“Very long ago, in a land that you have never heard of, there was a girl named Kalia. She was a princess, and grew up in a castle, like most princesses do. However, the very different thing between Kalia and other princesses was that she was a species that lives underwater. They are quite humanoid in appearance, save for the lower half of their bodies.”
“Like a mermaid?”
“Exactly like a mermaid. In fact, the earth idea of mermaids is derived from these species, though their technical title would be w’relek, which sounds a lot like relic, but that is beside the point. They were a very private species and hid their existence from most of the world. They lived on a planet that was inhabited by humans, and you know how humans are.”
“How humans are?”
“You know. Silly, close minded, discriminatory. Humans will do anything in their power to make the world what they want it to be. This comes out in so many different ways… how you see it… different religions being called equally true and acceptable, racism, especially when it escalates to such extremes as genocide. Even simple things, like the way your school system is wrong. You humans do everything you can to make the world look exactly as you like it, no matter what means it takes to reach an end – whether that means living in denial, or ignorance, or hatred, or murder.
“To be honest, I suppose this is not always such a bad thing. See, there are humans who take the desire to shape the world to their liking and do wonderful things within the world. They feed the hungry, free the enslaved, rescue the oppressed, love the loveless, and these are all very noble and good things that often spring from that desire for an ideal.
“Where were we, though? Kalia, yes. Anyways, the humans on this planet were very much human. They had created what they considered to be an ideal society. They were ruled by a king and a queen who loved each other very much and wanted the very best for the people under their rulership. They were fishermen and farmers, who lived off the land and the sea. They were a pleasant people, a small society, right around 5,000 people within the kingdom. And they were kind to each other. They always shared everything. They lived in somewhat of a socialist society, I suppose. Though socialism has never worked on Earth, it has been very successful in other planets, with other species. See, the reason it worked in this society was because it was not run by the government. It was simply the people, always sharing and providing for each others’ needs. They were not greedy. They did not pursue technology or riches. They were all very happy, very healthy, and overall a very wise race.
“Though, as every race does, they had their weaknesses. Perhaps they were over loyal to each other. Perhaps they were over reliant. But now, you can come to your own conclusions about what happened.
“The king and the queen of this colony were a good sort of people, the best sort of humans. They sought wisdom and understanding, and did the best by what they knew. They had three sons and four daughters. It was a beautiful family. Their oldest son, Jameson, was in line to be the next king. He was betrothed to a girl named Hannai. She was a sweet girl, the daughter of an elder of the colony. The second son was Garrison, who was to be an elder of the colony one day. He was the most intelligent of all the sons, a bit of a scientist, though not unhappy with their society. He simply had a healthy thirst for knowledge, and was a pleasant young lad. He was betrothed to a girl named Alissa. She was the daughter of an elder, as well, since this was the custom, and he loved her very much. The third son was unlike his brothers, rather, unlike any of his siblings. They were fair-haired, yet he was dark in appearance. They were quiet, demure, and good, content with their lives and community. But the third son, Ericson, longed for more. Perhaps this was his downfall.
“Ericson was in line to be an elder, as well, though this was not what he desired. See, although it was a good society, there were some large problems. In this society, perhaps the largest cultural problem was they were very much determinists. If you were born into a certain family, you would inherit your family name, livelihood, and position in society. It was something of a very mild caste system. Though Ericson loved his family and his people very much, he was dissatisfied. He was not meant to be an elder, perhaps. He was meant to be an adventurer, a learner, a dreamer. He began to learn all the trades of his people: carpentry, fishing, blacksmithing, farming, hunting, and cooking. He even pursued some of the more uncommon traits among his people, such as religious studies, shoe making, athletics, music, art, pearl diving, tailoring, mining, candle-making, and writing. He preferred these studies immensely more than he did the duties of an elder and a member of the royal family. In fact, he became quite the skilled young carpenter.
“On the day of his eldest brother’s wedding, the entire royal family was out on the ocean, sailing. It was a lovely wedding, held at sunset. They had hired the best musicians and chefs in all of the country for the affair. It was beautiful and magical, a perfect day for a wedding. That night, however, as they were far out on the ocean, the waters grew uneasy.
