Chapter 1

The elderly man lay in the hospital bed, a heart machine next to him quietly beeping away while the ventilator moved up and down helping the old man breathe. He had a heart attack two days before while his oldest child was helping him write checks to get rid of some of his estate before he passed on. He hated the government and didn’t want the tax man to get any more than was necessary. So when the heart attack hit him, his daughter was right there to call the ambulance and make sure he got the treatment he needed. He hadn’t regained consciousness since the attack.

All of his children were there. Sally, the oldest at 70. Then Adam at 67. Carla at 65. Brian at 60. Susan at 57 and the baby, Mike at 50 were all in the room watching and hoping beyond hope that their father, dad, woke up and would last a few more years. This was a man they all loved and respected. They didn’t want to see him go, even at his advanced age of 92.

Their mom had died 20 years ago, so she wasn’t there to be there, but they all kept her memory alive when they got a chance to gather and be a family again. With all of them married, moved away with families of their own, getting together was tougher than they had expected.

The wives and husbands of them were not there. Jobs and other responsibilities had kept them away since all they were doing was waiting. Waiting for death to come and take their beloved father to the after life.

However, this day was ‘turn on’ day and death was not going to show up here. Not any more.

Mary Fran spoke to them all. They looked around all at the same time, even asking each other, “Did you hear that?”

They all went through the pain file and the pleasure file all together and ended up hugging one another as they recovered from their shared experience. Then, one by one, they went to the bathroom and dumped their waste and watched as each of them became renewed as the WE took their bodies back to the age of 21.

Sally, can you get me a glass of water? the man in the bed asked through his mind to his kids who were happily all in the room with him and all hugging one another.

Then, as one, they all looked at their father. He was up on one arm, the breathing tube hanging out of his mouth and the heart monitor still beeping away as the age in his face seemed to melt away. His shallow, sunken eyes started to fill back in. The dried skin and paper thin skin on his hands and on his forehead seemed to thicken and become new again. The old man they loved and respected was there, asking for help and it stunned them all.

Well? Are you going to help your daddy or not? he asked them again.

They all exploded into action.