Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #14 May 2015 | страница 5

I found myself standing in the middle of a medium-sized room with a curving, cut stone wall. A dim
light was admitted through narrow apertures set in
equal quadrants of the continuous wall. Sunlight
streamed through the window directly in front of me
while a cool breeze came from the one on the left. The
sun hung low in the western sky. A facet of time in this
realm.

Maven

My feet ached from contact with the cold stone floor.
My gaze drifted down to my feet. Oh, not again, old!
I looked down at two rather narrow, boney, white feet
with misshapen toenails. I then raised my hands and
found that they were similar but with knobby joints
on the digits. The result of a condition called aging
commonly experienced by the human inhabitants in
this corner of creation. Large blue-grey veins snaked
across the back of my hands juxtaposed with the
yellow-tinged, chipped and cracked nails. Definitely
old, very old. This always creates a challenge and an
advantage. The challenge is obvious: the corporeal
being is generally unable to physically react in time of
need as well as could be desired. The advantage - an
old individual is often overlooked and underestimated.
This has worked to my benefit many times.

By Stephen Briggs
Time is a funny thing, flowing, crashing, bubbling
with eddies and backwaters, falls and rapids, when
one understands its true properties exiting and re-entering the flow can create the illusion of travelling
through it. Humans are the only ones apparently
trapped in it while we celestial beings are not. Mankind is so aware of its constraints and is constantly
struggling against them. I suppose that is why they
wear out so quickly. They continually resist the flow
as one would fight against a rip tide and, finally exhausted, they are dragged out to sea while the rest of
creation watches with bewilderment.
Exiting the flow of time is as simple as walking
through a portal from one room to the next. However,
re-entering time is a whole different matter entirely.
If you have ever tried to mount a horse as it galloped
past, you will understand the ramifications of the
slightest miscalculation. Pain and or embarrassment
are the only possible outcomes of missing the intended target. Oh, well, if at first you don’t succeed…
(And yes, unconsciousness is definitely part of the
experience.)
Smell is usually the first sense to awaken. My personal experience has been less than pleasant on most
occasions. This one was no different. A fetid aroma of
human functioning jolted me to full awareness instantly. I remained still, waiting for all of my senses to
begin working normally.

5

One of the drawbacks of moving outside the spacetime continuum is space. Matter generally doesn’t
adapt well to the experience and is usually destroyed
or misplaced in the process. I snatched an old grey
woollen blanket from a small cot that protruded from
the wall between two of the windows. I looked about
the room for some sort of tool to fashion a covering.
To my disappointment, I saw only a small wooden
table with two chairs (one broken) and a disgusting
chamber pot. This was obviously the source of my
first experience. I hobbled over to one of the windows
and look out at the world beyond. The scenery was
actually idyllic. There were mountains sprouting from
the mist with a forest in front. I looked right then left.
I was in a tower, or so I surmised from the walled fortress spreading out to either side of me. I moved over
to another window and took in the view. Below was
a wide river that emptied into a small lake via a waterfall. The ruins of an old castle were perched on the
opposite side. Birds played in the updrafts created