A Chance Mistake Read Free Page B

the apartments caused. He rounded a bend and the blamed buildings rounded, too. Where was a side street? In the distance beyond the peach barrier, a traffic light shone. Thank goodness. There had to be a break from them there. He wouldn’t be setting up housekeeping on this stretch and hoped it wouldn’t be a live spark for his next nightmare. Or maybe he should be glad for it. Could be part of his next book. He groaned. No writing. Remember?
    Gritting his teeth, he looked in the distance to the misty tree covered mountains and the blue sky. How could he quit writing for a couple of months? The bike lurched into a pothole, nearly throwing him off. He steadied the bike as a dark green car sped by. White-blonde hair flowed in the breeze inside the car. Oh, no. Was it the platinum princess? Did she see him just in time to witness the wobbling? Ah, great. So much for restoring his faith in his manhood.
     
    ****
     
    It was worse than Dafina ever imagined. Kory’s bike went out of control after the wheels took turns getting lost in a low dip of the road. “At least he didn’t fall down,” she said to Griff.
    His ears lay flat then perked. He jumped to her lap and looked out the window.
    “It’s too late now. The author is way back there. What are we going to do?”
    No answer, only excitement. What did the little dog think?
    “I feel responsible for him, I do. But what are you going to do when you can’t get people to listen? I warned him about the bike trails. And he isn’t even on the dirt roads yet.”
    Griff whined.
    “It’s okay. We’ll see what we can do.” She noted the odometer. Hopefully Bobi’s wonky map would do the trick. For once he’d had a stroke of genius.
    She double checked the traveled amount when she arrived home. Just what she thought, twenty kilometers. If Kory moved about fifteen kilometers an hour, he’d arrive in about an hour and a half. But what if he was slower? He looked like he moved at a snail’s pace, but then again he was going uphill.
    Griff followed close to her heels as she walked to her humble house’s front door and stepped in. By all the work that needed to be done, it was evident she was a single woman. She tossed her purse along with The Unseen on a chair and headed into the kitchen.
    She shook her head at Kory’s choice of transportation. He could arrive anytime and she needed to be ready. “Well, Pops. What should we do?”
    The pudgy man at the table didn’t answer.
     
    ****
     
    Kory coasted down the road, thankful for a long downhill ride. The bike wavered at the high speed, and he applied the brakes which only made a squealing noise. Great. He guessed his family and Sundae would be surprised with a call from a Welsh hospital.
    Who was he kidding? Sundae was probably out having the time of her life with a new boyfriend. Why did she even bother with him? Obviously, because she thought he was successful. She liked the thought of being with someone popular, and he hated to admit that he could see dollar signs in her eyes. Their goals in life weren’t the same.
    He’d be happy with a small apartment and a computer to create a spellbinding world. His alternate life with characters that were his friends and foes. Sundae didn’t understand his need for time to write. But it was his career. He needed time to work. She hated the times he’d zone out, slipping into another dialog in his mind. It offended her, and it worried him that he could lose touch with his surroundings in seconds. But it was all part of the process he loved—too much.
    Homes with green lawns and trees appeared. The mountains in the distance didn’t seem quite so far away. He stopped at a traffic light and pulled a paper from his pocket. According to the hand-drawn map, it wouldn’t be too long until he met the halfway point. He looked forward to coming to the village and finding a place to stay and eat dinner. His sense of adventure loved it.
    He took a quick glance over his shoulder and his