now, you can go.\u201d\u00a0 Wade held the Comet out and at that moment his Father died and the life support let out that long sound which matched the last note in the upper scale.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There was a \u2018do not resuscitate order\u2019 so no one would rush in but Wade knew at any moment his other self would return to find his Father gone.\u00a0 Wade didn\u2019t know what to think or what to do.\u00a0 He instinctively raised the Comet to his mouth to match the unending tone from the machinery.\u00a0 He closed his eyes through his tears and tried to blow.\u00a0 He found he couldn\u2019t do it.\u00a0 He began to sob and as he did he began to pull in air through the opposite side and the final note sounded in reverse and Wade was returned to his living room; standing alone and listening to the reverberating note fading into nothingness.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade collapsed into his chair and dropped the Comet into his lap.\u00a0 He wept openly and long.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t have been real but it seemed that way.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After his Father died, that first time, he had cursed himself for not being there at the moment of his death.\u00a0 He knew his Father\u2019s passing would have happened whether he\u2019d been in the room or not but he\u2019d always thought his presence might have helped his Father ease along.\u00a0 The truth wasn\u2019t about his Father but rather about Wade\u2019s guilt.\u00a0 Now the Comet had given him a second chance to experience it.\u00a0 Nothing had stopped his Father from slipping away.\u00a0 The outcome would always have been the same.\u00a0 Wade realized that now.\u00a0 The outcome would always have been the same.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade thought of his Mother and Lorna after he had found his Father.\u00a0 He had run from his Father\u2019s bedside to find them.\u00a0 There had been few words and many tears and Lorna had comforted him.\u00a0 His Mother had gone to her husband\u2019s side and stood holding his hand.\u00a0 She had said nothing to Wade but he had felt her actions of turning from her son to be with her late husband was somehow like blame for Wade not being there in the last moments.\u00a0 This was how it had all begun and ended at the same time.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t have happened, Wade thought to himself.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t have been there but somehow he knew it had been real.\u00a0 The Comet had taken him to a significant moment he had missed the first time around.\u00a0 He was confident of that.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade picked up the Comet from his lap and stared at it.\u00a0 He turned it over in his hands.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t have been possible but somehow that one note at the far end had transported him there and he\u2019d heard the last chirps measuring the final moments of his Father\u2019s life before the long tone signalling the end.\u00a0 The pitch had been the same as that from the Comet.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade got up and wandered the house; holding the Comet tightly in his hand.\u00a0 All of the notes had faded out in the distance and he was alone in the quiet.\u00a0 He wanted desperately to speak to Lorna and tell her of his experience.\u00a0 He understood how it had been.\u00a0 He\u2019d been distant and he wasn\u2019t there for her.\u00a0 He knew now it could be different.\u00a0 It was like he\u2019d told his Father in the final moments, \u201cI\u2019m here now.\u201d<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wandering through the house and peering in all the rooms, he felt the emptiness of the home he\u2019d made with Lorna.\u00a0 He made his way to their bedroom and stared at the half made bed.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t been able to bring himself to lying on her side and so it was just as she had left it.\u00a0 His side, with the covers pulled back, was like the disorganization of his mind.\u00a0 There were a jumble of emotions and thoughts and he was trying to piece them all together.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade walked over to the dresser and fingered some of the things Lorna had left behind.\u00a0 There was her hairbrush along with some lotions and perfumes.\u00a0 He sprayed one into the room and smelled the mist that hung in the air.\u00a0 This had been her favourite.\u00a0 It reminded him of all the good things about Lorna he\u2019d taken for granted this past year.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just a break.\u00a0 She\u2019s coming back.\u201d\u00a0 Wade tried to believe that as he stared into the dresser mirror and spoke to himself.\u00a0 \u201cLorna\u2019s coming back.\u201d\u00a0 He sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at her things on the dresser.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t taken everything.\u00a0 She\u2019d come back for them.\u00a0 Maybe she\u2019d come back for him.