Hugh Howey Lives by Daniel Arthur Smith

Author:Daniel Arthur Smith [Smith, Daniel Arthur]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780988649385
Google: n4lHrgEACAAJ
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Holt Smith Ltd
Published: 2015-04-13T14:00:00+00:00

EL

EVEN

The sky was dark by the time Tia and Sebastian made their way back up the side of the mountain. Kay was not in their suite when Tia returned. Rather than search for her, Tia poured a hot bath and, by voice command, initiated the suite’s Archive-connected sound system. Soothing music flooded the room.

A deep soak was something she missed from her father’s house. The university room she and Kay shared was equipped with only a steam shower, and that was set to a timer. A ceramic tub like the one in the suite was another extravagance, but one she did not mind entertaining.

As her eyes rested, she thought of the foliage she’d seen on the forest floor. Just as the blooms were strange to her, so was the other flora - the fungi, moss, and ferns - that appeared to fill the glades up the side of the mountain. The varieties were completely new to her, unseen before, and she could imagine that like others of the genus, each shoot was part of one large organism and that beneath her was the web of one giant fern rhizome, hugging the face of the mountain, nestled into the folds of an ancient mushroom.

She thought about Sebastian’s reaction to the ghost orchids.

The Author is capable of amazing things. The creator of all of this. The Creator.

She thought about his infectious artificial smile, the perceived joy that the old analog camera brought him.

I did it, I took a picture.

He became so spirited, a child with a new toy.

She imagined hearing him call her name, Miss Tia, and then again, Miss Tia, are you in?

And then realized she was hearing his voice. There was a knock on the outer door and Sebastian again called, “Miss Tia, supper has been prepared.”

“Come back in five minutes,” she yelled, and then sat upright, unsure how much time had passed since she’d settled into the tub. “Kay,” she said. “Are you in here?” The words echoed off the lacquered tile. There was no answer. She stepped from the tub, toweled herself dry, and peeked into the main room of the suite. More than an hour had passed since she settled in. Kay was still gone. Tia went over to the closet and removed a cream-colored dress provided after the first night, dinner attire of real cotton, not synthesized.

~*~

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