Just when she thought Francisco was going to leave her alone, he appeared to her. He approached her in his flirtatious and charming way that he always did. She was happy and mad at the same time. She was furious with him. He was why her life was in a shambles. If he would have just passed completely to the other side...then that made her sad. But then, she still loved him and it was so good to have someone to talk to that she almost let
herself fall into the same trap that got her into all of these messes in the
first place. This relationship was not good for her.
When Francisco put his cool arms
around her and began to kiss her she couldn't help herself. She let him; but then quickly realized what
was happening and pushed him away. He said he missed her very much and just needed to see her and his son.
She yelled at him that she just
wanted to have a normal life with a “normal” child! Then Francisco told her something that would change her life. He apologized and told her she should find the recipe for Ambrosia – it would cure Alex - then he simply disappeared. She hated when he did that.
Ambrosia. She had
never heard of this. It must be a
special elixir that she didn’t know about.
He said to find the recipe and learn to cook it. Then she had another thought. If Francisco knew about Alex and Ambrosia, he
must know about her basement. But he is
a ghost! And as far as she knew, only
she could see him. She was so
confused. But now there was hope for Alex and her. Maybe she could ‘cure’
Alex! That one thought gave her a much
needed burst of energy and a real purpose. The future might not be so grim.
Delia looked on the internet and through all of her mom’s recipes
and could find no mention of Ambrosia other than a few vague and buried references on the internet. She figured it was time to venture out. She needed to take a trip to the Elixir store to see if they knew
of this Ambrosia. It was fall and near
Halloween. She figured she could risk taking
Alex out with her and if anyone said anything, she would just say he was in his
ghost costume. She bundled him up as
best she could and off they went.
When they arrived, the clerk was
a bit standoffish. She was a mess and
Alex was more than just a little spooky looking. When she told him her name, he quickly looked up at her and then at Alex and seemed to become even more nervous. When she asked him about Ambrosia, he could
hardly look at her at all and seemed totally freaked out.
He thought about it, looked around and then told her in a whisper
that it was a highly guarded secret recipe and only expert chefs, gardeners and
fishermen could manage to create such a thing. She had had two lifetimes to master all of these things."I can handle it," she said. He took a deep breath and told her he had the recipe but it was very expensive. "How much?" she asked worriedly. "$20,000," he replied. That would take almost all of her savings, but if she could make little Alex normal, she could get a job and begin to support
them so she shelled out the money and bought the recipe. Maybe, finally, she and Alex could have a normal
life! One she had with Francisco (until he decided to haunt her) and even thought she had with Nicholas.
Delia hurriedly left for home. She didn't care for the way everyone looked at Alex. When they got home she put him to bed and started thinking about Alex in a way she never had allowed herself to before. Then she started doing the math. My oh my - time flies when your having fun she thought sarcastically. She
would soon be too old to take care of Alex – she might even die before she
could make him real. She had him late in life - she figured she was 48ish and had let herself go the last 4 years.
She looked in the
mirror and it confirmed her fears. She
looked worse than she had her entire life – or lifetimes - because she is
certainly coming to the end of her second one.
Delia had huge dark circles under
her eyes, wrinkles were blossoming all over her face and her hair was a stringy
mess. She looked like some of those
zombies she used to cure in Hidden Springs. At least her skin wasn’t green. But she knew she wasn’t sick, just depressed and lonely and definitely getting older. Much older.
She thought about the Youth Elixir. She still had one bottle left. She decided right then she
would have to use it if Alex had any chance of becoming normal.
Delia got the bottle out and sat
it on the counter. She knew what she
must do - but still - it was hard. This
would be the third time in her life that she actually reversed the aging
process. Would it still work? How many times before it killed her? Or made her different? The first two times it didn’t seem to do
anything but make her feel better and younger for sure.
She
finally convinced herself to use it. Just like before the transformation began. And just like before it wasn’t at all an
unpleasant feeling; just a warm and tingly sensation from her head to her toes.
When it stopped she was
amazed. She felt so much better already.
The tired feeling was gone and she felt energized. She ran to the mirror for confirmation. Staring back at her was the youthful fresh face
of a twenty year-old, the lines and dark circles had disappeared. 
She jumped in the tub and took a leisurely bath while Alex
slept. This was for him and she wouldn’t
let him down. She thought about her life while she soaked in the tub.
Things will be better. I know things know that I didn't before. Things definitely are not as the seemed.
She brushed her hair and used a little makeup for the first time since she arrived in Twinbrook. She felt so much better. She had back the energy that she had lost when Alex was born.
Now that the depression was lifting, it was time to begin to
read about this magical Ambrosia. She
must learn exactly how to make this ‘elixir’. For Alex. For her.
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