Failsafe and Imposing Gate

As she dropped him at the airport, he could tell she was on the edge of losing it, and she almost never lost her composure.

"I feel like one of those mothers who is going to tell her child that if he falls and breaks a leg it's his own fault and he shouldn't come running to her about it," she said, half laughing and half crying.  "I still don't understand why you have to go meet with this person halfway around the world, and if something happens to you over there, I don't know what I will do!"

"Nothing is going to happen, I'm going to take care of the business my grandparents left unfinished, and then I will never have to leave the country again unless it's with all of us on a vacation," he tried to reassure her.

He hated keeping secrets from her, hated having to leave, and hated that he couldn't tell her what was really going on and that he had an ace up his sleeve.  If it looked like the plan he and the Djinn had worked out was going to fall apart, he'd make the wish that his grandparents had never found the bottle, and it would change their past, and neither of them would ever know.

Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Fault.


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Gosia, of Looking for Identity, has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World.  Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit others to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.

Looking at the fence, the place seems rather imposing.

Today is:

Check for Change in Every Coin Return You Pass Day -- because someone has a sense of humor and put it on the internet

Culture and Traditions Day -- Micronesia

Doctors Day -- US (begun by Eudora Almond in 1933 because she thought her husband, Dr. Charles B. Almond, deserved recognition for his hard work; check here for ideas on how to thank your doctor)

Fairies of the First Wand Reunion Dinner -- Fairy Calendar

Feast of Janus and Concordia -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Feast of Pak Tai -- Macau (Pak Tai who conquered the Demon King, celebrated the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month)

Festival of Bast -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (cat goddess; date approximate)

Festival of Reality Fabrication  -- internet holiday to celebrate your imagination

Festival of Salus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (god of health)

Grass Is Always Browner On The Other Side Of The Fence Day -- remember how good you have it; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

I am in Control Day -- remember Alexander Haig's words on this date in 1981? well today, if you find the phones won't stop ringing, the kids got into the glue again, the coffee maker is on the fritz, and somebody dyed the poodle purple, stand up and declare that you are in control!

Land Day Commemoration -- West Bank/Palestinian remembrance

Limited Liability Day -- because no one can be responsible for everything

Pencil Day -- the pencil with an eraser top was patented this day in 1858 by Hyman Lipman

Runic Half-Month Ewhas (Horse) begins

Shangsi Festival -- China (ancient Double Third festival, on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month)

Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

St. Leonard Murialdo's Day (Patron of apprentices)

Take a Walk in the Park Day -- begun by someone who wanted to get out of the office

Turkey Neck Soup Day

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day -- US 


Birthdays Today:

Scott Moffatt, 1983
Jason Dohring, 1982
Norah Jones, 1979
Matt Doran, 1976
Mark Consuelos, 1971
Celine Dion, 1968
Ian Ziering, 1964
Tracy Chapman, 1964
M.C. Hammer, 1962
Paul Reiser, 1957
Robbie Cotrane, 1950
Eric Clapton, 1945
Astrud Gilberto, 1940
Warren Beatty, 1937
John Astin, 1930
Rolf Harris, 1930
Peter Marshall, 1930
Richard Dysart, 1929
Peter Marshall, 1927
Frankie Laine, 1913
Sean O'casey, 1880
Anna Sewell, 1820
Vincent Van Gogh, 1853
Francisco Jose De Goya, 1749


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Agnes of God"(Play), 1982
"Applause"(Musical), 1970
"Jeopardy"(TV), 1964
"Verkaufte Braut/The Bartered Bride"(Comic opera), 1866


Today in History:

The first recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, BC240
Ketsugan, Zen teacher, performs exorcisms to free aizoji temple, 1422
Henry VIII divorces Catherine of Aragon, 1533
British and coalition forces march into Paris after the defeat of Napoleon, 1814
Dr. Crawford Long of Georgia, US, performs the first operation with anesthesia (ether), 1842
A pencil with attached eraser is patented by Hyman L Lipman of Philadelphia, 1858
Alaska is purchased from Russia by US Secretary of State William Seward, for $7,200,000 (about 2 cents per acre), 1867
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, 1932
Einstein announces his revised unified field theory, 1953
The Yonge Street Line, the first subway in Canada, opens in Toronto, 1954
President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., 1981
The oldest copy of Codex Holmiensis, dating from 1280, is returned to Denmark from Sweden after 300 years, and 45,000 Inca artifacts are returned to Peru's Machu Picchu after spending 100 years at Yale University, 2011