Out in the bright sunlight, Annie stretched toward the warmth. It didn’t erase the memory of her dream. Or was it a dream?
“Briton?” Annie couldn’t stop the shaking of her body.
“Ye…yes?” Briton’s hesitation warned Annie to choose her words carefully.
“Can…? Can you tell me? Is it real?”
Briton’s shoulders slumped.
What unseen weight rested heavy there? Annie wondered.
Briton stopped and turned to face Annie.
Unprepared, Annie bumped into her. “Sorry,” Annie whispered.
Briton put her hands out to rest on Annie’s shoulders. Sparks raced through Briton’s eyes, as they changed from brown to blue to green, then back to brown again. She took a deep breath. “Yes.” Her voice rasped, barely audible in the cool morning air.
“Can you tell me more?” Annie didn’t disguise the hope in her voice.
“No.” Briton pulled her hands off Annie’s shoulders. Steam rolled off the pavement in reaction to gathering heat from the bright sun. “Come on. The Master’s waiting.” Briton turned around. Together they continued across the long black tarmac.
“Is it always like this?” Annie asked.
“Pretty much.” Amusement returned to Briton’s voice. “Come on Cous’. Let’s get this over with.”
“Yeah,” Annie responded. “Thought I knew what I was going to choose.”
Briton laughed that wonderful full laugh Annie remembered from Grandmere. “It’ll come to you. Just listen and see one more time. Then you’ll know.”
They reached the door that Annie had defiantly walked through. How long ago? Only half a day? Or a lifetime?
Inside, Annie found the same chair she sat in at the first instruction.
Briton remained on the outside.
Instead of surrounding pillars that previously held guiding occupants, only a black and white cat with large golden eyes and the chair remained.
Waiting?
The eyes blinked, laughter shining in them. “It is what it is.” The Master’s words carried the same amusement.
Annie sat down and reached her hand to pet the feline. “May I?” she asked.
A strong rumble gave permission. The Master climbed into her lap and rubbed against her outstretched hand.
The vision from the sleep chamber flashed into Annie’s mind. This time it was different. Instead of the burnt out shell she had seen, Earth remained green and alive, her features superimposed over the surface. Each of the planets in the solar system carried a different face. The second, Venus, reflected Briton’s. She smiled at Annie. A long golden strand of coins linked from one world to the next.
The visages faded. In their place black lifeless shells took over.
“I am Galuden. What the Mazter cannot tell you I will say aloud. You zee, what the Mazter showz.” The same twang, she heard from the top of one of the pillars, when she was here before, now came from a tall form standing before her. A dark blue robe draped over him. Above his body, a face mottled, as if shaped from molten rock, held two large eyes, one golden, the other the deepest black Annie had ever seen. “Together we have a chance. Alone. Well you zee what will happen. If one link iz mizzing, it makez uz all weaker.”
The Master hissed and rubbed against Annie. His large white paw reached up with a consoling pat on her cheek.
Two images took shape before her chair.
They are me. Her mouth fell open.
One likeness linked to a live dazzling earth with fun filled scenes growing on the vibrant planet and across active universes. Challenges and excitement displayed in abundance. The other surrounded her self with a home filled with family and friends. From the second, Annie received a feeling of safety and calm. It held no excitement. There was little to worry about.
“The Mazter wantz you to know we will go on whichever choice you make.” The robed figure bowed his head in apology. “The choice iz now yourz. This rezponsibility has conzequenzez. Refuzing the rezponsibility haz conzequenzes.” He turned and stepped back into the darkness.
Tears Annie always avoided rolled down her cheeks unchecked. She placed her hand on the Master’s head, hoping somehow he would give her additional guidance. She found none.
“It is what it is,” he said before he jumped down from the chair and followed the other into the shadows.
Before her, her forms faded. Annie sat alone. The time had come for her to make a choice. One would lead her to the safety and security she had always pursued. The other would carry her into excitement, maybe even danger. She no longer doubted what her choice would be.
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