Eve: A Novel by Wm. Paul Young Read Free Book Online

through the cracks, she could see the woman lying limp on the floor, a man’s form standing above her. Approaching footsteps stopped outside her hiding place. Closing her eyes, she crawled into the only spot she thought safe, deep down inside, as the knob slowly turned.
    Again, tears she couldn’t stop climbed to the edges of her eyes.
    “I sometimes talk too much,” John muttered apologetically, dabbing her face again.
    “It’s okay,” sherasped, not wanting him to see her more vulnerable and helpless than she felt.
    “Meanwhile, Lilly,” he continued, “I have some good news. You’ve been responding so well that we’re making changes to give you back to your own body.”
    “What?” Lilly responded. “What does that mean?”
    “It means, Lilly, that we’re going to wean you off the drugs and start you on a physical therapy protocol. We’re going to start with sitting up. In time you will walk again, and dance and sing and all those things that every child is born to do.”
    She winced at the mention of a dance, but how could he have known?
    “It will mean arduous work on your part,” he continued, “but I personally think there is nothing you can’t do. What do you say?”
    “I’m beyond ready.” She let out a long breath, as if it had been held for months.
    “Good! Also, to celebrate, I brought you a small gift that I made.”
    “A gift?” A wave of nausea again caught her off guard, unexpected and unsettling. Why would the mention of a gift affect her this way?
    “You said you didn’t remember being much of a reader, but my opinion is that every person is a story and therefore is a storyteller. Trouble is that many fear failure, so they never begin. But you, dear Lilly, are a courageous girl.” He paused and then held up a small gift wrapped in floral print and an emerald bow.
    “John, you know I can’t move, right?”
    “Of course! I wrapped it myself, proving that I have the requisite genes to unwrap it.”
    “Well then?”
    He took off the paper, pausing to show each unfolding, until an elegant leather-bound journal appeared. It was hand-embossed with a series of circles and an intricate clasp. In this diary she could scribble daily thoughts and poetry and random musings. In case such things were private, John explained, he showed her how they would secure its contents by impressing her handprint on the cover. He also opened up the inside back, which looked more slate than leather, like the surface of a tablet.
    “This is a built-in recorder of another sort, capable of remembering your experiences and emotions. There is nothing you have to do to activate it; it simply works in the background.”
    Lilly felt gratitude come alongside her wariness. It was a wonderful gift, maybe the nicest she’d ever received. “Thank you, John.”
    “You’re welcome. I hope it becomes a place of safety for you. I also write occasionally. Writing is a refuge in its own way. I hope you find it so.”
    “Maybe,” she said. “John, someplace in your big library, do you have a story about a prince and snake and fox and a rose?”
    He thought for a moment. “I do!” he exclaimed. “I know the one you’re talking about. I haven’t thought of it for years. I will look for it.” He smiled. “Shall I read it to you?”
    “Yes. You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child. Dr. Seuss said that.”
    The Collector laughed. “Hah! Dr. Seuss? How old did you say you are?”
    Lilly felt shame rise up in her face. Defiance inside her instantly recoiled and sarcastically snapped, “Five!”
    There was silence and then his face appeared above hers.
    “I didn’t mean to embarrass or hurt you,” he said softly. “I have no idea why or how what I asked would cause you pain. But it did, so I apologize.”
    She tried to shrug it off. After all, she didn’t know why she felt offended.
    “It’s okay,” she offered, her breathing heavier as she worked to control the