Chapter 32

Shape and Sky

“…but must it always be so sunny , Elmer? So bright and cheerful, all day.” Amelia Shape stood at the bookstore window and squinted out at the mid-day scene before her: a parking lot scattered with glistening vehicles, a road, some businesses, and then the treeline of a woods that extended up into the hills beyond.

She turned, dramatically extending a hand to block the invasive sunlight. “Not even any blinds here. Disgraceful. Are you listening, Elmer?”

Elmer Sky beamed at her from a nearby chair. “Look at this, Amelia!” He showed her a large square of glossy paper, several pages thick, with pictures all over it. “This book of dates is full of pictures! Of sunsets! A ha, ha ha! And look—” He shuffled through a nearby pile of them. “This one—windmills! And this one, waterfalls. And this one, puppies. Puppies, Amelia!” He chuckled.

“Yes, dear, indeed.” She fell into a nearby chair. “Can’t you do something about this weather?”

Elmer frowned at her in disapproval. “Now now, dear, there’s no call for that sort of attitude. It’s a lovely day!”

She shook her head, reached for her coffee, and accidentally knocked it off the table and onto the floor.

“Tsk!” said Elmer as he leapt to the rescue of several nearby books. “ Careful, dear! My, but I don’t have a kerchief on me.” He patted his pockets sorrowfully. Amelia watched, apathetic, as the dark liquid ran into interlocking geometric shapes. She raised a hand, and with a casual sweep through empty air she collected all of the spilled coffee into a perfect circle. Then she made it conform to the diamond pattern already present on the wooden floor.

“It won’t matter,” she said. “Leave the spill. Nothing anyone does on this world will matter tomorrow.”

Elmer looked down at the spill, then out the window. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our best today, Amelia. I’ll go get some napkins.” Elmer tottered off in the direction of the coffee bar at the far end of the bookstore.

Amelia spent some time playing with the shape of the coffee on the wood floor. Then she began shuffling through the books of dates which Elmer had accumulated. Some of them were sealed shut with plastic, but Elmer had pried most of them open. Transparent sleeves lay about like shed skins. Amelia selected one at random and opened to the first month—the month, apparently, in which they had appeared on this world. One entire page consisted of a close-up photograph of two kittens wrestling each other, both making a noble effort to appear fierce and powerful. Amelia gazed at this for a moment. Then she smiled a very small smile.

She looked through a few more of the calendars. There seemed to be remarkably few containing pictures of people, or of cities, but many depicted skies and horizons. No wonder they fascinated Elmer.

When her companion still had not returned after a few minutes, she rose to seek him out. She tripped over her own feet on the way and nearly upset a precariously stacked display of books.

She found Elmer at the counter, laughing his explosive laugh and wiping tears from his eyes while the young woman behind the counter smiled politely with a puzzled expression.

“Sir, you don’t need to return that cup,” she said. “It’s, uh, disposable.”

Elmer’s laughter subsided into a merry chortle. “That’s very kind of you,” he said, “but really, I insist. There’s no call for such generosity!” He offered her his coffee cup.

The young woman glanced at Amelia, then with a sigh took Elmer’s cup, turned, and tossed it into a garbage can behind the counter. Elmer could not see this happen because he was just barely able to see above the counter in the first place.

“Come on, Elmer,” said Amelia. “Let’s go.” She left the bookstore and Elmer trailed after her. They stopped outside to survey the interior of the shopping mall. From the balcony they could look down onto the floor below. All manner of businesses lined the walls. She and Elmer had spent nearly all morning exploring. Amelia thought they were beginning to “get the hang of” this world.

“I thought you were getting napkins,” she said as she glared up at the sunlight streaming down through the windowed ceiling. No escape from the sun.

“Egads!” cried Elmer. “I forgot!” He turned as though to reenter the bookstore.

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“Leave it,” said Amelia.

“Surely you would like a replacement beverage?”

Amelia shook her head. “I’m fine.” She directed her gaze onto the few people wandering about on the floor below.

