An Evening with Friends

I settled comfortably into my favorite soft chair. It's one that another may not sit in for being not much to look at, but it catches and conforms to my body now after so many shared evenings together. We know one another and appreciate the companionship. The other frequent members of our consort this night include an aged handmade mug filled with warm, fragrant Earl Grey and the lamplight by which the evening's proceedings are conducted. This bright contributor is modern, angular, geometric and a bit out of place but among the eclectic friends that gather regularly here, it's differences are tolerated, in fact welcome. On cooler nights I light a fire or pick a light blanket for warmth, but this day's end is temperate and I'm dressed in comfortable flannel night clothes.

The subject of our conversation was to be a selection from a recent visit to the local used bookseller. That keeper of discarded secrets and treasures, that tonight presents us with a mystery of science fiction. The back flap and few scattered pages with which I tested my affinity for the story lured me in with allusions to Mayan and Egyptian pyramids, their similarities and the notion that life beyond our atmosphere had influenced their construction. Flipping further back into the beginnings of the book, what I can assume to be the main character was researching genetics texts and pondering the origins of life. The publisher's summary promised well kept secrets being discovered, the line between reality and and the seemingly incomprehensible being blurred into an extended understanding of who we are...or could be...or were. I was hooked. I'm usually not a big science fiction fan for anything other than what comes on the television, but when an author can stretch my mind with small leaps from well based reason, I'm in.

The book began. "A secret well kept, is a valuable one. Otherwise, why go to such great lengths to hide it? This was the premise upon which James began his research at University that fall. What was the secret? Why was it being kept? Could he prove it?" These intrigues kept me and my companions busy for hours and hours over the course of several similar evenings, always beginning in the same way, comfortable and relaxed as we entered the world of imagination.