tightrope

the parameters utilized when faced with the task of defning any
metaphysical concept such as, being alive, or deceased, or
predeceased, present as semantically spun sugar. These states
of matter are not bound by traditional rules of language, but seem
to prefer languishing in the loftier realms, where they are free to
bathe in the perpetual light of open interpretation and unlimited
fuidity. tandard utilization is accessible to all, however , it is a
scant few specialized and privileged that are bold enough to
reach past the barriers of convention and bend the rules of
!tilitarianism" in essence reshaping the concept so that it serves
their purpose.
Tranquility Park
#oppycock$, !nfair$, shout the masses, enraged by such
discrimination, but their protests go unnoticed by the powerful,
who patronize them with constitutional crumbs devised for this
purpose in order that they may be assuaged with feelings of
victory for having e%ercised their inalienable rights to publicly
assemble and speak freely. &ot true they e%claim, while failing
about wildly and pointing to past successes. 'hat about (ivil
rights$, )*ual +ights$, 'oman,s +ights$- They ask, strutting
about like roosters in a hen house hu.ng and pu.ng and
slapping each other on the back$ The lawfully assembled crowd
started to shout in unison, fsts pumping the air, +ights$ +ights$
+ights$
Europe
/ar away in the manicured grounds of a (hateau in #rovence,
/rance, at the end of a meticulously manicured row of blooms a
little girl stopped running, her long braids midair seemed to pause
a split second as she turned *uickly to address her twin ,
0tticus, she whispered, did you hear that- 12ear what, /if- 3
didn,t hear anything. &othing but the dumb birds, and all
mothers, loud guests. 0tticus turned and looked back towards
the (hateau" he could see the people all moving towards the
large rectangular Te%as pine table which had recently arrived from
home. 2ey /if, we better start back its time to eat. /if looked
deep into her brothers eyes and said, 3 know you heard it, 3 know
you did because we,re twins and you can,t hide anything from
me. 0tticus /leming, age 4, grabbed his sister by the hand and
began to pull her back towards the house, 5our correct /if, 3
heard it.
The dinner gong sounded and peals of laughter carried by the
fragrant heather rolled over the feld towards the children. 0tticus,
always the proper little gentleman pulled /if faster up the hill to
the pool side of the (hateau.
5ou know /if don,t you think it *ueer that 6ummy brought that
big pine table all the way from Te%as- /if crinkled her nose,
&o 3 don7t, and 6ummy is always moving things around until she
gets them 8ust right like she says. 0tticus shook his head,
&o /if, 3 meant how all the stu9 here is from Te%as and all the
stu9 at home is from /rance. 3t,s as if 6ummy has stu9
backwards.
0ss backwards you mean$ /if looked at her brother and smiled
her eyes twinkling.
5ou better stop saying that" you know how mad 6ummy gets
when you say that. 0tticus spoke frmly. :ut /if always did
whatever /if wanted to do 6ummy doesn,t like it because 0untie
#am says it all the time$ 0tticus shot /if a reproaching look and
continued walking.
5eeehaaa, yeeehaa;the whoops and hollering from the dinner
party sliced the pastoral calm, somehow tearing the very fabric of
time.
+ights, +ights, +ights$ The twins stopped moving and turning
towards each other said in unison,
there it is again$ /if *uickly added,
Twin 8in%$ 0tticus yanked her wrist and pulled her up the fnal
hill to the (hateau.
0tticus, /if, there you are my darlings, go wash up from your
adventures and 8oin us at the table dears.
16other always smells like a spa,, thought 0tticus"
1and wine,, thought /if, they both broke out giggling" their mother
raised one eyebrow and said,
6y angels, what is so funny- abrina /ranzheim /leming
reached her arms out towards her children, as if cued they both
ran and each clung to a side of her fowing silk caftan and gazed
adoringly into her face. 'ith faces upraised one noticed that the
twins7 skin was almost translucent and if one were to look closely
one could see the blue blood coursing through their delicate
veins.
+un up to the nursery and change /rau chmidt is waiting for
you. 2olding hands they left their mother,s side and skipped,
weaving in and out to avoid 6other,s guests, all who were, as /if
called it, blasted.
Houston Heights
he stood in the doorway of her tudio and looked to the sky" a
single white (essna few directly overhead. )very <= minutes the
plane was above the house, back and forth it few, back and forth
all day and most the night. he was beginning to wonder if in fact
she wasn,t losing her mind, the planes, helicopters, the strange
men on little bikes with huge handlebars. and baskets, men who
wore white bike helmets and rode past her house, usually within
seconds of her e%iting her home. The men on bicycles never
looked directly at her, but watched her from rear view type
oversized mirrors positioned high on their e%aggerated
handlebars. This morning she 8eered at the one that resembled a
virgin 'oody 0llen,
'here,s my hamburger- she asked. The man continued
peddling past her, avoiding all eye contact save for the makeshift
rear view mirror.
3 want my hamburger, 3,m hungry$ she shouted at his back as
he rode past. he met his gaze in the mirror.
'eird she said out loud, weird ass shit.
he turned towards the house and noticed a van at the end of her
driveway" the back of the van was open, an assortment of cables
and wires hung from hooks. 0 man appeared from the far side of
the van holding a rectangular wire cage by a handle... she
couldn7t believe her eyes,
0re those rat7s- she asked, startling the man who had a black
ponytail, he *uickly slid the cage into the van, slammed the doors
and briskly drove away.
>h my ?od, >6?$ he said aloud, shaking her head,
3 never even entertained the idea that they played any part... but
of course they did$ 'hat a stroke of luck that 3 was in my
driveway so early$ They had done a nice 8ob with this round of
interference, really it was e%tremely clever and so well
implemented, 137d like to meet whoever came up with that idea,
she thought to herself. @ittle did she knew, she already had.
he tried to remember e%actly when the rodent problem started,
the rats seemed to have appeared overnight, and at frst she
thought there must be a citywide epidemic of rats. 'hile in her
back yard one evening, she watched as her two shepherds ran
back and forth, chasing things in the yard. >pen closer
e%amination she s*uealed, the rats were running up the drainpipe
to her neighbor,s garage apartment by the dozen. ince that day
the wires and power lines around her home appeared to be the
preferred route to and from anywhere a rat would travel. 3t was
soon thereafter that the smell began" rats were dying in between
her walls, a horrid putrid smell that made her want to vomit.
)ventually her children,s father came around and tore the siding
o9 the house and diligently removed the maggot flled carcasses.
That had been about two weeks ago, since then she had taking to
shooting the rats at night with a pellet gun much to the chagrin of
her neighbors, and now a man holding a cage full of live rats in
front of her houseA (oincidence- !nlikely.
he took one last glance at the street before going inside, and at
that very moment, a di9erent manAonAaAbike slowly peddled past,
his eyes dead ahead, a wicker basket attached to the front, and
whatever he had in there Ait was always covered with a small
towel.
