White by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online

this Book, which is from here where metaphors express themselves literally, might do the same in this dream world of yours?”
    â€œWho has a quill?” Thomas demanded. “A marker, anything to write with. Charcoal—”
    â€œHere.” Ronin held out a charcoal writing stick with a black point.
    Thomas took the crude instrument and stared at it.
    â€œJustin was clear that we should hide this Book,” William said. “That it is dangerous. We have to come to some kind of agreement on this.”
    Thomas paced, Book in one hand, pencil in the other. “And Justin said that the Book only works in the histories—the dream world Kara and I come from. For starters, that confirms the histories are real and can be affected. It also means that the Book should be powerless here.”
    If what Thomas was saying was true, the Book’s power might be quite incredible. “What would you write?” Mikil asked. “I mean, what limits would there be? Surely we can’t just wipe out the virus with a few strokes of the pen.”
    Thomas set the Book on the rock. “You’re right. I . . . that seems too simple.” The others gathered around, silenced by impossible thoughts.
    He looked at the cover again. “ The Story of History. That means it should be a story, right?”
    â€œAs in ‘once upon a time’?” Ronin asked. “You’re saying that if you wrote, ‘Once upon a time there was a rabbit,’ then a rabbit would appear in your dreams?”
    â€œToo simple,” Mikil said. “And what script should we use?” There was a slight difference between the alphabet used in each reality—the one used here was simpler.
    â€œThe script of the histories,” Thomas said.
    â€œWhat do you want to accomplish in this other reality?” Ronin asked. “Your main goal—what is it?”
    â€œThere’s a virus that will destroy most of humanity . . . you know, the Raison Strain,” Thomas said. “The one that ushered in the Great Tribulation as recorded in the Books of Histories. Knowledge of the history has become somewhat vague in the fifteen years since Tanis’s Crossing, but we all knew it orally once.”
    â€œYes, of course. The Raison Strain. These were the histories that Tanis was fascinated with.” Ronin looked at Mikil. “You’re saying that these histories are . . . now? Real now?”
    â€œHaven’t you been listening to me?” William said. “That’s what I’ve been saying. I’ve said that he’s only recalling memories, but he seems to think that these dreams of his are real.”
    â€œActually, I’m not sure we know how it works,” Mikil said. How could she possibly explain her dual reality at this very moment? “Thomas is the expert here, but I can say whether past or present, the histories are not only real, but we must also be able to affect them.”
    â€œBut surely you don’t think you can change what has been written about as a matter of history,” William said.
    â€œWe don’t know that either,” Thomas said. “Without the actual Books of Histories, we don’t know what was recorded. As far as we know, the histories record our finding this Book and writing in it today.”
    That kept them all quiet for a moment.
    â€œThen write a story,” Ronin finally said.
    William grunted in disgust. “Why should I care about any of this? I care about what is real, here. Like the Horde that pursues us every day. I am going to gather my people and take them deep.” He stalked off.
    Thomas handed Mikil the pencil. “Your recollection of the writing is fresher than mine. You write.”
    It was an excuse, she thought, but she reached for the instrument anyway. A slight tremble shook her fingers.
    â€œWhat should I write?”
    â€œSomething simple that we can test,” Thomas said. “What is our