Between the Lanterns(60)

There were a few very famous “people” still holding on and living forever in their automatons, but in the whole world, there were only 23 units still functioning.

August felt proud of all that he had done in his life and all that he had accomplished. He was even proud that the SameSoul had led to the NewLife, because that eventually led people to accept death instead of being afraid and trying to stop it from ever happening.

It was all because of Samantha. He had done everything in her memory.

August hadn’t gone around saying it was all for her or that she was his inspiration. She wouldn’t have liked to be in the limelight like that. No, when asked who the Samantha of Samantha’s Place was, August said it was his wife who had passed away from the Countdown, and that she had taught him about the importance of real food.

Despite not singing her praises to the whole world every waking moment, the way he wanted to, everything he had ever done over the past 30 years was because of Samantha, whom he still missed every day… whom he still loved with every single ounce of his heart and soul. And today, on the 30th anniversary of her death, August stood on their front lawn.

He had not been back in Alabama since he left all those years ago. The last time he had seen this house was the day that Samantha had passed away; the day he had woken in the Granger Clinic after being hit by an AutoCar. His arm still twinged from time to time where it had been broken, especially now that he was in his sixties.

August still had his keys. He had kept them in his pocket every day since he locked the door for the last time… in case August ever decided to come back all of a sudden. And he had thought about it a few times.

When the laws changed about Nutricators, knowing that he had made it happen, and knowing that Sam had also had a hand in it through him… August had thought to come here. But he never did. August had come to believe in God over the years. He wasn’t religious or anything; August never went to church. But he felt that something was connecting him with Samantha.

Every time he cooked and felt that electrical buzzing inside his chest, he knew she was with him. It wasn’t just being happy or remembering the exultant feeling of being wildly in love. It was Sam. He knew it. He didn’t need to ask her to find out the truth… but he might, anyway.

August stepped through the front door and received a wave of emotion upon looking at all of their worldly possessions in the same places where he left them. It wasn’t sadness that swept over him at that moment, but rather elation at finally coming home, and a tremendous sense of relief that everything was as it should be. What had Sam said to him when they discussed whether or not to keep the house?

“When you need to feel comforted, where do you go? If you ever feel completely out of sorts and lost, the best place to go is always home.”

And so, all these years later, when he felt out of sorts and in need of comforting… when he felt lost… August had come home to Alabama.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out something else he had been carrying in there for 30 years, and it was almost empty. There was only a pinch of Sam’s ashes left. He took half of the bag and sprinkled it on the couch, exactly where she had been the last time they had lain there, reading together with their legs intertwined.

He smiled, but also let a tear fall down his cheek. It was the first time he had cried in years. It wasn’t a tear of sorrow, but one that acknowledged the hole he still felt in his heart without Samantha beside him.

Next, August went to his workshop. He grabbed a few tools, which he put into the bag he had brought with him, which already contained a few containers of liquid. The tools and fluids all had one thing in common. They were used specifically for the upkeep, maintenance, and repair of wood.





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Bobby had passed away several years ago. Too much smoking. Just because the medical community had cured cancer didn’t mean that it had also cured emphysema. A year before he died, Bobby had come to visit August at the little bungalow in Malaysia where he had settled due to falling in love with the food. The food in Malaysia was life-altering.

During this visit, they had talked about life and love. Bobby had finally married Holly, the lady who cleaned August’s house. They had made some kids together, who were all grown and out of the house by the time Bobby visited Malaysia to see his old friend.

“Bobby, have you gone to see them?” August asked, his voice touched with worry. “Are they still there? Are they still workin’?”

Bobby laughed, which caused a severe coughing fit, and replied, “You always ask about those damn things, Auggie. I mean, I get it. I do. And to answer your question, yes, I saw them a month ago, and they are still working fine.”

August leaned back in his chair, the tension easing from his shoulders as he said, “Good. That’s good. And you need to have that cough looked at, Bobbo. It don’t sound too good.”

Bobby hacked a little more nasty goo from his chest, and wheezed scarily for a moment before, and waving August’s worries away with both hands.

“Holly always says that shit, too,” Bobby admitted. “I’m alright, man. I’ll outlive you all. But, uh, August, you should know something. Most everything in New Dothan has switched to solar power, man. Tesla gGenerators are ancient history now, you know, dude? Solar energy tech has leaped way ahead, and they’ve got it to where you can power a whole city for a month from an array the size of a football field.”