'hat,s in the basket- she called out from her front door. :ut the
manAonAtheAbike kept looking straight ahead and road past,
nevertheless she still caught him looking at her in the rear view
mirror.
he threw her head and laughed,
That,s it$ 3 have had enough$ 3t7s time to do something about all
this. 3f she wasn,t crazy she sure acted like she was.
Umbrellas
Bid you see what 3 got you- 2er e% asked her, C3t,s out backC.
he could only imagine what it would be this time, an old pot, a
slate blackboard- 0ll gifts from the street, harvested between
midnight and dawn prior to the municipality,s heavy trash pickA
up, which only occurred once every two months. &ot to say that
there weren,t treasures to be found in another trash, indeed at
times there were" but this new group of derelict loafers seemed to
relish in both the hunt and the harvest. 3n fact there e%ists a
microcosm in our culture whose only livelihood is found through
the e%ploration of trash heaps, commercial dumpsters and
donation bo%esA those large wooden containers which dot every
0merican suburb, all packed full with new or gently worn discards
from a culture whose idolatry with self has created a misshapen
monster. . This was her 0merica, 0 godless place, where a soul is
bought for a penny and traded for a pound, only to be sold for a
penny again.
'hat is it- he asked,
?o see for yourself, #andora loves it, so you will too. 2e led the
way through the kitchen then through her bedroom to the back
door. he had added onto the house after her father died, 8ust a
bedroom suite for herself, so she could have some privacy and
some needed peace and *uiet, but the contractors had messed
up and put the back door in the wrong place and now the back
yard was only accessible from her bedroom resulting in a never
ending stream of animals, children and friends, which seemed to
saunter through DE hrs. a day.
he opened the back door, the heat, even at midnight, was
overwhelming, it was like walking into a steam bath.
0n umbrella, a very big umbrella. 'ithout a stand she
commented, raising an eyebrow at her daughter who sat on the
steps te%ting, #andora arched her eyebrow in response and went
back to her interface.
&ice, 3 guess, where7d you get it-
3n heavy trash, he said.
(ool and then she turned and went back into the cool confnes
of her room.
2er children7s father, mike was at the center of all her problems,
although they were never married they divorced in DFFE due to
his infdelity, and since then he had become sketchy. /or years
she wasn7t privy to the basics such as" where he lived, or what his
phone number was or how to reach him in case of an emergency
with the children. That being said it su.ces to say he didn7t really
care, or that he wasn7t concerned per se for their safety, but was
more focused on him. 3n fact she didn7t even know what he even
did to survive, but here and there she was piecing together truths
which leaned towards his being a bit of a predator, picking hard
working women and forcing himself into their lives and then
torturing them with mind games. +egardless he still found time to
interfere with her life on a regular basis. 0nd lately he was
dropping by way too much, usually at E pm. /or a status report
she assumed. 3t did not matter how many times she had him
arrested or fled restraining orders, simply put he would never
stay gone" and for the record let it be said that this was no love
a9air, they hated each other and it showed.
The ne%t day one of her weird friends stopped by and wanted
her to see his pool. he could only imagine what kind of set up it
would be so she went for a look, there in the driveway of his
garage apartment was a kids blow up paddle pool complete with
life guard stand , no diving g signs and of course the lifeguards
umbrella. To be e%act a rather pricy new umbrella complete with
stand which hung from a curved arm directly over the makeshift
lifeguards chair.
(ool she said, where7d you get it-7 2e started cranking it shut,
uh a friend of mine found a couple and gave me one. 'e always
share our fnds , he kept one and gave me this one. of all of her
weird crowd, this guy was near the top of the list, ?ondola ?uy, is
what we call him, #andora named him the frst night we saw him
riding a super long skate board e*uipped with twinkly lights, but,
this wasn7t your usual skateboarder who gains momentum by
pushing with their feet, this dude used a long homemade paddle
to push the ground frst on one side then the other, as if he was
guiding a canoe on water.. Their frst encounter she was at a
stop sign in the neighborhood and he poled past her, nice ride,
she said in his direction, he stopped, turning around to look at us,
and swooped up his board and walked back to the E was stop.
That initial meeting was probably a random encounterA before the
devils who do the powerfuls, bidding, viewed him as one who
might be benefcial as yet another recruit in this new war.
'hen she was a kid she liked the techni*ue used in checking long
subtraction problems, you 8ust add up the two bottom rows and
they should total the top number her ffth grade 6ath teacher
6r. 'ilson announced. 0nd check she did, and not 8ust with math
problems which were few and far between. he liked to check up
on other things, like facts, leads and hunches" she thought she
was pretty fucking well at it, and, unfortunately, she was right, too
right.
@ater that night she 8umped on her bike and rode nine blocks
north, upon reaching the alley she *uickly ditched her bike and
started walking down the dead end. The upstairs lights in the
garage apartment were on, so she tiptoed and looked through the
fence" and there in all its opened glory stood an umbrella e%actly
like the others, all about G ft. tall and cranked open.
o be it, she thought, as she 8ogged *uickly down the darkened
alley to where she had dropped the bike.
10nd 3 thought she was my friend, she said to herself. )%cept that
about a month ago her so called friend had stolen her purse and
her with it her complete identity.
The simultaneous appearance of the three !mbrellas bothered
her" she saw it as a bad omenA for herAa symbol of protection over
her enemies. This interpretation ft nicely in e%plaining the triad,s
collective shift in behavior and manner of speech, knowing they
were safe they acted boastful, aggressive, and patronizing.
he considered the !mbrellas as an indicator of upcoming fnality"
freedom from an onslaught of mind games and power plays
orchestrated by minds considered far superior then hers. The
past seven years derailed her at every opportunity, and from
every direction, and now the devils were boldly placing symbols of
protection over their soldiers" 8ust thinking about it caused the
hairs on her neck to stand on end.
Early morning
he couldn,t sleep at all and neither could her children" so here
they sat, =HDD am, and no one has slept, they sense it too, she
thought. 3ts close, she thought, but she had thought it would end
years agoAwrong, now all the signs came at her at once, the
e%pressions the lasses faire attitude, the knife point at the back of
her neck Icourtesy of her e%J, the lies, so many lies. he stood up
from her bed, sleep would certainly not come this late, and she
walked outside. 0fter checking up and down the street, for
1creepers as she called them, and seeing that in both directions
there wasn,t a sole or headlight to be seen, she walked over and
got on her bike, 1shit, 3 guess 3,m not going anywhere on this
thing$ 1The tires were both fat most likely knifed by 6ike in the
night. he was pissed, looking around she saw the f%, she took
the back wheel o9 her son,s bike and after removing the fattened
rear tire on hers she maneuvered the tire on the chain and the
derailed and promptly peddled away. The two bikes had had
di9erent gear ratio,s and the new confguration made peddling
awkward, 3 should have taken the car, she said aloud. 0nd what
go to 8ail- &o, this was the right choice, she told herself.
