The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive.
Heyem wakes up, hearing Alexand calling for her from the bathroom. (Thank you to everyone who has supported these stories over the years. As a gift to you, Unbound Boxes Limping Gods has been upgraded and is now an advert free home, with limitless space for my fictional family to grow! Happy reading everyone. The writer gives life to a story, the reader keeps it alive…)
After their new year’s celebrations, and an impromptu marriage, Heyem, Alexand and Jarad ended up sleeping in Heyem’s apartment. Heyem is slumped still sleeping in her chair, with Alex and Jarad unconscious in her bed. Alex is the first to wake up, disorientated and hung over.
It’s New Year’s Eve, and after being deployed in Hong Kong for a week, Alexand and Jarad are celebrating the coming of the New Year, along with Heyem. They are taking a break from their relief mission for an evening, and are out in Hong Kong, enjoying the city. They have been to many bars and clubs, and all three are quite drunk. Alex has been overly affectionate towards Jarad, as the three of them parade around the outside night market.
Heyem has been back on her university campus for the past three weeks. She has arrived between terms, and arranged to begin teaching in the New Year. The army have set up camp inside the grounds, and have recruited members of the faculty to help administer Katherine’s Bullet. The trails of potential infected stretch out onto the streets outside the university, and she decided to take a five-minute break for herself, to recover.
Heyem is furious with Alex, that she hasn’t listened to her warning about sleeping with Jarad. She is more upset about Alex’s rejection of her. She has decided to pack her possessions and intends to ask Inajda to take her off the Island back to Hong Kong.
The news of a cure came a day before Alexand and Heyem’s twenty-fifth birthday. As Heyem is soon to leave the island to go back to her career, and Alex is almost recovered enough to return to the army, Heyem is looking for her twin, outside on the beach, as she wishes to celebrate a day she thought they’d never share.
Heyem told Jarad all about Alex seeing the Ghost of Baio-Yujia, and so Jarad made his way straight to her hospital bed to be with her, using this as a good excuse to visit.
Alexand is being haunted by the ghost of Baio-Yujia Sun
Alexand is alone in her hospital room, attempting to come to terms with her survival.
A month has passed and Alexand was sedated to aid in her recovery from heart surgery. The sedatives are wearing off, and she begins to hear voices. (This issue is dedicated to my son, Sam, who is 18 today. Happy Birthday, Sammy, one of the few people who are as real to me as my characters.)
Abouna Panak has seen the future and the past, yet he is still quietly upset at seeing Lieutenant Colonel Merek’s condition. He stands at the back of the room as her family stand at her bedside, waiting to hear her prognosis from Doctor Azizi.
Inajda contacted Field Marshall Panak, and he arranged for Alexand to be taken to Christmas Island to be assessed. Alex lays unconscious in the sick bay, with Heyem, Inajda and Jarad waiting anxiously outside for news.
Alex hasn’t been able to speak or move for the past few weeks. She is rapidly declining, and her doctor has predicted she only has a few weeks left. Inajda and Heyem sit at her bedside, unable to do anything. Heyem sits opposite, after Inajda retrieved her from Hong Kong, warning her that Alex was close to death.
Helga Ritter materialises in the East of Yunnan, where most of the habitable villages are. She has a great task ahead of her, but her writer will aid in locating the elusive Lieutenant Colonel Merek, and more importantly save Lord Anderson from whatever diabolical fate has currently been forced upon him.
Helga Ritter has been listening to Heyem’s thoughts for the past couple of hours.
Helga Ritter, disguised as a Swedish tourist, called Elsa, waits for a very drunken Heyem Merek to fall asleep. She is beginning to suspect that Heyem has no idea where Lord Anderson is, but as Heyem begins to snore, softly; Helga digs her way into her uncensored thoughts.
Helga Ritter sits in a lesbian bar drinking wine with Heyem Merek, in an attempt to extract information from her, regarding the whereabouts of Lord Anderson.
