Nova slid softly onto the edge of the bed and turned on her clock radio. After fluffing her pillow a bit she closed her eyes and drifted into the dream world. Suddenly a strange shifting feeling came over her and she opened her eyes to see a blue room. The odd feeling hadn't passed as she sat herself up on the white table she was laying upon. She blinked a little and looked around herself. Her vision was perfectly clear, yet when she felt her face to check for her glasses they weren't there. She felt her face a little more realizing a subtle difference in her features. She slowly pulled her hand away and realized that her normal long fingers had shortened and broadened. From behind her she heard a door open and she quickly turned to face the person who walked in. A middle aged black haired man looked over at her with a slight smile. His clothes were obviously in an 80's retro fashion.
"Novaura Frost?" he asked her after she had stared at him for a while.
"Y-yes…" she cleared her throat as the moment of stun washed over her almost as quickly as it had arrived. "Where the hell am I?"
"You…" he began to explain. Nova could tell he was having a hard time doing this. "You're in the waiting room."
"What like a hospital?"
"Ah…no."
"O…K." Nova pushed herself off the table and onto her feet. She was taller too. In the corner of the room she noticed a pool of water. Curiosity overwhelmed her and whatever the man said next didn't make it through. She walked up to the pool and looked at the reflection. What looked back at her was a face of another middle aged man. This one with slightly longer brown hair and a bit of stubble that she had ignored earlier. The black-haired man's reflection joined hers in the pool and she turned to face him with a shocked expression.
"I can explain that…" he began.
"Who are you?" Nova's voice got slightly stern as she looked him up and down.
"Ah, my name is Admiral Albert Calavicci."
"Most people just call you Al?" Nova asked.
"Yeah. How did you know?"
"Most guys named Albert go by Al…" Nova wasn't even looking at him anymore as she inspected her own male form.
"Right. Well like I said, I can explain…"
"Eh, don't worry about it." Nova looked down her pants. Al turned around. "I know I'm dreaming…" She looked up at Al again to notice he wasn't facing her anymore. "I'm done now."
"Oh…ah." He looked over at her again. "You think this is a dream?"
"Well yeah. I mean I went to sleep didn't I?"
"Admiral…" A shorter balding man popped his head through the door. "We have a slight problem…"
"Excuse me." Al apologized and joined the man outside the blue room. Nova puffed her cheeks as she blew some air and looked down her pants again. Suddenly she could hear Al yelling.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND HIM?" Nova let the elastic snap onto her waist and she walked up to the door. She twisted the handle and it creaked open. She poked her head out to see a long hallway. She walked down it until she was surrounded by tons of flashing colored lights covering beeping machinery. The very embodiment of 1980's futuristic style. She looked over to see four other people standing with Al. The shorter man was franticly twisting some knobs on a panel while one of the two curly haired women stood behind him. The other, this one seeming a bit more mature, was helping the third woman calm Al down a little. Woman number three turned her head to see Nova standing outside the waiting room door. She smiled sympathetically at her and placed her hand on Al's shoulder. He stopped being angry just long enough to see the 18 year old girl stare at them with her new 49 year old brown eyes. The dark-skinned woman walked over to her and said in a gentle tone.
"Hello, my name is Dr. Verbena Beeks."
"Hi…" Nova looked from the doctor's face to Al's and back. Either the thought of all this being a dream had faded, or she realized it wasn't, but Nova's face was riddled with fear and curiosity. "I'd like that explanation now…" Dr. Beeks took Nova's hand and began to lead her back down the corridor to the waiting room. She slowly started to explain theories about Quantum Physics and the concept of time travel and parallel worlds. She delved into the "string theory" as she had Nova sit once again on the white table she awoke on. Nova just nodded only half understanding what the doctor was telling her and vaguely remembering reading all this in a book somewhere. "So, this Samuel Becket guy is walking around as me, trying to fix something that I screwed up that may have caused some sort of downfall to mankind?" Nova repeated to the doctor just what she had gotten out of the explanation.
