Clicking Stones

by Nancy Tyler Glenn

  Erica looked at Morgan. "You're thinking about taking Livemore?"

  Morgan pulled Erica's face down to her own. When she pulled her mouth away she said, "I don't know what's wrong with me. One minute we were talking about Livemore, and the next minute all I could think about was making love with you.

  "Let's go stretch out together," Erica whispered. "I want you, too."

  * * * *

  "What was that music you put on before we made love?" Erica trailed her fingers down Morgan's arm.

  "It reminds me of a Sumi painting by a Japanese master who spent a lifetime making brush strokes, and then one day those brush strokes became a masterwork - perfection," Morgan said.

  Erica listened. "I thought I was familiar with every flutist recording today. I give up - who is it?"

  Morgan gazed at her lover's face. "You really don't know who's playing?"

  Erica sat up. "No, and I don't recognize the music either." She started toward the stereo.

  Morgan caught Erica in her arms. "I can't seem to get enough of you tonight."

  Erica looked into her lover's face. It was distorted with emotion. "Oh, Morgan!"

  Morgan reached into her. "It's you. It's you playing your flute down by the creek." She reached into her again. "It was too beautiful not to record."

  Erica wasn't sure what Morgan was saying, she just hoped Morgan would keep talking in her slow, easy voice. She looked at her lover's hair. It was such a wonderful color of gray. Erica was glad they had waited this long to take Livemore. Morgan was so beautiful, and her voice was the only music Erica could hear.

  * * * *

  January 31, 2009

  Dear Kelly,

  I have a few minutes while Morgan is feeding the mares and giving them their Livemore. We go riding every Saturday. The mares perked up when we moved to the cabin four years ago, but lately they're sluggish again. The vet says they are just bored.

  You wouldn't know the place with the changes we've made. We had C Wave installed. It only covers about three acres, but we didn't get it for security anyway. We use it for weather control when it gets really bad, and to charge up the batteries. I felt a little resistance to getting it because of the time warp factor of the Scaler Wave. I hated Scaler. If there is anything that annoys me, it's being in New York and not knowing how I got there for three days. Morgan convinced me to try C and I've never experienced a time warp any time we've used it.

  We had the anti-grav room completed in time for the holidays. We hardly got to see the kids, we couldn't get them out of the room. I can't say I blame them, the commercials are absolutely true - if you like sex, you'll love anti-grav. We use it for other things, too. It's better than a flotation tank.

  Isi flew us back to Topanga last week. I didn't recognize the place. Since Jes moved her practice there it is completely different. Every room has a different kind of contraption all hooked up to computers. She ran us through just for fun (she said). She prescribed a new set of exercises for us and a couple of new nutrients. I feel so good I'd probably forget about it, but if I don't take the damn things and do my routine Morgan refuses to take aphrodisiacs. She can be stubborn.

  We are both fifty-six plus almost fifteen. We would be the same age as my mother if we hadn't started taking Livemore. I'm not sure it would be a terrible thing, she is in terrific shape.

  As much as I wanted to take Livemore, I now question it at times. Part of the enchantment of living here at the cabin is that it is continually changing. A leaf falls, and there is a leaf where there wasn't one before. I loved the changes Morgan went through for the ten years before we started taking Livemore. Every new gray hair was a thing of beauty to me, and every new line in her face was a testimony to her character. We did slow down a bit but there was always enough time to do what I wanted to do. I would never suggest to Morgan that we stop taking it though. The joy she gets from her work now makes it worthwhile. She approaches her work in much the same enthusiastic way as she did when we were kids.

  Britain and Billy still haven't started taking Livemore. At forty-three and forty-five they don't need it. Billy asserts (and Jes and Victoria agree with her) that the human body is built to last six hundred years anyway if it is properly cared for. She said we have had the knowledge for more than thirty years, and if people would inform themselves they could have longevity without Livemore. It's funny - I never heard of that sort of thing. I know since the air and water were cleaned up a lot of people suddenly stopped complaining about aches and pains.

  I hear Morgan coming up the steps. I gotta go, I'm not even dressed for our ride.

  Give my love to wED. I don't know what to tell you about his not wanting to take Livemore. He's only fifty-one and you know he might be doing it for you. You never were comfortable about his being younger than you. Just ask him.

  Love,

  Erica

  * * * *

  Morgan wasn't smiling when she came in.

  Erica planted a kiss on her lover's mouth. "What's wrong?"

  Morgan looked toward the corral. "They're both off their feed again."

  "Did you try oats? They both love oats."

  "They wouldn't touch them."

