“Oh…this again.” Anna sighed as she glanced around at the door-lined hallway, and Lev cocked his head slightly, listening and absorbing the atmosphere.
“Oh. This is the writing space?”
“I don’t know how you remembered that after all this time, but yes. Although it does look like it’s gotten a bit of an upgrade.” Anna slipped her arm into his good one and guided him to the long room at the end of the hallway, which currently resembled the porch of a rustic cabin looking out over a forest scene.
“You can describe this place? The sounds are outdoors, but the air is not.”
“You’re incredibly good at that.” Anna smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder, but before she could begin to fit words to the space, the author burst from her office door and shot around the corner into the room.
“Sorry—sorry I’m late! It’s been absolutely wild around here, and I totally missed last month, but hopefully I’m back now!”
“That’s—kind of surprising, actually, since last time you left us here on our own.” Anna lifted an eyebrow, and the author sighed as she pushed her slightly disheveled hair out of her face.
“I wasn’t actually talking to you. I was talking to everyone else who’s been waiting for me—and you, but that’s still mostly on me. I got sucked into a massive house decluttering and reorganizing project that took me the better part of two months, and I’ve barely had time for doing anything writing-related except keeping up with the serial. Until today, when I finally got Depth of Mercy published—just half a year later than I was planning, but still, better late than never!”
“I suppose that’s why we’re here.” Anna’s eyes narrowed a little as her hand hovered protectively over Lev’s arm, resting in its sling, and the author winced, but a smile touched Lev’s lips.
“I like this title for the part of the story I think you are telling.”
“Thank you.” The author’s shoulders relaxed a little, and Anna gave something between a laugh and a sigh.
“Does this mean you’re finished with us now?”
“Not…quite?” The author grimaced apologetically, and Anna groaned. “But I really do think one more story will wrap up your timeline and let me leave you in peace. It’s just—not going to get done as fast as I was hoping, which seems to be the story of my life right now. But I’m trusting that God will help me get the stories He wants out on His timeline, and that’s the best I can do. So I hope you all enjoy this new story, and I’ll try not to get quite so far behind on my updates again!”
She turned and rushed back into the office, leaving the other two standing where they were. Anna blinked in confusion, but Lev chuckled softly.
“I think this was our dismissal. We are free to go?”
“We should be—except there’s nowhere for us to go at the moment. I think she forgot—”
Their door clicked open, and Anna shook her head as she led Lev back toward it.
“I can only hope whatever she still has planned isn’t as bad as the next one.”
“All other stories have wrapped up well so far. I think we can trust.”
The door closed behind them, and the screen went dark.
How far would you go to help an enemy?
Anna and Lev are enjoying a rustic fall hike when a rainstorm forces them into proximity with a testy teenager. When River’s disdain for technology in general and HALEY in particular provokes unexpected violence, Anna is more than ready to banish the troublesome acquaintance from her thoughts. But when the teen’s impetuous temper leaves her gravely injured, neither Anna nor Lev can abandon her to her fate. What will they be willing to risk to rescue the girl who’s wronged them?
A short story, previously published in Seize the World