Reading: "Orcles Mysterium" from Evenfall of the Helical novel and Animated promo card (A.Glass 2022)

“All have been RSVP'ed, so all good Saffi. I’m at the boutique now, looks great, everything is set up, all the racks. And you gonna love the store window...”

“On my way now, just...” She look up at the street sign, despite, driving down this part of Los Angeles numerous times, she checks that she is on the correct route. “...turned into West Boulevard now, should be at the boutique in Twenty odd minutes,”

“Minutes are so odd aren't they?” Hensley replies, as Adalyn chuckles at his wry sense of humor.”

“It's an odd world,” she says.

“That it is, see you soon,” he retorts, as Adalyn ends the call, she looks briefly up at the blue sky as she drives up West Boulevard. She feels something, that only has ever occurred as a dream, that the road she is driving down feels different, for a brief moment unfamiliar. Unperturbed by the thought, Adalyn nears Nine Hundred and Thirty Three N La Brea Ave where her boutique is located, tapping the button on her steering wheel the podcast continues.

“...And on that note of Holographic and Parallel Universes, joining me after that fascinating discussion with the previous guests, is Mary Abdul a philosopher of metaphysics who has just released her new book, “Phantom of the Universe: Are we real?” Mary thank you so much for joining me today and discussing your new book, first question. Are we ghosts?...”

Adalyn, turns off the podcast, she drives past her shop, smiling. “There it is, my boutique...” As a shard of the sun's reflection flashes across Adalyn's face. “...at the end of the world.” Looking for a car space, she sees an empty car park. Parking the car, Adalyn lifts the cellphone off from its dashboard cradle, with her right index finger and thumb she pulls down the sun visor, looking into the diagonal mirror attached, checking her appearance. Satisfied, she reaches across with her left hand and lifts up her tote bag, opening the car door, eyeing the shop from where she is parked. Standing, she closes car door, quickly crossing the street, reaching the other side, Adalyn's attention stays fixed on the facade of the boutique. Its bunker like exterior, stark and brutalist, with two large windows set back within their angular concrete frames, seeing the wire screen frame shutters pulled across. She looks up at the austere font of the boutique's name, “ORACLES MYSTERIUM” set in rustic stylized cast iron lettering, over the entrance of the boutique, spaced apart in its grandeur perspective.

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Reading:  "Oracles Mysterium"  from Evenfall of the Helical (A.Glass 2022)