Science Fiction

Avalon 3.1: Freedom Road, Part 1 of 7

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 3146 BC in the Alps. Kairos lifetime 34: Lucas

Recording …

“Who are you talking to?” Elder Stow looked around in the dark but saw no one. “Are you talking to me?”

Major Decker stopped unpacking his things. “The ghost here. Don’t you see him?”

Elder Stow shook his head. “I see nothing. No ghost, certainly.”

“Ghost, you got a name?”

“Carthair,” the ghost said, but he wasn’t paying attention. He was watching the couples who were making up for being in the land without love. “I used to kiss my wife like that. I remember.”

“Never,” Decker said. “Unless we were naked or headed in that direction.” He looked at Elder Stow. “Ours was a relationship of mutual lust, my wife and I.”

The Gott-Druk shook his head again. “I do not understand you homo sapiens.” He went to set up his tent for whatever remained of the night as Lockhart and Katie came over to the clearing.

“Who are you talking to?” Lockhart asked. Lockhart had his arm around Katie and she held on to his waist. It was not uncomfortable, but still a bit awkward letting go. Back home they would probably start dating.

“He has a ghost,” Elder Stow spoke up.

“You don’t see him?” Major Decker was asking to be sure, but he made it a statement because he understood Carthair was not on most people’s radar. Lockhart and Katie shook their heads, took one more look at each other and began to unpack their horses in the dark.

Lincoln and Alexis came next, arm in arm like the old married couple they were. They were made young again, but they still had many of the habits of age which mostly consisted of being very comfortable with each other. Lincoln started to unpack the tent, but Alexis felt something. She squinted at Decker.

“Alexis, surely you can see the ghost. Carthair, this is Alexis.”

“Ghost.” Alexis squinted a bit more.

“Ghost?” Lincoln’s eyes widened. He could not see anything, but thinking about it was worse in his mind.

“Ghost,” Alexis repeated, and with the magic inside of her she was able to perceive the vague outline of a man. “Carthair?”

“Yes,” Carthair said, though Alexis did not hear him.

“Roland!” Alexis called and said an aside to Decker, her husband, and she supposed the ghost. “Those two young lovebirds would be there all night if I didn’t interrupt them.”

“What?” Roland shouted back. He and Boston were standing in a bit of snow, holding tight to each other and not inclined to let go.

“We picked up a ghost.”snowy woods

“What?” Roland and Boston came over and Roland saw the ghost right away. Alexis had to show Boston how to use her magic to see, but when she did, Boston saw the ghost clearly and heard him as well.

“Carthair,” the ghost introduced himself

“Glad to know I’m not crazy,” Decker mumbled.

“I see him,” Boston shrieked. “But what is he doing here?” she asked Roland.

“A fair question,” Roland said.

Carthair looked at his feet where he did not really have any feet. “I died here somewhere on the Alpine path and I haven’t been buried. I think I’m stuck.”

Roland repeated what the ghost said so everyone could hear before he spoke again, “Hasn’t an escort come for you?” Roland asked before he explained for the others. “There are little sprits of the Kairos that are charged with collecting and escorting the spirits of the dead to their resting place.”

Carthair shook his head. I am in an odd place, I think, like on the border the gods argue about. I don’t belong to Hades. I grew up dreaming of entering the halls of Vrya, the great Vanheim goddess of love and war or maybe Valhalla, but now I think I need to go west, like there is a new house I never heard of. All I hear are the Children of Danna.”

“Carthair,” Katie spoke up after Roland repeated the words. “Probably a very early Celtic name. The Celts will move west over the next couple of millennia to fill France, Northern Spain, the low countries and eventually the British Isles. They will belong to the house of the Don.”

“I didn’t know that,” Carthair spoke softly.

“Maybe we can find his body and see that it is properly buried,” Alexis said.

“Cremated,” Lincoln said. “The people of the urn were all about cremation.”

Carthair looked up, and while the ghost face would never quite settle down into a clear picture, those who could see saw hope there. “Only not tonight,” Decker interrupted. “We all need sleep. So tell me, do ghosts sleep?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know,” Carthair said and he flew up into the trees and vanished from sight.

“I won’t sleep,” Lincoln told Alexis who smiled at his words. Of course, Lincoln slept very well.

It was six in the morning, not long before dawn, when a bear wandered into the camp. Decker woke to the sound and looked carefully from his tent door before he rushed out into danger. He saw the bear pick up a log and place it on the fire. He decided to stay where he was and peek out from the dark when he heard the bear talk.

“Little Fire is not doing her job here.”bear in snow

“I think she is doing just fine.” He heard the woman’s voice before the woman appeared, a beauty beyond telling. Decker could not really look at her without trembling with desire. “She snuck out of her tent to be with Roland since he is alone without his father to keep him company.” The woman made the cutest face. “I like sneaky sex.”

‘You like any kind of sex,” the bear said. “And you leave my elect alone.”

“Don’t worry. They haven’t finished cooking.”

“Humph,” the bear said and changed into a woman, also a beauty, but a rugged beauty of the kind that was almost worse for Decker. “These poor people have a long way to go on the Alpine road. I’m concerned that there are so many people up here hunting right now, if you can call it hunting.”

“I don’t know why. We all know Lucas is out of reach,” the first woman said. “Safely in the arms of the Oread on the other side of the mountains. Even Hades can’t go there without an invitation from Asgard. Vrya would kick his butt.”

“Uncle Hades is just stubborn.”

“And you aren’t?”

The two women looked eye to eye before the one that was a bear spoke. “Aphrodite, you wouldn’t dare.”

Aphrodite smiled before she shook her head. “Dear Artemis, keep your bow and arrows, but I am putting Uncle Hades on the list. He needs to loosen up.”

Artemis looked like she was not sure she believed her sister, but she did not press the point. “She better be special.”

Aphrodite simply nodded with a look that suggested she already had someone in mind. She did not say so, but instead turned to the tent door and pointed right at Decker. “And you are on my list, too.” Then she vanished.

Decker stuck his head out of the tent. “No, please.”

Artemis laughed at him and looked up. “Carthair, you can come back now.” And she vanished as well.

************

Avalon 3.1 is what on television would be a two part episode. It will be posted in seven posts, four this week, M, T W & Th, and three next week, M T W. Let me urge you to stick with the story to the end. I believe you will find it an enjoyable read. MGK

Avalon 3.0: part 4 of 4 A New Beginning

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Junior sat down to watch the newly created Niudim eat. He was trying to discern certain more subtle aspects of his making when Lockhart interrupted.