“They could not get back to port in time. The ship broke a leak, the waters were too rough, and it sunk. The next morning, the colony sent out a rescue mission to recover any survivors. Luckily, there were many survivors. Of the 82 people on the boat, they were able to rescue 65. Sadly, the happy couple was not among them, nor Alissa, the fiancée of the middle brother, Garrison. Two of the princesses were also lost to the ocean. Also, Ericson was not among those who were rescued.
“There was great mourning in the land, and among the royal family. Garrison was next in line to be king, the last male of the royal family. He went into deep depression and locked himself into his study. After a few days one of his sisters went to check on him and found him dead. He had killed himself out of grief. This deepened the sorrow of the colony. They declared a week of fasting in mourning for their losses and to seek wisdom as to what their next move should be.
“On the third day of the fast, a young girl was walking on the shore of the ocean and found the prince, Ericson, washed up on the shore. More than finding the body, he was alive! And in good health! As though he had not been harmed at all by the accident. He was taken back to the castle and the sorrow turned to joy and the mourning to laughter. Throughout the land, all was thought to be well. But within the walls of the castle something very different was happening.
“Prince Ericson was back, but unhappy. He was now meant to be king, the only candidate to become king, now betrothed to a girl named Megan. He spent many days mourning his fate, wailing that the ocean should have taken him instead of Jameson. He spoke of the ocean as menacing and beautiful, terrible and wonderful, deep and blue and hateful, yet soft and sweet. He spoke as a madman, and perhaps he was mad. Yet, all madness springs from something. This is what happened between the time of the accident and when Ericson appeared on the beach. Now, to explain this, I will have to start at the beginning of another tale that was going on at the same time in that land.
“Kalia, the mermaid princess I told you of earlier, lived in the ocean by the colony we have just heard of. She and her people lived a quiet existence. There were some very unique things about the w’relek. They had what we might call ‘magic’, though in reality it was more of a trade. It is often funny how different species’ look at each other as being particularly special, gifted, or mysterious, while in reality each creature on any earth at any given time has skills that perhaps no other race will ever have, and these aren’t really things that are supernatural. It is just a difference like, for example, the uniqueness and miracle of science as compared to a painting, or the wonder of gymnastics as compared to mechanical genius. All of these things are wonderful and good and within human capability, but not every human can paint a breathtaking picture or assemble a car. Some things are simply not qwithin every human’s capability.
“In the same way, there are those differences in giftedness between species. Now the w’relek were gifted in this way, unique from any other species I have known: they had a mastery of water and a capability to communicate through telepathy. Now this did not mean they could hear any thought at any time, but they are able to speak into another’s mind, if they so desire. Some of the more gifted at this skill are able to invade others’ minds at their leisure, though it is nearly impossible to search the mind of any race without them being at least vaguely aware of your presence. It is quite unnerving to sense another presence within your own, and many creatures are apt to go mad from the experience.
“The w’relek possessed other gifts, as well, which you will learn of soon enough. But the point is Kalia was very gifted in telepathy. She was certainly the most gifted in the royal family in this area, and probably the most gifted among her people at that time. The storm had been created by her father, for there was an ongoing strife between the humans and the w’relek, though most humans knew nothing of these happenings. Her father had, out of rage, crafted this storm much in the same way someone creates a pot or a sculpture. It was carefully calculated as to be just enough to scare the humans, but leave them relatively unharmed.
“But sometimes things happen tthat are beyond any control. And though the w’relek have a great amount of power over water, they cannot control natural elements, omly shape them to their advantage. By the time the king realized the storm had gotten out of hand, it was too late to stop it. The w’relek were frantic. They did not like the humans, certainly, but as I have said, they are, in nature, a very peaceful creature. They really did not wish harm to others.
“You see, the humans had lost nearly all respect for their ocean. The w’relek understood that the humans must fish in order to live, but the humans had become greedy, taking too many fish, and violently, with hooks and sharp wires and tricky nets. More than one w’relek had been injured by some human fishing device. In addition to this, pollution had grown exponentially as the human society had slowly advanced. Because of this, the water in the ocean had become less and less safe for the w’relek to live in. They were upset by this, certainly, and though the royals of the w’relek had some (though few) influential human contacts that they pleaded with for a change, their situation had continued to worsen.
“So that was the situation on the night of the wedding, and it was never meant to escalate to the extremes that it did. But sometimes fate plays a larger hand in our lives than we feel like admitting, and sometimes thinsg happen that we do not understand as part of some larger or greater cause.
