March 1999. Max has been doing his best to achieve Page One with whatever he can. Moe Levy has left him and no one has replaced him. Charlotte Prickles is doing what she can to help with river memories but there’s been no progress. Max has had times like this before and he’s always got through them so maybe he’ll get through this one.
This day is not like other days. It’s the vernal equinox. It was just two years ago that he and Lola picnicked on Mai Dun. Max is all keyed up, ready for messages from anywhere. Sitting at his desk with a bottle of red, he falls asleep and dreams that he’s on a boat. He’s on Noah’s Ark. He looks at his hands and sees the hands of a boy. Max is the boy Noah, his own dream son. In his hands is the raven. The boy Noah goes to the window. He launches the raven. The raven is Max. He sees the rainbow. He loops the loop, flies to Mai Dun and lands there by the ribbon that Lola tied to a grass stem two years ago.
Max wakes up feeling calm and clear. He doesn’t know why or how, but this dream has changed him. He doesn’t know if he has a son by Lola. He doesn’t know where she is or whom she’s with. Doesn’t know if he’ll ever see her again. But he knows now that there can be no other woman for him.