|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- FOREMAN ITTENER PIER--CUP 9--"DEFINITE CHILL" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Foreman Ittener Pier  ||  -------> (Cup SRfi009, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "What?" I asked. "Look at our reflections." I looked, and indeed, there was something wrong. We looked terrible in the reflection. Our clothes were worn out, our flesh dull and lifeless, our hair limp--in other words, generally dead. I looked over at Hilltop, and she was as lovely and vivacious as ever. "You definitely don't look like that." I said, feeling my face and hair. "Hope I don't either." "You don't." she said. "It's just in the mirror. Don't you see? The gum is making it so clear. We're on the OTHER side of the mirror. Right now." "Huh?" "Forget it for now, Ferrajalt--just grab your suitcase and take my hand." "Okay." I said, getting my matter handler from the bed and taking Hilltop's hand. "No questions now." she said. "Just close your eyes and walk forward. There's no mirror there--it's an open door. Ya hear me? An open door." "I hear you." I said, and we started walking forward. I thought for sure we'd bump right into the glass, but we didn't. I felt a definite chill, though, and we stumbled forward as if we'd hit a downward staircase... I opened my eyes and we were back in the room--the exact same room--except we were facing the bed. "What the fuck was that?" I said. A quick look around confirmed that the room was not a mirror image of the one we'd been in--but rather, it was the same as it had been. "Okay." she said. "I think we made it. Look!" She turned and looked into the mirror. I did likewise, and indeed, our reflections were normal. "So what happened?" Hilltop took a deep breath and plopped down onto the bed. "Well it all became so clear to me--but I realized that getting through the mirror would require a kind of blind faith. That's why I rushed ya. If we thought about it too much, we'd have psyched ourselves out." "Okay." I said slowly. "But where did we get? This isn't any mirror image of the other room." "No--it's not. What happened was--I think--we were in the world of the dead. Those people--all of them--were ghosts. That's why they were so out of it. The mirror was a way for us--the living--to get back to the real world." "Huh. And the gum made you figure all this out?" "Yup." she said, smiling and chewing loudly. "Well, that's good." I said. "I just hope it worked." "Oh, it did. I'm fairly certain, at least. One way to find out." she said, getting up and heading for the door. "Okay." I said as I followed. Out in the hallway, it was clear that things were different. Everything was more vibrant, more full of life. And now it was clear that this was a hotel--there were numbers on the doors and everything. I was sure they hadn't been there before. We descended the stairs and looked into the room where the women had been--and we saw them--for an instant. They were looking at us, but they quickly vanished. "See?" Hilltop said. "Ghosts." "Yup." I followed her back to the entrance, which was now the hotel lobby. A geeky teen sat behind the counter and looked at us in fear. I guessed it must have been my dark blue police duds. So I played the part. "Everything's okay here." I said, looking over at Hilltop. "Let's just hope they can keep it this way." And Hilltop gave the kid a knowing glance. "Uh... uh... yeah..." the kid stammered. "No problem here." Clever. I remembered my mother teaching me that everyone has something to hide, a guilty conscious. Tap into that, and you can manipulate 'em but good. So we walked outside, and there the difference was much more noticeable. The haze, the drear, all gone. Now Foreman Ittener Pier was a nice place, and in full swing, from the look of things. Hilltop took a deep, resplendent breath. "See Ferrajalt? The world o' the livin'." "I see." I said. "Let's just hope it exists beyond the Pier. It could still be a pocket reality, you know." "Oh, I think it exists." she said, chewing the gum in exaggerated loudness. Huh--pretty useful stuff, that solve gum. An again cylinder with that stuff in it would be a neat trick. A little further down, we could see that the world indeed existed beyond the pier. It was a very active shoreline, with people bathing, lots of boats, resorts, hustle, bustle--all that. A little girl with a big stuffed walrus toy passed us, and I recognized her--she was the one who disappeared when we were with the ghosts. "So to ghosts, the living are the ghosts." I said. "That's it." Hilltop answered. We got to the gate, and as I suspected, the Waver was gone. I kept looking at the spot where it should have been, hoping to catch a glimpse of the ghost vehicle, but to no avail. "So what if the ghosts get a hold of it?" I asked, motioning my head toward where the Waver had been. "That'd be interstin." I nodded and looked around. "So--" I said. "Game plan?" "Hey, I got us this far--it's your turn to jump-start the old noodle." -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----