Of Breaking Waves

Paragraph six and seven. And today I added some paragraphs to the story, filling in a gap in the telling.

I’d died, hadn’t I, facing the Star Demons?  No, there’d been something afterwards, the people who lived at the bottom of the Well of Infinity.  They told me how to return here.  They’d warned: The return trip did not happen in linear time.  I couldn’t remember the return until it happened, and it hadn’t happened yet.  I’d need a while before I remembered it. 

I sat, arms wrapped around knees, waiting to recover a bit more.  As the clouds faded into night, I could push against a wall, walk myself upright, and stagger to a door.  Kitchen door.  No lights inside.  I rang the doorbell, then knocked once and again.  No answer.  I wasn’t up to doing a mindscan.  Null links?  My null links to the three Wells children were dead.  The Wells children, Comet, Star, and Aurora,  weren’t here.  They weren’t anywhere.  Had they died?  They might have, while I was, well, not dead, but someplace else.  Or had I been dead?  My physical body had been destroyed; my memetic dual survived.  Now I had my body back.  Comet and kin might be in another universe. I finally thought to try the door latch.  Unlocked.  I pushed on it. The door swung open. I didn’t quite fall on my face again, but only because a coat sleeve snagged on the door handle.  The motion detector noticed my movement and turned on the lights.  The sudden brightness hurt.

About George Phillies

science fiction author -- researcher in polymer dynamics -- collector of board wargames -- President, National Fantasy Fan Federation
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