by J. Naomi Ay
Katie paused on a step to catch her breath. She leaned against the wall and looked back down. Below her were clouds of steam and spectral shapes that swirled and danced liked the memories of the ghosts from her life and times before.
"Come on," Senya's voice called from up above. "'Tis only a little ways further until you shall reach the top."
"I'm tired," Katie complained. "Why don't you come down here and help me up?"
"I'm sorry, my love. This is one staircase you must climb yourself."
Katie resumed her trek, step by step. Her heart hurt as she climbed and her legs felt like lead.
"A bit more," Senya prodded. "Come now, I'm waiting for you."
"I'm trying." Katie began to weep, and she sat down. "I'm afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of what I'll find when I get there. Two doors. I'll have to choose which one to go through."
"You shan't have to go alone. Whichever you chose, I shall be here, right by your side."
"Then, come here now and take my hand. You always said, we walk together."
"Are you certain?" Senya asked, before he appeared above Katie on the stairs. He didn't look quite like himself, but on the other hand, he didn't look like anybody else. In fact, to Katie it was as if she had known him like this all along.
He was dressed in flowing, silvery robes and his hair was a shining silver crown. His eyes were as before, giving off their other-worldly light. Yet, between his lips was one of his very much worldly cigarettes, which was wafting very worldly smoke into the air.
"Stop it," Katie snapped, reaching for his hand. "I don't appreciate you getting into my brain, and making me think you look like that."
"What should I look like?" Senya exhaled a puff of smoke, which combined with the swirling mists from below. "I'll look however you wish. Tell me. You may choose."
"This isn't funny." Katie pulled herself to her feet. "If you're going to wear wings, I prefer your eagle feathers. Frankly, the cig ruins the whole effect. If you want to look angelic and other worldly, lose the smoke and put a halo over your head.”
“Are you certain I don't already have one? Perhaps, I intentionally smoke to obscure it from your view. I don't wish to traumatize you unnecessarily, by revealing who I really am.”
"Since when?" Katie asked, as together they climbed the rest of the stairs. "You've done little more than traumatize me since I was nine years old. Furthermore, there's no way I'll ever believe you are anyone other than Senya, that bratty boy who thinks he knows it all. Speaking of, since you're so clairvoyant, what's going to happen to everybody and everything we've done?"
"Ach." Senya sighed and shook his head, sending slivers of silver light bouncing across the walls. "Unfortunately, it shall all go back to the way it was before. Man, no matter the race, is still a base creature, little removed from the apes who are his cousins.
Regardless of how hard I try, he is still unable to acquire the enlightenment which is intended, and so, we shall have to begin again in another time.
It shan't happen overnight, of course. For a while, things shall continue as I have planned. Then, apathy shall set in, and corruption shall rule the day. Once again, the cycle of dependence shall start anew.
Men cleave to rule while decreeing that others shall cower at their feet. That is the game, after all, is it not? To chase freedom, like the proverbial carrot upon a stick. Briefly, we hold it in our hands, only to have it whisked away again. Around and around man has run since time began, and around and around they shall run until time ceases."
"Not very optimistic are you?" Katie smirked.
"I am a realist, as are you. Now, which door would you prefer to go through?"
"Does one hide monsters and the other light?" Katie asked, clutching her husband's arm at the top of the stair.
"One leads to a way out and the other to a way back in. Your choice, my love, left or right? Are you ready?"
Katie stared at the two doors. Was she ready? She didn't know.
“I can't,” she whispered. “You choose.”
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Epilogue
Janet and Gladys stood beneath a shared umbrella as the rain pelted the ground around them. It was cold and they were unused to this gray and miserable weather. New Jersey in November was the pits.
"I hate it here," Janet mumbled, her bones aching and her fingers growing numb, even though she was dressed in a heavy wool coat and gloves.
"Me too," Gladys whispered, pulling her own coat tighter around herself. "Are you sure you want to stay until next week? I'd rather go back home. At least there, it's always warm and dry."
"I thought you said we should visit your kids?"
"I've had enough. They're already driving me crazy."
"Will you please be quiet," someone behind them hissed. "The service isn't over, and I can't hear."
Janet was about to turn and snap at whoever it was, some long lost relative of Jerry's, or one of Lester's seven ex-wives.
"Hush!" Gladys ordered them instead. "Can't you see we're grieving here? Cut us some slack. Everyone mourns in their own way."
A few moments later, the coffins were lowered and the dirt was shoveled on three empty boxes in a row.
Closure, everyone said, to comfort the bereaved friends and family of the deceased, Lester Nussbaum, Michael Silverman, and Jerry Waldman aka Moonbeam. All three men were killed on a Dariun Starlines spaceplane en route to Earth before engine trouble sent it detouring to Spacebase 41-B. It had exploded just minutes from the base, vaporizing everyone inside. The preliminary analysis attributed the tragedy to a massive intake of space dust.
After the funeral, as the ladies walked back to their taxi, Janet considered the odd coincidence that Michael had been aboard. She hoped that the cousins had seen each other, and got to spend their final moments catching up. As Jerry entered the pearly gates, Janet drew comfort in knowing that Michael was by his side.
"Do you think we can change our return date?" Gladys asked. "You know we got that special discounted bereavement fare."
"If not, we'll just buy another ticket," Janet replied, waving to the driver to head out. "There's a Winter-Summer special or Fall-Spring fling going on, depending on where you are headed, and where you have been."
It continues!
Find The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 11
Imperial Masquerade on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GFY0HJ4