“So where did the imps go?”

Junior nodded and left off his examination to answer. “The Mojave on the other side of the world where the goddess will never find them. The plan might not work, but at least they will be safe.”

“That’s it? You just sent them off?” Lincoln wondered.

“No.” Junior shook his head. “I gave them a lovely thatched roofed house with roses of the desert in their garden and a big pen full of buffalo and big horn sheep and other animals native to that part of the world.”

‘Sounds lovely,” Katie said.

Junior smiled for the first time and it warmed the hearts of everyone present. “Truth is they will eat through that food in a couple of weeks and probably accidentally burn the house down. Then they will be right back to their same old tricks, make a golem out of buffalo hide, and send him into the nearest village to beg, borrow or steal whatever is edible.”

hole in the earth“And what will you and Mister Bacon be doing?” Decker asked.

“We will head down into the underworld this evening at sundown. It would be better if you were not around for that.”

Lincoln shivered. “I can’t imagine not being afraid.”

Junior shook his head. “The Kairos has access to all the underworlds. I have little ones who work down below. I can go down and back up by pledge of all the gods and Hades, Erishkegal and even Hellas have no right or power to prevent me. I also happen to be immune to the food of the dead. A precaution I think, but then I am also immune to ambrosia, the divine nectar, the apples of youth, and of course fairy food.” Junior sighed.

Lockhart looked at Junior for a moment as if trying to figure out something in his own head before he moved. He could not guess, whatever it was, so he spoke. “Okay people, lets pack it up and see how far we can get in daylight.”

Junior and Niudim waved until the travelers were out of sight. The Travelers returned the sentiment, but it was not long before they were beyond of the only source of love in that world. The group moved mostly in silence. When they spoke, it was cordial. They were all trying hard to remember their true feelings, even if they were not feeling that way at the moment.

The sun seemed to take forever to set over that flat land of grass and sand. It was Lincoln who finally came to name the land the desert of Arabia. They were in the Middle East, but a long way from the Tigris and Euphrates. Fortunately, Junior made sure their water skins and canteens were full before they left.

Roland did not have to go far to find a gazelle that appeared to want to be taken for supper. There was also wood in the area for the fire, though no one could imagine where it came from. The animal was cut and cooked, and people ate their fill and drank sparingly from their water. When each person laid down to sleep, Katie started it all.

“Lockhart,” she said. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he responded, and they both turned on their sides, away from each other and not near enough to touch,

“Roland,” Boston spoke up. “I do love you.”

“I know, and I love you too,” Roland responded.

“I know,” Boston said and she took a minute to fluff her makeshift pillow.

Alexis turned to Lincoln and risked touching him. Lincoln faced her and spoke. “I love you too. I followed you to the end of the world, or the beginning of the world as the case may be because I did not want to live without you.”

“I know,” Alexis echoed Boston’s word. “I’m glad, and I love you too.” She turned over and tried to get comfortable on that hot and sweaty night.

The whole group was up in the early light before dawn. “We better move before the day gets too hot horses in the nightagain,” Lockhart said. No one said they agreed. They just went about saddling up and preparing to go.

All that long day was spent in silence, especially when the blazing sun forced them to walk and walk their horses. There was only one brief conversation between Elder Stow and Decker, the two who were unencumbered with immediate concerns about love.

“I do not understand these people,” Elder Stow said. “My people were made to live in just these sorts of small groups. Relationships are encouraged, but so often these appear reluctant, especially among the mother and father of the group.”

“In our tradition relationships are discouraged because they can so easily distract from readiness and from the mission. The brass wouldn’t like this, and people know office romances are generally not a good idea. But in this case, I would like to see these relationships strengthened. It means they will be watching out for each other double hard, and it sets me free to watch the perimeter and deal with whatever may be following us..”

“Exactly, and indeed,” Elder Stow said, and he floated overhead to his place where he could watch the perimeter on the other side of the column.

The travelers walked long into the cool of the night. Though the landscape remained unchanged, full of scrub grass and sand, the night got cold in the wee hours just like a real desert. The travelers had to thicken their fairy weave clothes and bundle up. It was two in the morning when they found the time gate.

Lockhart would have stopped the group by midnight, but Boston kept saying it was just up ahead. No one argued about wanting to stop, and Lockhart thought long about their journey so far. They had been subject to wars, pestilence and diseases unheard of in the twenty-first century. They had been chased by ghouls and demons, trapped and attacked by locals including soldiers, fought aliens, night creatures and a little green man. They twice had their minds and wills taken over by powers in the earth. They once went into a world where the sun never came up, but the group was never so anxious to leave a time zone. A world without love was unbearable.

They broke their informal rule and went through the time gate in the dark. They found themselves in some region of the Alps, as Lincoln reported. There was snow on the fir trees and in windblown piles on the ground, and they appeared to be on a kind of road that wound through the high country. There was a small clearing in that place where they could set a camp.

horse night snowThe travelers dismounted and Roland went straight to Boston. He wrapped her up in his arms and she was eager for his kiss. Lincoln and Alexis hugged first, like old married couples do, but soon they joined the kissing party. Lockhart dismounted and Katie looked at him, but said and did nothing. It was up to him to walk to her and slip his arms around her.

“I’m slow,” he said. “But I will get there.” Katie just nodded as he touched his lips tenderly to hers. She kissed him back, and it wasn’t so tender.

Elder Stow went to hover beside Decker who had yet to dismount when Decker heard a voice.

“Ooo, that is something you don’t see every day.”

Decker looked up. It was a ghost floating just above his and Elder Stows heads. Decker made no sign of surprise. He slipped off his horse and shouted, “Make camp,” though it technically wasn’t his place to say that.

Avalon 3.0: part 3 of 4 Gollum

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Boston and Roland spent most of the night worried about the horses. One or the other was usually about, checking to be sure they were undisturbed. Lincoln hardly slept a wink, being as close as he was to the land of the dead, and Alexis never could get comfortable. Katie worried about Lockhart and wondered if something would ever come of the relationship or if they might just fizzle out. Lockhart spent much of the night watching Decker sleep. The former Navy Seal had mastered the art of sleeping when he could. Elder Stow had his own tent-like shelter that he put up and took down with a click of a button, but even his sleep seemed to be off. At least he did not seem to be snoring as much as usual.

