Disclaimer: No, I don't own any of the characters, except for Alana, and she's mine, hands off! This is the penultimate part of the story. Some mild cussing and stuff. Remember to feed the author!
Shadows: Part Three
Gary looked around him. He'd been told this was where he lived. In this loft conversion. It was decent enough he supposed. He must like it, otherwise why would he still be living there? He sighed, and held his head in his hands. Marissa and Chuck had gone down into the bar for a while. He ran his fingers through his hair. This place..it meant nothing to him. It used to be his home, or so he was told, but now, it, it was just a building! It was like being in a stranger's house. You know it's a home, their home, and you feel out of place. Just like Gary did with this whole situation.
"Right, that's enough. I can't leave you any longer."
Gary's eyes brightened at the sound of her voice, and he glanced next to him, she had joined him in sitting on the bed.
"Alana" He said, acknowledging her presence.
"Hey there. Miss me?"
"Of course."
Gary was about to continue speaking, when he realised something. He *had* missed her. Well, what else could you expect? He asked himself. She was the only familiar thing in these formally known, but now alien, surroundings.
"So, how do you think it's going Gary?"
"Going?" he looked at her, unsure of what she meant for a moment, but then it struck him. He felt a little foolish. "Oh right. Not too bad I suppose. They've told me lots of interesting things about Gary Hobson. But.."
His voice trailed off.
"But what Gary? What is it?"
"Well. A couple of things that each of them said, they didn't sound right. Especially some things that Chuck said. Like they weren't telling me what was real. And there's something else."
"What?"
"Well, maybe you can tell me Alana. What aren't they telling me? The big thing? I can tell they're holding back."
Alana sighed, and looked at him kindly.
"I do know what it is they're not telling you Gary, but I can't tell you. That's not my job." She paused to think for a moment. "But maybe..maybe I can point you in the right direction."
Something lit up in her eyes, and she took Gary's hand.
"Come with Gary. Come on."
The two of them stood, and Gary headed towards the door slowly. He hobbled down the stairs, and was almost at the bottom, when he heard voices through the closed door of the office. He stopped where he thought his silhouette wouldn't be seen, and listened to what was being said behind the frosted glass.
"When are we going to tell him Chuck?"
"About what?"
"You *know* about what Chuck!"
There were footsteps, and it sounded a little like someone was pacing. There was a pause, before one of them spoke again.
"Do-do we really *have* to tell him about it?" Chuck's voice asked. He sounded very dubious about what he was saying. This conversation was intriguing. The tone in Marissa's voice changed when she spoke again. She sounded highly annoyed, almost angry at what Chuck had just said.
"Chuck, please tell me I didn't hear you say that?"
"Yeah ya did. Do we have to tell him about it?"
"Chuck of course we do!" She said, exasperated. "If we take it away, he'll never be the same!"
Chuck's voice dropped to a lower pitch, and was then very forceful.
"Yeah Marissa, you're damn right. He'll never be the same. And in all honesty, I don't think it would be a bad thing."
"Chuck, if we don't tell him, what's going to happen to all the people out there that depend on him?"
That did it. Chuck started yelling, but he pitched it just right so that Marissa would feel the effect, but the patrons in the bar wouldn't hear.
"All the people who depend on him! What about Gary himself huh Marissa? That damn thing's nearly taken him, oh I've stopped counting how many times! I told you right at the start, that it was out to get Gary, and what, Marissa, you're still not convinced?! It's taken his memory away, and you're still not convinced that it's got it in for him?"
Gary was totally confused, as he stood there. Alana squeezed his hand reassuringly, and placed a finger to his lips, urging him to continue listening.
"The way I see it, we don't tell him about all the terrible things that've happened to him, and we go one stop further, and don't tell him about that damned paper and that bloody cat!"
*Paper*? *Cat*? What the hell?
"We let him have his life back Marissa! We let him have it!"
There was a long, pregnant pause in the office. Chuck had apparently finished his outburst, and was waiting for Marissa's response. She sighed.
"If we take the paper away from Gary, we're doing the wrong thing. It's still his Chuck."
"Well have you seen it lately? Where's the damn cat huh?"
"I don't know Chuck, and I'm not going to try and understand it. But if we take the paper away, we're taking Gary's future away from him. And if we don't tell him about what's happened to him in the past because of it, we're taking away his past. Suffering makes a person Chuck."
"Then Gary's had enough for two people Marissa. You know that."
"Yes, I do. But God moves in mysterious ways Chuck, and I'm not about to interfere."
"God?! What has God got to do with this Marissa?"
"God's got everything to do with it Chuck."
"Oh how do you figure that Marissa? Where was God when Gary almost froze to death? Where was God when he was hit by that car? Where, where was God Marissa when Gary was stuck with that creep Marley? WHERE WAS GOD MARISSA? WHERE WAS GOD!? Where is God now? If God is here, how come I can't stop hating that damn paper, and can't stop disagreeing with everything you say?"
When Marissa replied, her voice was soft, and Gary had to strain to hear it.
"I don't know Chuck, I don't know why those things had to happen, but there had to be a reason, you *know* there had to be. And whether you believe it or not Chuck, God's always there. That's what I've always believed, and if you don't want to believe it, let me believe it for you."
"Marissa I-"
Gary couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't put up with just listening. He opened the door, and came into the office. Chuck and Marissa turned immediately to his direction.
"Gary? Is that you?"
"Yeah it's me Marissa."
Chuck bit on his lip. How long had he been standing outside the office for? How much of that conver- no, argument had he heard? Chuck hoped it wasn't a lot. He still believed that Gary's life would be better off without the paper. Chuck watched Gary as he sat down in one of the chairs, and leaned his crutches against the desk.
"I know you're both holding something back from me. What is it? What's this, this paper thing?"
******************
That tense silence was back again. Marissa tapped her fingers against her cane, and Chuck's gaze was bouncing around the office. The floor, the desk, Marissa,just not at him.
"Well, who's going to tell me? You, you were both so interested in telling me things about myself before, why-why does it have to stop now huh?" There was more silence. "Come on."
Marissa quickly licked her dry lips. "Gary?"
"Yeah?"
