Excerpt from Chapter 3 of The Final Incarnation

It is three years later in Pensacola Florida. A daycare worker is writing a report on a special child. “Donovan Wesley Parker is a bright and gifted child of three years old,” she wrote into the company computer. “He learns fast. He already knows the alphabet and appears to understand vowels. He has a large vocabulary for a child his age. He has an imagination and makes up words. He also has an advanced drawing ability.” She scanned a detailed drawing of a woman standing next to an arched window looking over a seascape. It had a caption of words she assumed to be made up words. “Moja ljubav Renata,” it said. “The child can spell his name and has an understanding of words. The gibberish he wrote must be an expression of his imagination.” –Mary K. Haralson She finished the report and went back into the daycare area. She was preparing each child for their parents to pick them up. In Donovan’s case his foster parents. He was in his third foster home. His mother shifted him from one foster home to the next with occasional visits. His father died in prison and he never knew him. Mary was going over previous reports of her children and her cell phone rang. “Hello,” she said. “I’m reviewing reports may I call you back?” “This is David and this call is official. Is the child prodigy still there?” “The children went home twenty minutes ago. I have no idea what you mean.” “I was going over your daily report and the child’s drawing caught my eye. The drawing is sharp detail. The kid is a prodigy.” “He is gifted but I don’t understand the lettering. He can spell his name. Why would he write down random letters?” “This is just it. They’re not random letters. It’s Croatian.” “Croatian? How would a three year old learn Croatian? Are you sure?” “Yes. It is striking. It translates to Renata my love. This isn’t all. The dress the woman is wearing is sixteenth century Croatian. The bow of the ship outside the window is of a square rig sailing ship of the same era.” “Okay. What do we plan to do?” “You go along as usual. Do not contact anyone on this. A thing like this will attract attention.” “Of course. You must have something in mind?” “I do. I’ll contact someone who is experienced in these things. I’ll set-up a meeting between he and his mother.” “Okay. It’s business as usual until I hear from you.” “You got it. Thanks Mary.” In the City of Vicksburg at a table in a casino Paul Mitchell’s cell phone rang. “Hello David,” he said. “We are getting ready for a gig. And also waiting for Tommy and Thelma’s granddaughter.” “Really? Those guys look like they just graduated high school.” “They are well preserved. How may I help?” “You guys are into paranormal research and investigation.” “We are called UFO Chasers and we’ve run into a ghost or two in our investigations.” “Very good. One of our Child Monitors discovered something interesting with one of our child clients in our daycare. He is a three year old by the name of Donovan Parker” “This is a little different from our experience. We don’t usually work with children.” “I realize this. The strangeness about this makes me reluctant to share the evidence with just anyone.” “This sounds familiar. What evidence do you have?” “It’s a drawing the boy made in remarkable detail. It is of a woman of around sixteenth century Croatia. She’s standing next to an arched window overlooking a harbor with a ship’s bow in the background. It has words inscribed on it in Croatian.” “You have my attention. Could you text the image to me? I speak a little Croatian.” Claire was sitting next to Paul when the image appeared. “Oh, it is a lovely drawing.” Claire said. “Hmmm. It says Renata my love.” “How unusual can it be?” “It was drawn by a three year old boy.” She looked at it with more enthusiasm. “Yes. You’ve discovered something. You’re right it’s not a good idea to tell anyone. We will finish our gig and meet you sometime next week.” “Perfect. I’ll speak to his mother and have Mary there because they know him better than anyone.” “Very good. See you then.”