Commonwealth: A Novel of Utopia, part 1, chapter 8
Author’s Note: This is an excerpt from my novel Commonwealth. The rest of today’s installment is free, but only on my Patreon site. If you want to read the next part today, it’s already up on Patreon as well. You can sign up for as little as $1/month, or $2 for exclusive author’s notes and behind-the-scenes material. There’s also a table of contents for all published chapters.
The morning of October 14 brought a fresh breeze blowing into the city, one that carried a hint of changing seasons. There was a feel of autumn in the air: some ancient rhythm that went deeper than steel and concrete, like a pull from the earth itself, where long-dormant seeds and buried streams could taste the shift in the sun and the tide.
Rae had awoken early, roused by uneasy dreams. But they had faded upon waking, leaving behind no memories other than a vague foreboding.
At the moment, she had one boot on and was turning her apartment upside down looking for the other.
Come on now, I was wearing it when I came home last night. Or was it this morning? I lost track… Either way, it’s got to be here somewhere.
She knelt down to peer along the floor, and spotted the missing boot under her bed, among some dusty boxes.
Got you! she thought triumphantly – and as she sighted it, her phone buzzed.
Feeling a small jolt of adrenaline, she looked at the caller ID.
The screen read: “Shady Rest Nursing Home.”
A cold hand clutched her heart. But she thumbed the screen, put the phone to her ear, and said with only a tiny quaver: “Hello?”