Literary Review

Teaser:

They say that a book is a doorway to another world or another life.  You may or may not believe that but here is a tale of someone who has definitely become a believer.

 

Summary

What would you do if you had another life to live.  Would it make a difference if you had the chance to do something all over again.  Is your fate sealed or does free will actually give you a fighting chance.  It’s possible that you will never know since life’s rewind button is ever so elusive.  Then again, it’s possible that you wouldn’t know you had been given a second chance until after you’ve made your choices–or your choices were made for you.

David loved to read, perhaps to a fault.  He loved the stories and the characters and daydreaming about how he would have done things differently to make everything better.  This is the story about his (day) dream come true, for better or worse.  When he haplessly makes a wish at just the right moment, haplessly and heedlessly falling into another place with no way back, he finds himself faced with the need to survive long enough to get out from under the umbrella of his careless words, should that window of opportunity still be open.

 

Prologue

There was nothing like a day at the beach with a favorite book in hand and hot bikini clad girls all around to boost the morale of a teenage boy.  At least that is more or less what David Welch was thinking at that moment as he lay on an old towel peeking over the top of his book at a couple girls walking obliviously by.  The closest girl was wearing a white string bikini even though she kind of scrawny and not very well endowed.  The other girl in the violet strapless one piece was really what had grabbed his attention when he looked up to make sure that his mom was ok.

His mom had a bad leg that often inhibited her mobility very badly, especially when there was a storm coming.  This morning she had seemed ok but her walk had been a bit stiff as she made her way through the countless beach umbrella’s to cool herself off in the ocean.  For now, however, have assured himself that his mom was fine, he was content to watch after the girls until a huge black and red umbrella shading the hideously fat man lying under it deprived him of his sinful pleasure.  He lamented for only a second how sad it was that neither of those girls had spared him even so much as a glance as they passed.  Mostly unconcerned, he returned to his book even if it was difficult to concentrate on the words.

Fortunately, this was his favorite book so he really didn’t need to read it to know what it said.  It was his favorite for many reasons, though perhaps one of the key considerations was that his mom had written it.  More than that, however, was that something about the story just felt so familiar no matter how absurd that sounded to him.  He had asked his mom so many times where she got the idea for the plot and if she was indeed the inspiration for the main character, Sienna Finelli, but all the only answer ever forthcoming to such questions had been “that was not my life”.   That answer left him full of questions and what-ifs that usually carried his daydreaming to new heights.

This was also his favorite towel for much the same reason.  It was a really big beach towel with a menacing image of Smaug, the dragon from the movie “The Hobbit”, almost challenging anyone at all to approach, at their own risk, while simultaneously doing everything possible to scare them away.  It was entirely possible that this was an inhibitor of any possible success he might have in attracting female attention but for now he was content simply to steal visions of their beauty from a distance.  Glancing around to check on his mother again, David noticed one girl applying sun screen to another girl that could, and probably was, her sister and tried his best not to be obvious in staring because he thought that the scene was totally hot.  Almost immediately after, he caught sight of a quick smooch between two guys that they clearly thought had been discreet and immediately wished that he could un-see it.  In hopes of distracting himself from the absolute grossness of the latter vision, he glances back to the girls but they are already heading toward the waves.  The sight of his mom limping toward him pushes everything else temporarily away.

“What’s wrong mom?”  The concern in his voice is unmistakable.

“Nothing sweetheart.  There’s probably a storm coming soon is all.”  David glanced up at the sky which was considerably more overcast than when they arrived and decided that she must be right.

“How’s the book?” she asked.  He knew that his mother wasn’t intentionally being sarcastic but it still felt as if she was mocking him a little for reading a book so many times.  She kept telling him that there were too many new adventures to be had to repeatedly re-read the same book.  He didn’t happen to agree with her on that particular point but kept his council to himself.

“It’s great.  I seriously wish I could get into some action like that.”  He had already set the book down and was already getting to his feet to help is mom who was having difficulty bending down to the cooler.  He couldn't be sure but he thought that the expression on his mom's face looked much more pained than normal making him worry that he had said or done something wrong.  He extracted for her a bottle of ice cold water.  The dazed look on her face as he hands her the bottle of water concerns him as much as confuses him.  Before she recovered, however, he was able to follow her gaze to the sandy towel he had just vacated.  His attention was immediately recalled by the sound of her voice.

“Then you’d better be careful with your key.”  Accepting the water with a look that radiated of sadness she continued, “I’m really not feeling well.  I’ll be inside resting.  Please try not to be too long.”

