Garal vanished then. A smile. A blessing. And he was gone.
I could easily understand how a heart could break. For days, I felt that mine was on the verge of severing. I thought I felt the split occurring. I prayed for it to happen all the way. So I could—possibly—be reunited with Ruthana. I wanted my heart to break. Very much.
* * *
It didn’t, though. Damn sturdy organ. It remained intact.
So there’s my story. I hope you liked it. Believed it, anyway. It did happen. All of it. Exactly as I described it. Please believe me when I say it really happened.
Well, a few more details. In 1936, I moved to Los Angeles. By then, five more of my MIDNIGHT series had seen print, one of them selling to the movies. I settled into a beach apartment, wrote two more MIDNIGHT books, and started drinking. After a year of that foolishness, I attended an AA meeting, which helped.
I never married. Why bother? Ruthana was my only love.
Anything else? Yes. One telling detail. I still have the emerald. I keep it in a safety box. No one knows anything about it.
Remarkably enough, the emerald looks unaffected by time. It still glows with an unearthly shimmer. I guess it always will. It signifies, to me, that Ruthana still loves me. And is waiting for me.
Somewhere.
Editorial Note
The author known as Arthur Black (born Alexander White) died in his sleep on May 20, 1985. The following verse was found in his belongings:
AT THAT MAGIC TIME
IN THAT MAGIC PLACE
I MET THE ONE TRUE LOVE
OF MY ENTIRE LIFE
MY FAERIE PRINCESS
RUTHANA
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ALSO BY RICHARD MATHESON
The Beardless Warriors
Button, Button (The Box)
Duel
The Gun Fight
Hell House
I Am Legend
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Journal of the Gun Years
The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
Noir
Now You See It …
The Path
7 Steps to Midnight
Shadow on the Sun
Somewhere in Time
A Stir of Echoes
What Dreams May Come
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
OTHER KINGDOMS
Copyright © 2011 by RXR, Inc.
All rights reserved.
A Tor® eBook
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Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Matheson, Richard, 1926–
Other kingdoms / Richard Matheson. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7653-2768-0
1. Americans—England—Fiction. 2. Fairies—Fiction. 3. Magic realism (Literature) 4. Great Britain—History—George V, 1910–1936—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3563.A8355O84 2011
813'.54—dc22
2010036532
First Edition: March 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-6644-3
First Tor eBook Edition: March 2011