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade thought about the experience with the Comet.\u00a0 He felt that if he could just explain all of this to Lorna then it would be a start.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t be certain.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t certain of anything.\u00a0 It had only been a few minutes since the Comet had brought him back, hadn\u2019t it?\u00a0 The more time that passed, the more he struggled to hold onto the memory.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He examined the Comet again and wondered if had really happened or, if it did, could it happen again?\u00a0 What if nothing happened?\u00a0 Worse, what if it was the same moment all over again?\u00a0 Could he handle that once more?<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade closed his eyes and held up the Comet.\u00a0 He had to know for certain.\u00a0 His hands trembled but he managed to bring the Comet to his mouth.\u00a0 It was the only way.\u00a0 He had to know.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The note sounded longer than when he\u2019d first tried it in the other room.\u00a0 He felt the note resonate throughout him and he sensed he was no longer in his bedroom.\u00a0 The note continued and others joined it and a woman\u2019s voice joined in accompaniment.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade opened his eyes to find himself sitting in a pew at the back of a Church.\u00a0 Everyone around him was on their feet as a woman at the front sang along to an organist working their way through Elvis Presley\u2019s \u201cCan’t Help Falling in Love.\u201d\u00a0 Some of the notes in the song matched the one he had played sitting there alone on the side of the bed.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He instinctively stood like the others and looked around.\u00a0 He knew this moment.\u00a0 His eyes quickly darted from the front to the rear and back to the front again.\u00a0 This was his own wedding!\u00a0 There he was at the front, grinning like an idiot and steps away were his parents\u2026his Father alive again.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade turned again and saw the bride being escorted by her own Father.\u00a0 It was Lorna.\u00a0 Wade\u2019s heart broke to see her and not to be able to reach out to her.\u00a0 He also wanted to dash ahead and embrace his Father and then his Mother.
\nThis was a joyous moment and all he could do was watch from the corner and not join in.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhy here?\u201d <\/em>he wondered.\u00a0 What was the significance and what was he to learn from this?\u00a0 Had it been caught up in his longing for Lorna?\u00a0 Was that the secret of the Comet?\u00a0 Did it show you what you wanted to see?\u00a0 Did it bring you to moments you needed to re-experience?<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lorna was beautiful.\u00a0 She always had been.\u00a0 She still was.\u00a0 He watched her reach the front of the church and saw her take the hand of his younger self.\u00a0 Wade instinctively looked down at his own hand and saw there the Comet.\u00a0 He wondered if it was time to go.\u00a0 He could stay and watch the ceremony but he knew the takeaway.\u00a0 That grinning idiot of a groom loved Lorna and this Wade, who should have been older and wiser, still did; even though he hadn\u2019t shown that in a while.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade put the harmonica to his mouth but before he could draw in his breath, the note sounded all on its own.\u00a0 Wade looked up and saw everyone turn to stare at the organ.\u00a0 The vocalist, Lorna\u2019s cousin Barb as he now recalled, had finished singing but the last note from the organ stuck on the final refrain and continued to everyone\u2019s surprise.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI remember this,\u201d Wade said aloud.\u00a0 Indeed he did remember.\u00a0 He also knew what came next.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Minister walked over to the organ and slammed it hard on the back with his palm.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSorry about that everyone, it sticks sometimes.\u00a0 But on that note, shall we begin?\u201d\u00a0 The congregation broke out in laughter and so did Wade.\u00a0 \u201cDearly Beloved,\u201d the Minister began.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade knew this was his signal.\u00a0 The Minister had said \u201con that note.\u201d\u00a0 What was more appropriate?\u00a0 Wade closed his eyes and drew back on the harmonica and was drawn back to his own bedroom in his own time.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The room was the same.\u00a0 Nothing had changed.\u00a0 There were Lorna\u2019s things on the dresser.\u00a0 Wade\u2019s eyes moved further along and stopped on the framed photo at the end.\u00a0 He walked to it and picked it up. It was a wedding photo of Lorna and Wade.\u00a0 There were others in the living room but this had been Lorna\u2019s favourite.\u00a0 There was the groom, Wade, staring at his bride with that \u2018grinning idiot\u2019 look that this Wade recognized from his younger self he\u2019d seen standing at the front of the church only moments ago.