"In a sense."
"Gee, how reassuring…" Nova muttered with a hint of sarcasm. "So a total stranger to me is out living my life right now…wait. If this is supposed to be a governmental secret project why are you telling all this to me? You're not going to kill me or anything are you?!" Nova grew a bit more alert at the thought.
"No, of course not. You deserve to know what's happening to you."
"I'm not going to remember a damn thing about this when I get my life back, am I?"
"Not one." The doctor smiled at Nova's good humor about the whole thing.
"In that case." Nova looked down her pants again as Dr. Beeks left the room. "Man I am never going to get used to having one of these…"
Hours passed and Nova started to grow restless. She got up and twisted the knob again only to realize the doctor had locked it on her way out. She puffed her cheeks with air again and walked up to the pool of water. She sat down next to it and looked at a face that she was starting to grow accustom to now. "Well at least I'm a good looking old guy…" she reassured herself as the door opened again. She looked over to see Al standing there. "What is it Al?" she asked him in a tone he was used to getting from Sam.
"Dr. Beeks told me to come in here. She says that under the circumstances you might be more cooperative towards me than her…" he started to talk again.
"Since when do you take into account what Dr. Beeks says?" Nova chuckled. Al just looked at her with a sober face, one that wasn't very fitting for him. "What?" He didn't say anything. "WHAT?" Nova's eyes widened. "Oh god! You still haven't found him have you?"
"No, we found him. He just…ah…"
"He just what, Al?" Nova said in another tone that Al was used to getting from Sam. She stood up to face him now.
"He thinks he's you."
"Me? Why would he think that?" Nova didn't mean to state the obvious.
"Ziggy thinks it has something to do with the fact that he leapt into you when you were asleep."
"So what? He woke-up and his conscious mind just assumed that the whole thing was all a big bad dream? Wouldn't he realize he doesn't remember anything about me? I mean Swiss-Cheesed brain or not he's bound to notice that…" Nova stopped talking as she realized she was spouting about things Dr. Beeks hadn't explained to her. Plus she knew that Al was referring to the computer when he said "Ziggy". It slowly started to sink in for her. "Oh." Al just nodded. "Something like this has happened before hasn't it?" Al nodded again. "Well, how did you snap him out of it the first time?"
"I had him quote facts about Quantum Physics."
"So, do it again." Nova once again didn't mean to state the obvious.
"Because I can't get in contact with him."
"What do you mean you 'can't get in contact'? Your brainwaves are linked for Christ's sake!" She shouted yet another fact that Dr. Beeks hadn't told her.
"He can't see or hear me, so I can't get through to him." Al said bluntly.
"Well I'm sorry he didn't leap into me when I was five years old." Nova glared at him. "I don't see where it would be a problem anyway, I'm I total wack-job as it is…" She folded her arms and glowered at the floor.
"Well you might be, but Sam isn't." Al seemed to be getting agitated himself. Nova could see this was going nowhere.
"So what is it you want me to cooperate with?" Nova did little finger quotes with the word 'cooperate'.
The next thing Nova knew she was being dragged to what they called the imaging chamber. Much to her surprise at this point she knew nothing about it.
"So what does this thing do anyway?" she asked Al as Gooshie, the bald man, opened the chamber door.
"It creates a holographic image of Sam's surroundings." Gooshie answered her. Nova almost gagged on his strong breath.
"Right. Ok." She stepped readily inside just to get away from it. Al came in behind her and suddenly the featureless white room flashed into her very own bedroom. She looked over to see herself typing away at the computer. "Now this is creepy…" she muttered. The 'her' at the computer, that she assumed was actually Sam, stopped typing for a brief moment. This was the same thing that Nova did when she thought she heard something. "Sam?" He turned in the chair and looked directly at her. What he saw was a strange man standing in his bedroom. Still thinking he was Nova he started to freak out.