Heyem has been very depressed since she got back home to Hong Kong. She has received no news about Alex, and is deeply worried about her sister. She has not heard from Inajda, and Alex hasn’t returned to her military base. Heyem has continued with her life, but has grown more despondent. She has taken to drinking, to attempt to suppress her emotions. After her lecture is over, she heads out into the city, to a bar, to get drunk and perhaps pick up a woman.
Helga Ritter has spent the past two weeks searching the world for any trace of Lord Anderson. She has visited many places, starting in India, reading the minds of humans, who are close to Alexand Merek. Family and friends and army colleagues, even Field Marshal Abouna Panak had no though in his head about the whereabouts of Lord Anderson. Helga isn’t giving up. She has learnt that Heyem Merek is back teaching at Hong Kong University, and so dressed in cognito, Helga creeps into one of Heyem’s lectures, and sits quietly at the back of the room.
Alexand and Jarad head towards the last room in the hotel, where Alex promises a solution to the problem of hiding Lord Anderson. (Thank you to everyone who has joined Alex on her journey these past seven years. To celebrate issue 300 and seven years on wordpress, Part 1 is released today and part 2 of the anniversary special will be released on Sunday 25th June, exactly seven years to the day of the first release back in 2010.)
Heyem finds herself standing outside Hong Kong University, still dressed in her Amanojuko clothing. The writer she held in her hand has stopped working, and as she tries to fix it, it disintegrates. (For those of you with delicate minds, please forgive Heyem for what she is about to say. If you are easily offended by swearing please be warned Heyem is rather angry, and you may prefer to read another story, on one of her happier days. Maybe this one?)
Lord Filius Anderson has discovered Alexand’s infiltration attempt.
Alexand and her group are being shown around the catacomb, which houses Project Ghost Ship. Alex is finding it increasingly difficult to remain objective.
As they walk the corridor, the guard begins talking about the Amanojuko proposals for the new world order, making Heyem shiver with the horror of it. (Thank you to Siddiqui Fayesal for interviewing me. You can see the first part of the Interview with a writer, on his website, “Ho Hum… Well we’re going to die anyway!“)
Since Katherine’s death, Alexand has bigger plans for the fate of this factory. She has memorised the layout, and knows where all the corridors lead. She chooses her moment to fade out of focus, using her writer to disappear, so that she hovers between matter and electro magnetic energy.
Inside the Amanojuko factory, the entertainment has stopped, and the guests are being shown through the doors, leading down to the lower chambers. Heyem is doing her very best to remain in character.
Heyem is escorted through the gates of the factory, along with the others.
Alex recovered enough to set off for the gates of the factory, (which is where the Amanojuko process the catalyst, used to infect the population with ‘plague’.)
The factory is close, but Alex has been shivering for hours and her body is letting her down. The group has stopped to rest, overlooking the Amanojuko factory, which is just across the horizon. (This issue, and every story I’ve written, is dedicated to my dad, who died almost 21 years ago on 2nd December. This is for you Dad, I will never forget you.)
Alexand suddenly feels very unwell, despite being very close to the factory, which she believes to hold the cure to her illness.
The group have been waiting for Alexand to return, and have set camp back in the cave, near Lake Baikal.
The group have spent the day attempting to catch fish in Lake Baikal, as a day has passed with no sign of Inajda returning. They have lit a fire and wait for Inajda, but everyone knows she should have returned by now.
This future version of Anesidor Sumian has lived for hundreds of years. She is the creator of the writer, which the resistance use to stay alive. She has the ability to transport matter from one place to another, to store it inside a box, keeping it safe, like she had dreamed of as a child. She has to maintain time’s continuity, to ensure that her world doesn’t crumble. Unfortunately Inajda Rekaya is being rather uncooperative. (This issue is dedicated to my Mum, whose birthday it is today, and who is always there for me, when I need her, just like Mary Poppins, but a lot less scary.)
The group has headed northeast and zigzagged around inhabited areas, to where they are about eight hundred miles away from the Amanojuko factory, near Lake Baikal. Doctor Azizi has been tasked with convincing a very stubborn Inajda to part with her writer and potentially endanger the mission.
