I have yet to set

I have yet to set

**of Note**

one foot upon the Black Spiral.”

Arkady stopped dead in his tracks. “But how can that be?“ he protested softly.

“Look here,” Stuart said, tapping his pencil rapidly against the open notebook page. “It’s something I just realized about the nature of spirals. All spirals.

Here’s the Black Spiral I drew. But there’s mther spiral here, nestled within it. In this case, it’s a White Spiral, white for the paper peeking through. It’s a negative spiral, sandwiched in between the lines of the black one. And if you were to walk on that spiral, like I was just doing, it should be possible-at least theoretically possible-to reach the center without ever taking a single step on the Black Spiral. Without subjecting yourself to its corrupting touch.”

Arkady just stared at him. Then a smile split his face. And then he threw back his head and laughed, slapping Stuart heartily on the back. “You are a wonder, Stuart Stalks-the-Tmth. Almost I wish you would repent of your earlier decision and agree to accompany me. Are you sure that you are not in the least bit tempted to put your fine theory to the test?“ “Don’t you wony about me,” Stuart said. “If you manage to pull this off, I’ll know about it. Hell, 1 imagine we’ll all know about it. But I’ve a different path to walk. A road I’ve avoided for far too long now.”

And it was only in that moment that Stuart realized where the White Spiral-if such an improbable thing even existed-must surely lead. It was a path leading unvaryingly home.