Tesla Case Study

Tesla Case Study A CASE STUDY ON TESLA MOTORS Cost/Benefit Analysis In business, every decision that has to be made requires thorough evaluation. And one of the most convenient and straightforward methods to do this is through Cost/Benefit Analysis. In CBA, an estimation of the total value of all the benefits of a certain project is compared to that of the value of the costs that are needed in order to realize such project (Watkins, n.d.). In order for the assessor to come up with a better angle of comparison, these values must be expressed into a uniform unit of measurement. Usually, in computing CBA, the values of the cost and benefits are converted into their monetary value. Once all the costs and benefits of the project have been taken into consideration, comparison may be done. If the value of the benefits outweighs that of the costs, it means that the project is a worthwhile endeavour. The next point of evaluation would be the calculation of the break-even point – the time at which the benefits of the project pay off the costs (Hill, 201 2). It would be most preferable to have a shorter payback period. Generally, CBA helps business people to decide whether or not to undertake a particular project. It allows them to frame the best and appropriate project objectives. Furthermore, CBA can be used to prepare the necessary resources as well as develop before and after measures of the project’s success. For example, the move to promote more ecological operations and processes for the company may need a Cost/Benefit analysis to determine the probability of its realization. As the corporate world is becoming more and more aware of the effects of Climate Change, companies are looking to implement environment-friendly practices in their offices. The same holds true for huge manufacturing companies. CBA allows the companies to evaluate probable gains and losses that these actions may bring. Tesla Motors: A Case Study in Environmental Impact Background and Operations of Tesla Motors Leading the advent of a more sustainable transportation system and its innovations, Tesla Motors has established quite a reputation in the automotive industry. Since its establishment in 2003, the company has grown to be the biggest manufacturer of electric cars in the market. It has contributed more than 50,000 cars in roads all over the world as of today (Tesla Motors, n.d.). Its main goal is to create a transportation system that is more environment-friendly and sustainable. Electric cars are charged at home and do not require refuelling of gasoline unlike the cars designed by other manufacturers. Quite expectedly, these zero-emission cars were not easily accepted in the market as they were deemed impractical, not to mention consumers were not really impressed with their rather tacky design. Fortunately, Tesla Motors was able to flip that equation. By releasing their trailblazer electric sports car for the high-end market, the Tesla Roadster, they were able to capture the attention of car enthusiasts and change the face of the green car market. After releasing the Roadster, Tesla pushed for more space in the industry by releasing their luxury sedan, the Tesla Model S in 2012. More and more consumers are looking to buy electric cars because of the innovations that were done by the company. In fact, reservations for their next model releases are already piling up. There is much anticipation for the Tesla Model X and Model 3 releases. How Green is a Tesla Green Car? The very purpose of an electric car is to promote energy innovation; and Tesla Motors’ goal is to achieve this without causing any negative impact on the environment. However, a new technology such as the innovative green car production cannot be made to pass without being thoroughly criticized by the public. Green cars are, by principle, more environment-friendly than the conventional fuel-based cars. The process, by which it is being manufactured, on the other hand, says otherwise. Furthermore, green cars do run on electricity. But, how is electricity being processed? Does it not come from coal and petroleum too? All things considered, is a Tesla green car green after all? The company admits that the degree of being environment-friendly of their cars take the Model S for example, mostly depends on where and how often the car is being driven. In the US, each state has a different mix of energy sources that basically goes into their grid. In other words, a â€Å"cleaner† source of electricity makes a Model S a more environment-friendly car. Generally, it is still cleaner than the internal-combustion design of their competitors in terms of emissions-per-mile; considering the efficiency of battery-powered cars in converting stored energy into a useful form (Oremus, 2013). Tesla Motors and the Campaign for Environmental Sustainability Tesla Motors have established its campaign to promote a greener personal transport system through its electric vehicles; but how does it impact the environment in the industrial context? Are its processes and operations considered as environment-friendly? The company is very much aware of the fact that they are indirectly releasing carbon emissions through power plants – considering that electricity is the main power source of the vehicles. This is the reason why Tesla moves to promote the absolute removal of indirect carbon emissions by using Supercharger Stations that only uses grid electric power from solar panels (Walsh, 2014). Moreover, Tesla is teaming up with SolarCity to provide electric car owners an option to charge their cars using solar panels in their respective homes. This is like hitting two birds with one stone. By eliminating the need for coal-based electricity source, they are indirectly reducing carbon emissions in the atmosphere; and they are promoting the use of renewable energy source at the same time. Tesla is basically solving the world’s dependence on gas. Through their revolutionary innovations in electric vehicle technology, they have addressed an issue that has been thought as an improbability for many years. By making more convenient adjustments in their electric cars, and at the same time proving that electric cars are indeed effective, Tesla has convinced more consumers to patronize their product. The company is winning more and more battles as they advance into bigger ventures. In order to cater to their growing consumer demands, Tesla is building their very first Gigafactory. Panasonic will be a huge investor in this project, along with Tesla’s other major partners. The best thing about this gigafactory is the company’s plan to run it mainly on wind and solar energy. Nevada is the perfect site for the factory because it is where the biggest solar power plant in the world is located. Tesla does not only serve as a leader in electric car technology, it is also becoming a model for other companies to consider more environment-friendly processes. Coal mining and processing has created many environment-related issues and are still causing problems in many places around the world. If Tesla becomes successful in eliminating the need for non-renewable sources of energy in order to generate electricity, it can change the face of the automobile industry forever. Not only will it dramatically reduce the carbon emissions that are released to the atmosphere, it will also eliminate the issues that are brought about by the processing of electricity that is coming from natural resources. Tesla Motors and the Competitive Industry Of course, Tesla Motors is not the only company that has entered the green car market. Even though the industry for green cars is not that big compared to the conventional automobile market, it can be said that competition is not too lax. In fact, Toyota, Ford, Nissan, and Honda are considered as the biggest competitors for Tesla. Audi, Volkswagen, and BMW are looking to join the green car industry soon. And these are pretty huge companies. Can Tesla keep its place in the industry without being squeezed out by giant car manufacturers? What is its competitive advantage? Unlike the rest of the automobile manufacturers, Tesla is 100% in the green car industry. Thus, their focus is only within that market. Research and development is solely dedicated for this purpose, allowing the company to create better innovations. Also, Tesla has about 5-year head start over the other companies. While other companies are still building their green car designs, Tesla is already polishing its own. The future of the automotive industry is leaning towards the utilization of renewable sources of energy. This basically means that other companies who are on the other side of the industry are at a huge disadvantage. Oil is about to run out; but solar power is unlimited. Sooner or later, they will have to shift to a more sustainable source of energy. Tesla Motors and the Future of Green Car Technology At the moment, Tesla’s priority is to maximize its production in order to meet the demands for the Model S and Model X in the market. They are having troubles in meeting customer demands with their very limited production. But the public can rest assured that Tesla will not stop creating better innovations for their products. Once the gigafactory has been installed, Tesla’s next focus will be on the development and improvement of automated driving technology. As a matter of fact, the company’s CEO, Mr. Elon Musk has announced the release of their partially self-driving vehicle by 2017 (Boyadjis, Rassweiler, Brinley, n.d.). As the technology for zero-emission cars progress, the issues regarding the automobile companies’ impact on the environment is being addressed gradually. Someday, there will come a time when vehicles will solely depend on solar power – among other renewable energy sources. It may not totally solve Global warming, but it will help the world get there one step at a time. References Boyadjis,M., Rassweiler,A., Brinley,S. (n.d.). Object moved. Retrieved from https://www.ihs.com/articles/features/tesla-motors.html Hill,R. (2012, September). Attention Required! | CloudFlare. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_08.htm Oremus,W. (2013, September 9). How green is a Tesla? Electric cars’ environmental impact depends on where you live. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/09/how_green_is_a_tesla_electric_cars_environmental_impact_depends_on_where.html Tesla Motors. (n.d.). About Tesla | Tesla Motors. Retrieved from http://www.teslamotors.com/about Walsh,T. (2014, November 1). Investing in Socially Responsible Companies: Tesla Motors Inc. Retrieved from http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/11/01/investing-in-socially-responsible-companies-tesl-2.aspx Watkins,T. (n.d.). An Introduction to Cost Benefit Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/cba.htm

Attracting Motivating And Retaining Generation Y Management Essay

Attracting Motivating And Retaining Generation Y Management Essay Generation Y that closely referred to as millennial is latest member in the multigenerational workforce. In fact they are the newest and the last members of the workforce, born between 1982 and 2003. Although they grew up with technology and never knew a time without mobile phones and the internet, they have some values held by traditionalists like patriotic and willing to fight for freedom. They often think in bullet points and are ravenous researchers. Speed is important and they prefer rapid feedback. Moreover, they perform best when their abilities are identified and matched with challenging work. These years companies in different countries faced different challenges such as attracting, managing and retaining the new population of workers. Members of Generation Y have an incredible amount of talent but they also have incredibly high expectations about their work environment, growth opportunities and rate of advancement. In other hand, financial crisis leads to downsizing in companies. In spite of the fact that there might be a near-term surplus of labor, the lack of existing skillful workers is obvious. It is vital to companies focused on new generation of Y workers and supplies their requirements; besides, this question came to mind that is should they just discharge the issues as just another generation gap that will eventually weaken away. Ignoring the generation Y is impossible because of big size of its population. As a group, they are nearly as large as the baby boomers generation. As such, generation Y will make up an increasing part of your workforce. Generation Y has a lot to offer. They are confident, connected, optimistic and technical savvy. Generation Y would also be a growing part of your customer base and becoming increasingly influential factor that affects the buying process. We say that technology is becoming a critical factor for business success, on view of the fact that when these different workforces will work all together, the multi generational differences in attitudes, approaches, and styles related to work could create conflicts that in turn could considered as potential threats against reaching organizational goals. Besides, this situation will decrease or even destroy employees motivation, as we know motivation can be induced by the employer or reside within the employee and the key to motivating employees is remembering that not all employees are the same. In order to ac hieve motivation, managers must know each employee and must have a wide range of motivational techniques available, since each employee has a different set of values and personal experiences that brought them to where they are today. If management could come up with these actions, they could raise the organization towards its goals. In addition, for