Lining either side of every staircase, the entire distance up the mountain, were separate banistered walkways that jutted out from the mountain into open air to connect with a front door of a home. It was clear to see that this was how the people got to their houses. Like the crush of people on the ground, it looked like a thick mess of staircases and walkways at first glance but upon further inspection everything was gorgeously organized and positioned with clear design. No, none of this was haphazard. Everything was right where it should’ve been, the only place it could’ve been to make all this possible. Sam watched the people as they went about their lives, entering and exiting their homes, climbing and descending the many staircases, entering and exiting the many archways down below. There was no verbal communication going on but there was an air of contentment, even happiness, that pervaded the atmosphere. No one seemed to be burdened beyond their limits, no one mired in poverty as so many were in the real world. There were bright smiles and joyous laughter everywhere. Everyone seemed happy just to be a productive part of the whole. Like so many other things lately, it forced Sam to acknowledge that Dr. Crangler’s dream, however scary and overextended it might seem, did appear to be the best way.
In that moment, Sam was wisped away from the image of the tower. He opened his eyes and found himself still in the doctor’s living room. Even with the light streaming in through the gaping holes in the ceiling it was a depressingly dark and dismal scene compared to what he’d just beheld. It made his heart drop to be reminded that the world of the tower was not a reality. “Now you’re beginning to understand.” Dr. Crangler said “But the reality is closer than you think.” The doctor sat silently for a moment, “Now, shall we discuss the matter of your female acquaintance?”
Female acquaintance? Sam thought. That’s right, he had originally come here to scold the Doctor about Julia. Somehow, it seemed like a trivial matter now. After witnessing that tower, he probably would’ve forgotten it altogether had not the Doctor reminded him. He wasn’t sure he wanted to discuss it, anymore. “Well, then…” Dr. Crangler said, as a smile played upon lips, “let us discuss the real business at hand.”
Real business? “Yes, my son. You have come here for one reason, but I have called you here that you may behold the beginning of the future of our once primitive race.” Dr. Crangler opened his mind again and it was filled with yet another image. Not an image, this was real, Sam could tell, though he didn’t know exactly how he could tell. The scene he saw was one of mass movement and purpose, though not nearly as organized as the tower he’d seen already. Men and woman, boys and girls, of every race and walk of life loaded building materials onto ships, into vehicles, even onto planes. Sam reached out with his mind and this time he was able to hear what they thought—they were all headed toward his city to begin construction on a city the likes of which the world had never seen. It would be a city that was also a magnificent tower larger than a mountain. The entire world was coming to Sam’s own mountain, to turn it into a miracle of telepathic coordination. It had already begun!
“The first of them, along with their materials, will arrive by early morning.” Dr. Crangler said. “There is no time left for trivial pursuits.”—Sam understood that the doctor was speaking of Julia—“But,” he said tentatively “you should return to the pond at the base of your mountain by tonight, because tomorrow morning, the world will change forever.”
Sam rose from his seat to leave. He decided that he would visit the pond as the Doctor had prescribed. He had a great deal to mull over and the pond was the best place he could think of to do it. He began to take a step toward the door when a question crossed his mind. What had happened to the children? The Doctor immediately opened his mind and showed him that they were both buried in shallow graves not far from the house. The Doctor also showed him their last hours. Both of their young bodies had wasted away to skin and bones. Both of them were all but literal skeletons before they were put into the ground. Then, the doctor also showed Sam the other reality in which the children lived right up until their final breaths, the reality that he had created for them inside their own minds. There they played and ate and were full and happy right up until the darkness took them. As Sam left the house he was more convinced than ever that the path the doctor had chosen for them was the best one. They certainly were granted an opportunity that the vast majority of their contemporaries would never have. It was the opportunity to die happy.
CHAPTER 21
As Sam walked through the city on his way back to his mountain it was as if he were wandering through a dream. He felt as if he had experienced a lifetime’s worth of information in the hours he had spent with the doctor. It was the middle of the day now and more people were out and about on the streets. More people were watching from the windows and doorways of their homes as well. Whether rich or poor, every part of the city was up and in full swing now. Even with so many more eyes and ears around, still no one saw or heard Sam. When he arrived at the base of his mountain he walked past the guard booths without a second glance and the guards allowed him to pass without a first glance. He headed for the pond. When he noticed Julia there, sitting in her favorite spot and in her favorite position, he was glad he had come.
“Hello, Sam.” Julia sad without turning. Sam hadn’t realized that he’d come close enough for her to hear his footsteps. For a tense moment, he thought that perhaps she’d developed telepathic abilities. It certainly wouldn’t have been any stranger than some of the other things he had experienced today. “I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.” Julia continued. Well, Sam thought, that proved that she had not in fact suddenly been endowed with telepathic abilities. Then the realization that Julia apparently had hoped to see him again, hit him. Could it be so? Did she really feel the same way about him as he did about her?
