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Chapter
One
Nostalgia
and melancholy
overcame him that afternoon. Looking
beyond books and paper on his desk, the professor stared out a window
into another Wisconsin winter. Months had passed since this last
happened and it seemed the problem had been worked out. When he resumed
a full schedule in December, it was with the confidence that he had
moved beyond an embarrassing era along an otherwise stellar career
path. Whatever insight he thought he had gained then was of no use now.
Confidence was disappearing like sand sifting through a hole somewhere
beneath him, and he was sinking.
The
pressure of a headache was
building at his forehead, another of those peculiar headaches that had
plagued him over the past year. Yet something was different this time.
He was hearing a strange sound, a low-pitched murmur. At first it
seemed to be a faint drumming inside his head, and then it became more
of a vibration that seemed to emanate from somewhere outside his body.
A sudden
knock sounded on the office door to which he turned but did
not respond. The professor saw hesitation behind frosted glass, heard
shuffling feet, and then another knock. Still, he offered no response.
He was done with science today. Waiting until the figure faded, he
moved to the door, turned the lock and switched off lights. Returning
to his chair, he rolled it to the back corner of the room, to an area
where there were no bookcases or filing cabinets. With his back to the
wall, he turned toward another window.
He
desperately wished to be at
his home, in the study, but for now, this corner would serve his need.
In another hour, people would leave the building and it would be dark.
Until then, he could hide here. Behind the Biochemistry building were
two enormous elm trees, as old as the University of Wisconsin itself.
The professor stared through a web of branches into the pale afternoon
sky. The weight of years gone by and the burden of love grown cold
pressed down upon him.
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