Marnien - Any Time Now

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, photographic including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2010 by John J. Marnien, Jr.

Cover art 2010 by John J. Marnien, Jr.
Internal art by John J. Marnien, Jr.
Photo of the author by MaryEllen Marnien.
Photographs are from the Marnien Family collection.

ISBN 978-0-7414-6345-6 Paperback
ISBN 978-0-7414-7374-5 eBook

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This book is dedicated to John J. Marnien III, Matthew D. Marnien, Megan Marnien and Jennifer Wilson.

I would also like to honor the valiant men who fought so bravely on either side during the tragedy that is known as the American Civil War.

I am indebted to my wife, MaryEllen, and my son, John J. Marnien III, for their suggestions and their assistance in developing this work and preparing it for publication.

References in this document to historical sites, actions and persons have been utilized for entertainment purposes. Modern characters are entirely fictional. Any similarity to any individual, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Note: the picture of the author on the back cover was taken by MaryEllen Marnien at one of the few remaining places in the Commonwealth of Virginia where nothing of historical importance ever happened before now.

During the preparation of this work I had the privilege of visiting the plantation where General Stonewall Jackson died. I appreciated the opportunity to pray for Mr. Jacksons eternal peaceful repose at what had been the deathbed of this great American General.

My name is Jess, but anyone can call me Jesse if they prefer. I answer to either one. My identity truly doesnt matter very much in this tale. The narrative is not about me. I really dont have a great deal to do at all with the saga that I am about to relate. The story is actually about my friend Nate Hortinbey and the events that he told me had happened to him and to his closest friend, Jim Grottenbottom.

I would leave it up to Nate to tell the story himself, but if I know Nate he will never get around to it. I believe that some part of what has been going on may actually be considered to have a degree of historic significance. It may eventually even be understood as being notable on a national level. Someone ought to let others know what has been occurring and I guess that, under the circumstances, it will have to be me.

My account concerns a device that was developed by a mutual friend of Nate and me, Jim Grottenbottom. In time it included Nates sister, Sarah, and me, but Im getting ahead of myself.

It would be best if one had a little bit of knowledge about Nate and Jim before getting too involved in any narrative of what I am certain anyone would consider to be very strange events.

Both Nate and Jim are bachelors. I wouldnt say that they have remained unattached by choice. They are always just too busy with things that are important, at least to themselves, to permit either of them to get romantically involved with anyone to any serious degree. Actually, Jim does kind of have a thing for Nates sister Sarah, but I wont discuss that at the moment.

Throughout the years Nates and Jims lives were continually, if accidentally, intertwined. None of the circumstances which drew them together had actually been planned or intended.

Nate and Jim had originally met each other in grade school. No matter what they did individually, they constantly wound up in the same classes.

Jim thought, essentially hoped, that things would change when they graduated from grade school and went on to high school. Regardless of Jims desires, he found himself once more in the same school with Nate and yet again sharing the same classes with Nate.

The only time that Hortinbey and Grottenbottom were separated during their day at school involved their participation in extracurricular activities. Jim took part in them and Nate did not.

Jim took part in a number of sports and other extramural activities and Nate was ardent about avoiding every sort of supplementary activity, including gym class.

After they completed their high school experience, they learned that they had quite accidentally matriculated to the same college. However, they finally no longer shared the same classes. Jim was working toward a degree in science and Nate was pursuing a degree in accounting.

Nates interest in accounting was not because he was particularly fond of that area of study. He just couldnt identify anything that actually did interest him. Nevertheless, Nate realized that he would need to obtain a degree in something if he was ultimately going to have any reasonable professional occupation.

Nate did not look forward to ever having to actually do any sort of work after graduation if he could avoid it. The prospect of more or less just counting things appeared to be at least a tolerable area of expertise for him to pursue.

Nates father had always hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps and become a history teacher or a historian. He had tried all of the time while Nate and Sarah were growing up to interest his children in the subject of history. He finally had to accept that neither Nate nor Sarah would be going into the field of endeavor that he had wished that they would. Sarah was at least studying anthropology, which is, in a way related to the study of history.

Accounting? Nates father could not understand why Nate was interested in taking up a career in the area of accounting. His sons explanation that it was something that a man could do without having to go outside didnt help him appreciate Nates choice of a profession.

It was during Nates and Jims college days that I made their acquaintance. Eventually I had befriended Nate, Jim and Nates sister, Sarah. She was three years younger than Nate. However, she had skipped two years while going through school. Sarah had gone directly from fourth grade to sixth grade and then from ninth grade to eleventh grade. The result was that she was only a year behind us in college despite our difference in age.

The four of us did not attend any of the same class sessions. We didnt belong to any of the same organizations or share any interest in the same campus clubs or extramural activities.

However, what we did enjoy a common interest in was eating and parties. In the long run, the lunches, dinners and parties that we participated in became very important to all of us.