"When.." she started to say something, but then shook her head, and started differently. "If I were to tell you something about your life, would you believe me..no matter *how* strange it seemed?"
Gary looked at her. "Well, I suppose I'd have to, wouldn't I? You know more about whatever it is than I do."
Marissa nodded. "Alright. Gary, what if I told you that you-"
She didn't get any further than that. "Marissa, *don't*. What is it going to achieve?"
"*Chuck* just trust me, it's better this way."
"Just let her talk Chuck, *I* want to know, and whatever this is, it's to do with *my* life"
Chuck looked at him wide-eyed, but just shook his head, and stepped back so he was standing against the wall. Marissa looked back roughly in Gary's direction.
"Gary, what would you say if I told you, if I told you that you got tomorrow's news today?"
There was at least an empty thirty seconds. Then the corners of Gary's mouth curled up into a smile.
"What would I say? I'd say you were crazy Marissa. That's completely insane."
She shook her head. "No, it's not crazy Gary. You *do* get tomorrow's news. In a paper."
Gary just laughed. She had to be kidding him. Tomorrow's newspaper? That was just about the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. And he told her so.
"Well, Gary, I probably wouldn't believe it either, if I was in your place. But you'll understand tomorrow."
Gary grinned, and took hold of his crutches. "This is all very entertaining Marissa. But I'm sorry, I really don't believe you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm-I'm going to head upstairs. Goodnight."
"Goodnight then."
Gary headed up the stairs, and he could have sworn as he left, he had heard Marissa say something to him about saying hello to a cat.
******************
Gary opened the door to his loft, and thankfully found Alana there. She glanced at him with interest.
"So, how did it go?"
Gary shut the door behind him, and sat down on the couch.
"With Chuck and Marissa?" She nodded at him. "Alana, that has to be the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard. It sounds like something out of a child's comic book. That sort of thing just can't happen in real life!"
"You'd be surprised Gary."
He looked at her strangely. "Alana, are you seriously telling me that I *do* get this, this magic paper?"
"Would you believe me if I did?"
He thought about it for a moment. "Maybe.. I don't know Alana."
"Well, why don't you just see what tomorrow will bring huh?"
Yeah, he thought. That was a good idea. He looked at the alarm clock beside the bed. It said it was 11pm. He thought he'd go to sleep, forget about everything for a little while.
******************
Marissa hung her head. This was gonna be harder than she thought. But, did she really expect Gary to believe her? She supposed it was a bit much to ask. She could hear Chuck still walking around in the office.
"Chuck? Stop pacing. Please?"
"That's it Marissa. I've had enough."
Chuck's footsteps stopped pacing, and she heard him open a drawer, and take something out. He walked over to the desk where she knew the phone was.
"Chuck, what's it? Who are you calling?"
He had started flicking through some pages. She guessed it was an address book. Then he stopped, and started punching in numbers.
"Chuck?"
"Gary's parents. I have a feeling we're gonna need them before long."
"But Chuck, Gary told us last week that they were out of town!"
"So? That doesn't mean we can't leave them a message. They've got to come home sooner or later."
The phone began to ring, and then Chuck heard Lois Hobson's voice on the answer-phone.
"Hello, this is Lois and Bernie Hobson. We're not home, but we would love to hear from you, so, leave a message."
There were then a few short beeps, apparently there had already been a lot of messages. Chuck hoped there would be room left on the tape. One long beep signified that there was, and Chuck was quick in leaving his message, unsure of how much tape he had at his disposal.
"Hey Lois, hey Bernie. This is Chuck here. I know you're not there at the moment, but when you get back could you give me a call as soon as possible? Alright, Bye."
He replaced the receiver in the cradle, and sighed. He was begging Gary's mom and dad to come home as soon as possible.
And however many miles away, Lois and Bernie Hobson were in their car, heading back to Hickory.
******************
Upstairs, Gary lay on the bed in some sweats he had found in a drawer. After much searching, he thought. He now definitely felt as though he was in a stranger's home. He'd been very worried about uncovering something he shouldn't have. Which was stupid, this was all apparently his stuff. Alana came over, and perched on the edge of the bed.
"Come on Gary, get *into* bed will you?"
"Yeah, alright." He flicked up his covers, and crawled underneath them. He looked at Alana pointedly. She smiled.
"I don't get cold, but, alright."
She slipped under his covers, and moved up close to him. Gary slept soundly with her in his arms.
**
The next thing he heard was the radio.
"Good morning Chicago, it's 6:30am, and it's a cold one today. Winter is most definitely upon us!"
Gary automatically slapped his hand down on the clock, and the woman's annoyingly chipper voice ceased. Alana looked up at him
"Morning Gary."
"Morni-"
'Meow' SLAP.
Gary looked around the room, then back down at Alana.
"Erm, Alana? What, what was that?"
She had a cross between a nervous look and a smile on her face.
"Why don't you go and see?"
Gary flung his covers back, and grabbed one of his crutches. He didn't think that he was going to need both today. He headed towards his door, and opened it. He looked down..a ginger tabby cat, sitting on...a newspaper? Alright, that was a strange picture. He'd always thought it was dogs that brought newspapers. But, no that wasn't the only thing wrong with the picture. What was the newspaper doing there anyway? He bent over and picked it up. The cat waltzed gracefully through the door, and curled up on the couch. Gary looked at the date...no way? His eyes grew wide. That couldn't be right could it?
"Let me guess," came Alana's voice from the bed. "tomorrow's newspaper?"
Gary looked at it, stunned. Then he smiled.
"Nice try Marissa. You know she almost had me there for a minute Alana."
"But Marissa's not here yet Gary. No-one is. The bar's still locked up."
"What?"
"There's no one down there Gary. Come on, come over here."
Still completely confused, Gary went over to her, and sat beside her.
"Was-was she telling me the truth Alana?"
Alana just smiled.
"But this, this can't be real..can it?"
"What do you think?"
"I'm not sure. It could still be a joke, couldn't it? Some, some big joke?"
Alana sighed. "No, Gary, no it's not. This *is* tomorrow's paper."
He just looked at her. "You've been getting it for about two years now Gary."
He tried to let this sink in. It was a lot to take at six thirty. "You have got to be kidding me? What do I do with it?"