As far as anyone could tell, Junior never slept. He just sat cross legged in front of the fire and hardly ever moved. The hole to the underground closed again at midnight, but to everyone in that place, the night felt exceptionally long and dark. The sun rose wan and pale, and the people hoped it would not be as hot and oppressive as the day before, but then the heat never really went away in the night so they figured it would not take much to get things cooking and sweating again.

The imps slept in a pile where they only complained now and then about a foot in the mouth. They untangled with the sunrise and Magpie set about cooking some morning donkey.

“You know what I need,” Junior said, and Magpie nodded but said nothing. Her sons brought in wood for the fire and the travelers had no idea where they found wood among the sand and scrub grass that ruled the landscape. But the travelers had learned that sometimes it was better not to question things too closely. They found seats around the fire and beside Junior and only Decker made a comment about breakfast.cooking bacon

“This jackass bacon isn’t bad.”

Lincoln and Alexis got elected to clean up the mess from breakfast. The imps certainly knew nothing about cleaning, and besides, they had a job to do. They set about gathering the donkey bones, the skin and the skull and laid them out carefully and in a precise order with Magpie only whacking one son or the other now and then. When everything was in order to Magpie’s satisfaction, Magpie added five stones she collected. She placed them where one could almost imagine hands and feet and one between the legs. Then the imps began to dance and chant and something slowly began to happen.

Snot danced like a man with no bones. He waved his overlong arms, like flags in the wind, and collapsed to the ground now and then, like a piece of rubber, unable to stand, only to get up again and start over. All three imps kept up the chant, but it was not words, just sounds and strange noises no human vocal chords could make.

Puss danced more like a stiff-legged animal, and it looked at first like he was pealing bits of skin off his chest and tossing it on to the donkey skin. The travelers decided it was not what it seemed when they saw, every now and then, all of the imps sprinkled sand and occasionally scrub grass on the skin.

Magpie bounced. She went from foot to foot, flipped her hair back and forth, and worked her way all the way around the skin. Junior later remarked it looked sort of Gangnam Style, but the travelers did not know what that was.

The donkey skin began to move, It jiggled and the bones and stones and donkey skull began to jump and shift positions. Things slowly knitted together and took shape. They could see arms and legs now, and something like a body shape. The donkey skin spread out and covered all of the body shape like human skin and the color changed to a well tanned Middle Eastern color. When Magpie stopped dancing and huffed and puffed to catch her breath, the boys stopped as well. There was a person on the ground, but it looked like a manikin in a shop window with the face and extremities still undefined.

“Good,” Junior said and as he raised a hand, the manikin rose to its feet. Junior took a long walk all the way around before he spoke again. “Now the details.” He touched Magpie on her forehead and she squinted before she shook her head.

“Those are hard details,” she said. “I don’t know if we can do all of that.”

“Do your best,” Junior said and he stepped back to the travelers who were still seated by the fire, watching and fascinated.

Magpie grabbed her son’s hands in a way that reminded the travelers of Boston, Alexis and Roland all grabbing hands to combine their magic. After a moment, the travelers saw something like a ghostly image project from the imps. It covered the manikin and the manikin began to conform to the ghostly form. The manikin grew a smidgen taller as features formed to make a face. The hands and other areas took on definition as the imps swayed and sang off key. To look at the imps, it looked like they were singing campfire songs—kumbaya; but when they were done, there was a man in front of them, and a rather handsome and well built one at that.

The man moved and the travelers tried not to gasp. He opened his eyes and reached up to wiggle his jaw. “Good to have a mouth,” he said. “Got anything to eat?”

“What does he eat?” Alexis asked.

Junior made no response at first. He was walking around the man examining the handiwork. When he returned to face the man, the man followed with his eyes and asked a second question.

“Do I have a name?”

“Niudim,” Junior said. “Niudim Bacon. I was thinking Decker, but Bacon is more appropriate.”

horses-in-desert“Thank you,” Decker mumbled.

“Just one more thing,” Junior said. He raised his hands and showered Niudim with golden sparkles of light. Suddenly Niudim became very attractive to the women who were watching. Junior quickly took a bit of fairy weave from his clothes and covered the man in a blue dress and sandals such as men in that age wore. “And he eats human food. In fact, if done right, he should imitate human behavior very well.”

“Food?” the man said. Alexis got up to fetch whatever was left of breakfast and Boston got up to help, though she wondered if this might be something like cannibalism for the donkey-man.

“But wait.” Lincoln had a question. “Couldn’t you have made the man?”

Junior nodded. “And out of nothing, but he would have had “Made by the gods” stamped on his forehead for all practical purposes. This way I hope Erishkegal will not notice until it is too late.”

“You want the goddess to fall in love with Niudim?” Katie asked.

“I am the goddess of desire’s grandson and the goddess of love’s son. Niudim is as close as I can figure to Erishkegal’s dream lover, but to be sure, I want to break her heart. If she blames love, I hope she will throw Ishtar out of the underworld for good.”

“This is very good,” Niudim said as he ate. “My compliments to the chef.”

“Ahem.” The chef, Magpie was standing with her sons, unnaturally patient for imps.

“Yes.” Junior faced them. “Thank you. I’ll take it from here,” he said, waved his hand, and the three imps vanished from that place.

************

Be sure to visit tomorrow for the conclusion of the first episode of season three

Avalon 3.0:  part 4 0f 4, A New Beginning

Until then … MGK

Avalon 3.0: part 2 of 4, Love by the Fire

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The travelers and the imps arrived together at the place of the Kairos. The sun was ready to set which gave the travelers hope that they might get a break from the oppressive heat. They found the Kairos, Junior, sitting cross legged by the fire staring at the sand and grass in front of him, or maybe meditating. He had something like a backpack behind him, but no sign of a tent. He also made no indication that he was aware of their presence.

“Make camp,” Lockhart suggested, and everyone turned to tend to the horses first. Magpie and her sons pulled up a seat behind Junior and acted like they were waiting for supper to be ready. Decker came up to Lockhart with a question.campfire

“Should we expect to use the fire that is made or make our own?” Lockhart did not get to answer because Lincoln wandered to the other side of Junior’s fire, before it got dark, to get a look at the land they expected to cross in the morning, and Junior reacted.

“No, no. Lincoln, you don’t want to stand there,” he shouted.

