Nirvana Effect Read Online Free PDF Page A

drink, the cool water’s soothing action on his throat temporarily distracting his mind’s probing. 
    Gradually, the events of the night came back to him, like bits of flotsam netted from a river.  He remembered it all.  Mahanta , the drug, the variance in the coming of age.  The panther.  
    A muscle in his head cramped that he didn’t know he had. 
    Nockwe’s foot.  I remember now.
    He reviewed each piece of the puzzle in his mind.  H e was still missing quite a bit of jigsaw.  Once he ran out of the past to examine, he looked over the present.
    Such odd surroundings.  He hadn’t yet ruled out delusion.
    Next to the bed was a sitting mat made of a velvety fabric that probably represented a tenth of the tribe’s total wealth.  It must have come from their underground cache.
    He pulled his head up slightly.  It hurt tremendously but he needed to see.
    Far across the hut was some sort of chair.  A throne?  I t certainly had a grandeur that seemed other-worldly in an Onge setting.   Its wood was freshly ca rved and lined with red fabric.  The roof of the hut actually arched to some degree over the chair area . D ecorative strings with shiny metal and beads hung from the ceiling down to the floor, framing the “throne.”
    He rested his head back on the bed. It hurt too much to keep it up. 
    Edward’s delusion hypothesis couldn’t overcome the fact that in the final analysis, the straw felt real and the space looked real.  His head and body ached realistically.  These factors taken together lent credence to his alternate hypothesis that he had not the foggiest clue what was going on.  The mystery ached nearly as bad as his injuries.
    He shifted his head for comfort , waiting for the merciless throbbing in his skull to ease before once more addressing the boy.  Tomy still hadn’t answered up. 
    “Story,” Edward gently prom pted him .
    The boy had been staring at him the whole time.  Edward hoped the reason for Tomy’s rapt attention wasn’t because Edward’s brain was exposed or something else equally gruesome.
    “Nockwe kicked you,” said the boy slowly.  Yes, the flashing foot.   Edward grimaced and then immediately regretted that he did so.  His attitude had provided new muscles to join in the aching.
    “Yes, yes…” p rodded Edward.  It even pained him to vibrate his own vocal chords .  Speaking was a necessary evil.
    “ A lot of people kicked and hit you.  Medicine man and Dook wanted to roast you.”  But I’m here.   “Manassa said no.”
    “Who is Manassa?” asked Edward.
    The boy scrunched his eyebrows.  He sighed, then started his story over again as though to a child.  “Mahanta had his ret’nal’u two nights past.  You sneaked to watch it, you silly white man.  But only he didn’t kill the pig.  He left the village to kill a panther, and Mahanta died.”
    He died?  Edward’s mind scanned again through the night.  He died?  There Mahanta stood before his mind’s eye, hefting the panther over his head.  Edward would never forget that moment.  He saw it as clearly as if he were still there, hiding in the grass.  The incident was unbelievable but certainly a reality.
    “What happened when I passed out?”  Edward asked. 
    “I just told you,” said Tomy, obviously frustrated.  Before Edward could say anything else, Tomy tapped his forehead with his palm.  “Oh!  I forgot!  Manassa told me to get Bri’ley’na as soon as you wake, if you do.”   He ran out of the hut.
    Edward attempted to further assess the damage to his weary body without moving .  He didn’t want to stir up the pain again.
    He had no visible wounds, save for some scratches from the jungle brush and syringe marks in his arm.   He dared not touch his head.  His legs felt numb, presumably from lying in the same position all day and night.  Sun and moon .  He gave them a try and got no response. 
    He would need to shift his body up to get his circulation going, but he