"Well what you used to do was go and help people. Why do you think you were in that parking lot in the first place?"
He was about to say 'parking' until he realised he couldn't remember seeing a car anywhere near the bar last night.
"I-I don't know. What *was* I doing there?"
"Stopping a woman from being hit by a car driving around the lot too quickly. You see, you felt you couldn't just let her get hurt, when you had the information to help her."
"It sounds to me like I was a bit of an idiot."
"No Gary, you weren't and aren't an idiot. It's just sometimes you cared that little bit too much."
"But if I have this paper that can tell me the future, what am I doing living in this little loft? I could be rich, I could do anything with it that I wanted."
"That's what Chuck has always told you. He never understood why you didn't just use the paper to make your own life better. But you wouldn't take that. You didn't think it was right."
"Now I really think I sound like an idiot."
Alana shook her head, sending strands of her fine hair out in the air. "No Gary Hobson, you're no idiot." She paused. "Look, why don't you just try the paper today, see if anything comes back to you that way? You might realise what I'm saying to you is true."
He sighed, and looked at her. At her sweet face, and her gentle eyes. He couldn't say no to her.
"Oh alright. For you."
She smiled at him, and stroked his face.
"Like I thought. You're a good man Gary Hobson."
******************
Gary sat in the McGinty's office, flicking through the pages of the paper, when he heard the door open, and saw Marissa enter. She raised an eyebrow.
"Gary?" She didn't seem sure in the slightest whether it was him there or not.
"Yeah it's me. Morning."
"Yeah, morning. What are you doing Gary?"
"Well you know Marissa, the funniest thing happened this morning. This cat arrived, and hey, you'd never guess what it had brought with it..oh yeah it was a newspaper"
The undertones of sarcasm were all too apparent, but Marissa ignored it. He had the paper. Maybe now he would believe her. If he didn't, Marissa knew that something was going to go wrong. She didn't know how she knew, but she did. She had to get Gary back out there, doing his usual good deeds. It felt strange to admit it, but she felt better when Gary was out there every day doing the paper's bidding than when he was sat here doing nothing. Not because she liked the knowledge that her friend was in danger, but when he wasn't out there it was as though there was a part of him missing.
"So, are you going to be going, you know, out there?"
"Saving the world? I suppose so. Do I really have any choice?"
He turned the page, having not yet found anything warranting attention. There. That was the incident he was supposed to prevent. It wasn't a large article, but then, what did people consider important in this world?
"Child dies on broken playground equipment," he read the article out to himself. "Jamie Harrison, aged five died in the playground near the Annie G Warren Grammar School, at 11am yesterday, after a broken climbing frame collapsed whilst he was playing on it. The child suffered head injuries and died in hospital shortly afterwards."
"That's awful Gary. What time is it?"
Gary looked at the clock on the wall. "Quarter past nine."
"Well the Annie G Warren School's quite far off. You're going to have head off soon."
"Yeah I guess so."
He was about to ask Marissa how he should get there, but he never started. The office door opened. It was Chuck. He glanced down at the paper, and then at Marissa.
"Marissa, could I have a word with Gary please?"
"Uh, sure Chuck. I'll be in the bar." She grabbed her cane, and headed into the bar. Chuck pulled a chair next to where Gary was sitting.
"So, it came then buddy?"
"Yeah"
Chuck glanced over his shoulder, and read the article about the playground. He looked at Gary.
"Are you gonna go?
Gary shrugged. "I don't really seem to have any choice do I?"
"Yeah you do buddy. You don't have to do anything with the paper. You could just forget about the paper."
"How could I forget about it Chuck? I know that little kid's gonna die if I don't so something!"
Chuck sighed. "Gar. If you want to go out and save people, that's your choice buddy. I know Marissa wants to tell you about the things that have happened to you because of the paper, but I'm not sure I do. I'll just tell you that this paper, well since you've had it, you've not been the same man Gar. You're always off trying to save someone, and I know this sounds harsh buddy, but you really have no life outside of the paper."
He took a deep breath before continuing. "Look Gar, I know everything's bound to be confusing at the moment. Do you really want to add the paper on top of it? I suppose you could call this a loss buddy, but it could be a second chance. A chance to get away from the paper, and go back to a normal life."
Gary studied Chuck's face. He seemed sincere. "Look Chuck. I'm going to try, whatever you want to call the paper's work, for today. After that, I'll, I'll probably know what I'm going to do."
Chuck nodded. "Alright buddy. I'll see you later." Chuck slapped a hand down on Gary's shoulder, then left to go into the bar.
Gary pulled his leather jacket off the back of the chair he was sitting on, and slipped it on. Grabbing his crutch, Gary stood up. He snatched at the paper, rolled it up and placed it in his back pocket. Leaning on the crutch, Gary headed out through the back exit of the building, to avoid Chuck and Marissa. It wasn't that he didn't like them, he just wanted to get out of McGinty's with as little recognition as possible
******************
He leaned back in his seat. He had just managed to catch the El Train before it had left. Foolishly, he'd forgotten to ask for those directions, so he had to stop and ask someone. But it didn't matter really. He'd be there in a while. He had plenty of time to get to that playground. Gary's fingers turned the remaining pages of the paper. The child's death seemed to be the worst thing in the paper. There was nothing else that was really worth preventing.
Man it was cold on the train. Gary pulled the collar of his jacket closer to his neck, in an attempt to keep it warm. He shivered. This whole tomorrow's paper thing still felt really weird. But then again, the whole "Gary Hobson" persona he had acquired still felt weird as well. So, perhaps the paper would start feeling a bit more natural soon.
******************
The car pulled into the driveway. They were home again. He stopped the car, and they both sighed. He got out and opened the trunk of the car, as she got out the house key, and went to open the door. They went inside, and he placed their bags down.
"Back home again huh Bernie?"
Lois Hobson turned to her husband, who gave her a small kiss. They certainly were back home again. The two of them had been to visit one of their friends in New York for the week. It had been wonderful. Much as the two of them Hickory, it was nice to get away for a little while.
"Come on Lois. We should go and check the machine before it explodes."
