The Day My Life Ended (Editing)

Chapter Fifteen (Revised)

About the Author:

Delilah Patterson is the leading expert of Reality Walkers in modern times. She has written dozens of academic papers on this topic which were compiled for this book. She also did work for scientific research in the human world. Her work has done good in this world and others.

Forward by Delilah:

If you've been given this book, then your parents thought the talk would be really awkward. It's not at all. Growing up there were a lot of questions about my abilities that I was told not to ask. It wasn't polite for proper company. So I wrote a lot of stuff to share with my community, that'll make them happy.

==DMLE==

I read it.

All of it. The entire thing. Reading always came easy to me. Sure, the occasional fit about reading popped up in early years. Who among us hasn't thrown a book in frustration? My class did it multiple times, I needed to look human- to feel human- so I joined in.

Finding out books were another way to Reality Jump shifted my perspective. Forget being normative, this shit was fun. Finally getting faces to names- to hearing names pronounced correctly- to seeing their side of it all. Just thinking about my first go...being part of a book where I could help another superhuman escape the government trying to experiment on her...being trapped in a lab for a year-

Okay that place traumatized me a bit.

The second jump was way easier. Everyone in that world turned into an animal during a monthly enchanted fog. That year was so fun, I got to be a wolf.

Books. Book reading for knowledge...slightly less fun.

This book- if I'm reading it right- talked about me. My powers. My abilities. Explaining all of it to the next person to turn the cover. A whole published book, written for a community.

This can't be real. If my experience taught me anything, there's always a company or government willing to put in leg work for a prize. Any of them can create a fake published book to get on my good side.

But the idea...the idea of having people...that warmed my cold hardened heart.

Somebody walked into my room as I neared the end of the book. A quick glance showed a man in regular clothes not scrubs. Something suspect...I'll stay vigilant.

The man took a nearby seat. The hospital room was so big that a few extra chairs didn't go amiss. Still more than a little humiliated that my parents put up such a big fuss to bring me to a hospital and get me a room.

The man settled into the chair. He watched me, making no effort to hide it. As he sat in silence, it clearly irked him. He reached for the chart at the end of the hospital bed.

"That's for my doctor." I stated, turning the page. "And nurses. They have my express permission."

The man stared at me for a moment. Assessing me? Judging me? Before I could guess, he smiled with a delighted snort. "Well they don't exactly provide other reading material."

"It's almost like the waiting room is outside, down the hall on your first left." I replied. The man gave me a curious stare. Glancing up from my book I added "I've been here before."

"Enough to memorize the layout?" The man asked, impressed. "Not bad."

When he says it like that, I'm not sure if it comes across as paranoid or nefarious. My mother's habits kicked in- ladies always gotta be polite when complimented. "Thank you."

The man just smiled, showing no signs of even wanting to move.

I went back to reading. There were only a handful of pages left.