The young man hesitated again. He clearly thought this was some kind of trap. “My name is…Aeolid.”

“Excuse me?”

“Aeolid. Ay-ee-oh-lid. It means I’m a follower of Aeolus, the wind god.”

“There’s a wind god, too?”

“No. Or at least not one that I’ve ever met. And I guess that the wind hasn’t ever mentioned him either. It just seemed to fit.”

“Oh.”

“You see, I’ve come to worship the wind. That’s why I’m here. Here in this shrine.”

“Shrine?”

“Yes! You’ve used the wind to make this Tower.” He pointed towards the windmills. “The wind has helped you and they don’t feel bad about it. In fact, they like this place because it gives them a place to dance and sing.”

Back to this again. “Yes, so you tell me. But let’s not lose the question I asked you. Where do you stay up here?”

Aeolid looked sheepish. “Up there.” He pointed towards the tower that housed the elevator equipment and the North Star. “Come, I’ll show you,” and he walked over towards one of the equipment doors. A few quick movements and the locked door sprung open. He ducked inside.

This was a moment of truth for Sam. Should he follow this strange young man into the darkness? The boy seemed utterly at home up here and the danger was obvious. Wait a minute, here was the light switch. Everything was lit up and the danger seemed to retreat.

Up some steps they went. Then through another door and they were near the elevator housings. Aeolid pointed upwards and then jumped up and grabbed a bar. A quick swing and he disappeared somewhere up above. Sam wasn’t sure what to do until his face peered down at him. There was some kind of ledge up there. There was no way that an older man could possibly have followed him up there. Another swing and a drop and the boy was back down.

“Very clever, but there can’t be much room up there.”

“No, not very much but enough for my needs.”

“Don’t the techs ever go up there?”

“Only for the maintenance and I know their schedule better than they do.”

“And then you find some other place to hide?”

“Yes. There are several places. That’s the only one with enough room to sleep in though.”

“I see. Doesn’t it get noisy up here?”

“Not too badly.”

“And during the thunderstorms?”

“Oh. I use the stone for that.”

“The stone?”

“Yes. With all of the wires.”

That explained it. The equipment for the North Star was very sensitive and there had been some fear that lightning would hurt it. They had made a ceramic housing to put it in. The boy must mean somehow use that for shelter.

“And no one has ever seen you up here?”

“Never. I’m certain of that.”

“What about food?”

“Well, I’m not proud of this but the wind always provides for me.”

“How does it do that?”

“It…leaves extra food in the garbage for me.”

“Oh. And what happens if we clear the garbage at night?”

“I get by. I’ve been up here for six months and I haven’t starved, have I?”

Sam had to admit that much. Water was easy, it was readily available in the bathroom sinks. He supposed that he must wash himself there too. The six months thing was a pretty strong argument. Whatever safety hazard he could think of the boy could just respond that he’d gotten through it before.

“What about winter?”

“It was very cold when I first stayed. Some of the machines give off heat. I’m confident that I can stay up here all year round.”

“I’m still not sure it’s a good idea.”

“I can help you!”

“Yes, you said something about that before. How can you help me?”

The boy looked somber. He appeared to be thinking. Sam wondered if he was stalling until an idea came. Finally he spoke.

“There will be a time of great wind. A tornado. It will destroy your Tower if it can. I can prevent that from happening.”

That was pretty much the greatest risk that this Tower ran. There were tornadoes through here every so often. There was nothing that could really be done about it. Sam had insurance and that would just have to do. Other structures ran the same risk. At least he didn’t have to worry about the force that killed most of the original Wonders, earthquakes. In fact, his Tower was relatively fireproof too. But a good tornado, that could destroy it.

“Wait a minute. You know when this tornado will come?”

“Well, no, I don’t know. I’ve heard whispers of it but they are not certain.”

This seemed like bluffing but Sam didn’t know what he could do about it. “Will you…be more certain when the time comes?”

“Oh, yes! They can’t help but talk about these types of things when they happen. Nothing is more exciting to the wind!”

“Ok. And you said you could help me when it happens?”

“Yes. I certainly can and I’m the only one that can. Every night I sit here and commune with the wind. They have accepted me and they recognize the honor that I give them. They will turn aside the tornado rather than let it harm me.”

This was quite a bit to swallow. Probably too much. Still the earnestness in the young man’s eyes were hard to deny. Maybe he should sleep on it.

“Aeolid. Did I get it right?”

“Yes.”

“I will…have to think about this. I didn’t expect anything like this to happen when I built The Tower.”

“Yes, I understand but I really want to know this. Why did you build it?”

Sam had gotten this question many times since the plans were unveiled. He had dodged it every time. His favorite answer being a play off the Everest thing, “because it will be there”. The truth was complicated and he was a little embarrassed by it.

There had been playful suggestions that it had been built as sheer compensation for…other things. Others said it was merely vanity. That old poem about Ozymandias had been brought up time and time again. He even had accusations about the Tower of Babel thrown at him. Here in an age of satellite communications, he was accused of trying to reach the heavens. The absurdity of it all amused him.

He decided that here in the middle of the night with some crazy vagabond he could afford to tell the truth once and for all.

“Why did I build it? It’s simple. I missed the mountains.” He looked for recognition but Aeolid only looked more intently at him. “Do you know, when you get up there above the clouds, there is a special coolness. There is a very wet cold feeling. It has a special bite to it that makes you feel very alive. That’s why I built this place. So I could come up here and touch the clouds.”

The young man slowly grinned at him and then clapped him on the shoulder. “I think you do understand me. I can see why the wind likes you so much.”

“The wind likes me? Well, that is nice to know. You can tell them that I like them too.” Their madness seemed to match for a moment and Sam felt like it would be very difficult indeed to kick him out now.

“Ok, I’ll think about it. Now it’s time for me to go home and sleep in my own bed.” A thought occurred to him. He would never in a million years have guessed that he’d be asking this question to the intruder. “I have a spare bedroom. I could put you up for the night.”

“No!”, Aeolid almost shouted at him. “It’s just… That’s a very kind offer but you have to understand. I cannot leave here. The wind would know and it might reject me.”

That seemed to make as much sense as anything else had that night. “Do as you wish then. I’ll meet you up here again, tomorrow.”

A note of fright. “Will you be alone?”

Sam recognized that this was a moment of truth. He gave it one long hard thought and then answered, “Yes. I’ll be alone.”

And with that he got in the elevator and departed.