THE VISION EXPERIMENTS

By John P. Cardone

All speech pathologist, Dr. Melissa Speyer hoped for, was to help her pediatric patient Jason overcome his speech and language difficulties. Instead, she finds herself on a journey where seeing into the future brings new meaning to having a vision. All while her partner, Professor William Clarkson finds himself caught between his lov

• Language: English
• Publisher: Waterviews Arts
• Release date: Jul 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781736889251

John P. Cardone

John P. Cardone retired in December 2018 after 40 years as a writer/producer of patient education, medical education, and health promotion videos. His company, Hospital Video Network, Inc. founded in 1984 served a long list of healthcare and business clients. These days, he actively spends his time inspiring people to get outdoors with nature. John is an author, a nature photographer, a wildlife photography instructor, and a lecturer on nature topics. John grew up in Astoria, NY moving to Long Island, NY after his military service in 1970. John is proud to say he is the founder of the Long Island Authors Group and a two-time cancer survivor. This entertaining work is his sixth book, and his third foray into nonfiction. To learn more about John, his books, and his nature work, visit his website. www.WaterviewsBook.com

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Author’s Notes:

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, incidences, and plot are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Where reference is made to an actual historic character or event, it is offered in the spirit of entertainment. The author makes no claim to the historical accuracy of any part of this work.

If this book was a work of non-fiction, there would be a good number of pages containing resource and reference details. However, since it is a work of fiction, these details, except for their importance as entertainment, are irrelevant. Since it is not a scholarly work, historical accuracy is not a goal. Although, on occasion, an exaggeration is made to enhance the storyline and the book’s entertainment value.

The author feels compelled to mention that to find the details pertaining to historical characters or events, a number of computer search engines and on-line resources were utilized.

Cover photo, graphics and design by the author, John P. Cardone

All images of the ancient symbols, noted figures, and historical characters in the middle section of this book have been thoroughly researched for copyright ownership. Any reader interested in more details will find the appropriate links and sources described on pages 180-181. The author cannot be faulted for any variation or representation.

Copyright © 2021 by John P. Cardone

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Published by: Waterviews Arts

ISBN (paperback) 978-1-7368892-4-4

ISBN (eBook) 978-1-7368892-5-1

To order additional copies of this book contact the author:

[e-mail]

This book is dedicated to my wife Kathleen. Who has been a wonderful life partner, and also an invaluable care partner during the times I was sick and fighting cancer. If it was not for Kathy, this book probably would never have been finished.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter One

2: Los Angeles

3: New York City

4: Water Mill, Long Island

5: Oxford, England

6: Los Angeles

7: Hampton Bays, Long Island

8: New York City

9: London, England

10: Southampton, NY

Chapter Two

2

3

4

5

6

Chapter Three

2: New York City

3: Southampton, NY

4: New York City

5: Los Angeles

6: Los Angeles

7: New York City

8: Southampton, NY

Chapter Four

2: Southampton

3: New York City

4: Southampton, NY

5: Los Angeles

6: Southampton, NY

Chapter Five

2: Southampton, NY

3: Los Angeles

4: Southampton, NY

5: Los Angeles

6: Southampton, NY

7: New York City

8: Southampton, NY

Chapter Six

2: Southampton, NY

3: Los Angeles

4: Southampton, NY

5: Los Angeles

6: Southampton, NY

Chapter Seven

2: Southampton, NY

Epilogue

Images And Copyright

Other Fiction Books

Other Non-Fiction Books

Nature Photography

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

They say that writing is a solitary task. In my case, several years of thinking through matters, talking out loud, and putting ideas down on paper. That is, until the point is reached when a story is born. Then, the real hard part comes—the review and editing. I can only hope that every author is as fortunate as I am to have friends and associates willing to help. In the book writing industry, they’re called beta-readers because they are the first to read, review, and try out the work. Their contributions come in many forms: sometimes with the needed encouragement, other times with creative suggestions, and still other times to point out errors. So, thank you Ryan, Linda, Jeff, Kathy, and Bette for your feedback and willingness to give your opinion on the questions asked. Then there is my long-time friend Nick Gabriel, a retired law enforcement officer, who in addition to a review of the police procedures, found serious problems concerning years, centuries, and compass headings—errors within the text that no one else spotted. Thank you.

