The Devil's Dream: Waking Up Read Online Free Page B
Author: David Beers
asked.
"How dangerous is it?" His mother's voice always held nearly infinite jest. Everything was humorous; everything could be laughed at. She lived alone and had not, as far as Henry knew, had a lover in the past eight years, and yet he didn't think he knew a happier woman than his mother. Now though, with that question, her words contained no jest. She wasn't asking for details, but she was asking for the most important thing, maybe the only thing that mattered at all—how dangerous was his job?
"This would be...Jesus, mom. It would be pretty dangerous."
"I don't want you to do it then," she said.
"I knew you wouldn't."
"I'm a selfish old lady and, for the most part, I'm okay with that. All I have is my health and you two boys and if I'm going to be selfish about anything I figured those three things are perfectly fine. You know what they're saying this Brand fellow is capable of? Have you heard about it? They're saying he can kill the sun. I mean, just imagine that, what it would be like if he killed the sun."
She paused, either giving him time to think about it as if he hadn't before, or thinking about it herself. "I suppose they're asking you to do this because they think you'll do a good job. They wouldn't give this to someone incapable, huh?"
"Probably not," Henry said, not completely sure where his mother was heading.
"I don't mind being selfish, but I don't know if I have the right to be, if I have the right to tell you not to do it. If this was just your career we were talking about, then yeah, I'd probably feel comfortable telling you to sit at home and wait this one out, but we're not talking about your career are we?"
"No," he said.
"I didn't think so. The news has these people on all the time, these people discussing what would happen if this criminal does what he says. The plants will die. The animals die. We'll die, all of us. I start thinking about that and I realize you're not talking about you and me. At least, not just us. We're talking about a planet, but that's still not completely it, either. We're talking about the future of our planet, your kids, Greg's kids—the entire possibility of everyone that could ever live, gone. Just wiped out because of this guy. It's...well, I guess I'm just wondering if I have more of a right to you than the rest of the world." She paused for a few seconds and Henry didn't try to fill in the gap. "Are you scared?"
He hadn't thought about the question before. Up until now, until his mother asked, his mind focused on her and Greg, about how accepting this would trash his responsibilities to them. Was he scared? And if so, of what? Of dying? Because in the end, that's what this came down to. If it was a sure thing, if he knew that he could go in and act like Brand's son and end up bringing the entirety of the FBI down on his head, then Henry probably wouldn't be having this conversation. He would just go into work tomorrow and tell Brayden he’d do it, and then in a week's time be back in California to continue with his own cases. The possibility of dying put everything else into focus, and was he scared of it? He didn't know; and that, in itself, scared him. He didn't have any visceral reaction to the thought of his own death, outside of what it would do to his family, to his mom and brother.
"I don't know," he said.
"I don't think this Matthew Brand character is scared to die. If he was, I'm not sure he would go through all of this, because whether they catch him or not, he’s made it so he dies too. People that aren't scared to die, usually do, and faster than those that are."
Neither said anything into the phone. Henry knew she was thinking, reasoning out what he had told her and listening to her moral compass that always seemed to point true north.
"If I told you to stay, to not do this, would you listen?" She asked.
"No, I might still do it," he didn't exactly whisper the answer, but he didn't exactly speak it loud either.
"Why?"
"I guess because I
"How dangerous is it?" His mother's voice always held nearly infinite jest. Everything was humorous; everything could be laughed at. She lived alone and had not, as far as Henry knew, had a lover in the past eight years, and yet he didn't think he knew a happier woman than his mother. Now though, with that question, her words contained no jest. She wasn't asking for details, but she was asking for the most important thing, maybe the only thing that mattered at all—how dangerous was his job?
"This would be...Jesus, mom. It would be pretty dangerous."
"I don't want you to do it then," she said.
"I knew you wouldn't."
"I'm a selfish old lady and, for the most part, I'm okay with that. All I have is my health and you two boys and if I'm going to be selfish about anything I figured those three things are perfectly fine. You know what they're saying this Brand fellow is capable of? Have you heard about it? They're saying he can kill the sun. I mean, just imagine that, what it would be like if he killed the sun."
She paused, either giving him time to think about it as if he hadn't before, or thinking about it herself. "I suppose they're asking you to do this because they think you'll do a good job. They wouldn't give this to someone incapable, huh?"
"Probably not," Henry said, not completely sure where his mother was heading.
"I don't mind being selfish, but I don't know if I have the right to be, if I have the right to tell you not to do it. If this was just your career we were talking about, then yeah, I'd probably feel comfortable telling you to sit at home and wait this one out, but we're not talking about your career are we?"
"No," he said.
"I didn't think so. The news has these people on all the time, these people discussing what would happen if this criminal does what he says. The plants will die. The animals die. We'll die, all of us. I start thinking about that and I realize you're not talking about you and me. At least, not just us. We're talking about a planet, but that's still not completely it, either. We're talking about the future of our planet, your kids, Greg's kids—the entire possibility of everyone that could ever live, gone. Just wiped out because of this guy. It's...well, I guess I'm just wondering if I have more of a right to you than the rest of the world." She paused for a few seconds and Henry didn't try to fill in the gap. "Are you scared?"
He hadn't thought about the question before. Up until now, until his mother asked, his mind focused on her and Greg, about how accepting this would trash his responsibilities to them. Was he scared? And if so, of what? Of dying? Because in the end, that's what this came down to. If it was a sure thing, if he knew that he could go in and act like Brand's son and end up bringing the entirety of the FBI down on his head, then Henry probably wouldn't be having this conversation. He would just go into work tomorrow and tell Brayden he’d do it, and then in a week's time be back in California to continue with his own cases. The possibility of dying put everything else into focus, and was he scared of it? He didn't know; and that, in itself, scared him. He didn't have any visceral reaction to the thought of his own death, outside of what it would do to his family, to his mom and brother.
"I don't know," he said.
"I don't think this Matthew Brand character is scared to die. If he was, I'm not sure he would go through all of this, because whether they catch him or not, he’s made it so he dies too. People that aren't scared to die, usually do, and faster than those that are."
Neither said anything into the phone. Henry knew she was thinking, reasoning out what he had told her and listening to her moral compass that always seemed to point true north.
"If I told you to stay, to not do this, would you listen?" She asked.
"No, I might still do it," he didn't exactly whisper the answer, but he didn't exactly speak it loud either.
"Why?"
"I guess because I
Readers choose
Kirby Larson
Robert Roth
JJ Harper
Elizabeth Lennox
Clea Simon
Melody Carlson
Catharina Shields
Jenny Alexander
Sally Wright