The Experiment

Daniel wrote the last thing Mia said before he forgot a word.

BECAUSE NEXT TIME IT MIGHT NOT BE HIM.

He underlined it once.

Then stopped.

Rachel stood beside the kitchen counter watching him.

It was 1:32 in the morning.

Neither had gone back to bed.

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Could she mean somebody pretending to be Thomas?"

"I don't know."

"Could she mean the voice?"

"I don't know."

Rachel crossed her arms.

Daniel looked up.

"What?"

"You're getting better at that."

"At what?"

"Saying you don't know."

Daniel looked at the notebook.

"Lots of practice."

Rachel sat across from him.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then she pointed at the page.

"Thomas said paper."

Daniel nodded.

"If you can touch it, keep it."

"The camera."

Daniel looked toward the counter.

The old digital camera sat beside Rachel's keys.

"Yeah."

"And the printer page."

"Yeah."

"The notebook."

Daniel nodded.

Rachel leaned back.

"So that's what we do."

"What?"

"We stop trying to understand everything."

Daniel looked at her.

"We keep what we can prove."

He almost smiled.

"That's very unlike you."

"No."

Rachel pointed at him.

"That's very unlike you."

Fair.

Daniel closed the notebook.

"Tomorrow."

Rachel stood.

"Tomorrow."

They turned off the kitchen light.