"What are you doing in here?! Who are you?!" He grabbed the incense burner that sat on Nova's bookshelf with the intent of using it as a weapon.
"Ok, Sam, just calm down…" Nova pleaded with him. The last thing she needed was someone in the house to hear him shouting at something they wouldn't see.
"Who's Sam?!" he continued to yell like before.
"You are." That was not the best choice of words at the moment. The burner hurdled towards her head and passed through it. The hologram shimmered a bit then returned to normal. Sam stood there with wide eyes. "Ok, I know this looks strange, but really there's nothing to be scared…"
"HEEEEELP!" Sam screamed and ran from the room
"Of…" Nova finished her sentence. She looked over at Al with a pleading expression as she heard a car outside skid away.
"Gooshie get us locked on Sam's position." he said into the colorful hand-held he grasped in his palm. Suddenly they were standing inside Nova's car.
"AH!" Sam shouted when he saw her in the rearview mirror. The car squealed to a stop and he yanked the door open. Nova walked through the door and stood in front of Sam.
"Will you just listen to me?!" Nova shouted. Sam stood there in a bit of shock. "You are NOT Novaura Frost! You are SAM BECKET!" He looked franticly from side to side along the empty highway. "Now stop freaking out before someone sees you. The last thing I need is yet another total stranger thinking I'm a loon."
"Prove it!" Sam shouted after a short silence.
"Prove what?"
"Prove I am who you say I am." he started to calm himself.
"Prove it he says." Nova looked over at Al then back at Sam. "Ok. Writing is the most important thing in your life, right?" sam nodded. "Ok tell me, what story are you working on right now?"
"What?"
"You heard me. What story are you working on?"
"Well I…uh…"
Nova made a little buzzer sound. "WRONG! You aren't working on anything! You've been having a dry spell for about a month now!" Nova got into Sam's face. Suddenly something in Sam's eyes snapped. Nova backed off him and blinked as her vision returned back to normal, for her, and she had to look up at Sam and Al instead of down.
"Al?" Sam looked at him.
"I think it worked." Nova stated the obvious one more time. The door to the chamber opened behind her and Dr. Beeks lead her out.
"It shouldn't be long now." the doctor smiled and took her back to the waiting room. "You'll be back to your old life." She closed the door behind her and Nova checked her reflection again in the pool. She still looked like Sam, but she did feel like herself again.
Hours, even days, could have passed and the door never opened again. Growing weary Nova lay down and closed her eyes. That strange shifting feeling came over her and she awoke once more in her own bed. She sat up and pulled out her dream journal. She had a strange one she wanted to record before she went back to bed.
Harvest Moon
Novaura readjusted the brown pack hanging from her shoulder and walked briskly down the dirt road to Sugar Town. She had been wanted to go on vacation for a while now and used visiting her cousin Jack as an excuse to do so. The country air was filled with the atmosphere of her childhood, many she had long forgotten. The aroma of freshly baked goods from Ronald's Supermarket, the sounds of rippling water from Maple Lake, the sights of exotic flowers wafting from Lyla's Flower Shop, and the overwhelming sensation of being down wind of Brownie's Horse Farm. Yes, it was all coming back to her now. Her feet crunched the red dirt path as she made her way quickly by the pasture and found herself standing in front of Luis and Lyla's shops. She smiled slightly remembering the fun she used to have with them when they were younger and the huge crush Luis had on the pink haired florist's daughter. Even then Luis used to tinker with broken radios and busted televisions, so it was no surprise he succeeded the former tool shop owner after her retirement. Nova pressed on down the path and approached Ronald's Supermarket to see a new young face standing next to Ronald's small garden. He was a small boy, no older than seven years, covered in dirt and band-aids and wearing an explorers outfit that looked to be custom made by him. He stared at the stranger with widened eyes not exactly sure what to say to her.