The group have donned themselves in the finest Amanojuko disguises, and are ready to set foot further into Amanojuko territory. Alexand isn’t feeling well, and doctor Azizi has noticed. (For the LGBT community, everywhere. Love outlasts hate.)
The group prepare themselves for the journey into Amanojuko territory.
Alexand and the rest of the resistance have settled in a cave in the mountains of Southern Russia. Alexand has scanned the area; there are no inhabitants for hundreds of miles. Inajda has illuminated a map on the far cave wall, showing the topography for two hundred square miles. She scrolls through the map, until she reaches the nearest settlement.
Heyem materialises along with the others on the other side of the wall.
The group prepare to cross over to Russia, into the forbidden zone, marked out by the Amanojuko. (Happy Birthday, Dad and Uncle Robin, wherever you are.)
Inajda doesn’t need to scan the grave to realise what has happened.
The cart doesn’t stop, as the danger of being hijacked gets greater, the deeper they travel into Kekexili. Heyem is woken from her sleep as the carriage jars to a halt, and the sound of gunfire ricochets around the desert.
Alexand has recovered enough to address the party. Her troops have been getting jumpy, and she needs to do something to remedy the lack of trust they have in her as leader.
Alex wakes up after falling unconscious, due to her illness.
Inajda has returned to India after a very long journey of espionage, on board the floating asylum ship. She materialises inside Abouna Panak’s office in Saskatoon, ready to submit her findings.
There are some complications in their attempt to leave the pub, and get Alex safely back to the carriage. Alex is understandably weak, she’s in pain due to her broken rib and battered feet, but Farokh has given her some morphine he acquired on his meander around town.
After being rescued from a farmer, who was intent on killing her, Alexand lies in bed, semi conscious.
The group have stopped for supplies in a nearby village in Xiongmeizhen.
The group decided to camp for the night. They have reached the borderlands of Tibet. There is no military check point as the place is remote, so no need for them to split up as they had done earlier on in their journey. Farokh lays in his sleeping bag, watching the guards, as they tread the perimeter, hoping that the bandits can’t hear Heyem’s voice.
Jarad walks with Alexand, as she leads her troops towards the borders of Tibet. (If you would like to donate to the Nepal Earthquake Appeal please visit the Red Cross Website or the DEC Website. Thank you.)
Alex attempts to disguise her illness from her troops, as she leads them towards Tibet.
The group made it to the top of the mountain safely, and trekked another half an hour down to the base camp in Annapurna, a place shielded from the elements. They have paid for pitched tents and have set up a camp fire, with some food roasting. Heyem sits by the fire, next to Alex, who is unusually quiet.
Heyem sits on a bench, holding tightly to her stomach as the cable car swings away from its dock.
After the mountain becomes too hazardous for the horses, the group have to walk on foot towards the next checkpoint.
Alexand and her agents travel north east towards Nepal. The borders aren’t as closely monitored in the mountains, and they have to leave no trace of themselves at military checkpoints. The Amanojuko have spies in the army, and they can’t risk exposing themselves to capture. They blend into crowds, breaking into small groups, and meeting up again in less populated places.
