HOLD IT!

[wright_attorney]

There was no reason to visit Vera Misham once her verdict had been declared. No, he didn’t know what she must be feeling, but he could guess. Any half-decent ex-attorney would save a little girl the embarrassment of admitting she’d had an unwitting hand in ruining his life. She was a good kid, after all. And all’s well that ends well, right?

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[flyboy_shepp]

"Heads up?" John called out lazily from his seat in the bottom car.

He was actually just relaxing for once and not working on the Ferris wheel, a magazine in his hands and Cash sleeping on the warm seat next to him. It wasn't until he heard someone walk into the Ferris wheel that he realized they were there, which disturbed John.

Mostly because he didn't see how anyone could miss the thing.

[wright_attorney]

What disturbed him was another matter entirely.

See, what disturbed Phoenix was that there appeared to be a Ferris wheel in the middle of the sidewalk passing in front of his office. (I wonder if there's a cure for magnetism toward the bizarre. Might be worth looking into.)

Still rubbing at his head, he squinted in the general direction of the voice. "Sorry," he said. "Didn't...see you there."

Because that totally made sense.

[flyboy_shepp]

"Right," John said slowly. Even if people weren't paying attention to where they were going, they tended to notice the Ferris wheel in their path before they actually met it face first. "Because a twenty-five foot metal Ferris wheel is hard to miss?"

[wright_attorney]

He didn't say anything to that. Just stared up at the rather obtrusive structure for a minute. Then another minute.

Then he turned to the man and said, "I take it this has been here more than five seconds."

[flyboy_shepp]

"Right," John said again, though this time the tone changed to one of understanding, and he brought his feet down as he sat up. At least some guy showing up out of thin air and banging into his Ferris wheel explained why he hadn't heard him coming - or why the guy hadn't seen it coming.

"This girl's been here over a year," John said, patting the side of the car affectionately. "You, however, have just shown up."

He always had sucked at island greetings.

[wright_attorney]

So, apparently Phoenix was the one out of place.

(Come on. I'm too young to be losing my mind.)

Now for the obligatory interrogation. The look of mild bewilderment disappeared, and suddenly Wright was all business. "Okay. Where is 'here'?" he asked, tucking both hands back into the front of his hoodie.

[flyboy_shepp]

John was actually a bit impressed by the change in the guy's demeanor, and he figured anyone who actually asked questions instead of freaking out about being somewhere totally new was okay by him.

"Strange island outside of space and/or time," he said, setting his magazine down. Cash, the laziest dog ever, didn't do anything more than snuffle in his sleep at the movement. "We call it Tabula Rasa."

[wright_attorney]

(In other words, it's one of those weird little universal anomalies only I can attract. Why am I not surprised.)

"Does this happen to everybody?" Phoenix might have admitted to being curious for curiosity's sake. This was all too bizarre to take seriously just yet. "Do we all just...appear? Out of thin air?"

[flyboy_shepp]

"Pretty much," John said with a shrug-turned-nod. He was starting to get a little creeped out the more he looked at the button on the guy's disturbingly bright hat. "It's the only way you can get back home, too."

[wright_attorney]

"Ah, so they disappear, too. I guess that counts as a way off." He scratched at his temple with his forefinger, staring thoughtfully into the distance. "How long does it usually take?" If this guy knew the Ferris wheel had shown up a year ago, chances were obviously not good for this being a weekend vacation. Which troubled Phoenix. He had...responsibilities.

[flyboy_shepp]

"No real way of telling," John said with another shrug. "The people and times they disappear is completely random. Some last a couple of weeks, and some of us have been here a couple of years."

[wright_attorney]

(Right. Looks like I'm going to have to trust Apollo to keep Trucy out of trouble.) Certainly not a very encouraging thought. They hardly knew each other, and his daughter already had her brother wrapped around her little finger.

"That could be a problem," acknowledged Phoenix, lifting his chin. "How do people make a life here? It must be hard, not knowing."

Of course...he knew that if there was one thing human beings were really good at, it was getting by.