The Life of Another - The Chapter 36 that never happened
#4 of The Life of Another - Sandbox
Hi,
It might be awhile until Chapter 36 gets done. So,until then, here's a scene that got cut. Even though it's NOT part of the real storyline at this point, it may contain spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.
Note, since it got cut I didn't go over it much so it may well contain clunky sentences, grammar issues and the like. Please, no comments or bad ratings based on anything like that, this is in the sandbox after all! ^^
Thanks and enjoy!
Before I could respond, Nick's fork was yanked violently from his hand, flew across the room and stabbed into the refrigerator door where it began to vibrate and glow until the metal melted. The resultant molten puddle on the floor instantly cooled into Nick's portrait with a Scottish Gaelic phrase under it that roughly translated to "Believe him now? F#cker!"
I bolted up from the chair, knocking it over in my haste. "Ulrich! Knock it off! You're scaring my friend. And fix everything this instant!"
A momentary wave of disorientation washed over us and suddenly my chair was upright, the portrait was gone, and Nick's fork was back in his hand.
"Thank you." I said, slowly returning to my seat. "It's good to see you Ulrich, I've missed you since the accident, but you have to be more careful. Other people don't understand what's happening when you do things like that and it frightens them."
A litter of feral kittens appeared in the pasta dish. Tense and frustrated, I exhaled sharply. "I know you mean well, but they should be with their mother."
The mewling brood lingered and my patience thinned. "Ulrich..."
With a lighter wave of disorientation this time, our meal returned to normal. "Thank you Ulrich. And I'm sorry but I can't go out of body to see you any more. As you can see, I'm not the same since the accident."
A palpable wave of grief and anger washed across both of us, causing Nick to drop his fork to the table. "Ulrich, I'm sorry but there's nothing you or I can do about it. I know you can't use phones or computers but you can still write me, and I'll write back. No one is better with words than you! You're strong enough now, I know Thad was just a slip, but you can do better than that, than this. Now go put on that CD you like, Far Away Trains Passing By, and get grounded again. Then write me a letter and mail it here, and make sure to include a self-addressed stamped envelope so I can reply, ok?"
In response, I felt an invisible hug and the stifling preternatural silence vanished. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, I turned my gaze to Nick. The poor Coyote was visibly shaking. "It's ok, he's gone now. There was never any danger. It's just that he's very powerful when he gets worked up and his perception of reality is... distorted."
"Roger, Oh my god! What are we going to do?!"
I rounded the table and brought Nick to his paws in a hug. "Everything's fine. I know he can be scary, or frankly, downright terrifying, but we're fine." I patted consolingly and Nick gripped me tightly, his blunt claws digging into my back. "I really didn't think I'd ever see him again or I would've mentioned it all sooner. He's a just a lost soul of sorts, and he's schizophrenic, and alone, and... you know how I get when I see someone in need. Look what I did for Steven! He and I hated each other but the moment I saw him hurt in that stream I did everything I could to help him."
Nick continued to shake and whimper but his voice held a steadier tone. "But he's dangerous! I saw what he did to Thad! What if he got mad and did that to us?!"
Realizing a flat no wouldn't suffice, I offered up a lengthier answer. "No matter how angry or confused you could ever see yourself becoming, could you hurt your dad? I mean, _really_hurt him?"
Without a moment's thought, Nick shook his head. "No."