"Hi there." Nova smiled and bent down to where her face was even with his. "What's your name?" The boy smiled and all previous fears of her went as quickly as they came.
"My name's Tim! And one day I'm gonna be a Treasure Hunter!" He proclaimed with pride.
"A treasure hunter, huh?" Nova chuckled with amusement.
"Uh huh! I've already started saving up for stuff in my piggy bank!" Tim gave her an open smile revealing his missing front teeth.
"Tim!" Nova heard Ronald's familiar accent from inside his shop.
"Gotta go!" Tim waved at his new friend and ran inside. Nova laughed a little, in a much better mood now then when she had arrived, and made her way up the hill that lead to her Great Uncle Tom's old farm. When she arrived she was greeting by the shrill barking of a protective dog. It was a wolfish hound with a blue handkerchief tied about it's neck and it didn't look happy to see her. In the distance she heard and whistle and when she looked up she saw Jack in his own pasture waving at her from the side of a gray horse. Six other cows were wandering about it as well and one of seven chickens ran past her feet into the rows of crops growing in the soil. Nova waved back at Jack as he jumped the fence and ran to greet her.
"Nova!" He gave her a quick hug getting his sweat and dirt all over her crisp white shirt and faded blue jeans. He backed up in slight apology for making the mess. Nova laughed a bit since the residue of her earlier happiness was still in play. Jack smiled and twisted his baseball cap around so he could see her better. "You haven't changed a bit since we were kids Nov."
"Yeah, I know." Nova was suddenly reminded by how young she looked even though she had been legal for an entire year now. Jack cleared his throat when she realized he had upset her a bit.
"So, how long do you plan on staying?" He asked her.
"Oh I don't know, a week maybe. I just finished the series I was writing for Writer's Magazine, so I have plenty of down-time until the finish publishing the pieces."
"So you finally became a writer eh?"
"What do you mean finally?"
"You were always making up stories when we were kids, the whole family saw it coming. You were either going to be a writer or a demolitionist."
"Oh ha ha. And what about you? You swore you'd never become a farmer, and here you are making a more than good living at it from the looks of your house." Nova was referring to the fact that Uncle Tom lived in a rusty old shack and Jack was living in a nice little two story cottage.
"Eh heh, yeah…" Jack scratched the back of his neck. The horizon around them started to turn orange. Jack looked at the sky and grunted softly. "It's getting dark." He declared and looked over at Nova, he suddenly seemed older now. "Why don't you go ahead and put your things in the guest room while I finish up here."
"Yeah, ok." Nova agreed and looked around the farm. She had just realized the dog that was growling at her through most of the conversation had now retreated into its dog house next to the chicken coop. Nova hurried past it and onto the porch. She opened the door and stepped inside. To her left was a fireplace, ahead of her was the furniture and TV, and to her right was the stair case that lead to the second floor. She climbed the stairs and opened a random door which was luckily the guest room. It was as fancy as a dandelion in a bed of roses, but then so was the rest of the house. Nova could tell Jack was single. She dropped her pack into the bed and dust flew into her face. She coughed and waved it away when she heard the door open. She looked over to see Jack checking up on her.
"That was fast." Nova declared and turned around to face him.
"I just need to finish brushing my horse." Jack told her. Nova looked out the window.
"And you're just gonna leave them out there?" Nova saw all the animals get cozy for the night.
"It's not supposed to rain tomorrow, and this way I don't have to feed them." Jack shrugged. "I'm gonna go take a shower and make some dinner, you make yourself cozy." He closed the door behind him when he left. Nova opened her pack and started pulling out clothes and sanitary items that she had brought with her. She put everything in individual drawers and still had room to buy a new wardrobe if she wanted to. The last thing to come out of her pack was a leather binded book with a nice pen attached to it's built in book mark. It had been a gift from her dad that was probably mailed to her on a whim, it was also covered in cat hairs when she received it so chances were it had been sitting on a table for a while before he sent it. When her mother found out about it she wasn't sure if he had bought it for Nova with her in mind, or for himself and just decided to send it to her. Nova didn't care either way, she loved it. She opened it to the next empty page and started to write down the days events the best she could remember before Jack opened her door again.
