Thunder Rider's Folly

A Work in Progress. 

Excerpt

TRF Diner Scene

I must have hit my head harder than I thought. When I came to I was sitting behind the counter in a diner. In front of me stood a tall beefy man, his back to me, in cook’s whites, apron over Dickies, white T-shirt, sleeves rolled up and a stained dish cloth draped over his left shoulder. Beads of sweat ran down the back of his neck from their place of origination atop his smooth shaven scalp. A wisp of smoke rose from the end of a cigar clenched in the corner of his mouth, just visible from where I sat.

Coffee perked on the counter off to the right of the stove and cook top. The brew was strong and the aroma overpowered the smells of breakfast foods and the pungent stink of the cigar smoke. I longed for a cup.

 Coffee in a diner cup is a tease of the worst kind. The cups are always the same, off white, hand and a half around, giving the impression of quantity to the waiting drinker. Instead though the thickness of the china is such that only allow but a few good gulps.

“Excuse me.” I said.

“Help yourself.” The cook responded.

I had not even expressed my intention to ask for the coffee, but never being one to miss a chance for a good cup of Joe, I slid off my stool and founded the end of the counter and approached the percolator and its ebony libation. I grasped the black bakelite handle on the side of the pot and with my other hand turned one of the coffee mugs over and sat it down on the counter. I tipped the pot and watched as the coffee launched from the spout in a cylindrical arch of black liquid refreshment.

I put down the pot, raised the mug to my face and inhaled the aroma of my most favorite beverage. Turning away from the coffee pot, I scanned the area behind the counter where I had been sitting. The view presented to me was one of seeming, boundless blackness, a void for as far as the eye could see, accented only by a number of round tall tables, bearing chess sets in various states of play.

“How’s the Joe?” The cook asked.

I sipped quickly, turned and replied. My words caught in my throat at the severity of the brew. I coughed. “Whoa, you make it strong, don’t you?”

“Heh, heh, what good is a cup of brown water? You can stand a spoon up in a good cup of coffee, if you ask me.” The cook said turning to look at me.

His face was both ageless and childlike at the same time. His brow deeply lined but the skin of his chin and cheeks smooth and free of any flaw. His eyes were piercing rings of deep brown with gold flecks in the iris. He had one eyebrow.

“Have at it. Ask your questions. I owe you that much at least.” The cook stated.

I did have a million questions and so began to question him. “Who are you?”

“The Manager.” He replied.

“Manager, what is that supposed to mean?”

“Just that, I manage things, watch over the goings on and make adjustments in personnel and materials to make things work as smoothly as possible.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Do you see those game boards? They are the physical representation of many worlds and the struggle between good and evil. I manage the side of good in each game to the best of my ability. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose.”

“So you’re God?”

“No, God made the worlds, I am only the Manager.”

“Why am I here?”

“I thought you would be my checkmate for the world of Daviot. I had been too involved in the troubles in another game and was unable to keep the Davioti from condemning their world to destruction. I brought you in to fulfill their prophecies and stop the Cracking. I didn’t foresee your interaction with the woman Liesh and the tragic repercussions there of.”

“What do you mean you brought me here? Why would you take me from my own world, take my life from me and dump me into such a mess?” I said slamming my now empty coffee cup on the counter.

“You were finished there. You had chosen to take your life, what I considered an honorable and noble life I might add. Men such as you are too valuable to allow too commit suicide. After the deaths of your family at the hands of those reckless men and your subsequent administration of justice on behalf of your loved ones, you were going to crash your motorcycle and end your life. I brought you to Daviot, to make use of the best of your qualities.”

“So the things I saw in the forest that day were true, killing those men?”

He nodded and poured me some more coffee, waving his hand and motioning for me to sit. From a shelf over the cook top he grabbed a mug that said, “Damn I’m Good” and poured himself a cup. He reached over the counter, grabbed a stool, brought it over the top and plunked down upon it, facing me across the counter.

“Who am I?” I asked.

“You have gone by many names. Currently you are called Harley.”

“Many names?”

“You are a pawn. A tool of the universe, destined to be subject to whatever situation the powers that be deem necessary to the betterment of the game.”

“A puppet, you’re the one that’s been pulling my strings all along. The spatial tears, that was your doing.”

“It was.”

“Were you taunting me?”

“Testing you. Pawns are not perfect, nor do they always maintain their integrity and purity of purpose. It was inevitable that the Davioti, should you succeed, make you their leader. I had to know that your commitment was strong and your heart true.”

My mind was beginning to cloud, what he was telling me made sense in some weird logical way. I had though to make sure that it all fit. “You brought me here to save the Davioti, because I was going to kill myself. Liesh told me she had dreamed of me for several years before I arrived. Ho so? I surely hadn’t taken years to plan my killings and suicide.”

“The games as you see,” he pointed to the chess boards. “The games are all in differing stages of play, the time lines are not all in synch. I caused her to dream of you so that your acceptance as the Thunder Rider would be easier for the leadership. Again I had not given thought to her becoming romantically involved with a dream. That is why instead of checkmate, the game is still in play.”

“That’s twice now that you have mentioned my relationship with Liesh in a derogatory manner. What do you find improper about it? We love each other we have a son together.”

“This will be difficult to understand. Pawns are intermixable to any game. Their make up is such that they can exist in any reality. Resident kind, like Liesh can only exist in their own reality, the mixing of the two essences, pawn and resident, has led to yet another problem. A virus has emerged from your son’s illness that could wipe out the Davioti. The magic used to keep such sickness in check, without it they are vulnerable. The magic must be restored”

“I can’t take anymore of this. You’re driving me insane!” I cried and lay my head on the table. His hand patted my back and he spoke softly.

“Your existence has always and will always be difficult. The burdens you must bear would break most pawns and all residents. You have a choice to make. There are a couple of different scenarios that may come to be, depending on your actions in the immediate future. Close your eyes and I will show them to you.”

His hand moved to my head and my mind’s eye was shown the actions taken and the outcomes thereof. It was like watching alternate endings to a movie only the movie was my life and the lives of Liesh and Jean-Luc. The images flashed and then were gone. He removed his hand from my head and I sat up.

I was no longer in the diner, but rather in Liesh’s room, sitting beside her bed and holding her hand. Jean-Luc slept in a chair behind me.

“Liesh, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I have to leave for a while. I have some things to take care of. Hopefully when I get back everything will be better. Don’t die, please. I couldn’t take that. Hang on until I get back. I promise I’ll make things better, it’s what I do.”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and wiped the snot from beneath my nose with the sleeve of my shirt. Jean-Luc stirred in his sleep as I kissed his forehead. “Be good son. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Take care of your mom.”

I turned for one last look before I closed the door, the tears came again.