Prelude

A scroll tied with a golden ribbon appeared under his nose. He followed the arm up to a face. He saw it was Nuncius who held out the scroll.

He sat back in his chair and looked at the smaller man, “What is this then?”

Nuncius rolled his eyes, “Verum, you know what it is; Dux sent it.” He shook it in the big man’s face, “Just take it.”

Verum reached out carefully; as if the scroll would come to life and bite him. He took it from Nuncius and laid it slowly on the desktop; afraid of what it might contain.

Nuncius nodded and turned away, walking towards the door.

Verum pulled at the ends and watched the ribbon untie itself then disappear. He watched as it unrolled and flattened. He took hold of it gingerly and began reading. He looked up.

“Nuncius” he called, just as the door was closing.

He reopened the door and stepped into the room. Taking a few steps, he stopped well before the man’s desk.

“A couple more footsteps and I would have been gone.”

The man behind the desk nodded, but said nothing; reading the scroll.

Nuncius turned again.

“Nuncius, this cannot be right.”

He cringed and turned again, walking all the way back to the man’s desk. He held his hands out, “What can I tell you? That’s what Dux gave me.”

“But, why two worlds? With a corridor between them? Why?” he looked up from the scroll; his brow furrowed.

Nuncius took another step, “Verum, that is what he gave me.” He repeated.

“What did Dux say exactly? This does not make any sense.” Nuncius opened his mouth, but Verum went on, “why two? With the same exact things on them?” Verum still sat looking at the scroll.

Nuncius took a step towards him; shaking his head, “These are different. Dux is putting mortal creatures on them, see?” He pointed to a place further down the scroll, “they will have essences; the immortal part of the creatures. And the essences are going to be split in half so that they will forever be…”

“But I do not understand” Verum said, looking at Nuncius; not caring that he interrupted the other man, “how will they…”

Nuncius blew out air and pointed to another place on the scroll.

Verum whistled and leaned back; reading further.

Nuncius waited.

Verum stood quickly; his chair hitting the back of the wall with a crash, “I have to work; with him?” his face reddening.

Nuncius backed away slowly.

Verum sensed the movement and quickly looked up; fixing Nuncius’ location. He started walking towards him, “He expects me to work with Diliges?’ Verum spat out the name as though it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I do not know.” Nuncius said, walking backwards to get away from the larger man, whose face was growing redder by the minute.

“Does he realize that Diliges cannot keep a serious thought in his head?” Verum looked at the scroll yet again, hoping that he had made a mistake, “but why must I work with such an irresponsible ninny?”

“I don’t know.” Nuncius said again and reached back; fumbling for the door knob.

“Did you know about this?”

Nuncius took hold of the knob and was turning it. He shook his head, “Only what I read from there to here.” He opened the door and was slipping out.

Verum caught his arm and pulled him back through the doorway, “What did Dux tell you exactly?”

He allowed himself to be pulled; he knew not to raise Verum’s ire when he was in this mood.

“All he said was that I was to deliver these to you and Diliges and Arbiter.”

Verum released his arm and looked at him; his eyebrows knitted; deepening the furrow between his eyes, “Arbiter? Is he not responsible for scales or some such thing?”

Nuncius nodded, “Yes, he is the god of balance.” He opened the door again and walked through.

Verum followed. Reaching out, he took hold of Nuncius’ shoulder, making him turn to look at him, “Balance?”

“Yes, Verum; I have to go. Dux is going to wonder where I am. And I still have to tell Diliges and Arbiter.”

Verum put a hand to his goatee, “But you do not have to tell them; do you?”

Nuncius held out his hands, “Oh no, nothing doing; Dux will have my head if I do not follow his orders.” He put a hand to the side of his head, “And, I still feel a bit crooked from the last time he made me go without it.”

Verum’s face softened and Nuncius cringed, “Uh uh, I know that look Verum.”

The larger man tried to put his arm around Nuncius’ shoulders, but the smaller man ducked underneath, avoiding it.

Verum held his hands out, “Please Nuncius; just give me one hour alone with Dux; before you tell the others, so I can straighten out this whole mess.”

Nuncius shook his head, “No, are you crazy?” he walked out the door, followed by Verum.

