It was becoming clear to me that every member of Elysian worked for or owned a member business. A secret society filled with workers of various skillsets. Doctors, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, police officers, firefighters, carpenters, and farmers, of which one, just pulled up on his tractor.
Jumping onboard to claim my fender seat once again I asked, “Everything good at home?”
“It is, and Olivia wants you to tell Karen the catering issue is resolved.”
“I didn’t even know there was a catering issue.”
“That makes two of us.”
We both laughed and started making our way home along one of the many paths separated the fields. In the distance the sun was setting in a beautiful reddish-orange and I thought how lucky I am to be here in this place with these people. Approaching the house I could see Karen standing on the back porch waiting for me. And to my surprise she had a plate of freshly baked cookies. Enticed, I approached her slowly somewhat like a mouse who wanted cheese put feared a trap.
“And what did I do to deserves this pleasure,” I smiled.
“A little peace offering to end our morning’s dispute I suppose.”
“Peace offering excepted,” I replied.
Reaching for the plate she quirky spun away and said, “Follow me to the table Mr. Lore. We are not barn animals; plus I have a glass of milk waiting for you.”
“Mom use to bake cookies for me.”
“Sounds like she was the perfect mother.”
“She was. I miss her too.”
“A parent is a hard thing to lose. Especially at such a young age.”
Sitting down I slowly ate three, with each dip into the milk taking me back to my childhood. I wanted to stay there longer but a question was burning inside me, “How many Elysians have verifiables?”
“If you swallow before you speak I may be able to understand you,” she said with one of her raised eyebrow looks that I was becoming all to familiar with.
“Verifiables. How many Elysians have them?”
“Two, Nicky and I.”
“Are you sure?”
“Another raised eyebrow ended our warm cookie moment. “Why have you all the sudden took an interest in varifiables?”
“I surprised Cathy McCall today by tapping her on the shoulder. She turned quickly and looked at me as if I was about to attack.”
“And.”
“It wasn’t Cathy.”
“Christian, what are you trying to say?”
“I saw a man named Borya Volkov but I played it off and asked her name. She wanted to know why I didn’t already know it, so I told her I was having problems due to a concussion. She studied me for a moment, appeared to be satisfied with my answer, and told me her name was Cathy before quickly turning to go back to work.”
“Hold that thought,” Karen said as she picked up the phone. “Robert, code red, meet me here ASAP.”
Hanging up, she turned her attention back to me. “Christian, look at me. You haven’t been trained to do this, so follow my guidance.”
“To do wh—?’
Placing her index finger over my lips, she said, “Close your eyes.” causing a strange feeling to come over me. It was if I had been preprogrammed to respond and I heard nothing after that until there was knock at the door.
Shift is an online work of fiction.
This is the first draft of my manuscript Shift – Don’t judge a book by its cover. I am writing it online in sections as I go. So feel free to comment, good or bad. If you see mistakes, point them out.
The story centers around shapeshifting.
I’m currently working on chapter Ten.
Timothy French 