On his lunchbreak

[Orrex]

Around two that afternoon he came into the diner. He sat in a little booth in the corner and dropped his hat on the seat beside him. Janice eyed him from the counter. With his thumbnail he scraped at a little spot on the table, and after a minute he opened the menu and looked at it.

She picked up the coffee pot and made her way to his booth.

"Just water," he said. "And maybe a turkey club." She wrote his order on the pad, then walked back to the kitchen and hung it on the turnstile.

"He’s a wizard," Harry said through the service window.

"Who?"

He nodded toward the booth. "That wizard from down the boardwalk."

Janice looked out to where he sat. He was small and starting to go bald on top. His shoes were falling apart.

The little man had spilled some sugar on the table and was tracing in it with his finger.

"You sure?" asked Janice.

Harry glanced at the ticket. "I’m sure this’ll be the best turkey club he ever ate."

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1. Part two

She filled his water glass, and when the sandwich was ready she took that over to him, too. A little while later she circled back. He'd finished the sandwich.

"Anything else?" she asked.

He put down the glass and shook his head. "Just the check, thanks."

She tore it from the pad and set it on the table. "Whenever you’re ready," she said, and she returned to the counter. He picked up the check and moved his lips as he went through the math. Then he set it on the table again and reached for his back pocket.

After a few minutes he was still sitting there with a nervous grin. She went back over and asked if everything was okay.

"This is so embarrassing," said the wizard. "I seem to have forgotten my wallet."

"Really."

"I’m very sorry. Could I put it on a tab?"

"We don’t do that. Do you have a credit card?"

"In my wallet."

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2. Part three

"I could wash your dishes," the wizard suggested.

Janice regarded him. "I’ll talk to my boss."

She came back a few minutes later. "He says you owe us two hours."

"Great," he said, smiling thinly. "That’s great."

She took him into the back and got him an apron, then turned him loose at the sink, where a stack of dishes awaited him.

"Any questions?" she asked.

He shook his head. Then he rolled up his sleeves and began to fill the sink with water. She returned to the dining room.

"I don’t get it," said Harry. "He could’ve turned us all into frogs and walked out."

"You sure he’s a wizard?" Janice asked.

Harry nodded. "I saw him working a few weeks ago. Big sculptures made of fire. Animal shapes and things like that. He’s the real thing."

"Well, everyone has to eat."

He wasn’t listening. He was looking into the back, where the wizard was scrubbing the interior of a large pot.

"Hocus pocus," Harry said, wiggling his fingers. "And poof! A sparkling clean pot."

Janice shrugged. "Maybe it doesn’t work that way," she said.

"Beats me," said Harry. "But if I was a wizard, I wouldn’t forget my wallet."


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[Orrex]

3. Part four

He was back the next afternoon. He was wearing the same clothes but a different hat, and he had a little red book with him. Janice approached his table.

"I’m sorry about yesterday," said the wizard. He took a crumpled twenty dollar bill from his pocket and smoothed it on the table. "Won’t happen again, see?"

She nodded warily. "What can I get you?"

"Another club, please. And a cup of coffee, I think."

"Sure," she said.

She hung the ticket in the kitchen. Harry was grinning through the transfer window.

"You should ask him to pay up front," said Harry.

She looked out to where the wizard was sitting. He was reading his little red book. "He has money today," she said.

"Then make him show you a trick. Something small."

She picked up the coffee pot and went back to the table.

"I can’t tell you how embarrassed I was," said the wizard when she returned. "You must have thought I was running a scam."

She shrugged with one shoulder as she filled his cup. "We always have lots of dishes."

He smiled. "I’m sorry I didn’t leave you a tip."

"It’s okay."

"I’ll make up for it today."

"It’s okay," she said. "Really."

"I insist," said the wizard.

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[Orrex]

4. Part five

"How long have you been a waitress?" he asked.

"Eight years."

"Do you enjoy it?"

She smiled. "It’s all right."

"Must be hard work."

"It’s all right."

An embarrassed frown moved over his face, and he looked at the table. He peeled back the lid on a creamer and poured it into his coffee. His spoon scraped a gentle circle around the inside of the cup.

"I should check on your sandwich," she said.

The club sandwich was already setting in the transfer window. "How’s your wizard?" asked Harry.

"He seems lonely," she said.

Harry laughed. "Guess it’s hard to make friends when you can turn people into toads."

"Are you sure he’s a wizard?" she asked. "He doesn’t seem like it."

"That’s how you can tell," said Harry.

She took the plate to his table and set it on the placemat. He was reading his little red book. "Anything else?" she asked.

He put the book to one side. "No, thank you."

She stood there for a moment. "I'm sorry," she said. "It’s none of my business, but are you a wizard?"

He smiled warily. "You don’t believe it?"

"Well," she said.

"Okay," he said, unrolling the napkin. "Watch this."

He took the spoon from his coffee held it upright at arm’s length. It was a cheap spoon, stamped from sheet metal by the thousands. She tried to read his expression.

"The spoon," he said, shaking it slightly. "Watch."

She looked. A small bead of coffee hung in the bowl of the spoon. Suddenly she smelled lilacs and heard a bell ringing in the distance.

Between his thumb and forefinger the wizard now held a fork.

"Not bad, right?" he said.

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[Orrex]

5. Part six

"Neat," said Janice.

He shrugged, but he was grinning slightly. Then he let the fork fall from his fingers. It passed through the table without a sound and clattered on the tile floor beneath. He bent to retrieve the fork and set it on the table.

"I wouldn’t have believed it," she said as she touched the fork with her fingertips.

"That’s why it’s magic."

She nodded. "It must be exciting, being a wizard."

"It’s all right."

"Well, if you’re planning any more tricks, let me know."

He glanced at his watch. It was cheap plastic with a huge face. "I have to go," he explained. "An appointment."

"Oh," she said. "Let me total your check."

She went back to the kitchen and ran his totals through the cash register. When she got back to his booth he was gone, but his dishes were immaculate and arranged neatly on the table. The twenty dollar bill was tucked neatly under the sugar dispenser. She noticed that the fork was a spoon again. She picked it up and examined it.

If anything, it was in much better condition than before. It was polished like a dull mirror and totally free of scratches.

"It’s a spoon," said Harry when she showed it to him.

"But it was a fork."

"Sleight of hand," he said. "He switched them while you weren’t watching."

"I was watching," she said.

"At least he paid today," Harry laughed. "But if you want to see some real magic, you have to catch him on the boardwalk."

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6. Part seven

He wasn’t the first wizard she’d met, of course. There was that guy back in college, but he was a lot of flash and not much else. And that woman on the bus route could never manage anything but a few glorified card tricks. But the fork had passed through the table like it wasn’t even there. That’s more than a light show or a clever bit of shuffling.

"The table’s mostly empty space," Harry was saying. "This counter, too. Everything."

Janice knocked on the stainless steel countertop. "Seems pretty solid."

"Right," said Harry. "But you could drive a truck between the atoms. Same with the fork."

"You don’t seem too impressed."

He paled slightly. "Sure I am. I mean, not a real truck. You have to know the secret. That’s what makes a wizard a wizard."

The rest of the shift passed slowly. One of Janice’s tables left a handful of nickels for a tip, and another left nothing. The sun was low in the sky and blinding through the shaded windows.

"He works on the boardwalk?" she asked Harry later in the day.

"Down by that new store," he said. "The sunglasses place."

He’d likely stop in again tomorrow anyway, or the next day. Maybe she could ask him to do another trick. She didn’t want to be rude or give him the wrong idea.