“Kalia was there that night, beneath the boat that the festivities were being held on. A few hours before the storm, some began to notice Ericson acting strangely. They said afterwards that they thought perhaps he had just drunk too much wine, but after his return wondered if it had been something more. Now, they were right about one thing. Ericson had drunk far too much wine and was a little bit tipsy. When he first heard the voice inside his head, this is what he blamed it on. After a few more hours and a few more glasses of wine, he began to respond.
“See, Kalia had found his mind after searching among all those on board the ship, and she found something absolutely fascinating about him. She knew it was, perhaps, a mistake, because communication between the w’relek and the humans was very closely monitored and even forbidden without direct and specific approval by the king, but there was something of a spark there. They made small talk for awhile, discussing the weather, the ocean, the happy couple, the size of the ship, and the funny quirks of the guests. This was all rather strange for Ericson, because he was half convinced that he was having a pleasant little chat with himself. However, the longer they spoke and got to know each other, the more convinced he became that whatever he was talking to was very much not of his own creation. He found her charming, sweet, and fascinating, and over the next few hours grew quite the infatuation with the voice in his head.
“When the sea began to get out of control, Kalia worried for his life. She could do nothing to help him while he was still on the boat, so she convinced him to jump overboard with those who had already given up hope of fixing the leak. Yet he refused. The ship sunk, pulling the humans deep into the ocean with it. It was the most terrible thing Kalia had ever seen. She frantically swam through the sunken ship, pulling unconscious bodies onto a nearby island and saving as many as she could. Any who remembered the beautiful girl with the fish’s tail would write it off later as some strange hallucination in their panicked state of mind.
“When she found Ericson, he had little life left in him. She hauled him to the surface of the ocean, but saw that he would not simply become well as the others she had rescued would. She knew, though, that her elder sister was a gifted healer. If there were anyone capable of fixing the man, it would be Eva.
“Eva was older than Kalia by a few years, and perhaps wiser. When she saw the man, she refused, saying they should not interfere with the natural courses of life. But her younger sister insisted, crying and pleading, begging for just one favor, and eventually Eva consented. She healed the man and they drug him to the shore of the island, where they finished nursing him back to his full health. As he became more well over the following days, he became more aware of the women who were nursing him back to health. When Eva saw this, she took him back to the shore of the colony one night while he was asleep, hoping he would forget all of what had happened, that it would be blamed on a dream, a hallucination, too much salt water, or something of the like.
“But Ericson had not forgotten. The memory haunted him both day and night. He did not sleep for days, then passed out of exhaustion. He began to spend hours in his elder brother, Garrison’s, study, looking at old maps, charts, and notes from sailors and fishermen, looking for some explanation or even the start to some answers. He also began to look into his eldest brother, Jameson’s, affairs, wondering if he could find the answers he desired from some political source. And slowly, things began to show up. Sketches in old books and letters and jpournals of creatures who appeared to be half of a man, and the other half fish. Strange tales of impossible rescues out in the middle of the ocean. Stories of men who had claimed to have spoken to sea creatures. Even, as he found very interesting, accounts of men claiming to have communicated using their minds with some outside entity.
‘He had not expected to find much on the political end of things, but was surprised. There were years missing from history books, events and accounts that were only partially there, as though something had been ripped out and hidden. The finances grew stranger, particularly financial reports from many years ago. There were large, unexplained expenses, vaguely recorded with little explanation.
“He became a man obsessed. And see, that is when men get the most done: when they are obsessed. Unfortuanately, he neglected his kingdom in this process. This went on for years, and his parents aged, and soon were nearing the time when Ericson would take over the kingdom.
“Underneath the surface of the ocean, a very different tale was unfolding. Kalia had neither been able to get the young prince to leave her mind. I suppose that you could even say she had fallen in love with the boy. She mourned day and night that she would never see him again, missing him terribly, longing for him as a small child longs for his mother. It was more than a simple infatuation, it was a need. She knew she could not see him again or ever be with him, and that he mustn’t know of her existence, even, but she wished, nonetheless that there were a way.
“Now I may sound contradictory, for I told you that the skills of the w’relek were far from magical, they were simply differently skilled. But there are dark powers in this big, crazy universe that none of us can fathom or explain. There is a real, tangible evil in this world, Anna, just as there is a real and solid good. And there were some of the w’relek who, in their quest for power, had turned to this black magic. Among those who had lost sight of what was good was Kalia’s mother, whose name was Gartha.
