Read Online The Riverman (The Riverman Trilogy) by Aaron Starmer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Aaron Starmer
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could hardly get the question out.
“I will die only when you need me to die,” Toby explained. “I am your first creation. I am not like the others.”
Fiona turned away. She couldn’t bear to look at him. “What happens to us here?” she asked. “I mean, when we die?”
Toby’s voice was weak. It had a tremble to it. “I don’t know.”
When they weren’t definitive, Toby’s answers were usually playfully and frustratingly vague. He almost never said I don’t know . As soon as he did, the conveyer belt stopped, and they were confronted with the edge of the haze.
There was no seeing through it, so Fiona reached out to touch it. It slapped her back like she was an insolent dog.
The haze let Fiona touch it.
She reached for it again, and again it slapped her away.
“I think this is something beyond your control,” Toby said.
“But I need to know what’s behind it.”
“Remember how I told you that Aquavania is where stories are born?”
“Yes.”
“There are many stories to tell. Yours is not the only one. Maybe this is the end of yours.”
“Mine ends when I decide it ends!” Fiona barked as she tried to step into the haze. It knocked her onto her rear.
“I’m only saying what you already know,” Toby said.
This was true. Fiona was not so arrogant as to think she was the only person who’d ever come to Aquavania. Toby had already told her as much. But then, she had never wished to meet anyone else here. This was a place to be alone with her creations.
Just as she thought this, there came a whisper through the haze.
The girl named Chua needed nothing more than to meet someone smart and new so that she could share her story.
This wasn’t Fiona’s thought. It was someone else’s, and as it emerged, it brought with it a wave of water that snatched Fiona from the bridge and pulled her through the haze.
That fuzzy feeling—the bubbles in her body that accompanied trips to and from Aquavania—tricked Fiona into thinking she was returning to the Solid World, but instead of emerging next to the boiler in her basement, she emerged in the center of an ice cavern.
The cavern was as large as a football stadium. Its roof was at least one hundred feet high and covered not only in icicles but in numerous polar bears that hung upside down by their feet like bats. A few other polar bears were flying through the air, aided by fleshy and furry propellers that grew out of their backs.
Not far from Fiona, a girl wearing a parka with a woolly hood sat on a throne made of ice.
“Hot chocolate!” the girl hooted. “Success!”
“Hello?” Fiona surveyed the cavern. Toby was nowhere to be seen. She didn’t recognize this place.
“Welcome welcome welcome!” The girl pushed herself off from the throne and slid with a surfer’s stance across the ice to Fiona’s side. She stuck out a hand. “Name is Chua.”
“Mine’s … Fiona.”
As she shook Chua’s hand, Fiona took in more of the surroundings. The walls of the cavern were covered in tiny lights that were constantly changing colors. The changes appeared random at first, until Fiona realized they were broadcasting messages about her.
S HE ’ S SCARED .
S HE ’ S COLD .
“You’ll catch your death,” Chua said. “How about a walrus skin coat?”
“That would be”—before she finished speaking, Fiona felt the warmth of animal fur on her skin and looked down to see that she was now wearing a perfectly tailored coat—“fine.”
Fiona needed Toby to be there with her, to tell her what was going on.
It didn’t work.
Fiona needed to go back to her world, to a safe place, a place where she was in control.
This wish didn’t work either. No matter what Fiona thought, it didn’t come true.
“First time crossing over?” Chua asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t sweat it,” Chua said. “You’re a guest. Relax. Enjoy your visit.”
Chua stomped the icy ground, producing a ripple of cracks. From the cracks, a small beak
“I will die only when you need me to die,” Toby explained. “I am your first creation. I am not like the others.”
Fiona turned away. She couldn’t bear to look at him. “What happens to us here?” she asked. “I mean, when we die?”
Toby’s voice was weak. It had a tremble to it. “I don’t know.”
When they weren’t definitive, Toby’s answers were usually playfully and frustratingly vague. He almost never said I don’t know . As soon as he did, the conveyer belt stopped, and they were confronted with the edge of the haze.
There was no seeing through it, so Fiona reached out to touch it. It slapped her back like she was an insolent dog.
The haze let Fiona touch it.
She reached for it again, and again it slapped her away.
“I think this is something beyond your control,” Toby said.
“But I need to know what’s behind it.”
“Remember how I told you that Aquavania is where stories are born?”
“Yes.”
“There are many stories to tell. Yours is not the only one. Maybe this is the end of yours.”
“Mine ends when I decide it ends!” Fiona barked as she tried to step into the haze. It knocked her onto her rear.
“I’m only saying what you already know,” Toby said.
This was true. Fiona was not so arrogant as to think she was the only person who’d ever come to Aquavania. Toby had already told her as much. But then, she had never wished to meet anyone else here. This was a place to be alone with her creations.
Just as she thought this, there came a whisper through the haze.
The girl named Chua needed nothing more than to meet someone smart and new so that she could share her story.
This wasn’t Fiona’s thought. It was someone else’s, and as it emerged, it brought with it a wave of water that snatched Fiona from the bridge and pulled her through the haze.
That fuzzy feeling—the bubbles in her body that accompanied trips to and from Aquavania—tricked Fiona into thinking she was returning to the Solid World, but instead of emerging next to the boiler in her basement, she emerged in the center of an ice cavern.
The cavern was as large as a football stadium. Its roof was at least one hundred feet high and covered not only in icicles but in numerous polar bears that hung upside down by their feet like bats. A few other polar bears were flying through the air, aided by fleshy and furry propellers that grew out of their backs.
Not far from Fiona, a girl wearing a parka with a woolly hood sat on a throne made of ice.
“Hot chocolate!” the girl hooted. “Success!”
“Hello?” Fiona surveyed the cavern. Toby was nowhere to be seen. She didn’t recognize this place.
“Welcome welcome welcome!” The girl pushed herself off from the throne and slid with a surfer’s stance across the ice to Fiona’s side. She stuck out a hand. “Name is Chua.”
“Mine’s … Fiona.”
As she shook Chua’s hand, Fiona took in more of the surroundings. The walls of the cavern were covered in tiny lights that were constantly changing colors. The changes appeared random at first, until Fiona realized they were broadcasting messages about her.
S HE ’ S SCARED .
S HE ’ S COLD .
“You’ll catch your death,” Chua said. “How about a walrus skin coat?”
“That would be”—before she finished speaking, Fiona felt the warmth of animal fur on her skin and looked down to see that she was now wearing a perfectly tailored coat—“fine.”
Fiona needed Toby to be there with her, to tell her what was going on.
It didn’t work.
Fiona needed to go back to her world, to a safe place, a place where she was in control.
This wish didn’t work either. No matter what Fiona thought, it didn’t come true.
“First time crossing over?” Chua asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t sweat it,” Chua said. “You’re a guest. Relax. Enjoy your visit.”
Chua stomped the icy ground, producing a ripple of cracks. From the cracks, a small beak
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