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'Does the moon look bigger to you tonight?'

The Book of Ataniel

The Jackson Cage



Jackson looked at the business card. �Jack Paris,� he said, and looked at Jack. �That his real name?�

�Uh...� Jack said. �Whose?�

Jackson rested his cheek against his hand, Jack�s card dangling between his first and second fingers, and regarded the smaller man carefully. �You real?� he finally said.

Jack balked at it. �Sort of, I mean--� He stopped, and sighed. No point dragging things out. �No,� he admitted. �Not really.�

Jackson nodded. �S�alright,� he said, and put his guitar down on the sofa. �I�ve... heard of this place before.�

�You--have?� Jack had the uncomfortable feeling they were talking past each other, but didn�t know how to correct it.

�Yeah.� He pulled the blinds and looked out on the street. �I lost my father here, seven years ago.�

�Oh.� Jack felt even worse now. �I�m, uh, sorry...�

�Old man and me never got along,� he said, more to himself than Jack. �Guess I was hoping--I don�t know.� He shook his tousled head. �All right, what�ve you got for me?�

�Got--for you?� Jack sighed again. �I�m sorry, Jackson, I--really don�t know what you�re talking about here.�

�My destiny,� he said. �That�s what this is about, ain�t it?� He looked out the window at the murky night sky. �I�m tired of waiting just to see some sun. I want to go out tonight, I want to find out what I got.�

�Uh,� Jack said. �Destiny isn�t really my, uh, forte... now I�m really starting to wish I�d brought the Rat.�

�You don�t know what I�m supposed to do,� Jackson said. It wasn�t a question.

�No,� Jack confirmed meekly. �But if, uh--if you�ve got some sort of, you know, lead... I�d be happy to help you figure it out. Or, uh, try to, anyway. I have a little more experience with that part.�

Jackson sighed. �Guess that�s what I�ll have to do, then,� he said, sadness tinging his gravelly voice. �I didn't think there'd be so many steps I'd have to learn on my own.� He closed the blinds with a very final snap. �Come on, let�s go.�

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'Does the moon look bigger to you tonight?'

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