)verywhere she went, the (onstables seem to follow her, she had
come to dread white vehicles and they arrested her too. Trips to
court only to be releasedA never given paperwork, no paper trail
of the harassment, nothing but her word versus theirs. They
seemed to en8oy putting her in 8ail" she asked one o.cer how
much the reward for her capture was. They locked her up in the
county 8ail, where she stayed until #andora managed to bond her
out. o she avoided her car, law enforcement o.cers preferring to
stay home. That decision did not provide a guaranteed sanctuary
from incarceration and when one day she did not promptly open
the door, she was arrested for evading arrest and contributing to
the nonattendance of a minor. The report said she ran" where-
he was already inside her house-
he rode right up to the door and knocked, but something was
strange, the blinds were all shut and bo%es of 8unk were stacked
by the trash. he peered through a small crack the place was
completely empty. 2er mind suddenly became a blender, bits and
pieces of conversation, gestures, and glances all resurfacing at
once. he had stopped by yesterday with 6ike for <F minutes"
they had a glass of water. The way he looked at her;3 noticed
but 3 didn,t think anything of it, and 1 what is it that he said to
her-, 3 remember, at least you fnally stopped moving around-,
yes that,s what he said, 1what did that mean-, innuendos,
personal innuendos, very personal innuendos. 2e had driven her
back to her house, in her carA he claimed he didn,t have a vehicle
but ?ondola ?uy had let that slip, when he commented that 6ike
was,
8ust a man looking after his kids, and you,d have to give a man
credit for that, even though you don,t know where he lives or that
he drives a black mustang or what he does for a living, when he
had said that four days earlier she had let it slide, she didn,t want
him to know he had split the beans, but she had been furious
thinking,
1since when are they all best friends forever best- he thought as
she made some e%cuse to leave his very basic company, fuck,
what is happening around here-,
>n her way back from discovering the vacant and very large
garage apartment she noticed she had drawn some attention,
very new and very e%pensive silver #orsche K<< was following
her. :eing on a bike has some advantage because one could
double back, reverse directions, make *uick last minutes turns
frustrating anyone on your tail" she played this game with the
#orsche for a while, each time riding so close as to gaze plainly
into the faces of both of the passengers. They were both
impeccably groomed, about midAforties, clean shaven" the
passenger was taller than the driver, probably G,E and had light
blue eyes. 2e also appeared to be the one giving the orders,
confdent the type of confdence that is built in from the cradle"
she recognized it because she had it too, so did her sister,
abrina. 2aving had their fun they drove past her one last time,
their eyes met for a second and she knew this was the frst time
he had been curious enough to risk an encounter. he had been a
pawn in this game for so long she had forgotten how to smile,
laugh or for that matter how to rela%" sleep was a lu%ury she
snatched when possible, they all thought she was paranoid, but
she thought she was vigilant. The game bored her, not only was
she angry most the time but the poison had seeped to her
children who for half of their lives had to live in a state of surreal
drama and tragedy. he was certain she had done nothing to
provoke seven years of tortuous interference in all aspects of her
life, at least nothing since her /ather,s death , when she had
attorneys fle a will contest.
within LF or so days , secret emails started fowing between her
attorneys and the attorneys from 0ndrew,s Murth, who, as
independent administrators, represented her father,s )state. The
email e%change continued, in addition to re*uests for documents
from the @ouisiana 0bstractor 3 had contracted so that 3 might
understand and study division orders, assignments and other
such noteworthy transactions, re*uests for documents previously
unseen by me prior to the will contest nor during it. 3n other words
my attorneys shared the information between them, and then
discussed it with the other side, leaving me, their client,
completely out of the loop, no mention was ever made of these
documents, it was months laterA after the settlement agreement
that 3 came upon them. 3t wasn,t long after that one by one her
attorneys, who had agreed to stay on the case for seven years,
shortly after she had ac*uiesced by signing the /amily ettlement
0greement. he had avoided any law suits, although she believed
she was well within her bounds to do so, and was certain legal
action must be endured if ) could sustain long enough but the
barrage of interference, the kidnapping threats, the murder
threats compounded by the continued surveillance had forced her
to hit the pause button. he was certain that she had made no
overt action which might have initiated this never ending hell, at
least not purposely, but one thing for sure, she certainly knew
who had.
FACTS, ON! FACTS
Nwp;. Nup;Nup;Nwp;.Nup;.Nup;.Nwp;.Nup;..Nup;.
The repetitive sound of the blades turning fnally crossed the
barrier of her unconscious mind. he turned and opened her eyes,
the room was blackened, all shades pulled down and curtains
closed, entombing her in the pure black. he forced her eyes to
stay open and allowed them to ad8ust to the pitch. 2ere and there
about the room, minute shafts of pure white made attempts to
pierce through the darkness. 3nstantly she recognized the sound,
its accompanying vibrations passed through her slight frame with
resounding rhythm, she could tell that it was close by.
Too close, she said aloud to herself. he had developed the
habit of sleeping in her clothes. 3n fact she had been doing so for
years now, her acute hyperAvigilance Iwhat others referred to as
her paranoiaJ kept her in a constant >& state. &o longer could
slumber o9er her a retreat from her worries. 0s of late she
regarded sleep as an inherent human weakness, a waste of timeA
and her time, she felt, was on running out, ready to be snatched
from her at any moment.
omething dark watched her" she could feel its covetous gaze
focused on her. he had always felt wanted, but this desire was
searing, she felt it crave for her. 0nd whatever or whoever it was,
she felt their presence more often than not.
3t was her resilience and determination which the ?ods found
amusing" who now, in one of their surprise visits circled
impatiently over her cottage. he 8umped from the bed, the back
door of her house was to her immediate right, by the time she
had undone the locks and bolts thrice,
2er shepherds were at her heel, always ready to defend her from
whatever was on the other side of that door.
1:ack, get back,, she yelled. The pup had not yet learned to
submit and stubbornly attempted to go out before her. he
reached down into the inky black and snatched the pup by her
collar dragging it away from the door. lowly she cracked the door
open and slipped out into the bright sun.
he moved instinctively down the stairs, staying close to the
house so that she might be provided with some cover from those
that were viewing her from above. he continued to edge along
the side of the house looking skyward" it was early /ebruary and
the pecan tree was bare of leaves, allowing her to see through its
limbs to the sky above.
70h...there you are,7 she said to the bird circling <FFF, above,
1what brings you here today-7
The :ell =<F uperAbird spotted her and *uickly ad8usted its angle
to o9er the ?ods in its belly a better view. he stepped out from
the cover of her house and motioned for it to come closer" the
bird dropped from the sky to accept the invitation. 'ithout
hesitation she *uickly crossed the yard while carefully assessing
the positioning of the various eye bolts, ropes and pulleys that
she had fastened to the fences and other structures about the
yard, so that one day she might share some conversation. he
began to raise one of many large <G, % <F, poly sails she had
painted specifcally for this purpose.
