HERALD

HERALD Part 1

I should've done this a long time ago. I thought, making my way through the museum.

With my mind focused on the most challenging problem of the day, where to eat breakfast, I couldn't believe how easy and uncomplicated my life had become.

The strange noise echoing through the massive corridors snapped me out of my daydreaming.

"What was that?" I whispered to myself, completely unconcerned.

When the noise didn't repeat itself, I shrugged my shoulders and continued on my way. In the back of my mind, I chalked the sound up to the air handling system either switching on or someone dropping a heavy box. Either way, the sound didn't affect me at all and I immediately forgot all about it.

Passing a large fountain near the center of the museum, positioned exactly at the intersection of six hallways, each one leading to a different time period in human history, I smiled at the thousands of coins, some copper, some silver, and some a mixture of various metals, lining the bottom of the water feature. Each one of the coins undoubtably tossed in accompanied by a wish.

Still full of optimism, and my mind returning to the problem of where to eat lunch later, I glanced up to the statue affixed to the center of the fountain, spouting water high into the sky, only to fall and slash into the pool below moments later.

"I wonder how many coins are actually in there?" I asked myself.

The casual question vanished from my thoughts, replaced by amazement as the gallons of water spouting into the air and falling into the pool below impossibly stopped in midair. I then noticed all the other museum patrons inexplicably frozen in place.

"What the hell?" I muttered, unsure if the water and people inexplicably froze in place or if time itself somehow stopped for everything except me.

Both options defied reason.

Maybe I fell asleep? I thought.

In the instant after the water and museum patrons froze, to my front, a blue dot appeared out of nowhere. Then the dot began growing larger and larger until a perfectly round, ten-foot by ten-foot circle formed magically in the air.

This can't be good.

Before my mind could grasp all the changes occurring in reality around me, something even more unbelievable occurred.

A scantily clad woman, oozing sexual magnitism, emerged from the magic circle as if passing through a doorway.

Yup. I thought, not believing anything my eyes showed me for even a second. I definitely fell asleep.

As if greeting an old friend, the woman waved and walked up to me. "Hey, you."

Even more convinced of my dream hypothesis, I nevertheless glanced around the corridors filled with frozen people, searching for someone else the exotic woman must be speaking to, as I'd never seen her before.

"You, you speaking to me?" I eventually asked clumsily. "What's that now? What did you say?"

"I said 'hey you'." The woman laughed at me. "Is there something wrong with your ears? I couldn't have been any clearer. Hey. Cool fountain. Oh. Wow. Look at all that money in there."

"Who, who're you?" I managed to stammer, still in a state of mild shock and still half-convinced I'd fallen and hit my head on the edge of the fountain or something.

"Oh, sorry, how rude of me!" The woman exclaimed. "I'm the Harbinger Supreme!" As she announced herself, the strange woman bowed deeply. "In physical form, naturally, and completely at your service."

Wake up, Nash!

As the woman raised herself from her bow and smiled warmly at me, I blurted out another question in my confusion. "Who?"

Furling her brow at me, the woman answered. "Am I not speaking loud enough? I'm the Harbinger Supreme. Look, I don't mind answering the same question over and over, but it does get a little tiring. Cut me a break?"

"What? What happened to the fountain?" I asked stupidly.

"Looks fine to me."

"Fine? The water stopped in midair." I pointed out, my mind still foggy. "It's not moving."

"It's not?" The woman asked. "Oh, sorry. I guess it stopped because of me. Like I said, sorry about that. I can't exist in your fourth dimension. Maybe. I don't know. Actually, I've never seen a fountain or even water before. Isn't that what water is supposed to look like?"

"You've never seen water?" I stammered.

"Honey, I've never been in a physical form before."

"A physical form? Your physical form is that of a sexy woman?" I asked, immediately regretting the question as I asked it.

"You think so?" The woman gushed. "Thanks! Of course, I can't take complete credit for it. After all, I appear only as you want to see me."

"I don't even know who you are?" I blurted out. "I didn't want to see you at all."

"I'm the Harbinger Supreme." The woman replied. "Didn't we cover this already?"

"I'm dreaming, right?" I replied.

The pain from the woman pinching my arm convinced me I wasn't dreaming at all.