My Library

One more stop before we reached the null point should do it. When the haze began to lessen somewhat, I came to a stop. A woman was standing amid what seemed to be jagged rock outcrop. She was aware of us immediately and began to scream. BB started to back away. The woman came at us, waving her arms. (You stay away from me, you spawn of the devil! I was a sinner, but I didn’t sin any more than everyone else, I tell you! You can’t take me to hell, because I’m a good woman! You go after those harlots down on Front Street!) She stopped abruptly, sank to her knees, head bowed, sobbing. (Please don’t take me to hell … Please! I just want to be with my daughter. She’s around here somewhere, she was so good. She couldn’t help dying before me. I know she didn’t go to hell … Please, please!) I did what I could. (Your daughter was good. If you just rest quietly, she will come and find you. Think of her, sit quietly and think of her, and she will find you. What was her name?) The woman’s sobbing eased, but her head remained bowed and she was unable to think clearly. I did get a percept. (Claire will find you very soon.) The woman slowly raised her head, eyes open in wonder as I turned and led BB further outward through the haze. BB came beside me. (You sure swung that one, RAM.) I plied. (Beginner’s luck.) He blanked. (What’s …) (More human stuff. Come on.) Sometimes my navigation wasn’t as good as I would like it to be. We finally broke through the haze into a cleared area. This was my intended stopping point. To the right, the surf of a white-capped blue ocean crashed regularly against a rocky shore. Overhead, the sky was a lighter blue with no clouds. In front of us was a simple log cabin, and behind the cabin rose a forested mountain. It could be either Maine or California, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t anything. (Hey, why we stopping?) BB cut in. (Ident Charlie. A friend of mine. Try it.) He did, and I knew what was happening. All I was perceiving suddenly came into BB, the ocean, the shore, cabin, sky, and