apparently by me, and I hurt everywhere. I raised my head to try to see what was going on.
Asha lay sprawled on the floor. Whatever that glass ball weapon had been, she’d absorbed the brunt of it, and seemed to be out cold. The dhajat bat had flown from her grasp and landed in the corner, where a tall, thin figure was bending over to retrieve it.
He didn’t look at all like my dad now. He wore a brown trenchcoat and fedora, and the hat cast impossibly deep shadows over his face, but I could make out hints of gaunt, skeletal cheeks, and a heavy jaw lined with jagged teeth.
He gripped the bat and straightened, turning toward Asha.
“No!” I cried, stumbling to my feet. I snatched up a heavy ceramic ashtray and threw it at him, but when it struck him it bounced off as if it were made of styrofoam, and he paid no attention.
I felt a flood of despair. The only object in the room with enough reality to affect him was the bat, and—
Wait! I thought. Asha’s knapsack. Her gun! If it had come from her world, it must have an OF of ten, like her. I tore open the pack and yanked out the gun.
Abraxas stood over Asha and raised the bat to strike. With a cry I hurled the gun at him as hard as I could.
It hit him in the back of the head, and his hat went flying. “Ow!” he screamed.
Then he turned to regard me, and his face was even more frightening than I’d imagined. His eyes were black sockets within which green ghost-fires blazed.
I fled in a mad panic, sprinting out the door and into the hall. As I rounded the corner, Abraxas stepped out through the wall right in front of me.
He smiled, and I backed away, cringing and stumbling. As I retreated past the library door, I noticed that Asha’s body was gone. Where—?
Suddenly two hands reached out through the wall, seized Abraxas by the shoulders, and yanked him sideways. He gasped—and the bat fell from his fingers—as he was dragged back through the wall.
I moved to the door, and watched as Asha raised him above her head, and then she spun him around and piledrove him into the floor, which exploded like it’d been hit by a meteor. I ducked behind the wall as bits of flooring and foundation rained all about the room.
When I peeked in again, I saw that the center of the library was now a giant crater, and at its base were Asha and Abraxas. He was on his knees, and she had him in a chokehold. I scooped up the dhajat bat and hurried forward.
As I neared, Abraxas slumped. The fires that were his eyes dwindled to the size of candle flames, then went out, and Asha yanked his arms behind his back and bound his wrists with glowing cuffs.
Then she stood, looking immensely pleased with herself. “Ha!” she declared, clapping her hands and raising them before her. “What did I tell you, kid? These hands are formidable things.”
I let out a deep breath, and lowered the bat.
“Thought he was pretty clever,” Asha said, “using my own stun-bulbs against me. Good thing I had them all rigged for one-quarter power…just in case someone ever grabbed one and tried to use it on me.” She prodded him with her toe and said, “Guess you’re not the only sneaky one around here, eh, smart guy?”
She turned back to me, and added, “Still, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to get the drop on him, if you hadn’t distracted him. That was real good thinking.”
“Wow, thanks, Asha. I—”
“Of course,” she said, “you
“Oh,” I said glumly. “Yeah.”
She waved a hand. “But don’t worry about it. That was my fault. I should’ve warned you about his disguises. No, overall you did pretty great, I’d say.” She added, “For a five, I mean.”
I grinned.
“So what happens now?” I asked.
A few weeks later all the preparations had been made for my extended vacation. A cab dropped me off in front of Cornelius’s mansion, and I made my way through the house to the library, which had been repaired with some help from Asha’s off-world friends—without anyone around here being the wiser.
Asha stood waiting, beside the purple door.
“You all set?” she asked me.
“Yup,” I said, as I crossed the room.
In my backpack was food, water, and silver, as well as a handgun that Asha had provided, loaded with OF- ten bullets.
She gestured to the door. “You want to do the honors?”
I smiled and stepped forward, and gave the door a push, and it swung aside to reveal a night sky full of massed purple clouds and circling flocks of long-necked birds, and below that soaring peaks beside plunging chasms, and on every precipice a fortress whose windows blazed with yellow light, like jack-o’-lanterns. The night air that blew in past us was pleasantly brisk, and smelled of rich earth and sweet flowers.
I paused to admire the view, even if this world
“Let’s get a move on,” Asha said, as she stepped through the door. “No time to waste gawking at second- rate realities. We’ve got a full itinerary ahead of us. Nines and tens all the way.”
I took one last look around the library, at my home world, in all its modest five-ness, then moved to follow her.
“Come on, kid,” she told me. “Let me show you what a
DEAR ANNABEHLS
MERCURIO D. RIVERA
Nominated for the 2011 World Fantasy Award for his short fiction, Mercurio D. Rivera’s stories can be found in venues such as
Dear Annabehl:
I’m concerned about the inordinate amount of time that my 13-year-old son “Jeff” spends with himself. A boy his age should be out and about, playing with friends, participating in sports and other after-school activities. I come from a very traditional family, and I have to confess that I’m concerned that this behavior suggests that Jeff may be gay.
My husband thinks I’m overreacting. What do you think?
Dear Concerned:
Generally, a boy Jeff’s age spending time with himself is perfectly normal. The question I would pose is: How