:ecause the message was to be read from above she had to f%
the sail so that it would lie fat as a plane. This was not as easy as
one would think due to the presence of several sails currently in
progress that hung vertically throughout the yard. >ne by one
she unlatched the vertical sails, letting them drop to the ground,
she removed their carabineers and then crossed the yard and
reached down to pick up the point of a very large triangular sail
still hanging vertically, she hooked one of the carabineers to it
then *uickly knotted a <G7 nylon rope to the same cabinetmaker,
rope in hand she ran across her yard to wear a <D 7 ladder was
leaning against the side of her garage, she checked to make sure
it was stable and then with the rope in one hand climbed to the
second step from the top, she *uickly threaded her end of the
rope through a large eye hook previous screed to the corner edge
of the building, then she stepped down D rungs, and leaning back
against the building she pulled hard on the rope. The huge sail
lifted o9 the ground, she continued to hoist it until the rope would
go no further, she tied a double s*uare knot, and satisfed that it
was secure she climbed down from the ladder.
The sail was <F7 o9 the ground, its message facing skyward. The
bird risked coming down for a look.
? ! @ /
atisfed she took o9 her cowboy hat and waved it to the ones
contained in the belly of the :east which continued to circle
above. he motioned to herself, 3, then with both arms she drew
a large heart shape in the air, @A>ANA), she then pointed directly to
the large beast above, 5>!.
he did this twice.
The bird lifted *uickly and after circling once, few north and then
stopped and hovered.
72mmn. >M. 5ou got that one, well how about this one-7 she
*uickly ran to f% another sail, once it was fastened, she pulled
hard on the ropes hoisting it skyward.
The bird was already heading her way. 3t dropped for a better
view. he signaled to the sail, then to herself. The bird stopped
circling and hovered directly above her for about a minute, her
body shook from the vibration it produced. 3t then lifted skyward
and turned to leave, she waved goodbye, and it made one last big
circle and then gained altitude and few northward.
he watched it until she could no longer distinguish its form, and
then 8umped down from the overturned trough she had climbed
on to signal to the bird, she started to walk towards her back
door now under the canopy created by the sails, she gazed
upward viewing them in reverse,
>h shit, now what have 3 done-
:ehind her house was an alley which had been there since the
neighborhood had frst been established over a hundred years
ago- 'hen she frst moved into her house the 2eights was still in
1transition,, predominantly poor, 2ispanic and black, with a
sprinkling of bohemian types, artists, musicians and liberals, who
saw the charm of the 2istoric homes and en8oyed the small town
feeling which the 2eights then o9ered. +ecently things had
changed and now only a few 2ispanic families remained, the
:lack population had switched from poor to professional, and
homes that sold a decade ago for <FFk were starting at =FFk. 2er
street was one of the few remaining that hadn,t undergone the
total tearAdown and e%odus and therefore the alley behind her
house was still a mi% of shell, gravel, dirt and there and there a
patch of pavement O the indicator of new construction. 6ost of
the alleys in the 2eights had been paved throughA so that the new
inhabitants could enter from either direction. This was not the
case with the alley between <L
th
and <E
th
street due to a large
planting of bamboo growing on the east end, planted in an
attempt to keep people out.
'hen she walked her dogs she would cut through the tangled
overgrowth and s*ueeze through a narrow path around the
bamboo, which was well worn from recent use. @ately she had
noticed that someone had been staying there Operhaps even
sleeping there, she thought this because the long grass had been
fattened in a semiAcircle shape" which , had she been in
0dirondacks, she would have attributed it to a spot where deer
had bedded for the night. There was also a considerable amount
of trash, specifcally empty coke cans and potato chip bags" and a
piece of paint splattered duct tape which she had used a while
back to make a wallet. 2ow the tape could have traveled all the
way to the pressed down undergrowth disturbed her, so she
*uickened her pace and followed the dogs out of the dark alley.
0 couple of months earlier she was cutting through the alley with
her dogs when a small white ob8ect had caught her eye. he
picked it up and rolled it between her fngers, it appeared to be a
fragment of bone, the shape puzzled her, and it was round and
about the size of a large pea. he leaned over and picked up a
stick and began to scratch around in the dirt at her feet,
immediately the ground gave up its treasure, dozens of
fragments, most all were the same size and shape. The female
dog pulled at her leash she was panting, it was probably <FEP,
reluctantly she stood up, covered the hole she had made and
walked down thought the overgrowth and out the other side. he
turned back" she felt she was being watched. 2er dogs turned
sharply and stood at attention with their ears pricked, she
followed their gazeA nothing. Then she heard it, it sounded like a
muQed scream and it seemed to come from one of the houses on
the alley.
he returned to the alley the ne%t day hoping to fnd a bone that
would be identifable. 2er undergraduate degree had been in
anthropology with a minor in archeology, and she had spent
several summers of her youth digging at sights in #eru and
:olivia. :ut this was not #achacamac this was humid 2ouston,
and the bones in the alley were not thousands of years old, they
were fairly recent 8udging by all the insect and microbial activity
in the ground around them. 0pparently she had forgotten forensic
procedures and unbeknownst to her, as she uncovered the bones
she loosened a host of other microorganisms, some of which
decided that her skin would make a better home. :y the time she
returned to her house she was e%periencing fu like symptoms,
fever and she was horribly itchy. he stripped at her back door
throwing her clothes on the bricks grabbed a gallon of (loro% from
under the kitchen sink and scrubbed herself with bleach from
head to toe, she stood in the showered, allowing time for the
bleach to kill whatever real or imaginary bugs she felt were
crawling all over her, then she rinsed, gargled with @isterine
several times, put on clean clothes and laid down on her bed.
Bespite the (loro% she could still feel them crawling.
+egardless she returned once again to the bones, but this time
better e*uipped wearing long pants and sleeves, gloves and a
surgical mask. he coa%ed a small circular bone about the size of
a silver dollar into the baggy, under the bone there was tissue, it
was dark red in color and spongy to the feel, the smell from the
dirt grew pungent as she lifted several smaller oyster shaped
bones, which looked as if they might be part of skull" an e%tremely
small skull.
The spongy tissue was home to a variety of blood worms,
centipedes, beetles and other scavengers" 8udging by the amount
of insect activity the bones were probably no more than a year in
the earth.
0s she was bagging her samples a man approached her and
in*uired as to what she was doing. he held up a small white
chunk and from behind her mask said,
:ones, possibly, teeth, perhaps a graveside, cannibals or maybe
a serial killer-
Rust don,t tell my wife, >M- 3t will frighten her. 'ithout awaiting
a response he turned away and walked into the garage of the
house closest to her.
>M. he said to no one in particular.
he was cleaning the bone fragments when she found a small
curved copper rod, about an inch and a half long with a loop on
one end. 2e was back again, having appeared in the garage the
night before, she went to the garage and asked him what it was.
0 fastener he said in a matter of fact tone.
1&ah, it looks more like a clip, or an early tool used to cut the
umbilical cord, and it,s copper. he announced.
3ts copper-, he asked taking it from her and striking it on the
concrete foor. ure is., he handed it back to her.
1o you still think it,s a fastener-, she asked him.