He smiled at her, and she laughed softly, as they walked to the phone, where the little red light was blinking furiously at them. Lois pulled the notepad that was always there next to her, and picked up the pencil. She pressed the playback button. Most of the messages weren't of any real interest. A couple of people who'd forgot they were going out of town, someone trying to sell vacuum cleaners..then, ah this one was interesting, a message from Gary's friend Chuck? She wrote down what he said.
"Bernie?" She called him from the other side of the room. He wasn't really paying attention to the machine. He knew Lois would give him any messages that were important.
"Bernie, there's a message here from Chuck. He wants us to call him back. He sounded, well like this was really important."
Bernie looked at his wife. "You want me to call him?"
She shook her head. "No, it's alright, I will." She decided to try calling McGinty's. She tapped in the number, and waited as the phone rang out.
******************
Chuck hung the phone up. That had been Gary's mom. She and Bernie had just got back to Hickory, and had found the message he had left. She seemed very anxious. He couldn't blame her. He'd been a little vague in his message. He had tried to delicately explain what was going on, and, just as he had expected, she told him that she and Bernie would be there probably before the end of the day. Chuck sighed. Maybe they could be of more help than he was currently being.
******************
Gary looked at his watch. 10:55am. Damn, there was only five minutes before that kid died. He looked ahead of him. Just off in the distance he could see the playground. He started moving just that little bit faster, as fast as was possible with his crutch hindering him...
He took a deep sigh of relief. He was there. The playground was empty, well almost, so it was easy enough to spot the climbing frame. It was about 20 feet away. The little boy was half way up the side of it, and Gary spotted a woman, presumably his mother, sitting on a bench a few feet away from the equipment, watching her son, but with a magazine on her lap which she was lazily flicking through at the same time. Gary realised that she was unlikely to believe him if he told her the frame was unsafe, she'd probably think he was after her or her child or something like that. So Gary wondered about how he was actually going to save the boy.
As he was watching, Gary's eyes saw it. The metal bars on the top, weak looking, and starting to give way. He realised that it was going to happen within a few seconds, so he zoomed over there, wincing in conjunction with the hasty movement, and caught the child as he the bars gave way and he fell. The child's mother jumped up from the bench, her magazine falling in a muddy puddle, and ran over to her son. She tore him from Gary, and held him close to her.
"Jamie! Oh my baby! Are you alright?"
The little boy nodded, and she stroked his hair. The woman then turned to Gary.
"How did you know?"
Gary hesitated. How did he know? How could he tell her? He couldn't explain it to her. So he just shrugged.
"I I was just watching from the other side of the street, and, and I thought that the climbing frame looked unsafe, so I came over."
That had to be the lamest excuse he had ever heard. The woman stared at him, and he starting feeling like he was being examined. Her glare was definitely unfriendly, not like the friendly sound her voice had had a few moments ago.
"What? You were watching my son?! You sicko!"
She clutched her son protectively, and ran out of the playground. But just as she was about to exit, she turned around and shouted 'pervert' at him. Gary just stood there in the now empty playground, with the winter sun making the damp grass shine. He walked over to the bench and slumped down on it. He put his head in his hands, and he heard a sweet sympathetic sigh from next to him.
"Hi Alana." He knew it was her, even without looking.
"Hey there. You did it you know, that little boy is still alive. You should feel good about it."
"Yeah? Well how come I don't?"
"Lack of gratitude maybe?"
"Yeah maybe. I I mean calling me a pervert? That that was uncalled for."
She nodded. "You're right." She gently placed her hand on his shoulder. He heaved a sigh.
"Is it always like this Alana? Is that what Chuck meant?"
"Well, yes it is like this a lot of the time, but a lot of people are tremendously grateful Gary. She was just one person you know?"
Gary could almost hear Marissa's voice in his head, asking him if he was going to let one minor incident put him off helping people. Oh he didn't know. He glanced sideways at Alana, and then swivelled around to face her properly. Her beautiful face was coated with kindness, and though she had a young face, her eyes seemed to have the look of infinite wisdom in them. They sure didn't look young. And it made him wonder what her real age was.
"Alana?"
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"I..suppose so Gary. Go on."
He paused, then looked directly at her.
"Alana, how old are you?"
She looked surprised.
"How old am I?"
"Yeah."
She smiled softly. "Gary, I am older than you could possibly imagine."
He looked at her, surprised in a way, but in a way, he had expected her to say that. "I suppose you must have been lonely, waiting for me huh?"
She looked more than surprised, more like stunned. As though no-one had ever asked her that before.
"Yes. Yes I have been lonely. But it was worth the wait Gary, even if you are a hard case to deal with. You're a wonderful person. I feel I've been very, very lucky to have been given you."
"Really?"
She nodded."Mmmhmm."
"Well I think I've probably been lucky as well."
Alana moved closer to Gary and smiled broadly. "No-one has ever said anything like that to me before Gary, thank you."
And she was thankful. He hadn't treated her like a child, even though she may be young in appearance. She most definitely wasn't young. She looked at Gary's large eyes, and he was looking at her. He was a good person to have got. She stroked his face. He smiled at her. The last time she did that, he had thought he could come to like it, but now he knew he had.
The winter wind that had made the grass glint now made her hair shine, and he then realised she had her arms around his shoulders. She leant towards him and gently kissed him with her small, rose-coloured lips. That wasn't what he had been expecting, but after a few moments he stopped resisting. It felt right, no matter how old Alana looked.
After a time, she pulled away from him.
"Like I said, I've been very lucky."
**
Gary looked at her astonished. What had just happened between the two of them? She was still smiling, but she was biting her bottom lip.
"That's probably broken every rule ever made Gary. But it was worth it."
******************
The door to McGinty's bar opened. Chuck looked towards it, and saw them. He walked round from his current position behind the bar and walked over to Gary's mom. He gave her a big hug. Marissa got up and went towards them
"Lois..hey Bernie"
"Hi Chuck, Marissa."
"Where is he Chuck?" Lois asked him.
"Where do you think? Out saving the world."
The two of them looked at Chuck, with shocked expressions on their faces.
"He's, he's *out there*? Not really knowing what's going on?"
"Yeah."
"What was in the paper?"
Marissa took her turn. "Not much. A little boy dies on a broken climbing frame, but that was it apparently. He should be back soon."
