Strangers and Shadows (3 page)

Ava was beginning to worry herself, wondering what sort of trickery this glow was working on them.  They were never going to get there it seemed, and then suddenly, they were.  

The glow was a ball of white light about as tall as a young maple tree and just as wide as it was tall.  Looking at the center of it was like staring into the sun.  Ava found it difficult to stare directly at it for very long.  

As a child, Ava had heard the scientists tell stories about such light sources from the past, but they themselves had never been able to create one.  Gretchen Richards had decided, that along with male aggressiveness, the human dependency on a technology that did all their calculating for them had weakened the species.  It had dulled the edge of people.  She believed that the human brain was more capable than any computer humanity had ever invented, yet people had become lazy, letting their machines do all their thinking for them
.  A
s a result, humanity had paid a steep price
, and
the new development of such technology was banned.

The light suddenly brightened, sucking the flames of the torches right off of the wood and tar and into itself.  A wind picked up out of nowhere and Ava felt the hairs on her arms and neck rise.  Goosebumps raised up and down her back and made her shudder.  The guards drew their pistols and Asher took an instinctive step closer to Ava.  They waited to see what would happen next.

After a few minutes of inactivity, the glow dimmed and the wind died back down.  Asher began to examine the glowing sphere more closely.  He noticed that it gave off
a mild
heat, much like sunlight on a summer’s day.  He walked around it, a circle of fifty or sixty feet, always keeping a healthy distance from what appeared to be the edge.  After he’d completed his revolution, he walked straight toward the blinding center.

“Stop!” Ava yelled.  “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Forgive me, my Lady, I was going to see what lies at the middle of this glow, if anything.  Have I displeased you?”

“It is not the place of a man to put himself before a woman in any thing—you know
that
better than most
.
”  The princess turned and addressed the commander of the guard.  “Go and see what’s in there.”

“As my Lady commands,” she said, bowing slightly before she slowly approached the center.  The commander shielded her eyes as she went with one hand, while the other groped blindly in front of her, sweeping back and forth.  She suddenly felt her hand strike a wall, and the light dimmed where she touched to reveal a white globe, apparently lit from the inside.  The sphere was still bright, but more like the bulb from an old lamp post, and less like the miniature sun it had resembled before.  The commander was startled to find that she was touching the glow.  

No doubt she expected to be burnt up by the light
, Ava thought,
I half expected it myself
.  

Wherever the commander’s hand touched, little tendrils of light snaked out, running up and down her forearm.

“Does it hurt?” Ava asked.  Something didn’t feel right about this—it wasn’t natural.  

Asher didn’t seem to share her apprehension however, and moved forward for a closer look of his own.  

What does he think he’s doing?  If he gets hurt, I’ll kill him
.  Sometimes Ava wondered if she was too lenient on him. 
I’ll have to rein him in a little.  It’s not a good example for the other men, or women for that matter.
  As the leader in a time of crisis, it was crucial that Ava maintain order and set a good example for the people.

She decided now was not the time, and instead moved closer for a look of her own.  

By this time, Asher already had the tendrils of light crawling all over his arms, and some of the other guards were following suit.

“Commander, what would cause such a thing?” Ava asked, trying her best to keep her displeasure with her secret lover hidden.

“I have heard about such a thing from the Teachers.  Before The End War, men had machines of terrible power—but you must know all of this yourself, Your Highness.  Forgive me, for presuming to—”

“You don’t have to apologize, I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t want to hear what you had to say.”

“Of course, my Lady.  All that I seem to be able to remember is that men invented a glass globe with a rod standing up from the bottom of it.  And that when an electrical current was run through it, it would cause a tendril of electricity to jump from the rod to wherever it was that a person touched the globe. 
Static
, I think it was called.  But I don’t remember it being anything more than a child’s toy.  It didn’t seem to serve any real purpose, but then again, there wasn’t any mention of one this big either.”

Ava was thinking.  She vaguely remembered the same story from her time at the academy, but why would this be here? 

Something off to the side of her field of vision caught her attention.  She looked to her right and saw the object, reflecting the sphere’s light.  It was shiny, like a mirror.  

She walked over and picked it up.  It was a little larger than a crab apple and perfectly round.  The ball was metallic, cool, and smooth to the touch.  It fit nicely into the palm of her hand with her fingers wrapped snugly around it.  

That’s odd
, Ava thought,
there are no finger prints or smudges where I touch it
.  Even the most polished metal could be smudged. 
And I would know, Mother used to make me polish the silver every week until I was twelve.  “It builds character
,
” she was fond of saying.

She brought her discovery over and showed it to Asher.  “What do you make of it?” she asked, reaching out and touching the glowing sphere for herself while she let Asher look it over.  The feeling reminded her of the anticipation of a greater energy.  Such as when she made Asher blindfold her and she was tingling with potential energy, waiting and wondering when and where the next touch or kiss would be.  She was still thinking of the energy of the sphere when Asher grabbed the ball from her hand.

“Here, let me see it.” Asher felt the weight of it in his hands, rolling it around, noting the smoothness of it.  As he held it and marveled at the balance of the thing, the ball began to glow, matching the exact color and brightness of the larger sphere.