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[Orrex]

7. Part eight

Janice didn't have to work the next day, so she took the bus to the boardwalk. She arrived shortly before noon and made her way through the crowd to the store that sold sunglasses.

Inside a boy in his teens stood behind the counter. He was staring out the window at the ocean.

"Does a wizard work near here?" she asked.

The boy shook his head but said nothing.

"Maybe outside?" she went on.

He shook his head again.

Janice looked around the store. She faced rack upon rack of dark sunglasses, a thousand spying raccoons.

"Sometimes he shows up at the food court," said the boy.

She thanked him and stepped back out to the boardwalk. The food court was noisy and bustling, but she didn’t see him anywhere. From what Harry had said, it would be hard to miss him. She bought a soda from a vendor and leaned on the boardwalk’s railing overlooking the beach.

About a hundred feet away she spotted him. He was wearing the same clothes and held a little orange bag of corn chips. When the surf drew back she could see that he was wearing his shoes, but then the next wave hit and submerged them.

He was attended by a dozen seagulls or more. Again and again he reached into the bag and tossed a chip to them, and each time a bird would snap it from the air.

Janice could see that the water crested just above his knees, but suddenly a large wave bore down on him. He faced it and made a twirling motion with his fist, and when the wave reached him, it broke against an unseen barrier. The wave reformed again behind him, leaving him in a circle of shallow water as if he stood beneath an upended glass.

One of the seagulls swooped to catch another chip as it left his fingers.

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[Orrex]

8. Part nine

"Do you think he has a job?" asked Janice.

Harry shrugged. "Doesn't need one. He could snap his fingers and, poof, a hundred dollar bill." He snapped his fingers for emphasis.

"That's illegal."

"Big deal," said Harry. "He's a wizard."

Janice sprayed the countertop with disinfectant and wiped it with a cloth. Glenn was sitting on a stool at one end of the counter sipping a strawberry milkshake.

"The fork was one thing," she said, "but this was really amazing. The water wouldn't even come near him. I never saw anything like it."

"Don't make him mad," said Glenn as he took another drag on his straw.

Janice nodded but wasn't really listening. "It was so casual," she said. "Like he didn't have to think about it."

"Poof," Harry said, snapping his fingers again.

"Where do you think he lives?" Janice asked.

"Oz, maybe," said Harry. "Why do you care?"

"I'm just curious. The way he dresses, I wonder if he's homeless."

"He lives four doors from me," said Glenn. "On Clement."

"You know him?" Janice asked.

Glenn frowned. "Couple months back he asked me to clean up after my dog. A week or so later he asked again. And then another time. Finally I told him that they go where they go and can't tell the difference. The guy just nodded. Then he bent down and said something to my dog. Ever since, every mutt for ten blocks uses my yard. I need boots just to get the mail."

Janice pressed her lips together without looking at him. "Is that true?"

"Just don't make him mad," Glenn said.

"Poof," said Harry.

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[Orrex]

9. Part ten

The wizard came in again a few days later. No hat this time, but he wore a long gray overcoat despite the weather. He shrugged out of the coat and dropped it onto the booth's seat, then sat down next to it.

"Been a while," Janice said lightly as she filled his coffee cup.

He laughed. "I've been a little busy." He rummaged in his coat and produced the little red book.

She saw that the cover was blackened at the edges, or charred. She wondered if it had been that way before, but she thought she'd have noticed it.

He mentioned that his last club had been particularly good, and he ordered another. Then he propped his right foot on the opposite seat, wincing slightly.

"You all right?"

"I was clearing some junk from my yard. Rusty nail, right through the sole." He smiled grimly and shrugged.

"Couldn't you have used magic?" she asked. "To get rid of the junk?"

"Good grief, no," said the wizard "That's not what it's for."

She didn't know what to say, so she took his order to the kitchen and waited for it there. Harry asked her what was wrong.

"I think I offended him," she said.

Harry grinned. "Make sure you have good pair of boots."

When the club was ready she took it out to him. She set it on the table and he put the book away.

"Did you get a tetanus shot, at least?"

He shook his head. "That's what magic's for."


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[Tuesday Afternoon]

22. warily or wearily ? ....when he smiled?

just seems like he is weary to me, at this point. :yoiks:

[Orrex]

35. "Warily," I think. As though he's concerned about how she'll respond to the revelation

But "wearily" would seem to fit pretty nicely as well!

[Orrex]

10. Part eleven

The wizard sat paging through his little red book, his foot still propped on the opposite seat. He'd finished his club and was on his second cup of coffee. Every so often he scribbled a note in the margin of the book with the dirty stub of a pencil.

It was a quiet afternoon. Janice had no other customers, so she busied herself behind the counter, restocking straws and napkins and sugar packets. She glanced up every few minutes to make sure that the wizard didn't need anything.

Carol filled a pitcher with ice water and headed for the rear dining room. She had one table back there, a family of four. She was nearing the end of a double shift. Harry was out back by the dumpster, smoking a cigarette.

Janice finished stocking the counter and took the coffee pot out to his table. He hadn't asked for a refill, but she figured there wasn't any harm in it. Anyway, she hoped that she might get a peek at the contents of his red book.

"Thanks," he said as she filled his mug. He set the book to one side and reached for the sugar.

"What are you reading?" she asked.

He glanced at the book. "A journal. Sort of a diary."

"Is that where you keep all your tricks?"

He smiled. "Some. Want to see?"

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[Orrex]

11. Part twelve

A high shriek erupted in the rear dining room. Moments later Carol burst through the double doors. "He's choking!" she wailed.

Janice looked past and saw a man kneeling on the floor, bracing himself on the back of a chair. He had one hand to his throat and kept opening his mouth as though shouting. Behind him his wife struck him repeatedly between the shoulderblades. The two children at the table seemed frozen, their eyes wide.

Carol grabbed the phone from the counter. Janice ran to the doorway and stopped, uncertain.

"Do you know the Heimlich maneuver?" the wizard asked her. She turned to face him. He held his coffee mug in one hand and the red book in the other.

"No," she admitted. In the dining room the woman shrieked again. The man had crumpled to his elbows and knees.

The wizard nodded and slid from the booth, careful not to put weight on his right foot. "Hold this, please," he said as he handed the book to Janice.

She took it, and when she looked back to him, he was gone. She spun and found him standing beside the collapsed man. The wizard rolled up his sleeves and waved a hand before the man's face.

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[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. nice vibe.

clean and casual with just a hint of mystery. I like it.

[Orrex]

13. Part thirteen

"Keep your eyes on my ring," said the wizard, and he raised his hand so that the man had to turn his face upward to follow it. When the man next opened his mouth, the wizard stuck his index finger inside and pressed down until the man's jaw stretched wide like the bell of a trombone. With his other hand the wizard reached inside and pulled out the lump of food that had blocked his throat.

Then, as an afterthought, he reached in again and withdrew a small, white rabbit. He set it on the floor, and it disappeared under a nearby booth. The children laughed abruptly and applauded.

The man sagged to the floor, gasping and coughing. His jaw had returned to normal, and he worked it back and forth with his hand.

"Thank you," his wife said to the wizard. "How can I ever thank you?"

"You're welcome," he said, and he helped the man to his feet.

"That was amazing," said Janice when the wizard returned to his booth.

He shrugged. "First rule of magic. Never bite off more than you can chew."

She held the book out to him. "I didn't open it."

"Go ahead," he said.

She studied him briefly, then thumbed open the cover. The first page was blank. And the second. And the third.

