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MY FIRST IMPRESSION, as I entered, was one of absolute reality

The room was immense, beamed and paneled, furnished with iht

"We don’t have to worry about ’catching’ the et the saht at all tiht The room seemed made for one

"I could have one if I wished," Albert said as though I’d voiced the thought "Some people do"

I had to smile at the ease hich he read ht Like the pair of fieldstone fireplaces we had in our home For atmospherebetter than to lie in front of a crackling fire, listening to music

I moved to a superbly crafted table and examined it "Did you make this?" I asked, impressed

"Oh, no," he said "Only an expert could create such a beautiful piece"

Without thinking, I ran a finger over its surface, then tried to hide the hed "You won’t find any dust here," he said, "since there’s no disintegration" "Ann would certainly like that," I told him She always liked our house to be i what it is, she always had to do a lot of dusting to keep the furniture polished

Standing on the table was a vase of flowers--brilliant shades of red, orange, purple and yellow I’d never seen such flowers Albert smiled at them "They weren’t here before," he said "Soift"

"Won’t they die now that they’ve been picked?" I asked

"No, they’ll stay fresh until I lose interest in them," Albert said "Then they’ll vanish" He smiled at my expression "For that matter, the entire house would, eventually, vanish if I lost interest in it and left"

"Where would it go?" I asked

"Into the matrix"

"Matrix?"

"Back to its source to be reused," he explained "Nothing is lost here, everything recycled"

"If mind creates it and loss of interest can un-create it," I said, "does it have any reality of its own?"

"Oh, yes," he said "It’s just that its reality is always subject toto ask o as I followed Albert through his house Every roos which overlooked the luxuriant scenery

"I don’t see any other houses," I told him

"They’re out there," Albert said "It’s just that we have lots of roo to comment on the absence of a kitchen and bathrooms when the reason became obvious Clearly, the bodies we possessed did not require food And, since there was neither dirt nor disposal, bathrooms would be superfluous

The room I liked best was Albert’s study Each wall had a floor-to-ceiling bookcase packed with finely bound volue chairs, tables and a sofa on the polished wood floor

To my surprise, I saw a line of bound scripts on one of the shelves and recognized the titles as my own My reaction came in layers--surprise first, as I’ve said, then pleasure at seeing them in Albert’s home, then disappointment that I’d never had my own scripts bound while I was on earth

My last reaction was one of shame as I realized how many of the scripts dealt with subjects either violent or horrific

"I’m sorry," Albert said "I didn’t mean to disturb you"

"It’s not your fault," I told him "I’m the one rote thes now," he reassured s

He gestured toward the sofa and I sank down on it as he sat on one of the chairs Katie sat besideand I stroked her head as Albert and I continued talking

"You called this place Harvest," I said "Why?"

"Because the seeds a man plants in life create the harvest he reaps here," he answered "Actually, the most authentic name--if one wants to be a purist--is the third sphere"