“Kalia could not remember her mother well, but she knew the story. She knew how, after the death of her younger brother – her only brother – how her mother had simply lost her mind. Her life lost all its will and purpose, and she turned to the dark arts for answers. Perhaps she believed that she could bring the young boy back to life through magic, and perhaps she did not then understand what she was messing with. But the powers sucked her into their traps, and she grew dark and was banished from the kingdom, set upon with a curse. For you see, we all make mistakes, and even kings fail. Though he banished his wife from the kingdom for practicing black magoic, he used the very same arts to set a curse upon her, marking her for life as one banished from the kingdom. It was a terrible curse, as all wqho looked upon her were filled with horror. Kalia was but seven years of age when her mother was banished from the kingdom. And now, a young lady of nineteen, had not seen her in twelve years. After the curse had been placed upon the woman, the king had called all of the family together to look upon her and banish her to the deepest, most lonely parts of the ocean.
“That was the last time that Kalia had seen her mother, and it was a terrible memory. She trembled at the thought. But as she grew more and more grievous, she began to venture from her quarters, roaming by herself through the ocean and longing to be more and more alone. She ventured into the deeper and darker parts of the ocean, where few were brave enough to go. There were creatures in these parts of the water that were dangerous, dark, and unknown. Perhaps the girl longed for death. She certainly no longer had a desire for life, leastways life without the young prince Ericson. It was only a matter of time, then, before she stumbled upon her mother.
“At first she was skeptical and cautious, but the more she and her mother saw each other, the more she lost her sense of fear, or perhaps even logic. Her mother told her ythat she loved her very much and was sorry for her mistakes. She listened to her as she recounted the tale of the storm on the ocean, and told her of the prince, and she sympathized with her as she mourned for the man. It was some time later, months later, that she began to suggest that she may see the lad again. She slowly began to tell her of possibilities that magic would offer, how it could change one to look anmother way, just aas the dark arts had changed her into something abominable, it could change Kalia into something that she also was not.
“Kalia should have fled from the moment her mother began to suggest these things, but she was young and lonely and heartsick, and not in the best shape to combat these deceptions. She listened intently to her mother and gfound these ideas attractive. Soon, she consented. Now, the dark arts do not hold all power in the world, as her mother had told her. There are some things that are stronger, and one of those stronger things, as her mother had told her, was the power of love. So, she said, she could give her a chance at what she wanted. She could give her legs instead of fins, a chamce to walk on the land with the man she loved, but this could not be permenantly held by magic. The prince must also fall in love with her, and only by that power could she retain her human form. If this did not happen, after thirty days she would be consumed by the darkness. She would slowly lose her strength over these thirty days, weakening and losing her strength to the evil from which she drew her powers.
“And Kalia knew all of this, but consented anyways. So then, nearly three years after the day of the storm, a young girl washed up on the beach. She was weak, starved, and confused. The people of the colony, being a good sort of people, took her under their wing. Particularly the royal family. Still, it was many days before she saw the prince. Though it had been years since they had last met, her feelings for him were yet as strong as ever. He had grown older and more solemn over the past few years, trying, perhaps, to forget what had happened, yet staying awake every night, deep into the night then into the morning, and searching for answers. Dark rings surrounded his eyes, and the first wrinkles had crept onto his face, his hair had started to grey, even at his young age, and his eyes were faded. He had grown old well before his time, yet she still found something wonderful about him.
“He had heard of the girl his people had found and taken in, but when he met her, was perhaps, himself, surprised. She seemed to him, nostalgic. Like a long forgotten dream from childhood. He was far from in love or even infatuated, but he certainly was interested. He saw in her something that he had not found in any of his research, adventures, or studies. He felt that, out of anyone in the world, she would be the one to have the answers that he was looking for. It is impossible to say why he felt this way about her. Perhaps he truly did remember her from the accident, or perhaps she was using her skills to manipulate his thoughts and make him more inclined to her.
“She was pleasant, sweet, and kind, full of mystery. And I imagine it need not even be stated that she was very beautiful. She was loved dearly by all who met her. She soon became very close friends with the princesses, and was invited to stay in the castle until she regained her memory and was able to return to her home.