"You have to know the trick," the wizard explained.


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14. Part fourteen

She flipped through a few more blank pages, then handed the book back to him. "So, what's the trick?"

"I can't tell you," he said, smiling. "That would give it away."

"I heard that it's like musicians, or athletes. Either you have it or you don't."

"That's a good way to put it," he said. "Have you known many wizards?"

"No," she said after a minute. "I mean, a long time ago. But no. Not now."

Briefly he watched her face, then he nodded. "I guess I'll need my check." He reached for his wallet.

"Oh," she said. She glanced at the rear dining room, where the man was now sitting in his chair and drinking a big glass of water. "It's on the house today."

"You sure?" asked the wizard. "Thanks." He took out a five and set it on the table. Then he gathered up his coat and hung it on his shoulders. He slid the little red book in the pocket. "You won't see me for a few days," he said. "I'll be out of town. Business."

"Wizard business?"

He laughed. "Something like that."

"Just don't bite off more than you can chew," she advised.

"Never," said the wizard, and he thought for a moment. "Well, just that one time."

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15. Part fifteen

The wizard didn't elaborate, and she didn't ask. He said goodbye, left the diner, and turned up the street. Janice returned to the counter and began counting out plastic creamer cups into a row of small bowls.

A few minutes later the man and his family emerged from the rear dining room. He seemed not to know what had happened.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Just a wizard," said Janice.

The man worked his jaw back and forth with his hand. "Darnest thing," he said. "I'd swear he reached right down my throat."

The wife chimed in. "If you see him again, please tell him thank you for us."

"I will," said Janice. What else could she say?

They exited and Janice stood alone in the dining room. Carol had disappeared somewhere in the back, but she could see Harry in the kitchen. He was scubbing the grill with a long handled brush.

"Do you know his name?" she called to him.

He didn't hear, so she called again. He faced her. "Your wizard?" he said. "No idea. Why so interested?" He turned back to the grill and gave it a few more passes with the brush.

"He saved that man," she said.

"I'll give him that one," Harry conceded. He dropped the brush into a bucket. "I guess stuff like that is easy for a wizard."

"I'm not so sure," she said.

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16. Part sixteen

The wizard was back a week later. She didn't see him come in, but when she turned around he was seated at the same booth again. She nearly dropped the coffee pot.

The left side of his head was bald, and his remaining hair was singed and wiry like scorched grass. When she got to the booth, she saw that his fingernails were likewise half charred, blackened at the tips and cracked.

He looked up at her and smiled thinly. "What are the specials?"

She gaped at him. "Are you okay?"

"I lost my hat," he said. "Otherwise, not too bad."

"But what happened to you?"

"Oh," he said, sliding his mug toward her. "Lightning," he said. Gingerly he traced two fingers over his ashen scalp. "Right about here."

She looked at the spot where he pointed, but she found no dent or scar or discoloration. "I never met anyone struck by lightning before. "Does it hurt?"

"It was all over before I knew it," he said, shaking his head..

She took his ticket to the counter and hung on the kitchen's turnstile. Harry girnned at her through the transfer window. "Look who's back," he laughed.

"He was struck by lightning," she said. "Can you believe it?"

"No," said Harry. "Ask him what kind of lightning it was. I'll bet it was another wizard. Ask him."

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17. Part seventeen

The wizard was halfway through his reuben when he called Janice back to the table.

"Take this," he said, pressing the red book into her hands. "Please."

"I can't," she said. "I can't even read it."

He smiled. " Just hang onto it for me. A week or two, tops."

She looked at the worn cover. "But why?"

"I may need to leave town again," he said. "It's okay. You're not in any danger."

Studying him, she turned the book over. "Okay," she said.

A look of relief swept over him. "Thanks. I don't have a lot of friends. Not that I can trust. I really appreciate it."

"It's all right," she said. She couldn't help glancing at his burned and battered scalp. "What does lightning feel like?"

His fingers moved to his scorched hairline. "Like a big, hot sledge hammer," he said absently. "I'm surprised it didn't melt my fillings."

Feeling somewhat bold, she leaned into him. "Was it magic?" she asked, almost in a whisper, and he laughed.

"Good grief, no," he said. "I was working on my brother-in-law's roof. He lost some shingles in that storm a few weeks back. Guess I didn't see the clouds coming."

She smiled but couldn't think of anything to say. She gestured with the book. "I'll go put this somewhere safe."

He thanked her and let her go. Back in the kitchen she thumbed open the book and found that the pages were still blank. She hid the book atop some tuna cans on a high shelf.

Returning to the dining room, she saw a man seated opposite the wizard.

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[Orrex]

18. Part eighteen

"Afternoon," said Janice as she approached the booth.

The stranger didn't look at her, and the wizard seemed uncomfortable.

"Tell me about your specials," said the stranger.

"Sure," she said. "We have--"

The wizard raised a hand. "Never mind. He won't be staying."

The two men faced each other, and Janice felt a distinct chill move over her body with a sound like distant wind. She saw that the booths to the left and right were suddenly glazed in ice half an inch thick.

She shivered. "I can come back, if you need more time."

The stranger smiled. "Do you know the story of Christopher Windham? He build a library so great and so intricate that he himself became lost in it. He wandered among the shelves for days until, weak with hunger and thirst, he found the one book in the library that could show him the way out. I'd like to find a book like that." Palms slightly apart, he glared at her. "Red, about this size. Have you seen it?"

"I don't know." She faltered.

He looked at the wizard. "Do you believe her?"

"Yes," said the wizard. "This has nothing to do with her."

"It does, if she has my book."

"What the hell's going on?" Harry spat. He'd come out from behind the counter and was looking at the frozen booths.

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[Orrex]

19. Part nineteen

"Nothing at all," said the stranger. "We're just talking about literature."

"Sure," spat Harry. "What about these tables?" With his spatula he indicated the pair of frozen booths."

"I'm sorry," the wizard said. "It was a misunderstanding. I'll take care of it."

"I hope so," said Harry. "This is a business, for Pete's sake. Take your hocus-pocus outside."

The stranger grinned mildly. "Magic doesn't impress you?"

"Lunch hour impresses me," Harry barked. "Twenty minutes, this place'll be packed. Last thing I need is a half-assed wizard scaring off my customers."

"I'm not a wizard," said the stranger, "but I take your point." He waved a hand, and the ice on the two tables boiled away into a thin fog.

"Okay," Harry said tightly. "That better be it." He shot the stranger a bitter glare and stormed back into the kitchen.

"You're not a wizard?" Janice asked.

"It's just a label. I'm a collector. I'm looking for my book."

"She doesn't have it," the wizard said.

The stranger shrugged. "So you said. But how can you be sure, if you don't have it, either?"

"I destroyed it," said the wizard, and he gestured out the window. "Burned it in that alley. Three days ago."

"You're lying," the stranger grated. "You know its value."

"What is it?" asked Janice.

The stranger regarded her. "You've heard that you can't judge a book by its cover, right? Well, this one, you can."

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20. Part twenty

"Why is the book so important?" asked Janice. She thought of the red cover and the blank pages within.

"You know how there's only one Best? One First? One Most?"
The stranger eyed her. "Well, the book is all of those. It answers every question you've ever asked, and many that you would never have thought of."

"Is it really yours?"

He laughed. "As much as the universe is mine."

"That's garbage," the wizard said. "If it were yours, you wouldn't need to find it. You wouldn't have lost it in the first place. That's the whole point."

"And if it were yours," said the stranger, "you wouldn't have destroyed it. So where is it?"