&o, it,s probably an 3!B.,
12ere we go on the crazy merry go round, she thought to herself,
sure, why not. he said as she went back to her trays of
fragments outside. he continued to sift and sort through the
fragments but her mind wasn,t on what was before her. he was
trying to remember when she had found the little one inch piece
plastic shaped like a snake. 3 think it was about D weeks ago she
thought to herself, she had found the item under the surface ne%t
to some bone chunks" the greenish plastic was a sharp contrast
to the brown earth. 3t was too small to have been a toy of any
kind, measuring appro%imately an inch at most. he remembered
asking him at the time what he thought it was, his reply was
instantaneous,
0n 3!B.C he looked back to his laptop,
>utside under the shade of one of her painted sails she said
aloud,
2e,s doing it again.
he put down the sifting tray and removed her gloves and mask,
then headed back to the garage, she pushed the door, and it was
locked, so she knocked once,
2ello-,
2e unlocked the deadbolt,
5es,, he answered.
2ow do you know so much about contraceptives- 'hen would
you have ever even seen an 3!B-
3 wanted to be a gynecologist he replied.
'hy- o you could look at pussy all day-,
#retty much. 2e never looked up, not even once.
'hy weren,t you then-
:ecause 3 realized they didn,t know anything he said, never
looking up from whatever it was that he was doing.
the truth was he didn,t have the stick to it nessC re*uired to
bear the years out. 2e thought he was smart and there were a
handful of those who thought he was a genius. omething was
odd about his knowledge" recently she had an epiphany moment,
3t,s as if whoever made you downloaded whatever the current
version of the )ncyclopedia :ritannica was at that time into your
head. he shook her head,
:ut they forgot to add any social nuances to your program" 3
don,t need a reference point to things 3 ask you, 3 am looking for
an opinion. 3t,s as if you don,t have one of your own or rather that
their programming supersedes any thought that you might be
cable of creating on your own. C2mmn interestingC but she knew
that without her, his life was meaningless. !nfortunately she
failed to see that her demise was what kept him around.
>M, she said, so you want to hear my skew on what,s
happening in the alley-,
&o comment.
he was used to his aloof silence" he used it like a shieldA not to
defend but to conceal, and, to provoke his enemies, and now he
used it especially to provoke her.
5ou,re kidding right-
&ope.
he threw her head back and laughed like she hadn,t in decades"
it was more like a roar and she continued laughing for some time.
F"ANCE
0tticus, did you hear that- /if cocked her head, 0tticus$
0tticus who was dressed in his nightclothes, sat perched on the
large window seat,"
(ome look /if, another one 8ust pulled in the main gates, and its
coming down the driveway. /rom the twin,s vantage point, which
was above the trees, the lights of the car appeared to ficker and
fash as it slowly wound its way to the (hateau.
o what,s new- 3t,s probably another one of 6other,s stupid
parties, /if went back to combing her curly brown hair.
3t,s almost midnight and so far 3,ve counted seven cars and not
even one of them unloaded any luggage.
/if climbed o9 her big four post bed and ran lightly across the
room to the window seat,
@et me look she said pushing her brother.
They watched as the large black :entley slowed at the
guardhouse, it then pulled into the circular drive and stopped at
the front door directly below them.
&ow watch /if, you,ll see, there is no luggage at all, not even an
overnight bag. 0tticus leaned forward for a better look.
The twins bedroom suite was directly over the front door of the
(hateau, /if,s room was in the east wing and 0tticus, was in the
west wing, the rooms were 8oined by a spacious parlor whose
central architectural feature was the deep bay window which
actually 8utted out like a fying buttress, a9ording the occupants
of the room a uni*ue bird,s eye view of the driveway and the
entrance below.
The driver sprung from the car and spun around to open the rear
door, he then leaned forward and e%tended his arm as if o9ering
it for support.
@ook, 0tti, the chau9eur is wearing white gloves, /if whispered,
hhh$ 0tticus said.
/rom within the :entley a long suited arm emerged and grasped
the chau9eur,s arm, the twins leaned forward until their
foreheads touched the two hundred year old leaded frames of the
window,
@ook, a cane, /if held her breath,
0 face suddenly appeared from the blackness of the car and
sharply looked up at the window, the twins 8umped back as if
caught in the act of committing a horrible prank.
?rand #ere they gasped simultaneously. They 8umped down
from the bench and ran *uickly to /if,s large bed. /if then pulled
the drapes closed on all sides and they sat still in terror, waiting
to see what would happen ne%t.
:ut no one came to get them, no one knocked, not even
6ademoiselle" in fact since they had washed and changed into
their sleeping gowns, not a soul had entered the nursery.
#erhaps they forgot about us, 0tticus whispered to his twin,
Boubtful, /if said, 3,m going to take a look.
#erhaps you shouldn,t 0tticus said, grabbing his sister by the
arm.
Then perhaps you should. /if yanked her arm away and climbed
down the little stairs from her large bed. he tiptoed to the door
and leaned over to look in the keyhole"
2ere goes, she announced
/if, don,t$ but it was too late, /if had already turned the knob"
3t,s locked$ she s*ueaked in horror" she turned and ran back to
her bed.
@ocked- 0tticus asked his eyes wide with disbelief.
5ou try, 0tti, go on be brave, you go try. /if was frightened" she
had turned pale, if a porcelain doll can get any whiter. 0tticus
*uietly slid o9 the bed and crept to the door" he started to turn
the ancient doorknob then stopped and motioned for his twin to
come to the door. he crept down the little stairs, and she
stepped on the last one it creaked, causing both of them to freeze
momentarily, then she tiptoed to the door.
@isten, 0tticus said,
To what-
Rust listen 0tticus stood frozen at the door his head turned
slightly" /if held his arm and stood still"
(an,t you hear that- 0tticus asked, his sister turned her head to
listen,
>h that- 0tticus you are so stubborn, that,s e%actly what 3 asked
you before you started about the silly cars on the driveway.
+emember- 5ou 8ust ignored me.
The twins both turned towards the window and tilted their heads,
as if tuning into the sound" although it was distant it sounded
familiar and friendly. The sudden sound of footsteps on the spiral
staircase caused them to dart for the bed"
&o 0tti, get out of my bed, *uick go to your own bed, hurry. /if
stretched out her hand as if reaching for a drowning man, come
right back when they,ve gone, okay- she pleaded in a small
voice.
0tticus slid down and bolted across the wood foor, a foor which
had felt a thousand souls pass over it, his slight frame barely
registered on the oak planks permitting him to cross the room
without making a sound.
>nce in bed he pulled the blankets over his head 8ust as someone
pushed a large key in the keyhole and turned it, unlocking the
door and swinging it open.
HOUSTON Heights
The ma8ority of the people who lived on either side of the alley
were all new to the neighborhood, or to put it another wayA these
newcomers had all moved in after her father,s death, and, oddly
enough, they all had ties to one oil company or another. >ne
could reasonably argue that such a high concentration of
petroleum professionals, living in close pro%imity to downtown
2ouston, was to be e%pected" however, what made it odd was
that none of the new people worked, and, what was even more
bizarre was that all of the remaining original residentsA the old
timersA had stopped working as well. 2owever one approached
the sub8ect, the end result was the same, that being said, all was
not as it seemed on these two blocks in 2ouston,s premier
2istoric Bistrict, akaA the 2eights.