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade replaced the photo and looked away; drawing his focus back to the Comet.\u00a0 It had happened again.\u00a0 He had questioned it when he\u2019d first been transported to his Father\u2019s side but now he\u2019d just returned from his own marriage ceremony.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t just the memory of having been there both times but the realization that the same note from the far end of the harmonica had been present on both occasions.\u00a0 It had signalled the end of his Father\u2019s life in one instance and the beginning of his married life with Lorna in the other.\u00a0 How strange it was that he now recalled that note clearer than before.\u00a0 How could he have forgotten the key sticking on the organ?\u00a0 The unending sound from the life support machine hadn\u2019t been forgotten; he\u2019d tried hard to deliberately block it out.\u00a0 It had been too painful.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade held up the Comet and wondered if that had been all there was to it.\u00a0 Were there just the two defining moments?\u00a0 Something told him there had to be something more.\u00a0 The more he thought of that final note, the more it pressed him to remember something else.\u00a0 Did the Comet hold another secret?\u00a0 There was only one way to find out.\u00a0 Wade closed his eyes, while pursing his lips, and blew long and hard into the far right opening.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The experience was the same as it had been before.\u00a0 He sensed it.\u00a0 He opened his eyes to find himself no longer where he had stood before.\u00a0 Gone was his bedroom and that photo of the \u2018grinning idiot\u2019.\u00a0 This new room was a pale blue and decorated with cartoon animal caricatures.\u00a0 It was a nursery of some sort.\u00a0 Wade turned and viewed what he knew instinctively would be there.\u00a0 It was a baby\u2019s crib and inside was a young infant beginning to stir.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade did not recognize this room or this moment.\u00a0 He had no memory of this.\u00a0 The only thing familiar were the notes of a musical mobile suspended above the crib.\u00a0 One of those notes was the same note that brought him here.\u00a0 He could hear it winding down and soon it was quiet.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t quiet for long.\u00a0 The baby began to stir more vigorously and to cry out.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade was confused.\u00a0 Who was this child?\u00a0 Where were they?\u00a0 When were they?\u00a0 He didn\u2019t have time to think long on his own questions because he heard someone coming down a hall.\u00a0 He looked around and spied a closet.\u00a0 Wade quickly hid himself within; leaving the door open a crack so he could watch the scene unfold.\u00a0 He\u2019d had a brief thought when this might be but with no memory of his own, he couldn\u2019t be sure.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He watched as a young woman entered the room and went to the child\u2019s side.\u00a0 Wade had only quickly caught a glimpse of her before she had turned her back to him.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHush now, what\u2019s the fuss?\u201d\u00a0 She leaned in and picked up the babe and cradled it in her arms.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIs everything okay?\u201d\u00a0 Wade glanced over at a young man who had entered the room.\u00a0 At first Wade thought it was another past version of himself but then he realized it was his Father.\u00a0 That meant the woman was his Mother!<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The woman walked out into the room with the infant and began to rock him back and forth.\u00a0 Wade could see her clearly now.\u00a0 It was his Mother and she was holding him.\u00a0 No wonder he had no memory of this.\u00a0 He\u2019d been too young to recall it but that note had played and the chord had remained with him.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d his Mother said to his Father.\u00a0 \u201cThe mobile had just run down.\u00a0 Can you wind it again?\u201d\u00a0 Wade\u2019s Father obliged.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s all?\u00a0 Are you sure he\u2019s not hungry or maybe something else?\u00a0 Maybe he, well, you know.\u201d\u00a0 Wade\u2019s Father couldn\u2019t bring himself to say what he was thinking.\u00a0 Silently from his hiding spot, Wade chuckled to himself.\u00a0 He\u2019d been the same way when his own children had been born.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t like to talk about it but he\u2019d pitched in and done his share of diaper changing.\u00a0 Wade wondered how his Father had fared in that department.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s all right, I tell you,\u201d his Mother continued.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re going to be all right Wade.\u00a0 Mother\u2019s here now.\u00a0 I\u2019m here now.