<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0006</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0007.txt">Next (Page 7)</A><BR><P><P>"Twenty-five?" he asked, dumbfounded. <P><P>"Yes, and all of you were so far scattered that we only found you two Times ago. The absolute bottom of the well. All that's left."<P><P>Daptin tried to remember more, but couldn't.<P><P>"All the others have departed, returned to their Lives," Fox continued. Then, looking up at Daptin. "Who will find it?"<P><P>Daptin met Fox's eyes and was struck with the little fellow's deep aura of being.<P><P>"It?" Daptin asked.<P><P>Then something happened. The beautiful environs disappeared, and Daptin was back in his bed at the hospital in his native country of Arctica. He'd been there, asleep, before Fox had somehow called him into that other world. It had just been a few minutes earlier, by his reckoning.<P><P>Daptin panicked as the pain of his Hizzings Disease returned in a massive wave of horror. There was a game show on the TV as he looked over at his roommate, Tag, who was sleeping. The pain made Daptin angry, and he tried to get out of the bed, but he only managed to nudge himself a little and get light-headed.<P><P>Half-conscious, Daptin saw a nurse walk into the room and emit a shocked "What?"<P><P>She ran from the room, but her exclamation woke Tag, who looked over.<P><P>"Holy crap! How'd you get back, man? We thought you did yourself in. Where've you been?"<P><P>Daptin struggled to form the words through dry lips.<P><P>"How long... have I..."<P><P>"What, three or four days? I dunno. So where you been?"<P><P>"I don't... know... for sure."<P><P>"Huh. Well the police will sure want to talk to you. They grilled me for a couple of hours, y'know, man. They thought your family or maybe your girlfriend took you away and helped you commit suicide the easy way, man. Without a judge."<P><P>"No," Daptin managed.<P><P>"Well you have a lot of explaining to do, Daptin, my man."<P><P>Daptin grunted.<P><P>How frustrating it was, being strong and healthy one minute and so weak and pathetic the next.<P><P>The nurse returned with a security guard.<P><P>"Look!" she said, pointing at Daptin.<P><P>"What the--everything's hooked up. The machines--who set them back up?" the guard said.<P><P>"Nobody!" the nurse said in her irritating nasal voice. "Nobody here, anyway. Maybe whoever took him away put everything back?"<P><P>"Well, we can figure all this out later. The police are on their way," the guard said, looking quite glad to have something interesting happen on the job.<P><P>"Should I call his family?" the nurse asked.<P><P>Daptin wished she would just shut up.<P><P>"No--let the police take care of that. We don't know who's involved," the guard said.<P><P>"Okay," the nurse said, as she approached Daptin's supine form.<P><P>"Can you hear me?" she asked.<P><P>"Yes," Daptin managed.<P><P>"Do you know where you are?" the nurse said.<P><P>"Hospital."<P><P>"That's right. But where were you?"<P><P>Daptin couldn't stand that voice so close to him.<P><P>"Leave... me alone."<P><P>"We'll leave you alone once we figure out what in the name of Locket is going on," she said, hovering over him.<P><P>Then she removed the covers from Daptin and began examining him.<P><P>Daptin couldn't stand it, the misery of being taken care of by such an idiot. But he knew how to escape. Somehow, he knew.<P><P>"Here is Canyon," Daptin said with some difficulty.<P><P>Instantly, the world shifted. and Daptin was standing in a room with a window, looking out onto Canyon.<P><P>He was back in his regular clothes, and healthy again, as he had been with Fox. He looked around the room, which was carved out of rock, and saw a number of tables and comfortable-looking chairs, along with an opening in one wall leading into another room.<P><P>From outside, which was sunny and beautiful, he heard a distant "Hahoo!".<P><P>Daptin moved to the window, looked out, and saw someone approaching from below. Soon, he saw it was a young woman flying up toward the window.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0007.txt">Next (Page 7)</A>