most companies retaining talent and developing future leaders are organizational goals, hence to meet these goals, companies must understand the needs of todays diverse workforces. Since failure to embrace these differences will result in not only having limited talent required for success, but also an employee population that is not engaged as they could be. Therefore, the level of engagement is critical to an organizations overall activities. In this study, we have investigated about behavioral differences that could lead to diverse motivational levels, retention strategies in challenging labor shortage, and the effected of leadership to management style in that by knowing about these conditions, the organizations not only could prevent the failures that are more probable for them, but also could achieve their goals more rapidly. As such to be successful in managing generation Y, employers needs to know how to attract, retain and motivate these leaders of the futur e. Literature Review Generation Y has been deeply affected by several trends of the 1990s and 2000s: a renewed focus on children, family, scheduled and structured lives, multiculturalism, terrorism, heroism, patriotism, parent advocacy, and globalization. Coincidentally, Generation Y has been socialized with several core messages: be smart you are special, leave no one behind, connected 24/7, achieve now, and serve your community (Martin, 2005). It likes to reject old-fashion media and advertising feeds. Playing video games, and watch DVDs are more interesting for them rather than TV programs. Those in Generation Y tend to live with their parents before college, plan to return to their parents home after college, and are less at home in the real world than in the virtual world in which they spend more than six hours a day online. As a consumer, Generation Y is likely to be independent and not brand loyal. Conventional inside the home, it leans to be fashionable and sophisticated in the marketplace (Wei ss, 2003). Generation Ys entrance in to the workplace would seem to present many opportunities in todays ever-more competitive organizations in which high-performing workers are an asset, and demographic shifts point to impending labor shortages. Generation Y workers would seem to be a timely addition. According to the Southard and Lewis (2004) generation are mostly goal- oriented; besides, they tried to develop and improve themselves. They strongly believed on financial and personal success (Breaux, 2003). According to the Lewis (2003) Y generation feel that they would be disposed to force into a job that they evaluate it attracting and vital whilst their knowledge about this new job is too low. Some of Generation Ys characteristics may make it easier to manage than Gen X. Generation Y tends to value teamwork and fairness and is likely to be more positive than Gen X on a range of workplace issues including work-life balance, performance reviews, and availability of supervisor (What You Need to Know, 2003). Moreover, Generation Y descriptors include attributes predictive of high performance. Generation Y workers are inclined to he sociable, hopeful, talented, collaborative, inclusive, and civic-minded. Besides, Raines (2002) mentioned that in order to be skillful with high technically knowledge, they try to be open-minded, achievement-oriented, and able capable to be multi-tasking. Cautiously they are optimistic and enthusiastic about their future. Generation Y is likely to have a solid work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit. Based on the Pekala (2001) it leans to not only respect talent, especially traditionalists, but also strength, collaboration, energy, compliance, good qu ality, and responsibility. Generation Y has a strong sense of company loyalty, is at least as satisfied with supervisors as are older workers, is as content as the others with the amount of praise received, and is as satisfied as the others with amount of vacation time and work flexibility or hours required. Additionally, Generation Y feels no more workplace stress than the other workers and is as satisfied as the others with retirement and health benefits (Saad, 2003). At the same time, Generation Ys entrance to the workforce seems to present some challenges. Although Generation Y workers tend to be more positive than Gen X about working in general, Generation Y tends to be less satisfied than Gen X with their jobs and employers. Present study tries to explain different dimensions of the dissatisfaction. Further, Generation Y is more open than Gen X to leaving for something better. Generation Y is likely to equate job satisfaction with a positive work climate, flexibility, and the opportunity to learn and grow more than any prior generation. Generation Y tends to have less respect for rank and more respect for ability and accomplishment. Cui et al. (2003) mentioned that Y generation like to trade more salary for job it thinks is significant at a firm where it experiences good feelings. Generation Y tends to value respect and wants to earn it. Having freedom to execute is a significant behavior in Y generation (Dealing with Your New Generational Mix, 2004). Additionally, Generation Y workers are likely to dislike menial work, lack skills for dealing with difficult people, and be impatient (Raines, 2002). Less than half of these young people form youngest generation like to introduce themselves as talent people who are ready to enter the work environments. The problem shoes itself when these young people technical talent are not fitted with communication skills, independent thoughts,and time managing (Pekala, 2001). In a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consultant (2002) it was disclosed that generation Y rating employers lower than other employees do on being treated fairly, getting necessary cooperation from others, and having opportunity to do interesting and meaningful work (The Next Generation, 2003). Furthermore, employees in generation Y like to have immediate enjoyment rather than investing for a long time and effort (Southard and Lewis, 2004); consequently, they preferred to invest on some especial projects. The Y generation employees like to be negotiators and questions in different events. Base Lewis (2003) cited that The forty hour workweek doesnt apply and how meetings become why meetings. Tulgan as an Intergenerational management expert explained the problems that challenge Y generation based on the Breaux (2003) as below: Generation Yers is like Xers on steroids. They are the most high-maintenance generation to ever enter the work force (Breaux, 2003). Discussion/ Issues Scheduling to attract, manage, and retain the new employees generation is a considerable challenge toward the companies. But its a challenge that companies simply cannot afford to ignore. Generation Y is nearly as large as the baby boomer generation, and is expected to have nearly as big an impact on business and society. Generation Y are said to be un loyal, have poor communication, are impatient and has no respect for authority and they spend to much time on the internet instead on concentrating on the real work ( Sprague and Caroline, 2008) Generation Y are already entering the workforce and their numbers will increase over time. The issues is the companies that dont figure out how to harness this growing resource are likely to find themselves at a distinct disadvantage, not only in the talent market, but in the broader market as well. After all, Generation Y is not just the next generation of workers; they are also the next generation of consumers, and as such will ultimately determine whether future businesses succeed or fail. Here are some specific things companies can do today. There are 3 main Generation Y issues and challenges faced by companies. They are: 3.1 Attracting The most pressing challenges are how to attract the Generation Y. The tasks is daunting because this generation has different attitudes and expectations that the other generations. Companies are thinking hard and fast on attracting the new millennium workforce. Due to the fact that generation Y has seen a lot of job turbulence, recession in their lifetime and they have seen their parents loosing their jobs, generation Y are more interested in taking their own responsibility for their own employability by constantly improving and building on their own job skills. As such, they are more interested in organization that offers it employees professional development, continuing education and career coaching. Some other benefits cited as valuable by generation Y are extra vacation time, access to health club and social gathering tied to the workplace. Generation Y also looks at the opportunity of career mobility within the organization as an attracting factor. While the market for employees is a competitive one, paying high range of salary is not a excellent strategy to find new skillful people. Find out how you can present your companies to these new workers to attract and retain them. Some companies are tackling the challenges of recruiting and retaining Generation Y using innovative strategies tailored to Generation Y characteristics. These methods which are contained supplying on site academic leadership, arranging official tutorial agenda to increase Y generation associability, and giving early chances to perform consequential job. To better reach Generation Y, some are streamlining the recruitment process and providing longer vacations after shorter service. As a same reason, some companies arrange inclusive intranet sites, for possibly conversion of unexploited managerial leave into cash, and letting conversion related to health into deferred reward accounts (Southard and Lewis, 2004). Some companies are literally going where Generation Y workers are, connecting with them through the media and locations such as Internet cafes and video game stores. Or they recruit Generation Y through on-site career-day seminars in which ranking personnel share their own success stores. Some companies are using their Generation Y employees as the first out reachers to peer Generation Y candidates in an effort to quicken the pace of recruitment. In this way, the companies aim to both engage their Generation Y employees more fully and to create a workplace ally for the Generation Y candidate (Employing Generation Why, 2004). 3.2 Motivating Based on the Herzberg definition, motivation is concluded from different definition such as the challenge of the works, with achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth. Dissatisfaction comes from the maintenance factors, which represent those lower-level needs that employees assume will be adequately met. High level administrators with acceptable work conditions are the samples of these kinds of workers needs. Few managerial or professional people would say these job factors motivate them most. Yet, the minute a boss or working conditions becomes a principal concern, factors such as interesting job content and opportunity for advancement lose their power to motivate. As a conclusion, executing a job in its different aspects relies on the satisfaction of both motivation and maintenance needs. Motivation level of a worker will affect by factors such as age, personal, outside environments, and the worker current life situation and career. For instance, steady employment and good pay often rank higher among all generations during times of economic uncertainty. When the economy is flourishing, employees tend to take these maintenance factors for granted; when unemployment and inflation are high, their principal motivators change. On view of the fact that when these different workforces will work all together, the multi generational differences in attitudes, approaches, and styles related to work could create conflicts that in turn could considered as potential threats against reaching organizational goals. Besides, this situation will decrease or even destroy employees motivation, as we know motivation can be induced by the employer or reside within the employee and the key to motivating employees is remembering that not all employees are the same. In order to achieve motivation, managers must know each employee and must have a wide range of motivational techniques available, since each employee has a different set of values and personal experiences that brought them to where they are today. If management could come up with these actions, they could raise the organization towards its goals. In addition, for most companies retaining talent and developing future leaders are organizational goals, hence to meet these goals, companies must understand the needs of todays diverse workforces. Since failure to embrace these differences will result in not only having limited talent required for success, but also an employee population that is not engaged as they could be. Work life balance can be offered in the form of flex time that would allow employees to work over one day, and work less hours on the next day. Employee growth and development could be management training programs that allow employees to advance their careers. Employee wellness programs would allow employees to stay physically fit, and the organization could have training programs to promote safe work habits. Employees need to be recognized for their work, and management could be trained to offer more praise to employees for tasks completed correctly. Organizations can make employees feel more involved simply by holding meetings where they have a voice for their ideas, and concerns from the employees can be heard by management. By utilizing these practices an organization could expect the organizational improvements, employee well being, and retaining the elusive Generation Y worker. 