“What?  Oh, yeah sure mom.  I promise.  Go get some rest and I’ll get some dinner for us.  I’ll be home as soon as I can.”  Confused, he waits a second hoping for clarification but the distant look has passed, replace by what seems like resignation or the onset of depression, and his mom has already started hobbling toward the rental.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”  Knowing how independent his mom has had to be because his dad had died before he was born, he resistrf the urge to step in and help her to the house.

The smile that greets him when she turns around is absolutely heart breaking.  She simply acknowledges that she’s just really tired before walking away.

 

Chapter 1

It was two years ago when he found the cedar chest in the back corner of the basement.  It was locked of course but that was hardly a deterrent to a hopelessly romantic, head strong and very curious teenager.  Because the chest was so much like a treasure chest from the Pirates of the Caribbean or the home of some amazing keepsake like in Treasures in my Heart (Paula F Guidry), he was loathe to damage it in any way so before allowing himself to succumb to youthful impetuousness, he set about a thorough exploration of the house to find the key to this treasure untold.  His imagination ran wild in the ever more fantastic fantasy about what the chest might hold.

He surreptitiously searched all of the house for the key over the following week without even a glimpse of success.   The one exception of his exploration was his mother’s bedroom since she was nearly always in there when he was home.  As would be expected, the mystique of the chest has risen to epic proportions while the hope of maintaining the impeccable beauty of intricately designed chest dwindled.  It wasn’t until an extremely humid stormy day later the next week when his mom slept the particularly bad day away under the sedation of her pain killers on the living room sofa that he dared to venture into her room.  He was extremely careful to leave everything exactly as he found it.  After an hour of searching, however, he was ready to give up. 

As a last resort before applying the crowbar, he looked at her bookshelf.  He checked under it and behind it and under every book but there was no key to be found.  As he was arranging the back to their exact positions though he noticed that his mom kept another copy of her book here.  Thinking it was perhaps an original with cliff notes and everything, he opened it up and to his surprise out fell the key.  The book had been hollowed to keep the key but David couldn’t even remotely grasp what the significance of the book was in relation to the chest.  He was sure determined to find out though.

Eagerness rushing his steps, he proceeded as quietly as he could down to the basement.  It took a couple tries to unstick the lock which had presumably sat here in the sometimes damp basement for a long time.  With a soft creak, the lid swung open to reveal … a towel.  A very cool towel he had to admit even if the significance completely escaped him.  Still, anything with Smaug the dragon was alright by him so he took it with him.  Still intent on concealing his discovery, he re-locked the chest and returned the key to its hiding place.  He fleetingly observed the torn pages from his mother’s copy of her book but knew better than to think that those pages would ever be found given all the secrecy shrouding this situation already.  He confidently hid his acquisition in the back corner of his closet.

The following evening, still intrigued with figuring out what the secret was, he asked his mom to rent the movie the Hobbit and was almost surprised when she agreed.  The movie had its share of deviations from the story cast to print but it was still entertaining.  The dragon on the towel was a perfect representation of the dragon in the movie which was really cool onto itself.  Regrettably, no new insights were to be found in those hours.  He inwardly complained to himself that he could have been reading a book instead.

Two days later, when his mom announced to him the reservations to the beach front house, he manages to forget all about the towel and the secrets and pretty much everything else for that matter.  His mom worked a lot despite her affliction and thus usually didn’t really feel up to much when she was at home so such vacations were a rare treat.  He was determined not to waste this one.  With only a week to go before the day of departure, he decided to start packing now.  Even more thrilling was the news that he was going to be driving.  He had been afraid that his permit would go to waste before he ever got a chance to practice driving and take the test.  At that moment, there was nearly nothing that could have erased the smile spreading from one ear to the other from his glowing face.  His surge of enthusiasm was so contagious that even his mom couldn’t help but smile for a little while although hers really didn’t hide her pain very well.

The next few days were a blur of chores and helping in any way he could to ensure that nothing remained to jeopardize their travel plans.

 

Chapter 2

The day of the road trip finally arrives and David is up especially early loading the luggage into the back of the car and making sure that his drivers permit, the car registration and the proof of insurance (yes he had read the driver’s hand book twice so far and was intent on not forgetting a single word of it when it came time to take the test) were all in order.  It didn’t take an act of fate to ensure that he was the first in the car and he waited patiently for his mom to be ready.  The songs on the radio seemed like really good traveling music just then with the tapping of his foot to a melody by Joan Jet audible through the open windows.  His mom stood on the porch for a moment smiling at David’s eagerness as if considering whether this trip was actually such a good idea.  In the end, though perhaps reluctantly, she slowly descended the stairs and allowed David, who had gotten out and walked around the car, to open and close her door for her.  She reflected aloud what a considerate child he had grown into.

