Chapter One 1957 Revisited

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Chapter One

‘1957 Revisited’

                                             

Occasionally

I dream you are imperfect

You have torn your dress or grazed your knee

Is it possible to stumble on the truth in such a way

?

 

There can be little doubt, windows of opportunity are rarely, if ever, legitimately opened from the outside. Although to be fair, in the eyes and the mind of young Jack Weaver, there was hardly any difference between the inside and the outside anyway. Both were compelling, but for entirely different reasons and curiously, neither seemed to afford him any real satisfaction or pleasure.

 

In the early days of course, all such observations were deemed significant and documented accordingly by those who wore the white coats, and constantly buzzed around him like flies. Likewise, the emotional blunting for which he was already famous was first thought to be indicative of some grossly exaggerated, but unspecified mood disorder. Several thought he might have suffered from something called anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure. However, no such diagnosis was ever made, and the idea somehow managed to get lost in a mountain of other issues and emerging concerns. Nevertheless, many of the biggest names in the study of human behaviour at the time would have given their eye teeth to have been among the first to gain some insight into Jack Weaver’s dark and mysterious world. 

 

Without doubt, pinning a label on the lad that would stick under intense scrutiny or better still, to cure him of his many supposed demons would have been a major coup. Yet despite all their concerted and often unorthodox efforts, several of those very same big names were evidently struggling to achieve anything like those specific goals. In fact, many are now said to have frequently overlooked what was directly in front of their own noses. Even failing to acknowledge that to achieve such an ambitious end, it would have helped had they at least some idea of how he perceived his world, in the first place.

 

Not surprisingly then, it was argued until such fundamental goals had been achieved, it would be unrealistic to expect any additional enlightenment without a great deal of blood, sweat and tears being shed. One certain fact remained though, a gaping hole clearly existed in the area of understanding why, if and when a group of unrelated individuals were subjected to precisely the same stimuli, there might easily be as many interpretations of it, as there were eye witnesses present, and consequently, as many different outcomes too? 

 

Certainly, there was among the growing cluster of specialists assigned to his care and supposed treatment, those convinced he might hold the key to unlocking some of the remaining mysteries associated with perception, and maybe, a few other things besides. Likewise, he was considered to be one hell of a potential meal ticket. However, since all attempts to access any of the lad’s darkest secrets had so far met with failure, it might be worth considering some of the events that are known to have occurred during the early hours of Friday 1^st April 1957. In any event, there were those, who believed to gain an appreciation of the range and combination of forces which might have once played a part in shaping Jack into the monster he was to eventually become, there could be no better example..

 

As far as it can be established then, the day began, much the same as any other, at least it seemed to, to those on the outside looking in. Although, to be fair, that is as far as it went and the point where any similarity to what might once have been regarded as the norm, came to a very abrupt and dramatic end.

From the outside, although Jack was obviously aware of being observed, he seemed more preoccupied with peeling back the slightly raised and jagged edge of the well formed scab on his right knee than responding coherently to any more of their silly questions.

 

The view from the inside, looking out was evidently a different story altogether. Jack was fed up and growing more frustrated by the minute. A storm was definitely brewing, but quietly with no overt signs to heed, or to forewarn any of those in its path. As always, his verbal and non verbal responses were well synchronised and his apparent disinterest was not unprecedented either.  

 

The bearded inquisitor sitting opposite him and the young woman taking notes were both familiar with the kind of behaviour he displayed yet neither seemed to sense anything out of the ordinary. The fact he seldom gave anything away at all was a real ball-ache for the team and proved expensive in terms of equipment, personnel and project credibility. What they really needed was a breakthrough, no matter how small but one that promised some light at the end of a seemingly very long tunnel.

 

Not even the new-fangled bio-feedback or polygraph machines were sensitive enough to register, let alone capture for analysis, any changes that might have been taking place, in what seemed from the outside, an emotionless vacuum. How on earth he consistently managed to defy 20^th century state of the art technology was just one more enigma in a whole series that needed to be kept tightly under wraps. Not surprisingly, team morale was at an all time low and everyone knew even the smallest leak would give the press a field day. Therefore, whilst Jacks unpredictability posed something of a major problem for everyone, it was not the only reason security had been stepped up. Not by a long chalk. 

