The Land Beyond All Dreams (25 page)

Her enthusiasm did not pass unnoticed; nor did her utter lack of familiarity with any current, recent, or classic elements of popular culture. At the break, the ladies adjourned to the privy council again. This time, Rose and Miriam didn’t come back with the others. They didn’t reappear until the meeting had been going again for a good ten minutes.

Rose took her seat and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “I’m sorry I was gone so long. Miriam was telling me how her brother was killed by a flying rabbit that bites people’s heads off. I had no idea there were creatures like that here.”

I looked over my shoulder at Miriam and raised my eyebrows at her. She gave me a flat, level stare and mouthed, ‘We need to talk’.

I gave her a nod before whispering to Rose, “I think she was teasing you. That’s a scene from a movie.”

“Oh,” she said. “It sounds funny. Can we watch it sometime?”

I would have thought it was Rose’s turn to be joking, but I could feel her excitement and curiosity. I smiled at her and whispered, “Sure. I think you’ll like it.”

After the meeting, Miriam cornered me in the closet as I was stacking chairs. She glanced around to make sure we were alone and turned back to me. Somehow, she knows just how to tilt her head for her glasses to make her eyes huge and owlish. It was her ‘Professor Know-it-all’ look. She does it to let people know she’s being serious about something.

“David, I have some concerns about Rose.”

From anyone else I would brush a comment like that off, but Miriam is a clinical psychiatrist who works at an inpatient mental health facility. I sat down. “I’m listening.”

Miriam moved close and lowered her voice. “I’m breaching some professional boundaries here, but after talking to her, I truly suspect that she cannot differentiate reality from fantasy. That’s not a diagnosis, just a concern. If you see anything that gives you pause, I can recommend a few people who can do a complete evaluation.” She handed me a business card. “Keep this with you. If she turns violent, call that number. They’ll help you get her on a hold and observe.”

“You think she’s nuts.” It wasn’t quite a question.

Miriam shook her head. “I would never use terms like that. I’m just concerned. I hope everything goes well for you, but…be careful.” She walked away.

I put the card in my wallet. Rose was waiting for me outside, looking up at the night sky.

“Your friend thinks I’m a madwoman,” she said. “I’m not. I know what is from what isn’t. I see more of what is and what can be than she understands. I’m different. Not mad.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. I unlocked my Cherokee and held the door open for her. “Where do you live?”

“With you.” She climbed into the passenger seat. “I have walked my way across this world and known no rest for my place is beside you. Take us home.”

I admit, I hesitated. Murphy’s First Law of Conventions clearly states, “Never sleep with anyone crazier than yourself”. Then again, maybe I’d rolled a ‘20’ on my Exotic Girlfriend check. I calmed my thoughts and focused on my new awareness of Rose and what she was feeling. All I could feel from her was a glow of excitement and trust.

Perfect love and perfect trust, indeed. I didn’t just feel obligated to return the trust she was showing me; I also wanted to know what was going on here, and there was only one way I would find out. I started the car and pulled out onto Federal, heading for I-25 and home.
Iacta alea est.

Home was on the north side of Thornton, so we had time for some questions. Some she answered, others she didn’t.

“Some truths are too big to talk about yet,” she said.

Fair enough. I had a few things I wasn’t ready to talk about, either. I did learn her parents knew where she was and that she wasn’t running from any family or legal trouble. After that, I really didn’t have any more questions. There were still things about her I wanted to know, but none of them mattered right now.

Once we got home, I opened the door. “Well, this is home. Would you like the grand tour?”

“Sure.” Rose peeled off her shirt and tossed it on the coat rack. “As long as we start in the bedroom.”

I took her hand and showed her upstairs. She might well be all manner of crazy, but I’m not.

The Dragon With a Girl Tattoo

The clock said it was 4:08 a.m., and therefore time to sleep. My bladder replied that it was time to get moving before I peed in the bed. That argument was a lot more convincing. I staggered my way into the bathroom.

