Paradox: On the Sharp Edge of the Blade

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Paradox: On the Sharp Edge of the Blade Page 24

by E. S. Martell

“That's funny,” Logan said aloud. He'd taken to speaking to himself recently. “Maybe it hurts when I pick them. They're bruising.”

  He selected the very nicest one. It was a larger specimen and almost completely golden. He nibbled at the edge of the cap. It didn't taste unpleasant. No acid or burning taste.

  He looked around, suspiciously, as if someone might be watching and disapprove of his action. Then returned his attention to the mushrooms. His stomach was growling, and the small bit of food had increased, rather than decreased his discomfort.

  “What the hell?” he said, shrugging his shoulders. He quickly ate the entire batch.

  “If that doesn't kill me, maybe it will at least get me through until I can kill something to eat,” he muttered.

  He stood up and resumed his journey. He'd have to keep moving to cover more territory. He'd never find Serensaa's people if he didn't keep moving. Here his thoughts stopped and returned to repeat the phrase: . The words seemed to echo in his mind again and again, making ripples across the sky as it repeated. He felt depressed and his hunger was making him light-headed. never find Serensaa

  He walked on for a few minutes, crossing the large clearing, then stopped. There was a leaf on that oak over there. It was picked out by a ray of light that made it seem...made it seem...almost magical. The leaf shimmered with a rainbow of light around it.

  Logan finally tore his gaze away from the fascinating, magical leaf. The sky was full of clouds and they were saying something to him. He couldn't quite make out their message, but he knew it was for him. If he could just interpret their deep voices...

  Looking up made him dizzy. He wanted to rest for a bit, but couldn't find a tree to climb. No, he was wrong, he didn't need a tree. Anything that attacked him would die. His tanto would cut it to shreds.

  A portion of his mind told him that he wasn't making any sense, but he ignored it.

  The world was swirling around him now. Everything was covered with rainbow light making even the weeds seem like things of beauty. Something in the woods caught his eye. It was a yellow cat spotted with black patches. A jaguar. He liked its look.

  It was friendly and came to him. He looked down at himself. He was spotted also. Black and yellow gold. He was a jaguar. Together the two of them ran through the trees, stalking deer. They killed a deer and ate, then the jaguar looked at him. It was Serensaa.

  They mated in rainbows of love and lust. Afterward, he lay in the grass, panting and looking at the rainbow sun. The jaguar disappeared and he cried out mournfully for his lost love.

  A dragonfly came near, hovered over him for a moment, and then flew away. Logan's eyes tracked it. It looked huge; as large as a real dragon. He could see himself riding it across the forest, looking for Serensaa. He was suddenly sure that the dragonfly knew exactly where she was.

  He got to his feet. The ground was moving and didn't want to cooperate. It made it difficult to walk, but he managed to move slowly until he started to glide over the ground.

  He moved effortlessly, gliding above the surface, pursuing the dragonfly. It led him a merry chase, first here, then there. It was aggravating; it was so indecisive.

  He called out to it to stop, but it flew away without looking back. He paused to grieve. He'd never see it again. It was so pretty. It was lost to him throughout all time.

  Now there was a buzzing sound that grew quickly louder. He ducked as a deer fly flew past. It circled, rapidly gaining in size. It was horrible. A huge, hairy monster with bulging eyes that zoomed across his vision, first near, then far. He shrieked, than ran as it pursued, striking at his head and face, inflicting painful wounds. He was escaping. He was elated.

  There was a loud, jarring bump. He'd tripped on something. It caused him to fly slowly through the air, the rainbow-colored air, slowly arching downward.

  The arching flight took an incredibly long time. The grass grew larger and larger in his vision. He was intrigued by the way the individual stems swelled and grew. They beckoned to him. He wanted to move closer to see what they wanted.

  Suddenly the grass jumped at him, and he struck with a thunderous crash. Everything flickered, rainbows flashed everywhere. The world disappeared. It was black.

  A blue dragonfly darted through the air in pursuit of a mosquito. The insect hovered briefly over the spot where the man had fallen. Relieved of Logan's weight, the bent grass stems were gradually straightening themselves. A squirrel chucked from the crown of a nearby magnolia. Other than those two signs of life, the clearing was empty.

  Chapter 21: BACK

  Everything was dark. Far away, in the darkness there was a series of sounds that rose and fell. Logan wished the noise would quit and just leave him in peace to die. Life without Serensaa wasn't worth the effort.

  A flash of light struck his eyes, making him squint. He lifted his arm to block out the light, muttering in a feeble protest. Then a voice said, “Roll over and put your hands behind you. Move it or I'll tase you.”

  Logan tried. He couldn't move very well. His arms seemed disconnected and uncooperative. He gave up the attempt.

  Suddenly there was a spasm of pain. His muscles tightened incredibly, making him cry out. As the pain faded, he was roughly dragged onto his face. His arms were twisted behind him and bound in some fashion.