A special thank you to Russ Moran, a friend and fellow author who took on the task of first editor. His manuscript corrections were spot-on, including his insights on grammar, punctuation, and word usage. To my friend David Axelrod, thank you for listening and discussing with me some of the historical references I used. David mentioned I might want to read up on the Oracle of Delphi, which turned out to be an important reference in the story. Interestingly, years ago, I had a conversation with my friend Walter Hughes about the main character in my story using eye drops that caused her to have visions. We then agreed it might not have been the first time this occurred in history. Funny thing, that discussion led me to the idea behind this story.

Another special thank you goes out to James Osborne, who agreed to provide the major book editing, bringing the writing level to where we both wanted it to be. No one appreciates the importance of a thorough proofreading to ensure the book is error-free as much as I do.

Meanwhile, back at home, a loving thank you to my wife Kathy who showed her true patience listening and reading before anyone else did. I also wanted to mention that a fair amount of research and outlining this story occurred during the time I was a patient in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC. For the three weeks I was there, working on Visions filled the time and gave me something to keep my mind away from negative thoughts. The nurses assigned to my care, angels all of them, provided me with extraordinary care—saving my life for sure.

INTRODUCTION

I believe most everyone has some topic or subject that fascinates them. The fascination can be fleeting, or it could become a life-long passion. It could be a hobby or something that grows into a successful business. Maybe it is something to ponder; thinking long and hard when you have an opportunity to do so. Or, maybe, you share your interest with friends or family and create a discussion on the topic or subject.

One of my own fascinations is the concept of the fountain of youth. Imagine, just by simply drinking the waters from the magical fountain you become young. As a writer, I created a fictional story incorporating this fascination with the idea, what if there was a medication that would work like the fountain of youth—and reverse the aging process. It was a lot of fun to write. The book is called, Without Consent.

Another fascination I have is the idea, that some people go through life accomplishing or mastering very little; while others go through life and accomplish great things in politics, military campaigns, sports, science, medicine, the arts, or in business. And I wonder why, why this difference between individuals exists—what makes it so? And yet, the history books are full of famous people who made something happen or achieved greatness in their lives. So, I decided to write about this idea and include fictitious characters and events, along with ones that are true, in a new book.

In The Vision Experiments, a young doctor, a pediatric speech pathologist, uses eye drop medication for an eye infection and for some unknown reason, ends up having visions involving the people in her life. I invented several instances where she used the drops and saw into people’s futures. In one particular case, she uses the drops to aid one of her young patients by seeing a medical complication that had eluded them for years. And then, the story grew, what if it wasn’t the first time in history that this occurred. What if famous well-known people had used eye drops or an eye ointment and were able to see into the future to help them with their accomplishments.

I created a fictitious group of characters in the story who are researching this concept and finding connections in select historical figures. The leader, a wealthy individual, starts to experiment with different formulas to try and replicate a way for someone to see into the future. However, things go wrong, and the experiments lead to murders of innocent people. That’s when law enforcement comes into play and investigates what is going on.

As someone who likes history, it was enjoyable for me to research famous people throughout time to try and add them into the story plot. I learned a great deal going back to the days of the ancient Egyptians, through the years including modern day characters. For example, have you ever wondered how the great pyramids were built? It was a fantastic feat of engineering considering they had no power tools and no way to transport the huge stones to the desert construction sites. What about Alexander the Great; how did he conquer most of the world without the benefit of satellite communications, or modern weapons? What if he had a way to see into the future to discover how to do it? That’s one of the premises of this new book, The Vision Experiments.

And besides, I thought it would be great fun to take famous characters from history and to show there was a twist to their success—of course those twists are fictitious. In some cases, the twist is closer to the truth than in other cases. Alexandra the Great really did have seers who guided him, but Dr. Jonas Salk, did not have mystical help, and he reached his discovery through hard work and experimentation.

As the writer of this fictional account, it was not my intention to discredit, or minimize the accomplishments of the characters borrowed from the history books. On the contrary, I found great merit in what they had done, and in most cases, their hard work and devotion to their passions were of great benefit to mankind. I was happy to be able to recount their achievements and add to the reader’s knowledge about the importance of what these historical characters managed to do—to affect history in amazing and profound ways.

My goal in writing this book was to create an entertaining tome for people who like to read a good story that touches on interesting historical events. I hope you enjoy the story’s premise, its main characters, as well as the noteworthy, featured locations.

Life is infinitely stranger than

the mind of man could invent.