>uch, they,re on me again
he could feel the bugs on her hands, arms and ankles. he
*uickly dropped the tweezers she was holding to e%amine a small
fragment of skull, and reached for a fashlight" with the other
hand she tried to focus the large magnifer on her hand. he
aimed the fashlight and looked through the large loop" her skin
resembled an arid, parched desert, cracked and dry,
?osh, 3,m ancient, she said as she continued searching for the
bugs,
There you are you little shit, she said to the microscopic clear
centipede which crawled out from behind a crack on the surface.
he stood up *uickly and grabbed a bottle of bleach from the
shelf under the window, pushed the door open, stepped outside
and began to pour the bleach all over her body, rubbing it into
her arms and legs,
0hh, better, much better.
'hy do 3 keep going back there she said aloud. atisfed that
the itching had stopped and that she had killed whatever it was
that was living on the surface of her skin, she walked back into
the garage.
2ow long do you think those bugs can survive on the bones-
she asked, it was obvious that she had interrupted whatever it
was that he was working on because he suddenly shut his laptop
and said,
'hat is it you,re asking me- clearly irritated he lit a cigarette,
3,ve rinsed them with bleach but they are still there, she said as
she plopped down in the big oversized leopard print armchair she
had moved from her o.ce to the garage months earlier.
0nd you want to know what to do ne%t- he asked
5ou never listen to me" 3 asked you how long will they continue to
live-,
3t depends, mike said, never looking up from his laptop, Con
whether or not they were there before.
:efore what- she asked him, before the beginning of time-
'hat does that statement even mean- she asked" this was 8ust
another e%ample of the stupid games he played.
/orget it, she walked out of the garage letting the door slam
behind her. he looked around for a leash, one was lying by the
trailerA her Boomsday Trailer, she reached down and picked it up
and then called her dog" she saw that he was already waiting by
the gate at the end of the driveway. eeing her approach he
began to wag his tail, she clipped the leash to his collar then
unlocked the padlock and walked outside the gates, turning back
to lock them behind her.
2er destination was the alley, she had collected all the samples
she needed, and she was tired of the bugs. 0s she walked she
kept in the shadows as much to avoid being seen. /or the past
couple of days she had thought about every plausible e%planation
for the bones to be in the alley. he had even searched the
internet for cemetery locations and discovered that there were
numerous databases available which used latitude and longitude
and ?# tracking to accurately record the location of any and all
types of burial sites" including mounds, cemeteries, grave
markers, family plots and so on" but she was unable to locate any
site registered or recorded at her location,
0s she walked, her mind wandered back to the time she spent
with 'hitney O her e%Ahusband, at /riendfeld, his family,s
plantation in ?eorgetown, outh (arolina. 6any a cold morning
she could be found on her hands and knees, sifting through the
soft white sand as she collected shards of pottery, bullets,
buttons and other treasures that through time had worked their
way to the surface. he wondered if the cemetery registry had a
listing for the one she had discovered on /riendfeld. :ehind her a
horn honked , snapping her out of her daydream, she turned
around as it drove past, and for a brief second she was looking
straight into the pale blue eyes of the passenger, she read the
plates :++SDL, it was the same black #orsche that had followed
her a few weeks earlier.
he entered the alley and focused on the problems it contained.
/irst the surface scatter didn,t make sense for several reasonsH
the fragments were almost all the same size, she had not been
able to fnd an adult long bone, the adult teeth which she had
found were in good condition and free from decay, indicating they
were from young adult between the ages of <4 and D=" the infant
teeth were found together with skull fragments, leading her to
believe that the tiny teeth had not yet erupted and were still in
the soft tissue of the gums when they were buried O when
reviewing the site she couldn,t come up with a logical
e%planations which ft the scenario.
he continued to walk down the alley, she passed her tall fence
and the neighbor,s fence , so far so good" she stopped at the
back gate belonging to her neighbor, the potter" she leaned over
to e%amine the white rocks which were scattered everywhere
outside his gate,
'ell, well look at that, she said to her :o. he picked up a few
fragments,
ame type e%actly., he was standing about DF feet from the site
where, the day before, she had made another attempt to pry
some answers from the dirt. 0rmed with a small garden shovel,
zip lock bags, gloves and a surgical mask, she had persevered
through the heat of the day in an attempt to fnd clues which
could e%plain the site. 2er determination paid o9 when she
discovered several separate groupings of what she thought to be
fetal bones. he had painstakingly swept away the dirt with a
paint brush, taking care not to disturb the mound of small white,
oysterA shaped bones, which, at the time, she believed were
fragments of an infant,s skull. The other bones in the mound were
so small in proportion to the large pieces that for a split second
she wondered if they might belong to a primate.
6aybe if 3 were in >lduvai ?orge, she laughed to herself.
3 probably should keep theses together, she thought as she
fnished brushing the area o9. Then using her small garden
shovel she cut down into the earth below the tiny mound of bones
and lifted it up in one piece.
o far so good, she thought, until she slid the sample into the
plastic bag, once there it collapsed and settled at the bottom of
the bag. &ot wanting to hold the bag of bone, tissue and living
organisms any longer then she had to" she *uickly tied a knot at
the top of the bag, set it down behind her and then proceeded to
do the same with the ne%t small mound.
0t least 3 have each skeleton in its entirety, she thought maybe
3 can reconstruct them at home, she laughed suddenly, or,
maybe 3,ll use thick 8ewelers wire so that 3 can pose them like
those 6e%ican frogs playing the violin.
3 think the heat is getting to me, :o, let,s go home. he stood
up and gathered her bags of bone, then after *uickly covering the
area, she headed home.
@ittle did she know that this time she was being watched, and her
actions had 8ust been transmitted via a private satellite to a group
of highly infuential and interested individuals around the globe
and to places far beyond.
F"ANCE
/if and 0tticus played possum, sort of that is, because they both
dared to open their eyes to see who it might opening the door.
The keys 8ingled as they turned in the lock, and the door swung
silently open. :ut it was not 6ademoiselle, with her pretty face
and iron grip" nor was it 6other with her fowing linen and fruity
scent. 3t was a newcomer, a very large man, towering well over G
feet. 2e had sandy red hair cut close to his head, but not too
close because it still retained its natural tight curl. 2is light
comple%ion was speckled with freckles which spread across both
cheeks and crept up his nose and across his forehead.
3n each of his ears was an ear bud with its telltale black curled
cord tucked neatly behind each ear, visible until it disappeared
inside his shirt at the collarA the twins had seen them before, worn
by the men who followed the #resident around when he visited
The (hateau.
The 6an,s most noticeable feature was his hands, huge and
rugged. The hands looked as though they belonged to one of the
fshermen the twins had seen once while accompanying 6other to
purchase fresh seafood.