"Soups on." He smiled. Well he was clean now, but he had put back on his dirty clothes which in Nova's mind sort of defeat the purpose. Still she just smiled and put the book inside an empty drawer. Nova followed Jack down the stairs and into the kitchen with a table and chairs in the middle. It was evident he hardly ate inside. He placed a bowl of soup in front of the only chair and left the room to fetch another. Nova just watched him go up the stairs and come back down with a chair from his room. It looked to have been delicately crafted just for him. He put the chair at the table and waited for Nova to sit down. She took the chair that was there before and noticed there wasn't a spoon at the table. She watched Jack drink the soup from the bowl and then look over at her. He noticed the missing utensil too. He stood up in an apologetic manner and opened the silverware drawer, took out a spoon, wiped it with his shirt, blew on it, and placed it next to Nova's bowl. Nova made a face that clearly said 'ew' and proceeded to drink the soup like Jack had. It was her old favorite from when they were kids, bouillabaisse, and it was delicious.
"This is really good soup, Jack." Nova smiled when she had finished. She was debating whether he had remembered her favorite soup, or cooked it at random.
"Yeah, I thought you'd like it, it's one of my favorites." Jack took the empty bowls, washed them, and put them away. Nova just watched him thinking to herself how he only seemed to clean what he constantly used with the exception of his clothing, and then began to wonder if she was the only woman who had even been to the farm. Jack waved his hand in front of her face and whistled to snap Nova back to reality.
"Huh?" She rolled her eyes towards him as if she were stoned. She blinked a bit and realized he was finished and had probably been talking to her.
"You sorta zoned out on me, Nova. Maybe you should get some sleep." Jack suggested. Nova nodded and made her way to the guest room. She brushed some of the dust off the bed sheets and fell asleep quickly. It must have been all the fresh air.
Nova had just won the Pulitzer Prize and was making her speech when a giant rooster made its way into the auditorium, she woke up to the sound of crowing and sleepily shuffled out of bed. For a moment she was in a state of shock until she realized she was at Jack's farmhouse. She looked out the window to see Jack watering his crops individually with a watering can. She yawned and blinked her dry eyes just now remembering she had left her contacts in over night. She took them out, put them in solution, and put on a pair of small silver glasses. She carelessly put her hair in a pony tail and put on pants with the t-shirt she had slept in. She was ready for the day now. She stepped onto the porch and was given a good morning growl by the dog. This was sort of odd for Nova since animals generally liked her. She looked down at the mutt and then back up at Jack watering crops in his own little element. He looked really happy just before the glare of the rising sun got in Nova's eyes. She covered them with her hand and walked down the porch steps slightly nervous that the dog might bite her, but trying not to make it evident to the dog. Jacked finished with the budding vegetable and noticed Nova watching him. He smiled and waved at her and Nova grunted in response. She wasn't quite the morning person that he was. He put the watering can next to the well once he had walked up to it and took out an animal brush. He gave it to Nova.
"Wanna give me a hand?" He asked this question as if it were going to be a privilege.
"Sure." Nova said in a half asleep tone. She followed him into the pasture and began brushing one of the cows as he milked her. Nova started to wonder if Jack's hands were cold and if she cow was even noticing if they were or not. When Jack had finished they moved on to the next cow and before Nova knew it they had brushed the horse and was collecting eggs from the chickens. One of the chickens Nova picked up had a golden colored egg under it. "Oh my god! Jack! Come here!" Nova almost dropped the chicken as Jack ran over to her.
"What is it?"
"Look!" Nova pointed at the egg.