"Let's hope so Marissa." Bernie told her. The small group all wore similar concerned faces. It was going to be a difficult day, they could tell.
Shadows: Part Three
Gary looked around him. He'd been told this was where he lived. In this loft conversion. It was decent enough he supposed. He must like it, otherwise why would he still be living there? He sighed, and held his head in his hands. Marissa and Chuck had gone down into the bar for a while. He ran his fingers through his hair. This place..it meant nothing to him. It used to be his home, or so he was told, but now, it, it was just a building! It was like being in a stranger's house. You know it's a home, their home, and you feel out of place. Just like Gary did with this whole situation.
"Right, that's enough. I can't leave you any longer."
Gary's eyes brightened at the sound of her voice, and he glanced next to him, she had joined him in sitting on the bed.
"Alana" He said, acknowledging her presence.
"Hey there. Miss me?"
"Of course."
Gary was about to continue speaking, when he realised something. He *had* missed her. Well, what else could you expect? He asked himself. She was the only familiar thing in these formally known, but now alien, surroundings.
"So, how do you think it's going Gary?"
"Going?" he looked at her, unsure of what she meant for a moment, but then it struck him. He felt a little foolish. "Oh right. Not too bad I suppose. They've told me lots of interesting things about Gary Hobson. But.."
His voice trailed off.
"But what Gary? What is it?"
"Well. A couple of things that each of them said, they didn't sound right. Especially some things that Chuck said. Like they weren't telling me what was real. And there's something else."
"What?"
"Well, maybe you can tell me Alana. What aren't they telling me? The big thing? I can tell they're holding back."
Alana sighed, and looked at him kindly.
"I do know what it is they're not telling you Gary, but I can't tell you. That's not my job." She paused to think for a moment. "But maybe..maybe I can point you in the right direction."
Something lit up in her eyes, and she took Gary's hand.
"Come with Gary. Come on."
The two of them stood, and Gary headed towards the door slowly. He hobbled down the stairs, and was almost at the bottom, when he heard voices through the closed door of the office. He stopped where he thought his silhouette wouldn't be seen, and listened to what was being said behind the frosted glass.
"When are we going to tell him Chuck?"
"About what?"
"You *know* about what Chuck!"
There were footsteps, and it sounded a little like someone was pacing. There was a pause, before one of them spoke again.
"Do-do we really *have* to tell him about it?" Chuck's voice asked. He sounded very dubious about what he was saying. This conversation was intriguing. The tone in Marissa's voice changed when she spoke again. She sounded highly annoyed, almost angry at what Chuck had just said.
"Chuck, please tell me I didn't hear you say that?"
"Yeah ya did. Do we have to tell him about it?"
"Chuck of course we do!" She said, exasperated. "If we take it away, he'll never be the same!"
Chuck's voice dropped to a lower pitch, and was then very forceful.
"Yeah Marissa, you're damn right. He'll never be the same. And in all honesty, I don't think it would be a bad thing."
"Chuck, if we don't tell him, what's going to happen to all the people out there that depend on him?"
That did it. Chuck started yelling, but he pitched it just right so that Marissa would feel the effect, but the patrons in the bar wouldn't hear.
"All the people who depend on him! What about Gary himself huh Marissa? That damn thing's nearly taken him, oh I've stopped counting how many times! I told you right at the start, that it was out to get Gary, and what, Marissa, you're still not convinced?! It's taken his memory away, and you're still not convinced that it's got it in for him?"
Gary was totally confused, as he stood there. Alana squeezed his hand reassuringly, and placed a finger to his lips, urging him to continue listening.
"The way I see it, we don't tell him about all the terrible things that've happened to him, and we go one stop further, and don't tell him about that damned paper and that bloody cat!"
*Paper*? *Cat*? What the hell?
"We let him have his life back Marissa! We let him have it!"
There was a long, pregnant pause in the office. Chuck had apparently finished his outburst, and was waiting for Marissa's response. She sighed.
"If we take the paper away from Gary, we're doing the wrong thing. It's still his Chuck."
"Well have you seen it lately? Where's the damn cat huh?"
"I don't know Chuck, and I'm not going to try and understand it. But if we take the paper away, we're taking Gary's future away from him. And if we don't tell him about what's happened to him in the past because of it, we're taking away his past. Suffering makes a person Chuck."
"Then Gary's had enough for two people Marissa. You know that."
"Yes, I do. But God moves in mysterious ways Chuck, and I'm not about to interfere."
"God?! What has God got to do with this Marissa?"
"God's got everything to do with it Chuck."
"Oh how do you figure that Marissa? Where was God when Gary almost froze to death? Where was God when he was hit by that car? Where, where was God Marissa when Gary was stuck with that creep Marley? WHERE WAS GOD MARISSA? WHERE WAS GOD!? Where is God now? If God is here, how come I can't stop hating that damn paper, and can't stop disagreeing with everything you say?"
When Marissa replied, her voice was soft, and Gary had to strain to hear it.
"I don't know Chuck, I don't know why those things had to happen, but there had to be a reason, you *know* there had to be. And whether you believe it or not Chuck, God's always there. That's what I've always believed, and if you don't want to believe it, let me believe it for you."
"Marissa I-"
Gary couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't put up with just listening. He opened the door, and came into the office. Chuck and Marissa turned immediately to his direction.
"Gary? Is that you?"
"Yeah it's me Marissa."
Chuck bit on his lip. How long had he been standing outside the office for? How much of that conver- no, argument had he heard? Chuck hoped it wasn't a lot. He still believed that Gary's life would be better off without the paper. Chuck watched Gary as he sat down in one of the chairs, and leaned his crutches against the desk.
"I know you're both holding something back from me. What is it? What's this, this paper thing?"
******************
That tense silence was back again. Marissa tapped her fingers against her cane, and Chuck's gaze was bouncing around the office. The floor, the desk, Marissa,just not at him.
"Well, who's going to tell me? You, you were both so interested in telling me things about myself before, why-why does it have to stop now huh?" There was more silence. "Come on."
Marissa quickly licked her dry lips. "Gary?"
"Yeah?"
"When.." she started to say something, but then shook her head, and started differently. "If I were to tell you something about your life, would you believe me..no matter *how* strange it seemed?"
