{"id":5061,"date":"2021-11-17T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-17T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=5061"},"modified":"2021-11-13T14:09:36","modified_gmt":"2021-11-13T14:09:36","slug":"the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-79","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2021\/11\/17\/the-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa-part-79\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adventures of Maite and Kepa: Part 79"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
The Adventures of Maite and Kepa is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Though Javi and Kepa didn\u2019t drink all that much, it was still late when they finally made it back to Javi\u2019s place. Kepa quietly slipped into his and Maite\u2019s room, into the bed, and was soon fast asleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite, lying awake next to him, simply smiled to herself. She mused over the time since they had first met Marina. It had only been a few months in real time, but it already felt like a lifetime ago. So much had already changed, with her relationship with Kepa, her potential move to Berkeley, and their discovery of two of the zatia. She shuddered when she recalled how De Lancre had roasted Blas Telleria alive, and how Donny McCown had shot Kepa in the heart. Tears began flowing as she choked back a sob. Yes, so much had changed, but it had also been accompanied by so much death and suffering. How much longer could she deal with it all? She eventually fell into a fitful sleep, her mind tormented by images of Blas and Kepa dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morning came too soon for both of them as light poured in from a part in the curtain, hitting them both in the face. Kepa rolled over and smiled at Maite. \u201cEgun on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite returned his smile, though her\u2019s wasn\u2019t as big. \u201cEgun on,\u201d she replied. \u201cYou guys had a good time?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa nodded. \u201cBai, we did. It was good to catch up, it\u2019s been too long. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019m up for a big night of dancing, but I guess that\u2019s what\u2019s on the schedule for today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDancing, eh? I didn\u2019t realize Javi was much of a dancer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s partially his girlfriend. She likes to dance a lot, so he does too now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite shook her head. \u201cI can\u2019t believe little Javi has a girlfriend.\u201d She looked at Kepa and gave him a mischievous smile. \u201cBut, I can\u2019t believe you do either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa blushed and smiled at the same time. \u201cYou can\u2019t believe it? I can\u2019t believe it! I pinch myself every day. I just hope this isn\u2019t one of those quantum bubbles that will pop some day and erase it all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh!\u201d exclaimed Maite. \u201cI hadn\u2019t even thought about that. How do we know, really know, we aren\u2019t in a bubble? How do we know this won\u2019t all disappear?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was only joking\u2026\u201d began Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, really,\u201d continued Maite as she sat up in the bed, pulling the covers up over her chest. \u201cIn the two bubbles we\u2019ve been to, we knew they were bubbles because there was a specific event that transported us. But, how do we know we didn\u2019t start in a bubble? How do we know that we returned to where we started or if we got shoved into another bubble and not our original time?\u201d She looked over at Kepa. \u201cHow do we know anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d said Kepa, feeling a rise of panic himself, \u201cwe only ever saw the zatia twice, and both times that triggered our trips to the bubbles. We never touched one before that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrue,\u201d mused Maite. \u201cBut, we don\u2019t know that\u2019s the only way into a bubble. We don\u2019t even know if we weren\u2019t born into a bubble.\u201d She looked over at Kepa. \u201cWhat if every time is a bubble waiting to pop?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d asked Kepa, confusion etched on his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d said Maite, \u201cthink about the last bubble. What if we had never found that zatia. What if Donny had never shot you. Maybe we would have gotten married, even had kids. Would our kids know they were in a bubble? And if we found the zatia after they were born, would the bubble pop, erasing our kids from existence?\u201d She turned to look at Kepa. \u201cWhat if we are in a bubble now, and Donny\u2019s time was a bubble on top of a bubble?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa shook his head. \u201cThis is too much. I can\u2019t handle it. Are you saying that none of this is real?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo\u2026\u201d began Maite before pausing. After a moment she continued, in almost a sheepish voice. \u201cWhat I\u2019m saying is how do we know it is?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we are in a bubble, I hope we never find the zatia,\u201d said Kepa, a bit more viciously than he intended. \u201cI don\u2019t want this to ever end.\u201d He grabbed Maite\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut,\u201d said Maite as a chill went through her body, \u201cwhat if De Lancre finds it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though Javi and Kepa didn\u2019t drink all that much, it was still late when they finally made it back to Javi\u2019s place. Kepa quietly slipped into his and Maite\u2019s room, into the bed, and was soon fast asleep.  Maite, lying awake next to him, simply smiled to herself. She mused over the time since they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1jD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5062,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5061\/revisions\/5062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}