> Dan in Plureality 6

He throws up his hands and storms out of the room, returning to the other side of the mirror. Dr. Hannah lingers for a moment, looking at Daniel, looking at Them, then she joins him. 

“You should calm down,” she says. 

“Why? We're trying to cure his addiction and he can only answer my question with a flippant deflection.” 

“I don't think it was that at all,” Dr. Hannah says. “I think it was the truth. As much as he understands it anyway.” 

Dr. James stares hard at her. She returns his gaze, her eyes soft. And says, “Feedback.” 

In the room, Ms. Amita smooths her skirt. “I'm sorry if that was uncomfortable, Daniel.”

*


When I was 24 I found a book called 'The Shaman's Body' that talked about the deathwalk, a ritual during which the shaman has to avoid being shot by his fellow warrior-priests. If the shaman is confident, is impeccable in thought and action, he can walk directly in front of the others, slowly and evenly, without being hit. 

The meaning of the phrase 'the crow road' in the novel turned out to be death. The crow road is the deathwalk.

*


“What's going on?” he asks, staring through the glass, his voice soft. “It's all just stores, right? Just TV shows and games and comics...” He looks back to Dr. Hannah. “It's not real, is it?”

*


At the Hillside Music Festival, my friends and I camping, pretending that every time we go down to the island where the bands are playing we are entering Faerieland. Drawing cards from the Faerie Oracle deck to see who our guides are for each trip. Gathered by the picnic table beside the road leading to the gates, I offer each of them the deck and watch their faces as they study the cards that they pull. Watching them as the hit takes, feeling like a dealer.

*


Dr. Hannah squints slightly. “Oh. Oh, I see. I think I understand now. He's not here to be cured of the addiction. He's here so that it will spread.”

***