Page 43 of Goldilocks
The settlement was out of sight when the clouds and mist that concealed The Tear became visible. Sam gathered Goldilocks’s discarded clothes and put them away, then sat on the trunk, watching as they approached. His skin prickled, goosebumps breaking out across his entire body. Through the towering Tear, he could see the sky covered in clouds, the ocean dark and choppy. Beyond the protection of the swell, the waves grew larger. Two different oceans met here, and the wildness of the waves proved it. Apprehension tightened Sam’s gut. Any one of the powerful waves here had the potential to capsize his boat if they hit it broadside, and they all formed and broke in unpredictable directions. But even the largest could not reach him, not with Goldilocks and his power, which Sam now saw was far more impressive than his physical strength.
Sam tried to spy the edge of the rip in the sky, the exact moment where one world met the next, but it rippled where he expected to see a hard border. Growing and shrinking, waving like a flag in the wind. Sam wondered what would happen if they touched the edge. What would it feel like? What would happen to them?
The large waves died as they reached the boat, and Sam stood on the bow, seeing Goldilocks swim ahead, chain in hand, totally unbothered. Sam’s ears popped as they passed through, and a shiver worked its way down his spine. The temperature dropped; the sun no longer warming Sam with its rays. He waited, shivering, watching, until The Tear was well behind them and hidden behind mist and clouds, before digging out his jumper. It was stiff, the way clothes got after being dunked in seawater, and didn’t exactly match his strange outfit, but he pulled it on anyway.
Sam eyed the collection of fur blankets on board and stooped to pick them up, carefully putting them away in the cabin. They were luxuriously soft, and they were surprisingly heavy. Sam bet with them he wouldn’t spend another cold night in this cabin.
Chapter Sixteen
Thoughts of the other world occupied Sam as he drove home. Mainly thoughts of a golden-tailed merman and a bath that Sam would never forget the rest of his life. He lightly ran his hand over the back of his neck, feeling the intent of teeth like a claim in his skin. Thathadbeen a claiming, Sam knew. And everything else that happened in the bath…Well, if Goldilocks suggested another trip, Sam would have no objections. He tugged at his hair, glad it was long enough that he could hide the mark beneath it.
The sky seemed to darken as Sam pulled into the driveway of his house. He parked in his usual spot and slowly climbed out of the car, eyeing the windows for any sign of movement. Nothing caught his attention.
Sam stepped up to the front door, his heart picking up as he lifted his hand to turn the knob. At the last second, he dropped it, a fine tremble in his hand. He pivoted on his heel and walked around to the side of the house. He pushed open the garden gate, wincing at the loud screech of metal hinges. He kept forgetting to bring back the WD40 from his boat.
The twin apple trees rustled in a light breeze. His dad had mentioned just the other day that the tree had flowered early, and as Sam approached, he could see that of those flowers, several were already dead, replaced with the beginnings of an apple. Robins flew close, landing on nearby branches as Sam touched one of the green buds. Sam never ate the apples; they were too sour for that, but Oisín used to gather the overabundance of dropped apples and bring them to Mary’s house. Sam used to enjoy the sweet pies Mary’s mom cooked as much as his dad did.
The boldest robin perched on the same branch Sam touched. It twisted its head, peering at Sam with a curious black eye.
“I’ll get you some seeds,” Sam promised. He turned to the side door, which led into the kitchen and saw the remains of a gutted loaf of soaked bread littering the path. “Or not.” He snorted. Through the kitchen window, Sam could see his dad bent over a book on the kitchen table. He breathed out in relief as his dad turned the page, eyes scanning the content with interest. A bowl of fresh fruit was set next to him, and as he watched, his dad picked a raspberry from it and put it into his mouth.
Eric and Ivan, Sam realised. He always bought grapes and bananas. He avoided raspberries since he himself was allergic. They made his fingers itch even if he did his best not to touch them when he rinsed them down.
Sam pushed open the side door—
***
Sam blinked awake, sore and confused. His hip throbbed in sharp, intrusive pain. Pain that required immediate remedying. Sam stumbled his way to his feet, turning in confusion to orient himself.
Where was he?
Darkness surrounded him. Sam groaned as he knocked his head. He reached up, feeling a slope. He looked down at his feet, searching the floor until he saw the small square of light leading out of the attic.
***
The lecture ended, and Sam stared blankly at his empty notebook. He’d tried to focus. Tried to write things down, but he was wrecked and could barely keep his eyes open. Clearly, the late night followed by his early morning adventure with Goldilocks had been too taxing for him.
Sam flipped his notebook closed and placed it into his bag. He waited until most of the crowd was gone before getting to his feet, gritting his teeth at the painful stiffness in his hip. He needed more painkillers. Walking down the steps to the front of the lecture hall slowly, he ignored Fionn and his piercing look and limped toward the exit. Fionn seemed to have decided to leave Sam alone after Mary’s outburst. He still glared. And his friend, the one who had punched Sam, watched. Eyes cold and blank.
“Sam,” Professor Moore called.
Repressing a sigh, Sam stopped. “Sir?”
“I just want to follow up,” Moore said as he packed away his supplies. “I sent the email with the extension form, but I haven’t received anything back from you.”
“Oh.” Sam blinked. “Right. I didn’t get the chance to check it yet.”
“The original due date for extensions is tomorrow, so be sure to fill it out and send it to me before the end of the day. And, were the slides easier to read today? I used Arial. The internet told me that was the most suitable of what I had available. For the submission, use whatever font you find easiest.” Moore spoke quickly, jumping from sentence to sentence. “I’m going back and uploading more accessible slides for study. It’s my project for this weekend. I plan to get it all done before Monday.”
“I didn’t mean to make you do all that extra work, sir.”
“You spoke to me about it, but I am sure there are others who have struggled with my slides and simply didn’t voice it. It was a lesson to me.” Moore cast him a warm smile. “Now, as I said. Get me that form by the end of the day. I need to submit the paperwork on my end.”
“I’ll do that. Thank you again.”
Fionn and his mean-looking friend were gone when Professor Moore let him go. Despite the forecast warmth of the day, as soon as Sam stepped outside into the breeze, he wished he’d brought an extra sweater. That led to thinking about the furs now on his boat, which led to fantasising about going straight there and collapsing. Sam settled for the nearest bench.
Sam took out his phone, the thing finally charged, and opened his emails. There were a lot. Sam clicked the search bar, slowly typed in Moore and clicked on the email that came up. The form was black against white. Tiny on his phone screen.