  Fingers fumbled at his waist. His tanto. He tried to stop the theft, but his hands were locked behind his back.

  Someone grabbed his wrists and lifted hard, pulling his arms upward painfully. He managed to come to his knees, then his feet, trying to relieve the agonizing pain in his shoulder joints. He cried out again, incoherently.

  The voice said, “Damned homeless druggers! Now I'll have to run him in to the hospital for treatment, then on to the facility to write him up. I should be heading home right now. My shift is over. Damn it!”

  Logan was aware of movement. He was sitting in a comfortable spot, swaying slightly. It was more comfortable than he'd been in many, many days. He was, he suddenly realized, seated in the back seat of an automobile.

  His head hurt. There were lights passing outside. They were glowing with tinges of rainbow around them. He closed his eyes and slept.

  Logan woke. He vaguely remembered a confusion of glaring lights and people talking, saying things he didn't understand. Now, he saw that he was in a hospital room. He moved his arm and it made a clanking sound. His wrist was handcuffed to the bed. A woman in a nurse's uniform was doing something with a clipboard at the foot of his bed.

  She looked up and saw his eyes were open.

  “Well, well, well. So you've come back to the world. Can you understand me?” she said.

  He nodded slowly, and answered, “Yes. Where am I?”

  She shook her head disapprovingly. “We pumped your stomach. It's a wonder you aren't dead. You ate enough cubies to kill most people. I'll be surprised if you don't have recurring psychotic episodes from this. Whatever possessed you?” she asked, not answering his question.

  Logan was thinking and not really listening to her. His mind was remarkably clear. He looked at the wall. The clock said it was ten-fifteen. From the light, it must be mid-morning.

  “Am I in a hospital?” he asked.

  “The alternative would be jail,” she said. Then she added, “Yes. This is a hospital.”

  “I know this will sound strange,” he started.

  She snorted, making him look at her. “You couldn't surprise me. I've seen it all, working here.”

  He shrugged, “What's the date?”

  She scoffed, and said, “You call that strange? It's August 21 .” st

  Logan mind was still trying to understand what had happened. After a bit, he asked, “Of what year?”

  The nurse smiled. “That's better, now you're getting stranger. It's the same year it has been since January 1 : two-thousand and sixteen.” st

  He was back! Logan felt dizzy. He was back. Did he want to be back? He wanted Serensaa – that was the only thing he was sure of. His eyes wate
red.

  The nurse said, “Don't get all sad on me now. I can't help what year it is. Why do you want to know?”

  He pulled himself together, then answered , “I was just checking. I was so disoriented by the – What did you say I ate?” .

  The nurse sighed. “Cubies – psilocibe cubensis. They contain a very strong hallucinogenic. You overdosed. And, what happened to you? You've got a freshly healed wound across your chest. If I didn't know better, I'd say claws made it. What was it? Also, what caused that nasty, jagged slash on your side?”

  He shook his head negatively. “I think I was maybe...I mean I think I ran into a sharp branch or something. It was dark.”

  The nurse snorted again in response, than said, “You're lucky you weren't hurt worse. The cops can't figure where you've been. It's only been three days since the archaeology students left. They said you were one of them.”

  Logan thought about that. When he didn't respond immediately, she asked him again, “Where were you?”

  He said, “I was wandering in the woods. I guess I was lost.”

  “Look, young man. I don't know what kind of a fool you take me for. There are houses all around there. You couldn't have gone too far without running into someone who could help,” she said with a frown.

  This was getting too detailed for Logan. He grinned, trying to charm her out of her bad mood. “I must have been walking in circles.”

  Then, before she could think of a suitably cutting remark about his lack of intelligence, he shook his wrist, rattling the handcuff against the bed. “I need to go to the bathroom. Can you unhook me?”

  The nurse didn't answer, but she showed her opinion of him by the set of her face. She went to the door and said something. After a little time, a policeman came in.

  “Are you back in the real world?” the man asked, with a hint of humor. He seemed to be in a good mood.

  Logan was grateful for that and didn't want to make him angry. He answered, “I'm fine, only I really need to go to the bathroom. Will you please unlock me?”

  The officer cautioned, “No tricks.” Then unlocked the cuffs.

  Logan climbed out of the bed, belatedly realizing he was wearing a hospital gown. He reached behind, gathering it together where it gaped open, then walked slowly into the bathroom. The officer allowed him to relieve himself in peace.

  When he came out, the man was still there. He said, “I'm assuming you're okay. I'm going to check you out of here. You'll have to come down to the station to be booked. You'll probably be charged with public intoxication. You don't seem like a habitual drug user. Ever do this before?”

  Logan shook his head from side to side. “No. I was hungry. I found some mushrooms and I ate them. Things got really weird after that. Did I get tased? My back muscles hurt.”

  The cop said, “Yeah. I read the report. You were uncooperative.”

  Logan replied in a level tone of voice, “I couldn't control my arms. You didn't have to tase me. I wasn't going to do anything.”