Two months have passed and Alexand and Katherine have gathered in secret, inside Jarad’s house, with seven of Abouna Panak’s most trusted double agents. (As well as Heyem, Farokh and Jarad) They are preparing for the long journey to Russia. Katherine sits in her hover chair, still strong enough to contribute, but is weakening as the days pass. She listens as Alexand takes command. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Katherine recovered enough to join the siblings in the morning. Her illness hits her in waves. At the moment she is able to walk, and feels better than she did the night before. Alex, Farokh and Heyem watch on as Katherine, somewhat like her old self, attempts to help their quest. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Alexand has returned from the bedroom after kissing goodnight to a very sick Katherine. She joins her siblings, hoping that they can support her at this difficult time. This episode is dedicated to David Prosser, who asked me a few weeks ago if the next issue could be “a bit more hopeful.” CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Farokh has carried Katherine to her bedroom, and retreated to the living room to join Heyem. Alex sits beside Katherine, and they attempt to enjoy their first moments alone together for five long months. However Katherine is feeling very sick, leaving Alexand no option but to inject her with the inhibitor and with a high dose of morphine. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Alexand has appealed to Heyem to help save Katherine’s life. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Katherine and Alex sit in an army carriage, along with Heyem and Farokh, heading back to Saskatoon Military base. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Katherine waits at the docks along with Farokh and Heyem (who has travelled from Hong Kong) to greet an injured Alexand, as her ship arrives at the harbour. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Heyem Merek has made a successful life for herself as a doctor of Herstory in Hong Kong University, but being an identical twin has its drawbacks. Sometimes she can sense if something has happened to her twin sister Alex, even though Heyem has tried her best to distance herself from her troublesome twin. Heyem has woken up after a strange dream, that she was tumbling down a cliff. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Katherine tried to get rid of Farokh, but she needs help, and somehow he convinced her he might be useful. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Farokh has arrived at Alexand and Katherine’s apartment after having to negotiate his way past the barrack guards. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Alexand has taken Katherine to a deserted beach in Hong Kong, to give her a break from her endless research. They sit on the sand together, staring out to sea. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
(This story is the first in a long series, which will continue on into the New Year. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading!) Farokh has lived with his uncle Antun, after the death of his father, Eric. (The absence of the rest of his family, Alexand, Heyem and Inajda, haunts him). He spends a lot of his time wandering the streets, dreaming of escaping his claustrophobic village. He has just turned fifteen and is waiting for a chance to ride to India so he can join the army to be with his favourite sister, Alexand. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Inajda Rekaya sits in Professor Sumian’s home, waiting to be handed whatever item Abouna Panak requested her to retrieve from the particle physicist. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After agreeing to sail to Maryland, (to retrieve an important artefact for Field Marshal Panak) in exchange for the safety of her daughters, (Alexand and Heyem) Inajda Rekaya is nearing her journey’s end. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
Inajda Rekaya works undercover for Field Marshal Abouna Panak, and has not seen her daughters, Alexand and Heyem, or her son Farokh, for years due to the nature of her espionage. She has been asked to his office to discuss her next task, but she has an ultimatum. CLICK HERE for next chronological story.
After a near death experience, (see issue 84: Ancille Merevija part 3) Ancille is angry with her mother for making her attempt to fly off Mount Kilimanjaro. This story is dedicated to Lee J Tyler from The Point Of The Quill, who requested an Ancille story. Thank you, Lee. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
Maria Thamian is a drama lecturer in the University of Hong Kong and has been courting her fellow lecturer, Heyem Merek for a few weeks. She has gatecrashed one of Heyem’s lectures for the pure enjoyment of watching her girlfriend teach. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
Baio-Yujia Sun had been accidentally killed in a crash. (See issue 25: Baio-Yujia Sun) Her three surviving friends Alexand, Heyem and Jarad were found responsible for her death and sentenced to military correction. (See issue 26: There’s No Place Like Home) Three years have passed, and Alexand Merek still has vivid nightmares about Baio-Yujia’s death. Things have escalated and Alexand now sees her dead friend’s shadow at night, when she’s alone in her room. Next chronological story here.
After being given the option to take a pill which stops ageing, the group of Abouna Panak’s rebels decide whether or not to take the life altering drug, SIR2HX. (Thank you so much to Pamela Spiro Wagner, a very talented poet and artist, who inspired and encouraged me to finally complete a series of stories rather than tease the reader into gouging out their (and or my) eyes. This is dedicated to you, Pam.) (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
Toreth Rek-cho has been offered eternal youth, by the mysterious Field Marshal Panak. She has also been shown a bleak future, and has ten minutes to decide her own fate. (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
After her cousin Alexand, brought Toreth to Christmas Island to save her life, (See issue 67: Toreth Rek-cho) Toreth witnessed a projection designed by a race of Amanojuko, who apparently plan to take over the world in the near future. (This story follows issue 71: The Other Side Part 3.) (CLICK HERE for next chronological story)