Verum stepped in front of him, preventing any further forward motion, “Okay, how about thirty minutes?”

Nuncius continued shaking his head, “No”

Verum reached out and pulled Nuncius’ arm, “Please Nuncius; what can you give me?”

He thought; Verum had come to his rescue more than once, his shoulders drooped in resignation, “Okay, I will give you the time it takes for me to get something to eat.”

Verum’s face brightened and he slapped Nuncius on the back, “Thank you.” not wanting to waste time; he walked past the smaller man to the nearest window. Spreading his arms to the sun shining through it, he closed his eyes and while Nuncius watched, the large man became one with the light and warmth; dissolving into the sun ray and was soon gone.

Nuncius; satisfied that Verum was gone, turned and slammed into a wall of solid muscle. His eyes traveled up the clothed chest to reveal dark eyes set in a sympathetic face.

“Take care my little man.” The accent told of the man’s eastern descent.

“Oh I am sorry Arbiter; I was not paying attention where I was going.”

“Obviously” The man’s eyes crinkled and his face softened, “No harm done.” He looked unsure at the smaller man, “you did not injure yourself” Arbiter looked at the man up and down, inspecting him for any visible injuries, “did you?”

Nuncius shook his head, “No, I am fine.”

Arbiter’s smile lit up his face and Nuncius could not help but smile himself.

“Well then all is good. I bid you a good day.”  The larger man tipped his head slightly in Nuncius’ direction then turned to go.

He watched the man’s back recede and then remembered.

“Oh Arbiter?”

He ran to catch up with Arbiter; who stopped to wait for him.

“Dux sent this to you.” he reached into his jacket and brought out a scroll tied with a golden ribbon.

            Arbiter took it from him, “Anything else?” he looked down at Nuncius; annoyance knitting his brows.

            “Yes, you are called to his office; you are to be in his office in” Nuncius put up his hand to look at his watch, “very soon.”

            Arbiter’s eyebrows rose then lowered again.

Nuncius held his hands up, “Do not blame me. Verum would not let me go.”

            Darkness crept across the larger man’s face, “Since you have waited so long to deliver this message to me, you must come with me and tell me what this is all about.”

            Nuncius tried to back away, but Arbiter took a film hold of his jacket, “Oh no, you will not run away.”

            “But you do not understand” Nuncius twisted in the stronger man’s grasp, “I still have to deliver to Diliges.”

            Arbiter looked surprised at the name, “Verum AND Diliges? This is getting curiouser and curiouser.” He nodded, “now you really must tell me what’s going on.” He took hold of both of Nuncius’ arms, nodded and they flew out the nearest window.

HologramButBetter

Hank's Little Toy

“Take my hand” he said, holding it out.

Nina wondered why the scientist would want to hold her hand, but she had learned not to question him. She put her hand out to take his, but found nothing to hold, “What is this Hank?” she waved her hand through the man’s body.

“It’s a HologramButBetter.” The figure said as Hank himself came into the room. Nina saw that the hologram was mimicking all Hanks’ motions.

“That is so cool. You have outdone yourself Hank!” she held up her hand for a high five. The real Hank hit her hand and the hologram Hank hit the air then disappeared.

“So, all I need is this pen?” she took the item he was holding out.

Hank nodded, “And the exact coordinates of where you want to project into.”

“Wait, when you say coordinates, I can just enter an address?”

She smiled, talking into her phone and looking at Hank’s little toy, “You wouldn’t be able handle it, if I showed up in your bedroom.”

“Oh yeah? Try me.”

She laughed which made him laugh.

“I really wish we could get together.”

“I know Aakash, I do too.”  She rubbed at a smudge on the table.

“Hey, I have another charity benefit in New York at the end of the month; I’d love it if you could come; be my date?”

“I’d love to but I’d have to check my calendar, which I don’t have with me right now” she hated all this lying; hopefully she wouldn’t have to do it long, “but we can talk about it tonight.”

“Oh, if you get here early enough, we can watch my favorite program together.”

“Oh really; and what’s that?”

“Royalty’s Joust”

She narrowed her eyes, “Isn’t that the one everyone is talking about; the one they say should be re-rated as soft porn?”