  Fear distorted Erica's face. "They refused their Livemore?"

  Morgan nodded.

  "How much time do they have?"

  "Eighteen hours."

  Tears glistened in Erica's eyes. "Let's give them some feed without Livemore. Maybe after our ride today they'll perk up."

  Morgan took Erica into her arms. "We promised each other, when we heard about other animals refusing Livemore, we wouldn't try to stop them if they wanted to go."

  Erica's voice was shaking, "I didn't think it would happen."

  * * * *

  The two rode the trails they had taken so many times with their mares, often stopping to drink in the quiet. They ate their lunch in silence on a hill overlooking the cabin. The mares grazed peacefully nearby.

  * * * *

  "Aren't you going to put their harnesses on?" Erica asked.

  Morgan shook her head.

  "Morgan, close the corral gate."

  "Let them go. There might be something they want to do."

  Erica threw her arms around Undine. "You're the loveliest being I have ever known."

  Morgan stroked Mignon's long neck. "We've had some wonderful times together."

  * * * *

  That night the two lovers climbed to the hill overlooking the cabin. Erica lifted her flute to her lips and played: Thank You Eternal Companions for the Love You Have Given Us.

  In the distance two mares nickered softly.

  ~ Chapter 49 ~

  Erica was propped up in bed reading Kelly's latest book, Enchantment, idly fingering her Stone.

  Morgan was busy with her sketch pad. Occasionally she would say, "Hold your Stone right there for a moment. That's a nice shadow."

  Erica took off her reading glasses and put them on the bedside table with her book. "Tomorrow is Saturday. What shall we do?"

  Morgan put down her pencil. "I thought we might take a nice hike."

  "I don't need any exercise."

  "People hike for reasons other than exercise," Morgan reminded her.

  "We could look for them," Erica suggested.

  "Let them go, Erica. Undine was seventeen when we started her. By now she's twenty-three. Next week thirty. Allow them the dignity of doing it their own way."

  "You're right. Let's fly up to Joshua Tree tomorrow and light some big Stones."

  Morgan grinned. "I knew you'd come up with something." She brought the sketch pad and sat on the bed next to Erica. "I was sketching us at different ages. Look." She pointed to a drawing. "This is you at sixty."

  "Hmm, how would you look?"

  Morgan turned back a few pages.

  Erica put on her reading glasses. "What a gorgeous dyke you are. I only have to wait fourteen hundred or so years. Have you done any other years?"

  Morgan showed her. "Here is si
xty-eight."

  Erica eyed her. "Show me seventy-one."

  Morgan turned a few pages. "Here's one of both of us together."

  Erica's excitement grew. "How did you do this?"

  "I just asked Jes's computer for a few things. I got a couple of graphics and some physical details. I'm an artist you know," Morgan reminded her smugly.

  "What about your work?"

  Morgan put down her sketch pad and took Erica into her arms. "I was wrong. I didn't become an artist to be immortal. I became an artist because I loved making art. The joy is in doing it."

  * * * *

  "We'd be pioneers," Erica proclaimed. "How many people have stopped taking Livemore? I haven't heard of one case."

  "We've always been pioneers. Those of our generation were the pioneers for the new age."

  Erica gazed into her lover's face. "It's been a long year."

  "It's been a very long year." Morgan covered Erica's mouth with her own.

  * * * *

  Erica looked at the giant screen. "That's me? A screen full of numbers?"

  "Yes," Jes explained. "It's really just shorthand. I can add or take away stimuli and the numbers will change."

  "What if you add a big dose of arsenic?" Erica joked.

  "Zero zero zero zero." Jes told her.

  Erica understood. "OK. Subtract Livemore and let's see what we have."

  Jes complied, and they watched the numbers change on the big screen.

  "What are those zeros?" Erica asked.

  Victoria pointed to one zero. "This indicates a trend toward liver problems. None of the zeros are significant at this time, and in fact most of them are preventable if we monitor you carefully through the process."

  "The important thing to us is that we survive past the age of seventy-one," Morgan said.

  "Easily. You're both in great condition," Jes affirmed.

  "So what do we need to know?" Erica asked.

  Jes took what looked like a fabric sample book from her shelf. She looked at the screen and then found the right number in the book. "Number seventeen. Mother, this will be your skin."

  Erica stroked the page. "It feels dry. Feel it, Morgan."

  Morgan felt it. "It does feel dry."

  "This is in its natural state. You lose natural skin moisturizers as you get older. If you apply the moisturizer topically, it will change to this." Jes turned to a different page.

  Erica touched it. "This feels better than my own skin now. How long has this moisturizer been around?"