The ground began to shake, but only under Lincoln’s feet. He ran and made it to safety before a perfectly round hole opened up and revealed steps winding their way down into the pit.

“What is it?” Katie asked, having noticed the imps scooted further back from that place and always kept Junior between them and the hole. Junior answered without turning around.

“That is the entrance to the underworld, the land of the dead, where Erishkegal rules and Namtar is her henchman who does all her dirty work.”

“Wow!” Lincoln sounded surprised and impressed, but mostly like he realized what a close call he had.

Junior turned and scooted around without getting up. “Are we all here?” He counted heads as they approached. The imps backed up further to make way for the travelers. “This was probably the worst possible time for you to come.”

“Why?” Alexis asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Alexis,” Roland interjected. “I’m surprised you have forgotten. Father told me the story and I had nightmares for years after.”

Junior squinted at the elf, like maybe Roland did not need to say that much. All the same he opened up. “My mother’s father.” Junior paused to think it through and started again. “My grandfather had a mistress who had my mother. The mistress is gone now, I mean dead, not recently, and by cause unknown, or at least nothing proved. But that was why my mother grew up in Egypt, where she could be safe until she matured sufficiently to handle herself.”

“Your mother?” Boston was the one who asked, but Junior waved off the question.

“When my mother came back, my grandfather’s wife tricked her, actually challenged her to take a trip down into the land of the dead.” Junior paused and shook his head. “She and Erishkegal must have planned this whole thing ages ago.”

“But who is your mother?” Boston wanted to know.

“Ishtar.”

Katie bit her tongue. She did not want to say, “The goddess?” again.

“So your mother is dead?” Alexis asked.

“No. That’s the thing. She knew enough to not eat the food of the dead, but she is a prisoner and can’t come back to the world. The gods have insisted that I figure out some way to set her free, and that is what I want to do, so I’m figuring.”

Now Katie could ask her question. “Why do the gods want her free so badly?”

“Because Ishtar is the goddess of love, love and war, but love is the operative part. As long as she is a prisoner in the underground, there is no love in the world, even among the gods.”

The travelers took a moment to look at each other and Lockhart responded. “We can all vouch for the lack of love since we came into this time zone.”

“But it isn’t so bad right now,” Katie added with a look at Lockhart.

“I am my mother’s son,” Junior said. “But it isn’t so strong in me, and the gods know they won’t have me around but maybe sixty years or so.”

Decker suddenly grasped something. “I bet the ghosts down there are having a real good time.” He grinned.underground party

Lincoln asked a different question. He was suspicious. “Who was your grandfather’s mistress—your real grandmother.”

“Innan,” Junior said. “And I don’t want to talk about it. I wasn’t here when she went over to the other side.”

Lincoln nodded. They met Innan, and liked her, the one the Kairos called the goddess of desire. With Innan gone and her daughter trapped in the land of the dead there truly was no love in the world. Junior sighed in memory of his grandmother, and then changed the subject.

“Decker and Harper,” he called them forward, and they came, but with one short, curious glance at each other. “Captain Decker. I have these for you.” Junior held out two gold leafs. “It was supposed to be Major Decker when you started this assignment, but Colonel Weber, the dipstick withheld the promotion. I’ve held on to these for about ten years. Glad to finally get rid of them.”

“Sir.” Decker said as Junior removed the Captain’s bars and pinned on the leafs.

“Lieutenant Harper,” Junior continued. “Your promotion has been long overdue.” He took her single bar and had Decker pin on her Captain’s bars. He let her keep the lieutenant’s insignia in her hand and stepped back to offer a salute. “Belated congratulations to both of you. I understand Bobbi and my Alice self are leaning on the Pentagon to offer another upgrade, assuming you make it back to the twenty-first century in one piece.”

“Thank you sir,” Katie said and turned first of all to Lockhart who offered a sloppy salute of his own.

“Captain Harper,” Lockhart said and smiled, and Katie returned his smile and spoke sweet words with her eyes.

“Excuse me.” Junior whistled and yelled. “Magpie, Snot and Puss.” The three imps appeared out of thin air, standing in the fire with their feet on the hot coals. They jumped for their life, but away from the hole in the earth. Junior explained. “They were getting ready to go for a horse.”

“What?” Several of the travelers reacted, and it was strong enough to inspire Magpie to answer.

“But we been all day and haven’t had nothing to eat.” That was not a lie, but only the truth in the way little spirits tell the truth. They didn’t have nothing all day. They actually had an overly large breakfast before they snuck off.

donkey down“Here,” Junior said, and a donkey, one with a broken leg appeared. Magpie and the boys started to drool to look at it, and Magpie made a comment.

“Donkey bacon is even better.”

“Yes, but just remember, you go near the horses and you will get a lot worse than singed toes.

“Yes Lord, yes,” they all said as they dragged the beast off to slaughter.

“Sacrifice right over the pit of Hell,” Lockhart quipped.

Katie shook her head and Junior offered a correction. “Hellas’ place is up where the Black Sea and the Aegean meet, but I get your point. Erishkegal thinks all sacrifices belong to her. But I don’t believe that is the way to get to her. I’m thinking about what Decker said. Sometimes even ghosts gotta party.

************

Be sure to check back tomorrow for part 3 of 4,  Gollum

Avalon 3.0: The End of Love, part 1 of 4

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 3206 BC south of Mesopotamia. Kairos lifetime 33: (Amun) Junior

Recording …

“A woman wants to hear the word love now and then, you know.” Katie gave Lockhart a hard stare and ignored her horse’s footsteps. There was not anything to see except sand, sparse vegetation and the blazing sun overhead.

“Yeah, well, for a man that is not so easy.” Lockhart wiped the sweat from his brow. “I can tell you I admire and respect you. I think you are the nicest, kindest, most thoughtful and intelligent woman I have ever known. I can tell you that you are beautiful and I would not be lying. In fact, you are the only woman in the whole world—in the whole of history I have ever found who I felt I could be happy with. But I can’t say that other word because I am not feeling it right now, and that’s for sure.”

Katie looked away for a minute before she answered. “Everything you just said, ditto to you, but now that I think of it I don’t feel that word either.” She nudged her horse to move out on the flank with Captain Decker and Lockhart threw the sweat from his hand to the ground.

Lincoln leaned over to whisper in Alexis’ ear. “Children,” he said. “Wait until they really start having an argument.”

