by AJ Kalliver
She ignored what I’d said and gave me that warm, old-woman smile of hers.
“That’s nonsense, child, and you know it.” After a meaningful glance around the shabby room, she looked at me again. “What more could the beast do to this place?” I didn’t answer her, though I could imagine quite a few things right off the top of my head. “Besides, I think it would be good for you to have a home for once in your life, don’t you?”
I peered at her, wondering again just how much the old girl saw, with those Tarot-reading eyes. Still, she had me wondering now. I didn’t need shelter; wind and cold and rain don’t matter when your body is made of magic. There are different kinds of warmth, though, and following Edna down the hall to the kitchen, watching her taking stock of the supplies there and listening to her rambling on about baking and the like… it filled in some of the empty places that meeting people like Corey tends to hollow out inside me. I decided that yeah, I’d give this a try for awhile. At the very least I would keep the old woman company for however long she was here in this place.
The only thing that really and truly scared me at that point was the thought of trying to house train my dog.
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Thank you for buying this (very short) book!
Did you enjoy this story? If so, then let me know.
Seriously, I come from a fan fiction background; if you ask for more (or less) of a particular character or setting, there’s an excellent chance that I’ll listen, and give it to you. Reviews on Amazon, comments on my site, emails to me (my address is on my site at http://www.ajkalliver.com/ ), all are welcome, and more than welcome.
Dedication (the long version)
Diana--It’s been a long time coming (Almost 13 years? Really?) but I finally got here. It’s no exaggeration to say that I never would have gotten to this point if not for your lectures, encouragement, threats, and support. Nothing I say here can repay all of that, but I wanted you to know that I’ll never, ever forget all you’ve done for me.
Mom (::waves:: Hi mom!)--I know mothers are somehow able to be supportive and loving no matter what their children do (or fail to do), but it still amazes me how good at it you are. Thank you for believing in me, for nodding along when I’m ranting at a thousand words a minute, and for never telling me this was something I couldn’t do.
Jeff, John, Russ--the old friends from the old days that are still in contact, thanks for putting up with me, I know it’s not always easy.
John, especially, thanks for all the time you’ve donated to helping me deal with computer issues, and especially the web site. You, sir, are a friend indeed.
Lastly, a word of thanks to those who know my from my Buffy fan fiction. The endless stream of comments, reviews and emails from you guys are a large part of why I’ve had the courage to take this step, and I thank you. I hope you’ll enjoy the non-fanfic stories too, and never fear, I’m not abandoning the Buffy and Faith fics. For now, though, I hope you’ll indulge me while I tell you about some new characters.
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AJ Kalliver first became a storyteller some few aeons ago, when the regular DungeonMaster failed to show up again for the weekly session. Fed up with this crap, he made some sort of exasperated sound and grabbed the rulebook. That single act led to years of training in a certain sort of creative storytelling.
(A lifelong love of Fantasy and Science Fiction probably didn’t hurt either)
‘Echoes’ is his first professionally published work, but he has written a fair amount of fan fiction over the last decade, mostly in the Whedonverse. Links to that material, as well as regular updates on upcoming releases of original work can all be found at AJKalliver.com.