He sniffed, “Yeah, but it’s not that bad, plus, it makes for great dreams.”

She rolled her eyes, “You’re so bad.”

He smiled, “Yes, I am. And if you want to know just how bad, you’ll just have to come and see.”

“Hey, I accepted your challenge; you’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Okay” he said laughingly. Wondering when and how she would back out.

He looked at the clock: 7:45. He walked the take out carton to the garbage; then settled himself on the couch to wait for his show and for her to get there.

                She opened her door, walked in, closed and locked it. She started shedding her work clothes as she walked to her room. Standing in her bra and panties in front of her closet, she was trying to decide what she should wear. She wanted something casual, but not trampy. She finally decided, dressed and exited the bedroom.

                Opening her computer, she clicked on the HologramButBetter icon that Hank had installed on her desktop. It asked for the address. She took out her phone and texted Aakash.

                Did I miss your program?

                Not yet, but you better hurry, it’s going to start in five.

                I need your address.

                I’ll email it to you. Are you really coming?

                You’ll see.

                She checked her email and going to her computer she inputted his address and hit the go button.

                Are you ready?

                Yes, are you here?

                She took the interceptor in her hand, pointed it at herself and pushed the button.

                Aakash stood and moved the curtains to look out the window. Not seeing anyone, he sat back down. Looking up, he saw a woman appear in his foyer.  He stood up and walked to her.

                “Nina, is that you?”

                The figure nodded, “Sort of, but it’s the closest I could come to being with you right now.”

                She saw that he looked just like he did on the screen only younger. His skin was light brown; ‘like chocolate milk’ she thought to herself and he wore long nylon basketball shorts and no shirt. She was surprised to see his sculpted chest and abs; his legs were muscular also. His hair was dark and shone in the light. She smiled when she saw the stubble on his face; just like every other picture of him she saw on the internet.

                He walked around her and waved a hand in front of her face, “Can you see me?”

                She nodded, “Yes, I can.”

                He put his hand through her, “What is it? A hologram?”

                She nodded, “ButBetter.”

                He liked what he saw. She stood about 5’2” and she wore those jean shorts just perfect. Slim, but she definitely had curves all in the right places. He frowned when he saw her beautiful reddish brown hair tied up in a ponytail. If she was really there, he would have freed it.

                He looked sad; she sighed, “I know it’s not the best, but at least we can see each other. And I promise; soon it’ll be in person.”

                He nodded, “You know, if it’s between talking on the phone or this, I’ll take this; it’s so cool.” He walked all the way around her; liking what he saw.

                She resisted rolling her eyes, the way he was looking at her and nodding; she thought next he would ask her to open her mouth, so he could check her teeth; she needed to stop him, “But you’re missing your program, let’s watch.”

                “Okay” he began walking towards the couch, “the tv is over here.”

                He looked back and she was gone, he turned and was startled to see her sitting on the couch, smiling.

                “How’d you do that so fast?”

                She shrugged, “I just saw the couch and sat down?”

                 He walked over and sat next to her; putting a hand out, he tried to touch her hand and was surprised when he felt the couch, “This is weird not being able to touch you.”

                “I know”

                He was looking at her; after a good five minutes of his staring, her face took on a strange expression.

                “Uh, Aakash?”

                He smiled, “Yes Nina?”

                “Are we going to watch your show?”

                “Oh yeah, sorry.”

He sat forward; picked up the remote from the coffee table and sat back; fumbling with the buttons; still a little in shock to have her there; well sort of there. He finally found the right combination and the tv lit up.

The screen showed a naked woman; on her hands and knees with a fully dressed man behind her; it was pretty clear to Nina what they were doing.

“Is this your show?”

Aakash saw the embarrassed look on Nina’s face and looked at the tv.

She saw his face turn color and guessed that he felt the same.

“We can watch something else; if you want.” He sat forward to pick up the remote.

She held a hand up to stop him, but, it went right through. She put her hand down, “It’s okay, I know you like this show.”

He looked at her apologetically, “It does have a good story line, once you get past the…”

“Randiness?” she offered, and then blushed for saying it.

