ed myself that the day intended to

hich someone had managed to mis-place a sum comparable to the annual budget of a small department all felt strangely manageable. No one had called me the Moon, the walls re-mai

was profound

d report when a message from the

when you

nutes, so there was little point

d a glass partition. When I walked in, he was f

ed sta

long, I have a meeti

and looked at me wit

made. Over the past few months, his interest in me had gradually stopped looking entirely p

osition is opening up at the end of th

de me s

t expect

people listen to you, and there are almost never problems wi

good

tantly, it

terms and I'l

st, have dinner

seconds, I s

en so smooth that I d

we can discuss it separately. I

ightly. "You're not ev

n won't chan

a little of i

eparate everythi

is involved

back in

tying one thin

il me the details of the posi-tion,

r a few moments befor

rig

had framed the conversation, but I had no intention of

d headed f

ce,

d already come

put you in an unco

avoided. Just don't mi

, not qui

u're difficul

I'm usua

reached for the door handle when he extended a hand toward me. Perhaps he mea

r foun

burned aga

sociate with approaching magic. This was s

rked

oze with his ha

li

eared on the glas

he line crossed the metal frame and kept moving through

as though I were looki

at

stretched

he ceiling lights lengthened into silver streaks. I reach

or was

was appearing

of the table, the throw blanket I had lef

wn apartment from insid

everal m

time, directly

li

toward

owed through the window of my living room; the office desk intersected with th

ther, and for the first time I could phy

ant flar

ened between

heet of paper bringing two di

pulled m

my hands and struck one knee hard, but the surfa

smoot

nds, I stayed ex

owly rais

boring building was visible through the window, and be-side the coffee machine

as

ng from my neck, my bag had somehow stayed on my sh

en read

been standing in t

floor of my own living

dly surprised to find that my

d simply refused to pro

ouse. The silver crescent had already gone completely cold and lay in my palm with the innocent

om my of-fice to my apartment by methods unknown, then

wisely rem

, even that barely qu

d softly against t

urn

ature sat n

I was seeing into something familiar. The size was right. The

me completely

w tha

at

ature b

e slowly from the floor

finitely

olded wings, a faint greenish sheen appeared and disappeared with the move-ment of the light. A long tail rested along the floor

pression was e

ever I spent five minutes search-in

each other

e... t

offense appeared in

ded s

g the wings, that

asing a thin stream of sil

apartment-if one chose to overlook the sudden growth, the silver

on the size of a large ca

middle of the subway, and an instantaneous journey across sever

all this time you were..." The sentence died on its own as another, rather obvious pr

witched with what looked su

don't even k

over my face. After a man from another world, a castle appearing through a subway station, and an unschedu

t tell me yo

c

htly husky, and so perfectly clear that calling it a hallucination would

point, wrapped her tail neatly around her feet and regarded me

mply no reaso