“I’ll see what I can do,” said Elmer. “About the weather. Ahem…what would you prefer?”

“Something cloudy? Perhaps with a light drizzle of rain and a cool breeze.” Amelia watched him out of the corner of her eye as he frowned critically up at the sky through the windows in the ceiling, like a sculptor surveying the potential within a block of stone.

“One melancholy afternoon, coming right up, my dear!” he declared after a moment. “Where to next?”

They continued their meandering path through the mall. They stopped for ice cream, and to look at fish, and to put coins into a machine in exchange for candy which Amelia did not eat, and to investigate a store dedicated to many types of footwear.

“Amelia!” exclaimed Elmer as they stood by the directory. “How do you suppose it knows where we are? Fascinating!”

“It doesn’t move, Elmer,” she said.

“But suppose you saw it in a photograph! Or through a magnifying lens, from far away. Then it's assertion would be incorrect.”

Amelia discovered that the directory was an interactive screen which could be touched to search for stores or to sort by category. She spent some time playing with it before losing interest. It seemed an overly complicated device for a relatively small shopping center.

She spotted something of note nearby. “Elmer,” she said, “aren’t you interested in tea?”

Elmer gave this due consideration. “I…I’m not sure, Amelia! Am I? Have you remembered something?!”

Amelia shook her head. “It’s not something I remembered. You just like to get tea. You always have something to say about its flavor.”

“Do I? By the stars, I think you’re right! Perhaps I’ll add it to the list!” Elmer kept a list of things they had remembered: about themselves, about where they came from, about why they might be here. And of course, about who might be hunting them. Amelia found this list depressingly short on certainties.

Amelia nodded behind Elmer. “There’s a tea shop. Let’s go.”

“Capital!” said Elmer. “A dab of pekoe would be just the thing!”

Elmer stopped as soon as they entered the tea shop. He looked around in confusion and put a plump hand to his forehead. “Amelia!” he said, “I…believe that tea shops are…or were…different than this. Yes! I have a memory…” He hurried to pull the notebook from his pocket and scribble down this new development.

The tea shop seemed nothing out of the ordinary to Amelia. It was a small place, the walls lined with brightly colored tins, the center tables displaying tea sets and devices. A young olive-skinned man with a beard sat behind a counter reading a book, and a girl with long blonde hair perused the selection to the left, sniffing the different teas.

The absurdity of what they were doing suddenly pressed in upon Amelia Shape. Here they were. They knew they were being pursued, they remembered next to nothing beyond the past two months, and they were fairly sure that a global cataclysm of some kind was imminent. Yet here they were, messing around in bookstores, buying candy, and investigating tea shops. They knew an angel was around here somewhere, but had no idea how to find it. And if they couldn’t find it…

Elmer, of course, was not concerned. Amelia didn’t even bother voicing her concerns because she knew exactly how he would respond: “Well what’s the use in fussing over what we can’t control? Here, try this pastry, it’s delicious!” But if they weren’t able to—

The girl shopping off to the side turned around, and Amelia happened to glance at her. Amelia stiffened, and every thought faded from her mind, save one:

It’s her!

The girl walked up to the counter and began a purchase transaction, oblivious to Amelia and Elmer.

“Amelia?” said Elmer, tugging at her sleeve. “What is it?”

Now it was Amelia’s turn to put a hand to her head as though it would aid in recollection. It’s her? Who? She didn’t know; she couldn’t remember. All she knew was that for just a moment, when she saw that girl’s face, she had almost remembered something important. Something about snow. Flowers. Movement.

“Elmer,” she said, grasping his shoulder. “Do you recognize that girl?”

Elmer peered at the girl by the counter. She wore a plain grey jacket with loose blue pants and sandals, and her golden hair hung down to her waist. They both waited until she turned around. As soon as her face was visible, thunder resounded faintly from above. The girl glanced curiously upward as she made her way past them and out of the store.

The thunder was confirmation enough for Amelia. She touched the girl’s shoulder as she passed. “Excuse me,” she said. “Erm…who are you?”