Gary looked at her. "Well, I suppose I'd have to, wouldn't I? You know more about whatever it is than I do."
Marissa nodded. "Alright. Gary, what if I told you that you-"
She didn't get any further than that. "Marissa, *don't*. What is it going to achieve?"
"*Chuck* just trust me, it's better this way."
"Just let her talk Chuck, *I* want to know, and whatever this is, it's to do with *my* life"
Chuck looked at him wide-eyed, but just shook his head, and stepped back so he was standing against the wall. Marissa looked back roughly in Gary's direction.
"Gary, what would you say if I told you, if I told you that you got tomorrow's news today?"
There was at least an empty thirty seconds. Then the corners of Gary's mouth curled up into a smile.
"What would I say? I'd say you were crazy Marissa. That's completely insane."
She shook her head. "No, it's not crazy Gary. You *do* get tomorrow's news. In a paper."
Gary just laughed. She had to be kidding him. Tomorrow's newspaper? That was just about the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. And he told her so.
"Well, Gary, I probably wouldn't believe it either, if I was in your place. But you'll understand tomorrow."
Gary grinned, and took hold of his crutches. "This is all very entertaining Marissa. But I'm sorry, I really don't believe you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm-I'm going to head upstairs. Goodnight."
"Goodnight then."
Gary headed up the stairs, and he could have sworn as he left, he had heard Marissa say something to him about saying hello to a cat.
******************
Gary opened the door to his loft, and thankfully found Alana there. She glanced at him with interest.
"So, how did it go?"
Gary shut the door behind him, and sat down on the couch.
"With Chuck and Marissa?" She nodded at him. "Alana, that has to be the most ridiculous thing that I have ever heard. It sounds like something out of a child's comic book. That sort of thing just can't happen in real life!"
"You'd be surprised Gary."
He looked at her strangely. "Alana, are you seriously telling me that I *do* get this, this magic paper?"
"Would you believe me if I did?"
He thought about it for a moment. "Maybe.. I don't know Alana."
"Well, why don't you just see what tomorrow will bring huh?"
Yeah, he thought. That was a good idea. He looked at the alarm clock beside the bed. It said it was 11pm. He thought he'd go to sleep, forget about everything for a little while.
******************
Marissa hung her head. This was gonna be harder than she thought. But, did she really expect Gary to believe her? She supposed it was a bit much to ask. She could hear Chuck still walking around in the office.
"Chuck? Stop pacing. Please?"
"That's it Marissa. I've had enough."
Chuck's footsteps stopped pacing, and she heard him open a drawer, and take something out. He walked over to the desk where she knew the phone was.
"Chuck, what's it? Who are you calling?"
He had started flicking through some pages. She guessed it was an address book. Then he stopped, and started punching in numbers.
"Chuck?"
"Gary's parents. I have a feeling we're gonna need them before long."
"But Chuck, Gary told us last week that they were out of town!"
"So? That doesn't mean we can't leave them a message. They've got to come home sooner or later."
The phone began to ring, and then Chuck heard Lois Hobson's voice on the answer-phone.
"Hello, this is Lois and Bernie Hobson. We're not home, but we would love to hear from you, so, leave a message."
There were then a few short beeps, apparently there had already been a lot of messages. Chuck hoped there would be room left on the tape. One long beep signified that there was, and Chuck was quick in leaving his message, unsure of how much tape he had at his disposal.
"Hey Lois, hey Bernie. This is Chuck here. I know you're not there at the moment, but when you get back could you give me a call as soon as possible? Alright, Bye."
He replaced the receiver in the cradle, and sighed. He was begging Gary's mom and dad to come home as soon as possible.
And however many miles away, Lois and Bernie Hobson were in their car, heading back to Hickory.
******************
Upstairs, Gary lay on the bed in some sweats he had found in a drawer. After much searching, he thought. He now definitely felt as though he was in a stranger's home. He'd been very worried about uncovering something he shouldn't have. Which was stupid, this was all apparently his stuff. Alana came over, and perched on the edge of the bed.
"Come on Gary, get *into* bed will you?"
"Yeah, alright." He flicked up his covers, and crawled underneath them. He looked at Alana pointedly. She smiled.
"I don't get cold, but, alright."
She slipped under his covers, and moved up close to him. Gary slept soundly with her in his arms.
**
The next thing he heard was the radio.
"Good morning Chicago, it's 6:30am, and it's a cold one today. Winter is most definitely upon us!"
Gary automatically slapped his hand down on the clock, and the woman's annoyingly chipper voice ceased. Alana looked up at him
"Morning Gary."
"Morni-"
'Meow' SLAP.
Gary looked around the room, then back down at Alana.
"Erm, Alana? What, what was that?"
She had a cross between a nervous look and a smile on her face.
"Why don't you go and see?"
Gary flung his covers back, and grabbed one of his crutches. He didn't think that he was going to need both today. He headed towards his door, and opened it. He looked down..a ginger tabby cat, sitting on...a newspaper? Alright, that was a strange picture. He'd always thought it was dogs that brought newspapers. But, no that wasn't the only thing wrong with the picture. What was the newspaper doing there anyway? He bent over and picked it up. The cat waltzed gracefully through the door, and curled up on the couch. Gary looked at the date...no way? His eyes grew wide. That couldn't be right could it?
"Let me guess," came Alana's voice from the bed. "tomorrow's newspaper?"
Gary looked at it, stunned. Then he smiled.
"Nice try Marissa. You know she almost had me there for a minute Alana."
"But Marissa's not here yet Gary. No-one is. The bar's still locked up."
"What?"
"There's no one down there Gary. Come on, come over here."
Still completely confused, Gary went over to her, and sat beside her.
"Was-was she telling me the truth Alana?"
Alana just smiled.
"But this, this can't be real..can it?"
"What do you think?"
"I'm not sure. It could still be a joke, couldn't it? Some, some big joke?"
Alana sighed. "No, Gary, no it's not. This *is* tomorrow's paper."
He just looked at her. "You've been getting it for about two years now Gary."
He tried to let this sink in. It was a lot to take at six thirty. "You have got to be kidding me? What do I do with it?"
"Well what you used to do was go and help people. Why do you think you were in that parking lot in the first place?"