:ut this was no fsherman, he wore polished black wingtip shoes,
pants which were pressed with a crease in the front, an
immaculate white shirt which was buttoned up to his neck, a dark
blue vest and a navy blue neck tie with a canary yellow and
purple stripe centered crosswise" the tie fastened to the shirt with
a gold stick pin topped with an odd shaped skull with oversized
ruby eyes.
The man stepped inside the room and from his pocket pulled out
a small but very bright fashlight which he aimed at each of their
beds causing them to *uickly shut their eyes. The beam of light
swept over the room, momentarily pausing at the window seat
before disappearing back into the man,s pocket.
(lear he said aloud, stepping back into the hallway and shutting
the door. The twins remain frozen, praying that they wouldn,t
hear the key go back into the lock" but it did, and with a swift
8angle of the keys they were locked in their rooms for the second
time that day. They listened as the 6an continued down the
hallway, stopping at each door and repeating his, 1all clear,,
procedure.
'hy is he checking the empty guest rooms- /if whispered.
6aybe the guests are really important, like those Biplomats that
arrive in those cars with the fags. 0tticus replied.
:ut you said the guests had no luggage, didn,t you-, /if,s voice
had a slight *uiver to it, as if she was about to cry.
2ush /if, and stop that crybaby stu9, be still, 3 didn,t hear the
6an go downstairs yet.
/rom the end of the hallway they heard the )ast wing guest suite
door close, the 6an spoke his fnal, all clear.
0tti- /if whispered,
'hat /if-
The 6an didn,t lock any of the other doors, 0tticus could tell
that his twin was on the verge of tears"
3 know, /if, 3 know. (alm down, it will be all right, 3 promise.
0tticus spoke calmly trying to soothe his twin.
5ou promise, 0tti-
3 promise /if, 3 will protect you. 5ou have my word. 0tticus
wondered how he could protect his sister from such a large and
powerful man.
0tticus-
5es, /if.
3,m scared 0tti, please come back to my room they are probably
not going to come back any time soon. /if leaned over and
turned on her small bedside reading lamp and then she reached
out towards her twin, like a drowning man begging to be rescued.
0ll right /if, but you must promise to *uit crying, we don,t want
them to hear us. >kay- 0tticus bravely crept across the room
and climbed up onto /if,s bed.
3 promise no more tears from me 0tti. /if put on her brave face
and leaned over and hugged her twin"
0tticus /leming, you,re the best twin a girl could have. :lushing
0tticus said,
3 know /if, 3 know.
Sky#ar$
0 story, a story;tell us a story, as the words were spoken so
their embodiment, in the form of li*uid spheres, perfect in weight
and measure, began to fall from the sky. The drops which fell to
the earth contained the essence of pure innocent anticipation.
The storyteller, where is The toryteller- they shouted as one
voice,
tory, story, 'e want a story, the children were growing
impatient, their caretakers, ever wary of their charges, sought
above all to please the (hildren, for that was their sole purpose ,
their glorious and singular duty. 0nd ?ods forbid that there was
even a whisper of a complaint from the (hildren to their most
glorious #arents" the (aretakers knew that the punishment was
instant death" the guilty would be tossed to the massive gorgons
as would a master toss his favorite dog a delicious mortal.
The (hildren,s ethereal chanting foated across the cotton ball
clouds as it traveled along the ridges of endless pure white
whipped cloud foam which moved constantly across the heavens.
&ow and then the chanting would get caught up in an eddy and
be forced downward in a tumultuous spiral only to rise up through
the foam and burst out in a choir of droplets which would
reconvene as one voice singing,
tory, tory, we want our story, the sound was as unmistakably
angelic as it was loud.
0 gust or two downwind tucked within one of the few e%isting
clouds with silver lining, an e%hausted ?od of Thunder lay on his
back, mouth wide open, snoring furiously. #ersephone with her
beauty forever unchanged, stirred slightly and gathered an armful
of cloud to fu9 up her pillow, for a hinge in time she continued to
toss about trying to sleep until she fnally turned towards her
husband and said, Teus, she nudged him in the back, Teus, do
something, the (hildren,they are making that sound again.$
The massive ?od of Thunder rolled over to face his wife" the
sudden motion unleashed a storm of tornadoes upon those who
inhabited the small spinning sphere directly below him.
3t was common knowledge amongst those who were so graced to
inhabit the heavens, in fact it was recorded by the heraldic
scribes in books of law Iso it was whisperedJ that not one person
or a group of persons, not directly or indirectly" not purposely or
by accident" not for good cause or unwarranted reason could give
8ust cause for waking The ?od Teus from his slumber. 2owever,
there was one e%ception, #ersephone, his wife, could awaken him
for any reason she desired. The 2eavens chuckled at that, yes,
there were many elbow nudging and slaps on the back when that
glorious e%ception entered the law books. !nfortunately, for all
those involved, even in the remotest way, this was not the reason
the ?oddess woke her ?od that morning, and when Teus realized
that it was not the reason he became mildly upset. 0nd when the
?od of 'ar becomes even mildly upset, the result is cataclysmic
Teus stood up and started for the silver passage which led
skyward,
6ost handsome and powerful of all, his wife spoke, reaching out
to him, he turned, perhaps she had woken him for ?odlike work
after all Teus thought.
yes my most perfect pearl in all the seas.
#ersephone reached for his tunic, should you go war against
formidable foes without your tunic- she smiled and he was
momentarily blinded,
and when 3 return,we have business to attend to.
3 will be awaiting , should you not fall to slumber after battle she
turned and fu9ed some cloud, carefully arranging it on either side
of her headA so she might cover her ears, which rang with the
sound.
Teus called for his chariot leaping within the golden basket before
it slowed to stop" the shrill sound of the children7s singing was
causing the celestial winged horses great distress, re*uiring Teus
to put forth signifcant e9ort and strength simply to gather them
under control.
3 do not believe my beasts would have stopped for me at this
pace he said aloud catching his breath, the creatures had not yet
slowed their pace, and thus they few through the heavens, eyes
wide in terror, frantically galloping to escape the sound.

The cries of the (hildren of the ?od,s had created *uite a bustle
in the heavens, as the servants of the ?ods searched for the
toryteller, who , as of late, was seemingly unavailable or as the
caretakers referred to the anomalyA was completely and totally
missing.
The cause of this delay could clearly be placed on the toryteller,
who, as one of the few who could walk in either realm, had
become increasingly di.cult to locate. The problem stemmed
from the (aretakers7 dimensional myopia, which confned them to
searching the 2eavens only, so they frantically ran about much
like chickens which have spotted a fo% outside of their coop.
3n the nursery the children were starting to anger, and in virtue of
their combined inherited abilities and characteristicsA as yet not
fully developedA the mi% of their brew was such that (alamity was
at the lead, her red air tossed in the air as if frozen in its own
whirlwind.
tory, story story, story.