"It wouldn't be of any use to you," the wizard said.

"So, what's the harm?"

The wizard smiled and looked Janice. "I think I'm ready for my check."

"Sure," she said after a moment. She turned toward the kitchen.

"Looks like rain," said the stranger. "Maybe a thunderstorm. Lightning's a real killer, isn't it?"

"I'll take my chances," replied the wizard.

"You might have to. That saying about 'never strikes twice' is a myth, after all. If only you had the book. I'm not sure that you could walk away from another jolt like that last one."

Janice saw something like fear in the wizard's eyes, and she looked at his hair, scorched and wiry. Outside the sky had grown visibly darker.

"I have the book," she said.

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[Tuesday Afternoon]

23. ~

:popcorn:

[The Backlash Cometh]

60. Missing a word.

The wizard smiled and looked <at> Janice. "I think I'm ready for my check."

[The Backlash Cometh]

59. built instead of build?

[The Backlash Cometh]

58. scrubbed, not scubbed?

[The Backlash Cometh]

57. shoulderblades should be two words?

[frogmarch]

21. Now that I have a star again,

I can finally say in a post how much I like this story...a lot!

Looking forward to more chapters. :-)

[Orrex]

24. Part 21

There," said the stranger. "Was that so hard?"

Janice studied him. He wore an easy smile, but there was an urgency in his eyes that made her uncomfortable.

"No," she said warily. After a moment she took the pen and tablet from her apron. "Now, if you want to sit there, you have to order something. You heard my boss. The lunch crowd'll be here in a minute."

The stranger seemed to realize for the first time that he was in a diner. His grin broadened and he glanced at the wizard. "I'll have what he's having," he said at last.

"Coffee, too?"

"Sure," he said. "And my book."

"Right." She returned to the kitchen and hung the ticket on the turnstile.

"Is that for him?" Harry rasped. From where he stood he couldn't see through the transfer window. "He's still out there?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she went to the shelf and took down the book from atop the tuna cans. She turned it over in her hands and thumbed through the pages. They were still blank.

Most of them, anyway. On a page near the end she glimpsed a brief shimmer, as though a thin liquid had run over the paper.

"What is it with wizards and club sandwiches?" Harry asked.

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[Orrex]

25. Part 22

Janice put the book back on the shelf and returned to the dining room. On her way back to the table she grabbed the coffee pot and a mug.

"Where is it?" asked the stranger.

"It takes a few minutes," Janice said. "We aren't all wizards."

He stared at her. "Not the sandwich," he said after a moment. "Where is my book?"

Calmly she set the mug on the table and filled it. "Cream and sugar?"

"You're being foolish," he said. "If I wished, I could simply take it."

She eyed him. "No, if you could take it, you would. I don't think you can."

"I could destroy you." He gestured with disgust at the wizard. "I could destroy him."

"But you still won't have the book," said the wizard. Janice saw that he was smiling.

The stranger sat back and drew a long breath through his nose. "I'm very patient. And persistent. Eventually you'll beg me to take the book from you. I promise."

"Well, it's too late," Janice said easily. Out back there are four barrels where we dump our grease. The book's at the bottom of one of them."

"I don't believe you."

"Probably not. But this afternoon they go to the rendering plant., book and all."

The stranger rose to his feet. His fists were clenched, and frost had started to form on his cheeks and forearms. "Get it," he grated.

A bell chimed in the kitchen. "Order's ready," Harry called. Janice looked and saw him glaring through the transfer window. "What did I say about that wizard crap?" he barked.

Read more at the House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

26. Part 23

The air had grown sharply colder as the stranger stood up from the booth. Steam puffed from his lips, and his eyes had taken on a chill blue cast. The frost had crept up his arms and began to spread over his chest. He glared at Janice. "I'll ask one last time," he said.

Harry stomped out from the kitchen, brandishing his spatula like a dagger.

"Take it outside, snowflake," he rasped.

"This doesn't concern you," said the stranger.

"Like hell," said Harry. "I run this place. Get lost."

"When she gives me my book, I'll go."

Harry looked at her. "Do you have it?" She shook her head.

He looked at the stranger. "I'll give you ten seconds."

Janice noticed the wizard tracing a complex squiggle on the surface of the table with his finger. He caught her gaze and smiled before rising awkwardly to his feet. "Maybe I can help," he said.

Harry snorted. "I doubt it."

The stranger spun to face him, but the wizard simply reached and took him by the wrist. There was a small pop and a rush of cold air, and they were gone.

Harry and Janice looked at each other.

"Did they pay their check?" he asked after a moment.

Read more at the House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

27. Part 24

Janice shook her head and held out the ticket for Harry to see. Then they noticed that the booth had been cleared of dishes and a small carnation placed in the vase by the napkin dispenser. There was a faint smell of lemons in the air.

"I'm sure he'll pay it," she said.

"What book was he talking about?" asked Harry.

Janice led him to the kitchen and showed him the red leather journal.

"What's in it?"

"Nothing," she said, and she opened it to show him.

He thumbed a few pages forward and back. "It's blank," he said at last. "I don't get it."

"It's magic."

Harry looked out through the transfer window at the empty dining room. "I don't want him in here again. Your wizard friend is okay, I guess, but not that other guy."

"I never saw him before," she said. "I don't even know his name."

"Keep it that way, for your sake. And let him have the damn book if he wants it."

"I don't think that's a good idea," she said, and she replaced it back among the tuna cans high on the shelf.

"Suit yourself," said Harry. "But if your wizard comes back, tell him I've got some dishes for him to wash."

Read more at the House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

28. Part 25

The wizard didn't come back that afternoon or the next day. At first Janice wasn't concerned, but considering the circumstances of his departure, she began to worry when she didn't see him by the end of the week.

She kept the book at the diner, hidden behind the tuna cans on the high shelf, for when he asked for it again. From time to time she peeked between the covers, but the pages were blank, and she never saw that faint shimmer again.

"Good riddance," Harry said one afternoon. A lot of trouble and for what? Some card tricks."

"He saved that one guy's life," Janice protested, but Harry was hardly listening.

He clanged a spatula against the grill-top. "Okay, so that's one. What about the rest? Customers won't come in if they see a wizard sitting in a booth.. It's common sense!"

Janice wiped a cloth over the countertop. The dining room was empty.

"Look," said Harry. "I'm sure he's fine. I know that you guys were friends."

"I hardly know him," she protested. "I don't even know his name." Her face settled into something like a frown.

"They were fighting, right? If he lost, then the other guy would've shown up by now, right? So you can't say anything for sure."

"Maybe," she conceded.

"Wherever your wizard friend is, I'm sure he'll be back. For the book, at least."

Read more at the House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

29. Part 26

Another week went by and still no sign of the wizard. Janice had taken the book home and hidden it inside a jacket taken from a hardcover book on her shelf. She'd tried several times to read something within its pages but with no success.

"The thing I can't understand," Harry said one afternoon, "is why he came here."

"He was hungry," Glenn laughed from the end of the counter. He looked around to see who else might be laughing.

Harry waved the suggestion away. "There's dozens of diners in town. Heck, he works down on the boardwalk. Or worked. Anyway, why not eat there? Why come all this way into town day after day?"

Janice looked at him. "your famous club sandwiches, I guess."

"You ask me," said Harry, "it's because he knew he was in trouble. He had the book and needed to get rid of it. So, he spends a few weeks making friends, and before you know it, you're babysitting a book full of nothing."

"He said there's no danger."

"And then he disappeared. It's all pretty fishy."