Alexis pulled her head away and wiped her ear like she was afraid he got something on it. “You mean like—“

“Now don’t you start.”

“Start what? You have no idea what I was going to say.”

“Start anything. I don’t want to hear it.”

Alexis gave Lincoln a Katie kind of hard look. She spoke between her teeth. “Fine.”

“Fine,” Lincoln answered and ignored her look

“Don’t touch me.” Boston’s voice was loud enough for all to hear.

“Who said I wanted to touch you, Princess Little Fire.” The sarcasm in Roland’s words were evident.

“It’s just, I can’t get any peace.” Boston turned her head and shouted at the group. “There is no escaping you people.” She spoke more softly. “I can’t get any rest.”

Roland said nothing more.

When Katie rode to the flank, Elder Stow hovered over to pace Lockhart. He had something to say, and he spit as he talked.

“My Father.” He turned up his nose. “It is only right to give you fair warning.”

Lockhart looked at the Neanderthal.. He did not entirely trust the Gott-Druk, and thought he might never entirely trust him, but he listened.

“I am not happy traveling in your company and I do not care what happens to your people, all of you homo sapiens who stole our homeland and drove us out into the darkness among the stars. It was difficult, but I was finding my way back home to the future just fine without you. I am thinking I could take the amulet and find my way easily and leave you all here to rot.”

Alexis whipped around from in front. “The gods would break the amulet rather than let you have it, and they would break your equipment, too, so you would be left here to rot with us.”

“We have faced things where your super advanced equipment was no protection. You don’t have to love us. You don’t even have to like us, but there is safety in numbers. We watch out for each other and travel together.”

Elder Stow nodded to common sense, even if he did not like it. “The thing is, right now I do not care about my children whom you killed. I do not care about my own people. As you homo sapiens say, they can all rot in hell.” With that thought on his mind, he floated back out to the perimeter.

“Decker,” Katie started to speak sharply but amended her word and softened her voice to offer more respect. “Captain, is there any way you can look up ahead and see if we are getting anywhere?”

Captain Decker looked at her to judge how upset she might be before he spoke. “I loved my wife once,” he said, like he was drawing on a thought from nowhere. “Right now I cannot imagine it, but it must be true or I would not have married her.”

“Where did that comment come from?”

Captain Decker took a moment to adjust his seat in the saddle. He let his hand slip down to finger the stock on his rifle. “It’s just that after a while we found that it really wasn’t love, it was lust. There was no love, and we both knew it even if she would never admit it. Still, I stayed with her for a number of years, even when she got hot and cranky, and believe me, she was an expert at getting hot and cranky, but some of those days were good.”

Katie glanced at Lockhart. “How did you manage that?”

“Do you love him?”

“I thought I did. I don’t hate him, but right now I don’t feel any love at all.”

“Me neither. But I haven’t felt love for years.” Decker unsnapped the strap on his rifle. “I stayed with my wife as long as I did because I made a promise. I did my duty.” Decker pulled his rifle and startled Katie back to task with the words, “We got company.”

Katie rode back over beside Lockhart and pulled her own rifle even as Roland said, “Visitors.” The procession stopped where they were. “They appear to be imps,” he added.

Three dirty, gray skinned imps came over the scrub grass. They were short legged but had arms nearly long enough to drag their knuckles. The women knew at once, but it took the men a moment to realize the one out front was a female.   They all had the same look about them with big mouths with a few sharp teeth showing, big saucer-like eyes and nostril holes that did not quite support an actual nose. They were clearly not human, and in another time and place they might have claimed to be from the planet Zorton and nobody would have questioned it. They stopped when they were a few feet away.

“Elf.” The female said.

“My name is Roland, and these are my companions.”

“Fancy that,” the female cut him off before he got into the introductions. “An elf forced to drag a bunch of short livers around. Must be a curse of some kind.” The female out front spoke to the younger males that hovered over her shoulders.

“You have a name?” Roland was trying to keep things civil.

“Magpie, and these are my boys, Snot and Puss.” Magpie leaned forward, secretive, but she had no ability to whisper. “I tried to ditch them back a ways, but I cook and they eat, so.” Magpie shrugged. “So now we will be taking one of your horses and be on our way.”.

“The horses are a gift of the Kairos. You dare not so much as touch one.”

Magpie paused for a minute to consider her options. “Kairos is that way.” She pointed back the way she came. “He wanted us to do a job for him, but I don’t care about him. I don’t love him no more than I do my own sons, and I don’t care about them, none at all. Besides, I’ve been dreaming about horse bacon.”

“Now hold it,” Lockhart had dismounted and stepped forward. “No one needs to get hurt.”

Decker put a bullet between Magpie’s feet. Her eyes got very big at the sound of thunder and puff of dust as Decker spoke. “I don’t understand. What is everyone’s problem? So you don’t love the Kairos. So you don’t love her. So you don’t love him.” Decker did not specifically point to a person. “I haven’t felt love in years. But I made a bunch of pledges when I joined the service, and I made promises to this group, and I intend to keep them all. Love doesn’t matter. It doesn’t keep me from being loyal and faithful. Hell, I’m a Marine. I take my orders and I do my duty to the best of my ability, period.” He turned to face the imps. “I understand you are pledged to the Kairos, so if he asked you something, you need to do it to fulfill your pledge, to do your duty. Maybe you don’t love him, but love’s got nothing to do with it.”

Everyone quieted to think. The travelers understood very well what Decker was saying. The imps understood, but they were not really persuaded by it. Loyalty, faithfulness and duty were not strong in the imp character, and keeping promises was laughable. Roland understood this of the imps, so he felt it was important to add one thing.

“Then again, if you cause harm to one of us or one of these horses, the Kairos will know, and he has the power to cast you into the land of eternal torment.”

Magpie rubbed her chin as she admitted, “There is that.”

************

To be continued.  Look for Tomorrows post, Avalon 3.0, part 2 of 4 Love by the Fire

Until then … Happy Reaing

MGK

Can you Imagine?

M G Kizzia 2 Comments

This is a test.Demon_Roller_Coaster

This is only a test.

If this had been a real emergency, you would have heard a loud screeching sound worse than Saint Teresa’s girl scout troop on the Demon roller coaster.  No way the brain can function under such circumstances.

Assuming the test is successful, allow me to introduce Avalon, season 3.

