METAFICTION

Chapter 6. THE REALM BETWEEN REALMS

"Charlie!" shouted Susan through her thoughts from her village house in the Realm of Fictional Characters awaiting their turn.

"I hear you, Susan!" answered Charlie through his thoughts, zipping close to her mind. His soft-light body materialised opposite hers. They were both sitting within a dream in Susan's living room.

"Strange...? I know I'm in a dream state. But it's as if I am awake. I sense you as if you too are awake."

"I am also asleep and in a dream state. But I sense myself and you as if we are both awake. Very strange indeed."

"Oh, Charlie, it is exactly what happened to us in the past when we were called to the Realm between Realms to join Eddie Sharpe and Julia Strauss."

Just then, an unusual pulse of hard-light awareness combed through Charlie's Susan's minds.

"Did you feel that?" asked Susan to her soft-light friend.

"Yeah, I certainly did. It's the author god, Eddie Sharpe. He's calling us from the Realm of Authors!"

"Yes, but feel deeper, Charlie. Julia is calling us too from her Novel Realm!"

"Hey!" exclaimed Charlie, suddenly. "Feel deeper yourself. There's another corporeal entity we're being called to meet. Can you sense that entity too, Susan? It's not an author, but the calling is definitely from the Realm of Authors!"

"Yes. And I'm receiving more knowledge... It's a female named Maddie Sharpe. But there's no image of her yet, or specific data. She might be an old woman or a young one."

"Or a child?"

"Or even a baby?"

"A baby?" The transparent form of Charlie looked incredulous, giving Susan a sideways look.

"Why not? Whatever is of female she is, it's almost a certainty that she is related to Eddie Sharpe, judging by her surname."

"My guess would be that she is the wife of Eddie Sharpe."

"Perhaps she is, Charlie. But Eddie Sharpe didn't mention anyone called Maddie the last time we met to discuss the amended ending to thwart Neil Barrington's book ending. He never mentioned that he had a wife, I'm sure of that. But that doesn't mean he didn't have a wife back then. And in any case, maybe since then he's found himself a wife."

"But I always thought only authors could enter the Realm between Realms."

"Or would-be authors, Charlie. Maybe this Maddie Sharpe is going to co-author with Eddie Sharpe a sequel to The Subtle Escape. What do you think?"

"I'm not sure what to think." Charlie shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh well, we'll find out soon enough." Susan bristled with excitement and anticipation.

"I cannot sense Neil Barrington. Can you?"

"No. Let's hope he's still forever stuck in his Novel Realm, The Subtle Escape novel."

Another pulse of hard-light awareness hit Charlie and Susan.

"Well, come on, Susan. A path has opened up. We had better make our way through the Realm to find Eddie Sharpe, Maddie Sharpe and Julia Strauss. The gateway Realm between Realms place is called The Subtle Revenge. Methinks a sequel is definitely in store."

"Most definitely," agreed Susan.

Together Charlie and Susan's two dream state soft-light bodies speared their way together through the dimensionality of their world, easily sensing their way to a place called The Subtle Revenge.