(Untitled)

[goodoldnick]

The meeting of the Boulder Free Zone Committee had been going smoothly up to the point that everything went to hell.  It came on suddenly, the feeling that something -everything was wrong.  Fran jumped up from her seat and was saying something, her wild gaze flitting from face to face.  "We have to get out of here.  Right...now."

That was sure

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[milfweed]

Nancy was walking along the beach, occasionally bending over to scoop up a shell and place it in the large (now bulging) pockets in her sundress. She had some notion that she might make something out of them. She wondered if there was a hot glue gun anywhere on the island.

She was a little surprised to see someone swimming up to the shore from quite a distance. She paused, watching him, finally putting a hand over her forehead to shield her eyes a little but still squinting into the sun.

As he got closer, she thought maybe he was lagging a little, so she called with concern in her voice, "Hey, are you doing all right out there?"

[goodoldnick]

Oh yeah, Nick was tired all right. He had the idea he might not make it to the island at all. He felt like he wasn't gaining ground wither, that maybe this was purgatory and he's be swimming toward paradise for eternity.

Just as his arms finally gave out on him, a decent sized wave deposited him the rest of the way onto the sand, where Nick planned to lay face up in the surf till he got one hell of a sunburn.

[milfweed]

Nancy let out a small sound of surprise upon seeing him practically washed up onto the shore, and darted the rest of the way towards him. God, she hoped she didn't have to give him CPR; she wasn't even sure she remembered how.

But luckily, she saw right away that he was on his back, breathing, albeit heavily.

"Jesus," she blurted. "That must have been one hell of a swim. Are you all right?"

She dug around in her bag for a moment, and emerged with a bottle of water. "Here."

[goodoldnick]

Nick's eyes were closed against the sun, so he didn't catch anything she said. In fact, he didn't know she was there until she was shaking his shoulder and offering him water. He thought he might vomit if he drank it but he was so goddamn thirsty he couldn't resist. Nick never questioned her appearing out of the blue, either. After all, this was the afterlife, and the rules were different.

When he'd drunk all he dared to, he grabbed the lady's hand and squeezed it in thanks. Evidently, you didn't get to hear or speak in heaven if you couldn't do it on Earth.

[milfweed]

Nancy had been surprised when it appeared he couldn't hear her, thinking for a moment that he must have water in his ears. When he squeezed her hand, she smiled and took the bottle.

"Did you just get here?" she asked him, a little louder this time. After all, he wouldn't be the first one to wash up on the island--herself included.

[goodoldnick]

Nick nodded, almost convinced in his semi-daze that this would be a totally normal way for the afterlife to begin. It had everything you could want: sunny beach, pretty guide, and he hadn't seen a single shark or jellyfish on the way in. And she said 'here' as if it were nowhere extraordinary, which was a comfort to him.

[milfweed]

"Come on, let's get you some dry clothes and something to eat," Nancy added, putting a hand on his arm, ready to help him up. "Can you stand?"

[goodoldnick]

Leaning on the woman more than he wanted to, Nick did stand up, and let her lead him. He squeezed her arm again and signed a thank you, not sure if angels knew ASL. But he had to try, didn't he?

[milfweed]

Nancy looked surprised when she saw the gesture. She wasn't exactly fluent in sign language, but she'd picked up a lot of it when Silas was dating Megan.

"You're deaf?" she asked, though now wasn't sure if he'd been reading her lips all along or if he was just lost as to what was going on.

So she paused, and then signed, My name is Nancy as well.

[goodoldnick]

No goddamn way. Nick still had no idea if he was in heaven or just in the great absurdist Beyond, but it didn't matter. Because apparently wherever he was, people could sign. This had almost never happened to him during his life, and he was so elated that he threw his arms around Nancy for a second, then drew back and started signing rather furiously.

["Hi Nancy, My name is Nick and it's great to be able to talk to you."]

Usually I would have been S.O.L. until we got to pen and paper.

[milfweed]

"Woah, slow down," Nancy said, holding up her hands.

N-I-C-K, she signed carefully, then gave him a questioning look, wanting to make sure she had it right since she'd missed most of the last part.

"Can you read lips?"

[goodoldnick]

Ok, so not a total victory, but enough to encourage Nick, who nodded and signed his name again, slower this time. He'd been so happy to talk that he had probably been slurring in addition to speeding. He also pointed to his lips and made the thumb-forefinger circle. Yes ma'am, I read you.

[milfweed]

Nancy smiled. "Okay, good," she said. "Because I can understand better than I can reciprocate. You still might have to go a little slow, though." She paused, and added by way of explanation, "My son dated a deaf girl for a while." Until she got pregnant and then got a secret abortion and broke poor Silas' heart...

"I doubt you'll find many people who understand sign language here," she admitted. "When we get to the compound you may want to get a pad of paper or something to carry around with you." She thought of Megan and Silas always texting back and forth on that Blackberry.

[goodoldnick]

Way ahead of you there, Nancy. Nick reached into his back pocket for the memo pad and pen he kept there, then remembered they didn't hold up so well when you went for a swim with them. He showed her the remains with a self-deprecating smirk, and signed ["Almost."]