Ambient 06 - Going, Going, Gone

ultimate horse trip than anything else – this gizmo of hers was definitely something to keep out of the paws of junkies. All at once it seemed to me that we were coming in for a landing. Eulie’s mouth began to move, and though I couldn’t hear her yet, I knew it’d be only a matter of seconds.
    »Walter!!« she shouted as we came through. »Hold!!«
    »Holding!!!«
    This being the second time I’d taken this particular train, I thought I knew what to expect when we came out on the other side; but actually I wasn’t surprised when I felt myself rolling, with Eulie, down a long hill towards what looked like an expressway. We came to a stop long before reaching the shoulder, however, and for several minutes lay there catching our breath. Something fell on us and I looked to see what; tiny silver fish, sardines or minnows or sand dabs. Their rain didn’t last long, and they flopped around in the grass, lips gasping, before saying uncle. While I didn’t feel as if I were going to upchuck, this time around, most every part of my body felt as if someone had gone over it with a sharp rock. Staring up, I saw red brick apartment buildings lining the top of the hill; rolling over, I saw that it was an expressway, the Jimmy Walker. We’d come out in the Bronx. Best of all, when I looked straight up, into the sky, I saw nothing but bright blue – safe again, I thought; thought it until I remembered why we’d had to leave so quickly in the first place, and why I was getting ready to leave, even before that. First things first, though. I reached over, and touched Eulie’s hand. She lifted her head, shook the dust off, and stared first at the expressway and then at me.
    »OK?« I asked.
    »AO.«
     
    After some small struggle we made our way back up to the top of the hill, and climbed over the fence onto the sidewalk. We were both still dizzy; going from her place to mine seemed to produce some semblance of a hangover. Just when I started to think that I hoped I’d never have to go through transfer like that again, I realized that that possibility had been pretty much ruled out. We walked down to 178 th Street and headed toward the Concourse, to catch the IND downtown. Neither of us said much for the first few blocks. As we walked past multitudes of Bronxers – young women with strollers, kids tossing balls back and forth, old men with small dogs; firemen, plumbers, beauticians, deli clerks – I tried to figure out what, exactly, had happened; Eulie seemed lost in her own thoughts, as you’d expect, and I didn’t want to interrupt her with foolish questions on my part until she gave me some indication she was ready to hear.
    A short distance from the subway entrance, Eulie left her world, and returned to mine. »Walter, are you still capable?«
    »Of anything,« I said. »What happened?«
    She gave me the old thousand yard stare, and pulled at her lower lip with her fingers; she’d bitten it, though the cut had closed over. »We couldn’t theorize which world would remain,« she said. »Yours, it seems.«
    »I’m sorry,« I said. »Yours –?«
    »Nada,« she said. »Remarkable experience of spatial displacement. Any number of theories–« Although for a second or two she’d brightened, maybe with the thought of scientific papers to be written, she appeared to realize that she might have a hard time peddling them over here. She started to cry, and I guided her to a bench at a bus stop. An old lady taking up half the seat scooted over enough to let us sit down. »Walter, excuse –«
    »I know,« I said, although in fact I hadn’t the foggiest idea of how you’d feel, being the only survivor of your entire world. It was a feeling she didn’t seem to be getting used to very quick.
    »Walter –«
    »Yes?«
    »Because it hasn’t happened here yet doesn’t mean it won’t,« she said. »Fluxation continues. If anything the situation’s instability is heightened. I’ve no way of telling, however.« She reached into her bag and took out one of her little black boxes. »The connection’s gone. Worthless, all. There’s no way of telling, Walter –«
    »We’ll burn that bridge when we come to it.« I said, realizing that every minute or so I was still looking up, hoping that I wouldn’t see that tell-tale crack starting to take shape. As before, all above us was bright and clear. »Are you really all right? I mean physically. That was a pretty rough landing –«
    »Chlo and I always came through in