Afterward, I sat on the edge of the bed watching Rose sleep. Her arms and legs were twitching, her eyelids were fluttering, and she was talking non-stop. It sounded like a mix of Sleestak and Klingon. I stroked her hair until she calmed down and I could lie down next to her.

I knew two more things about Rose now. One was that tonight had been her first time. The other was that she had a tattoo on the inside of her right thigh—a tattoo of herself. The detail and accuracy were exquisite. When I saw it, I asked, “Why did you get a tattoo of yourself?”

“So I’d know what I’m supposed to look like, of course.”

I decided this was another one of those questions we would revisit later.

When 8:00 a.m. on the merciless digital taskmaster finally rolled around, I woke up alone. I stumbled through shaving and brushing my teeth without really looking into the mirror, but after washing my face I got a good look at myself. I try to stay active and eat right, but I’d still managed to gain a bit of weight over the last few years. This morning there was a bit less of me in the mirror than there had been yesterday. My biceps looked better as well. More defined. I got on the scale. I’d lost eleven pounds in the last two days.

I got dressed and went downstairs. Rose was in the kitchen, frying up a whole pound of bacon at once. Another pan held a mass of shredded potatoes. Rose was wearing one of my dress shirts and nothing else. The view got me thinking of kilts again. It took me a few moments to realize her hair was different. It was longer in front and had a distinct purple sheen to it.

She set her spatula down and kissed me. Last night, I had to bend my head to reach her lips. Not this morning. She was at least three inches taller than she’d been last night. I started undoing buttons on the shirt she was wearing.

It wasn’t my imagination. The changes were real, and they were spectacular.

I started a pot of coffee and sat down at the table. “Rose, last night you said some truths were too big to talk about yet. I think this one should be manageable. What is going on?”

She moved the bacon in with the hash browns and started scrambling a dozen eggs. “Don’t be afraid. It’s just the acceptance. Our bodies are adjusting until they match.” She poured all the food she’d made onto a turkey platter and set it on the table. “Go ahead and serve yourself,” she said. “I’ll take the rest. I’m hungry this morning.”

I poured my coffee—lots of cream, lots of sugar—and put a normal portion of food on my plate. Rose still finished eating before I did. I stared at the empty platter. “Is your appetite always like this?”

“More or less. From time to time it will be much greater. Don’t worry about the expense. I can pay for the extra food I’ll need.” She sniffed my coffee. “Is that black gold? Texas tea?”

I laughed. “No, this is just coffee. Would you like to try it?”

“Yes, please!” She took a sip, followed by a deep drink. She set my mug down and licked the coffee mustache off of her upper lip. When she did, I got a great look at her tongue. It was narrow and the tip was neatly forked. She caught my look and smirked. When she opened her mouth again, her tongue was normal.

No matter how good the sex is, non-human body parts should have me freaking out. I wasn’t. It seemed perfectly…normal. Something like that should be bothering me, and it wasn’t. Even the fact it didn’t bother me didn’t bother me. I shook my head and made a new cup of coffee for her.

After breakfast, I showed her how to load the dishwasher, and then went upstairs to help her find some clothes to wear while shopping. While she was dressing, I pressed her for more details. “Rose, who and what are you? Miriam was being sarcastic last night, but she was right: you’re not human. I’d like the big, scary explanation, please.”

“You’re fast. Mother told me the freaky pothead she picked last time took two weeks to put it together.” She sat on the bed. “My people call themselves ‘The Glorious Immortal Sovereign Overlords of the Eternal Sky and All Our Shadows Fall Upon’.”

I stared at her. “Oh, crap—you’re a
cat
?”

She stared at me. “What… you… ohhh!” She pummeled me with a pillow, knocking me back onto the bed. She pinned my wrists with one hand and straddled me. “I am not a cat!” I tried to move my arms, but her hand might as well have been forged from high-carbon steel. She pressed her chest against mine and whispered, “Name me!”

I shook my head. “No, no, stop. I can’t work like this. Too much implied teen angst.”