“But let me explain what had happened, when Kalia gave up her citizenship as a w’relek, she forgot all of where she had come from and who she was. She could not even remember her own name. She became a girl without an identity. They called her Arielle.
“She soon began to weaken, as the darkness overtook her. Her voice faded from it’s strong, sweet tone into a whisper, then was gone engtirely. She became too weak to walk and her hands lost their strength. Within ten days, she was confined to a bed as her health slowly deteriorated.
“Ericson was greatly dismayed by this, perhaps not so much for his affection toward her, though he did feel some sort of a love toward the girl, but more because he feared he had lost his chance. He felt now, she could not speak nor write, he would never get the answers that he sought. Nevertheless, he began to visit her every day, and soon would not leave her bedside. Watching her and wondering at who she was and where she had come from and what she might know. He wondered if she did actually remember, and simply it was to terrible to live. Perhaps she was running away, as a dangerous criminal hiding out in their small beach town. Perhaps she was afraid. Perhaps… well, there are a great number of “perhaps” in this universe, and I am certain he thought of each of them.
“I need not even tell you her thoughts in these last days. She grew desperate and terrified. She slowly began to remember, more as though dreams, the life she had formerly had. She remembered her kingdom, her father, her sisters, her friends, and most clearly in her mind was her mother. Her distorted face haunted her dreams, that she would no longer rest at night, but stay awake, eyes wide open in terror. She knew what would happen within the next few days, it was just a matter of time. All that she had left was the power of her mind – telepathy. But she was afraid to utilize this, she did not know how he would react. The nights grew longer, though, and she grew more and more desperate.
“He took her hand in one of these nights, “I wish you could speak,” he told her, “I feel as if I know you very well, yet I know not why.” He had paused for some time, leaving them both wondering of the others’ thoughts, until he spoke again. He told her of the wreck in the ocean those three years ago, and how he had been gone for some days afterwards, to suddenly appear on the shore in excellent health. He told her he remembered some girls, but they seemed as though they were from a dream, yet at times he thought it may have been her, though he knew it could not – must not be so. She smiled at him, and he found this encouraging. He went on, telling her of the research he had done, how he had searched for answers. He also told her what he had found. He told her the stories of the people who were half fish and half man, of the strange happenings in the ocean, and of the sailors who claimed to converse with others within their minds. He grew cautitious, then, and pronounced himself to be silly for even considering such a thing, but he wondered… could she have been one of these creatures? Could she, perhaps, have been the woman he talked to, within his mind, on the night of the storm those few years ago? He asked, if it were possible, would she communicate with him now?
“She grew bold, and answered him. She told him some of what she remembered, that she was the girl who had rescued him from the accident, that she was one of those, and that she was very ill, and would soon die. Now, this may have been very hard for anyone else to accept, but there was something different about Ericson. He was an adventurer, as I told you. He found nothing she said to be unbelievable, in fact, as soon as she said it everything suddenly seemed to fall into place. He wondered, though, how it was that she had come there. She told him of her mother who lived under the ocean, and how she had tampered with the dark arts that she might be human for some time. He wondered what would make her desire to be human, but she shied away and simply blushed. If only he had understood that blush! But no, she simply told him that she wanted to know what it was like to walk on the land instead of swim through the waters. He wondered at why she would risk her very life for a chance to be human and asked if there were any way to mend her illness. She replied that yes, she believed there was a way, but she could not tell him of it.
“She suddenly felt, now as she was here, that she could not – nor did she wish to – make him fall in love with her. She wanted him to, certainly, yet not because she needed him to. If it were to happen, she felt, she did not want it to be because she forced him to. He stayed with her all the time from then on, and they spent hours talking. Soon, it was he twenty ninth day, and she revealed to him that tomorrow she would be gone. She could no longer move, and her breath was weak. Her eyes had faded and her skin was hot to the touch. He cried for hours, feeling that she was the dearest friend that he had ever had. He begged for her to tell him how to free her from this terrible curse, that she would be allowed to live. He promised that he would do anything, pay any price, if only her life were to be spared. But she refused. She would not tell him what would keep her from falling into the darkness.
“But this she knew. The darkness would not kill, it would only capture and torture. Certainly, she did not tell him this. But she did tell him that she would not die, only be taken away. Yet he knew this could not be for the good in any way, and feared for her all the more.