He was about to say 'parking' until he realised he couldn't remember seeing a car anywhere near the bar last night.
"I-I don't know. What *was* I doing there?"
"Stopping a woman from being hit by a car driving around the lot too quickly. You see, you felt you couldn't just let her get hurt, when you had the information to help her."
"It sounds to me like I was a bit of an idiot."
"No Gary, you weren't and aren't an idiot. It's just sometimes you cared that little bit too much."
"But if I have this paper that can tell me the future, what am I doing living in this little loft? I could be rich, I could do anything with it that I wanted."
"That's what Chuck has always told you. He never understood why you didn't just use the paper to make your own life better. But you wouldn't take that. You didn't think it was right."
"Now I really think I sound like an idiot."
Alana shook her head, sending strands of her fine hair out in the air. "No Gary Hobson, you're no idiot." She paused. "Look, why don't you just try the paper today, see if anything comes back to you that way? You might realise what I'm saying to you is true."
He sighed, and looked at her. At her sweet face, and her gentle eyes. He couldn't say no to her.
"Oh alright. For you."
She smiled at him, and stroked his face.
"Like I thought. You're a good man Gary Hobson."
******************
Gary sat in the McGinty's office, flicking through the pages of the paper, when he heard the door open, and saw Marissa enter. She raised an eyebrow.
"Gary?" She didn't seem sure in the slightest whether it was him there or not.
"Yeah it's me. Morning."
"Yeah, morning. What are you doing Gary?"
"Well you know Marissa, the funniest thing happened this morning. This cat arrived, and hey, you'd never guess what it had brought with it..oh yeah it was a newspaper"
The undertones of sarcasm were all too apparent, but Marissa ignored it. He had the paper. Maybe now he would believe her. If he didn't, Marissa knew that something was going to go wrong. She didn't know how she knew, but she did. She had to get Gary back out there, doing his usual good deeds. It felt strange to admit it, but she felt better when Gary was out there every day doing the paper's bidding than when he was sat here doing nothing. Not because she liked the knowledge that her friend was in danger, but when he wasn't out there it was as though there was a part of him missing.
"So, are you going to be going, you know, out there?"
"Saving the world? I suppose so. Do I really have any choice?"
He turned the page, having not yet found anything warranting attention. There. That was the incident he was supposed to prevent. It wasn't a large article, but then, what did people consider important in this world?
"Child dies on broken playground equipment," he read the article out to himself. "Jamie Harrison, aged five died in the playground near the Annie G Warren Grammar School, at 11am yesterday, after a broken climbing frame collapsed whilst he was playing on it. The child suffered head injuries and died in hospital shortly afterwards."
"That's awful Gary. What time is it?"
Gary looked at the clock on the wall. "Quarter past nine."
"Well the Annie G Warren School's quite far off. You're going to have head off soon."
"Yeah I guess so."
He was about to ask Marissa how he should get there, but he never started. The office door opened. It was Chuck. He glanced down at the paper, and then at Marissa.
"Marissa, could I have a word with Gary please?"
"Uh, sure Chuck. I'll be in the bar." She grabbed her cane, and headed into the bar. Chuck pulled a chair next to where Gary was sitting.
"So, it came then buddy?"
"Yeah"
Chuck glanced over his shoulder, and read the article about the playground. He looked at Gary.
"Are you gonna go?
Gary shrugged. "I don't really seem to have any choice do I?"
"Yeah you do buddy. You don't have to do anything with the paper. You could just forget about the paper."
"How could I forget about it Chuck? I know that little kid's gonna die if I don't so something!"
Chuck sighed. "Gar. If you want to go out and save people, that's your choice buddy. I know Marissa wants to tell you about the things that have happened to you because of the paper, but I'm not sure I do. I'll just tell you that this paper, well since you've had it, you've not been the same man Gar. You're always off trying to save someone, and I know this sounds harsh buddy, but you really have no life outside of the paper."
He took a deep breath before continuing. "Look Gar, I know everything's bound to be confusing at the moment. Do you really want to add the paper on top of it? I suppose you could call this a loss buddy, but it could be a second chance. A chance to get away from the paper, and go back to a normal life."
Gary studied Chuck's face. He seemed sincere. "Look Chuck. I'm going to try, whatever you want to call the paper's work, for today. After that, I'll, I'll probably know what I'm going to do."
Chuck nodded. "Alright buddy. I'll see you later." Chuck slapped a hand down on Gary's shoulder, then left to go into the bar.
Gary pulled his leather jacket off the back of the chair he was sitting on, and slipped it on. Grabbing his crutch, Gary stood up. He snatched at the paper, rolled it up and placed it in his back pocket. Leaning on the crutch, Gary headed out through the back exit of the building, to avoid Chuck and Marissa. It wasn't that he didn't like them, he just wanted to get out of McGinty's with as little recognition as possible
******************
He leaned back in his seat. He had just managed to catch the El Train before it had left. Foolishly, he'd forgotten to ask for those directions, so he had to stop and ask someone. But it didn't matter really. He'd be there in a while. He had plenty of time to get to that playground. Gary's fingers turned the remaining pages of the paper. The child's death seemed to be the worst thing in the paper. There was nothing else that was really worth preventing.
Man it was cold on the train. Gary pulled the collar of his jacket closer to his neck, in an attempt to keep it warm. He shivered. This whole tomorrow's paper thing still felt really weird. But then again, the whole "Gary Hobson" persona he had acquired still felt weird as well. So, perhaps the paper would start feeling a bit more natural soon.
******************
The car pulled into the driveway. They were home again. He stopped the car, and they both sighed. He got out and opened the trunk of the car, as she got out the house key, and went to open the door. They went inside, and he placed their bags down.
"Back home again huh Bernie?"
Lois Hobson turned to her husband, who gave her a small kiss. They certainly were back home again. The two of them had been to visit one of their friends in New York for the week. It had been wonderful. Much as the two of them Hickory, it was nice to get away for a little while.
"Come on Lois. We should go and check the machine before it explodes."
He smiled at her, and she laughed softly, as they walked to the phone, where the little red light was blinking furiously at them. Lois pulled the notepad that was always there next to her, and picked up the pencil. She pressed the playback button. Most of the messages weren't of any real interest. A couple of people who'd forgot they were going out of town, someone trying to sell vacuum cleaners..then, ah this one was interesting, a message from Gary's friend Chuck? She wrote down what he said.
