Uh Oh...: Part Dhá

Dia duit! Welcome to my blog! As most of you know from this post, Monday was a very, erm, eventful day for me. Daid didn't get home until four thirty, which gave me a lot of time to brainstorm excuses. I had come up with a somewhat believable story about getting lost and thinking he was a kidnapper, and when his car rolled into the driveway I thought I was ready.

But, of course, I was wrong. The moment he poked his head into my room I burst into tears.

"Ní gá do thoil, inis duine ar bith, Daid!" I cried. "Cad a tharlaíonn má chinneann an domhan ar fad amach? Ní fheicfidh mé a fheiceáil Kaya agus Josefina arís!"

Daid laughed and sat next to me on the edge of my bed. "Oh, Saoirse! Tá mé ar eolas go léir chomh maith! Bhí mé aon smaoineamh go raibh a fhios agat, cé."

I just stared at him, confused. What does he mean he knew all along? How could he have known? The only reason I knew about time travel was because of a very careless mistake. "Cad atá i gceist agat?" I asked.

"Bhfuil a fhios agat cén fáth a bhog muid ar shiúl ó Éirinn?" Daid answered. I nodded. We left Ireland because we were shunned by our church, town, and friends. Daid lost his job, and everyone refused to publish Mam's books. Stores wouldn't sell to us, my friends at school wouldn't talk to me. We were running out of both food and money very fast, and hardly had enough to book a flight to America. If it weren't for Seanmháthair's help, we might still be in Ireland today. I never knew why this happened, though. It happened very gradually--so gradually that I hardly noticed. I asked Daid to explain, and so he did.

Apparently, ever since Daid was a boy, he had loved the idea of time travel. He was fascinated--obsessed. It all started when his daid died in a car accident, and he thought going back in time would bring him back.

By the time he had met Mam and had me, however, he had moved on to other interests. That is, until he heard a rumor that America had had access to time machines for years. His obsession returned, and soon people found out about it.

We lived in a very religious community, and some members of our church had very strong opinions. These members were mainly one group of women that seemed to be the puppet masters of the town. They despised the idea of time travel. They believed that all things happen for a reason, and we shouldn't be given the power to change those things. When they heard about Daid, they were, to say the least, extremely upset. They started spreading rumors about our family, and people slowly began to believe them. First, our church shunned us. Then our friends. It wasn't long before Daid came home crying. Crying because he had lost his job. I had never seen him cry before.

But, through all that, our family stayed by us. During our last month in Ireland, Seanmháthair asked us why we were moving across the ocean to America. Daid smiled and said, "Is é Meiriceá ar thalamh de gealltanas. Mé i mo chónaí thar lear mé fós i bhfeidhm cheana féin le haghaidh mo phost aisling. Tá a fhios agam go mbeidh sé a dhéanamh ar ár teaghlaigh sona."

When Daid said this, it all suddenly made sense. I saw him at the Southern MTTB because THAT is his post aisling!

"Tá tú ag obair ag an MTTB?" I offered hopefully. If he did, I wouldn't have to tell another time travel-related lie again!

Daid smiled in his way that lets me know that everything is all right. He chuckled when he exclaimed jokingly, "Bhí a fhios agam cheana féin go bhfuil Kaya agus Josefina i ndáiríre d'aois, ach ní raibh a fhios agam go raibh a fhios agat!"

I guess all's well that ends well! Slán go fóill!

~Saoirse