communication breakdown

well actually more like loss of Internet interruption. While I was out of town this pesky storm came along and fried my modem SO I had to replace it and now we are having problems getting the system back up and running. Van is pissed but I told her that as soon as I relocate the book I will get her back online.
soon.

departures continued.

The car took them to her condo, they went up together and she walked one last time through it. Quest remained by the door humming some song that sounded a lot like the Ting ting’s “That’s not my name.”  She gave him a quizzical look at this and he just grinned and nodded at her bags. She sighed as she crossed to the closet where her traveling clothes awaited her on a hanger inside. She changed in her empty bedroom fighting off the urge to panic and rush into the other room and tell Quest she had in fact changed her mind and she would be needing all her stuff back and would he be a nice hero-maker and get all of it for her. She stood looking out the window at the bay as she changed out of the dress she had worn to the office party and the silky underwear. She stopped long enough to glance at herself in the sliding mirror door of her closet.

Her body had lost almost all the softness that it had not too long ago. She looked at the slightly strange woman who stared back at her. The woman that looked back at her, for one thing this woman was fit and toned; instead of the woman who had barely worked out before. Her arms were beginning to show signs of musculature as were her calves. She ran a hand down the length of her body in admiration of what her newfound determination had achieved.

She shook her head in disbelief at what she had become as if her body had been born to this and perhaps it had. There was a firmness in her stomach she had never known could be there never mind her butt! She glanced back up to find her new self smiling back at her and she blushed a little. Had she always been this vain?

“We can get going as soon as the peahen stops preening in the mirror.” Quest said from somewhere beyond the door.

Vanessa gave an involuntary jerk and shot a glance back at the still closed door of her bedroom. She crossed back to the closet and retrieved her traveling outfit. Donning a tee shirt, then LL Bean button up shirt, Blue Jeans, socks and hiking boots; the shoe salesperson had called them Rocky Rangers, she had bought them because they looked good and fortunately felt very comfortable.

She found Quest inspecting her gear by the door and felt a rush of pride as he nodded in approval at her choices in backpack, slingback satchel and duffle. He glanced at her clothing and grinned. She took a breath and then realized she had been holding it. She knelt to tuck the Jeans into her boots, retrieve her Sigma survivalist watch to her wrist, polarized shades and Converse ball cap. Standing she strapped on the fanny pack before shouldering her backpack and watched Quest pick up the rest of her bags.

“I can’t help but wonder if I will see any of this again.” She said taking one last look around.

“You will if you wish it.” He answered looking around with her.

“Is that the cryptic message of the night?”

“Always too much of life is already shrouded in mystery to deny it.”

“What is that? Did you get that piece of wisdom off a cereal box?”

Quest answered her by laughing then he smiled his smile and spoke.

“People always want to know what comes next, what should they expect, as if knowing will prepare them for what is going to happen. Being ready is not knowing what will or may or even might happen; it is rather recognizing what can happen and being ready to deal with it. If you are open to life then you will not only survive what comes next but you will also be able to make the most of it.”

Vanessa opened her mouth to reply then shut it. She knew that he was right, she frowned up at him then shrugged and nodded. She had no idea where she was going but she did know she was ready to go there. Wherever there was that is. She grinned before speaking.

“I am ready.”

Quest smiled his smile and said. “Lock the door on your way out.”

She glanced back at him as she walked out the door and could have sworn he was scoping out her behind as she swaggered out before him. She raised an inquiring eyebrow at him as they walked out to the elevator.

            “I may be a hero-maker but I am still a man, even if I am old enough to be a distant ancestor.” He said then waggled his eyebrows mischievously.

            In the elevator he plucked off her cap and curled the brim of it. “Red-neck Style” was all he said as she pulled her hair into a tight pony tail. She laughed with him before replacing it on her head. 

