Chapter 20.1 - Fate

“Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.”

Marcus Aurelius

Len had stayed in high school rather than going to college when he was fourteen.  Stanford recruited him immediately after he won the National Science Fair for his work on Controlled and Directed Thermo-Nuclear Explosions.  Len enjoyed his friends, and was still being tutored by Mr. Caruthers.  He and his parents both thought that the value of the high school experience was more important than accelerating his learning with a college atmosphere.

Fate stepped in and dealt Len the best card of his life.  He was sitting in North American Indian being entertained by Mr. Mcclintock discussing the Key Hole technique used by North American Indians to kill deer.  It was fascinating.  The Indians would set up two rows of poles in a valley that were separated by several hundred yards and narrowed over several miles into a corral built of the same type of poles spaced inches apart.  The spacing between the poles grew less and less and from the air the entire structured looked like a door key hole.  The Indians would run a relay along the entire distance flushing the deer from the woods into the valley.  The deer would naturally stay between the poles.  When they were corralled, Indians along the perimeter would throw spears and shoot them with bows.  Mr. Mcclintock was wearing authentic North American Indian garments, holding a spear with a bow and arrows strapped to his back.  He moved around the classroom jogging with the spear in his hand and sometimes chanting as he described the activity.  Just as he reached the door it opened and in stepped the most beautiful girl Len had ever seen.  When Mr. Mcclintock jogged past her and stopped she was really startled and everyone in the room chuckled.

Len couldn’t contain his smile as she walked over and took the only empty seat in the class next to him.  He said, “Hi, my name is Len.  If there is anything I can do to help you just let me know.”

Len kept looking over at Maria the whole class taking in all the details of her demur character.  She wore a white shirt buttoned to the top button and a plaid skirt that went to just above the knees.  Her dark brown hair was tied back in a pony tail and bound by a small colorful butterfly in the back.  She sat erect with her back straight and did not look about the room but focused on Mr. Mcclintock.

Len caught her as she was leaving class and handed her his notebook saying, “Why don’t you take this and make copies of the notes up until this point in the year.  I wrote my telephone number on the front cover.”

Maria accepted the notebook and accidentally touched his hand when taking it.  Len felt his heart pound faster and heavier.  “Thank you.  Do you know where B-23 is?”

“I’ll walk you there.  So, where are you from?”  Len asked.

“I am from Chamita.  Do you know where that is?”

“No, I can’t say I’ve heard of it.”  Len said.

“It is a little town north of Espanola about eight miles.”  Maria said.

Len stopped and looked down into Maria’s dark eyes, “Here’s your class.  Hey, I meant it if you need anything you can call me.”

Maria looked up at Len and smiled in her heart, “Thanks, maybe I will.”