They traveled a little while in silence while she rested her eyes.  Once she had directed him to the highway, there was really nothing for him to do but stay in his lane.  He beamed at her while he sang along to the music.  As if her words were drawn out by destiny, or perhaps Destiny’s Child … which happened to be playing on the radio, she started the conversation with the hobby nearest and dearest to his heart, books.

“So, what are you reading these days?”  The question felt very genuine but her voice sounded really tired.  He knew that she had had a terrible time since her hip injury but her motivation and resolve showed signs of advanced decay and he constantly worried about her.

“Running beneath the shadows,” he announced proudly and cheerfully, hoping he had concealed his growing anxiety.  Her reaction was not what he had expected.

She clearly made no effort to hide her fretting what-so-ever.  “My book?  Really?”  After composing herself a little she continued, “I mean, haven’t you read that like three times already?”

A little chagrinned by her question he responded “well, ten actually but who’s counting?”

“I’m sorry.  I really am flattered that you enjoy my story … my book so much but there are so many … stories out there that it seems a shame to repeat the same one.”  She looked over hopefully but David didn’t catch her express thanks to a brief surge in the volume of the traffic.

“It’s alright mom,” he soothed though the displaced memory of secrets still hidden in her book and that chest resurfaced in his mind.  What was she hiding behind those sleepy eyes of hers was all he could think about until the traffic died down a little allowing renewed conversation.

“So who is your favorite character?” Her question was softer than before, almost reminiscent.

“Oh, Sienna to be sure.”  There was no hesitation in his answer whatever which brought a smile to his mom’s face.  He took her silence as an invitation for elaboration so he continued.  “Well, I mean aside from sounding like a really hot girl,” he couldn’t help but notice the sudden flush of his mother’s face, “she is so confident; like she could take on the world and be the last man standing … well, the last woman anyway.”  Now it was his turn to get flushed.

"So what do you think Sienna was like as a girl?" asked his mother with a whimsical smile on her face.

"Oh, I'll bet she was the most beautiful girl in school, and the smartest … and the most clever.  Way out of my league, that's for sure."  When his mom raised her eye brows, he flushed a little and hurried on.  "She was obviously really smart and had a big heart but extremely daring.  I can just see her in pig tails giving her mom no end of trouble.  The thought of a game of hide and seek where Sienna’s mom searched in vain for the vanished girl sprouted in his mind.  I would have loved to read about her childhood too.  Will you tell me about 'her', mom?"

"I think that your perception of her childhood is really the most important,” she casually evaded.

“I’ll bet she read everything she could get her hands on too, probably drove the teachers nuts.”  David thought for a moment before continuing.  “She was probably the most beautiful girl at the prom too.  I’ll bet my prom is a total bust when I don’t even have a date.”  Some of the energy drained from his normal enthusiasm.  There were lots of thoughts about how wonderful Sienna’s childhood must have been.

Oh, I’m sure you’ll have very fond memories about your prom,” she consoled.

“And I’ll bet she had her first job lined up before she even graduated.  I wonder if she started with the CIA or maybe the FBI.  I’m sure it wasn’t the DEA or she would probably be a lot less likable.  And …”  He paused when he noticed the reminiscent look on his mom’s face.  He wondered if she had been thinking the same thing when she had dreamed up the story.  The pause gave his mom room for another question though David was still considering the most likely scenario of how Sienna had become a spy.  His mind finally settled on his favorite conclusion that she had witnessed a murder and in eluding the bad guys had fallen in with a covert operative who ultimately recruited her for black-op missions because she proved herself so resourceful.

“What about Lyle?”  David was only a little surprised but as usual his mother found excuses to avoid any conversation about her writing and her past.

 “You mean that back-stabber?  No, I’d never want to be like him.  Not only did he betray the perfect woman, he tried to kill her.  I mean really, what kind of man could do such a thing?” he answered innocently.  “I mean, I can’t imagine how she had thought he was so charming.  Though he admittedly had a way with words, he certainly had an awful lot of secrets too.”He proceeds to take the opportunity of the remaining car ride to re-recount all his favorite parts of the book including all the things he loved about Sienna and all the things he hated about Lyle as his mom listens with a wistful smile at her son’s obviously intimate knowledge of her first and only book, lines from which he was quoting verbatim as she had written them so many years ago.