3.3 Retention Retention means that an employee work with the company until the end of their contract date and it is useful for both employee and company. If they find unfair situation in their job condition, they will explore a better opportunity and they will shift to the new job. Consequently one of the important duty of company manager is to find the best employee and try to keep them and prepare acceptable work condition for them. Pay the salary and extra rewards are not a way to bring satisfy to them. Compared to baby boomers and other generations in the workforce, Generation Y tend to be more concerned about meaningful work and relationships with coworkers, attitudes that are the key for employers to remember in retention efforts. Generation Y are hardly the first to long for a job that offers more than a paycheck and a way to fill their days. They are a socially conscious generation. Participating in charity work and green activites which help the environment improvement is a dream for Y generation. Sustainability and green are the hot words today. Generation Y are very interested in social and environmental happenings through the media as well as their employer. It can be as simple as spending a day rebuilding or renovating a house for somebody in the community, planning ways to make your office green, having local nonprofit come in to discuss volunteer or donation opportunities. With getting everybody inv olved by creating the emotional equity, making it a bit difficult for them to leave the firm. Recommendation The following has seen to be the strategies in attracting, motivating and retaining the generation Y into the work-force: Flexibility This can be seen in creating learning opportunities, sponsored learning capabilities, long range career planning, promote employee mobility within organization and cross country training opportunities. Work Life Balance This is a social aspect where flexible working schedules are design, developing a formal or informal networking circle for career development, hosting social or charitable events that is tied up to work. The work life balance initiatives were aspects such as paid leave to care for dependents, flextime, study assistance, eldercare, and time off to attend non work events, job sharing, telecommuting, on-site healthcare, and various other things the Generation Y workers are wanting in a career. Access to Technology -This strategy is linked to the organization adaptation of new technology in increasing work productivity. This is looked at where the workforce are equipped with state of the art laptops, access to internet, i-phones, PDA, video conferencing, e-learning and many more. This group of people would not live without cable television and access to mobile phones. With the focus on technology, flexible work schedules and spaces are also crucial to Generation Y. Offering the employees the benefit of arriving at work an hour early or later gives them the flexibility to schedule life issues such as daycare, eldercare or doctor appointment. Sense of purpose and meaning to the job -This stress on core values, rich corporate culture, sense of achievement and contribution to the achievement of organization goals. The generation Y also looks at branding. The organization brand plays a pivotal role in attracting the generation Y to join and contribute with the sense of belonging. Good Management i.) Management style Flat line management is top choice lately and for a lot of good reasons. Generation Y tend to be a bit self-centered. They will not stay in their job if they feel unsatisfied and there is no challenge role in their job. Generation Y particular were encouraged to find the perfect fit in their selection of everything from childhood activities to a college and they now seek a similar sense of place in their job. ii.) Mentoring and Feedback Generation Y has grown up hyper scheduled. Generation Y has been coached and tutored and guided and over-parented at every step of the way in their short lives so far. They thrive on one-on-one, personalized attention. Creating an environment that solicits input from employees demonstrates to them that their opinions are valued, ergo, they are valued. In return, they feel more valued and loyal to the company. Compensation-Fair compensation is still important to the employees. Organizations must offer an appealing compensations package include tangible rewards such as pay (base salary, stock etc) and benefits (i.e. health care, paid vacation etc) and intangible rewards such as learning and development and a satisfying working environment. Even though base salary and benefits constitutes hygiene factors for Generation Y, other parts of the compensation package will work as motivators. As the title and salary are no longer the number one priorities, Generation Y are more interested in self-fulfillment and work-life balance. 5.0 Conclusion The workforce deficit that is proposed to occur in 2014 is expected to be remedied by the generation Y workforce. However, problems with retention in employment with this group have been widespread across America. There is no set procedure to be implemented in order to retain this workforce; however the proposed model does encompass the problems associated with retaining these people. The model lays the foundation for organization specific procedures to be written from, and according to past experiences and research these methods should greatly reduce turnover in this group. Further research should be conducted to measure the effectiveness of these factors in employee retention of people who are categorized into generation Y. 6.0 Limitation Although recognizing and considering the different attitudes and needs of four types of generation could help the management for achieving the organizational goals, some limitation could be realized in this situation in that some researchers have found before too. As a case in point a new model of human resource solutions for achieving intergenerational interaction in organization that adopted from theories of Park (1950) and Kubler-Ross (1969) could be considered. Most of the researchers have divided the human resources into four different generation types and in turn they have detected and allocated some characteristics for each generation. It could not be considered these specifications would be the same for all the human beings in all the societies and task environment absolutely. Moreover, the combinations of different generation within the work environments or even societies are different from each other. Therefore, the outcome of studying in different situations could be somewhat different from each other. The generation groups who differ from the conventional culture usually cannot participate in defining the rules and standards used to make meaning. Hence, coordinating of these different group workers in such a task environment is often very controversial. The group that would be dominant among the other task groups in the work area usually spread their own beliefs and attitudes as if its views and approaches are universal and accepted by all other groups and members. Assimilation among these groups promotes self-alienation by engendering self-denigration where individuals differ from the neutral accepted norm. In addition it could provide the condition for covering or even demolishing individual beliefs and customs.

Essay --

Enrique’s Journey is a novel that recreates the amazing true story of a boy named Enrique’s adventure to reunite with his mother. The story begins with describing the families living conditions in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The characters introduced in the story are Lourdes, Enrique’s mom and his little sister Belky, who is seven years old. The family starts out living in one of the poorest neighborhood in the outskirts of Tegucigalpa. Lourdes can barley affords to provide food on the table for her children, let alone herself. The young twenty four year old mother works constantly doing other peoples laundry, making and selling tortillas, selling used clothes and plantain fruits around the neighborhood. The long hours of work she puts in daily, does not do any justice to her family she is raising alone. From the start, Lourdes is confident that she will be unable to send her kids to school for much longer, she won’t be able to keep food on the table, and won’t be able to give her children the life they deserve; so she makes the decision that many young mother’s in foreign countries do; she decides to move to the United States. In the United States she plans to find a good job, make a decent amount of money, and send money and gifts back to her children so they can live a happier life. Lourdes leaves without saying goodbye to her children, because she is too weak to do so. She leaves Belky, her daughter, with her sister to live with. And she leaves Enrique with Enrique’s dad who left them two years prior for another family. Enrique is left with extreme confusion and sorrow. The book includes actual research that has been doing about immigrants journeys to the United States, and how brutally harsh they can be. â€Å"They must make an ill... ... of ‘la migra’, which are the Mexican immigrant authorities. Finally, on his eighth attempt Enrique makes it to the Rio Grande in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, near the border of the United States. He eventually makes enough money to pay for a phone call to his mother. By this time he had memorized her number. Thankfully, he mother finds a way to hire a smuggler to help him get across the Rio Grande. Successfully, stripping down to his johns, and the help of a blow up inner tube, Enrique finds swimming across the freezing Rio Grande Water where his smuggler helps him to a fresh pair of clothes, and a ride to take him to his mother. He finds himself taken to someplace in Orlando, Florida where he eventually is reunited with his mother after Lourdes’s boyfriend goes to pick him up. Enrique’s dream has finally come true. Soon, Enrique’s his dream is shattered with reality.

generalized anxiety disorder Essay -- essays research papers

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic and often disabling condition that is associated with uncontrollable worry and tension. The vicious cycle of anxiety and worry interferes with relationships, careers, and education, and often leads to depression. This disorder is much more than the normal anxiety that everyone experiences from time to time, and can be crippling in its severity. GAD is unlikely to disappear without proper treatment, and often worsens over time. Physical manifestations of GAD often include headaches, trembling, twitching, fatigue, irritability, frustration, muscle tension, and inability to concentrate. Sleep disturbances may also occur. Individuals suffering from this disorder may appear to be always tense and unable to relax, or may startle more easily than others. Often they might seem to be constantly moving or fidgeting, unable to sit comfortably through a movie without worrying about something else that needs to be done. Some research suggests that GAD may run in families, and it Generalized Anxiety Disorder may grow worse during times of stress. Symptoms can begin at any age, but the risk is highest between childhood and middle age. GAD affects about 4 million adult Americans. Women are twice as likely to be affected than men. The disorder usually comes on gradually, although it can be suddenly triggered by a childhood psychological trauma, the death of a loved one, divorce, and losing or changing a job. DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Excessive anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation), occurring more days than not for at least 6 months, about a number of events or activities (such as work or school performance). 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The person finds it difficult to control the worry. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The anxiety and worry are associated with three (or more) of the following six symptoms (with at least some symptoms present for more days than not for the past 6 months). Note: Only one item is required in children. -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  being easily fatigued -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  difficulty concentrating or mind going blank -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  irritability -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  muscle tension -  Ã‚  Ã‚  &nb... ...he anxiety the patient is having. There are many studies pertaining to generalized anxiety disorder. The studies examine the genetic and environmental risks for major anxiety disorders, their course-both alone and when they occur along with other diseases such as depression-and their treatment. Like heart disease and diabetes, these brain disorders are complex and probably result from a combination of genetic, behavioral, developmental, and other factors. Much of the research of anxiety centers on the amygdale, an almond-shaped structure deep within the brain. The amygdale is believed to serve as a communications hub between the parts of the brain that process incoming sensory signals and the parts that interpret them. Other research focuses on the hippocampus, another brain structure that is responsible for processing threatening or traumatic stimuli. By learning more about brain circuitry involved in fear and anxiety, scientists may be able to devise new and more specific treatments for anxiety disorders. Researche rs are attempting to learn how genetics and experience interact in each of the anxiety disorders-information they hope will yield clues to prevention and treatment.