"Oh, not another one of these. I can't sell these things." Jack picked the egg up like it were nothing special. Nova just shook her head to try and get rid of the look of shock and confusion that plagued her once calm demeanor. It did wake her up though.
"Hey big guy!" Nova heard a familiar voice coming up the trail. Tim was almost tripping over himself as he ran. "Big guy!" He rushed up to Jack with as much excitement as he would have running to the tree on Christmas morning. Jack bent down to greet the little kid. "Look! I got a treasure map!" Tim jumped up and down so much he looked ready to shoot into the air and pop like a firework. Jack took the piece of paper from Tim's hands. Nova looked over Jack's shoulder to see a rock and some trees drawn in black crayon with a red X in-between them and some dashes to lead to it. Jack smiled at the young boys imagination and Nova was reminded of the years when she was Tim's age and was just as energetic about playing dolls and commandos. "Let's go dig it up!" Tim jumped some more and the dog had begun to join him. Jack nodded and Nova shrugged.
"Why not?" She chuckled and pushed down on the explorers hat Tim seemed to always wear. He had to push it back up so he could see. Jack grabbed up a hoe and the three plus dog followed the maps coordinates. It took little time at all to find where X marked the spot and Jack started to dig in three strokes the hoe clinked onto a solid object. Nova looked at Jack in slight surprise as they both pulled on a chest that was in the dirt. Tim looked very excited at the new discovery.
"A treasure chest full of treasure!" He jumped and Jack started hitting the rusted lock with his hoe. Even the dog was caught up in all the excitement as he bark at the chest and whatever its contents may be. The lock broke and the chest flung open. Inside was a dozen golden eggs much like what they had found just earlier. "Gold eggs!" Tim grabbed up the case they were sitting in and grinned. "Wow! I love these!" He ran off excitedly with his prize and Nova slowly realized what must have happened. She smiled and punched Jack in the arm.
"Jack, you put that chest there didn't you?" Jack just shrugged at her, but was smiling none the less. The two minus dog walked back up to the farm. The sky began to get cloudy once they had reached it. Jack stared up at it and got that older look to him again.
"We need to put the animals inside." He headed for the pasture. "You put up the chickens." Nova did as she was told and they met on the porch. They went in together and sure enough rain started beating down outside. It was a peaceful evening and after they ate they both went to bed. The rain lulled Nova to sleep.
Nova being held by the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. He looked deeply into her eyes and she into his. They faces grew closer to one another and Nova said in a dramatic tone those three magic words, "I love you." The man opened his mouth to speak but instead of replying a loud crow resounded from his throat. Nova woke up once again to the sounds of a rooster crowing. She got up and went to wipe her eyes when they hit the glass of her bifocals. She took them off and put her contacts in. She then looked out the window to see the rain pelting down on the crops and Jack coming out of the chicken coop. She walked outside onto the porch, but this morning she wasn't greeted with the growling of the mutt's insecurity. She assumed he was in his dog house. Jack ran up the porch steps completely soaked.
"Phew." He rubbed a white handkerchief across his face getting it black with dirt. "It's gonna really storm, I should bring Dog inside."
"Wait, you named him Dog?" Nova grinned.
"That's what he came to." Jack shrugged and whistled. They waited but there was no response. Jack whistled again. The dog was nowhere to be found. He left the porch, looked into the dog house, and got a worried look.
"Is he not there?!" Nova yelled over to him. As the rain pelted down onto his body he shook his dripping head.
"You go inside, I'm going to look for him!" Jack called out. Nova assumed he knew what he was doing and when in. The sun had fully set by the time Jack got back. Nova had some hot soup waiting for him.
"Any luck?" She asked and he gulped it down and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He looked really pale as he shook his head. "Well I'm sure Dog will show up. He's probably staying out of the rain. The weather lady says it'll be sunny tomorrow, we'll look for him then." Jack nodded, but was obviously depressed at the loss of his best friend. Nova ushered him to bed and then went there herself. She took out her contacts and chronicled the events in her diary before she went to bed.