Sherlock Homes

CHAPTER ONE

Oxford, England

As his open hand slid along the stone and mortar of the wall, William Clarkson smiled inwardly—his suspicions were confirmed. The wall not only felt cold to the touch, it felt very, very old. As he stepped back, he was astounded at the sights before him. William was standing inside the Chapel of the New College in Oxford, England as a child might appear in a toy store—eyes glazed and wide open. As the tour guide, half bent over with age, continued his discourse on the history of the fourteen-century building, William felt a special excitement within him. He loved it all, the history, the amazing architecture, and most of all, the significance of being inside a structure that was built nearly seven hundred years ago.

Ahem. Here within the Chapel, you begin to understand the importance that was placed on religion during those olden times, the tour guide continued as William stepped forward to rejoin the small group of dignitaries visiting Oxford. "This magnificent Chapel was the most inspirational of the New College’s original buildings, and it included a permanent choir to provide emotional support and to enliven its worship. By doing so, the founder, the Bishop of Winchester, placed the services of God at the heart of college life. Ahem. And it continues this way during modern days, as the Chapel and Choir community carry out the same traditions. Now, let’s move out through the doors there and up the stone stairs to the Great Hall.

This Hall, as you’re about to see, is the largest of the college halls, being able to seat two hundred students and fellows. Now, while we are here in the Great Hall, let me mention the New College’s motto. ‘Manners Makyth Man’ and I should point out that at the time, the motto was written in English, rather than the customary Latin, which of course, made it very unusual in Oxford. But more than that, the motto also makes a social statement. At first glance you might think it suggests that it is beneficial to have good manners, however there is more to this motto than that. Ahem. It really means that it is not by birth, money, or property that an individual is defined, but in how a person behaves towards other people.

William Clarkson closed his eyes for a moment and let those words sink in as their guide continued with the tour. He was, after all, not always fond of the way he treated other people, especially in his line of work. William had been to Europe numerous times, with many stops in England along the way, but this was his first visit to Oxford, and he was enjoying every second of it. He was simply amazed at the history of Oxford University, and was especially pleased with what he had learned about the various colleges he toured. Hearing its meaning and history, the New College quickly became his favorite.

Actually, as the tour guide had explained, the New College was anything but new. Oxford University is not one school, it consists of many colleges. In reality, the New College was the first undergraduate college at Oxford, and contrary to what its name implied, it was among the oldest of the colleges. Founded in the year 1379, it was the second college dedicated in the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As a result, it was referred to back then as the New College of St. Mary, and eventually, the name was shortened to just the New College. Originally, the role of the college was to educate new clergy due to the large number of deaths among the priests from the plague, the Black Death.

Visiting the New College wasn’t Professor Clarkson’s main purpose on this trip abroad. His mission was at Oxford, but not to tour the various colleges, this was for his own amusement. His main reason for traveling to Oxford was to work on his research at the Museums and Libraries of the University. He was most excited about his scheduled appointment with James Wells, the senior archivist at The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology. Everywhere he turned at Oxford, he came face to face with history, and each new moment of his trip was more exciting than the last. The Ashmolean was Britain’s first public museum, and one of the world’s oldest. William felt honored to soon be within such a historic institution.

It was only a month ago that the New York research team had traced the writings of Oliver Cromwell to the Ashmolean and it was during this trip to Oxford that William was to seek the real truth. Was Cromwell among those very fortunate ones able to have a vision of the future? Did he have a connection to the group, and was he a part of what they believed to be a secret order, the order of the All-Seeing Eye that seemingly passed along the way of the future? How else could Cromwell envision the politics of England and have such a clear understanding of what was to become of England, its church, and the English Royalty? Ironically, Cromwell never attended Oxford—he graduated from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge—Oxford’s lifelong rival.

For the last six months, the research team had uncovered evidence involving a group of famous individuals; politicians, inventors, scientists, composers, artists, and even a world conqueror. The evidence showed a connection between their individual accomplishments and the symbols found among their work. These included, an ancient Egyptian symbol The Eye of Horus, and during the Renaissance, the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye. Their research work led all the way to modern times, with notes found among a businesswoman and a scientist.

Professor William Clarkson was, without a doubt, in love. In love with his work and the excitement of what was, in his mind, the possibility of altering the world in every possible way. At least that was the promise before them. Yes, there would be immediate benefits to their discovery, but he was in it for the long haul.

Clarkson was highly educated. He had attended Penn State, studying philosophy as an undergraduate and earning a master’s in psychology. Throughout his