The children, now being led by (alamity chanted in unisonA a
di.cult task for any group of children, save this particular group
of (hildren. (alamity stood up and clapped, the sound produced
was thunder, loud e%plosive thunder. 3n an e*ually loud voice she
spoke,
2ere, here, fellow (hildren of the ?ods, seek to be still a moment
and listen, 3 have a strategy.
(alamity was the only dasughter of Rupiter and Runo, thus she
possessed the attributes of both her parents" her father was the
Ming of ?ods, the god of skies and thunder" her mother was the
daughter of aturn and sister Ibut also the wifeJ of the chief god
Rupiter. he was also the mother of 6ars and Nulcan.
(alamity7s ability to wage war had yet to be tested" but she had
been the victor of every mock challenge put to her. 2er fury at
times so violent wreeked havoc on the dwellers below, for her
anger summoned the fercest storms, and her impatience with
planning strategic moves could hatch a hive of cyclones in a
moment.
Tappping her lightning bolt on the surface before her she began,
(ome to order, come to order$ instantly she had the attention of
all the (hildren.
Thank you my fellow cohorts of the ?od7s, 3 have decided that we
must take it upon our ?odly selves to locate our most beloved
toryteller, the entire room gasped, the (hildren, the (aretakers,
the enuchs, the satyrs, the maidens, the sirens, the gorgons" all
those who e%isted solely to amuse, console or defend the
(hildren"
(alamity climbed onto a pedestal so she might better command
her audience by being above them" from there she continued to
outline her plan. he was the frst to speak outright of things
unspeakable continuing her speech,
5es we must take it upon ourselves to fnd her because these
imbecils cannot$ she waved the lightning bolts in a sweeping
motiont towards the caretakers who had assembled to one side of
the hall.
They, she said pointing with the lightening bolt directly at
them,lack sight, and thus they see with only one eye.
This is not the case for us, blessed (hildren of those most
+ighteous, 'e have the ability to see past the great barrier, and
'e can do so without e9ort.
3n fact, 3 already know where the storyteller is, but 3 hate to spoil
a 8oyous timeA her time, that is. (alamity chuckled and the
clouds gathered behind her, *uickly turning color from white to
numerous shades of charcoal as she spoke,
let me demonstrate, everyone be still and focus past the white
barrier, let your ?ods given minds provide each one of you with a
vision of the place where our toryteller is resting. (alamity
surveyed the room all of the (hildren were silent, it was perfect,
3 see her. (alamity spoke in a hush whiseper, the (hildren
leaned in to catch her words,
where- 'here-chorised the (hildren.
There$ (alamity had leaned out over the edge of the cloud and
peeled back a long strip. !sing her thunderbolt she cut another
line in the thick grey clouds, then taking a giant step out onto the
billowing white she cut a third strip. atisfed with her work she
turned back to her audieance,
2ush, and everyone watch me.
he carefully knelt and lifted the slice of cloud peeling it upward,
then she looked below. )veryone held their breath, for they all
knew that the (hildren of the ?ods were forbiddent o look upon
the primates below" not only because they were prone to all types
of violent outbursts but mostly because there was nothing to be
gained from watching them grunt and bumble around.
'hat does it look like-7 asked 0ltheus sitting on the edge of the
marble bench,
2ave you located the toryteller like you said-7
There was no answer, (alamity was entranced by the sight below,
the creatures were all contained in rectangular bo%es, either alone
or with others, and they formed long lines which would move
forward a small bit then stop, only to repeat this action over and
over. Their were fying creatures who also formed a straight line,
until one by one they made a terrifc noise and then were
airborne, some were leaving lines of cloud behind them.
( a l a m i t y$$ the yell was so enourmous that it could only
belong to (haos
'hat (haos-7
3n actuality she was beginning to notice that time was speeding
up. )ither that or she was slowing down.
&otwithstanding all the events which she perceived as deliberate
distractions, she preferred Iand sincerely hopedJ that the frst
possibility was the more likely one" only because she observed
that the others seemed to be plodding along at their regular
cave man speed" and she continued, like a tornado to spin around
and around, tearing up the ground and creating havoc
everywhere she touched down.
This tornadic circling was not only repetitive, but it seemed
apparent to her that lately she was more prone to lingering within
the spiral. 2er determination knew no boundaries, driven by a
need to prove to herself that what her insight told her was true,
was indeed so, no matter what the others said.
he continued her search for the truth solely to prove to herself
that she could rely on her insight and premonitions. &ot that
anyone cared what she did, and not that she cared what they
thought. he did it for self 8ustifcation, for the satisfaction she felt
in a 8ob well done, for the support of herself by herself. 3t was true
that her way of looking at the world was di9erent from the
others but, she had yet to fnd the proof which she knew e%isted
and right or wrong there was nothing else she could do, at least
that,s the way she looked at it.
:ut toryteller, 0rchimedes 3N asked, why didn7t she 8ust use
her powers- The toryteller looked around the room for answer.
:ecause she didn7t have them yet. said 6edilles, her baby
serpents hissing in agreeance.
&o ignorant ones, boomed (haos, its because she didn,t know
how to truly use them. Bown there she had no one to show her
how.
The toryteller continued,
he had already found the bones not far from where she lived
and little by little she was trying to ft the pieces together.
5ou mean she was trying to put them back together-7 asked
#enology.
&o little one, she had tried that many rotations earlier but she
did not know what they formed, she kept trying to build a human
from them.
The room burst into laughter and the sun shone brightly upon all.
0 human- 2umans are not ?ods$ shouted (haos.
'hy don7t 3 continue the story without too many more
interruptions. o as 3 was saying, let me put it a di9erent way, she
was trying to make sense out of all the strange things which were
going on around her. The bones were 8ust one part of it, there
were all the areoplanes which were fying back and forth over her
house all day and night, and also the arrival of the strange people
who did look or behave like the ordinary humans no matter how
hard they tried, and her gift allowed her to spot them right away.
>f course she could , we knew about that part of her gift.
interrupted (alamity who had been bu.ng her nails with a soft
rag and staring o9 into the clouds for most of the story.
That7s right (alamity, and she knew by then that she did possess
the ability to recognize anything that was out of order, and it was
that ability which was causing so much disorder in her life.
)verything around her was not what it appeared to be, this she
knew, but she did not know what it was in its true form.
he was probably better o9 not knowing, if she didn,t have her
powers yet, otherwise she would have been *uite
frightened.(alamity stated.
5es indeed that is a possibility. :ut we must remember that those
things which she knew were not as they seemed, chose not to
show themselves to her in their true form at that time. :y then
she knew that they were shielding their true selves from her and
it caused her much pain that they continued to appear to her in
their familiar form and then behind her back transform and go
about their business sneaking around in another.
The closer she got to the truth re*uired them to spend more of
their time in their native state, sneaking about in the dark trying
to push their work forward and purposely fouling hers. 3t had
become a battleground for all, but they had the advantage
because they knew who she really was and since she had not yet
found her proof, they were determined to keep her from it.
to be continued...................
.