She frowned. " I'll ask him the next time he stops in."

"If he's still around," said Harry. "Or alive, even."

"He's alive," said Glenn. He sipped noisily from his coffee cup.

"How do you know?" asked Janice.

"Those dogs still use my lawn. Figure the curse would've worn off if he's dead."

Read more at the House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

30. Part 27

Wednesday afternoon Janice came out of the kitchen with napkins and a box of straws and nearly dropped them. The stranger was seated at the counter, gazing idly at a menu. He didn't look at her.

"I'd like my book now," he said.

She held her face still and set the napkins on the counter. Then she opened a dispenser and began filling it with straws. "I got rid of it," she said at last.

"I still don't believe you."

"Well."

The stranger regarded her. "Tell you what. I'm going to order, and by the time I've finished my"—he glanced at the menu—"pot roast sandwich, I'd like you to set the book here on the counter. No trouble, no problems."

"Fries?" She took out her tablet and pen.

"Slaw, please. And a chocolate milkshake."

She wrote it down. "I don't have your book, mister."

"Yes, you mentioned the rendering plant. I could go and dig through an ocean of grease, but you and I know that I wouldn't find it. Why not save us both the trouble?"

She tore the ticket from the pad and hung it on the turnstile. Then she faced the stranger calmly. "Where is he?"

He smiled. "Couldn't say. He left in a hurry, and I haven't seen him since."

Read more at the House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

31. Part 28

Janice suspected that the stranger was just trying to upset her.

"Are you saying you killed him?"

"Why would I do that?" he laughed. "All I want is my book. I don't have a problem with him."

"But you tried to kill him," she said. "With lightning."

He waved a dismissive hand. "That was persuasion. If I'd meant it to kill him, it would have."

She glanced back at the kitchen. Harry had already taken down the ticket. She took a deep breath.

"I don't have the book," she said again. "I've dealt with some rough characters in this place, crazy or drunk or escaped from somewhere. Night shift is no picnic. And in all that time, only one or two of them ever scared me." She leaned forward with both elbows on the counter. "You don't scare me," she said.

"Of course I do," he said smiling. "But I promise, if you give me the book, I won't bother you again."

He watched her, and she hesitated, but that was all that he needed. His smile broadened.

She stood up straight again. "Even if I had it," she said, "it wouldn't be mine to give. He asked me to hold it for him."

"He should never have given it to you," he said. "It was wrong of him to involve you in this."

"Maybe you're right," she said after a moment. "And maybe you should have it. When I see him again, I'll ask if it's okay to give it to you."

At that, the stranger's face darkened. "You won't see him again."

"What the hell is this?" Harry barked suddenly. Janice turned. He was leaning through the transfer window and holding the order ticket. "I told you we're out of slaw."

Read more at The House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

32. Part 29

Harry spotted the stranger through the transfer window. "And I told <i>you</i> to stay out of here," he rasped.

The stranger ignored him. "The book is of no value to you," he said to Janice. "You gain nothing by keeping it from me."

"It's not mine to give," she told him. "Like I said."

At that, the stranger rose to his feet. "If that were true," he grated, "it wasn't yours to destroy, either."

Harry emerged from the kitchen carrying a length of broomstick. He brandished it at the stranger. "I'm giving you one last chance."

The stranger didn't even look at him. He made a small gesture, and the tiles beneath Harry's feet peeled back as though unzipped. Harry tumbled into the storage room in the basement, and the tiles zipped back together.

"I'll take this place apart to find it," said the stranger. "You can save yourself a lot of trouble."

Janice was looking at the floor where Harry had fallen. She couldn't tell where the tiles had opened, and she almost didn't believe that she'd seen it. She couldn't hear him—he might be hurt, or worse.

"It's not here," she said at last.

"Where?"

"My apartment," she said, and suddenly they were both standing in her living room.

The stranger glanced about, and his eyes settled on the bookshelf. He made a slight clawing motion with two fingers of his left hand, and the red journal sprang at once from the shelf. The jacket in which Janice had hidden it fluttered to the floor, and the journal floated to the stranger's outstretched hand.

He held it reverently between his palms, a look of near disbelief on his face.

"Thank you," he said to Janice, but he was hardly addressing her.

Read more at The House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

34. Part 30

Janice expected the stranger to read the book, or at least open it, but he held it clasped in his hands like something delicate and dangerous. He didn't speak or even look at her. At last he drew a pale green ribbon from his jacket's inner pocket, and he tied it tightly around the book.

"If he were a friend as you claim," the stranger said, "he wouldn't have left this with you."

She shrugged, trying to seem relaxed. "He said there wasn't any danger."

"He lied, or he's a fool. You might have caused yourself great harm. And others."

"Well," she said. "I couldn't even read it. All the pages are blank."

A look of horror or disgust ran across his face, and he hugged the book to his chest. "Then you're luckier than you know, and I'm a better friend than you realize."

"How's that?"

He smiled as though something had spread sideways in his mouth. "I'll take the book away, and you'll never see it or me again. If you've any luck remaining, you'll forget all about it in a few weeks."

"You can't have the book," Janice said. "It isn't mine to give."

"You're not giving it," said the stranger. "I'm taking it."

"No," she said. "It's staying here."


Read more at http://houseofkewpie.blogspot.com/">The House of Kewpie

[The Backlash Cometh]

61. two minor punctuation issues

Well, it's too late," Janice said easily. <">Out back there are four barrels where we dump our grease. The book's at the bottom of one of them."

"I don't believe you."

"Probably not. But this afternoon they go to the rendering plant<remove period?>., book and all."

[The Backlash Cometh]

33. Orrex, I'm sure you've been asked before...

but, since you are such a big help to the people in this group, why don't you write a detailed profile and post to your journal so we can learn a little more about you? You seem to be an accomplished writer. I'd like to know what you've had published, or how close you are to getting published.

[Orrex]

36. Part 31

The stranger faced her. "I could destroy you, you know."

"You mentioned that," Janice replied. "But that still won't get you the book." She took a breath. She didn't know if any of what she was saying was true, but he seemed to believe it, for now. "Where's the wizard?" she asked.

The book hung lightly in his hand, and he pressed it against his thigh. "I've no idea," said the stranger. "To be honest, I meant to get rid of him, but he vanished. He could be anywhere."

"Well," she said. "When you see him again, you can ask for the book."

A truck passed in the street outside, and the stranger watched it through the blind. "This is a nice house," he said absently.

"I rent," she said, and he nodded, holding the book toward her.

"The least formula in these pages could give you untold riches. Endless power. But you'll need me to decipher it."

She took another breath. "I don't see how it could cause me anything but trouble," she said at last.

"That's foolish and short-sighted," he said. "Every gain carries with it the possibility of loss. But the potential here outweighs any fear."

"It's not fear," she said. "I need to get back to work. I'm still on the clock. I have responsibilities."

"As have I," he spat. "And my responsibilities can be met only with this book."

"I'm sorry I can't help you," she said. " I need to get back to work."

Read more at The House of Kewpie

[Tuesday Afternoon]

37. damn you --

How is she going to stop him? He is holding the book in his hands...tension builds!!

:popcorn:

[Orrex]

38. Part 32

Harry looked out into the lobby. No sign of Janice, and Carol had her hands full with three tables in back and two guys at the counter. Two tickets hung on the turnstile, and a pound of chipsteak sizzled on the grill.

The tile where he'd fallen through the floor was as solid as ever, and aside from the bruises, he had no evidence at all that anything had happened. The stranger said that he wasn't a wizard, but he might as well have been. It was some kind of magic, anyway.