Adorno notes Essay

Theory Adorno argues that Capitalism provides society with the products of a ‘culture industry’ in order to keep them passive to their positions and prevent them from questioning it. Capitalism uses culture as a way of securing the status quo – by providing society with the norms and values of the dominant class. Popular culture is the reason for society being passive towards their positions and uninterested in overthrowing the capitalist system – through ‘reminding’ them that this is the way it hould be. Cultural industries produce unsophisticated, repetitive products rather than something which may lead society to question life. They produce programmes with hidden messages which are absorbed by the viewer, enforcing the norms and values of the capitalists. False needs are created by the capitalist system in order to keep society in a placid state, wanting something that they have been told they should want but that they do not need. This is created and satisfied by the capitalist ystem while also working in their interest. In television, the difference between high and low culture barely exists as it is so easily accessed by everyone and so class distinctions fade – unlike the opera where it is only accessible to a few and so is still seen as high culture. Adorno uses the example of an underpaid schoolteacher who is living in poverty but is clever and so the underlying message is that she will be okay because she is intelligent. He argues how dangerous the use of stereotypes are ithin television, he uses the example of a young, pretty girl who the viewer should instantly like because she is pretty, ‘a pretty girl can do no wrong’ and so even when she does do wrong, she gets off very lightly with it. Lecture notes Critical theory not keen on television – not for effect of violence/propaganda Mass audience – same thing sold at the same time, different to live/art TV – entertainment, not art = big audience = big profit – repetitive, series, seasons, run on investment hrough advertising Compound industrial form, tv is accumulation of radio/film/plays/ music/novels Dumbling down? tv is art, – freedom of the art to express anything, mass culture, – makes money, profits, advertising Critique of ideology – obscures real conditions of existence, smooths over issues/contradictions, system of ideas for everyone, relies on compliance of workers with system Critical theory – commercial/ capital interests dominate Critique/opposition/reason suppressed TV more complex – more layers, can be critical

Black House Chapter Twenty-one

21 â€Å"SOPHIE.† Still holding her hand, he gets to his feet, pulling her up with him. His legs are trembling. His eyes feel hot and too large for their sockets. He is terrified and exalted in equal, perfectly equal, measure. His heart is hammering, but oh the beats are sweet. The second time he tries, he manages to say her name a little louder, but there's still not much to his voice, and his lips are so numb they might have been rubbed with ice. He sounds like a man just coming back from a hard punch in the gut. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Sophie.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Sophie.† â€Å"Yes.† There's something weirdly familiar about this, him saying the name over and over and her giving back that simple affirmation. Familiar and funny. And it comes to him: there's a scene almost identical to this in The Terror of Deadwood Gulch, after one of the Lazy 8 Saloon's patrons has knocked Bill Towns unconscious with a whiskey bottle. Lily, in her role as sweet Nancy O'Neal, tosses a bucket of water in his face, and when he sits up, they â€Å"This is funny,† Jack says. â€Å"It's a good bit. We should be laughing.† With the slightest of smiles, Sophie says, â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Laughing our fool heads off.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Our tarnal heads off.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"I'm not speaking English anymore, am I?† â€Å"No.† He sees two things in her blue eyes. The first is that she doesn't know the word English. The second is that she knows exactly what he means. â€Å"Sophie.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Sophie-Sophie-Sophie.† Trying to get the reality of it. Trying to pound it home like a nail. A smile lights her face and enriches her mouth. Jack thinks of how it would be to kiss that mouth, and his knees feel weak. All at once he is fourteen again, and wondering if he dares give his date a peck good-night after he walks her home. â€Å"Yes-yes-yes,† she says, the smile strengthening. And then: â€Å"Have you got it yet? Do you understand that you're here and how you got here?† Above and around him, billows of gauzy white cloth flap and sigh like living breath. Half a dozen conflicting drafts gently touch his face and make him aware that he carried a coat of sweat from the other world, and that it stinks. He arms it off his brow and cheeks in quick gestures, not wanting to lose sight of her for longer than a moment at a time. They are in a tent of some kind. It's huge many-chambered and Jack thinks briefly of the pavilion in which the Queen of the Territories, his mother's Twinner, lay dying. That place had been rich with many colors, filled with many rooms, redolent of incense and sorrow (for the Queen's death had seemed inevitable, sure only a matter of time). This one is ramshackle and ragged. The walls and the ceiling are full of holes, and where the white material remains whole, it's so thin that Jack can actually see the slope of land outside, and the trees that dress it. Rags flutter from the edges of some of the holes when the wind blows. Directly over his head he can see a shadowy maroon shape. Some sort of cross. â€Å"Jack, do you understand how you â€Å" â€Å"Yes. I flipped.† Although that isn't the word that comes out of his mouth. The literal meaning of the word that comes out seems to be horizon road. â€Å"And it seems that I sucked a fair number of Spiegleman's accessories with me.† He bends and picks up a flat stone with a flower carved on it. â€Å"I believe that in my world, this was a Georgia O'Keeffe print. And that † He points to a blackened, fireless torch leaning against one of the pavilion's fragile walls. â€Å"I think that was a † But there are no words for it in this world, and what comes out of his mouth sounds as ugly as a curse in German: † halogen lamp.† She frowns. â€Å"Hal-do-jen . . . limp? Lemp?† He feels his numb lips rise in a little grin. â€Å"Never mind.† â€Å"But you are all right.† He understands that she needs him to be all right, and so he'll say that he is, but he's not. He is sick and glad to be sick. He is one lovestruck daddy, and wouldn't have it any other way. If you discount how he felt about his mother a very different kind of love, despite what the Freudians might think it's the first time for him. Oh, he certainly thought he had been in and out of love, but that was before today. Before the cool blue of her eyes, her smile, and even the way the shadows thrown by the decaying tent fleet across her face like schools of fish. At this moment he would try to fly off a mountain for her if she asked, or walk through a forest fire, or bring her polar ice to cool her tea, and those things do not constitute being all right. But she needs him to be. Tyler needs him to be. I am a coppiceman, he thinks. At first the concept seems insubstantial compared to her beauty to her simple reality but then it begins to take hold. As it always has. What else brought him here, after all? Brought him against his will and all his best intentions? â€Å"Jack?† â€Å"Yes, I'm all right. I've flipped before.† But never into the presence of such beauty, he thinks. That's the problem. You're the problem, my lady. â€Å"Yes. To come and go is your talent. One of your talents. So I have been told.† â€Å"By whom?† â€Å"Shortly,† she says. â€Å"Shortly. There's a great deal to do, and yet I think I need a moment. You . . . rather take my breath away.† Jack is fiercely glad to know it. He sees he is still holding her hand, and he kisses it, as Judy kissed his hands in the world on the other side of the wall from this one, and when he does, he sees the fine mesh of bandage on the tips of three of her fingers. He wishes he dared to take her in his arms, but she daunts him: her beauty and her presence. She is slightly taller than Judy a matter of two inches, surely no more and her hair is lighter, the golden shade of unrefined honey spilling from a broken comb. She is wearing a simple cotton robe, white trimmed with a blue that matches her eyes. The narrow V-neck frames her throat. The hem falls to just below her knees. Her legs are bare but she's wearing a silver anklet on one of them, so slim it's almost invisible. She is fuller-breasted than Judy, her hips a bit wider. Sisters, you might think, except that they have the same spray of freckles across the nose and the same white line of scar across the back of the left hand. Differ ent mishaps caused that scar, Jack has no doubt, but he also has no doubt that those mishaps occurred at the same hour of the same day. â€Å"You're her Twinner. Judy Marshall's Twinner.† Only the word that comes out of his mouth isn't Twinner; incredibly, dopily, it seems to be harp. Later he will think of how the strings of a harp lie close together, only a finger's touch apart, and he will decide that word isn't so foolish after all. She looks down, her mouth drooping, then raises her head again and tries to smile. â€Å"Judy. On the other side of the wall. When we were children, Jack, we spoke together often. Even when we grew up, although then we spoke in each other's dreams.† He is alarmed to see tears forming in her eyes and then slipping down her cheeks. â€Å"Have I driven her mad? Run her to lunacy? Please say I haven't.† â€Å"Nah,† Jack says. â€Å"She's on a tightrope, but she hasn't fallen off yet. She's tough, that one.† â€Å"You have to bring her Tyler back to her,† Sophie tells him. â€Å"For both of us. I've never had a child. I cannot have a child. I was . . . mistreated, you see. When I was young. Mistreated by one you knew well.† A terrible certainty forms in Jack's mind. Around them, the ruined pavilion flaps and sighs in the wonderfully fragrant breeze. â€Å"Was it Morgan? Morgan of Orris?† She bows her head, and perhaps this is just as well. Jack's face is, at that moment, pulled into an ugly snarl. In that moment he wishes he could kill Morgan Sloat's Twinner all over again. He thinks to ask her how she was mistreated, and then realizes he doesn't have to. â€Å"How old were you?† â€Å"Twelve,† she says . . . as Jack has known she would say. It happened that same year, the year when Jacky was twelve and came here to save his mother. Or did he come here? Is this really the Territories? Somehow it doesn't feel the same. Almost . . . but not quite. It doesn't surprise him that Morgan would rape a child of twelve, and do it in a way that would keep her from ever having children. Not at all. Morgan Sloat, sometimes known as Morgan of Orris, wanted to rule not just one world or two, but the entire universe. What are a few raped children to a man with such ambitions? She gently slips her thumbs across the skin beneath his eyes. It's like being brushed with feathers. She's looking at him with something like wonder. â€Å"Why do you weep, Jack?† â€Å"The past,† he says. â€Å"Isn't that always what does it?† And thinks of his mother, sitting by the window, smoking a cigarette, and listening while the radio plays â€Å"Crazy Arms.† Yes, it's always the past. That's where the hurt is, all you can't get over. â€Å"Perhaps so,† she allows. â€Å"But there's no time to think about the past today. It's the future we must think about today.