The Perfect World Fallacy - - Chapter 52

[seymoure]

Chapter 52

You Can Go Home Again,

But Why Would You Want To?

What followed were the longest 12 minutes she had ever experienced. Driving blind was terrifying, even though she could not have trusted her guide any more than she did.

When he told Harriett, “Stop, now turn of the engine and come in,” she thought the angst was over.

As she stood, it hit her in the gut.

To her left was a gigantic crater. There were weeds and puddles that had signaled the world attempting to reclaim its land, but the hole was still nothing that could be confused with anything less than a war.

Slowly she turned to look across the top of her car and saw her parents’ home. It looked exactly as it had when Harriett had left it so many years ago.

Her Aunt Marsha was a lovely woman. The lady was a gentle soul, a music teacher and as good a human as anyone ever born. But, when she was led from this house she hated her and everyone else in the world.

The anger that followed had been a curse and a gift for her for years to come.

Now that she was back, there was nothing in her heart but blackness.

She walked to the porch and saw the swing that had been the sight of some of her happiest childhood moments. They would sit here and listen to baseball games until late at night.

Her father was from an earlier generation who didn’t stay glued to the television, and the family bonded over those Royals games. Now the swing was falling apart, paint peeling off, chains rusted. A little like the remains of that little girl.

She tried to remember that her father and mother were alright, even though she had been threatened with never seeing them again. Now that she knew they were there, she would see them again.

Harriett Dante opened the door and walked in and was struck again by what she saw.

There was Sebastian, hanging in space. He would have looked like he was being hung, but there was nothing holding him up. He was just floating there, lifeless.

Then she saw the others.

One of the she didn’t recognize, but the others were her recent compatriots in the assault on Morgan LeFey.

All of their eyes were closed and their heads were tilted to the side, giving even more to the impression that they were being strung up by nooses.

Then the one she didn’t know straightened his head and opened his eyes. The young man looked at her without moving his lips, but she heard his words in her ears.

“Morgan LeFey held the Dark Ones in slight control, but now they are free and want to take advantage of the moment.”

“What,” she asked aloud, “Do they want?”

“They want to see a hero be a villain,” came the answer, “They want to make a good woman do the most evil thing she could conceive.”

“Let me go and find one for you,”

There was something like laughing hitting her within her head.

“You will do,” the boy thought.

© 2009 by C. Wayne Owens

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