He blushed, “Yeah”

She looked up at the screen again and everyone was clothed. She breathed a sigh of relief, “So, tell me about yourself; do you have brothers or sisters?”

He nodded, she was a beautiful woman and those brown, almond shaped eyes were mesmerizing; he knew he could fall into them very easily if he wasn’t careful, “Yes, I’m the middle kid; I have an older brother and a younger sister.”

He still couldn’t get over the hologram itself, “How did you do this; I mean where did you find out about this whole HologramButBetter thing?”

She shrugged. She couldn’t tell him the truth and she would rather not lie to him, so she decided to reject both and use creative evasiveness, “I’m a freak for technology. Are you close with your family?”

“Yes…well I try to be; they live in a little town in South Carolina; they alternate who comes out here when I have something special going on and I try to go back to visit as often as I can, but my schedule is kind of crazy. What about you; any brothers or sisters?”

She nodded, “I have one brother; he’s twelve years older than me; he’s married and has three kids.”

It was frustrating; she was so close, yet he couldn’t even touch her; he wouldn’t think about it, “Are you close with them?”

She tipped her head, “I try to be, but like you; I have a busy schedule also. And my brother is gone a lot on his ship.”

“Oh, does he fish?”

Her brow furrowed, “Well, not exactly, he’s a marine biologist; specializing in cephalopods; octopus, giant squid; things like that.”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool. So you don’t really get to see him much?”

She shook her head, “Not too much; maybe once a year.” She thought about it, “but I do try to stay in touch with my niece and nephews.”

“Oh, how old are they?”

“One nephew is fifteen, the other is seven and my niece is thirteen. She’s actually the one who showed me the show you were on.”

“Oh, really?”

She nodded, “She makes me watch tv with her; it’s sort of our thing to do.”

He put up a hand to touch her face; then remembered, “You look so real.”

She giggled, “I am real.”

He smiled and nodded, “I know that; I mean you seem like you’re right here, but I know it’s a hologram.” He purposely put a hand through her, “but you’re so beautiful; I wish you were here; I just want to kiss you.”

She shrugged, “We could pretend?”

She puckered up her lips and closed her eyes.

Aakash smiled and did the same. He imagined kissing her. He made a kissing sound and heard Nina’s laugh.

She saw him smile and she wished she really was with him.

That Good

Me doing what I love to do best

He opened the door to the condo, walked in and closed it behind him. He looked around and immediately knew that someone had been there; and still may be. Quietly, he placed his keys in the bowl that sat on the table by the door. Lifting the bag from his shoulder, he lowered it to the floor; holding the hardware; so it wouldn’t make noise. Carefully, he took off his shoes, placing them into the tray under the table. He entered the apartment proper and looked around.

He was trying to determine exactly what had been touched. Even though nothing seemed out of place; in his mind, he saw that things were slightly changed as he remembered them from this morning; a turned pillow here; a slightly cocked piece of paper there. He looked up to the upper floor and smiled.

                Padding through the apartment; he knew exactly where he would find his intruder. Silently, he crept up the stairs. Putting his foot on the next step, he heard it creak and froze. Looking further up the stairs, he waited to see if anyone came to investigate. When nothing happened, he smiled; satisfied that it went unnoticed. He jumped over the offending step and continued on.

He crept to the open door of the master bedroom, flattening himself against the wall to escape notice. Peering into the room; he ascertained his quarry’s location. Gathering his thoughts, he mentally counted; 1, 2, 3; then jumped into the room, shouting, “What are you doing here?!”

                He was rewarded with a scream from the figure on the bed. He laughed when the computer slipped from her lap; running to catch it before it hit the floor.

                “You scared me half out of my wits.”

                She put a hand to the side of his face as he kissed her. She frowned, “I was supposed to surprise you. How did you know I was here?”

                Closing the laptop, he placed it on the little nightstand; his smile widening. He winked at her and she felt her body respond to him with warmth; beginning in her stomach and radiating outward, “Because I’m that good.”

He dove over her, landing on the other side of the bed. Gathering her into his arms; she looked up at him and he kissed her.

                “So, what did the doctor say?”

                She smiled, “I’m all healed.”

