Where Bluebirds Fly

Epilogue



One year later, October.



I walk out onto the porch and stare at the barnyard. To say this day will be hectic, is an understatement. The sun is burning off the morning mist, but I shiver a little and wrap my sweater more tightly around my shoulders. I drink in the cornucopia of fall leaves that litter the yard. The past year has been the best of my life, and it’s going to end.

I turn to see my brother sitting on the rocker. I flinch. He’s so quiet, he blends into the porch furniture.

“Hi, John. How’s it going with Edward?”

The autistic boy looks up at me with the mention of his name. He signs ‘hello’.

“That is wonderful, that he said hi to me on his own. You are doing a marvelous job.”

John is not going with me, and for that, I’m glad.

“Thank you sister.” John’s eyes shine with pride.

He belongs here, where he is safe, and finally has other people who love him as much as I.

Ram pokes his head out the door. “Come on, Edward, John. We have lots to do today. The Festival starts at noon, and we are nowhere near ready.”

Shouts and laughter seep into the barnyard as Ram opens the front door wider.

“Verity? You all right?” Ram asks. His eyes flick to the corn with a resigned expression. The clock is ticking. He and I have come to terms. We understand each other now.

“Yes. I’m just going to find True, and then I’ll be right in to help.” I smile at him.

I leave the porch and head across the barnyard.

The cornfield towers above me, tall and green. I planted sunflowers at its mouth—perhaps to combat my own fear of the place. The result is a pleasing contrast of yellow flowers and black faces against the leafy green maze door.

A map of the new maze is affixed to a wooden podium at the entrance.

I stare at it, tracing the steps to the bridges in the maze with my finger.

Where will we go this year? Will it be the same? Will that young man truly be waiting? And the voices? I’ve entered the stalks a million times, and it’s quiet. The music is gone.

“But the birds are here.” I smile up at a flock of them. They perch on the corn, watching, as always.

The sound of hoof beats cut through my musing. Truman angles the appaloosa around the hay bales, stopping in front of me. The sun glitters off the russet stubble on his cheeks.

My stomach drops a little, just looking at him. I know it’s dangerous to love someone so much. But I have no choice in the matter. Time hasn’t dampened my desire.

He extends a hand to me.

“Ram is looking for you.”

“One ride,” Truman says, glancing at the house like a boy escaping his chores.

I grin and shove my foot in the stirrup, throwing myself behind him.

His foot gives the mare a nudge and we’re flying. The wind streams through my hair like a crimson kite and I laugh.

I squeeze him and kiss his neck. Make every moment count, is the way I live now.

He slows the horse at the north mouth of the maze, and speaks quietly, so I have to strain to hear him.

“It’s almost time.” My arms are around his waist, and his thumb caresses my fingers. “We promised we’d return.”

I stare at the corn. If I die, I have had a year of being loved perfectly—which some will never experience. I lift my face to the sun.

“I’m ready.”

* * *





Author’s Notes:

Proposed Causes of the Salem Witch Trials



Many theories have been explored with regard to the etiology of the Salem Trials-mass hysteria, class rivalry and strict Puritan behavior requirements to name a few.

Children in Salem, most especially girls, had no creative outlet. Pretending and play were discouraged, and the tasks they were taught—sewing, cooking—provided no physical activity. Whereas boys were given the opportunity to hunt and fish which, at the very least, provided them with exercise.

Women in particular had a difficult lot. If one was orphaned from the many Indian skirmishes of the time, the girl was destined for a hard life as a servant to a wealthier family.

Mass hysteria is defined as a group of people’s belief they are suffering from a common ailment (often imagined) and occurs during extreme periods of stress.

Salem has often been cited as one such historical occurrence of the disorder.

Another fascinating explanation suggested by Linnda Caporael, a behavioral scientist, was that the people of Salem might have been poisoned with ergot, a mold that collected on the crops during the rainy season. Interestingly, it has been suggested ergot might have also been the root cause of the character in Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST, who suffered convulsive fits.

The people and animals (dogs) would ingest the grains and suffer the consequences. The witch-cake, mentioned in the book, is a documented event. The drug L.S.D. is actually a derivative of ergot. And the symptoms of the afflicted girls, the odd skin sensations, hallucinations, convulsions, and delirium could be readily explained by the effects of this drug.

Of course, in some of the cases, outright maliciousness and class jealousy was undoubtedly a cause. The strict social norms of the time were a catalyst for more creative or active minds to act out. Continuous insistence on uniform behavior, and no free time for children exacerbated the girls’ attention-seeking behaviors. All claims of witchcraft were taken seriously, including those posed by children as well as adults. So all that was needed was a finger pointed in your direction, and you might be next to swing on gallows hill.