 

The gist of the book:

The book starts by introducing the main character, Sienna Finelli.  She is a spy who currently works covertly with or for the American though there are only vague allusions to any of her past missions, all but the most current of which seem greatly shrouded in the utmost of secrecy.  It is quite clear that spies like Sienna are usually reserved for the most dangerous of international threats.  It really doesn’t come as a surprise when it is revealed that the American government would deny any association with her if she had ever been caught.

Sienna comes off as a tough girl that can be quite the charmer with an innate ability to blend in whenever it suits her.  It’s quickly obvious, however, that in moments of extreme fear, confusion or excitement, her composure tends to falter.  The tell-tale signs of such moments is the surfacing of her natural Irish accent.  She’ll usually try to pass this off as “her father shining through” as she makes light of the situation once her state of presence has returned.

On her way back from Libya, less than a mile from home, she crosses paths with a tall man with a British accent begging for help.  With as much vacation and comp time as Sienna has accrued, she is most inclined to let this man find his own solution, passing it off as the nature of the business.  When he presses in a most pathetic demeanor decrying that he’s in danger for his very life, she stops to at least hear what he has to say.  This man clearly seems to believe that there is a threat to his life.

Observing a nearly indiscernible shift in the atmosphere, Sienna suddenly drops into a crouch just seconds before something zips over her head.  The spray of macadam makes it clear that someone just took a shot at her, or him, and she takes evasive action grabbing a hold of his wrists with an authoritative quip and leading him into the nearest building.  Wanting to avoid as much exposure as possible, she leads him up the fire stairs and into a dark room on the third floor, checking as they went to ensure that the motion sensors she had arranged in strategic locations are still transmitting.

Once the threat of assassination seems to have passed, she listens to his claim of knowledge of a terrorist cell known by some top government officials.  The only thing preventing her from dismissing this man as a crazy has-been are the names mentioned as he closes his tale of espionage.  The prospect that her primary contact here in the states could be compromised seems to be enough of a reason to consider helping this man.  The alarm that suddenly chimes from her watch, sounding as innocent a smart phone notification to the untrained ear, is a clear indication that they had stayed in one place far too long already.

This is a building she has used for concealment often enough so she knows that the quickest and most discrete way out of this building from their current location was a fire escape at the back of the building.  Without hesitation, she leads him across the hall with only a brief hesitation to circumvent the electronic lock.  After preventing him from turning on the light and ensuring that the door has closed securely, she helps him move slowly and quietly across to the bedroom and out the window.  The fire escape is rusted and looks dangerous.

The ladder of the lowest level of the fire escape has fallen off.  With little more than a mental note to address that in the near future, she watches the room behind them for any signs of pursuit.  A moment later, after her new compatriot had descended with the utmost lack of grace and finesse, she hurtles the railing to join him.  An odd feeling overtakes her as she falls which quickly escalates into vertigo.  When she reaches the ground, mildly twisting her ankle when she lands, she drops into a squat supporting herself with both hands and her extended right leg and bows her head for a moment allowing herself to recover.  After only a moment, she is stirred into action by her companion offering his hand.

Annoyed by the minor injury and the invasion of her best hiding place, glares up at him.  His face is handsome and his piercing green eyes are as penetrating as they are impenetrable.  She attributes the momentary weakness as residual vertigo and accepts his hand.  As she regains her feet and her balance, she can’t help but notice how soft his hands are leaving her doubting his claim of government service.  Irritation renewed, she demands an introduction.  He identifies himself as a British agent, Lyle Cane, with a flourishing bow.  That eliminates any question in her mind about his softness, hands and physical prowess.

After agreeing to help, despite her fatigue, she more than rises to the challenge.  In a sequence of near miss adventures where they are nearly fatally run off the road before, blown up etc, she finds herself in love with Lyle.  Her love climaxes one night resting in a motel room just prior to finally catching up with the alleged villain, as they both lay unable to sleep.  It was a night that shapes everything else to come.

It turns out that the alleged villain was actually the underling of the real villain, Grendal Muntz a.k.a. Lyle Cane.  Grendal kills his rogue underling, Vince Malgrin, execution style before turning his gun on and capturing Sienna.  He takes her clothes and weapons and leaves her to die the following morning with the scheduled demolition of the building.