First, the how to:

Written as episodes (like a television show), it is easy to start in the middle (like season 3) and pick right up with what is happening, who the characters are, and how it all works.  However, I encourage you to read the whole episode.  I take no responsibility for anyone who only reads part 3 of 7  of episode 3.1 and come away confused.

For those who insist on starting at the beginning, Avalon the Prequel, the Pilot Episode and Season 1 are available as ebooks on Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, Sony, Apple and other retailers.  Season 2 is being prepared for ebookdom, and all are moderately priced.  Just look for books by M G Kizzia at your favorite retailer.

Episode 3.0 (the first of season three) will be posted in 4 parts, M, T, W, Th, March 30, 31, April 1 & 2.  Yes, that is all in the same week, and if you miss a post, it will still be up here so you can catch up.

Then the enticing blurb:

Brought to the beginning of history on a rescue mission, in order to get home, two elves, two marines, one Gott-Druk (a Neanderthal from the far future) and four Men in Black must follow the amulet of Avalon and move from one time gate to the next. They must travel through time zones that center around the many lives of the Kairos, the Traveler in Time, the Watcher over History, a person who never lives a quiet life. With unlimited vitamins, elf crackers, and bullets, riding mustangs brought back from the old west, wearing fairy weave clothing they can shape and change with a thought in order to blend in, they have to deal with gods and monsters, spirits and creatures, space aliens and the great unknown, and try hard not to disturb history in the process, not an easy task when they have to fight for their lives. All they want is to get home, to the twenty-first century in one piece, but they are not the only ones lost in time, and some of the terrors are now hunting them.

MGK

A Technicapped Person Attempts the Impossible

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

website constructionThis website is under construction.

Maybe forever…

But, assuming I am still here after a week…

There will be stories, specifically, Avalon, Season Three:

Brought to the beginning of history on a rescue mission, in order to get home, two elves, two marines, one Gott-Druk (a Neanderthal from the far future) and four Men in Black must follow the amulet of Avalon and move from one time gate to the next, through time zones that center around the many lives of the Kairos, the Traveler in Time, the Watcher over History, a person who never lives a quiet life. With unlimited vitamins, elf crackers, and bullets, riding mustangs brought back from the old west, wearing fairy weave cloth they can be shaped and changed with a thought in order to blend in, they have to deal with gods and monsters, spirits and creatures, space aliens and the great unknown, and try hard not to disturb history in the process. All they want is to get home, in one piece, but they are not the only ones lost in time, and some of the terrors are now hunting them.

Avalon 3 explorers on horsebackLike a television show in written form, it does not take long to get into the storyline, though for the purists, I should mention that Avalon the prequel, the pilot episode, and season one, are available on Amazon and Smashwords for e-reading.  Look for M G Kizzia.

Season two is being formatted at the same time I am blowing up this blog.

Someday, I may even move the stories to Create Space so you can get a print copy and hold the stories in your hand … You see?  Being technicapped does not keep me from dreaming.

Happy reading.

Avalon Season 1.4: Tiamut

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            “Those men that we killed.”  Alexis shook her head and folded her hands as she walked.  Saphira noted the stress and turned to walk backwards so she could address everyone.

            “Those weren’t men.  The last vestige of independent thought was long gone or else they would have turned around and fled the minute they saw they were way outgunned.”  Boston and Lincoln both looked at her, Boston with eyebrows raised and Lincoln with eyebrows knitted.  Both knew their bullets had taken down some of the attackers.  “Tiamut can do that,” Saphira finished and saw both faces relax ever so slightly.

            “You are a hard woman,” Alexis said and Saphira just gave her a sideways glance without denying it.  “I get the impression you don’t like people very much.”

            “It has been a hard life,” Saphira admitted and then she held her tongue for a second as they stepped out from the forest and on to the grasslands.  “To be honest, my last two lives were male and three out of the last four.  And Iris did not live very long so she hardly counts.”

            “She counts.”

            Saphira frowned.  “The truth is I don’t think I know how to be soft.  The Baldies killed my family.  I married, but they killed my husband, too.  I have had to support myself and my children by selling my services.”  She flashed a brief grin.  “That’s not always so bad.”

            “As a warrior?  Huntress, I mean.”

            “No.  As a woman.”

            Alexis looked up at her with an expression that clearly said “I don’t understand.”  So Saphira stopped and turned to face everyone.  Half were already listening in so she figured, what the heck.  “I’m a hooker.  I’m a whore.  I make my living inviting men to spend the night.  Okay?”  She lowered her voice as she turned and started walking again.  “It was either that or marry a Sodomite.”

            “Sodomite?”  Alexis asked.  Saphira did not answer right away.  She looked behind and saw that Boston and Katie Harper had moved up close while the men kept their distance and pretended they had not heard.  She shook her head and then she spoke.

            “Sure.  With most of the men in the settlement killed off, Tiamut encouraged others to take advantage of that.  There are Jokantites, Amelikites, Hamerites, but mostly Sodomites.”

            “You live in Sodom?”  Boston asked.

            “Not this early,” Saphira answered.  “But I have no doubt it will be called that one day.”

            They walked in silence for another hour before Captain Decker reported smoke in the distance.  By then the sun was starting to set and they thought to camp in the wilderness.  Mingus and Roland picked out a spot behind a secluded hill and they set up their tents and invited Saphira to sleep with Katie and Boston.

            “No need to cramp people,” Lincoln spoke up.  “It is plenty warm out here.  You can stay in the tent with Alexis and I’ll stay by the fire.  I am not sure after last night I will get much sleep, anyway.”   Saphira looked at Alexis who was looking at her, but neither spoke at that point.  In the end, most of them slept out under the stars.

            Alexis did not sleep well at first.  Lincoln had turned his back on her and she could not get comfortable.  She did not mind at all when Saphira spoke.

            “Still thinking about those men?”  Alexis shook her head.  “Lincoln?”  Saphira tried again and saw a few tears fall.  “You know he loves you, right?”

            “I’m not so sure anymore.”

            “Please!”  Saphira scoffed.  “I like to think I know something about love, given my profession.”  Saphira shifted to her stomach and propped up her head to face the woman.  “No, actually it is probably because of the time I spent with Astarte.”

            “The goddess?”  Lieutenant Harper sat straight up.  She was not asleep either.  Saphira nodded and the Lieutenant had to ask, “What’s she like?”

            “Oh, very good,” Saphira said.  “As good as Tiamut isn’t.”

