Little Myth Marker By Robert Asprin

That memory led me to ponder a curious point: Were there other successful beings, like myself, who used their new prosperity to recreate the setting or atmosphere of their pre-success days? If so, it made for a curious cycle.

I was so preoccupied with this thought as I entered the garden that I almost missed the fact that I wasn’t alone. Someone else was using my retreat . . . specifically, Aahz.

He was sitting on one of the stone benches, chin in his hands and elbows on his knees, staring blankly into the water as it flowed through the fountain. To say the least, I was surprised. Aahz has never been the meditative type, particularly in times of crisis. He’s more the “beat on someone or something until the problem goes away” type. Still, here he was, not agitated, not pacing, just sitting and staring. It was enough out of character for him to un-nerve me completely.

“Umm … Hi, Aahz,” I said hesitantly.

“Hello, Skeeve,” he replied without looking around.

I waited for a few moments for him to say something else. He didn’t. Finally I sat down on the bench next to him and stared at the water myself a bit.

We sat that way for a while, neither of us saying anything. The trickling water began to have a tranquilizing, hypnotic effect on me, and I found my mind starting to relax and drift.

“It’s been quite a day, hasn’t it, partner?”

My mind reflexively recoiled into a full defensive posture before it dawned on me that Aahz was still speaking quietly.

“Y .. . Yes.”

I waited, but he seemed off in his own thoughts again.