Sam’s heart sank. It should’ve lifted his spirits to think that Julia might reciprocate his feelings of affection, but that only made the blow worse when he remembered that it was not possible for the two of them to have a meaningful relationship. The Doctor had already explained that Sam’s destiny was never to have normal, and he believed it. He was sure his father would’ve agreed, if not exactly for the same reasons as Dr. Crangler. Either way, he could never hope to share an intimate relationship with Julia, he could never hope to do teenage things with her, he could never hope to have her in his life in that way. Not if he expected the world to survive what was to come. But as he stood there watching her, longing for her, it was exactly that unreasonable pressure that drove him forward. With every step he took his mind knew he was making a mistake. His mind knew that he was only setting himself up for an inevitable heartbreak, and he had experienced enough of those for a lifetime. His mind knew all this, but it was not his mind that drove his feet forward. It was his heart.
“What are you doing here?” he asked as he lowered himself to the ground beside Julia. As soon as it was out of his mouth he grimaced. It didn’t sound to him like the most inviting question, but it was what he most wanted to know. “The last time I saw you…”
“About that…” Julia interrupted “I understand if you won’t do what I asked.” she lowered her voice to nearly a whisper. She sounded as if she were ashamed, “It was wrong for me to just throw that on your like I did.”
Sam put a hand on Julia’s bare arm. Such a simple touch, but it was electrifying, the feel of her soft smooth skin beneath his. It was the very first time he had ever touched a woman, and this was a gorgeously flawless young woman. It inspired a very particular warmth inside Sam that he thought he could’ve enjoyed for a lifetime. It was even more exciting because Julia didn’t flinch away. In fact, unless Sam was mistaken, she moved her arm in closer to his gentle touch. Emboldened, he let his hand remain upon her arm as he continued, “Julia, I would give you anything you asked. Anything.” He sighed deeply, “If only I could.”
She turned towards him slowly. When their met eyes, he was tempted to look away, but he didn’t. There was
a pleading there, in her large hazel eyes, as if she were drowning and wondering why he would not extend a hand to save her. “Everyone says all the time that you can do anything. They say you saved the world!” There was a rising anger in her voice now. She turned away again, as Sam finally removed his hand. When she next spoke, the anger was gone and the brokenness had returned, “You saved the world… why won’t you save me?”
Sam exhaled. “You’ve seen my house. You’ve sat with me on my front porch. Whatever everyone else thinks, you know that I’m just a person, nothing more.” But even as Sam said it, he could see the flaw in his argument. He had taken her to his house—a literal mansion alone atop a mountaintop—and she had sat upon his porch with him—where she beheld sights that were literally far above anything anyone still on the ground in the city could ever hope to behold. If anything, Sam might’ve unwittingly substantiated the belief that he was somehow more than a mere mortal by taking Julia to his lofty domicile. But he had been certain that Julia was unimpressed by all she’d seen. It was one of the things that endeared her to him the most. Had he been mistaken? Had he managed to strengthen the lie that he was a god and not simply a supremely confused young man, wandering from experience to experience, hoping against hope that one day it would all make sense?
By the look in Julia’s eyes it appeared that he had. Finally, she sighed heavily, herself. “Figures.” She said softly. “Nothing else in my life works right, why should you?”
It was a good sign. No one who thought Sam was a god would talk to him like that. Still, it wasn’t exactly flattering. It made a part of Sam wish he did have god-like, or at least Dr. Crangler-like powers, just to prove Julia wrong. But he didn’t, so he couldn’t. “I can’t make your parents love you,” Sam said, placing his hand back lightly upon Julia’s arm, “but I can love you.” He had no idea where that had come from. Why in the world would he say something like that! Julia must think he was crazy. He certainly felt that way. When Julia turned quickly and looked up sharply into his face, he braced himself for the disaster that must follow. Instead, Julia buried her face in his chest and started sobbing violently. For a long while, Sam couldn’t move for the shock he felt. It was as if his entire world had been turned completely upside down. Again. What brought him back to his senses was the thought that perhaps he was being rude by letting Julia sob so pitifully and not try to comfort her.
Slowly, cautiously, he wrapped his arms around her. Her shaking grew more violent and he drew his arms in closer, hugging her to himself in earnest. Finally, her trembling began to calm. He began to loosen his embrace, but she put her hands upon his arms. She didn’t want him to let go. Sam smiled a full, broad smile. He didn’t want to let go, either. The moments passed by sweetly with her tightly enfolded in his arms. He didn’t care that a large portion of his shirt was soaked through with the tears she shed. In this moment he didn’t care about anything except Julia herself. It felt as if the sweet moments might last into eternity but even now, even here, Sam knew that they wouldn’t. When Julia finally dislodged herself she quickly wiped her face. Sam took her hand before she could wipe her face completely and kissed the salty wetness still upon her fingers. Julia smiled herself, but her smile turned gradually into a grimace. “How can you love me, when my own parents don’t love me?”
