by David Boyle
Mark was sitting opposite Ron by the fire. The rifle was propped against the table, the cookbox and a fully loaded revolver on top. “I’m not gonna let you. You think you’re taking the easy way out and leaving me to die here by myself, you’ve got another thing coming.”
“Why bother anymore? I mean, what the fuck’s the point?”
“We’re alive, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, and the only motherfuckers on the planet who know what that means. Along with millions of animals the size of a house, half of which would love to tear us to pieces.”
“Actually, if the predator to prey ratio is anywhere near where I suspect it is, it’s probably more like eighty-twenty.”
“If there’s a point here, I’d really like to hear it because I’m just not in the mood to listen to you run off at the mouth. From where I’m sitting, I’d be doing you a favor by blowing your fucking head off.”
Mark poked at a log in the fire. “I think back, I’m actually not surprised to hear you say that.” For the first time ever, they were staring at their own mortality, and every view had a similar ending. “I’ve seen the boxes, and I realize most were never full to begin with, but how many rounds you got left?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?
“Five? Ten? How many?”
Ron frowned. “Altogether… fifty or a little more. Most for this thing.”
“Cool. That’s way more than I expected.
“So how about this? I remember the look in your eyes when you killed that first duckbill. And I’m guessing here, but I’m thinking it was also one of the most satisfying. Maybe not quite up to this last one, but close. So my question to you is: how many critters do you think we could take out before this place kills us? We’re going to die here eventually, but between now and then we can have us one hell of a good time.”
Ron pinched an eye closed, thinking. “You put it that way, it’s almost too bad the bitch is dead.”
“Remember the falls you told me about?”
“The ones past the creek?” Mark nodded. “What about them?”
“Ever since you mentioned, I’ve been wondering what the river’s like on the other side. ‘Cause if the maps I’ve seen of this time are even close to being right, this here river empties into the Kansas Sea within something like two hundred miles of this place. Odds are we’ll get killed before we get that far, but like you said, you and me, we’re already dead.”
Ron glanced at the river, scratching his chin. “Every so often, you go off on some really wild tangents, you know that?”
Mark smiled. “Is that a yes…?”
# # #
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Boyle grew up in Chicago, Illinois, graduated Bogan HS, and received his Bachelors of Science in Industrial Engineering in 1972 from the Illinois Institute of Technology. A manufacturing engineer by profession, his passions include astronomy, paleontology, archery, woodworking, writing, and of course, whitewater canoeing.
Mr. Boyle lives in Fox River Grove, Illinois, with his wife Aurelia. He has two married sons, Michael and Thomas. He is presently working on a series of narrativesabout some of the numerous rivers he has paddled across the United States.Window In Time is his first novel.
# # #
Thank you for readingWindow In Time. This novel is the culmination of years of effort, and I hope you have enjoyed it. Should you be so disposed, I would much appreciate if you would post a comment.
D.J.B.
November, 2014
Glossary
bota – originally a leather bottle made from the stomach of a goat, now made almost exclusively of plastic
Canoe Terms
bilge – the bottom part of the inside of a canoe
bow – the forward part of a canoe
gunnel – the upper edge of a canoe, typically capped with either metal, wood, or plastic depending on the canoe’s construction
keel – a structural member of some canoes that extends longitudinally along the bottom centerline to stiffen the boat and aid in tracking (canoes without keels are harder to paddle in a straight line)
painter – a line attached to the bow and/or stern to secure or tow a canoe
port – the left side looking forward
starboard – the right looking forward
stern – the trailing end of a canoe
thwart – a metal or wood cross-member attached to the gunnels and situated between the seats of a canoe
Paddling Terms
backpaddle – stroking against the current, typically to slow the speed of the canoe through a rapid
brace – using a paddle in moving water like an airplane wing to support the paddler, and thereby the canoe
draw – grabbing the water away from the canoe with the paddle and forcibly pulling the canoe sideways (an arms-only stroke that functions opposite that of a pry)
ferry – to cross a river while paddling against the current
pry – inserting the paddle into the water immediately beside the canoe and levering the canoe sideways (a powerful stroke that functions opposite that of a draw)
solo – to paddle a canoe alone (when canoes with two seats, as here, are paddled solo, the lone paddler sits in the stern seat facing ‘backward’ to better distribute the weight and maintain proper trim)
tandem – to paddle a canoe with two people
Whitewater/River Terms
backroller – a wave created typically by an underwater obstruction such that some or all of the upper portion crashes forward, against the current
eddy – the backflow created by objects interrupting the flow of water (or any medium), the size of the eddy dependent on the size of the obstruction, its holding power on the speed of the current
haystack – one or more of first standing waves in a train where the waves are largest and the crest of the wave is disintegrating, often spectacularly
standing waves – a train of deep water waves created by fast water encountering slow or still water, most often at the bottom of an incline; as the term suggests, standing waves do not move in relation to the river or shorelines
* * *
[1] A rare and crucial component of the Iolomho’s anti-matter propulsion system.