                He looked at her sternly, “And?”

                She nodded, “And just to take it easy at first.”

                She spoke before he could open his mouth; sitting up, to straddle him, “He said to try whatever I wanted; so long as it felt good.”

                He rolled them over and smiled down at her, reaching between them, “Whatever you want?”

                She closed her eyes and bit her lip; nodding, “So long as it feels good.”

                He watched her, “And?”

                She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck, “And it feels so good.”

Let's Play a Game

I love playing board games!

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his brow furrowed.

“Nothing, I was just wondering how long you planned on watching me.” She put a hand to her hair and cringed when she found a pencil there. She was scared of the way she must look; earlier, she had wanted to get her hair out of her eyes, so she made a sloppy bun. Removing the pencil, and letting her hair down, she blushed.

He smiled wider, “As long as it takes for you to finish, so we can go to dinner.”

“I told you, I have to finish and then Bruno…”

‘Again with the dog’ he thought, “Bruno will be fine, we won’t be gone that long.” He needed something to lower her defenses; he came up with an idea, “Let’s play a game.”

She looked at him, her gaze narrowing, “What kind of game?”

He shrugged, “A couple rounds of truth or dare. Whoever balks first loses.”

“What does the winner get?” she sat up higher in her chair.

He thought for a minute, “If you win, you can go home and take care of Bruno.”

She was suspicious, “And if you win?”

“If I win, you go to dinner with me, my choice of when and where.”

Jules swallowed hard. She had no idea what kind of questions Marcellus could come up with.  

Curiosity finally got the best of her, “Okay, but I get first question.”

He waved a hand, “Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way.” He settled deeper into the chair, “Fire away”

“Okay, truth or dare?”

“Dare” he said not hesitating for a minute.

“Hey no fair, you are supposed to say truth first.” She whined.

He smiled, “Then why did you give me the option?”

She saw that when he smiled, his eyes brightened, making the brown seem more amber.

“Okay, okay, truth then” he said, laughing.

“Is it true that you contemplated suicide after your show ended?” it was something she had read in a magazine once about him; she didn't really believe it and wanted to know the truth.

“Whoa, you really go right for the heart, don’t you?” he looked at her, feigning stabbing himself in the chest. Thinking back to those dark days, he wondered; should he tell her what she wanted to hear or should he tell her the truth? He took a deep breath and let it out. ‘Well, the name of the game is TRUTH or dare’ he thought.

“I have to say that even in my darkest day; I never thought about offing myself.”

Jules smiled, she knew it; he didn't seem the type.

He spoke, “Okay, your turn, truth or dare?”

“Truth” Jules said slowly.

‘tit for tat’ he thought, “How many men have you been with?” ‘Let’s see how you like it’

“When you say ‘been with’, do you mean…”

Marcellus nodded, “All the way.”

“One” Jules answered proudly, “Your turn, truth or dare?”

He sat up, impressed and put his elbows on the table, “Truth”

She thought of an article she had read recently about leading men in general, “Would you or have you ever cheated on your girlfriend?”

“That’s two questions.” ‘This was getting quite interesting’ he thought.

“Okay” she closed her laptop, cupped her chin in her hands and rephrased the question, “Would you ever cheat on your girlfriend?”

He looked her directly in the eye; leaning in closer, “If I had someone I loved, I mean the real deal; love, I would never stray.”

“And if it wasn't the ‘real deal’?” she asked.

He sat back, “I've never cheated on anyone.”

Jules nodded and leaned back.

He leaned in again, “Okay, your turn, truth or dare?”

“Dare” she whispered; afraid of the questions he could come up with.

He smiled, “Excuse me?” not sure if he heard right.

She cleared her throat and said again, “Dare”

He smiled a devilish smile, “I dare you to come over here, sit on my lap and kiss me.”

“That’s three dares.” She pointed out.

“Okay then, I dare you to kiss me.”

She nodded, stood and walked over to him. Leaning down, she touched her lips slowly to his. He responded in kind and they shared a chaste kiss. Even so, they were both left wanting more. She straightened and turned to walk back. He grabbed for her hand.

“Ask me”

She turned back to him, “Truth or dare?”

