DECEMBER 23, 2007

The Twelve Days of Christmas (over twenty-eight years)
By Chris Owen

Finn and Ari are in my upcoming novel, Converge, being released on an unsuspecting public December 26.

On the First Day of Christmas
~age four, Finn is carried back to his own dimension by his aunt, who once again explains that he really cannot go and play in Between.  He is given a stuffed bird and a toy tree, which he promptly drags back to Between.

On the Second Day of Christmas
~age six, Finn takes two plastic turtles, sneaks into Between and finds Ari's house. He then explains the three year old -- who can't hear or even see him -- that turtles are slow but really neat. When his aunt once more drags him home, he reads his book over and discovers that turtles are not the same as turtledoves. He's very embarrassed and kind of glad that Ari couldn't hear him. He'd hate to have given out incorrect information.

On the Third Day of Christmas
-age eight, Finn can say a handful of words in French and Spanish. He finds it helpful to go to where it is quiet -- ie: between dimensions -- and repeat his lessons over and over. He kind of thinks it's neat the way he just happens to find Ari each time he goes looking for him. Of course, his mother continually fetches him and takes him home, and by this time the lectures are getting rather severe.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas
~age ten, Finn is learning to be far more sneaky about seeing Ari. He does, however, wish that Ari could see and hear him. It would be cool if they call each other up and stuff. Finn would like that. He'd like it if Ari knew he was there.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas
~age twelve, and full of confusion, Finn goes to Between and watches Ari do his homework. Ari, at nine, is brilliant.  His science project consists of five gold hoops that conduct an electrical charge from one to the other until a spark ignites a fuse on a firecracker. He wins first prize.  Finn, duplicating the project, wins second behind Donny Schtucko, who managed to predict dice rolls ninety-seven times out of a hundred.  Donny Schtucko went on to be a millionaire before his seventeenth birthday. Finn became a scientist.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas
~age fourteen, Finn thinks he's over watching some kid in Beta. But every once in a while he goes to take a look. Ari, an orphan, spends that spring break on a farm.  He seems to be as unhappy as Finn, although it was kind of neat to watch the geese lay their eggs.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas
~age twenty, Finn has fallen in love and fallen out of love, come out to his parents, gone on to college and is swimming in a very fast moving academic stream. He's destined to be a top notch theoretical researcher. And just before Christmas of that year he steers his team in Between -- finally there legitimately -- away from a face he recognizes.  At seventeen Ari is beautiful. He's also in pain, breaking up with his boyfriend, and while that's what Finn is there to study, the seven of them can find another subject.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas
~age  twenty-four, Finn is working. It's almost time for the holidays, but he's working.  On a whim he goes to see were Ari is interning, unsurprised to find his old friend making a success of himself and already milking the connections he's made to get interviews.  He was going to go far, Finn just knew it. There are corporate suitors all around him, and Ari's basking.  He's never been so amazing.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas
~age twenty-six, Finn is going through a club phase and spends the holidays dancing. With girls. It's his one attempt at subversion and since it's been so long since he's had a boyfriend it falls flat. People think he's straight.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas
~age twenty-seven, Finn is not repeating his mistake of the year before. He's making a whole new mistake, but he's still dancing and leaping... a little slower after each Lord he leaps with. Ari, at twenty-five, isn't leaping or dancing; he's working, completely unaware that Finn watches him, late at night when Ari is the only one left at the office.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas
~age thirty, Finn is hearing the music of his life. His job is awesome, his family isn't driving him crazy, and he's got his own lab. He's got a boyfriend, he's got fish. He's set. He watches Ari, who is taking over the world by leaps and bounds, charming and brilliant and beautiful. And somehow, it never even occurs to Finn that he's in love.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas
~age thirty-two, Finn's given up the boyfriend but the rest is the same. He works, he thinks, he watches. He's started a research project, taking notes, and he's convinced himself that watching Ari is a matter for his career.  Ari has Ben. It's an interesting Christmas, and the one that comes before...

Converge.

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Chris Owen's An Agreement Among Gentleman will be on sale at 15% off until 12-26-07