"Bernie?" She called him from the other side of the room. He wasn't really paying attention to the machine. He knew Lois would give him any messages that were important.
"Bernie, there's a message here from Chuck. He wants us to call him back. He sounded, well like this was really important."
Bernie looked at his wife. "You want me to call him?"
She shook her head. "No, it's alright, I will." She decided to try calling McGinty's. She tapped in the number, and waited as the phone rang out.
******************
Chuck hung the phone up. That had been Gary's mom. She and Bernie had just got back to Hickory, and had found the message he had left. She seemed very anxious. He couldn't blame her. He'd been a little vague in his message. He had tried to delicately explain what was going on, and, just as he had expected, she told him that she and Bernie would be there probably before the end of the day. Chuck sighed. Maybe they could be of more help than he was currently being.
******************
Gary looked at his watch. 10:55am. Damn, there was only five minutes before that kid died. He looked ahead of him. Just off in the distance he could see the playground. He started moving just that little bit faster, as fast as was possible with his crutch hindering him...
He took a deep sigh of relief. He was there. The playground was empty, well almost, so it was easy enough to spot the climbing frame. It was about 20 feet away. The little boy was half way up the side of it, and Gary spotted a woman, presumably his mother, sitting on a bench a few feet away from the equipment, watching her son, but with a magazine on her lap which she was lazily flicking through at the same time. Gary realised that she was unlikely to believe him if he told her the frame was unsafe, she'd probably think he was after her or her child or something like that. So Gary wondered about how he was actually going to save the boy.
As he was watching, Gary's eyes saw it. The metal bars on the top, weak looking, and starting to give way. He realised that it was going to happen within a few seconds, so he zoomed over there, wincing in conjunction with the hasty movement, and caught the child as he the bars gave way and he fell. The child's mother jumped up from the bench, her magazine falling in a muddy puddle, and ran over to her son. She tore him from Gary, and held him close to her.
"Jamie! Oh my baby! Are you alright?"
The little boy nodded, and she stroked his hair. The woman then turned to Gary.
"How did you know?"
Gary hesitated. How did he know? How could he tell her? He couldn't explain it to her. So he just shrugged.
"I I was just watching from the other side of the street, and, and I thought that the climbing frame looked unsafe, so I came over."
That had to be the lamest excuse he had ever heard. The woman stared at him, and he starting feeling like he was being examined. Her glare was definitely unfriendly, not like the friendly sound her voice had had a few moments ago.
"What? You were watching my son?! You sicko!"
She clutched her son protectively, and ran out of the playground. But just as she was about to exit, she turned around and shouted 'pervert' at him. Gary just stood there in the now empty playground, with the winter sun making the damp grass shine. He walked over to the bench and slumped down on it. He put his head in his hands, and he heard a sweet sympathetic sigh from next to him.
"Hi Alana." He knew it was her, even without looking.
"Hey there. You did it you know, that little boy is still alive. You should feel good about it."
"Yeah? Well how come I don't?"
"Lack of gratitude maybe?"
"Yeah maybe. I I mean calling me a pervert? That that was uncalled for."
She nodded. "You're right." She gently placed her hand on his shoulder. He heaved a sigh.
"Is it always like this Alana? Is that what Chuck meant?"
"Well, yes it is like this a lot of the time, but a lot of people are tremendously grateful Gary. She was just one person you know?"
Gary could almost hear Marissa's voice in his head, asking him if he was going to let one minor incident put him off helping people. Oh he didn't know. He glanced sideways at Alana, and then swivelled around to face her properly. Her beautiful face was coated with kindness, and though she had a young face, her eyes seemed to have the look of infinite wisdom in them. They sure didn't look young. And it made him wonder what her real age was.
"Alana?"
"Yes?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"I..suppose so Gary. Go on."
He paused, then looked directly at her.
"Alana, how old are you?"
She looked surprised.
"How old am I?"
"Yeah."
She smiled softly. "Gary, I am older than you could possibly imagine."
He looked at her, surprised in a way, but in a way, he had expected her to say that. "I suppose you must have been lonely, waiting for me huh?"
She looked more than surprised, more like stunned. As though no-one had ever asked her that before.
"Yes. Yes I have been lonely. But it was worth the wait Gary, even if you are a hard case to deal with. You're a wonderful person. I feel I've been very, very lucky to have been given you."
"Really?"
She nodded."Mmmhmm."
"Well I think I've probably been lucky as well."
Alana moved closer to Gary and smiled broadly. "No-one has ever said anything like that to me before Gary, thank you."
And she was thankful. He hadn't treated her like a child, even though she may be young in appearance. She most definitely wasn't young. She looked at Gary's large eyes, and he was looking at her. He was a good person to have got. She stroked his face. He smiled at her. The last time she did that, he had thought he could come to like it, but now he knew he had.
The winter wind that had made the grass glint now made her hair shine, and he then realised she had her arms around his shoulders. She leant towards him and gently kissed him with her small, rose-coloured lips. That wasn't what he had been expecting, but after a few moments he stopped resisting. It felt right, no matter how old Alana looked.
After a time, she pulled away from him.
"Like I said, I've been very lucky."
**
Gary looked at her astonished. What had just happened between the two of them? She was still smiling, but she was biting her bottom lip.
"That's probably broken every rule ever made Gary. But it was worth it."
******************
The door to McGinty's bar opened. Chuck looked towards it, and saw them. He walked round from his current position behind the bar and walked over to Gary's mom. He gave her a big hug. Marissa got up and went towards them
"Lois..hey Bernie"
"Hi Chuck, Marissa."
"Where is he Chuck?" Lois asked him.
"Where do you think? Out saving the world."
The two of them looked at Chuck, with shocked expressions on their faces.
"He's, he's *out there*? Not really knowing what's going on?"
"Yeah."
"What was in the paper?"
Marissa took her turn. "Not much. A little boy dies on a broken climbing frame, but that was it apparently. He should be back soon."
"Let's hope so Marissa." Bernie told her. The small group all wore similar concerned faces. It was going to be a difficult day, they could tell.