“Dare” he stood and took hold of her shoulders.

She couldn't think. She wanted another kiss, but what would come next? And if she did give in, would he want to see her again? Or would she just have been an evening plaything?

He couldn't take the wait, “Please Jules, dare me to kiss you.” His voice was low and deep; almost a whisper.

She looked up at him. In a breathless voice she said, “kiss…” the next word was muffled by his lips hard on hers. Pulling her closer against him, his tongue moved deeper into her mouth.

Jules pushed against his chest, but it was a feeble attempt and she knew it. He broke the kiss and hugged her to him, his face buried in her hair. Burrowing through it to her neck, he kissed from her shoulder up to her ear.

“It’s your turn.” she whispered.

“Truth or dare?” he said when he could breathe again.

She looked up at him; knowing what she had to do, even though her whole body wanted to continue down the path they started, she felt it was the right thing.

“Truth”

Marcellus looked at her dumbstruck, “But Jules, I …”

“Are you out of questions?”

‘Oh, she was good’ he thought. He was waging an internal war with himself as to what he should do. His mind balked at the idea of losing, but other parts of his body were crying out for him to take her, right here on the table. Visions of him and her; together; doing things filled his mind…

He heard her ask, “Yoo-hoo Marcellus, are you there?”

He came back to the present. Catching her eye, he released her and sat down.

She smiled and walked back to her seat, across the table from him. His eyes following her all the way around the table, until she was seated.

They sat staring at each other and it reminded her of when she played “Stare” in elementary school. The first to look away lost.

 He blinked, “Tell me that you don’t want to leave with me; right now.”

She felt like telling him that no, she didn't want to, but would it be a lie? Heaven knew parts of her wanted to, but should she tell him that? But what then? Would he take her up on it? What if she lied and said no, would he get discouraged and leave her alone? Did she want that? She found herself in quite a conundrum; damned if she did and damned if she didn't. ‘Best to accept the defeat and go on from there’ she thought.

“I’m not going to answer that question.” She said looking down at her hands in her lap.

‘So’ he thought, ‘she doesn't want me to know how she feels about me’ he began to nod his head. He had enjoyed the game; he knew that once they did hook up, it would make up for all the frustration.

He hadn't said anything, just sat there, nodding his head.

 “Just let me get my stuff together.”

He shook his head, “Remember, I said I would choose when and where.”

“But I thought this whole thing was to get me to go to dinner with you tonight.”

He thought of something much better, “Originally, it was, but now I think we’ll save it for another day.”

“But if not now, when? We have the network presentations coming up and…”

He smiled widely, “I’ll let you know.” He stood and stretched.

She watched his muscles move under his clothing, “But you can’t just leave it hanging this way.” She stood and walked to his side of the table. She didn't stop until they stood toe to toe.

He looked down at her, her chin tipped up, looking at him with those eyes glowing green, her pert little nose and those lips just waiting to be ravaged with his kisses. He lowered his head and saw her close her eyes. He stopped at the last second; placing a gentle kiss onto her forehead.

She waited for his lips to touch hers, when it didn't happen she opened her eyes. She looked around and saw him walking out the door.

“Hey, so when are we going to dinner?” she yelled after him.

He put up a hand and waved, but didn't turn around; walking out of the office, into the parking lot and to his car. He stood in the open car door, looking longingly at the entrance, wondering if he did the right thing. Oh well, he would just have to see how it played out.

Was it a Dream?

My Interpretation

Zhoniu the artist's Interpretation

Sebastian lay alone in the dark. He sat up, “Time”

“Forty-seven minutes after four a.m.” the voice said.

“Damn it” he flopped back down; only twenty minutes since the last time he asked; another night without sleep. He looked over to his left; he wished with all that he was that she would reappear; he would give anything to see her again. He pulled his knees up; putting his head in his hands, he ran his fingers through his hair; he knew he was making a mess of it, but didn’t care. He nonchalantly waved a hand; the room was bathed in a soft light.

Walking to the bathroom, he looked in the mirror; Vannie would have a fit if she could see him now; unshaven, hair a mess, eyes bloodshot. He noted the color of his eyes; black; dead. He put his face over the sink and splashed cold water onto it. Turning, he grabbed a towel and dragged it down his face. He leaned against the sink and looked at the shower stall. He turned away when the memories of their shower together became too painful. He walked to his desk, pulled out the chair and fell into it.