† â€Å"Yes, but if I could ask just a few questions . . . ?† â€Å"All right, but only a few.† Jack opens his mouth, tries to speak, and makes a comical little gaping expression when nothing comes out. Then he laughs. â€Å"You take my breath away, too,† he tells her. â€Å"I have to be honest about that.† A faint tinge of color rises in Sophie's cheeks, and she looks down. She opens her lips to say something . . . then presses them together again. Jack wishes she had spoken and is glad she hasn't, both at the same time. He squeezes her hands gently, and she looks up at him, blue eyes wide. â€Å"Did I know you? When you were twelve?† She shakes her head. â€Å"But I saw you.† â€Å"Perhaps. In the great pavilion. My mother was one of the Good Queen's handmaidens. I was another . . . the youngest. You could have seen me then. I think you did see me.† Jack takes a moment to digest the wonder of this, then goes on. Time is short. They both know this. He can almost feel it fleeting. â€Å"You and Judy are Twinners, but neither of you travel she's never been in your head over here and you've never been in her head, over there. You . . . talk through a wall.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"When she wrote things, that was you, whispering through the wall.† â€Å"Yes. I knew how hard I was pushing her, but I had to. Had to! It's not just a question of restoring her child to her, important as that may be. There are larger considerations.† â€Å"Such as?† She shakes her head. â€Å"I am not the one to tell you. The one who will is much greater than I.† He studies the tiny dressings that cover the tips of her fingers, and muses on how hard Sophie and Judy have tried to get through that wall to each other. Morgan Sloat could apparently become Morgan of Orris at will. As a boy of twelve, Jack had met others with that same talent. Not him; he was single-natured and had always been Jack in both worlds. Judy and Sophie, however, have proved incapable of flipping back and forth in any fashion. Something's been left out of them, and they could only whisper through the wall between the worlds. There must be sadder things, but at this moment he can't think of a single one. Jack looks around at the ruined tent, which seems to breathe with sunshine and shadow. Rags flap. In the next room, through a hole in the gauzy cloth wall, he sees a few overturned cots. â€Å"What is this place?† he asks. She smiles. â€Å"To some, a hospital.† â€Å"Oh?† He looks up and once more takes note of the cross. Maroon now, but undoubtedly once red. A red cross, stupid, he thinks. â€Å"Oh! But isn't it a little . . . well . . . old?† Sophie's smile widens, and Jack realizes it's ironic. Whatever sort of hospital this is, or was, he's guessing it bears little or no resemblance to the ones on General Hospital or ER. â€Å"Yes, Jack. Very old. Once there were a dozen or more of these tents in the Territories, On-World, and Mid-World; now there are only a few. Mayhap just this one. Today it's here. Tomorrow . . .† Sophie raises her hands, then lowers them. â€Å"Anywhere! Perhaps even on Judy's side of the wall.† â€Å"Sort of like a traveling medicine show.† This is supposed to be a joke, and he's startled when she first nods, then laughs and claps her hands. â€Å"Yes! Yes, indeed! Although you wouldn't want to be treated here.† What exactly is she trying to say? â€Å"I suppose not,† he agrees, looking at the rotting walls, tattered ceiling panels, and ancient support posts. â€Å"Doesn't exactly look sterile.† Seriously (but her eyes are sparkling), Sophie says: â€Å"Yet if you were a patient, you would think it beautiful out of all measure. And you would think your nurses, the Little Sisters, the most beautiful any poor patient ever had.† Jack looks around. â€Å"Where are they?† â€Å"The Little Sisters don't come out when the sun shines. And if we wish to continue our lives with the blessing, Jack, we'll be gone our separate ways from here long before dark.† It pains him to hear her talk of separate ways, even though he knows it's inevitable. The pain doesn't dampen his curiosity, however; once a coppiceman, it seems, always a coppiceman. â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because the Little Sisters are vampires, and their patients never get well.† Startled, uneasy, Jack looks around for signs of them. Certainly disbelief doesn't cross his mind a world that can spawn werewolves can spawn anything, he supposes. She touches his wrist. A little tremble of desire goes through him. â€Å"Don't fear, Jack they also serve the Beam. All things serve the Beam.† â€Å"What beam?† â€Å"Never mind.† The hand on his wrist tightens. â€Å"The one who can answer your questions will be here soon, if he's not already.† She gives him a sideways look that contains a glimmer of a smile. â€Å"And after you hear him, you'll be more apt to ask questions that matter.† Jack realizes that he has been neatly rebuked, but coming from her, it doesn't sting. He allows himself to be led through room after room of the great and ancient hospital. As they go, he gets a sense of how really huge this place is. He also realizes that, in spite of the fresh breezes, he can detect a faint, unpleasant undersmell, something that might be a mixture of fermented wine and spoiled meat. As to what sort of meat, Jack is afraid he can guess pretty well. After visiting over a hundred homicide crime scenes, he should be able to. It would have been impolite to break away while Jack was meeting the love of his life (not to mention bad narrative business), so we didn't. Now, however, let us slip through the thin walls of the hospital tent. Outside is a dry but not unpleasant landscape of red rocks, broom sage, desert flowers that look a bit like sego lilies, stunted pines, and a few barrel cacti. Somewhere not too far distant is the steady cool sigh of a river. The hospital pavilion rustles and flaps as dreamily as the sails of a ship riding down the sweet chute of the trade winds. As we float along the great ruined tent's east side in our effortless and peculiarly pleasant way, we notice a strew of litter. There are more rocks with drawings etched on them, there is a beautifully made copper rose that has been twisted out of shape as if by some great heat, there is a small rag rug that looks as if it has been chopped in two by a meat cleaver. There's other stuff as well, stuff that has resisted any change in it s cyclonic passage from one world to the other. We see the blackened husk of a television picture tube lying in a scatter of broken glass, several Duracell AA batteries, a comb, and perhaps oddest a pair of white nylon panties with the word Sunday written on one side in demure pink script. There has been a collision of worlds; here, along the east side of the hospital pavilion, is an intermingled detritus that attests to how hard that collision was. At the end of that littery plume of exhaust the head of the comet, we might say sits a man we recognize. We're not used to seeing him in such an ugly brown robe (and he clearly doesn't know how to wear such a garment, because if we look at him from the wrong angle, we can see much more than we want to), or wearing sandals instead of wing tips, or with his hair pulled back into a rough horsetail and secured with a hank of rawhide, but this is undoubtedly Wendell Green. He is muttering to himself. Drool drizzles from the corners of his mouth. He is looking fixedly at an untidy crumple of foolscap in his right hand. He ignores all the more cataclysmic changes that have occurred around him and focuses on just this one. If he can figure out how his Panasonic minicorder turned into a little pile of ancient paper, perhaps he'll move on to the other stuff. Not until then. Wendell (we'll continue to call him Wendell, shall we, and not worry about any name he might or might not have in this little corner of existence, since he doesn't know it or want to) spies the Duracell AA batteries. He crawls to them, picks them up, and begins trying to stick them into the little pile of foolscap. It doesn't work, of course, but that doesn't keep Wendell from trying. As George Rathbun might say, â€Å"Give that boy a flyswatter and he'd try to catch dinner with it.† â€Å"Geh,† says the Coulee Country's favorite investigative reporter, repeatedly poking the batteries at the foolscap. â€Å"Geh . . . in. Geh . . . in! Gah-damnit, geh in th â€Å" A sound the approaching jingle of what can only be, God help us, spurs breaks into Wendell's concentration, and he looks up with wide, bulging eyes. His sanity may not be gone forever, but it's certainly taken the wife and kids and gone to Disney World. Nor is the current vision before his eyes apt to coax it back anytime soon. Once in our world there was a fine black actor named Woody Strode. (Lily knew him; acted with him, as a matter of fact, in a late-sixties American International stinkeroo called Execution Express.) The man now approaching the place where Wendell Green crouches with his batteries and his handful of foolscap looks remarkably like that actor. He is wearing faded jeans, a blue chambray shirt, a neck scarf, and a heavy revolver on a wide leather gun belt in which four dozen or so shells twinkle. His head is bald, his eyes deep-set. Slung over one shoulder by a strap of intricate design is a guitar. Sitting on the other is what appears to be a parrot. The parrot has two heads. â€Å"No, no,† says Wendell in a mildly scolding voice. â€Å"Don't. Don't see. Don't see. That.† He lowers his head and once more begins trying to cram the batteries into the handful of paper. The shadow of the newcomer falls over Wendell, who resolutely refuses to look up. â€Å"Howdy, stranger,† says the newcomer. Wendell carries on not looking up. â€Å"My name's Parkus. I'm the law 'round these parts. What's your handle?† Wendell refuses to respond, unless we can call the low grunts issuing from his drool-slicked mouth a response. â€Å"I asked your name.† â€Å"Wen,† says our old acquaintance (we can't really call him a friend) without looking up. â€Å"Wen. Dell. Gree . . . Green. I . . . I . . . I . . .† â€Å"Take your time,† Parkus says (not without sympathy). â€Å"I can wait till your branding iron gets hot.† â€Å"I . . . news hawk!† â€Å"Oh? That what you are?† Parkus hunkers; Wendell cringes back against the fragile wall of the pavilion. â€Å"Well, don't that just beat the bass drum at the front of the parade? Tell you what, I've seen fish hawks, and I've seen red hawks, and I've seen goshawks, but you're my first news hawk.† Wendell looks up, blinking rapidly. On Parkus's left shoulder, one head of the parrot says: â€Å"God is love.† â€Å"Go fuck your mother,† replies the other head. â€Å"All must seek the river of life,† says the first head. â€Å"Suck my tool,† says the second. â€Å"We grow toward God,† responds the first. â€Å"Piss up a rope,† invites the second. Although both heads speak equably even in tones of reasonable discourse Wendell cringes backward even farther, then looks down and furiously resumes his futile work with the batteries and the handful of paper, which is now disappearing into the sweat-grimy tube of his fist. â€Å"Don't mind 'em,† Parkus says. â€Å"I sure don't. Hardly hear 'em anymore, and that's the truth. Shut up, boys.† The parrot falls silent. â€Å"One head's Sacred, the other's Profane,† Parkus says. â€Å"I keep 'em around just to remind me that â€Å" He is interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, and stands up again in a single lithe and easy movement. Jack and Sophie are approaching, holding hands with the perfect unconsciousness of children on their way to school. â€Å"Speedy!† Jack cries, his face breaking into a grin. â€Å"Why, Travelin' Jack!† Parkus says, with a grin of his own. â€Å"Well-met! Look at you, sir you're all grown up.