Falling and Feedback

By Eve Morton

When a new patron at the library catches Tyler's sights, she doesn't expect the encounter to turn into much. But when she realizes that Clinton Dubsky, a PhD student at the local university, is translating a poem from a prior civilization, she's even more intrigued.

As Tyler works with Clint to translate the poem and find references for a lost world, she also excavates her own history through her grandmother's stories about society, painting with black market materials, and her own synesthesia.

As the two start a romance, Tyler finds her world changing even more. When Clint's academic friends, his work schedule, and the weight of history becomes too much, Tyler closes her eyes and imagines a future that she pulls from the dark.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Mar 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9781685506735

Book preview

Falling and Feedback

By Eve Morton

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2024 Eve Morton

ISBN 9781685506735

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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Falling and Feedback

By Eve Morton

Chapter 1

He was in the library again. At the back, with yet another book in front of him, completely absorbed by its pages. His personal music machine was on, but Tyler traced the headphones from his ears down to the disconnected jack by the player. The noise spilled out, uncontained, into the library. The other patrons walked by and looked at him as if their aggravation could be communicated through their sneered lips and eyes alone; that together, their faces of disappointment could transmit into a noise.

The man didn’t look up. As far as he was concerned, the music was inside his head and not all around.

So Tyler walked over to him.

You’re leaking, she said, pointing to the device. She saw the music in a wash of blue and green, a hue brighter than his eyes when he looked up.

Oh. Sorry. He reached down to hook up his jack again, then turned the music off. I didn’t notice it.

No worries. Do you need help with anything?

He leaned back and took his ear buds out. His expression said, Oh boy do I ever, but he remained silent. Tyler surveyed the poems on the page in front him. One poem was complete, but in another language she couldn’t comprehend, while the second one was only in bits and pieces. It was made of nothing but small words taped together and rearranged like a broken haiku or an ideograph painting.

Do you need more paper? Tyler asked. It was a rare resource, only given out to the professors at the school. But Tyler liked him. She knew he was a PhD student, sometimes lecturing in the large glass halls on the other side of the campus. She had seen him in his various collections of blue sweaters through the glass, light fracturing through the corners and creating rainbows as he spoke. The colours always made sounds to Tyler’s ears, so she half expected the strange man in her library to be a musician. She hoped the poem was secretly a song.

That would be nice, actually. He smiled. A soft dimple appeared and it reminded her of the caves on Pluto.

Sure, I’ll be right back. What’s your name? she asked, hoping to slip it in without him noticing. So I can make sure you’re logged into our system and free reign for resources?

His eyebrows lifted. Pure joy—like being given the key to the city. The Tristero Library was hardly a labyrinth like Borges’ perfect vision, but it was clearly more than he had