She barely escapes her bonds and is forced to run naked out the back just ahead of the collapse of the building.  After running to and hurrying down a nearby alley, thankful to have eluded observation, she finds a discarded suitcase in a dumpster.  The dresses and shoes she finds are not suited for her current situation but she has no choice.  Donning one of the dresses and a pair of high heels, she goes in search of her new nemesis.  During the trip, she discovers that she is pregnant just before she corners Grendal in the room of the building where she was first recruited.  She intends to kill him but succumbs to the feelings she has for him and walks away.  He takes the opportunity to shoot at her emptying his clip but only managing to hit her twice in the leg before she turns and shoots him once in the forehead.  The book ends with her leaving the building by way of the still broken fire escape and weighing the decision of giving up the life of a spy for something more meaningful.

 

As much as David was envious of Lyle throughout the buildup to the romantic interlude, he always thought that there was a fundamental change in Sienna from the character introduced in the opening chapters that started just after the fire escape scene but passed it off as a writer’s foo-pa born of a budding romance, especially given how she played so hard-to-get for so long.

 

Chapter 3

 

For the remainder of the trip, the road was considerate of their journey right down to the uncrowded service station where they stopped for lunch.  When the exit was finally near, David roused his mother and she resumed giving directions.  She appeared to be somewhat refreshed so he was reasonably certain that she had slept a little but she was still distant as if she had been physically and emotionally drained from the trip.  He really wished that he could help her but he was pretty sure she had given up on help a long time ago. 

The final leg of the trip to their temporary home was quite easy and he silently hoped that his mom was a proud of him for his driving as he was.  When the car was parked and the ignition killed and he was unloading their meager luggage, he finally allowed himself to reflect that there hadn’t even been so much as a close call through the entire trip.  He couldn’t help but consider that it was almost as if fate was delivering them to something preordained.  Despite his pride and confidence, or perhaps because of it, he glanced warily around, even at the surrounding sky, to be sure that nothing was about to destroy the car and ruin their vacation, or worse, his thus far perfect driving record just to spite his sense of accomplishment.

Once inside, it only took him a couple minutes to explore the single story two bedroom beach front bungalow.  His mom was resting on the couch and he decided to wait so they could go to the beach together.  After only an hour, she was recovered enough to begin their family vacation and she expressed her appreciation that he had done so.  David thought he understood the exertion and the toll she was surely paying by way of her sacrifice to bring them on this vacation so he felt guilty for wondering why she had arranged it.  There was still plenty of daylight remaining however and David was eager to be assimilated by the immense crowd already populating the beach below them.  Once their spot was secured and his mom was resting comfortably in the shade of the umbrella, David meandered as quickly as possible to the water taking in all the sights he could on the way.

He spent an hour jumping the waves and allowing his eyes to wonder to whatever heavenly bodies which moved into his field of vision.  It didn’t escape his attention that his mother was watching him, presumably with those sad eyes that he perceived had haunted her during the entire trip so far.  Still it was time to take a break and his sun screen was probably due to be refreshed anyway.  He made his way back to their spot to relieve his mom from having to watch their stuff for a while.  He hoped that she would take on some waves herself though he wasn’t sure she was up to the challenge of waves as rough as these were.

As he dug through his bag, he was surprised to see his mom heading toward the ocean.  He hoped that being in the water would help take the weight off her bum leg.  Not for the first time, he considered the coincidence that this mother and her lead character both shared the same injury.  On the other hand, he knew that authors often write parts of their own life into the works so it was probable that coincidence was all it was.  He pushed these thoughts from his mind though as a young woman nearby rolled from her stomach to her back but forgot that her top wasn’t latched.  Though she quickly corrected the mistake, that one moment in time amounted to the fulfillment of a young man’s fantasy and David enjoyed every second of it.  Still, with his book in hand, the vision made him wonder exactly what Sienna would look like if she were real.

Even covered, the woman’s breasts were something to behold and David adjusted his position to provide ample opportunity to do exactly that.  He really didn’t get a lot of reading done during that time but it really didn’t matter much because he knew the story inside and out.  Periodically, however, he pushed aside is admirations to look for his mom to be sure that she was alright.  He really wished that he could be out there with her instead of sitting her guarding their belongings.

When he noticed her limping up the beach toward him, he quickly adjusted his book to look as if he had been reading the whole time.  The little smirk that crossed her lips, however, assured him that he wasn’t fooling anyone.  He wasn’t sure but he imagined the blush of his face progressing through many shades of pink and red before finally arriving at a faming scarlet.  If his mom was upset by his roaming eyes, she gave no indication whatsoever.