            “Tiamut?”  Boston opened her eyes as well.  Saphira placed a hand over Boston’s mouth.

            “Hush.  It isn’t good to talk about them.  You never know when they might be listening in.”  But then Alexis started to cry and the women did their best to reassure her.  Not much helped.  Alexis wanted to cry and was not in the mood to be reassured just yet.  Saphira really finished the conversation with, “Maybe all he needs is a little time.  He is a good man.  My husband was a good man and I lost him all too soon.  You hang on to Lincoln.  There aren’t many good men out there.”

            With that, Lincoln rolled over to his back.  Alexis took hold of him like a child might hold a teddy bear.  She curled up and snuggled into his shoulder.  Of course he began to snore, but that only made Alexis smile.  She was soon asleep.  Boston was already asleep and Katie was not far behind.  Saphira sighed and wondered if she should count sheep.

            In the small hours of the night, while Mingus was on guard at one end of the camp and Lockhart was at the other end, Saphira walked up to Lockhart and plopped down on the grass.

            “Can’t sleep?”

            Saphira shook her head.  “I need some hot sex to sleep well.”

            “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

            “I wasn’t suggesting –“ Saphira looked up at Lockhart.  “Not seriously anyway.”

            “So what then?”

            Saphira shrugged.  “Alexis and Lincoln are having problems.”

            “I noticed.”

            “I just spent the last hour with Alexis.  They love each other so much, but being young again is proving a hard adjustment.”  Saphira stopped speaking and Lockhart simply nodded.  They watched the stars for a while before Lockhart spoke again.

            “So what do you think we will find tomorrow?”

            Saphira shrugged.  “Hopefully, people who have fixed their problem and left in the night.  If not, maybe some stick people.  I ran into them years earlier.”  She shrugged again.

            “Stick people?”

            Saphira stood and shrugged a third time.  “I better go before my suggestions become serious.”  She walked back to the fire both aware and pleased that his eyes followed her the whole way.  She had to lie down and stare into space to settle her thoughts.  “Gods, I want to go there,” she said to herself before she closed her eyes.  She was speaking of the stars.

Avalon Season 1.4: Predator or Prey

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After 4400 BC between the Red Lands and the Dead Sea.  Kairos: Saphira the Huntress

Recording…

            The travelers walked in silence in the early hours.  This was rugged but tree filled country of the sort Mingus said was bokarus friendly.  Alexis could not worry about that.  She tried to draw close to Lincoln several times while they walked, but he turned away from her.  He was pleasant, but not the husband she knew and needed. 

            It was ten when Lieutenant Harper pointed to the sky.  Something was spewing smoke and moving rapidly overhead.  They all saw it, and after a breath they all heard it as well.  It was not too low in the sky to vanish quickly, but it was low enough to see it was a ship of some kind and not a natural phenomenon.

            “Man made?”  Captain Decker asked.

            “No.  No way.”  Lincoln, Boston and Alexis all responded together.  They had some experience with such things.

            “Not in this day and age,” Lieutenant Harper added.  She looked at the Captain and wondered if the man would ever admit the truth.  He still occasionally tinkered with the transmitter as if the area 51 receivers were just around the corner.

            Lockhart looked torn for a minute.  This was the province of his Men in Black, only not this time, he decided.  “Not our concern,” he said.  “Keep walking.”

            An hour later, they heard the distant howl of the bokarus behind them.  They knew they were not forgotten.  And scant minutes after that, Boston pulled up short and let out a little shriek.

            Their way was blocked by a person in leather armor  That person had the expected stone-tipped spear, but along with the armor the person also had the first bow and arrows they had seen.  Most surprising, the knife on the hip was copper, not simply stone.

            “You’re going the wrong way.”  The warrior spoke, and at once they knew this was a woman.  She took off her leather helmet and shook out her long dark brown hair that carried hints of gray and she stared at them through dark brown eyes.  “The action is all that way.”  She pointed behind them and off to their right.  Most looked, of course, but there was nothing to see among the trees.

            “Lower you guns,” Lockhart decided, though even Captain Decker’s gun was already lowered.  “We don’t appear to be on the hit list.”

            “You are a warrior?”  Alexis asked.

            “A huntress,” the woman answered and motioned them to follow.

            Doctor Procter pointed in the direction from which the huntress came.  The travelers were inclined to continue their journey before Boston had a thought.

            “Saphira?”  She asked.

            “Yes, Boston,” Saphira answered, and the travelers turned to follow in her wake.

            They moved silently while Boston moved up front for a change.  She had another question.  “What are we hunting?”

            “Baldies.”

            “What kind of animals are they?  Are they in the database?  I never heard of them.”

            “Shh!”  Saphira responded with a grin and pointed at Captain Decker.  It took a minute for Boston to figure out Saphira meant men.

            When the group stopped, Saphira signaled for everyone to get down as she stuffed her hair back into her helmet.  “Listen close,” she said.  “The men across the clearing are no longer human.  They are mindless robots designed for one purpose: to kill.  The last bit of humanity was taken from them a long time ago, so don’t worry, whatever you do.”

            “Some disease?”  Alexis asked

            “Like mad cow?  No.  Worse.”  By then Saphira was ready.  Without further explanation she stepped to the edge of the clearing in the woods. 

            Captain Decker got out his binoculars and pointed across the clearing.  “Baldies straight ahead.”  He caught the reference.

            “Spread out,” Lockhart responded.  “Prepare for a firefight.”

            Lincoln and Boston got out their pistols.  Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper took the flanks with their superior firepower.  Lockhart pulled his pistol and imagined the shotgun would be back-up in case they got close.  He stayed in the center of the group where Alexis pulled her wood and bone wands and considered them.  The bone was dry and workable, but still crude.  The wood was aging fast.  She was a bit surprised when her father reached over and took the wooden one.  Her father rarely used a wand and never carried one.  Mingus then nudged Doctor Procter and he got out his wand as well, but he looked like he was not going to use it.  Roland, of course, had his bow.

            Saphira spoke loud so her words would carry to the other end of the field.  “Here I am.  Your three friends are dead.  You could be next.”  It did not take much coaxing.  Apparently they were waiting for her and thought they had her in a trap.  Twenty bald headed, wild eyed men, naked and sweating broke from the trees.  If they had any self-will at all, the baldies might have wondered why their prey did not run away.  Instead, Saphira fell to the ground and laid out as flat as she could to get out of the way.