† Jack rushes forward and throws his arms around Parkus, who hugs him back, and heartily. After a moment, Jack holds Parkus at arm's length and studies him. â€Å"You were older you looked older to me, at least. In both worlds.† Still smiling, Parkus nods. And when he speaks again, it is in Speedy Parker's drawl. â€Å"Reckon I did look older, Jack. You were just a child, remember.† â€Å"But â€Å" Parkus waves one hand. â€Å"Sometimes I look older, sometimes not so old. It all depends on â€Å" â€Å"Age is wisdom,† one head of the parrot says piously, to which the other responds, â€Å"You senile old fuck.† † depends on the place and the circumstances,† Parkus concludes, then says: â€Å"And I told you boys to shut up. You keep on, I'm apt to wring your scrawny neck.† He turns his attention to Sophie, who is looking at him with wide, wondering eyes, as shy as a doe. â€Å"Sophie,† he says. â€Å"It's wonderful to see you, darling. Didn't I say he'd come? And here he is. Took a little longer than I expected, is all.† She drops him a deep curtsey, all the way down to one knee, her head bowed. â€Å"Thankee-sai,† she says. â€Å"Come in peace, gunslinger, and go your course along the Beam with my love.† At this, Jack feels an odd, deep chill, as if many worlds had spoken in a harmonic tone, low but resonant. Speedy so Jack still thinks of him takes her hand and urges her to her feet. â€Å"Stand up, girl, and look me in the eye. I'm no gunslinger here, not in the borderlands, even if I do still carry the old iron from time to time. In any case, we have a lot to talk about. This's no time for ceremony. Come over the rise with me, you two. We got to make palaver, as the gunslingers say. Or used to say, before the world moved on. I shot a good brace of grouse, and think they'll cook up just fine.† â€Å"What about † Jack gestures toward the muttering, crouched heap that is Wendell Green. â€Å"Why, he looks right busy,† Parkus says. â€Å"Told me he's a news hawk.† â€Å"I'm afraid he's a little above himself,† Jack replies. â€Å"Old Wendell here's a news vulture.† Wendell turns his head a bit. He refuses to lift his eyes, but his lip curls in a sneer that may be more reflexive than real. â€Å"Heard. That.† He struggles. The lip curls again, and this time the sneer seems less reflexive. It is, in fact, a snarl. â€Å"Gol. Gol. Gol-den boy. Holly. Wood.† â€Å"He's managed to retain at least some of his charm and his joi de vivre,† Jack says. â€Å"Will he be okay here?† â€Å"Not much with ary brain in its head comes near the Little Sisters' tent,† Parkus says. â€Å"He'll be okay. And if he smells somethin' tasty on the breeze and comes for a look-see, why, I guess we can feed him.† He turns toward Wendell. â€Å"We're going just over yonder. If you want to come and visit, why, you just up and do her. Understand me, Mr. News Hawk?† â€Å"Wen. Dell. Green.† â€Å"Wendell Green, yessir.† Parkus looks at the others. â€Å"Come on. Let's mosey.† â€Å"We mustn't forget him,† Sophie murmurs, with a look back. â€Å"It will be dark in a few hours.† â€Å"No,† Parkus agrees as they top the nearest rise. â€Å"Wouldn't do to leave him beside that tent after dark. That wouldn't do at all.† There's more foliage in the declivity on the far side of the rise even a little ribbon of creek, presumably on its way to the river Jack can hear in the distance but it still looks more like northern Nevada than western Wisconsin. Yet in a way, Jack thinks, that makes sense. The last one had been no ordinary flip. He feels like a stone that has been skipped all the way across a lake, and as for poor Wendell To the right of where they descend the far side of the draw, a horse has been tethered in the shade of what Jack thinks is a Joshua tree. About twenty yards down the draw to the left is a circle of eroded stones. Inside it a fire, not yet lit, has been carefully laid. Jack doesn't like the look of the place much the stones remind him of ancient teeth. Nor is he alone in his dislike. Sophie stops, her grip on his fingers tightening. â€Å"Parkus, do we have to go in there? Please say we don't.† Parkus turns to her with a kindly smile Jack knows well: a Speedy Parker smile for sure. â€Å"The Speaking Demon's been gone from this circle many the long age, darling,† he says. â€Å"And you know that such as yon are best for stories.† â€Å"Yet â€Å" â€Å"Now's no time to give in to the willies,† Parkus tells her. He speaks with a trace of impatience, and â€Å"willies† isn't precisely the word he uses, but only how Jack's mind translates it. â€Å"You waited for him to come in the Little Sisters' hospital tent â€Å" â€Å"Only because she was there on the other side â€Å" † and now I want you to come along.† All at once he seems taller to Jack. His eyes flash. Jack thinks: A gunslinger. Yes, I suppose he could be a gunslinger. Like in one of Mom's old movies, only for real. â€Å"All right,† she says, low. â€Å"If we must.† Then she looks at Jack. â€Å"I wonder if you'd put your arm around me?† Jack, we may be sure, is happy to oblige. As they step between two of the stones, Jack seems to hear an ugly twist of whispered words. Among them, one voice is momentarily clear, seeming to leave a trail of slime behind it as it enters his ear: Drudge drudge drudge, oho the bledding foodzies, soon he cummz, my good friend Mun-shun, and such a prize I have for him, oho, oho Jack looks at his old friend as Parkus hunkers by a tow sack and loosens the drawstring at the top. â€Å"He's close, isn't he? The Fisherman. And Black House, that's close, too.† â€Å"Yep,† Parkus says, and from the sack he spills the gutted corpses of a dozen plump dead birds. Thoughts of Irma Freneau reenter Jack's head at the sight of the grouse, and he thinks he won't be able to eat. Watching as Parkus and Sophie skewer the birds on greensticks reinforces this idea. But after the fire is lit and the birds begin to brown, his stomach weighs in, insisting that the grouse smell wonderful and will probably taste even better. Over here, he remembers, everything always does. â€Å"And here we are, in the speaking circle,† Parkus says. His smiles have been put away for the nonce. He looks at Jack and Sophie, who sit side by side and still holding hands, with somber gravity. His guitar has been propped against a nearby rock. Beside it, Sacred and Profane sleeps with its two heads tucked into its feathers, dreaming its no doubt bifurcated dreams. â€Å"The Demon may be long gone, but the legends say such things leave a residue that may lighten the tongue.† â€Å"Like kissing the Blarney Stone, maybe,† Jack suggests. Parkus shakes his head. â€Å"No blarney today.† Jack says, â€Å"If only we were dealing with an ordinary scumbag. That I could handle.† Sophie looks at him, puzzled. â€Å"He means a dust-off artist,† Parkus tells her. â€Å"A hardcase.† He looks at Jack. â€Å"And in one way, that is what you're dealing with. Carl Bier-stone isn't much an ordinary monster, let's say. Which is not to say he couldn't do with a spot of killing. But as for what's going on in French Landing, he has been used. Possessed, you'd say in your world, Jack. Taken by the spirits, we'd say in the Territories â€Å" â€Å"Or brought low by pigs,† Sophie adds. â€Å"Yes.† Parkus is nodding. â€Å"In the world just beyond this borderland Mid-World they would say he has been infested by a demon. But a demon far greater than the poor, tattered spirit that once lived in this circle of stones.† Jack hardly hears that. His eyes are glowing. It sounded something like beer stein, George Potter told him last night, a thousand years ago. That's not it, but it's close. â€Å"Carl Bierstone,† he says. He raises a clenched fist, then shakes it in triumph. â€Å"That was his name in Chicago. Burnside here in French Landing. Case closed, game over, zip up your fly. Where is he, Speedy? Save me some time h â€Å" â€Å"Shut . . . up,† Parkus says. The tone is low and almost deadly. Jack can feel Sophie shrink against him. He does a little shrinking himself. This sounds nothing like his old friend, nothing at all. You have to stop thinking of him as Speedy, Jack tells himself. That's not who he is or ever was. That was just a character he played, someone who could both soothe and charm a scared kid on the run with his mother. Parkus turns the birds, which are now browned nicely on one side and spitting juice into the fire. â€Å"I'm sorry to speak harsh to you, Jack, but you have to realize that your Fisherman is pretty small fry compared to what's really going on.† Why don't you tell Tansy Freneau he's small fry? Why don't you tell Beezer St. Pierre? Jack thinks these things, but doesn't say them out loud. He's more than a little afraid of the light he saw in Parkus's eyes. â€Å"Nor is it about Twinners,† Parkus says. â€Å"You got to get that idea out of your mind. That's just something that has to do with your world and the world of the Territories a link. You can't kill some hardcase over here and end the career of your cannibal over there. And if you kill him over there, in Wisconsin, the thing inside will just jump to another host.† â€Å"The thing ?† â€Å"When it was in Albert Fish, Fish called it the Monday Man. Fellow you're after calls it Mr. Munshun. Both are only ways of trying to say something that can't be pronounced by any earthly tongue on any earthly world.† â€Å"How many worlds are there, Speedy?† â€Å"Many,† Parkus says, looking into the fire. â€Å"And this business concerns every one of them. Why else do you think I've been after you like I have? Sending you feathers, sending you robins' eggs, doing every damned thing I could to make you wake up.† Jack thinks of Judy, scratching on walls until the tips of her fingers were bloody, and feels ashamed. Speedy has been doing much the same thing, it seems. â€Å"Wake up, wake up, you dunderhead,† he says. Parkus seems caught between reproof and a smile. â€Å"For sure you must have seen me in the case that sent you running out of L.A.† â€Å"Ah, man why do you think I went?† â€Å"You ran like Jonah, when God told him to go preach against the wickedness in Nineveh. Thought I was gonna have to send a whale to come and swallow you up.† â€Å"I feel swallowed,† Jack tells him. In a small voice, Sophie says: â€Å"I do, too.† â€Å"We've all been swallowed,† says the man with the gun on his hip. â€Å"We're in the belly of the beast, like it or not. It's ka, which is destiny and fate. Your Fisherman, Jack, is now your ka. Our ka. This is more than murder. Much more.† And Jack sees something that frankly scares the shit out of him. Lester Parker, a.k.a. Speedy, a.k.a. Parkus, is himself scared almost to death. â€Å"This business concerns the Dark Tower,† he says. Beside Jack, Sophie gives a low, desperate cry of terror and lowers her head. At the same time she raises one hand and forks the sign of the Evil Eye at Parkus, over and over. That gentleman doesn't seem to take it amiss. He simply sets to work turning the birds again on their sticks. â€Å"Listen to me, now,† he says. â€Å"Listen, and ask as few questions as you can. We still have a chance to get Judy Marshall's son back, but time is blowing in our teeth.† â€Å"Talk,† Jack says. Parkus talks. At some point in his tale he judges the birds done and serves them out on flat stones. The meat is tender, almost falling off the small bones. Jack eats hungrily, drinking deep of the sweet water from Parkus's waterskin each time it comes around to him. He wastes no more time comparing dead children to dead grouse. The furnace needs to be stoked, and he stokes it with a will. So does Sophie, eating with her fingers and licking them clean without the slightest reserve or embarrassment. So, in the end, does Wendell Green, although he refuses to enter the circle of old stones. When Parkus tosses him a golden-brown grouse, however, Wendell catches it with remarkable adroitness and buries his face in the moist meat. â€Å"You asked how many worlds,† Parkus begins. â€Å"The answer, in the High Speech, is da fan: worlds beyond telling.