of Afterlights around. Not all of them would be as unpleasant as Johnnie-Oâs gang.
They came to the Hudson River, and stayed on the highway that ran along the Palisades: sheer cliffs, carved by the relentless glaciers of the last Ice Age, which lined the western shore of the river. Traffic became denser, but they bore it no mind, not caring if the occasional car passed through them. In fact, for a while they tried to make a game of it, trying to figure out what song was playing on the radio during the brief instant each car sped through.
âThe things we dead folk do to amuse ourselves,â Allie said, heaving a heavy sigh. The game didnât last long, mainly because Lief, who had never heard a car radio, much less rock ânâ roll, felt increasingly left out.
By sunset of the next day, the cheese-grater gridwork of the George Washington Bridge appeared downriver, heralding their arrival in New York City.
Lief was overwhelmed by the sight of the great city looming before him. It was a clear day, and the whole skyline could be seen from across the river. Lief had been to New York before. Twice. Once for the Fourth of July, and once for Mr. P. T. Barnumâs circus. There were tall buildings to be sure, but none like these.
Nick and Allie stared as well. Lief assumed they were also in awe of the spectacular view. In truth, they were awed, but for an entirely different reason.
âI think I know where we should go,â Nick said, a strange hollowness to his voice. Allie didnât answer him for a while.
âManhattan is out of our way,â Allie finally said. âWe should stay on this side of the river, and keep heading south.â
Nick looked to the city again. âI donât care what you say. Iâm taking a detour.â
This time Allie didnât argue.
Night had fallen by the time they reached the Manhattan side of the bridge. It took the whole night without rest to make it to the heart of the city.
The towers of midtown Manhattan would have taken Liefâs breath away, if he indeed had breath to be stolen. But the most wondrous sights of all were the two silver towers he saw glimmering in the light of dawn as they neared the southern tip of the city. The two towers were identical monoliths, steel and glass twins reflecting a silvery light of daybreak.
âI never knew buildings like that existed,â Lief said.
Allie sighed. âThey donât exist,â she said. âAt least ⦠not anymore.â
Lief could tell the sadness in her voice went straight down to the center of the Earth.
PART TWO
Mary, Queen of Snots
CHAPTER 7
The Forever Places
I n the course of time and history there are certain places that can never truly be lost. The living world by its very nature moves on, but some places are forever. The boy now called Lief had the good fortune to stumble upon such a place many years before: a lush mountain forest that had once been the inspiration for poets. The place brimmed with such warmth and good feeling, it inspired countless young men to propose marriage beneath its canopy, and countless young women to accept. The woods caused stiff-collared people to lose their inhibitions and dance among the leaves, wild with joy, even though they knew such dancing could have them condemned as witches.
The forest was a fulcrum of life, and so when it grew old, and a beetle infestation routed bark and bough, the forest did not die. Instead it crossed. Its life persistedânot in the living world, but in Everlost. Here it would be eternally green, and on the verge of turning, just as the poets themselves would have liked to see it, had they not gotten where they were going.
It can be said, then, that Everlost is heaven. Perhaps notfor people, but for the places that deserve a share of forever.
Such places are few and far between, these grand islands of eternity in the soupy, ever-changing world of the living. New York had its share of
They came to the Hudson River, and stayed on the highway that ran along the Palisades: sheer cliffs, carved by the relentless glaciers of the last Ice Age, which lined the western shore of the river. Traffic became denser, but they bore it no mind, not caring if the occasional car passed through them. In fact, for a while they tried to make a game of it, trying to figure out what song was playing on the radio during the brief instant each car sped through.
âThe things we dead folk do to amuse ourselves,â Allie said, heaving a heavy sigh. The game didnât last long, mainly because Lief, who had never heard a car radio, much less rock ânâ roll, felt increasingly left out.
By sunset of the next day, the cheese-grater gridwork of the George Washington Bridge appeared downriver, heralding their arrival in New York City.
Lief was overwhelmed by the sight of the great city looming before him. It was a clear day, and the whole skyline could be seen from across the river. Lief had been to New York before. Twice. Once for the Fourth of July, and once for Mr. P. T. Barnumâs circus. There were tall buildings to be sure, but none like these.
Nick and Allie stared as well. Lief assumed they were also in awe of the spectacular view. In truth, they were awed, but for an entirely different reason.
âI think I know where we should go,â Nick said, a strange hollowness to his voice. Allie didnât answer him for a while.
âManhattan is out of our way,â Allie finally said. âWe should stay on this side of the river, and keep heading south.â
Nick looked to the city again. âI donât care what you say. Iâm taking a detour.â
This time Allie didnât argue.
Night had fallen by the time they reached the Manhattan side of the bridge. It took the whole night without rest to make it to the heart of the city.
The towers of midtown Manhattan would have taken Liefâs breath away, if he indeed had breath to be stolen. But the most wondrous sights of all were the two silver towers he saw glimmering in the light of dawn as they neared the southern tip of the city. The two towers were identical monoliths, steel and glass twins reflecting a silvery light of daybreak.
âI never knew buildings like that existed,â Lief said.
Allie sighed. âThey donât exist,â she said. âAt least ⦠not anymore.â
Lief could tell the sadness in her voice went straight down to the center of the Earth.
PART TWO
Mary, Queen of Snots
CHAPTER 7
The Forever Places
I n the course of time and history there are certain places that can never truly be lost. The living world by its very nature moves on, but some places are forever. The boy now called Lief had the good fortune to stumble upon such a place many years before: a lush mountain forest that had once been the inspiration for poets. The place brimmed with such warmth and good feeling, it inspired countless young men to propose marriage beneath its canopy, and countless young women to accept. The woods caused stiff-collared people to lose their inhibitions and dance among the leaves, wild with joy, even though they knew such dancing could have them condemned as witches.
The forest was a fulcrum of life, and so when it grew old, and a beetle infestation routed bark and bough, the forest did not die. Instead it crossed. Its life persistedânot in the living world, but in Everlost. Here it would be eternally green, and on the verge of turning, just as the poets themselves would have liked to see it, had they not gotten where they were going.
It can be said, then, that Everlost is heaven. Perhaps notfor people, but for the places that deserve a share of forever.
Such places are few and far between, these grand islands of eternity in the soupy, ever-changing world of the living. New York had its share of
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