You are the Words and I am the Tune

In the elevator, Vanessa felt surges of an excitement she had never felt as the uncertainty and fear of the unknown spread through her body. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Quest. The electricity seemed to flow between them. He hummed a few bars of a song she had never heard. Was she dreaming, was this really happening, could she really be doing this? She wondered if she had the nerve to pinch herself and continued to debate it as Quest sang:

                “You are the sun, I am the moon, you are the words- I am the tune. Play me.”

She turned to him in surprise but then the doors of the elevator opened and Quest stopped singing.  Then they were walking out into the sunlight and into a long black sedan. She hardly noticed the driver as Quest spoke some words to him and the car pulled away from the curb.

                Quest took her hand and held it as they rode in silence then Quest sang another song, but she knew it was the same song as before. He sang:

                “Eíste o í̱lios , eímai to fengári , pou eínai oi léxeis kai eímai o tónos . Paíxte me.”

                “What is that- you are singing.” She asked feeling the heat in their clasped hands.

                “An ancient incantation I once taught to a singer.” Quest looked over at her and smiled slyly “Or a song by this guy Neil Diamond. I just sang it in Greek- almost Akadian- my native tongue.”

                “Play me?”

                “It was a worthy incantation from the creator. Something worth remembering when things become dark and you find you need me- remember that you are the words and that I am the tune.”

                “Right.”

                “When the time comes you will know what I mean.” He said and gently squeezed her hand a bit tighter and then she knew something she had always known.

                “The way my mother knew when the time had come?”

                “Yes. I loved your mother and when she asked I answered her. It is the way things with us.”

                “Us?”

                “Us.” Quest looked old then, too old to fit in those clothes, this car, too old to be the handsome man that sat beside her. “The Asserrii have always been the guardians of things. I am Asserrii and I am a “iroas kataskevastis.”

                “A Iro is what?”

                “A hero maker.” Quest said. “It’s Akaddian for the English word hero-maker.”

                “Oh. I guess I am the hero then.”

                “You are the words, I am the tune.”

                “Fitting.” Vanessa said and knew that she was blushing, but she didn’t care she was with him whatever he was. Sometimes it is enough to ride the wind she thought and wondered if it were another song. She glanced at Quest half expecting him to start sing the song but he just winked at her.

departures

Vanessa knew it was time to leave, as much of the cake was gone. Steve spotted her across the room and made a “call me” gesture with his hand. Then Sue came up and gave her a pretty fierce hug. When the woman released her, she burst into tears and Vanessa had to go find her some tissues. Later as she said he goodbyes to the rest of the staff, she wondered if Sue was crying tears of sorrow or tears of joy, since the woman was getting a pretty big promotion out of Vanessa’s departure.

                She was shaking Bob Vedt’s hand when she felt the shift in the room and knew that the man Quest had returned. He stood by the elevators, dressed in a blue shirt and Docker pants over sandals. His long brown hair combed back into a pony tail, his beard trimmed to a point. She smiled already knowing that Security had no idea that he was there. He smiled at her and she felt a surge of power like a jolt of energy that sent thrills of energy through her blood and she knew the time had come at last.

                She took one last look around and knew that this palce, this job had just been a stopping point on her journey to something more. She wouldn’t miss the company nor the people as much as she had thought a few weeks ago. She knew that they wouldn’t miss her.  She handed Bob her drink and walked away without another glance. She was struck by the sudden familiarity she had to the man who waited for her by the now open elevator. Comfortable like they had been friends since childhood.

                Together they stood face to face in silence until she began to smile feeling the warmth flood through her. She felt the blush follow soon after.

                “Hi.”

                Quest returned her smile, a twinkle in his hazel eyes.

                “Are you ready?”

                “I am now.”

                “Shall we?” He gestured to the open elevators. He offered his arm.

                “We shall.”

                Arm in arm they entered the elevator leaving behind the life she had once known. 

in another life...

Vanessa has been prodding me to get her story going again. I have been focused on PC repair both on my own system and on a clients, but thanks to Van I have located the the next notebook and will transcribe more sections and chapters starting this afternoon. I promise.

Mike