Gary has not died and gone to Heaven, but that is exactly how he feels. Not only does he have his wife Sandy, he also gets to live here, in Eden. Gary calls it “Eden” because, well, this is pretty much what he set up for himself. For about two seconds he played with the idea of calling it “The Arc,” but he had more than two rabbits and exactly zero floods, black flies, or rats. The more imposing animals, such as hippos, Gary let exist somewhere else in his world, yet to be discovered. Eden is full of adorable tame creatures and fruitful trees. He hopes there is time for adventure. Maybe someday he will make a boat. He makes infinite plans. The best creature of all, however, is Sandy, and she’s here! And pregnant! It was easy, Gary literally created Sandy from memory, and then wished she was pregnant. Boom! Now she is with child. Life has never been so fluid and joyful.
Gary sits on an antless hill accompanied by tall tickling wild flowers. He watches his love sit beautifully next to a babbling stream. She relaxes lazily, one bare toe sticking in the cold creek as she flips the pages of her favorite book, wearing salmon colored satin. She reminds him of Ophelia, flowers in her hair, more exquisite than Shakespeare and without the suicide. A deer approaches and quietly drinks, a stone's throw away. Gary wants to take a picture but remembers that he can make this scene happen anytime. Sandy loves reading next to water. It makes him happy to give her what she loves.
In the Eden that he has created, they eat food with passion and without consequence. Sometimes they are clothed in whatever strikes their fancy, and other times they are nude. Sandy and Gary spend time playing in costume, fabrics spinning silk trails for the blue birds. He will make this Heaven for her. She deserves nothing less. He is thankful to Hector for giving him this chance. He advises Sandy to be the same.
Because Gary wants it to be so, Hector and Sandy will never cross paths. It would be confusing for Sandy, the whole thing is overwhelming for him. Gary figures Hector can be, well, the bearded guy in the sky who also has control of his body in the real world. Gary also thinks it would be best if she doesn’t know about her death. He wouldn’t know where to start that conversation. It isn’t that he wants to keep her in the dark, he has given her intelligence and independent thought because he loves the way Sandy’s mind works. He simply doesn’t believe, for good reason, that she would be okay with Dr. Kelmer sleeping with the body of her husband the same day as her tragic accident. Gary thinks it is pretty messed up, personally, but if this is the way to keep Hector happy so that he can have Sandy back, so be it. He does not like to think about what happened previously with the doctor and the nipple, nor does he like to think about what Hector is doing to her with his body. Gary feigns ignorance. It promises bliss.
He knows what is happening with Dr. Marie Kelmer only as a sensation, an understanding, an unfortunate side-effect kept under wraps. The affair revealed itself somewhere in between the details, like a note slipped under the door. It is out of his control, occurring without any of his influence, like a scab forming over a scratch. It is unattractive to him, but part of the process. He is not fully aware of what is happening outside of his reality/Hector’s dream. There has not been enough time to think about such events considering that he just invented Eden, after relapsing, living a Hector memory, then losing and recreating his wife.
Sandy has questions, rightfully so. Gary expected this after giving her the trait of curiosity. Original Sandy was always asking, researching, and he would like this Sandy to be as close to the original as possible. He would like to answer them, but does not know exactly what has been reality himself. Maybe Hector will figure out a way to make things less confusing. Gary wonders when he’ll show up again, or if he’ll show up again.
What scares him is the idea of becoming little Hector. He never wants to go back to that car, with that woman, on the trip to camp Tippecanoe. The memory is a living nightmare; the nightmare a living memory. The thought itself threatens a storm, so Gary chases away these images to make room for a trio of friendly pollinating bees.
All evidence suggests that he is in control only when Hector is sleeping, and only with his blessing. Gary wonders if this world he has made shines on the movie screen behind Hector’s eyes. If so, he only has about eight hours in this place, give or take Hector’s sleep schedule. Also, it seems that he’s giving Hector quite a show! Historically, both he and Sandy have been private about such personal displays of affection and nudity. Eden has brought out the inner animal like happiness breeds desperation.
What will happen to Eden when Hector wakes up? Will it be erased, Sandy included, and have to be built back from scratch? Though it did not take a lot of effort, it did take time to make this world. Gary figures he has a few hours of Hector’s sleep time left, having spent the first few wrapping his mind around creating life, a lot of it being trial and error. Nothing but time may tell, and he attempts to feel hopeful.
He does the math. The safest path for Sandy is to sleep deeply for sixteen hours a day. Gary will try to engineer her this way. Does he have that power? Ideally, he’ll be able to sleep too, but instinctively knows he’ll be back to being tiny Hector with the mean woman driving the Hell car. He is amazed that Hector made it through childhood. No wonder he has chosen Dr. Kelmer as a lover. With Marie, Hector gets the mother he has always wanted and the therapist he has needed.
Gary weighs his options, unsure if he has any. Like Hector, he has a one hundred percent rate of surviving that memory and his childhood. Gary can accomplish anything Hector has, perhaps with more grace. Eden is worth it. Sandy is most definitely worth it. There must be Hell if he is to live in Heaven. Equilibrium, even in this existence, is a necessity.
Gary is trying to be God…pretty good at it…but secularism might just get him “down the stretch” back to the finish line