i began looking through the pamphlets.
i found a green pamphlet labeled labeled “food”, a blue pamphlet labeled “shelter”, an orange pamphlet labeled “clothing”, and a red pamphlet labeled “transportation” and decided they would do to start with.
not bad, i thought, every universe should provide its inhabitants with clear and concise instructions. of course i had not opened the pamphlets at that point.
i put the four little pamphlets in my pocket and stepped out into the street.
it was cold!
as i expected, helene was nowhere in sight. i had had no desire to encounter her, but given the cold, and the wind that was springing up, i would gave braved her contempt to attempt to get a few quick answers as to where i should go next.
be that as it may, i put my head down and headed into the wind.
i noticed that there were no tall buildings in sight - none over three stories tall.
i ducked into a doorway to get out of the wind and to open and look at the pamphlets .
just as i opened the first pamphlet - the one labeled “shelter” a light went on behind me, and a woman’s voice said, “is that you, jerry?”
“no, i am not jerry,” i answered back. though i wished i were, so that i could get in out of the cold.
“come on, jerry, don’t play games. get in here,” the voice insisted.
all right, i thought, i will go in just to get out of the cold for a few minutes. who knows, maybe whoever is in there will take pity on me and let me sit for a while.
maybe even offer me something to eat or drink!
i turned around and entered the door the woman was holding open for me.
she was an ordinary looking human female and did not look in any way familiar to me.
she looked directly at me and said, “carlos has been waiting for you. he is in a bad mood.”
the light in the corridor was not bright but it was not bad either. i decided to keep up with being jerry for a little while at least.
stranger things had happened to me in my lifetimes.
i followed the woman down the not badly lit corridor to a heavy looking green door, which she pushed open.
i followed her into a large room.
it looked something like the sitting room of a club. comfortable looking easy chairs were scattered around, about half of them occupied by silent sitters.
a fire was roaring in a big fireplace! it seemed to be providing the only light in the room.
my eye fell on a table in a corner. although away from the fire’s light, four people seated around the table seemed to be playing cards.
two of the players looked up at me as i followed the woman who had admitted me into the center of the room.
i recognized the two players who were looking at me as helene and the woman with thick glasses!
but neither gave any sign that they recognized me. they turned back to the game.
“it’s your play, carlos,“ helene said to another player, a thick set man with his back to me.
“no,” carlos replied, “it’s jerry’s play.”
he turned and faced me.
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