by Tsing Tao

Created on: July 03, 2007   Last Updated: September 18, 2007

Incident on North Stone Road

Chapter I

I've got some time to kill while I'm waiting here for Lilly to decide whether she's going to help me get back home or not, so I thought I'd try to put this whole strange episode down on paper. I'm not sure now if I'll ever see home again or if it will still be "home" when I do get there. If Einstein was anywhere nearly correct in his theories, travel at light speed can muck things up a bit.

My current companion can help me, but, she wants to know what's in it for her. She's not just going to give me a free ride back. She's a trader. Makes a pretty comfortable living at it from what I can tell. She wants to know what's in it for her? What's at the other end of the line that might be of value to her ? I am of no value to her at all on the outbound trip. "Dead weight." She says, So she has to be assured that there is something at the other end of the trip that she can haul back which would turn a profit for her. (Dead weight? I've gotta get more exercise.)

Lilly is what I call her. It's the name of an old girlfriend. Lilly was a head strong, confident, no nonsense person. Lot's of fun when it was time for fun, but all business when she was organizing business a deal.

I have no clue what this woman's real name is. I probably wouldn't be able to pronounce it anyway. A white male from New England, North America, Planet Earth yet, has no hope of imitating the sounds of a language born on a planet in some far distant corner of an unknown galaxy.

Another thing to consider is the "When." Although Lilly has never been there, she does know where the little, blue-green, clay and granite sphere we call Earth is. She can get me there, but getting me there at about the same date and time as when I left may be a bit tricky. You see, when you routinely out run the speed of light you also travel though time. So down through the generations the adverb "when" loses its meaning. I guess what I'm saying is that, to the best of my ability to understand the situation, these beings have no word for, or even a concept of, "when".

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

If only I had gone to the "Ugly Dog" that Friday evening after work and had a couple of beers with the guys from the shop. If I'd done that then I wouldn't have been driving down North Stone Road towards Suffield because it would have been easier to go up the hill on Rt 20 West to Copper Hill Road, and down past the golf course. But, "if wishes were horses. . ."as they say.

One of the things I like

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