There was a cat in New York who needed rescuing, possibly abandoned in an apartment without enough food to last for weeks. There were three of us who could split the fourteen hundred mile round trip drive from the mountains of North Carolina. We had ample disinfectant wipes, enough hand sanitizer for a sponge bath, and a whole box of latex gloves. And, damn it, we were willing to do it.
This was Saturday night, March 22, about the time NYC was becoming the known epicenter of covid-19 in the US. We planned to leave at 5 am, armed with our own water and food so we only had to stop for gas and bathrooms. The plan. Drive eleven hours. Double park in front of the Brooklyn apartment, grab the cat and, okay, maybe a few other things, and exit NYC without speaking to a soul. Without touching a thing. Almost without breathing. Then drive eleven hours home.
We told a few other people what we were doing. Ummm. They were not impressed. What if we had a flat tire? A minor accident? How about car troubles or illness? As the list of ways this trip could go wrong grew, even we had to admit this was not as well-thought out a plan as we originally thought.
Then, a local caregiver for the cat was found. The lost roommate reappeared. The mission was now a luxury, reuniting the adorable cat (see above – she is adorable) with her loving human. Nice but no longer necessary. The plan was abandoned.
Would it have worked? We’ll never know.
This has always been a blog about time, and about possibilities. About multiverses and the choices we make. It’s about how little events determine the course of our lives in ways we cannot predict.
Times being what they are, at the extreme ends of the probability spectrum, we could have lost our own lives because of this journey, or maybe saved someone else’s. Who knows. In the middle, we’d just have returned home, tired, and with a cat.
Stories in this collection have been contributed by authors who care about Australia and the relief efforts from the devastating bushfires. All profits from the books will be donated to charities involved with the recovery efforts. The publisher and authors are not affiliated with the charities. They simply want to show Australia their love and support.
A Solicitous Wife by Madeleine McDonald
Che Gelida Manina by M. S. Spencer
The Pilot’s Son by CJ Zahner
Foster kid and occasional shoplifter Eowlyn Patience just wants to fit into her Boston high school. When the Sword In The Stone falls out of the sky like a meteor into the middle of London’s Trafalgar Square, everything changes. Then, an enigmatic golden-eyed man arranges for her to attend a school for the gifted in England, and the irritatingly perfect Matt Emrys from science class turns out to be Merlin—the Merlin, King Arthur’s greatest wizard.
Priya Ardis loves books of all kinds–but especially the ones which make your nose leak and let your chai go cold. Her novels come from a childhood of playing too much She-Ra and watching too much Spock. Her bestselling series, My Boyfriend Merlin, about Merlin going to high school is a YA contemporary fantasy and romance for those like road trips, wizards, Greek gods, and gender-bent quests.
Treasure Hunting for a Good Time 