Free Full Vessels by Brian Blose Page A

never
said any of that! All of you stop putting words in my mouth! You
know why I got the shit jobs so many times? Cause I can handle it!
I been through more than any of you know.”
    “Please, cupcake. I've faced
inquisitions.”
    “No insults,” Greg muttered.
    Drake glared at Elza. “Leave me out of
this.”
    “Let's talk about you instead,” Griff said.
“We get Hess don't like cock, but what's your reason for being a
woman?”
    Elza hesitated. “Because I would do anything
for Hess.”
    “Except, you know, live ,” Erik
said.
    Ingrid leaned forward. “I refuse to believe
the Creator has frivolous goals. While I agree with your low
opinion of some of our coworkers, that doesn't provide us any
additional insights. The Creator is not just the twelve of us. We
are more than employees but less than the sum total.”
    In the silence that followed, Drake stood.
“Are we done? Good.”
    Greg cleared his throat as the door slammed
shut behind their departed colleague. “If there are no other
questions, then we appear to be taking a fifteen minute break. It
is my sincere hope the Creator finds more value in our meetings
than I do.”
     
     

Chapter 16 – Elza / Iteration 1
    Her father gestured and Elza approached. As
she took his hand, she noticed his skin felt cool even in the heat
of the day – a fact that seemed even more ominous than his
inability to stand these past few days.
    “My Elza,” he said.
    “Yes, papa.”
    “I am sorry.”
    Her brow wrinkled. “For what?”
    A coughing fit interrupted whatever he was
about to say. When it passed, her father had to recline on the
hammock she had constructed for him. “I die soon.”
    Elza nodded. Age had robbed all vitality from
him.
    “I worry. You need a man.”
    “Of all the women who have ever lived, I need
a man the least.”
    A pleased smile lit his face. “Clever Elza.
Strong Elza. Still . . . .”
    “I don't need a man, papa. And I don't want
one giving me orders.”
    His smile faded. “Yes, yes. But it's not good
to be alone. Not a woman, not a man, not anyone.” The speech winded
him, and he had to stop. Elza caressed the back of his hand.
    “I'll be fine, papa. You were the only man I
ever needed in my life.”
    His eyes grew sad. “I loved you too much. No
love left for other men.”
    “That's not how the world works, papa.”
    “Maybe.”
    “Trust me, papa. I have been watching for
many years now.”
    He closed his eyes. “Tell me about the giants
of the sea.”
    Elza smiled down at her father. “There are no
giants of the sea making waves when they jump to grab the moon. It
is a silly idea. The waves come all the time, not just when the
moon is in the sky. The giants don't cause the tides either. That
is the moon pulling on the water. I don't know how it works, but it
does. That's the only thing that makes any sense.”
    She paused, then placed her fingers alongside
his neck to search for a heartbeat that was no longer there. Elza
bent over to kiss his forehead. “You don't have to worry about me.
I serve the Creator of the world and nothing can harm me. I promise
to remember you. Goodbye, papa.”
    Elza arranged her father's body for the next
person to find it, picked up the pack she kept prepared for this
moment, and abandoned the tribe of her youth. There was an entire
world for her to study.
     
     

Chapter 17 – Hess
    During the recess someone had found and
convinced Drake to return to the meeting. He sat away from the
table, arms folded and a dour expression on his face. Like everyone
else, he looked to the man sitting tall at the table.
    Erik wore a smile that threatened to curl
into a snarl as he made eye contact with each of them in turn.
“None of y'all got a clue what I'm about. You have notions that I'm
nutty in the noggin. That I struggle with anger issues and shit
like that.
    “ Wrong. I got mountains of
self-control. I'm cool as snow, yo. My actions are a hundred and
eleven percent justified, and I'll prove it. Look