The Unincorporated Man

The Unincorporated Man by Dani Kollin Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: The Unincorporated Man by Dani Kollin Read Free Book Online
Authors: Dani Kollin
Tags: Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Adult, Politics, Dystopia, Apocalyptic
really matter. Because the he was beginning to remember what the sensations were and to put them in proper context. The art of separating feeling from hearing from vision was a skill taken for granted that the he had to relearn. But the he was not impatient. Somehow, although the he did not know his name, his location, or his past, the he did know to the core of his newly reawakened being that the he had all the time in the world. He did somehow remember that time had been the he ’s enemy. Time had been something always closing in, biting off large chunks of the he —making the he afraid. But the he was no longer afraid. Justin…
    My name is JUSTIN, the he realized.
    Now he had all the time in the world.
    JUSTIN is in a bed, JUSTIN thought. JUSTIN still had no concept of where JUSTIN was or how JUSTIN had gotten there. JUSTIN’s memory was nothing beyond the primal sense of self that one has when awoken from a long and confusing dream.
    Not a dream—a nightmare.
    The bed felt very comfortable. The mattress made JUSTIN feel like he was floating on waves of tiny bubbles, and the linen was of a perfect warmth that made JUSTIN want to roll over and go back to bed. But JUSTIN resisted that urge—not out of any sense of apprehension or need, but out of the knowledge that JUSTIN had slept long enough.
    He smelled a pot of coffee. It was just brewing up fresh and was going to be ready soon. He knew that for a fact but didn’t remember hearing any of the associated sounds—the steady stream of liquid hitting liquid, the hiss and gurgle at the culmination. Justin was not yet aware of how odd that was. He was paying attention to what he did hear. A soft hum in the background was accompanied by the sound of the crisp pages of a book being turned. Next he became aware of the light and knew it was light, and that the light was coming from the outside.
    His eyes fluttered open.
    The light was a perfect ambient illumination that did not hurt his eyes in the least. There was no one place the light was coming from.
    How odd, thought Justin. At that moment he could not have described to anyone what a lightbulb or lamp was, but a part of his mind was aware that light simply did not come from nowhere.
    His eyes were sweeping the surroundings, absorbing all that he saw. But he did not see any one thing at first so much as he saw the entire room. It was simple, with a door at the far end and a coffee table and two chairs beyond the bed he lay in. There was a painting on the wall. He lingered on it. It was a beautiful rendition of an ocean as viewed from a forest on a cliff. He could not explain how all those concepts could have been conveyed by a simple painting, but he wanted it for his collection.
    I collect art, he remembered. His mind became flooded with images of sculptures and paintings and shapes and experiences and hours. Hours spent admiring his collection and the personal sense of happiness that he owned such beauty.
    Then he heard the pages turn again.
    His eyes wandered gently toward the sound. There, sitting cross-legged a few feet from his bed, was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in the world. She was reading a book. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
    She is beautiful, he thought, but the most beautiful? He began to doubt. She’s so beautiful because you were never meant to see anyone ever again—much less a woman .
    Justin began to shift his body subtly. He could feel his heart pounding. He felt warm. Fear. This must be fear, he reasoned. And not that he could prove it, but somehow the bed seemed to have responded to the fluctuation in his temperature. It was a few degrees cooler now.
    “ I’m sorry, Mr. Cord. ” A voice from the past. “ There’s nothing we can do. ”
    “How long?” Justin echoed in response.
    “Two months at the most. You’ll want to make arrangements.”
    “Yes, of course, Doctor. You needn’t worry. All necessary arrangements have already been made.”
    Justin was now no longer

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