The police would be no help. The stranger could have taken her anywhere, and cops would probably no bother to him at all. When he called her phone, it rang in her locker in the break room.

He checked the clock. Two hours, and still no sign.

He chopped at the steak with his pair of spatulas and dropped a basket into the fryer.

A man and a woman came into the diner. Harry took off his apron and went out to seat them. They took a booth near the entrance and looked over their menus as he returned to the kitchen. A few minutes later Carol stopped by the table to take their order.

Harry watched through the transfer window, then turned back to the grill and worked some onions into the steak.

When he looked up again, the wizard was standing by the fryer. Harry jumped back and raised the spatulas. "What the hell's going on?" he barked.

The wizard looked tired, and his clothes were wrinkled, but he seemed relaxed. "I've been all over," he said. "Believe me. And nobody makes a turkey club like you."

Read more at The House of Kewpie

[Tuesday Afternoon]

39. ~

:popcorn:

(shhh....glad to see the wizard back as I am a tad in love with him;))

[Orrex]

40. What the heck are you doing up at 3:55?

Aside from reading some riveting and dynamic fiction, of course.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

41. Insomnia is my friend, I think. We have argued about this.

He tells me I can sleep when I am dead. I tend to agree ;)

[Orrex]

42. Part 33

"So that's it?" Harry snapped. "Gone for weeks and then you just show up?" He gestured at the kitchen with his spatulas. "You shouldn't even be back here."

"I'm sorry," said the wizard. "I've had other obligations. This is the first chance I've had to return."

"Yeah. Well. That friend of yours disappeared with Janice. Did you know that?"

The wizard glanced through the transfer window to the lobby. "Do you need me to wait tables?"

"Are you trying to be cute?" He slammed the spatulas against the grill. "Where are they?"

"Where's the book?"

"I don't know. Not here. Her place, maybe."

"Then that's where they've gone."

Harry took a step toward him. He was a full head taller than the wizard, and he was angry enough not to care what kind of tricks he might have up his sleeve.

"If you're planning to hit me," the wizard said calmly, "I urge you to reconsider. She's in little danger, I promise."

"Why did you even give her that damned book? What's in it?"

"Lots of things, to the right person. Lots of things to the wrong person, too. But she'll be fine."

Harry took a deep breath and stepped back to the grill. He picked up the spatulas and jabbed the sizzling heap of steak. "Who the hell is he, anyway?"

"Did you ever go into a theater, way before the movie starts? The houselights are up and muzak is playing. You think you're the first one there, but then you notice someone sitting near the front, at the far end of the row. Like he'd stayed after the last showing and didn't pay to sit through the movie again." The wizard shrugged. "He's kind of like that."

Harry looked at him. "But she's safe?"

"She's fine," said the wizard. "As long as she doesn't let him have the book."


Read more at The House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

43. Part 34

"I mean it," Janice said. "I have to finish my shift."

"This is absurd," sneered the stranger. He waved the book at her again. "You have no idea what this represents."

"I'm pretty sure that you do, though, and I don't trust you."

He turned away from her, still cradling the book between his palms, and she felt the room go cold around her. Frost ran up his forearms, and her breath fogged in the chill air. With a low creaking noise, a patch of ice spread out from the stranger's feet.

"You'll ruin the carpet," she said, but her voice faltered, and she knew that she didn't sound brave enough.

The stranger faced her. "Say the word, and I'll leave. I'll take the book, and you'll never see me again." He gestured at the ice thickening on the floor. "You won't even lose your security deposit."

She stepped backward to the door and turned the knob. "No," she said, and she slipped quickly outside. The afternoon sun was bright, the air warm. She closed the door again. Leaves of frost spread over the windows.

She'd left her purse and phone in her locker at the diner, ten blocks away. She couldn't call a cab, and she had no money for bus fare. As she moved to the sidewalk, the door opened. The stranger stepped out and shut the door behind him. He wasn't holding the book.

"All right," he grated. "We'll do this your way."

Read more at The House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

44. Part 35

Janice stared at the stranger. "Just like that?" she asked. "I walk out, and suddenly the book means nothing to you?"

"It means a great deal," he admitted, "but I'm patient. Today or tomorrow will make no difference."

"I have to get back to work," Janice said again. "If you get me fired, I promise you'll never see the book again." She turned away and looked up the street.

The stranger crouched and tugged a handful of dry grass from the lawn. He spoke into his fist and then spread his fingers, letting the little brown wisps fluttered along the breeze.

"Finish your shift," he said. "Afterwards we can discuss the book further."

"How am I supposed to do that? The diner's two miles away." She spun to face him and saw that she was standing in the restaurant's lobby. In one hand she held a steaming pot of coffee, and in the other she held her pen and tablet.

The stranger was seated in the corner booth. With his fork he prodded a piece of lemon meringue pie. Briefly Janice wondered if she'd imagined it, but the clock had moved over two hours ahead.

"Decaf for me," said a woman at Janice's elbow. "And maybe I'll try a muffin."

"Sure," Janice said absently, and she gestured with the pot. "I'll be right back." She glanced at the stranger, then made her way behind the counter and through the double doors.

In the kitchen Harry was quartering a club sandwich. The wizard stood at the grill, turning over a burger with a spatula. When he saw Janice, he grinned, and he put his index finger to his lips.

"Shhh," he said.


Read more at The House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

47. Part 36

Janice glared at the wizard. He turned over the burger again and laid a slice of cheese across it. "Where have you been?" she hissed.

He made a gesture like a shrug. "Far away," he said. "Do you still have the book?"

"No," she said after a moment. "Yes. I mean, it's not here."

He smiled. "Then there's no problem."

"For you, maybe," said Janice.

Harry cleared his throat. "He said that everything's all right. That you're in no danger."

"It's true," said the wizard.

Janice wasn't listening. She nodded toward the lobby. "That creep came to my apartment. He threatened me."

"You weren't in any danger," the wizard repeated. "He can't hurt you unless you let him."

"Now you tell me," Janice grated. "You should have mentioned it before you disappeared."

The wizard appeared to deflate. "I'm sorry about that," he said. "I had to leave in a hurry."

She watched him. He picked up a plate with an open Kaiser roll, and, with his spatula, he set the burger squarely on the bun.

"Are you okay?" she asked at last.

"Never better."

"Then what do we do about him?" She glanced through the transfer window. The wizard looked through, as well. In the lobby, the stranger raised the last forkful of pie to his mouth.

The wizard shrugged again. "That's dessert," he said. "I'm working the grill."

Read more at The House of Kewpie!

[Orrex]

49. Part 37

Janice didn't laugh. "I have to go back out there," she said. "What am I supposed to tell him?"

The wizard studied her. "You made it this far. What would you do if I weren't here?"

She glanced through the transfer window. "Finish my shift," she said. "Maybe tell him to get lost."

"Why not do that?" He smiled.

"This is a game to you, isn't it? I don't even want to know where you've been. You're here now, and so is he. You deal with him."

The wizard thought briefly. With his spatulas he herded the mound of chip steak across the grill. "You still have the book?"

"Not here. At home."

Nodding, he stepped back from the grill. He made a complicated twisting motion with his interlaced fingers and held out his left hand, palm up. After a moment a puff of smoke burst from his hand, and then he held the book. "Good as new," he said.

Again she wasn't laughing. She gestured with the coffee pot. "I have to get back out there."

"Dump it on him," said the wizard. "All of it."

