The Book of the Wounded Healers

How many heartbeats does it take to change the world? Ben Matthews is a mathematical linguist studying spontaneous languages at Columbia University in New York City. Recently home from committing himself to a northern New Hampshire psychiatric center, he spends a relaxing late-May day bonding with his son, Jiminy, at South Street Seaport. They're watching a juggler when the East River to Brooklyn and beyond becomes a white sand desert. A sirocco wind raises waves and whips ice cream wrappers, crumpled napkins, visitor guides, ticket stubs, and other ground level trash intown. Three creatures, their images shimmering in the heat like a mirage, walk across the sand towards The Battery and TriBeCa South. Ben is knocked down and loses track of Jiminy as people race to safety. The desert fades away, the sirocco recedes, and the three creatures walk up to Ben. The one in front says, "We are Healers from the Land of Barass." It points to the one on its right. "He is Cetaf, who cries for h...