  The policeman grinned at him again. “It wasn't me. That guy went off-shift. He recognized you, though. Said you were one of those archaeology students that were working at the Crystal River site. I thought you all left three days ago.”

  Logan's mind whirled. Three days ago. The nurse had said that, but it hadn't really registered. He had returned to the present, but the time that passed here didn't seem to match up with the time he'd spent in the past. He mentally suppressed an image of Serensaa. It wouldn't do to show his grief. They'd think he was having some kind of episode or something.

  Thinking about the time discrepancy made his head hurt. He smiled back, and said, “I got lost in the woods. I think I learned a lesson. I'm never going to eat anything that I don't know what it is ever again. That was a horrible experience.”

  The cop said, “Life is hard, and it's even harder if you do stupid things, but you'll probably get over this one with no real damage.”

  They released him from the hospital in the afternoon. Someone came up with a tee-shirt from somewhere. His pants were ragged and stained, but they were still wearable as were his sneakers.

  The police weren't really busy. He was quickly charged, booked, and placed in a holding cell for the night. There were some drunks that were brought in a little after midnight, but they didn't bother him much. One basically passed out, and the other just sat with his head resting in his hands.

  His arraignment was the next day. It was unexpectedly brief. The judge looked him up and down, then referred to Logan's paperwork.

  “It sounds like you did something stupid, Mr. Walker. Have you ever done drugs before?” he asked.

  Logan shook his head and said, “No, your Honor. Uh – I mean, I drink beer sometimes.” He quickly added, “But I don't drive when I do.”

  The judge chuckled. “You'd better not, either. If they'd brought you in here with a DUI charge, I wouldn't be sympathetic. Incidentally, I wouldn't have believed you if you'd said you didn't drink.”

  Logan nodded, and said, “Yes, Sir.”

  The judge said, “'Your Honor' is the approved term. Mr. Walker, the police force and the prosecutor want to make an example of you. I don't think that's necessary. I'm minded to give you a warning and let you go. You won't do this again, will you?”

  “No, your Honor. It was a horrible experience. I didn't know what was happening. I just thought the mushrooms looked good, like the ones in the produce section at the grocery. I like those, but these things made me wish I was dead.”

  “Well, young man, from what I read on your medical report, it's somewhat lucky that you aren't dead. Keep in mind that there are more poisonous plants than not out there in the woods.”

  He slammed the gavel down with a loud “klonk”, and said, “We'll dismiss this one. You're free to go.”

  Logan couldn't believe it. This was far better than he'd expected.

  He'd been given a chance to call his father from the police station before being transported to the courthouse, now he was waiting outside the courthouse. There was a small park there, and he was sitting on one of the benches.

  His dad had answered the phone after a couple of rings, sworn some, but ended by saying, “Alright. I guess the guys can work without me. I'll be there to get you as soon as I can.” Then he slammed the phone down.

  Logan held the phone away from his ear, and looked at it curiously. His father seemed angrier about missing work, than worried about where he had gone. He wished that he hadn't called him.

  The sun was hot, even though the sky was filled with small, fluffy clouds. There was a mockingbird singing somewhere in the trees. He closed his eyes, and imagined that he was with Serensaa. There had been moments with her, where he wasn't exhausted or worried about pursuers or animals. Moments just like this. She seemed close. If only...he sighed deeply.

  “Are you gonna sleep all day? Get in the truck,” his dad said.

  He opened his eyes. His father had arrived. He walked over to the pickup and got in. His dad immediately started driving.

  “Now, I gotta get us moving. I need to get back to work.” Only then did his father look at him and ask, “And where the hell did you go? Cheryl said you disappeared. She said you ate one of her brownies and wandered out into the front yard. She said you fell in the ditch and when she looked, you were gone. What gives you the idea you can just go off somewhere? I needed your help. We got behind, until I found someone else to work. I'm still playing catch-up becausa you.”

  Logan wearily said, “Sorry about that. I wandered off and I don't know what happened really. That brownie was bad.”

  “Bad? I'll say it was bad. You've been gone for a coupla' weeks. You can stay tonight, but it'd probably be better if you get your stuff and head back to school. Larry got kicked out of his rental, and he's sleeping in your room now. All's I got is the couch.”

  That pretty much ended their conversation. The drive east was long and quiet with only a few words spoken.

 
Logan tried to catch up on sleep. His mind still felt abused from the mushrooms, and his thoughts kept circling around to Serensaa. He tried not to think of her, because it was too painful, but somehow her image kept returning. Her slender form danced through his dreams as he napped.

  He had deflected all questions posed to him at his father's house. When they realized he had nothing to say, they left him alone. He gathered up his things with the intent of leaving early in the morning. His cell phone was there, but the battery had discharged. He put it on the charger, so it would be ready to go in the morning.

  Fortunately, Larry had broken up with Cheryl, and Chelle was out of town, so the nightly debauch was limited to a couple of beers apiece for his dad and Lar.

 

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