Temporal Ghosts

Thad put the candlestick down slowly. "I didn't know you wanted me to." Thad whispered to no one in particular. Thad glanced at the door. How much of the vision was true? Thad doubted any of it. Still he felt awkward inside, like he was being twisted inside with uncertainty. Had Beth wanted him to come back for her? He forced himself to remember those days that seemed to him now to be in a past life. Certainly Beth and Thad hadn't had any terrible fights or anything. They just seemed to drift apart. At that time Thad was heading west faster than Beth and they became as temporal ghosts to each other. Still, they seemed to be in much the same place now. Would she want Thad to come back for her now? Thad scolded himself for all this wasteful wondering and wishful thinking. There was only one way to find out and that was to go back out there and ask her.

Thad went back though his door for a second time. The party that had been there was gone. Instead he saw only Beth, sitting on a couch drawing. Thad sat down next to Beth and asked her "Did you want me to come back for you?"
Beth blinked quickly "What? What are you talking about?"
"Back then, when I went west and you remained behind. Would you have wanted me to come back to you? You know, after I went west but before I fell asleep?"
"Jeez Thad, what a question. I don't see you but five minutes for all these years and you ask that? I don't know. That was all so long ago."
"What about now? We're both here now."
"Nothing can come of that I'm afraid, as I am going west soon myself and you are not ready to go as far west as I am going."
"Let me go west with you as far as I can."
"No Thad. I don't want someone to just go west a little ways. I want someone to go west as far as I am going and I am NOT coming back east for you or anyone."
"I see, well if that must be, that must be, but we can still be together before you go west can't we?"
"Of course we can. You can help me take some of these items I acquired in the east to a man who buys eastern things."

So Thad and Beth went to the man who happily took the eastern objects from Beth. Thad couldn't help but feel a little awkward. His tongue was tied and everything he said came out sounding stupid and irrelevant. He couldn't even seem to look into Beth's eyes without a little sadness. The tables were now turned. Beth was now going west faster than Thad and once again they were becoming temporal ghosts to each other. They went back to the great hall where they hugged their goodbyes and Thad went back to his room to clean some more and examine some of the other objects. He wondered what other memories or visions he might stir up in the dust.

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© 2003 - Jonathan Gardner