by Jared Ravens
So
So…
“Well…”
Genesee adjust his glasses. The recounting of the events had lead him back into the same head space. The trauma of it all had not yet settled.
Take your time.
The room Goetz had provided was wood paneled lounge, handsomely groomed with leather furniture and a blazing fire. Outside the windows snow gently fluttered down to the grounds of a field. To Genesee it felt like he was in the middle of nowhere. It was pleasant. He sat down on the end of a couch.
“Martel picked up the child. I couldn’t move. I didn’t know what to do. I mean, I didn’t know that was possible.”
Nor did I.
“I thought only Celia had that capability. And that she was lying about it, maybe. Obviously not. But. Her daughter, and that girl?”
Yes.
“Did you know about that?”
No.
“The girl and Waring and all, that part of it?”
No.
“Then what was he talking about when he said he was asked to do it by a higher power?”
I don’t know.
“Hmmmm.”
This world continually surprises even me. The seed that was planted to create it grows in mysterious ways.
They both sat in the silence, dumbfounded.
“Sigma?”
No, but funny that you bring that up. When all of that was happening, I felt something.
“Sigma did something?”
Yes, the mountain moved. It opened its eyes. I felt it.
“How fascinating.”
Even Sigma thought it was so fascinating that it had to watch.
“Absolutely.”
Continue.
“Martel took the baby the whole way back. We don’t really know what to do with it.”
When the time comes, I believe it will let you know.
“Well, if its really her, then I have no doubt.”
It is her.
“So she didn’t die, and because of that we don’t have to worry about anything crazy happening, perception-wise.”
Perhaps not. Not yet.
“So it is Celia…”
It seems like its another version of her. She was tired, just like we were tired. Something had to change.
“That happened for sure.”
What of Vivian?
“Oh, I only spoke to her briefly. She said she was glad it worked and the world did not cave in on itself.”
A good thing she is careful.
Genesee chuckled at this. Goetz was not normally one to crack a joke in times like these.
Where did they go?
“Who?”
Vivian and the boy and girl.
“Oh, they went off together, all three. The boy, Dani, and the girl. They were all, obviously, very confused about what was going on. Different, of course. I myself could not think at that moment so a lot of questions I might have asked I didn’t. But it seemed what Waring did worked. Wherever he got the authority to do it, he did do it.”
Its unnatural.
“Agreed. He confessed he did not like doing it, but only in this case. It was also very difficult to do. I must say I am glad for both of them, the girl and Dani. They will be good for each other.”
You let them go?
“Of course. I had no need of them. They earned their freedom.” He pinched his lip and thought. “After that, the Mainrifts were very quiet. All the way home. Theo and his wife… I do feel sorry for them, as difficult as they can be to put up with some times. They lost a daughter and had to watch someone else be brought back to life. And they lost Celia, her mother. My, its just a mess, isn’t it?”
Much less so, now.
“You are right, as always.”
And the child? How do you get along with it?
“Very well. It… Celia, if that is what she wants to be called, is very calm and quiet. It’s just unusual. She was once my wife, now she’s my daughter. Or sister. Or adapted child.”
Are you lonely?
“Not at all.”
He smiled a little and put his and to his chin.
“Sigma woke up for a moment,” he said in wonder. “I wonder what it thought.”
Above
He hadn’t known he had died. He had felt a sting and then he was watching from above. He floated high above himself, without anxiety and with no pain. It played out before him as he floated upwards, his eyes zooming in and out to each player on the field. He didn’t see himself as a part of it but he didn’t see himself as away from it, either. He was some piece of everyone there.
Enjoying yourself?
“Oh!” He was startled and looked up. There wasn’t anything there, but if he squinted he could see the outline of something. He looked around. It seemed he was above everything, looking at the world upside down as if through a piece of glass. All the land and mountain spread before him like a three dimensional map. He looked below him. He was standing on something black and slick. The map was the ceiling above him.
“I hadn’t noticed where I was.”
He looked at his body. It was the same as he remembered but clean, without wounds. He didn’t feel anything when he touched it.
Its all right. I want you to be comfortable.
Something sparked down below. A bright line came zooming up towards them. Its velocity was so quick that Fairfax thought it would hit them. Then it stuck in the glass above them, cracking it. A flash a light blew down to the land below in a sharp symmetrical line.
Fairfax saw this instinctively as a problem and he floated up, towards the crack. With only the lightest touch he pushed the arrow out of the crack, letting it fall down/up to the ground. He pulled the crack together and it disappeared.
“That was something,” Fairfax said.
You’re telling me.
“I thought…. What am I doing here?”
You think you’re supposed to be somewhere else.
“Down there, or below there. Yeah.”
You were invited up here. You accepted. We’ve been anxious for you to come here.
“You’re the ones in my dreams, right?”
Always.
“The one behind that other person.”
Goetz.
“What about Sigma?”
Sigma is our child. It is resting.
“Oh, wow. And you wanted me?”
This was the plan that came together for everyone. Its been tried many times before but never successfully. There was a desire for change from many, including you. This was the easiest way to make it happen.
“Wow.” He felt like two different people. He felt more coming on. “A lot’s happened.”
We know.
“I don’t have to go meet Waring or anything, like what they said in school.”
Waring would not have you. And you knew instinctively there was something else.
He felt a smile from it. In the darkness he felt comfort.
“Wow,” he said. “Up here in the sky.”
There is no sky, but yes, in what you see as the sky.
Fairfax nodded. He didn’t seem to have a neck any more, but he had a face.
“What do you we do next?”
That’s the wonderful thing. There’s always more to do.
The Next Point Forward
Waring stood on the banks of the dark lake, looking at the faithful procession of spirits making their way out into the distance. The mist swallowed them whole, enveloping them into the great unknown. He sighed in relief and exhaustion.
“A well completed day,” he said with satisfaction to the long faced man beside him. “Not quite like any other.”
The long faced man looked at him, as inquisitive as he could possible look with his blank face, but said nothing. Waring continued to stare into he distance, noticing the image of a rotund warrior with a sly smile and a small girl. The walk in mimicked steps with each other through the water.
“What do you think of that?” He said p
roudly. “See, death is not so bad. Its a relief. They’ll never be happier.”
To his other side the large, translucent figure did not react. It was still as a painting, moving only subtly. Its grotesque features seemed almost peaceful.
“You know that better than I,” Waring told it. “I can say it but I don’t live it. But it it is time to go back, my friend. I held you too long. Its time to live again."
Bautomet looked at him, its dim understanding reflected in its eyes.
“I’ll have a new friend soon. Its time, its time.”
Bautomet looked away and walked calmly into the warm water, moving towards the man and girl, its body melting into the mist and into their images. In time, there was nothing but a cloud that Waring could see.