Posted by Lieutenant Kate O’Neill (Chief of Security) in Midday Confessions - A Lifetime of Memories

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“Hey how did you do that,” Kate’s brow furrowed both angry and confused as to where the fire came from. Her attempt had only made a warm spot so far. She was no where close to having a real fire yet but somehow Shaun not only made a spark but an actual torch on the end of a stick.

“Well put the torch in the fire pit,” she ordered. We need to get the fire going if we are going to have receemores.”

“What… are those?” Shaun asked with a puzzled look, unsure if she stuttered or meant to say what she had. “Do you mean s’mores?” he asked, wanting to clarify exactly what treat she was trying to give him.

“You don’t know what Reecemores are?” The shock in her voice was easy to spot. Reecemores were an O’Neill tradition. There wasn’t a time when they didn’t make them over an open fire. If Shaun was going to stay around here with his family, he had better learn how to make them. If one didn’t you had to rely on your mom or dad to give you one and they always got stingy after two. Her brother’s however would make them on their own and get as many as they wanted, or as many as they could sneak past their parents.

Plopping down by the fire Kate pulled out one Reece cup for her and one for Shaun. Laying it near the fire on the stone ring that encircled the small blaze starting to take hold, Kate smiled. “So Receemores are like smore only you don’t use a graham cracker. You just slurp,” she poked the orange wrapper with a finger checking to see how squishy it had became so near the fire. Once her finger no longer met any resistance as she poked at the candy, Kate picked up one for herself and then handed one to Shaun. “Okay,” she said proudly turning her body to face him. “So what you do is to puh,” she held it in her hand and bit the top to rip the small wrapper open. It wa easier when her momma tore open the wrapper but her momma wasn’t here so it was up to Kate to do it herself. “Puh ulllll,” she talked through the process while doing the process which forced her words to be more mumbled.

“Are you sure this is wise? Won’t it burn you?” Shaun asked as he watched her. This seemed unwise, but he did want some candy. Following her instructions he did the same, pulling apart and eating the candy like she did with an uncertainness quickly turning to joy.

“Now that you got it open you can suck out the candy.” Placing the opened wrapper of peanut butter gooeyness to her lips, Kate sucked and was rewarded with a melty marvel of peanut butter goodness. “We learned to make them on a camping trip when Momma forgot to bring the graham crackers. Daddy said it was not a problem and that would could improvide. That means do it when you don’t have all the stuff. Want another,” Kate began to dig in her bag for two more.

The roaring fire filled the room with a nice glow. The yellow flames illuminated the room letting Kate see more of it instead of just the parts the latern and flashlight touched. Kate could feel herself getting sleepy now that her tummy was filled with a candy snack and the fire was making her warm. “When you get your Earth dog what kind of dog would you want? My daddy told us over dinner a few nights ago that it was an Earth Rule that every kid had to have a dog. Since we lived on the ship we couldn’t get one but now that we live on Earth I can’t wait for mine to come live with me .”

Kate O’Neill

Shaun looked over at Kate, he had a jacket on that she didn’t have as he slide close to her as he took off his coat. He saw his daddy do this for his mommy, warm her up he said. Letting Kate slide in next to him as he allowed her to rest her head onto his chest he placed the coat on top of them, thinking on her question. “I always wanted an Irish Wolf Hound, have you ever seen them?” he asked her with a big yawn as he got warm next to her. “They are huge! You could ride them into battle if you needed!” Shaun said with a near giddy thought of finding a saddle for his imaginary hound.

“What about you?” Shaun asked her as he felt a warm feeling in his tummy, surely from the treats and fire as he stared into the flames, whishing and flowing in front of him, as Kate began to talk he heard a loud beep, it seemed to echo through the chamber…

Present Day

Shaun snapped out of the memory as he looked around, the candle as he had set fire to one of Kate’s stuffed bears as he rushed over and began to put out the flame the fringe had caught on. The alarm had lucky snapped him out of his daze as he moved the candle away from anything else that could be set ablaze as he took the bear. It made him laugh a bit that this was the one that had begun to be singed, the damage not major but the smell permeated through the house.

Reaching to the end table he pulled out the holiday hearth spray as he began to clear the air before he placed it onto the table where he had laid the bear, pouring a drink he quickly swigged another of their family whiskey back as he picked up the bear as he inspected it once more. It was a little leprechaun bear, with a top hat and four leaf clover bow tie. It was cute yes, but it was from a very special time.

Time had gone as Shaun had gotten Kate to finally come with him to Dublin to see his family from across the pond. Every year, Shaun had left West Virginia and spent summers roaming the Irish country side with his friends and family back home. For the last seven years he had tried to get Kate to join him. She always seemed to have some excuse, school was tough, she was playing softball, it never seemed to change what events she had during the summer, she was simply never there.

This had upset Shaun, as by now the pair had become best friends, she was to him much like her brothers, all of whom he was very close. She was just one of the guys, spit, fight, listen to Van Halen and confuse lyrics. Shaun always went along with the confused lyrics, Animal was the name of the song now and no one could change that for them. Still, Dublin was a second half of his heart and he loved the times he and his sisters went back.

For a long time his family would only go for a few weeks, but Shaun always stayed for months at time with his two favorite Uncles Jeremy Clarkson and James May along with his cousins and friends from the region. While Shaun often talked of the big city, he often relished finding castles and roaming the hills of the Irish countryside just as much as the city life. It was something he couldn’t deny had become something he liked far more once he had meet Kate. She made him see their was adventure everywhere, and her friendship was something he couldn’t see himself doing without.

Still, she had never taking him up on his over for six years straight, but the seventh year… well the seventh year was lucky. The bear he now clutched tightly in his chest was a reminder of that day, which much like the cave ended up with them getting lost in a place that seemed to have a magical aura.

Thirteen Years Ago

“Little Shauny Boy!” came the beaming voice of Uncle James as he wrapped his arms around Shaun, his wife Matilda was behind him as she pushed James aside so she could get a good look at her favorite nephew. “Your mom said you had grown, but I wasn’t expecting this.” she said with a large smile as James began to get the bags from Shaun before he paused to look back at the bus.

“I did have a slight detour this time, I know everyone else is coming next week but I brought a friend.” Shaun said as Kate, seeming to have packed for an apocalypses was seen by the side of the bus pulling hard all of her luggage as she fell on her butt with a hard crack.

“Katie bug…” Shaun said with a worried tone as he moved to her side as he began to help her get up, brushing off the mud and muck that the Irish countryside had. The small village they were at was only 10 miles from Dublin, but Shaun’s maternal Aunt, Matilda, and Maternal Uncle, Jeremey, had moved out in this area a few years back. Jeremey and James had become best friends long ago through the marriage, finding an in-laws bound as the two shared love of large open lands and four wheels to have fun in. It was clear Jeremey was late, as usual, but Shaun has been grateful to have James and Matilda here.

“Let me help you … good lord what all did yer pack hon…” Shaun asked as James came next to them as he helped move back some of the bags as Matlida tilted her head at the sight of the two. Your mother was right… it’s clear as day. she thought as she watched Shaun take care of Kate smiling widely as she too came to help.

“You know we have stores here, you didn’t need to bring all of West Virginia with you.” James said, counting the bags as he began to feel cross eyed at the scene.

“I for one am glad to have another woman here.” Matilda said as she ignore Shaun and James making fun of Kate. “We will get you cleaned up don’t worry.

Grecken, Doctor