Once Upon Magic

Diane Wilmer turned to wave to her husband. She was standing in front of the airport, ready to go to Florida for a four day NASA convention. Her husband had just driven away from the almost abandoned airport. Wasn’t it usually bustling with rushed businessmen? Today there were only two people in the airport, both of them were security guards. She gave them a friendly nod and walked to the Security Check where the guards waited for her, her footsteps echoing. If she was in That World, she’d be questioning her safety, but she wasn’t, so she didn’t.

As she approached the silent guards, Diane asked, “Where is everyone?”, her voice deafening in the still airport.

The female guard, a girl no older than 17, said, “You should be more worried about where you’re gonna be than where everyone else is.” She and the other guard advanced silently. She continued, “Diane, really. Did you think that I would never come back to find you? What, don’t you recognize me?” As far as Diane know, she had never seen this girl before, but her memory was suddenly fading. Why was she here in the first place? Then she realized that the girl was still speaking. “…know me well enough while you wait in our prison.”

Diane heard a deep voice say, “Well done, sister” before she was knocked unconscious.

 Those days were the worst. The kind where there were both too many deadlines and too many things on you mind to begin to meet those deadlines – days that last forever and fly by simultaneously. Those days were getting the better of Scott Wilmer as he sat alone in his home office.

            He glanced around the small room and his gaze stopped on one of Brooke’s superhero toys and a small smile broke through the stress on his face. The twins were sixteen, but Brooke still insisted that Timothy was her superhero. She thought that there was nothing that Tim couldn’t do. Scott had always wondered why she thought that. Maybe it was just because they were trip-. Twins.  They are twins. Maybe it was because Tim was Brooke’s best friend. Maybe it was because she was sensory sensitive and her loved her in ways that she understood. There was no one better to be Brooke’s brother. Brooke’s brother.

            No. You promised yourself that you wouldn’t think about that. Get back to work, self. Scott mentally scolded himself for letting his mind wander. He focused for a time, but he kept getting lost in his thoughts.

            He looked at the calendar – it couldn’t be Tuesday still, could it? That would mean that his wife had only left for that NASA conference three days ago. Scott had tried to call her daily, only to be stopped by her voice mail. Scott had no idea at what times he would be able to reach her and who knew how busy she’d be when she was leading that NASA conference.

            Scott pulled out his phone and tried her cell again. When he got her voice mail, he hung up – he had already left three messages for her. He called her hotel and a bright, cheery lady answered the phone.

            “Hi. This is Sunset Hotel. My name is Barbara. How can I help you?”

            “Hello. My wife, Diane Wilmer, is staying at your hotel. Could you let me-“

            “Diane Wilmer? I’m sorry sir, but we don’t have anyone under that name staying here.”

            But that was impossible. “Are you sure? Maybe she’s listed under NASA.” Scott protested.

            “I’m sorry. No one here is named Diane Wilmer.”

            “Okay… Well, thank you anyway. Good-bye.” Scott hung up. Maybe she had changed hotel and forgot to tell him. That sounded like something Diane would do. Scott called NASA and inquired about his wife.