The past two weeks were a fog. His father said that he had ideas of how to get Vannie back and asked for permission to continue his experiments. Sebastian couldn’t say no to him; for the small chance he might be right.

“Sebastian, you can’t go on like this.” Asmoda entered his mind. He ignored it.

“Please son, let me help you; you need some rest.”

He kept playing it over and over in his mind; he should never have left her alone that day. He should have taken her back to the house and he should never have let her go. Why did he leave the kitchen? To talk to his father? What did it matter now? He promised himself that if she ever came back he would never ever let her out of his sight. The world could go to hell for all he cared; all he wanted was to look at that bed and see her sleeping there.

‘What was he going to do without her? Could he find the strength to go on?’ he remembered feeling this same way when he found out that his mother and brother were gone and he remembered how long it took for the pain and loneliness to subside. He felt as though all the life was draining from him. He sighed and put his head down on the desk.

She felt a bag drop on her.

“Hey!”

“Oh sorry sis, I didn’t see you there.”

She pushed the massive thing off of her, onto the floor, “What do you have in there? Bricks?” she sat up and massaged her hip; where the bag hit.

“My football stuff.” He picked up the bag effortlessly and put it in the closet.

“What time is it?” she asked him. She heard Matt’s reply; muffled as he rummaged through the refrigerator.

“Almost six”

 She got up, stretched and walked to the kitchen. Her brother had a smorgasbord of left-overs spread out on the table. Vannie sat in a chair by the table, pulled her knees up and snagged a piece of cold chicken from a Chinese take-out carton. She put it in her mouth, “Ew, it’s cold.” She said, covering her mouth with her hand.

“Well, what do you expect? I just pulled it out of the refrigerator, smart one.”

She reached over and took a piece of broccoli from his plate and popped it in her mouth. Matt moved his plate out of her reach, “Come on, get your own.”

She looked at him with sad eyes, “Could you get me a plate?”

He feigned anger, “What do I look like; your maid?” he opened the cupboard and put a plate on the table. Vannie put chicken, broccoli, some unknown beef dish and rice on her plate. She heard the ding of the microwave.

“Can you put mine in?” she held up her filled plate.

He took it from her, “Anything else, master?”

Vannie smiled, “That would be mistress to you.”

Matt looked at his sister and rolled his eyes. He took the plate to the microwave, took his out, placed it on the counter and put hers in. He pushed the start button and brought his plate to the table. He began eating. Vannie stole a piece of beef from his plate, “Can I ask you a question?” she said while trying to cool the meat in her mouth.

“Sure” Matt replied around his own mouthful.

“Have you ever had a dream that felt so real that you couldn’t believe that it was just a dream?”

Matt thought about it. The microwave sounded. They looked at each other; Matt rose; holding up his hands; palms out, “No no, no, please, allow me.” He opened the microwave and brought Vannie her plate.

“Well?” she reminded him of her question.

Matt thought again and then smiled, nodding his head, “Oh yeah; Maggie Barnes; I dreamt we were doing it in her convertible.”

She looked at her brother, wondering if sex was the only thing men thought about, “You’re just a pig.” She said; they laughed and finished eating.

Their mother Maria walked in loaded down with groceries, “Don’t tell me you guys ate already?”

 “It’s okay Mom, I’m going to the movies.” Matt put his dirty plate and glass in the sink, came to give his mom a kiss on the cheek and left the room.

“But I was going to try a new recipe.” She whined as she emptied the bags.

“Maybe next time; Lui and I are going out too.” Vannie stood and put her plate on top of Matt’s in the sink, she kissed her mom.

 Maria looked back to her daughter, “But you just got out of the hospital.”

“Oh, just let her go.” Vannie saw her father walk through the kitchen doorway. He came to his wife and kissed her, “She doesn’t want to hang out with the old folks anyway.” He winked at Vannie, “Hi honey.” He gave her a peck on the cheek, “How are you feeling?”

“Hi Daddy, I’m fine.”