            No one needed to say fire.  The guns blared from cover until the people came out from behind their trees and bushes.  Roland got an arrow in one of the last and Lockhart swung around his shotgun for the very last.  That one fell ten feet from Saphira who spun around, propped herself up on her elbows.

            “Thank you,” she said.

            No one else felt like speaking.  Twenty men lay dead on the field.  Alexis put her wand away.  She had not used it.  She felt like crying, but instead she gave Lockhart a long, hard, accusing look for cursing them with this eventuality.

            Even as Saphira stood and brushed herself off, a very tall and lean woman appeared on the field in the midst of the dead.  She appeared out of thin air so the travelers knew she was a goddess.  And she did not look happy.

            “Tiamut.”  Saphira named the goddess who looked briefly at Saphira before she finished her examination of the bodies.  Some of the men were only wounded, but they were made useless for the goddess’ purposes.

            “I see you found some friends.”  Tiamut finally spoke.  It was a chilling voice.  “Friends from the future.  A future that feels wrong to me.”  She stretched out her hand and Lockhart’s shotgun appeared in the goddess’ hands.  “Some interesting accessories, though.”  The goddess lifted the gun to her shoulder and pointed it at Saphira.  Saphira flinched before the goddess pointed down and shot the head off one of the wounded men.

            “I had in mind to send these men back to your settlement,” Tiamut said.  “Now that will not be.”  She shrugged and tossed away the shotgun like it hardly mattered.  The gun thumped against the earth.  “I must think on this future and these guns and such things.  There may be something workable there after all.”  She smiled and added a last thought before she vanished.  “You have a traitor among you.”  Everyone breathed when the goddess was gone, but they looked carefully at each other while Lockhart retrieved the shotgun and checked it to be sure it was not damaged.

            “Tiamut.”  Boston spoke before she reached for her database.  Saphira nodded so Boston finished her question.  “Goddess of what?”

            “Chaos,”  Saphira answered.  “Not a good enemy.  These men were hers.  And for the record, she might claim there is a traitor even if there isn’t, just to get you suspecting and not trusting each other.”

            “But I thought Marduk or Assur or someone like that killed Tiamut.”  Lieutenant Harper spoke up.

            “Shh!”  Saphira turned on the Lieutenant and her words were sharp.  “They haven’t been born yet.  You need to watch what you say as much as what you do.”  Lieutenant Harper looked appropriately humbled and was grateful when Lockhart stepped up and changed the subject.

            “So we saw a ship of some kind fly overhead a few hours ago.  It looked to be in distress.”

            Saphira nodded to indicate she saw it too and she turned to lead the way.

Avalon Season 1.3: Daylight.

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            Doctor Procter reached out with his hand.  His feet would not move, but the darkness began to move from his hand on its own accord.  Doctor Procter knew it would not leave him, but the darkness would gladly absorb another if given the chance.  He looked at his own arm.  The darkness had swallowed his hand and climbed all the way passed his elbow to disappear beneath his sleeve.  Doctor Procter did not want to look closer.

            The bogy man’s eyes appeared in the dark.  They were wide and full of a fear far greater than even the fear it instilled in some humans that drove those humans insane.  It might have escaped if it returned to its insubstantial, spiritual nature, but for a moment it was frozen by its fear.  That was all the time Lockhart needed. 

            The shotgun blast hit the bogy dead center, and the marines were not far behind.  They each shot several bullets into the figure.  The man in the dark collapsed while Doctor Procter quickly stuffed his hand back into his glove.  Roland shook himself awake at that point and with hardly a thought he pulled his sword and chopped the bogy head off.  Curiously, there was no blood.  There was just the stump of a neck where the head had once been.  The head rolled into the rocks.  Roland began to hack the limbs apart and Mingus joined him in tossing those limbs out into the bushes below as far apart from each other as possible.

            “A bogy can heal and reconstitute,” Mingus said.  Lockhart and Captain Decker stepped up to help but Mingus waved them off.  “Don’t touch.  Bogys are powerful spirits.  Being spiritual creatures ourselves offers us some protection.  For you humans, though.  I’m afraid even a touch might give you nightmares for the rest of your lives.”  Given the nightmares already experienced that night, Lockhart and Decker needed no more inducement to back away.

            After the deed was done, Mingus and Roland washed themselves with water and dirt in a ritual washing.  Then they sat down and while Mingus built up the fire, the others gathered around.  It was no surprise that no one felt like sleeping.

            “You see,” Mingus continued his thought.  “The bogy man is now broken to pieces and scattered more than far enough away to prevent a rebuilding of the body before sunrise.  Once the sun is up, the light will burn away the body remains.  Otherwise, if the bogy rebuilt itself, we would have to fight this battle all over again tomorrow.”

            “I see,” Lieutenant Harper said, and once that was said, no one felt like talking for a long time.  Boston was in tears or sniffling most of that time, and she would not let anyone hold her to comfort her.  She did not want anyone to touch her.  Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper simply looked at each other and looked away again and again.  Lockhart was lost in his own thoughts, and while Lincoln and Alexis sat beside each other, they did not touch or comfort each other or even hold hands as was their norm.  Only doctor Procter seemed unconcerned with it all, and he began to snore.

            When the sun started to rise, the words finally came.  It is remarkable how a little sunlight and talking about it can make the shadows of the worst nightmares fade, and these were the worst.  They were the kind that clung to the mind even after one was awake.  Still, it was not long before everyone felt better and even Boston cracked a smile.  Then they heard the scream, the kind some call blood curdling. 

            It took a minute to find the head of the bogy.  It was trapped between two rocks on the edge of the ledge and the sun was on it.  It was steaming and screaming and the eyes were open and looking around.  Fortunately, it did not last long as it caught on fire and soon became little more than steam, ash and dust that was blown away on the wind.

            Alexis covered her eyes.  She did not want to look.  Boston got right up to the edge and stared straight into that face until the end.  Then Alexis spoke.

            “We have to find a better way of dealing with these things other than shooting them full of holes.”

            “You realize, now that you said that, in the next time zone we will probably need the guns more than ever,” Lockhart teased.  

            Alexis wrinkled her nose in disapproval of Lockhart’s words.  She looked at Lincoln, but he was busy getting their things together.  She felt a brief stab in her heart as she remembered the nightmare once more.  Things were not right between them, yet.