of waving passengers, probably off to Alaska.
“So how was the tradeshow?” Kendra asks.
“It couldn’t have gone better,” Beau replies. “I met again with the people I wanted to follow up with and had good conversations with each of them. Whatever comes of this trip, I think it was well worth my time.”
“Good, I’m really glad to hear that,” Kendra says.
“I should have grabbed a bus back though,” Beau says. “There was a Quick Shuttle leaving early afternoon that would have had me home three hours earlier.”
“Is the show finished?” Kendra asks; “you could go back there for a few hours.”
“No,” Beau answers; “I’m finished with that thing.”
“How far are you from the park?” Kendra asks; “because you could go leave a message under the stone for future guy.”
“I’m looking right at the park, but it isn’t all that close to here,” Beau replies, “I’m toting a pretty big shoulder bag too, and it looks like its gonna rain,” he adds.
“I saw a weather report and I don’t think you’re gonna get rain,” Kendra says.
“I’ll think about it, but I’m tired,” Beau says.
“You don’t have to go the park,” Kendra tells him; “if you’re tired. “I just thought it might be fun if you had the time.”
They get off the phone to save roaming charges. The soft tone of Kendra’s voice echoes in his mind. Though she said so little, her voice spoke volumes. She had completely given up on Beau putting anything beneath the stone, which tore at him little. He knows it’s something he would have done eleven years ago, when they first started going out. Time changes people. Beau and Kendra have a strong relationship, but time has taken something from it, a kind of innocence that can’t be taken back. Though love grows with time, passion wanes. Whatever it is that Kendra hopes to find beneath the stone, Beau thinks, he had better not let the moment fade away. If it’s that easy to put a little twinkle in her eye, why not?
He unzips a side pocket on his shoulder bag, reaches in, and pulls out the NeoTech commemorative coin given to him at the tradeshow. He takes another good look at it and smiles, slides it back into the bag, and starts walking along the seawall toward the park. He passes a large waterfront lawn, several fine dining restaurants along the edge of Coal Harbour, beyond a marina full of yachts, and into the mouth of Stanley Park. The sky grows even darker.
He first comes upon a huge boulder sitting in the center of the footpath, obviously placed there to prevent vehicles from driving onto the path.
“I hope to high hell that isn’t it,” Beau says under his breath.
A sign points him in the direction of Lost Lagoon and he begins walking toward it. After a good ten minute walk into the park, he comes up on the lagoon. Exhausted, he takes a seat on a bench by the water’s edge and pulls his memo recorder from his bag, then scrolls through audio files until he finds Cedric’s message. He plays it again, fast forwarding to the part of the recording that gives the location of the stone.
“For real,” the message begins to play. “The date is July 20, 2069. If by any chance you are picking this up before the existence of the laserlink system, there’s a path southward from the southernmost tip of Stanley Park’s Lost Lagoon; follow it until you see that it has to go around a huge tree stump. There is a stone that sits half embedded in the ground just beyond the stump. You can’t miss it; it looks like the moon. I doubt it’s
“So how was the tradeshow?” Kendra asks.
“It couldn’t have gone better,” Beau replies. “I met again with the people I wanted to follow up with and had good conversations with each of them. Whatever comes of this trip, I think it was well worth my time.”
“Good, I’m really glad to hear that,” Kendra says.
“I should have grabbed a bus back though,” Beau says. “There was a Quick Shuttle leaving early afternoon that would have had me home three hours earlier.”
“Is the show finished?” Kendra asks; “you could go back there for a few hours.”
“No,” Beau answers; “I’m finished with that thing.”
“How far are you from the park?” Kendra asks; “because you could go leave a message under the stone for future guy.”
“I’m looking right at the park, but it isn’t all that close to here,” Beau replies, “I’m toting a pretty big shoulder bag too, and it looks like its gonna rain,” he adds.
“I saw a weather report and I don’t think you’re gonna get rain,” Kendra says.
“I’ll think about it, but I’m tired,” Beau says.
“You don’t have to go the park,” Kendra tells him; “if you’re tired. “I just thought it might be fun if you had the time.”
They get off the phone to save roaming charges. The soft tone of Kendra’s voice echoes in his mind. Though she said so little, her voice spoke volumes. She had completely given up on Beau putting anything beneath the stone, which tore at him little. He knows it’s something he would have done eleven years ago, when they first started going out. Time changes people. Beau and Kendra have a strong relationship, but time has taken something from it, a kind of innocence that can’t be taken back. Though love grows with time, passion wanes. Whatever it is that Kendra hopes to find beneath the stone, Beau thinks, he had better not let the moment fade away. If it’s that easy to put a little twinkle in her eye, why not?
He unzips a side pocket on his shoulder bag, reaches in, and pulls out the NeoTech commemorative coin given to him at the tradeshow. He takes another good look at it and smiles, slides it back into the bag, and starts walking along the seawall toward the park. He passes a large waterfront lawn, several fine dining restaurants along the edge of Coal Harbour, beyond a marina full of yachts, and into the mouth of Stanley Park. The sky grows even darker.
He first comes upon a huge boulder sitting in the center of the footpath, obviously placed there to prevent vehicles from driving onto the path.
“I hope to high hell that isn’t it,” Beau says under his breath.
A sign points him in the direction of Lost Lagoon and he begins walking toward it. After a good ten minute walk into the park, he comes up on the lagoon. Exhausted, he takes a seat on a bench by the water’s edge and pulls his memo recorder from his bag, then scrolls through audio files until he finds Cedric’s message. He plays it again, fast forwarding to the part of the recording that gives the location of the stone.
“For real,” the message begins to play. “The date is July 20, 2069. If by any chance you are picking this up before the existence of the laserlink system, there’s a path southward from the southernmost tip of Stanley Park’s Lost Lagoon; follow it until you see that it has to go around a huge tree stump. There is a stone that sits half embedded in the ground just beyond the stump. You can’t miss it; it looks like the moon. I doubt it’s
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