  "I guess twenty-five or thirty years. I'd have to check my computer," Jes stated.

  Victoria handed Erica a pair of glasses. "Put these on. It will simulate the amount of vision loss."

  Erica complied. "Holy Celestite!"

  "Don't get excited. It's correctable." Victoria handed her another pair of glasses. "These will show you the amount of correction."

  Erica switched glasses. "I can see better with these than I normally see."

  "I told you to get your eyes checked regularly," Jes reminded her.

  "So when do we put it all together?" Erica asked impatiently.

  "Right now, if you'd like," Victoria said. "Go into room five. There's a box on the dressing table with a suit in it that will fit over your bare skin. It should give you a pretty good idea of skin texture and elasticity, range of motion and mobility." She looked at Jes. "I have a patient waiting. Let me know if you need me back here."

  * * * *

  Erica was curious. She went into room five and shut the door. She found the box and lifted the lid. When the contents were revealed Erica whispered, "Eek."

  * * * *

  "We need to talk," Jes told Morgan.

  "I thought we might," Morgan agreed. "Let's do it before Erica gets back."

  "You know, when you were in that accident you didn't just get bumped. Even if you hadn't lost part of a lung, which is bad enough, there was severe damage to other organs. Withdrawing from Livemore cancels out all chances of transplants. We just don't know enough about it."

  "I'm not asking for guarantees. Just give me the bottom line," Morgan requested. "How many years do I have?"

  "I feel compelled to deny that request."

  "I invoke freedom of information."

  Jes reluctantly pushed a button.

  Morgan looked at the number on the screen. "I'll take it."

  "Barring accidents, Erica could outlive you for many years if she would take care of herself a little better." Jes took Morgan's medical model out of the computer.

  "I know," Morgan sighed. "I've done everything I can to get her to take nutrients and exercise more."

  "You've done a better job of it than I could ever do. How do you do it?" Jes asked.

  "I bribe her." Morgan laughed. "If she doesn't exercise I refuse to take aphrodisiacs."

  "What kind? I haven't ever prescribed anything like that for either of you. Has Victoria..."

  "No. We use pot. It grows wild behind the cabin. Erica calls it goddess tea."

  Erica came back into the room adjusting her outer clothing. "Trick or treat?"

  Jes straightened the skin around her neck. "How does it feel?"

  "It isn't too bad," Erica admitted. "I'll be glad to get out of it though, I had a hard time scratching an itch on my back."

  "This is the suit you're going to be wearing every day if you stop taking Livemore," Jes reminded her.

  Erica looked at Morgan. "I'll take it."

  "Wear it for a couple of weeks," Jes instructed. "It will give you an opportunity to think it over."

  "I can't wear this thing for two weeks. How am I... how are we going to..."

  "There's a flap in the back," Jes demonstrated. "Just like the little jammies you used to put on me. You can take them off once a day for your shower. If you wash the suits before you shower they will be dry by the time you are ready to get back into them. Also, Victoria suggested you trade suits for about an hour a day. It might not hurt to know what the other one is going through."

  "I'd better go suit up," Morgan said.

  "We'll want you here during the process," Jes told Erica. "You'll spend a lot of time in anti-grav, and we'll want to adjust your chemical balance."

  "When did you get anti-grav?" Erica asked.

  Jes smiled. "Last week. It's cured Isi of eating rice crackers in bed."

  * * * *

  Morgan came back into the room laughing. "I can see why you told us to wear loose fitting clothing today." She looked at Erica. "Wait until you get a load of these tits."

  Erica smiled sweetly. "I have a couple of surprises for you, too, my dear."

  ~ Chapter 50 ~

  Erica was suddenly lighter than air. "See, I told you they wouldn't levitate yet."

  Morgan looked at her lover's breasts. "You're right, they don't, but I bet by tomorrow they will."

  "Come here." Erica pulled her lover to her. "There's a new line on your face. You must have gotten it last night while we were sleeping. It's beautiful, Morgan."

  "You still don't have gray hair." Morgan was disappointed.

  "It's heredity. Paula didn't have any gray hair until she was sixty-eight."

  * * * *

  Jes was sitting by the anti-grav unit when Victoria came in.

  "How are they doing?"

  Jes turned a knob and sound filled the room: "Yes... Morgan... touch me there... your hands are so..." Jes turned the sound off.

  "Assessments?" Victoria asked.

  Jes looked at her. "I'm not really that comfortable listening to my mother in there. I guess I should be used to it though. I grew up listening to her. So far all their assessments have been positive. They played with the kittens for about an hour this morning and have been in anti-grav ever since.