Nova whistled and looked around the open field for the dog. No matter how loud she whistled the dog wouldn't come like it was supposed to. She whistled again and the earth started to rumble. A stampede of chickens the size of cows ran at her and the one leading them let out a mighty crow. She woke up once more to the farmers alarm clock. She got up, put in her contacts, and looked out the window. The sky was clear and the rain had watered all the crops. Nova was expecting to see Jack come out of the chicken coop, but he didn't. She left her room and went to his. She opened the door slightly and saw Jack still in bed. After opening it the rest of the way she walked up to Jack and he looked awful.
"Oh Jack. You're sick." Nova noticed she had woke him up. "Don't worry, I'll take care of the farm for you today." She smiled and left the room. She walked outside and directly to the chicken coop. She let the door slam open and stomped in with a sadistic grin, revenge was hers. She let out a loud rar and chased the chickens outside into the sun, and picked up all the eggs they had left behind in their mad dash to safety. She went back outside with the same composure as a kitten that caught its first bird. She went into the barn and pushed each cow outside one by one, then the horse, none of which really enjoyed being pushed and she got a few kicks in the stomach to show her this. Once she got them outside and proceeded to milk the cows. It took the first three for her to get her aim right so that she actually got them milk into the pail, then be accident she moved over to milk the bull. He kicked the pail of milk over and chased Nova around the pasture until she jumped over the fence and ran to the porch huffing and puffing for air. She was too tired to sit down and rest as she drug her feet inside. Jack was looking much better and sat on the couch in front of the TV.
"I milked the horse, gathered the cow eggs, and brushed the chickens…" Nova declared climbing up the steps and collapsing onto her bed fully clothed. Jack had an amused grin on his face as he went out to find the dog.
Nova loaded her shotgun with an insane smile. With a sadistic chuckle she burst into the chicken coop and aimed it's muzzle onto the beak of the giant rooster. The rooster had started to crow when it saw the sawed off barrel with crossed eyes. It stopped and the rooster shrank down to size. Nova woke up with a grin and blinked her dry eyes. She didn't even bother to change her dirtied clothes as she took her contacts out and put on her glasses. She looked out the window to see Jack harvesting vegetables from the freshly watered crops. Nova went outside to help him in his task. She was in a good mood this morning. Once they had finished with all the mundane chores they loaded the produce onto the horse and Jack let Nova ride him into town. They stopped at Ronald's Supermarket and carried the food in. Ronald smiled at Jack and twitched his mustache as he paid Jack the G's. The two went outside and Tim was running down the hill from Brownie Farm with Dog barking at his heels. When Dog saw Jack he rushed over to him and jumped into Jacks arms to lick his face. Nova smiled.
"Hey Big Guy!" Tim waved at Jack. "Hey Lady!" He waved at Nova. "Bob found Dog in an awful sort down by Maple Lake and he gave him some potion to say thanks for something!" Tim smiled proudly. Jack gave Tim the thumbs up sign and they left the boy on the way back to the farm. Jack looked very happy to see his long lost buddy again as they put the horse to pasture and went inside. Jack even let Dog come in with him. Of course he still hadn't forgotten how much he disliked Nova and growled at her when she went to pet him. She backed up and cleared her throat.
"Anyway, I think it's time to go home now." Nova smiled at Jack.
"Aw, really?" Jack sounded disappointed, he seemed to enjoy the extra help. "You still have three more days of vacation left."
"I think I've had enough vacation. Besides this whole experience inspired me to write up another short story for Writer Magazine about a farmer and his city slicker cousin who tries to take over when the farmer gets sick and find his dog." Nova grinned at him and he returned it. She went upstairs, packed her things, took a shower, and put on fresh clothes before heading down the path, through Sugar Town and back onto the dirt road that leads to the old country airport that brought her there to begin with.
