The Ever Breath Read Online Free PDF

don’t understand and never will, the magical creatures were separated from the rest and two worlds were created.”
    The tastes that filled Truman’s mouth were hard todescribe. They were sour and then tart. They lingered in his mouth and then suddenly swelled into a bitter tang. A salty taste like seawater would spike into a rich coffee taste and then become comforting, as simple as milk.
    “The moon passed over the sun and the day went dark, and when the light started to slip back onto the face of the earth, the magical creatures were gone. They stirred only in people’s dreams, imaginations, and distant collective memories.”
    The textures of the foods were just as changeable. Some of the foods were gummy. Others were crisp. Others melted in Truman’s mouth like dollops of honey the moment they hit his tongue.
    “The two worlds are still unified in a mysterious way,” Swelda continued, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Sometimes it’s hard to determine whether our dreams direct our lives or our lives direct our dreams. Isn’t it?”
    Their cheeks stuffed with food, Truman and Camille both nodded. Yes, yes, it was.
    “This is the Fixed World. This world we live in now. And the other world was named the Breath World. Those in the Breath World felt cast out, of course, and so a stone to control the balance and flow between the two worlds was placed in their world. A stone called the Ever Breath—an amber orb with a breath embedded in its very center.”
    Truman looked up at her, confused.
Breath?
he wanted to say.
In a stone?
    Swelda paused and then sat back. “You want to know whose breath it is in the stone. Don’t you?”
    He nodded.
    “We don’t know, Truman. There are lots of names forthis being. I tend to call this being A Being Than Which Nothing Greater Can Be Conceived. The name arose centuries ago, but this being can go by any name. This particular name is a long one, but it works for me. Is that okay with you, Truman?”
    He thought about this:
A Being Than Which Nothing Greater Can Be Conceived
. He nodded.
    She put her bony elbows on the table and leaned in. “But if the Ever Breath is taken from its rightful spot, the passage between the two worlds begins to wither, and if it’s not returned, the two worlds will be closed off from each other forever. Which means that there can be no magical thinking in the Fixed World, no imagination, no more dreaming.”
    How could this be? How could anyone be cut off from dreams, from imagination? The thought buzzed around in his head. He felt panic rise up in his chest. He glanced at Camille, and her face looked pale. Her eyes were wide. It was only a story, wasn’t it? Why, then, did it seem so true?
    Truman looked down at his plate. The food had thinned out. Camille’s plate was nearly empty too. He nibbled at a fruit-encrusted heel of bread. Camille popped a few remaining purple seeds.
    “That would mean death,” Swelda said. “This world would die.”
    Truman squinted at Swelda. Was he hearing her right? Her voice sounded echoey and dim.
    “This world cannot survive without magical thinking, imagination, and dreams,” she said.
    And the Breath World?
Truman wondered.
    She answered his question as if he’d said it aloud. “The Breath World would lose its tether to the Fixed World, itsanchor, and it would have no place to send its overflow of magic. The imagination would take over in its darkest forms. The evil magical beasts would rise up and take over. It would destroy itself.”
    Truman tried to imagine that as well, but he couldn’t. It was too terrifying to think of worlds ending, and his mind felt cloudy. He licked one of his fingers and dabbed at the crumbs.
    The room fell silent.
    “Go on,” Camille whispered. “Tell us more.”
    “I would tell you more, but your plates are empty and your stomachs full and your mouth has flown open. That’s how I know that the tasting tale is finished.” Swelda lifted the platter. It was still