“As the clock struck midnight, the ocean began to stir. Up from out of the ocean rose a woman, she was both beautiful and terrible and frightening. It was Gartha, mother of Kalia. She had come for her daughter. Because Gartha’s motives in ‘helping’ her daughter were far from pure. See, the darkness demands sacrifice. It demands blood and lives and souls, and more power can only be gained by the means of sacrifice. Gartha cared nothing for love or dreams or hope, but only for power, and this was her plan all along: not to help her daughter, but to diminish her, and capture her soul, and use it to gain power. Classic case of the strong preying on the weak.
“She went to the castle and took Kalia from the bed where she lay. Ericson fought for her, certainly, but was no match for Gartha’s strength. She departed, taking Kalia with her to the bottom of the ocean.
“It was not long later that Ericson realized his love for the girl. He stood on the shores of the beach, begging for Gartha to come up out of the ocean and meet with him. He began diving into the ocean, deep as he could, and venturing out on sailing ships late at nights. He rarely left the waters, even to sleep. And one day, his requests were answered. There came Gartha, out from the water, demanding of him why he was seeking her. He told her of his love for her daugfhter and begged for another chance at saving her, just one more chance to see her. And this was when Gartha explained. Had he expressed his love for her when she was yet alive, she would not have been taken into the darkness. He had his chance, and he missed it, and would spend the rest of his life regretting it.
“With that, she dove back into the ocean, but in his great mourning, he lost all sense, and grabbed onto the edge of her fins and was pulled down into the depths with her. The grace of God must have been with him, along with the power of the w’relek, who yet mourned for their princess. He found a shell beneath the waters that was a craft of the w’relek, it allowed for him to breathe and thus survive beneath the waves. He took in his hand a sharp stone and speared Gartha through the heart, killing her.
“He did this out of rage, not knowing what it would accomplish. And in fact, it did very little. Yet with her dying breaths, she gasped that he may now have a chance, if he found where she lay.
“He searched for years through all of the ocean, looking for the girl he loved. He never gave up, yet he never found her. Perhaps Gartha lied to him, and it was so that she never could be found. Perhaps he knew not where to look. Perhaps he had found her, even, and there were no way left to rescue her from the darkness that had taken her. Yet they say that to this day he is searching for her beneath the waves, kept alive by the strength of his love for her, and that he will not let death take him until she is found.
“As for the colony, it crumbled without the rule of a king. Anarchy fell on the land and the people fell into famine, then scattered, becoming pirates and murderers and thieves. The land was broken by the love of one man, a man who could have lived a pleasant life ruling and protecting his people. Though it is said that one day he will return with his bride, and together they will take back the land and re-establish the kingdom, and the descendants of those who scattered will once again gather together under the reign of King Ericson and Queen Kalia. Once again, the lands will give good crops and the people will live in peace, happiness, and harmony.”
He pauses and looks at me meaningfully, “and that is the end of the story.”
“Why did you tell me this story?”
“It is history, Anna,” he says with a sigh, “simple history and nothing more. If you are to travel with me, you must understand these things and know not only the history of other worlds, but you see, this is how the folklore of your very own world was formed. Travel is not simply about knowing other people or places or things, but maybe it is most of all about knowing about who you are and where you have come from.”
“So you’re going to teach me history?”
“That is the plan.”
“For how long?”
“As long as it takes for you to know the basics, and to understand the way that the world works.”
“What does this story say about how the world works? Immortality and black magic? That is the way of things?”
“Perhaps simply, sometimes things that we do not understand happen. Sometimes happy endings never come, things that are meant to be do not happen, the guy never gets the girl, evil prevails, and good loses. But there are guiding principals to the universe, things that we cannot change. There are two very powerful things in the universe: evil, and love. I would say evil and good, but we humans have very little capability for good, yet great capacity for love, and strange as it seems, with that passion and drive in us, we can oftentimes accomplish the impossible. I know that I sound like a cheesy women’s movie right now, or some adventure novel with a moral at the end, but listen to me, Anna, there’s some really amazing stuff in this world that has a heck of a lot of power in it. But we have to choose what is right and good and true instead of what is easy. Evil is always the easy choice, and love is rarely simple. But that does not mean that we should not pursue it. In fact, maybe it is all the more evidence that we should.”
“Okay,” I mumble, unsure of how to respond to his speech.
“I should take you home,” he says, “it is getting late, not safe for you to walk anymore, the city gets dangerous at night this time of year.”
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