 

As strange as it might now seem, the idea of ‘careless talk costing lives’ remained just as widespread throughout the early spring of post war Britain, as it had a whole decade earlier. And of course, there was still such an awful lot going on in the world, to fuel that kind of global paranoia.  It was certainly no great secret the Soviet Union had launched its latest space-craft Sputnik 2 into outer space. However, the precise nature and purpose of the voyage was unclear and consequently, the source of much speculation on both sides of the Atlantic.  

 

Some of the earliest reports out of Moscow were confusing to say the least and almost certainly contained additional covert messages both to and from goodness knows where. Later though, when more reliable intelligence sources confirmed a stray dog called Laika had been trained to man the flight and orbit earth single-handedly, adrenaline began to flow in abundance. Not only did it flow along the entire length of Downing Street and into White Hall, but the White House, the Pentagon and presumably elsewhere too. No doubt, all those on our side felt they were drowning in the stuff. Besides, at that particular time, the general feeling across the whole Western Hemisphere seemed to be ‘if they could get a mangy mutt to do so much, what could they not do, if they really set their minds to it.’ And that was a very frightening prospect indeed.

 

At the end of the day though, it did not matter one single jot how much the good guys might have wanted to learn about the in’s and the outs of canine space travel. There were simply far too many other things for them to worry about. For instance, it was perfectly reasonable to suspect the Russians and arguably, some of those other equally dodgy ‘Eastern Block’ countries whose names no-one could ever remember, would give a pretty penny to gain even the slightest edge over the West. After all said and done, ‘all is fair in love and war and nowt is safe or sacred in between.’

 

Much closer to home, those who were supposedly in the know, argued while the Commies had super mutt we, sure as hell had Jack Weaver. Thanks a bunch guys, thanks for absolutely nothing. At least everyone seemed to agree on that particular score.  

Reviews

[Chris Shaw]

It is quite a while since I read the first draft and I can see that you have made some alterations. The change of Jack's surname to Weaver is good, and the explanation of what anhedonia means helps the reader. Background information of what else is going on globally in 1957 will give your younger readers some context of that decade. I very much like your title, it draws the reader in. Your plot about a young person who is a murderer is dark but it is one which is bound to fascinate, especially because it covers a different time period when conditions and care in prisons regarding mental health prisoners was so vastly different.

Chris

[Neville]

Thank you for wading through this Chris and for your very encouraging comments.
Neville

[barleygirl]

I've been waiting for a time when I could leisurely read a few chapters & your opening is a great treat on this Fathers Day morning here (Have a happy fathers day too!) It's always a huge treat to read perfect construction in large doses. It's so mesmerizing to feel how you set this story up, telling us as much about the machinations of those in white coats, as about the subject himself. You bring in international intrigue & I'm getting a sense this is going to be quite a ride. I'm not a fan of commas & you use more commas than I would . . . that being said, you are one of the rare writers on this website who actually uses commas intelligently, to parse your long complex sentences with thoughtfulness! (((NUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Neville]

wow... thank you so very muchly Margie.. feel free to comma gen and again and...... NUG ya & true ....Neville :)

[Cherrie]

Occasionally
I dream you are imperfect
You have torn your dress or grazed your knee
Is it possible to stumble on the truth in such...
What an excellent into.
I really like this I give you a better comment tonight

[Neville]

Many thanks Cherrie.. I certainly look forward to hearing from you with advice or opinions.... Neville

[Eilis]

I'm intrigued and looking forward to reading the chapters one at a time to absorb the story. I like the way that this story seems to have a global significance. Jack certainly seems like the enigma to end all enigmas, and I'm really interested to discover why his case holds such importance for the team who is engrossed in understanding him.

I like the narrator's voice/presence as well. It feels a lot like a diary/case study type voice and that makes it feel quite intimate in terms of what information I expect to garner as a reader. If this narrator is so well informed, surely he will share what he knows with us. At least that is what he is making me think, and that is always fun, because his tone of authority makes him seem trustworthy but only time will tell if he is or not.

What felt chilling about all of it was the note of detachment that the doctors seemed to have with regards to Jack. I suspect that kind of detachment will (did) figure heavily into his own development and perhaps exacerbate the problems he was born with. I'm interested to find out. This first scene put me in mind of a documentary I watched on lobotomy. There's an eerie sense of things and a fatal weight that I'm expecting will settle over everything.

Looking forward to reading the rest as I can, Neville. Great to see a longer offering from you. BTW, I loved that little boldface bit of text at the start of the chapter. I thought that a lovely poetic look into the mind of whomever was speaking. Great visual detail.

[Neville]

You are so very kind Eilis, and I am truly grateful for your encouragement & support... Neville