He watched her bend over the cooler but when she seemed about to lose her legs from under her, he jumped up and rushed to her side and helped her recover while getting her a bottle of water.  At first she smiled at him as if he was the knight in shining armor but then her eyes move passed him and her face melted into a look of pure torment and he had absolutely no idea why.  After sipping on her water and making some cryptic comment about losing a key, by which he assumed she meant the key to the flat where they were staying, she started hobbling home and he was torn between helping her and sticking around for a while.  Since they were only here for a week, beach time won and knowing how independent his mom was, he let her go.

 

Chapter 4

 

David watches his mother for a few moments trying desperately to think of anything that he may have done to upset her so.  She had always acted a little mystic, if not downright strange, when confronted with her past but what he had just witnessed was absolutely spook.  Trying to push the disquieting thoughts aside, he returned to the cooler to get himself a bottle of water.  As he looked around the beach, it seemed almost possible to forget the freaky event of moments past.

He absently sets his book unceremoniously beside his towel while simultaneously failing miserably at discretion.  He just can’t help his wandering eyes though because the girl walking by is very nearly flawless.  There was a minute where he seriously considers going after her and introducing himself. Before he could pull himself together, however, two other insanely beautiful girls had joined her and he was not sure that they were way way out of his league.  As the disappointment washed away, he returned his attention back to his little roost.  He was sure that there would be many other girl to walk by and he was sure to be interested in at least one of them.

Straddling his towel, he took one last look around the beach.  With nobody, well no heavenly bodies at least, in sight, he plopped down on his towel.  The next moments were peculiar to say the least and he was completely disoriented.  He could see a diminishing spot of light above him though the darkness that seemed to be engulfing him from every side and he felt as if he was falling.  He knew that it must be some kind of vertigo even though he had never suffered from any such condition before this.  Even stranger however was that he was beginning to feel surreally intangible.  It occurred to him that he could have passed out and may thus be hallucinating.

Amidst the descent, David heard what was surely a gunshot in the distance but he couldn’t tell from which direction it might have come.  A couple other cracks followed before complete and deafening silence resumed and he began to feel as if he wasn’t alone but he couldn’t see or feel anyone around.  It felt weird to be falling but not picking up speed.  He thought that it could be like the descriptions he’d read about dimensional portals.  His revelry is momentarily interrupted by the realization that he can no longer feel any part of his body.  In an attempt to stave off panic, he tries to look around and realizes that he can no longer see the glimmer of light that had been there only moments ago. 

To avoid dwelling on all the unknowns of his predicament and keep his overactive imagination from making things any worse, he guided his mind to the one thing he knew really well, <the book title>.

“Sienna has just met the British (double) agent and began to listen to what he had to say when the crack of a gunshot, followed by several more, convinced her that this is a good time to duck into the nearest apartment building for cover.  Following a controlled retreat and an interrupted discussion, they are forced to vacate the building through the back and down the fire escape.  After this, Sienna seems somewhat less sure of herself.  While it could simply be that she is falling for that phony, David wishes that he could somehow manage to uncover the secrets shrouding that transformation and thus gain some insight into the origins of the new Sienna.  The other question that comes to mind is why the fire escape is so high and the mystery of the missing ladder.  The only thing that comes to mind was that it served as a deterrent for any uninvited visitors.  He thinks he eyes are closed as he ponders these considerations but he can’t really be sure of anything just at the moment.

When the vertigo had diminished a little, David opened his eyes to immense grayish very blurry block-like shapes all around him.  There was no telling what these things may be but at least the fall wasn’t bothering him quite so much.  With nothing identifiable around, he stares unseeingly straight ahead for an indeterminable amount of time until a streak of color catches his eye.  At first, it looked like a bird flitting around him.  When at last it flitted close enough, he saw that it was his smaug towel.  The desperate grab at least made contact though it wasn’t good enough to secure his prize.  His mother’s words echoed in his head again, “don’t lose the key” but now he was sure somehow that the towel was the key she had been talking about.

He watches the towel fall away from him before noticing that the scenery was changing.  Instead of immense grayish very blurry block-like shapes, they were not immense grayish structures that decidedly resembled the kind of apartment buildings one might find in a city.  The thing that demanded his attention even more than the growing detail of what looked like the metal fire escape found on the alley side of city buildings was the fast approaching surface that was probably the alleyway.  It occurred to him in sudden very stark reality that “it’s not the fall that kills you, it’s the sudden stop at the end”.  He really wasn’t ready to die.

