XIII
403 Words
XIII
They drove two hours to the bog, past the outskirts of Magic Hope City—a huge bowl of skyscrapers and billboards. The highways took them around the city, and Earl drove in the magic lane that gave them speed but forced them to stop at several tolls. The terminals swam with pink magic, and a transponder on the windshield clicked, triggering the gates to open and let them into the magic lane again, flowing faster than before.
On their way out of town they passed the Hall of Governance, the severe building where the governor lived and where politics were conducted; it imposed itself on the skyline with its gray countenance lined with thousands of immaculate windows and its spires like needles in the air.
The city sprouted up around them and then fell away as they cleared the city limits and drove into the surrounding towns, and then into the great western wetlands, traveling on a single gray road that threaded endlessly like a snake through wild fields of cranberries and dikes.
With the flat lands ahead and galaxies of stars above them, Earl relaxed a little and put the car into autopilot.
Lucan loosened his tie and lay down across his seat, resting his eyes. He was so tired they burned. He’d been up since four in the morning, and it was now almost one in the morning. Nearly a full day. He didn’t know how much more of it he could stand. But he had called his contracting guy, and a crew was en route to the bog with excavation equipment. Now that he had the professor in his pocket, he could rest.
“Long day?” Miri asked. She had ridden the whole way in silence, gazing out the window and twirling her long black hair. That she was talkative now, when he was trying to sleep, irritated him.
“Yah.”
“Fall asleep now and you may not want to wake up,” Miri said.
Lucan waved her away. “I’m a night owl. Not waking up at the bottom of the night is the least of my problems, Professor Charmwell.”
“Miri.”
“I’m so tired I don’t care what your name is right now. No offense.”
His phone vibrated and a text message crawled across the screen.
I’M FINE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Celesse. He wondered how she was holding up.
Lucan sighed as he thumbed a response.
OWE YOU BIG FOR THIS ONE. GOT THE PROFESSOR BTW. ON MY WAY.
He closed his eyes and drifted into immediate sleep.
- Writer