*Lord’s Prayer—Many people in Salem were convicted for witchcraft for the inability to state the Lord’s Prayer correctly. So if one was under the effects of ergot poisoning with its muscle contractions, or born with a congenital stutter, or perhaps a learning disability…and were requested to perform this task-they were doomed.

*Coffin Cells—According to the historians at the Witch Dungeon Museum, the very existence of the dungeon was disputed at first, but the site was unearthed during a construction project, later in history. Coffin cells were the size of telephone booths, and were impossibly cramped. The conditions of the dungeon were dank and wet; a perfect breeding ground for disease. Many did perish in the dungeons while awaiting their fate. All of the prisoners, even if released, were required to pay for their room and board while held. This left poor folks without family incarcerated indefinitely. Wealthier families were also afforded more spacious cells.

*Pressing—The act of pressing, or crushing an individual with massive weight, occurred to one man during the hysteria of the trials. According to the history tours in Salem, Giles Corey, a difficult, belligerent man, felt all his years of toiling would not be passed on to his heirs if he falsely confessed to witchcraft. He needed only to confess and he would go free; however, his land would be forfeit. Therefore, Corey refused to enter a plea, and they sentenced him to be pressed to death.

*Synesthesia—A condition in which normally separate senses combine. Sight may mingle with sound, taste with touch, etc. The senses are cross-wired. For example, when a digit-color synesthete sees or just thinks of a number, the number appears with a color film over it. A given number’s color never changes; it appears every time with the number. Synesthesia can take many forms. A synesthete may sense the taste of chicken as a pointed object. Other synesthetes hear colors. Still others may have several senses cross-wired.

Estimates of the frequency of synesthesia range from 1 in 250,000 to 1 in 2,000. People with synesthesia are 6 times more likely to be female than male. Most synesthetes find their unusual sensory abilities enjoyable.

People with synesthesia often report that one or more of their family members also have synesthesia, so it may in at least some cases be an inherited condition.

It may be that synesthesia arises when particular senses fail to become fully independent of one another during normal development. According to this school of thought, all babies are synesthetes. Synesthesia can be induced by certain hallucinogenic drugs and can also occur in some types of seizure disorders.

The words synesthesia is a hybrid of Latin and Greek—the Latin syn- (together) + -esthesia, from the Greek aisthesis (sensation or perception). MedicineNet.com



*Synesthesia is a cognitive difference, well documented and quite real. Synesthaetes throughout history were classified as insane. This should not surprise us though, as almost any illness that was not clearly understood was seen as possession or the like.

Many people hid their ability, and in 1812 a scientific paper was written on the subject. Most likely only medical personnel felt comfortable discussing their synesthesia for fear of repercussions.

It can occur in so many different forms—some see shapes and colors from music, others taste different words or individual sounds. Some taste shapes or hear shapes. There are a myriad of combinations.

It seems as individual as the person. For some, there are so many cross-wirings going on that overstimulation can occur while in crowded settings, but for others, with only one overlap in senses, it is quite manageable. Even enjoyable.

Synesthesia does not have defined rules, it is as subjective as the person it inhabits. Meaning the letter K may appear green for one person, yellow for another etc.

The ability to see colors around people IS a documented phenomenon.

I had the privilege to interview some persons about synesthesia, and how it affected their lives. Many were unaware they were unique, thinking everyone thought in the same manner as they did. Once they were aware, they became self-conscious, only sharing it with trusted family or friends.



*Lives Cut Short—Near the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, M.A., one may find the Salem Witch Memorials. Each of the park’s twenty stone benches represents persons hanged for witchcraft. Several of the stones contain chiseled quotes from the victims, including the haunting words, “God knows I am not guilty.” Some of the quotes are cut off, signifying the lives cut short.



Definitions:



*Maleficia—Any malicious acts which were contributed to witches and sorcerers in past times that were believed to cause harm or death to humans, animals or crops.

From Mimi.hu website.



*Ordinary—The name for the public eating and drinking place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.



*Tactile Defensiveness—is a disorder where the skin is responding abnormally, either too sensitive or not sensitive enough, most likely due to poor nerve conduction.



*Occupational Therapy—Occupational Therapy is about understanding the importance of an activity to an individual, being able to analyze the physical, mental and social components of the activity and then adapting the activity, the environment and/or the person to enable them to resume the activity. Occupational therapists would ask, “Why does this person have difficulties managing his or her daily activities (or occupations), and what can we adapt to make it possible for him or her to manage better and how will this then impact his or her health and well-being?” Wikipedia



References:

The Salem Witch Trials, Marilyn K. Roach Taylor Trade Publishers, 2002

Historical Tours of Salem Massachussetts—Author’s Notes

Peabody Essex Museum Tours—Author’s Notes