Tok, Alaska

4

Erik woke up gradually on the pulled-out couch. The light shone brightly through the windows and reflected off the many mirrors into the lenses of his eyes. By the time he was fully awake, he couldn't remember any of his dreams. He stared for a long time at the wall facing him, remembering the unexpected sequence of events that had played out the previous day. He felt refreshed and eventually he was ready to face this next day, so he got up, still in his previous day's clothes, carefully returning the covers to a neat position once he was standing. He wandered into the kitchen.

"Good morning," said Thomas, who was preparing something in a frying pan.

"Morning."

"Care for an omelet?"

"I'd love that. Thanks."

"They'll be ready in twenty minutes or so."

Erik nodded gratefully, and wandered through the mudroom to the yard. He was surprised to find a relative lack of activity. It was empty save for Judith, who was sitting still by the fence with her mouth open and tail wagging. She seemed to be enjoying the warm morning. After a little while he decided to go to the circle. The only people there were Walter, Sandy and Walt, the former two holding hands on a swinging bench and Walt sitting on a stone bench. Erik silently sat down next to Walt.

"Good morning," said Walter.

"You too," said Erik. "Where is everybody?"

"Oh, they're around. Molly's at the vet's office, Robert's at the gun and tackle shop where he works, and Henry's at school. Kendra's probably at her circle. Leo's still asleep. And we're down here. Things aren't usually as busy as they were yesterday. You arrived on an eventful day."

"So I heard you drove here from New York?" asked Walt incredulously.

"Yeah, I did."

"And you did that by yourself?" Walt shook his head. "That's ridiculous. How the hell did you manage that alone?"

"I'm not quite sure. I guess I was just so gung-ho about my destination that the hours flew by."

"Damn." He shook his head again. "Didn't you get hungry? Where did you eat?"

"I didn't eat much at all. I had a mug of coffee every morning, and I'm really sensitive to caffeine. So not only did that keep me awake for the day, but it seemed to keep me full too. I did stop at a fast food place every once in a while, or a diner if I was lucky enough to find one."

"Fuck, man. That's epic."

"So what do you guys do around here? Do you have jobs?"

"Nah. We play music, and talk, and enjoy life."

"But where do you get the money—" He paused. "Sorry. I don't want to sound rude. It just seems like a lot of people to support from just two incomes."

Walt froze. "Ah." His face quickly relaxed again. "Well, we manage."

Erik didn't want to pry, so he accepted the explanation.

"Don't forget the name of this house," said Walter. "Here we're free from the pretenses of mainstream life."

Erik silently reflected on that thought, and then it happened again. He had the exact same feeling he'd had when he'd first arrived at the Asylum the previous afternoon. Why should he have found such a cultural and spiritual oasis in such an unlikely place? He felt as if something, or someone, had led him there, without him knowing it. He shook it off again.

"So," Erik said to Walter, "how about we do that little cultural exchange we talked about? The novel for the music?"

"Definitely. We should have time before breakfast. Come with me."