“No drinking tonight, okay? The doctor said that you had to take it easy for a while.” He shook his finger in her face.

“Okay Dad, I promise, I won’t.”

“Do you need a ride somewhere?” Matt returned; he now had his coat on.

“No thanks, Lui is picking me up.”

She saw her friend pull up in her jaguar. She opened the car door, got in and closed the door.

Her friend looked at her, “So, did you have any good dreams while you were out?”

“No” Vannie lied. She wasn’t ready to share Sebastian with anyone yet; not even Lui.

The Pond

The path is closed

My coworker and I take a walk every day after lunch; as long as it isn't raining too much. It helps keep our sanity and keeps us from strangling some people; who shall remain nameless. We had suffered through several days of heavy storms and the aftermath was prevalent everywhere. As we neared the place where the path thinned, we saw that the way was blocked. We looked at each other and then at the deep water expanse before us. Being creatures of habit, we searched desperately for a way to continue on to the bridge (red structure seen in the above picture) that would take us on our usual trek, through the parking lot of the condos, then onto the front of the golf club and then back to our own building.

“Do you think we could go around?” I asked hopefully; already knowing the answer.

“Not unless you have a raft in your back pocket.” She said, deadpanning it.

She looked at me and I smiled, “Darn it, wouldn’t you know it, I left it in my other pants.”

We looked at each other and cracked up.

“I guess we have to go back.” she said, still looking at all the water before us.

“I guess so.” I said, doing the same.

We stayed there, looking out and saw several geese swimming contentedly.

“At least somebody is happy about all this water.” I said, turning dejectedly back the way we came.

She followed, “You know, I've always wanted to live where I could have a pond in my back yard.”

“Oh really” I said, watching the same sights we saw on the way here, still wondering if there could have been a way to…

“Yeah, I always dreamt about getting swans;  a male and a female with little baby swans.”

“You mean cygnets.”

She looked at me, “Is that what they’re called?”

I nodded. We walked on.

“Did I ever tell you about my aunt’s swans?”

She looked at me, “Your aunt has swans?”

I nodded, “Well, not anymore, but she did.”

Her brow furrowed, “Oh, what happened?”

I smiled and recounted this story to her.

My aunt had also always dreamt of having a pond, and with the purchase of her new house that dream would be brought to fruition.  She couldn't wait to have picnics and go fishing with her family on their very own pond. So at last they moved in and the pond dream became a reality. But the pinnacle of this dream, what she kept in her heart of hearts was the desire; also like my coworker, to have a pair of mating swans swimming in this very pond. The week before, she and her family had gone to a breeder of swans and had picked out a mating pair that were hand-raised and would be delivered when she moved into the house. When it was all said and done an exorbitant amount of money had exchanged hands, but my aunt didn't care; her dreams were being fulfilled.

            She called the breeder the night before to schedule the delivery. My aunt was so excited; Vito and Rosie (the names she had given the birds) would be there early today. She set up a chair in the front of the garage and resigned herself to wait.

She had visions of waking up in the morning, looking out her kitchen window, watching as  Vito and Rosie intertwined their necks; making that cute heart shape when they were forehead to forehead. Then, she would mosey on down to the pond, where, when she called their names, they would rush out of the water, falling all over themselves to be first to wish her a good morning.

            She was brought out of her thoughts by the honk of a horn. She looked up to see the smiling face of the swan breeder. Together, they drove to the pond and released the birds onto the pond.

My aunt’s neighbor; Ray came up from his house to stand next to her.

“Those are gorgeous birds.”

My aunt beamed.

They stood there watching the birds float effortlessly upon the water. Ray broke the silence.

“Hey Soph? Did you remember to clip their wings?”

            My aunt looked at him and was about to answer when there was a flutter of wings.

         Looking out to the pond, they watched first Vito, then Rosie take off from the pond and become airborne.

            “I guess not” He said.

            My aunt was becoming hysterical; she grabbed onto his shirt, “Ray, do something.”

            “Do you want me to get my gun?”

            She looked at him horrified, but knew short of what he hinted at; there was nothing to be done.

            They never saw Vito or Rosie again.

            We walked into the building; our walk completed.