The old man’s eyes were still lifeless. But his lips were moving in a way that they hadn’t moved in over five months. “Lissss… ennnnd… no…” Gabriel made a gurgling noise as if he were trying to clear his throat. “Lisss… ssss… listennn… nnn…”
Listen. He’d said the word listen.
“Gabriel!” Harry cried. “I’m here, sir. I’m listening.”
“Harry?”
“Yes, it’s Harry. I’m here, Gabriel.”
“Lissssten, Harry… nnn… nothing ever ends. Jus… just turn the hannndle… of the next door… hold our breaths … and then… we’ll see what happens.”
He’s in there. He’s talking! Harry clutched the photo tightly. “What? Gabriel. I don’t understand.”
Gabriel continued blinking but said nothing. Harry glanced at Katie. She looked as stunned as he felt.
“Gabriel,” Harry said forcefully, “I know you’re in there.” He seized the old man’s hand. “Please, are you in there, sir?”
Tears stung the corners of Harry’s eyes, and he brushed them away. They were embarrassing, especially in front of the cute girl, but he couldn’t help it. Harry squeezed Gabriel’s hand. “Gabriel, I miss you. We all do.”
Drool spilled from the side of Gabriel’s mouth, and Harry wiped it away with a cloth. Maybe Gabriel was in there, but if so, he was trapped. Harry had worked in healthcare long enough to accept that when people reached that level of decline, they didn’t come back. No matter how much you might want them to, they didn’t.
Harry looked back at Katie. “See, he was—”
Gabriel whistled a cheerful little melody just like the one he used to whistle in the hallway. Harry turned and stared. Something was different about the old man’s face. It looked almost like his real face again.
Gabriel focused on Harry and smiled a big, happy smile, just like the one in the photograph. “Harry… don… don’t worry… about me.” The old man’s eyes became moist with tears. “I’m going upstairs.”
His eyes lost their spark again. The smile remained, but Gabriel was once again lost somewhere in that big old head of his. Harry started sobbing. Katie came over and grabbed his hand. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
Harry studied the photograph in his hand, trying to reconcile that bright, happy young man with the shriveled old one in the bed beside him. When he looked back at Gabriel’s dulled eyes, a surreal vision flashed into his mind. It wasn’t a memory of his or anything he’d ever seen. The image was real, as real as the sun on a hot summer day.
Harry saw a wide black expanse, like outer space, dotted by a sea of stars. And somewhere out there, Gabriel was sitting on his motorcycle. Not the skeletal Gabriel lying in Bright New Day but the younger Gabriel in the photograph, the redheaded rebel who had cured AIDS.
The younger Gabriel’s motorcycle had been parked on some kind of road that glowed white and spiraled upward in a variety of impossible angles, curves, and twists. Harry had the feeling that Gabriel had been following the road for a long time and that he was finally getting near the end of it. That moment in which Gabriel had seen Harry, when his eyes had been alive again, was just the old man taking a break to say goodbye.
The engine roared, and Gabriel blasted off, burning rubber on the impossible loops and curves of the glowing pathway. He sped away into the distance, laughing with unrestrained glee.
The last thing Harry saw was how fantastically radiant the sun was as Gabriel’s motorcycle did a circle around its perimeter. The sun’s light was so bright that it made the glowing highway through space, Gabriel’s highway, appear even paler.
Dear Reader,
We hope you enjoyed Pale Highway, by Nicholas Conley. Please consider leaving a review on your favorite book site.
Visit our website to sign up for the Red Adept Publishing Newsletter to be notified of future releases.
About the Author
Originally from California, Nicholas Conley has currently made his home in the colder temperatures of New Hampshire. He considers himself to be a uniquely alien creature with mysterious literary ambitions, a passion for fiction, and a whole slew of terrific stories he’d like to share with others.
When not busy writing, Nicholas is an obsessive reader, a truth seeker, a sarcastic idealist, a traveler, and — like many writers — a coffee addict.
Don't miss out!
Click the button below and you can sign up to receive emails whenever Nicholas Conley publishes a new book. There's no charge and no obligation.
https://books2read.com/r/B-P-QOEC-NCFH
https://books2read.com/r/B-P-QOEC-NCFH
Connecting independent readers to independent writers.
Did you love Pale Highway? Then you should read As Wings Unfurl by Arthur M. Doweyko!
Applegate Bogdanski returns from Vietnam with a missing leg, a Purple Heart, and an addiction to morphine. He stumbles through each day, looking forward to nothing and hoping it will arrive soon. When he attempts to thwart a crime, he is knocked unconscious and wakes up to discover that people are once again calling him a hero, though he feels undeserving of the praise.
Apple returns to work and meets Angela, a mysterious woman who claims to be his guardian. Immediately, he feels a connection to her, which morphs into an attraction. But he soon discovers that Angela is much more than she seems.
Apple and Angela are swept up in a conspiracy that stretches through time and space. Together, they must fight to save everything they hold dear from an alien race bent on destroying humanity.