† With one of the blackened sticks he draws a figure eight on its side, which Jack recognizes as the Greek symbol for infinity. â€Å"There is a Tower that binds them in place. Think of it as an axle upon which many wheels spin, if you like. And there is an entity that would bring this Tower down. Ram Abbalah.† At these words, the flames of the fire seem to momentarily darken and turn red. Jack wishes he could believe that this is only a trick of his overstrained mind, but cannot. â€Å"The Crimson King,† he says. â€Å"Yes. His physical being is pent in a cell at the top of the Tower, but he has another manifestation, every bit as real, and this lives in Can-tah Abbalah the Court of the Crimson King.† â€Å"Two places at once.† Given his journeying between the world of America and the world of the Territories, Jack has little trouble swallowing this concept. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"If he or it destroys the Tower, won't that defeat his purpose? Won't he destroy his physical being in the process?† â€Å"Just the opposite: he'll set it free to wander what will then be chaos . . . din-tah . . . the furnace. Some parts of Mid-World have fallen into that furnace already.† â€Å"How much of this do I actually need to know?† Jack asks. He is aware that time is fleeting by on his side of the wall, as well. â€Å"Hard telling what you need to know and what you don't,† Parkus says. â€Å"If I leave out the wrong piece of information, maybe all the stars go dark. Not just here, but in a thousand thousand universes. That's the pure hell of it. Listen, Jack the King has been trying to destroy the Tower and set himself free for time out of mind. Forever, mayhap. It's slow work, because the Tower is bound in place by crisscrossing force beams that act on it like guy wires. The Beams have held for millennia, and would hold for millennia to come, but in the last two hundred years that's speaking of time as you count it, Jack; to you, Sophie, it would be Full-Earth almost five hundred times over â€Å" â€Å"So long,† she says. It's almost a sigh. â€Å"So very long.† â€Å"In the great sweep of things, it's as short as the gleam of a single match in a dark room. But while good things usually take a long time to develop, evil has a way of popping up full-blown and ready-made, like Jack out of his box. Ka is a friend to evil as well as to good. It embraces both. And, speaking of Jack . . .† Parkus turns to him. â€Å"You've heard of the Iron Age and the Bronze Age, of course?† Jack nods. â€Å"On the upper levels of the Tower, there are those who call the last two hundred or so years in your world the Age of Poisoned Thought. That means â€Å" â€Å"You don't have to explain it to me,† Jack says. â€Å"I knew Morgan Sloat, remember? I knew what he planned for Sophie's world.† Yes, indeed. The basic plan had been to turn one of the universe's sweetest honeycombs into first a vacation spot for the rich, then a source of unskilled labor, and finally a waste pit, probably radioactive. If that wasn't an example of poisoned thought, Jack doesn't know what is. Parkus says, â€Å"Rational beings have always harbored telepaths among their number; that's true in all the worlds. But they're ordinarily rare creatures. Prodigies, you might say. But since the Age of Poisoned Thought came on your world, Jack infested it like a demon such beings have become much more common. Not as common as slow mutants in the Blasted Lands, but common, yes.† â€Å"You speak of mind readers,† Sophie says, as if wanting to be sure. â€Å"Yes,† Parkus agrees, â€Å"but not just mind readers. Precognates. Teleports world jumpers like old Travelin' Jack here, in other words and telekinetics. Mind readers are the most common, telekinetics the rarest . . . and the most valuable.† â€Å"To him, you mean,† Jack says. â€Å"To the Crimson King.† â€Å"Yes. Over the last two hundred years or so, the abbalah has spent a good part of his time gathering a crew of telepathic slaves. Most of them come from Earth and the Territories. All of the telekinetics come from Earth. This collection of slaves this gulag is his crowning achievement. We call them Breakers. They . . .† He trails off, thinking. Then: â€Å"Do you know how a galley travels?† Sophie nods, but Jack at first has no idea what Parkus is talking about. He has a brief, lunatic vision of a fully equipped kitchen traveling down Route 66. â€Å"Many oarsmen,† Sophie says, then makes a rowing motion that throws her breasts into charming relief. Parkus is nodding. â€Å"Usually slaves chained together. They â€Å" From outside the circle, Wendell suddenly sticks his own oar in. â€Å"Spart. Cus.† He pauses, frowning, then tries it again. â€Å"Spart-a-cus.† â€Å"What's he on about?† Parkus asks, frowning. â€Å"Any idea, Jack?† â€Å"A movie called Spartacus,† Jack says, â€Å"and you're wrong as usual, Wendell. I believe you're thinking about Ben-Hur.† Looking sulky, Wendell holds out his greasy hands. â€Å"More. Meat.† Parkus pulls the last grouse from its sizzling stick and tosses it between two of the stones, where Wendell sits with his pallid, greasy face peering from between his knees. â€Å"Fresh prey for the news hawk,† he says. â€Å"Now do us a favor and shut up.† â€Å"Or. What.† The old defiant gleam is rising in Wendell's eyes. Parkus draws his shooting iron partway from its holster. The grip, made of sandalwood, is worn, but the barrel gleams murder-bright. He has to say no more; holding his second bird in one hand, Wendell Green hitches up his robe and hies himself back over the rise. Jack is extremely relieved to see him go. Spartacus indeed, he thinks, and snorts. â€Å"So the Crimson King wants to use these Breakers to destroy the Beams,† Jack says. â€Å"That's it, isn't it? That's his plan.† â€Å"You speak as though of the future,† Parkus says mildly. â€Å"This is happening now, Jack. Only look at your own world if you want to see the ongoing disintegration. Of the six Beams, only one still holds true. Two others still generate some holding power. The other three are dead. One of these went out thousands of years ago, in the ordinary course of things. The others . . . killed by the Breakers. All in two centuries or less.† â€Å"Christ,† Jack says. He is beginning to understand how Speedy could call the Fisherman small-fry. â€Å"The job of protecting the Tower and the Beams has always belonged to the ancient war guild of Gilead, called gunslingers in this world and many others. They also generated a powerful psychic force, Jack, one fully capable of countering the Crimson King's Breakers, but â€Å" â€Å"The gunslingers are all gone save for one,† Sophie says, looking at the big pistol on Parkus's hip. And, with timid hope: â€Å"Unless you really are one, too, Parkus.† â€Å"Not I, darling,† he says, â€Å"but there's more than one.† â€Å"I thought Roland was the last. So the stories say.† â€Å"He has made at least three others,† Parkus tells her. â€Å"I've no idea how that can be possible, but I believe it to be true. If Roland were still alone, the Breakers would have toppled the Tower long since. But with the force of these others added to his â€Å" â€Å"I have no clue what you're talking about,† Jack says. â€Å"I did, sort of, but you lost me about two turns back.† â€Å"There's no need for you to understand it all in order to do your job,† Parkus says. â€Å"Thank God for that.† â€Å"As for what you do need to understand, leave galleys and oarsmen and think in terms of the Western movies your mother used to make. To begin with, imagine a fort in the desert.† â€Å"This Dark Tower you keep talking about. That's the fort.† â€Å"Yes. And surrounding the fort, instead of wild Indians â€Å" â€Å"The Breakers. Led by Big Chief Abbalah.† Sophie murmurs: â€Å"The King is in his Tower, eating bread and honey. The Breakers in the basement, making all the money.† Jack feels a light but singularly unpleasant chill shake up his spine: he thinks of rat paws scuttering over broken glass. â€Å"What? Why do you say that?† Sophie looks at him, flushes, shakes her head, looks down. â€Å"It's what she says, sometimes. Judy. It's how I hear her, sometimes.† Parkus seizes one of the charred greensticks and draws in the rocky dust beside the figure-eight shape. â€Å"Fort here. Marauding Indians here, led by their merciless, evil and most likely insane chief. But over here † Off to the left, he draws a harsh arrow in the dirt. It points at the rudimentary shapes indicating the fort and the besieging Indians. â€Å"What always arrives at the last moment in all the best Lily Cavanaugh Westerns?† â€Å"The cavalry,† Jack says. â€Å"That's us, I suppose.† â€Å"No,† Parkus says. His tone is patient, but Jack suspects it is costing him a great effort to maintain that tone. â€Å"The cavalry is Roland of Gilead and his new gunslingers. Or so those of us who want the Tower to stand or to fall in its own time dare hope. The Crimson King hopes to hold Roland back, and to finish the job of destroying the Tower while he and his band are still at a distance. That means gathering all the Breakers he can, especially the telekinetics.† â€Å"Is Tyler Marshall â€Å" â€Å"Stop interrupting. This is difficult enough without that.† â€Å"You used to be a hell of a lot cheerier, Speedy,† Jack says reproachfully. For a moment he thinks his old friend is going to give him another tongue-lashing or perhaps even lose his temper completely and turn him into a frog but Parkus relaxes a little, and utters a laugh. Sophie looks up, relieved, and gives Jack's hand a squeeze. â€Å"Oh, well, maybe you're right to yank on my cord a little,† Parkus says. â€Å"Gettin' all wound up won't help anything, will it?† He touches the big iron on his hip. â€Å"I wouldn't be surprised if wearin' this thing has given me a few delusions of grandeur.† â€Å"It's a step or two up from amusement-park janitor,† Jack allows. â€Å"In both the Bible your world, Jack and the Book of Good Farming yours, Sophie dear there's a scripture that goes something like ? ®For in my kingdom there are many mansions.' Well, in the Court of the Crimson King there are many monsters.† Jack hears a short, hard laugh bolt out of his mouth. His old friend has made a typically tasteless policeman's joke, it seems. â€Å"They are the King's courtiers . . . his knights-errant. They have all sorts of tasks, I imagine, but in these last years their chief job has been to find talented Breakers. The more talented the Breaker, the greater the reward.† â€Å"They're headhunters,† Jack murmurs, and doesn't realize the resonance of the term until it's out of his mouth. He has used it in the business sense, but of course there is another, more literal meaning. Headhunters are cannibals. â€Å"Yes,† Parkus agrees. â€Å"And they have mortal subcontractors, who work for . . . one doesn't like to say for the joy of it, but what else could we call it?† Jack has a nightmarish vision then: a cartoon Albert Fish standing on a New York sidewalk with a sign reading WILL WORK FOR FOOD. He tightens his arm around Sophie. Her blue eyes turn to him, and he looks into them gladly. They soothe him. â€Å"How many Breakers did Albert Fish send his pal Mr. Monday?† Jack wants to know. â€Å"Two? Four? A dozen? And do they die off, at least, so the abbalah has to replace them?† â€Å"They don't,† Parkus replies gravely. â€Å"They are kept in a place a basement, yes, or a cavern where there is essentially no time.† â€Å"Purgatory. Christ.† â€Å"And it doesn't matter. Albert Fish is long gone. Mr. Monday is now Mr. Munshun. The deal Mr. Munshun has with your killer is a simple one: this Burnside can kill and eat all the children he wants, as long as they are untalented children. If he should find any who are talented any Breakers they are to be turned over to Mr. Munshun at once.