SINGULARITY

EIGHTH SEQUENCE

"If we wait until our lives are free from sorrow or difficulty, then we wait forever. And miss the entire point." - Dirk Benedict

It was early midday and Zaccaheus was tired, having slept uneasily the previous night. A recuring nightmare had returned to him. In it he'd awake to an empty apartment, Iris nowhere to be found. Each time he had this nightmare, he would do the same thing; he would wander the streets of the empty city, calling out her name, fruitlessly. And each time the nightmare would end the same way; having reached the outskirts of the city Zaccaheus would wander out into the shallows of the water and stand amongst the old buildings, and there waiting for him would be Iris, and he would call for her; relieved, elated, reaching out to touch her. But each time she turned to face him he saw a snow white face with those electrifying purple eyes, and before him she would disintegrate to a white dust, before drifting off skyward and into the starry night...

Zaccaheus observed his lunch as his fork meandered around it; a pasta dish he'd cooked himself. The sauce he'd made was too sweet, and the pasta itself over cooked. He'd put time and effort into this, but as he aparaised his rather unsatisfactory creation, he couldn't help but feel like he'd wasted his time. He wasn't enjoying the meal, and felt perhaps he should've simply asked for one. Then again, what else was he to do with his time?

There was a yawn followed by a playful voice, "Smells nice. Save some for me?"

Zaccaheus looked over his shoulder to see Iris emerge from the bedroom.

He smiled slightly, "'Course I did. Its not too good though... Its never very good without your help."

Iris beamed back at him, "Well you could use the practice. You should have woke me up to help you, its late."

"Well after last night I figured you'd want to sleep in. And its not like you'd be missing out on anything by sleeping in..."

The smile on Iris's face faltered a little as he said this, before she lumped some of the pasta onto a plate and took up a seat next to Zaccaheus. She delicately put a hand on his back and rubbed it gently as she leaned in, speaking gently, "Zac, you did the best you could to help them. I know its hard to see them like that..."

Zaccaheus shook his head, "No, Iris, thats not it. I don't..." He paused briefly and sighed, "I'm angry at her. I don't feel sorry for her. I mean, I did, but then when I got back..."

Iris was taken aback, "Angry? Why Zaccaheus? What did she do wrong? Daniel ran away from her. I'd have thought you'd feel sorry for her considering..."

"I did, I mean I still do but... I spoke to Daniel. I understood his misery and I... Look he isn't our son Iris, he wasn't our child. I had no right to do that. Yes, yes I understood why Julia wanted me to bring him back but I wasn't the one to do it. I've meddled in both of their personal lives. How do you think Daniel feels towards Julia now? Do you think he'll forgive her for that? Do you think I've made anything better between the two of them by forcing them back together?"

Iris looked shocked, mouth agape, "Zaccaheus, I... I can't believe you. 'Think he'll forgive her'? He ran away from her, he was prepared to abandon her Zac! After everything we've gone through, the pain you and I felt when Elijah left us, you'd think you'd understand!"

Zaccaheus could see where this was going. He should have stayed silent, kept his mouth shut, kept these troublesome thoughts to himself. She'd been up for only a minute and things were already going sour, "Iris forget I said anything. I don't want to talk about it anymore, please."

Iris spoke forcefully now, gripping his shoulder, "No Zaccaheus. No, I need to understand you, I need to understand this. How can you say those things about Julia? Zaccaheus she was helpless, she was desperate. You always go on about how you can't stand losing me..."