She released my wrists. “I don’t know what that means.” She moved to the side so I could sit up.

“I do think I know what you are,” I told her. “You’re big. You have some kind of conservation of mass thing going on, which is why you eat so much. You can fly. You’re natural form isn’t humanoid at all, thus the tattoo. You aren’t afraid of anything; in fact, you expect people to be afraid of
you
. If that wasn’t enough, your last name is a dead giveaway.” I traced my finger down her cheek. “You’re a Dragoness, and I bet you’re a long way from home. Now, why are you here? What do you need from me that you can’t get from the Humans back where you come from?”

“You’re right. The Humans at home do fear us. It poisons their souls. Even if one of them wished to help, terror and hatred contaminate the energy they give off.” Rose pressed my hand against her abdomen. “I need your energy for my eggs.”

“My energy—mine specifically, or would any guy do?”

She pressed her fingers over my heart. “Not just anyone. Only special people will do. People with wonder in their hearts. Male or female makes no difference.”

Aha. “So, you’re bi? I mean, you like sex with both men and women? Is that normal for Dragons, or are you just kinky? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

Rose laughed. “Don’t be silly. The kinky part for me is being with one of you naked apes. Gender isn’t an issue when I’m mating outside of my species. Besides, what you and I do is nothing like a mating flight. You cannot give me children—your seed can’t fertilize my eggs. When I’m ready, I’ll return home, and those males who are interested and able to keep up will try to catch me in my first mating flight. And no, I’m not involved with anyone back home. We don’t form romantic attachments or become bonded until after the mating flight. It makes things easier, socially.”

“As for you and I... We cannot be together forever. I will have to leave one day, and that day will be in about three years. Until then, we are just having fun.” She moved my hand over her abdomen again, then slid it a little further south. “I like having fun, and I need it.”

I was trying to pay attention. I really was. “What do you mean, you need it?”

“Not the sex. Your energy. I need your sense of wonder. Your belief. Your attention. Your love. It gives my eggs vitality. We reproduce only two or three times in a thousand years, and then only half of the clutch reaches adulthood under normal conditions. By infusing my eggs with your energy, they gain a better chance at life. Your energy can mean doubling the number of eggs I clutch. You can’t impregnate me, but you give me more children, and make all my children stronger. My people are fighting for survival, and we will do whatever it takes to win—including having sex with naked apes. No offense.”

“None taken. Primate and proud. Now, why am I not freaking out about you not being human, or having non-human body parts?”

Rose smiled. “That’s the acceptance. When you accepted me, you accepted everything about me, in advance, even the things you didn’t know about. I accept you in the same way. Nothing you say or do will ever drive me away. Even our sex drives are synchronized, and it will be like this for the next three years.”

I pulled away from her. “So, you’re telling me that I have to spend three years having all the sex I can handle with my ideal woman in order to save Dragons from extinction?”

“Yes”

I threw my head back, laughing and pumping my fists. “Oh, yeah! This beats the shit out of clapping to resurrect a fairy!”

Rose furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about? Clapping doesn’t do shit for fairies.”

I sighed and shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll explain later.”

“That’s what you said about your friend, Sharon,” Rose said. “I’ve told you my great truth. I’d like to hear yours now.”

“That’s fair, I suppose.” I took her hands and tried to quell the wrenching feeling in my gut. “When I was a kid, my folks would spend several weeks each summer with some relatives who lived in a tiny little town in Oklahoma. Sharon’s parents owned the grocery store and ran the post office, which was in the same building. Anything they didn’t carry, you had to go to another town for. Her parents were my relatives’ next door neighbors. So, that’s how we know each other.”

“Then, the year we graduated from high school, Sharon talked her folks into letting her come back to Colorado with us when our summer visit was over. She had never seen a city with more than five stoplights in her life. She’d never seen real mountains. She was just blown away by it all. She got a job, decided to go to school out here, and wound up getting married to Manya. Her parents all but disowned her until about a year ago, when she and Manya decided to have a baby.”