“I’m too young to die!” he screamed to nobody in particular.  The only thing that prevents an all out panic attack is the little voice of reason trying to assert that if this was really real then the buildings would look as surreal as a Picasso.  As the ground is almost upon him, he notices movement below.  A roughly humanoid shape suddenly appears below him and drops away toward his own imminent doom.  Almost as if in response to this new obstruction, his descent slows dramatically though it’s really not clear why or if the decrease in speed would be enough to save his life. 

Without warning, his peripheral acknowledged more movement around him but he was far too mesmerized by the ever increasing clarity and detail of the ground below.  Perhaps it was some form of dementia cause by the seemingly prolonged fall or possibly his overly active imagination but he could swear that he saw the scattered glass of a broken beer bottle.  It was impossible to gage in his current state of mind where the glass was in relation to his target area but he hoped that if he managed to survive that he didn’t have glass shredding him all up.  He barely had enough time remaining to consider what any of the possible outcomes.

They say that in your last moments, your whole life is supposed to pass before your eyes.  David had never understood what that meant.  He considered that it may be memories of major life events that surface from the depths of your mind but could never understand what about unavoidable death would remind you of the good times of your life.  Still, if you know that this is the end, perhaps it was merely a spiritual means of scribing your life’s experiences to the soul in preparation for the journey soon to be started.

David could never have prepared for this moment.  The vertigo returned with a vengeance Images that could be memories passed through his mind in a jumbled mess.  Some things he thought he might have recognized but there always seemed to be something unfamiliar about the things he was seeing too.  His bedroom was clearly the room he had grown up with but the walls were covered with posters of boy-bands and all of the books on the bookshelves were paperback instead of hard back.  The school where he sat in class had the same uncomfortable all-in-one desk/chair combinations he remembered excepting that the girl sitting in front of him was in desperate need of better conditioner and the teacher, Mr. Hudson, was insanely handsome.  All of his memories were a little off but the most disconcerting thing of all was the heaviness he felt.  It was like he had always imagined it would be if a time-traveler materialized in the same space as another person.  He welcomed the darkening of his vision as this most likely meant that he would not be conscience when he died.

David was knocked back into awareness by the jolt of his landing.  The first thing that of which he was aware, however, was a pain in his ankle; probably sprained.  His knees buckled but his hands impacted next and that part of his landing was more controlled.  He stabilized his momentum and balance and bowed his head to his chest, eyes closed tightly while the heaviness and vertigo passed.  He could hear someone speaking with an English accent asking if he was alright.  He wanted to assure this would be hero that he was fine but thought that speaking might not be such a good idea.

Once he was finally sufficiently under control to open his eyes, he glance quickly around hoping he would be able to figure out where he was.  The first thing to catch his eye was the splotch of brilliant color waving like a flag from an antenna attached to the fire escape several stories up.  He was sure that was his towel, the key, which he should get right away.  Testing his weight tentatively on his ankle, he gingerly pushed himself up.  A hand appeared in his vision.  He grabbed the hand a second later as his ankle threatened to buckle under him.  Something in his stance seemed wrong, maybe different but he was too busy trying not to fall to give this any attention.  Looking gratefully up with an appreciative smile in order to see who his rescuer was, he was immediately accosted and drawn in by the most brilliant green eyes he’d ever seen.  They were bright and piercing and beautiful and the man to whom they belonged, though he was smiling back, looked decidedly concerned.  Try as he might, he simply couldn’t, or perhaps wouldn’t, bring himself to look away.  This too seemed strange because most guys came into and went from his life without ever even being noticed.

Despite the convenience of this guy preventing him from falling and his impeccable attire, the very presence of this stranger, that he suspected had jumped into this alleyway only seconds before, was subject to the utmost of suspicion and scrutiny.  Of course the distraction of this man’s handsome features was not entirely welcome.  Perhaps less welcome, however, was the feeling of being so long exposed in the open in this alley with someone hot on the trail.  Paranoia had never been his thing and he had absolutely no idea how he knew this but he knew for sure that it was indeed pertinent.  While he really wanted to figure out what was going on here, the certainty of pending doom spurred him into action.

With the support of the man’s strong grip, the two hurried through a nearby ally and through a door.  David was in the lead even though he didn’t think that he had any idea which direction they needed to go.  There was something familiar about the whole situation that he was sure he could have easily figured out if he wasn’t so rushed.  When the door opened into the private room of a diner, the feelings of familiarity became too much leaving him no other option but to get off his ankle and collect his thoughts.