Ava was still transfixed on the feeling of the sphere, her hand still touching the white energy,
when
Asher grabbed her arm to get her attention.  There was a brief flash of light, and then they disappeared.

A Short Trip

Ava felt Asher grab her wrist and then they were suddenly inside of the sphere.  Apparently, Ava quickly deduced, it was hollow.  

The only noise was a dim humming, but it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.  

The light was even brighter from inside the sphere.  It surrounded them on all sides, eliminating any shadows.  Ava was briefly reminded of what life resembled before this darkness was cast over them.

In the middle of the sphere there was a free
-
standing wooden door with a golden handle.  Curious as to what held the it upright, Ava tried the door.  It was locked.  She walked around to the other side, but there was no handle, nothing but smooth wood.  She made it back around to the handle side just in time to see Asher try the door.  “It’s no good, it’s lock—“  She never finished, but her mouth remained open for a good three seconds as she watched Asher open the door and push it inward.  “I just tried that!”  She was frustrated but even more puzzled.  What was going on?  

She thought about the object that Asher was still holding, and suddenly, she had an idea.  “Give me the ball, and shut the door.”

Having heard that tone in her voice before, Asher did as she asked immediately.  Sometimes he was her lover, and other times, her servant.  This time it was definitely the latter.

“Now, if I’m right,” Ava said.  “This ball is some sort of key, and I think you have to be holding it, for it to work.”

“That’s an awfully strange looking key,  Ava.  Where did you ever get such an idea?  Did you hit your head or something?”  Asher attempted to keep her mood from escalating into full blown ire.

“
Very funny
.  Do I need to remind you who is in charge here?”  Ava said it with a playful smile, but she was only half-kidding.  She had let Asher get away with things that would never have been allowed of a man because of her relationship with him, but she was was beginning to think that maybe she had been mistaken.  He did have a point though.  The idea had come to her from out of nowhere.  She couldn’t say what had given her the notion.

Ball in hand, Ava tried the door just as she had seen Asher do.  

Nothing.  Not even an inkling of give. 

Asher stepped up to the door with a grin on his face.  “Perhaps I should try it again, my lady?” he asked, not waiting for her reply.  He grabbed the handle and started to walk forward, nearly hitting his face on the door, which remained unmoved and unopened.

Ava burst into laughter.  She couldn’t help herself.

Asher’s face reddened at the embarrassment, and he tried the handle again, this time more forcefully, pulling and pushing with great effort.

The door remained unmoved, unopened, and unimpressed with his struggle.

“But I don’t understand,” Asher said, growing more annoyed with Ava by the second.  “I just opened it a moment ago.”

“
Perhaps you should try it again
?”  Ava mocked in between laughs.

“
Ha-ha
.”  Asher tried to ignore the urge to retaliate to her sarcasm.  “Let me see that
key
, again.”

Ava tossed it to him as she gasped for breath, tears streaming down her face.  She watched as Asher took the ball in his palm, walked up, grabbed the handle, twisted it and pushed it inward.

She instantly sobered up.  “What in the bloody hell?”

“Hah!  Looks like it likes me better,” Asher said, his wounded pride now satiated.

“Well,
I told you
it was a key,” Ava said flatly, playing the game no longer and resuming the air of princess.

“Forgive me for doubting, my Lady.”  Asher bowed his head, wondering what it was like to play a game where he actually had a snowball-in-hell’s chance of winning.

“You should have known better...
Tsk, tsk
.”  Ava was still smiling when it hit her.  “Wait, how come only
you
can use the key?”

“What are you talking about?” 

She sighed. 
As if he doesn’t know what I’m talking about
.  She waited, staring at him.

“I don’t know, maybe somebody else likes me too...” he offered with a smile, but Ava was perplexed.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Ava asked, looking for the recognition in his eyes but not finding it.

“What?”

“If that key was made only for
your
use, then it
couldn’t
be from our world, could it?”

Asher thought it over for a second, seeing the logic to her point.  If it was from their world, the key would never be for the use of a man over the use of a woman.  “Only one way to find out… let’s see what’s on the other side of that door.”

Dear Diary

July 8

— So here I am, writing.  Writing about writing.  What to write about?  Wow, it’s a good thing we don’t talk in thoughts or people would never finish a conversation.  Ok, let’s start with some facts...  (just to get the ball rolling)

My name is Frank Oberdeen, kids in high school called me Frankie “O”.  Sometimes it was just “O”, or the Big “O
.
”  I’m thirty-seven, have always wanted to be a writer
,
but never did anything about it
.
 
S
o
, here I am,
stuck in an office cubicle, sorting out insurance claims.  I have two kids.  My wife died three years ago in delivery of a third child, who died with her.  I don’t like to talk about it with people, and I’ve just
now
gotten to the point where I can go to sleep without crying myself there.  Anyway... the point of all this:  my therapist told me to keep a journal.  To just start writing, like it’s gonna solve all of the world’s problems, and mine included... my job, my dead wife, who I refuse to let go of, my house payments that I can’t afford, my church that tells me that it’s God’s will but secretly thinks I must have sinned badly for God to take my wife...  So, I figured, what the hell, and here I am... writing.