"What?" she asked. "Why? He froze my apartment. He zapped you with lightning. What'll he do to me?"

"Nothing," the wizard said. "Make sure it's the whole pot."

She stared at him. "No," she said finally. "You dump it on him."


Read more at The House of Kewpie!

[Orrex]

50. Part 38

"I'll go with you," said the wizard.

Janice regarded him. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't exactly radiate confidence."

He laughed. "I guess you're right." He glanced out to the lobby, where the stranger was still sitting with his pie. "You can wait here," the wizard told her.

From across the kitchen Harry piped up. "I don't want any more trouble," he said. "I've got customers out there."

"No trouble," said the wizard. "I assure you."

He took the coffee pot from Janice and tucked the book beneath his arm. Then, smiling, he stepped through the double doors. Janice looked at Harry, who shrugged, and she followed the wizard into the lobby.

Already he was at the first table, refilling a woman's mug. Janice watched from behind the counter. He made his way over to the stranger's booth and eased onto the seat opposite him.

The stranger eyed the steaming coffee pot. "You going to pour that on me?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

The stranger grinned. "I see that you brought my book."

"Here," said the wizard, and he slid it across the table.

For a moment the stranger didn't react. He kept his eyes on the wizard, who held the pot out to him. "Refill?"

"What's the catch?" asked the stranger. He picked up the book but didn't open it.

"No catch," said the wizard. "But if you read even one word, you'll never cast a spell again."

"You're bluffing."

"Refill?" he asked again.


Read more at The House of Kewpie!

[Orrex]

51. Part 39

The stranger returned the book to the table and nodded toward his coffee mug. "I've waited a long time," he said. "You're not going to bluff me out of it now."

"Of course not," said the wizard. He tilted the pot and refilled the mug. "Go ahead and read it."

"Not yet. I can afford to be patient."

Janice stepped out from behind the counter. "You're going to give it to him?"

"Sure," said the wizard. "It won't do him any good."

"I wish you'd told me that a few weeks ago. I expected the damned thing to possess me or blow up or something, and now you just hand it over?"

The stranger rose to his feet, smiling. "You're right to blame him. I told you that he was a fool for involving you."

"I'm sorry, Janice," said the wizard. "I honestly didn't expect any trouble."

"I don't care," she said. "You're as bad as him. What did you think would happen? You knew he'd show up and threaten me. I should have destroyed the book when I had the chance."

A look of pain flashed across the wizard's face, but the stranger simply laughed.

"You picked one heck of a custodian," he said to the wizard.

The bell on the door clanged, and Janice glanced over at the entrance. Glenn stood there, one hand still on the door. He spotted the wizard and waved a small garden shovel at him.

"Enough already," he spat. "I'm tired of these filthy dogs. What'll it take to lift your damn curse?"

Read more at The House of Kewpie

[The Backlash Cometh]

52. Orrex, what "parts" constitute a chapter?

I would like to read a whole chapter but don't know where to begin, unless the whole thing takes place in the same diner?

[Orrex]

53. I've been writing it as a (nearly) weekly contribution to my wife's blog

So the whole thing is one short story, running perhaps 9000 words by now.

There are no chapters per se, but each "part" constitutes a single blog entry of between 200 and 300 words. I've never written anything serialized in this manner, and I confess that it's not my strong suit, but it's been a fun exercise.


I suppose that you could read any single "part" by itself and it would make just enough sense to get you through it, but the arc runs through the full 39 entries to date. It should be wrapping up in the very near future.

[The Backlash Cometh]

54. If you're looking for feedback,

What, in particular, do you want me to focus on when I read it? What would be the most helpful?

[Orrex]

55. Just focus on telling me how unbelievably awesome I am

Honestly, you've asked a sort of tough question. Since I don't have any real desire to write anything serious in a serialized format, I guess I'd be satisfied if readers found it sufficiently intersting to read from one "part" to the next. If there are any glaring errors of style (inexcusable dialog, stuff that makes no sense, etc.), I guess I'd like to hear about that, too.

For that matter, if anything in particular really works for the reader, I'd benefit from that feedback as well.


But don't feel pressured to respond in any more depth than you really want--for purposes of this piece, I'm delighted that anyone's reading it at all.


Thanks for asking!

[The Backlash Cometh]

66. Dialog is your strength.

Good and believable dialog. Makes good action that allows you to hop from section to section.

Good stuff.

[Orrex]

56. Part 40

The wizard studied Glenn for a few moments, as though trying to remember his face. "Oh," he said at last. "The dogs."

"That's right," spat Glenn. "The dogs. I'm up to my ankles for God's sake." He brandished the foul shovel for emphasis.

"Glenn," said Janice. "This isn't a good time."

The other customers in the lobby had fallen silent and sat watching the exchange. The stranger, still standing, wore a look of weary amusement, and he retrieved the book from the table.

"Maybe I'll read it after all," he said to the wizard. "I can see that you have some things to work out."

"Go ahead," said the wizard. "Afterwards I'll take it off your hands for you."

Glenn scowled at him. "I'm talking to you."

The stranger grinned and held out the book to Glenn. "I'll make you a deal. It's dogs, right? Read this, and I'll take care of them for you."

"What is it?" Glenn asked without reaching for it.

"Stories," said the stranger. "About the past and the future and right now."

Glenn looked at him. "If you get rid of those mutts, I'll read whatever you want." He took the book from him.

"It's not yours," the wizard said to the stranger. "You can't give it away."

The stranger laughed. "Are you kidding? I created those rules in the first place."

"Then read it," said the wizard.

"Don't have to," the stranger said. "My new pal Glenn's going to read it for me."

"Wait a minute," said Glenn.

"Relax," said the stranger. "It's just a book. What could go wrong?"


Read more at The House of Kewpie

[The Backlash Cometh]

65. Overall, it's developing at a good pace, but I can see why you need

to start wrapping it up. Janice's impatience with the wizard is spot on in 38 or 39. That's how the reader feels. But, if the wizard has a good reason at the end, it will be worthwhile.

[Orrex]

67. Part 41

Glenn still held the dirty shovel, and he stared at the stranger. At last he gestured at the book with his shovel. "I don't know."

"Go ahead," said the stranger. "I'd like to hear your opinion."

Glenn hesitated. "I don't read all that much," he said.

The stranger held the book out to him. "Then I'll consider yours an untainted perspective."

Glenn reached for the book, then he paused. "Look, I don't care about all this. I'm just trying stop these damn dogs."

Irritably, the stranger waved his hand in a complex swirl, and a wave of icy air swept through the diner. "Consider them stopped," he said. "Now, will you read it?"

At that, Glenn's attention snapped to the wizard, who hadn't spoken. Glenn hesitated, watching him. "I don't want to get mixed up in anything."

"Oh, forget it," snapped the stranger. He held the book overhead and addressed the entire room. "Does anyone here want to read this?" he asked in a booming voice. He looked with annoyance from table to table, but no one even met his gaze.

"Give it to me," said Janice from behind the counter. "I'll read it."

"You had your chance," the stranger said, studying her.

"So did you," the wizard said to him, "and look where it's gotten you. Let her read it. What do you have to lose?"

The stranger smiled and set the book on the counter and slid it over to her. "Why not?" he asked.

Read more at The House of Kewpie

[Orrex]

68. Part 42

Janice took the book from the stranger. "I'm tired of this," she said. "It's been dragging on for weeks with no end in sight. I'm not even convinced that the book is good for anything."

"Read it," said the stranger. "You'll see."

"I will. Cover to cover. When I looked before, every page was blank."