\u201d\u00a0 The infant Wade was quiet and his Mother placed him back in the crib and both parents silently stole from the room as the mobile played on with its familiar notes.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade quietly crept from the closet and looked down at his younger self.\u00a0 This one wasn\u2019t a \u2018grinning idiot\u2019 yet but Wade knew it would come.\u00a0 Wade knew what was in store for this child.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll be okay kid.\u00a0 I think we both will be.\u201d\u00a0 Wade smiled and then closed his eyes; raising the Comet and drawing back against the far right holes.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The return experience was the same.\u00a0 He felt the shift and on opening his eyes he knew he\u2019d be back in his own bedroom.\u00a0 He was.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade didn\u2019t dwell on his return or this last experience.\u00a0 He had to try it again.\u00a0 He had to know what else there was to learn.\u00a0 Nothing happened, however, on subsequent tries.\u00a0 There was no folding and no re-experienced memories.\u00a0 Only the note sounded and then was gone.\u00a0 He removed and moved the bits of tape and tried every hole.\u00a0 Only the notes sounded.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade placed the Comet on the dresser in front of his wedding photo.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve had quite the time kid,\u201d he said to his photo, \u201cor times, depending on how you look at.\u201d\u00a0 He looked away from the photo and towards the Comet and then back to the photo again.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It had all been real and that one note had been signalling to him each time.\u00a0 For all Wade knew, it had been signalling to him all of his life.\u00a0 All of that, he thought, from a single note.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to learn them all now.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to learn to properly play the Comet.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cTake care of it for me,\u201d he said to the photo of the \u2018grinning idiot\u2019.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll get back to it.\u00a0 There are some other things that need my attention first.\u201d<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade knew he\u2019d get back to the harmonica and he would master it but he needed to define his focus somewhere else first.\u00a0 He needed to fix things with his Mother and with Lorna.\u00a0 He understood that now.\u00a0 They had never abandoned him.\u00a0 He\u2019d done that to himself.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what this has all been about but I think I get the gist,\u201d he said to the Comet.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll be okay, Wade\u201d he said to his photo.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll be okay,\u201d he repeated to his reflection.\u00a0 He stroked the Comet and turned to leave the bedroom.\u00a0 As if in answer, the final note sounded.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade bent down and put and ear to the harmonica.\u00a0 It was silent but throughout the house the final note was sounding.\u00a0 It took him a moment before he realized it was his door chime.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Wade hustled through the house and to the front door.\u00a0 The chime had stopped and he could hear the sound of a key fitted in the lock.\u00a0 The door opened to reveal\u2026<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cLorna, you\u2019re here?\u201d\u00a0 Wade looked at this wife and grinned that idiot smile.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lorna looked back at Wade and wondered about the smile.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t seen her husband\u2019s smile in a long time.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cOh, Wade, I didn\u2019t know you were home.\u00a0 I tried the bell first but there was no answer.\u201d<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m here now,\u201d Wade responded.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lorna looked at Wade and recalled his words.\u00a0 It was something in the way he\u2019d said \u2018I\u2019m here now\u2019 that indicated he really was.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m here now,\u201d Wade repeated.\u00a0 It was a start.<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

THE END<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 You’ll probably be confused by the title of this blahg but if you give me a moment, I’ll explain. \u00a0I’m going to take a break from my DVD reviews and post something fun…at least for me.\u00a0 The title refers to a recent purchase I made at a local thrift store.\u00a0 It’s a Hohner Comet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4,281,282,280,3],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6299"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6299"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6314,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6299\/revisions\/6314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}