many people knew much about them.”
“Right, well, by the time I was born computers were so common everyone had one and knew how to use them as easily as they did the telephone in your time. By that way, we also had what was called cellular phones, or cell phones for short.
“I’ve read about t his a lot and from what I can see, the computers started out very large. They could fill a huge room. They got smaller and smaller over the years and by the time I was born they were about the size of the palm of my hand.
“They were making them even smaller by the t ime I died which was the year 24 25 at the age of 97.”
“Wow! You lived to be 97? What did you die of?”
She laughed again, “I crashed my skywheel.”
“You crashed your what?”
She was giggling now, “It’s a vehicle that goes through the air although they don’t seem to have them anymore. I don’t know why. They were so much more efficient than your automobile.”
I wanted to hear so much more from her but just then I heard Joe call from down the hillside that he was coming up.
He smiled at me as he came inside and I felt as turned on as when he had put his palm on my cheek.
“We’re not done yet,” Irene told Joe. “Why don’t you go on back and let Ashley spend the night here?”
I was torn between going back with Joe and being with him alone during the trip back, and staying and hearing more of Irene’s story.
They sat looking at me and I realized they were waiting for me to make up my mind.
As tempting as being with Joe was, I chose to stay with Irene even though it meant sleeping in a cave. I had never even camped out before.
I walked Joe to the entrance of the cave and he took my hand and turned it over and lightly touched my wrist and I felt chills run over my body and I actually gasped.
He smiled and left without a word. I regretted my decision for a few seconds until the chills went away and Irene called me back into the cave.
CHAPTER FOUR
Irene looked like she was meditating again but when I came close she opened her eyes and said, “I know, I would have wanted him in my day too.”
“Do you know how he does that? I wish he was a normal man without those implants. I’d like to see what he looks like with long hair and a pair of bellbottom jeans,”
She laughed, “You want a hippie. I sn’t that what they were called?”
I shrugged, “I suppose so. But he doesn’t need to have hair and wear jeans to attract me. I’ve never wanted a man so badly in my life.”
“Okay, where were we?” she asked.
“You were telling me about your flying saucer.”
“My skywheel, yes. I feel very lucky. I got to see many changes take place during my lifetime. I can remember ground vehicles when I was a child but they were impractical. You had to have roads which took up space .
“I got my first skywheel when I was 17 and boy was I excited. I couldn’t wait to take it up.”
“How did you keep from running into each other? What kind of fuel did it use? I have so many questions.”
“I can see that. No fuel was needed or available. The oil fields had been depleted before I was born but I’ve read about them. The smoke and pollution from the refineries almost destroyed the atmosphere.
“From what I read in ancient history books, the generations before mine almost destroyed itself with chemicals, wars, and every kind of pollution it could invent. It was almost as if they tried to think up everything they could to see how strong they were.”
“But, there had to be some source of energy that got the thing in the air,” I said.
“I can’t explain this part very well because I’m not very scientific, but from what