Once he is sitting at one of the tables, the man tells him that he is going to secure the doors.  There is an odd look on the man’s face that is more than a little disconcerting.  It was about time he figure out who this man was and … why he was suddenly wearing black pants and a tight black sweater.  Hadn’t he been wearing a swimsuit and sitting on the beach just moments before?  The idea seemed ludicrice considering that there wasn’t a beach anywhere near <city> .  David really didn’t like this feeling of confusion and as soon as that man got back, he was going to get some answers.

Even as he though this, the man walked into the room.  He hadn’t even had time to take inventory of the situation.  David opened his mouth to speak but never got the chance.

“I suppose introductions are in order,” declared the man in an absolutely charming British accent.  David waited.  Only when the silence had gotten awkward did he realize that this man was looking at him expectantly.  A few seconds later the man continued.  “Right then, you play close to your chest then do you?  Well, my name is ...”

“Lyle Cane,” whispered David to himself.

“Lyle Cane,” continued the man.  “I presume that you are …”

“Sienna,” thought David, now more worried than confused.  He quickly justified his strange thought and feelings by casting himself as the stranger in a strange land; even if he was pretty sure that he knew where he was.  Could it be that he was really sitting here face to face with Grendal Muntz, the villain, the murderer?  He was about to confront Lyle about this suspected identity when he noticed the gun in his waistband.  It suddenly seemed that tipping his hand this early could be really bad.  A thought suddenly occurred to him that he was sure was a memory even if he wasn’t sure it was his memory.

“I believe you said something about exposing a terrorist cell?”  David really needed to get himself together.  This talk about terrorists was just crazy and in his excitement he couldn’t even recognize his own voice.  This was, however, beginning to sound just like his mom’s book.  Was this really possible?  Was he actually going to get to meet Sienna?  He took a quick glance toward the door but there was no sign of her.  He hoped that she wouldn’t be long because he was sure she should be here by now, at least according to the book.

“Yes.  Yes, quite right.  Straight to the point, shall we?  Well, I overheard a conversation.  I don’t know all of the details but I know that ring leader is …”

Between wanting to meet Sienna and this funny feeling he got under the penetrating gaze of those bright green eyes, David was having tremendous difficulty focusing.  He really wants to hate this man for what was done to Sienna; well, if he has accurately recognized the scene then what will be done to Sienna.  Still, a terrorist is a terrorist so he forces his mind to focus.

The first thing he intended to ask about was the terrorist leader, who David was sure that Lyle aka Grundel had just mentioned while he was day dreaming.  Before he can get the question past his lips, however, David catches a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of a young woman sitting somewhere at the far end of the room.  His breath catches in his chest and he forces himself not to look in case this really handsome villain is scrutinizing him again.  He thinks that Sienna must be extremely crafty to sit in plain sight and still go unnoticed when she so chose.  If it was even possible, he was sure that not only was he right to idolize her, but he considered her ever more impressive now.

“Well, we seem to be off to a lopsided start,” asserts Lyle in what seems an apologetic tone.  “May I assure myself that I’m speaking to the person I was seeking?”

David was a little panicked knowing that Sienna was the one he really wanted to talk to.  He quickly pushed the inclination to identify himself as Sienna out of his mind because he definitely didn’t want to make a bad first impression.  He paused for a moment but could simply not wait any longer to set the situation right and get the book back on track.  He turned to see his hero but found himself looking into a mirror.  He had no idea what was going on but it seemed that he would get to know Sienna more intimately than he had ever dreamed.

“Look, I’m not who I may appear to be,” said David in a voice, obviously a woman’s voice, that sounds much more desperate than was prudent in such a situation.  However it had happened, if he was Sienna then he must be a character in the book and that meant that he had to find his way out.  He had never read anything to prepare him for something so bizarre as this so he had no ideas what the rules were.  The only thing that he was sure of was that until he had some definitive answers, he was going to have to trust Mr. Muntz.  With devilish satisfaction, David determined that going along with “Lyle” didn’t mean he had to stick with the plot of the book.  Foretold is forewarned after all.

“Ahem.  Alas, I must confess that I know very well who you are Ms. Finelli and I really do need your help with my little … problem.”

David was amazed that Lyle didn’t realize that his cover was blown.  Seriously, how could he be sitting so casually talking to the greatest spy ever and not suspect that his A.K.A.s would actually be his little secret?  A glimmer of hope lifts his spirits a little; that all the day dreaming he had done within the story line of this book must surely have prepared him for anything that he may encounter.  In the mean time, if the towel was really his ticket home, he would have to keep a very close watch for it.

 

Chapter 5

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