Shimmer: A Novel by John Passarella

manifest in our line. Paranormal talents, so to speak.”
    “Like my prescient dreaming?”
    “Exactly,” Ambrose said. “Each of us Walkers has one or two, sometimes three of these talents. They manifest at different times in our life. At birth, or adolescence, or well into our adult years. And there are many triggers, including hormones, stress, trauma, or simply maturation.”
    “Go on.”
    “Whatever the nature of our talents, we also have limits,” Ambrose said. “For example, Barrett is not a douser. And probably never will be.” He wagged at finger at Fallon. “With you, however, none of this is certain. I sense that you have no such limitations.”
    “I might one day be a douser?”
    Ambrose shrugged. “Who knows?” he said. “But I would be a fool to bet against it. You are unbound.”
    “A wild card,” Logan said admiringly. “You could become… anything.”
    She frowned. “The prescient dreaming is freaky enough, thanks.”
    “And yet, despite your unbound nature, it is also possible that prescient dreaming is the only talent you will ever manifest.”
    “You make me sound like a lump of clay.”
    “Who knows what wondrous form that lump of clay might take in the hands of a skilled artist?”
    Fallon glanced sidelong at Logan. “No fondling wisecracks, mister!”
    Logan shrugged with a ‘Who, me?’ look of innocence.
    “You are the clay and the artist, Fallon,” Ambrose said. “No one else. You will shape yourself by the life you lead and the choices you make.”
    “What if I don’t want any of it?”
    Ambrose smiled benignly. “Ah, but it is never that simple. There is no lever to pull one way or the other. Regardless of what you want, or think you want, whatever happens will happen. What you
need
, is another matter. And what you do with what you have makes all the difference in the world.”
    “You’re a walking, talking fortune cookie.”
    “I’ve been called worse.”
    “What about that other thing?” Fallon asked. “You called me a catalyst.”
    “An agent of change and reaction,” Ambrose said. “Logan called you a wild card, and there is some truth in that analogy. The root of potential is potent. There is that in you. While you yourself are unbound, I believe you have the potential—there’s that word again—to interact with our kind, to… shift our boundaries.”
    “Does that mean I could make you—or Logan—unbound also?”
    “No, I do not believe that is possible,” Ambrose said. “We are what we are and what we may yet become, but not that which is not within our nature. But I sense that you are capable of becoming one of those life triggers I mentioned earlier. In essence, you may be an accelerant for our own potential. Perhaps even a proximity booster.”
    “The kiss…” Fallon said, then fell silent.
    “Kiss?” Liana asked, looking back and forth between Logan and Fallon.
    “I, um, kissed Logan,” Fallon said, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks yet again. “And it—something happened. We… tingled.”
    “Interesting,” Ambrose said.
    Liana smiled broadly. “Never realized you were such a fast operator, Logan.”
    “I—but I—”
    “That was me,” Fallon said. “I made him kiss me.”
    “Not that I objected,” Logan added.
    “But Logan said it’s happened before,” Fallon said. “The tingling.”
    “Really?” Liana said, arching an eyebrow. “Logan?”
    Logan cleared his throat and looked away, embarrassed. “Not as if I haven’t kissed a girl before.”
    “You and Pamela tingled?” Liana pressed. “Or Diana?”
    Logan said something under his breath.
    “Speak up, boy,” Ambrose said.
    “That may have been a, uh, static shock from her braces.”
    “And what about Pamela?”
    “We had some fireworks,” Logan said defensively. “I mean, she was the first girl I ever kissed, so naturally…”
    “Don’t mind him,” Liana said to Fallon. “The tingling is significant.”
    Logan cleared his throat again. “You