"But you know that it's important," the stranger said.

She shrugged. "Is it?" She gestured at the wizard. "He says you're dangerous. You say it's safe. I don't know why I should believe either of you. It's all been a big hassle from the start."

The wizard looked pained. "I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused. I didn't expect it to unfold like this."

She was hardly listening to him. She turned the book over and looked at the back cover. Then she turned it over again and examined the front. "Who does it really belong to?"

"It's mine," said the stranger.

"I mean really," she said. "If I just destroyed it, who would come looking for it?"

"No one," the wizard said after a moment. "He says it's his, but he's lying. It doesn't belong to anyone. It never has." He smiled. "It can't."

"That's nonsense," said the stranger. "It was mine long before anyone else even knew it existed."

"Well," Janice said. "I've got it now. I think that you should leave."

The stranger scoffed. "You don't know what you're saying."

"Sure I do," she said. "Get out of here, or I'll destroy it.

"But I gave it to you," he protested.

"Back to me," she corrected. "I think I understand, now. If I don't give it to you, you can't take it."

"But you don't even want it."

"That's right," she said. "But you do. You'd better leave."

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[Orrex]

69. Part 43

"This is absurd," barked the stranger. "You have no right to destroy it."

"Then you'd better leave," Janice said.

The stranger glared wildly around the small dining room. The customers at their booths were motionless. Some had left during the commotion, and others stared at him. Plumes of icy mist began to issue from his skin.

His fingers traced a counter-clockwise circle in the air, and a chorus of breaking mugs rang through the diner. Frozen discs of coffee and tea clattered onto the tables and to the tile floor. A water glass on one table splintered, and the coffee pot on the stranger's table shattered.

The stranger looked as though he realized he'd made one mistake too many, and he moved toward he exit. When he reached it, he faced her. "But I implore you to read it, if you can. It's apt to destroy you." Ice crackled in his clothing as he moved.

"Far as I can tell, it's all blank," she said. "I'll take my chances." The stranger opened the door and stomped out to the sidewalk. Then Janice turned and went back to the kitchen.

Harry was standing beside the deep fryer, poking its contents with his spatula. "What the hell's going on out there?" he asked, and he jabbed at the pale, brownish mass once more. "The damn grease is frozen solid."

"I think it's over," Janice said. "He's gone."

He risked a glance at the transfer window. "Which one?"

"It doesn't matter," she said. "I'm taking my break."


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[Orrex]

70. Part 44

Janice stood near the grease barrels behind the diner. In one hand she held the book, but she didn't look at it.

After a few minutes the wizard rounded the building and approached her. She noticed that he appeared shaken. "I'm stunned that he just gave it to you, after all that."

"I know," she said. "Sort of anti-climactic, isn't it?"

"I'm not complaining," said the wizard, and he nodded at the book. "What do you plan to do with it?"

"I can't destroy it, can I? I have the feeling that you wouldn't let me."

"You could read it."

"I tried," she said. "All I saw was a weird shimmer."

"That's more than most people ever get to see. It's more than he saw. You should try again."

She raised the book and glanced at the cover. "What happens then?"

"To be honest, it depends how much you read."

"How much have you read?" she asked.

"None," he said. He seemed surprised.

She glared at him. "I saw you writing in it," she said, "before you gave it to me in the first place."

"But I've never read it. I can't." He shrugged. "Rules."

"That's why he couldn't read it?"

"Right. It isn't mine, and it's not his."

"But it's not mine either," she scoffed. "I don't even want it."

"That's why you can read it." He smiled.

She looked away. "He said it would destroy me."

"He doesn't know that. He doesn't even believe it.

"Are you a wizard or not?"

"Sure I am," he said. "Should I show you the spoon trick again?"

"No," she said, and she looked at the book again. "I don't know why you showed up in the first place."

"I was hungry," he said. "It was lunch time."

"Well, maybe you should stay away from now on."

He looked slightly hurt but didn't protest. "Then you'll keep the book?"

"If I say no, you won't take it anyway, will you?"

"No," he said.

"Then I'll keep it."

"Just for a while," he added. "When you're done with it, you'll give it to someone else."

"Who?" she asked, but then she shook her head. "Never mind."

"I don't know," said the wizard. "You'll figure it out."

She started to say something but stopped. She checked the clock on the bank across the street. "My break's over," she said.


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[Orrex]

71. Part 45 (END)

That night, at her apartment, Janice took the book from her bag and set it on the kitchen counter.

She thumbed through her mail, setting aside the bills and dropping the junk mailings into the garbage can. Then she took a soda from the refrigerator and moved to the living room.

A brief scan of the channels found nothing of interest on TV, so she turned it off and sat in the relative darkness and quiet. She sipped her soda set the can on the table.

Part of her expected the stranger to appear, demanding that she either read or return the book. Her earlier curiosity about what it might contain had mostly vanished. Whatever secrets might be revealed, they could wait. She couldn't even read the damned thing if she'd wanted to.

All at once she remembered a moment from her childhood. Her parents had taken her to an amusement park, where a dime store magician worked on an open-air stage facing a small courtyard. He performed a battery of tired illusions, producing doves and rabbits and finally a yards-long string of colored ribbons. Even at her young age Janice quickly grew bored with his routine, though the audience seemed thoroughly engaged. Her mind started to wander.

At the opposite end of the courtyard she spotted a young woman eating popcorn from a red and white paper bag. She must have neared the bottom, because she thrust a hand inside to reach the last few kernels. But as Janice watched, the woman suddenly met her gaze, and she smiled. Then she raised her hand straight over her head, and the bag inhaled her arm to the shoulder.

Janice glanced around but saw that no one else was paying attention. When she looked back, the woman's head and most of her other arm had likewise vanished into the bag. The woman shook slightly, and the bag fell past her shoulders to her waist. Another quick shake, and the bag slid down her legs and swallowed both feet. She was gone, and a quick puff of wind blew the bag out of Janice's sight.

At that moment a great burst of applause swept through the crowd, and Janice saw the magician bowing deeply on the stage. No one seemed to have noticed the popcorn woman, the entire audience overwhelmed by the magician's trite display. They'd ignored an amazing bit of magic in favor of a clown in a sequined jacket.

Janice returned to the kitchen and looked down at the book and its unassuming cover. Daring me to judge by it, she thought wryly. She'd been so overwhelmed by the antics of the stranger and the wizard that she hadn't tried to read the book even when it was in her sole possession. But now they were gone, near as she could tell. Taken their bows and their distractions and left the stage.

She opened the book. She read.


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[My Good Babushka]

72. You're so fantastically awesome!

I love you.

[The Backlash Cometh]

64. That's twice the wizard ask her where the book was, and twice

she said not here. Said it in Section 36 and 37.

It just seems that it there was urgency in the matter, he would have acquired the book the first time he asked for it.

[The Backlash Cometh]

63. I like the suspense here.

Because, you know Janice gave him the book.

[The Backlash Cometh]

62. Missing word?

The police would be no help. The stranger could have taken her anywhere, and cops would probably <be> no bother to him at all. When he called her phone, it rang in her locker in the break room.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

45. My dear Orrex!

I'm so glad I took the time to read this!

Completely engrossing, completely involving!

Keep 'em coming...

Thank you...

[Orrex]

46. I'm glad that you took the time, too!

:hug:

Thanks for the kind words, and I'm very pleased that you're enjoying the tale.


More to follow...

[sybylla]

48. Damn - I second that!

Very impressive, Orrex. What an unassuming title for such a captivating story.

I look forward to more. :toast: