Prompt 152.01

[skieswideopen]

Five lives a Daniel lived on the other side of the Quantum Mirror that our Daniel doesn't know about


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Comments

[gategremlyn.livejournal.com]

One Magazine Subscription

Gen, PG, and rather dark
Warning: character death (but remember, it's “another life”)

In another life, Daniel got up at 6:00 AM and made it to school by 8:00. He taught French to high school students. He made a decent living. He read Archeology Today in his spare time and went to Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon on his vacations. He never married, never knew excitement or adventure, never missed it. At 55 he retired and opened a book store called The Absent-Minded Professor.

In another life, Daniel stayed on Abydos. He got up at dawn and worked until dusk. He taught English (just so he could hear it spoken), first to the townspeople and then to his own small children. He learned to speak and write Abydonian fluently. He read the walls of the pyramid and kept his recorded his findings in his own library, which included one copy of Archeology Today. When Ra's enemies found them, and the library burned to the ground, Daniel didn't care; he and his family were already dead.

In another life, Daniel wrote books. He got up at 6:00 AM and starting writing. He wrote until the words blurred on the page. He taught the world everything it needed to know about aliens and the pyramids, hoping to be mentioned in Archeology Today. Right after his thirtieth birthday, the government locked him up with the rest of the crazy people and threw away the key. He never wrote again. They canceled all his magazine subscriptions.

In another life, Daniel got up at 6:00 PM and made it to work by dark. He taught French kissing and slept with his “students.” He made a good living. He read Archeology Today in his spare time and went to see the pyramids on his vacation. At 40 he retired. He moved to a small house in the most remote part of Colorado he could find, locked himself away, and never spoke to anyone again. Copies of the magazine piled up on his doorstep until he gathered them together and burned them in his backyard.

In another life, Daniel went to New York with his parents. He got up at 6:00 AM and was at the museum with his parents by 8:00. He had a copy of Archeology Today in his back pocket because inside the magazine was an article written by his mother. Babbling in Egyptian and broken English, he helped his parents with their exhibit, getting underfoot and bothering the workers. When the stone fell, the magazine's pages were torn and bloodied, but it didn't matter because he could no longer see them.

In this life, Daniel wormed his way into the Stargate program. He got up when he had to and slept when he could. He went through the Stargate. On one side of the 'gate, he learned enough about archeology and linguistics to fill many books and several lifetimes. One the other side of the 'gate, he taught languages no one had ever heard before to anyone who needed to use them. He learned and wrote; he suffered and died (and lived again); he succeeded and failed. He lost his wife but found an odd new family. Around his fourth year in the program, he canceled his subscription to Archeology Today. It no longer held any appeal.

[sid]

Oh, fabulous! Er, well, mostly tragic of course, but excellent! Love the way the magazine tied them all together.

[gategremlyn.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Any life that wasn't the life of *our* Daniel would have to be sad. ;-)

[lolmac]

OMG, crystal brilliant. The linking image of the magazine is exquisite. Thank you!!

[gategremlyn.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The magazine thing was accidental, but when I'd written it into two vignettes, I knew it had to be the thing to tie them all together.

[archersangel (from livejournal.com)]

very interesting.

am i wrong in thinking that in #4 he's a prostitute of some sort?

[gategremlyn.livejournal.com]

You are right!

[skieswideopen]

Oh, so many tragic possibilities! Nicely done!

[gategremlyn.livejournal.com]

Thanks!