† â€Å"Who will take them to the abbalah,† Sophie murmurs. â€Å"That's right,† Parkus says. Jack feels that he's back on relatively solid ground, and is extremely glad to be there. â€Å"Since Tyler hasn't been killed, he must be talented.† † ? ®Talented' is hardly the word. Tyler Marshall is, potentially, one of the two most powerful Breakers in all the history of all the worlds. If I can briefly return to the analogy of the fort surrounded by Indians, then we could say that the Breakers are like fire arrows shot over the walls . . . a new kind of warfare. But Tyler Marshall is no simple fire arrow. He's more like a guided missile. â€Å"Or a nuclear weapon.† Sophie says, â€Å"I don't know what that is.† â€Å"You don't want to,† Jack replies. â€Å"Believe me.† He looks down at the scribble of drawings in the dirt. Is he surprised that Tyler should be so powerful? No, not really. Not after experiencing the aura of strength surrounding the boy's mother. Not after meeting Judy's Twinner, whose plain dress and manner can't conceal a character that strikes him as almost regal. She's beautiful, but he senses that beauty is one of the least important things about her. â€Å"Jack?† Parkus asks him. â€Å"You all right?† There's no time to be anythin' else, his tone suggests. â€Å"Give me a minute,† Jack says. â€Å"We don't have much t â€Å" â€Å"That has been made perfectly clear to me,† Jack says, biting off the words, and he feels Sophie shift in surprise at his tone of voice. â€Å"Now give me a minute. Let me do my job.† From beneath a ruffle of green feathers, one of the parrot's heads mutters: â€Å"God loves the poor laborer.† The other replies: â€Å"Is that why he made so fucking many of them?† â€Å"All right, Jack,† Parkus says, and cocks his head up at the sky. Okay, what have we got here? Jack thinks. We've got a valuable little boy, and the Fisherman knows he's valuable. But this Mr. Munshun doesn't have him yet, or Speedy wouldn't be here. Deduction? Sophie, looking at him anxiously. Parkus, still looking up into the blameless blue sky above this borderland between the Territories what Judy Marshall calls Faraway and the Whatever Comes Next. Jack's mind is ticking faster now, picking up speed like an express train leaving the station. He is aware that the black man with the bald head is watching the sky for a certain malevolent crow. He is aware that the fair-skinned woman beside him is looking at him with the sort of fascination that could become love, given world enough and time. Mostly, though, he's lost in his own thoughts. They are the thoughts of a coppiceman. Now Bierstone's Burnside, and he's old. Old and not doing so well in the cognition department these days. I think maybe he's gotten caught between what he wants, which is to keep Tyler for himself, and what he's promised this Munshun guy. Somewhere there's a fuddled, creaky, dangerous mind trying to make itself up. If he decides to kill Tyler and stick him in the stewpot like the witch in â€Å"Hansel and Gretel,† that's bad for Judy and Fred. Not to mention Tyler, who may already have seen things that would drive a Marine combat vet insane. If the Fisherman turns the boy over to Mr. Munshun, it's bad for everyone in creation. No wonder Speedy said time was blowing in our teeth. â€Å"You knew this was coming, didn't you?† he says. â€Å"Both of you. You must have. Because Judy knew. She's been weird for months, long before the murders started.† Parkus shifts and looks away, uncomfortable. â€Å"I knew something was coming, yes there have been great disruptions on this side but I was on other business. And Sophie can't cross. She came here with the flying men and will go back the same way when our palaver's done.† Jack turns to her. â€Å"You are who my mother once was. I'm sure of it.† He supposes he isn't being entirely clear about this, but he can't help it; his mind is trying to go in too many directions at once. â€Å"You're Laura DeLoessian's successor. The Queen of this world.† Now Sophie is the one who looks uncomfortable. â€Å"I was nobody in the great scheme of things, really I wasn't, and that was the way I liked it. What I did mostly was write letters of commendation and thank people for coming to see me . . . only in my official capacity, I always said ? ®us.' I enjoyed walking, and sketching flowers, and cataloging them. I enjoyed hunting. Then, due to bad luck, bad times, and bad behavior, I found myself the last of the royal line. Queen of this world, as you say. Married once, to a good and simple man, but my Fred Marshall died and left me alone. Sophie the Barren.† â€Å"Don't,† Jack says. He is surprised at how deeply it hurts him to hear her refer to herself in this bitter, joking way. â€Å"Were you not single-natured, Jack, your Twinner would be my cousin.† She turns her slim fingers so that now she is gripping him instead of the other way around. When she speaks again, her voice is low and passionate. â€Å"Put all the great matters aside. All I know is that Tyler Marshall is Judy's child, that I love her, that I'd not see her hurt for all the worlds that are. He's the closest thing to a child of my own that I'll ever have. These things I know, and one other: that you're the only one who can save him.† â€Å"Why?† He has sensed this, of course why else in God's name is he here? but that doesn't lessen his bewilderment. â€Å"Why me?† â€Å"Because you touched the Talisman. And although some of its power has left you over the years, much still remains.† Jack thinks of the lilies Speedy left for him in Dale's bathroom. How the smell lingered on his hands even after he had given the bouquet itself to Tansy. And he remembers how the Talisman looked in the murmuring darkness of the Queen's Pavilion, rising brightly, changing everything before it finally vanished. He thinks: It's still changing everything. â€Å"Parkus.† Is it the first time he's called the other man the other coppiceman by that name? He doesn't know for sure, but he thinks it may be. â€Å"Yes, Jack.† â€Å"What's left of the Talisman is it enough? Enough for me to take on this Crimson King?† Parkus looks shocked in spite of himself. â€Å"Never in your life, Jack. Never in any life. The abbalah would blow you out like a candle. But it may be enough for you to take on Mr. Munshun to go into the furnace-lands and bring Tyler out.† â€Å"There are machines,† Sophie says. She looks caught in some dark and unhappy dream. â€Å"Red machines and black machines, all lost in smoke. There are great belts and children without number upon them. They trudge and trudge, turning the belts that turn the machines. Down in the foxholes. Down in the ratholes where the sun never shines. Down in the great caverns where the furnace-lands lie.† Jack is shaken to the bottom of his mind and spirit. He finds himself thinking of Dickens not Bleak House but Oliver Twist. And, of course he thinks of his conversation with Transy Freneau. At least Irma's not there, he thinks. Not in the furnace-lands, not she. She got dead, and a mean old man ate her leg. Tyler, though . . . Tyler . . . â€Å"They trudge until their feet bleed,† he mutters. â€Å"And the way there . . . ?† â€Å"I think you know it,† Parkus says. â€Å"When you find Black House, you'll find your way to the furnace-lands . . . the machines . . . Mr. Munshun . . . and Tyler.† â€Å"The boy is alive. You're sure of that.† â€Å"Yes.† Parkus and Sophie speak together. â€Å"And where is Burnside now? That information might speed things up a bit.† â€Å"I don't know,† Parkus says. â€Å"Christ, if you know who he was â€Å" â€Å"That was the fingerprints,† Parkus says. â€Å"The fingerprints on the telephone. Your first real idea about the case. The Wisconsin State Police got the Bierstone name back from the FBI's VICAP database. You have the Burnside name. That should be enough.† Wisconsin State Police, FBI, VICAP, database: these terms come out in good old American English, and in this place they sound unpleasant and foreign to Jack's ear. â€Å"How do you know all that?† â€Å"I have my sources in your world; I keep my ear to the ground. As you know from personal experience. And surely you're cop enough to do the rest on your own.† â€Å"Judy thinks you have a friend who can help,† Sophie says unexpectedly. â€Å"Dale? Dale Gilbertson?† Jack finds this a little hard to believe, but he supposes Dale may have uncovered something. â€Å"I don't know the name. Judy thinks he's like many here in Faraway. A man who sees much because he sees nothing.† Not Dale, after all. It's Henry she's talking about. Parkus rises to his feet. The heads of the parrot come up, revealing four bright eyes. Sacred and Profane flutters up to his shoulder and settles there. â€Å"I think our palaver is done,† Parkus says. â€Å"It must be done. Are you ready to go back, my friend?† â€Å"Yes. And I suppose I better take Green, little as I want to. I don't think he'd last long here.† â€Å"As you say.† Jack and Sophie, still holding hands, are halfway up the rise when Jack realizes Parkus is still standing in the speaking circle with his parrot on his shoulder. â€Å"Aren't you coming?† Parkus shakes his head. â€Å"We go different ways now, Jack. I may see you again.† If I survive, Jack thinks. If any of us survive. â€Å"Meantime, go your course. And be true.† Sophie drops another deep curtsey. â€Å"Sai.† Parkus nods to her and gives Jack Sawyer a little salute. Jack turns and leads Sophie back to the ruined hospital tent, wondering if he will ever see Speedy Parker again. Wendell Green ace reporter, fearless investigator, explicator of good and evil to the great unwashed sits in his former place, holding the crumpled foolscap in one hand and the batteries in the other. He has resumed muttering, and barely looks up when Sophie and Jack approach. â€Å"You'll do your best, won't you?† Sophie asks. â€Å"For her.† â€Å"And for you,† Jack says. â€Å"Listen to me, now. If this were to end with all of us still standing . . . and if I were to come back here . . .† He finds he can say no more. He's appalled at his temerity. This is a queen, after all. A queen. And he's . . . what? Trying to ask her for a date? â€Å"Perhaps,† she says, looking at him with her steady blue eyes. â€Å"Perhaps.† â€Å"Is it a perhaps you want?† he asks softly. â€Å"Yes.† He bends and brushes his lips over hers. It's brief, barely a kiss at all. It is also the best kiss of his life. â€Å"I feel like fainting,† she tells him when he straightens up again. â€Å"Don't joke with me, Sophie.† She takes his hand and presses it against the underswell of her left breast. He can feel her heart pounding. â€Å"Is this a joke? If she were to run faster, she'd catch her feet and fall.† She lets him go, but he holds his hand where it is a moment longer, palm curved against that springing warmth. â€Å"I'd come with you if I could,† she says. â€Å"I know that.† He looks at her, knowing if he doesn't get moving now, right away, he never will. It's wanting not to leave her, but that's not all. The truth is that he's never been more frightened in his life. He searches for something mundane to bring him back to earth to slow the pounding of his own heart and finds the perfect object in the muttering creature that is Wendell Green. He drops to one knee. â€Å"Are you ready, big boy? Want to take a trip on the mighty Mississip'?† â€Å"Don't. Touch. Me.† And then, in a nearly poetic rush: â€Å"Fucking Hollywood asshole!† â€Å"Believe me, if I didn't have to, I wouldn't. And I plan to wash my hands just as soon as I get the chance.† He looks up at Sophie and sees all the Judy in her. All the beauty in her. â€Å"I love you,† he says. Before she can reply, he seizes Wendell's hand, closes his eyes, and flips.