A Tale of a Tale (Swamp Trio Six)

 “Come in, Grace,” Dance calls cheerfully when she knocks on the door to the Trio’s houseboat. “We are in the kitchen.”  It must be strange to live with a naga.  No secrets.

She carries the basket of fresh eggs …

“I’ve studied the damaged memory phenomenon.  The sarcobox causes some damage, of course, but I’m assuming that your memory was worked on, as well.  They almost never let anyone come through transit without messing with their brains.” Teo knows he …

“I don’t swim.” Grace is firm.

“But it is very hot today,” Dance points out. “There would not be so much hotness if you were to come into the water.” Dance is already halfway there, thigh-deep in the jewel-green bayou. …

Dance and Grace disappear under the water, leaving Teo behind on the shore.  They’re headed upstream, of course, but does the road follow the banks of the bayou?  He spins in a tight circle, looking for anything, a motorbike, a …

Someone lit a bonfire when it started to get dark, and the sounds of a guitar playing a Cajun waltz drift through the light fog drifting off the bayou. The fireflies are out, and kids chase them with jars. There’s …

“It’s open.” It takes a minute for the spreadsheets to clear from his mind, but Teo looks up to see who’s at the entrance to the clinic’s living quarters. The barely-cool autumnal breeze ruffles the papers spread out in front …

Teo is chopping firewood. Well, at least that’s what’s telling himself. The heat and humidity are building up to a thunderstorm, but it’s not really registering. He had impatiently stripped off his sweaty tee and flung it into a pile …

Teo holds up one open hand toward the swarm, expecting some reaction.  He is somehow not surprised when a line of bees zip up around him and a dozen at once settle on his sweaty palm, walking around, apparently tasting …