“I don’t know your parents, Julia, but it’s hard to believe that they don’t love you.” she opened her mouth to speak, but Sam continued, “What I do know is that I love you.” The declaration didn’t seem so crazy the second time and Sam realized why. He really did love this woman. He had seen inside of her, he had beheld something of her hopes and dreams, as well as her fears. He had seen the Julia behind the façade and he had liked what he’d seen. He knew from reading the minds of so many of the townspeople that it took other people years upon years of relationship to get behind the ruse that nearly everyone preferred to reality. That was if they were lucky. Once they saw beyond that ruse, most people shied away from the brutal reality that waited there. Not Sam. Not with Julia. He saw her insecurity, he saw her brokenness, he saw that she was as confused and lost as he was. Far from scaring him off, that lost-ness gave him hope. It gave him hope that perhaps they could embrace their wandering lost-ness and find precious direction in each other.
“Come live with me.” Sam blurted out before his mind could convince him of what a bad idea it was.
Miracle of miracles, Julia nodded! He rose to his feet and extended his hand. She took it and he helped her to her feet. He led her away from the pond. He could’ve leapt into the air for joy except for a single thought. What about Julia’s parents? He already knew that she sincerely believed that they didn’t love her but certainly it couldn’t be true. They would be worried about her. They would search for her. They would miss her. He reached out with his mind and scanned the minds of the townspeople for two adults that were thinking of a daughter named Julia that was not around. He found nothing. “Where do you live, Julia?” he asked. Julia looked at Sam suspiciously. “If you’re really going to return to my home with me, it’s a fair question isn’t it?” The suspicion didn’t leave those beautiful round eyes, but she pointed in the exact direction that he’d seen her gaze so often the last time she’d visited his home. His home. He realized that it was the first time since Geoffrey’s passing that he’d thought of it as Home. All because this young woman would be there with him.
He stretched his mind in the direction that Julia had indicated, narrowed the area to a single house and scanned the minds there carefully. Yes, there were two parents there whose daughter had not come home, but he could see in the minds of those parents that there was not the concern that there should’ve been. In fact, there was vague relief. For, the man had never wanted a daughter, but a son, and the mother had wanted nothing so much as to the please the man and win his affection by giving him that son. Sam was shocked. Julia’s parents really didn’t love her. They really were a million miles away even if they were in their own homes. As absurd as it was, they didn’t want her. Sam felt as if he could vomit. He squeezed Julia’s hand tighter and led on toward the staircase. He didn’t speak a word.
“I suppose it is just as well.” Sam heard in his head. He was less startled this time by Dr. Crangler’s unexpected voice. “Perhaps I was mistaken. Perhaps you will need Julia—and she, you—in the days to come.”
CHAPTER 22
“Time to awake, my son! The New World begins today.” Dr. Crangler’s voice inside Sam’s head was louder than usual. It was a jolt that awakened Sam from a sound sleep “The workmen and workwomen have come. The lethargy of the world is over!”
The Doctor sounded excited. Sam did not share that excitement. Not only had the doctor startled him out of a sound sleep, he’d startled him out of a sound sleep while Julia lay in his arms. She was nestled in the crook of his shoulder, but she was beginning to stir. They were both fully dressed, laying upon the couch in Sam’s living room, near the opened double doorway that led to the porch. Sam had never slept in the living room before and it had been pleasant to do it now with the doors opened and the cool mountain breeze wafting in over him and Julia as they slept. But they were atop a mountain, so the cool breeze had turned to an uncomfortably cold wind during the night. Had he been alone, Sam wouldn’t have found it pleasant but with Julia at his side it was the best night of his life. Especially since the cold wind had only caused her to nestle more firmly into his torso. But as the doctor had so unceremoniously announced, it was time for the wonderful experience to end.
When Julia opened her eyes—oh, those beautiful eyes, Sam would’ve loved to swim in their depths for an eternity—and met Sam’s own, she smiled. Sam’s heart jumped inside him to be reminded that it wasn’t a dream that she was here, with him. Slowly, she sat upon the edge of the couch and stretched. “I really enjoyed sleeping with you last night.” Sam said and immediately felt foolish. “What I mean is, I enjoyed… well, I didn’t mean that… uh, it was a nice…” he slapped his ha
nd over his mouth to halt his babbling. “I’m glad you came.” He said at last.
“I am too.” Julia answered, then she turned to Sam and giggled nervously. He breathed a little easier to know that she was as nervous as he was, even though nothing had happened but fully clothed sleep upon his couch between the two of them the night before. She stood to her feet, “Can you show me where the bathroom is?”
Sam stood to his feet as well. “Sure.” The house had six bathrooms, each of them as large as a bedroom. Sam led Julia to the bathroom that had once been his mother’s. It seemed the most appropriate. Along the way, he mused on the fact that it didn’t bother him to know that another woman would be using his mother’s bathroom. Sure, his mother had been gone for a very long time but any place she had been, especially here in the Simmons’ home, was sacred as far as he was concerned. It was sacred even now, which spoke strongly of his feelings for Julia. He really did love this young woman. But that was not all that filled Sam’s mind. There were a couple other particulars that he knew must attend to sooner or later, both of which were of the utmost importance. One was the issue of his telepathy. If he really did care for Julia, he would have to tell her about his special abilities. It was not something he could keep secret if he ever expected to win her trust. That meant he would have to tell her also about everything that was happening concerning the Doctor and his New World Order.
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