|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- CARNE'S MOISTURE DETECTION FRIEND--CUP 22--"A BREATH OF FRESH NIGHTTIME" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Carne's Moisture Detection Friend  ||  -------> (Cup SRcm022, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Two month's after Natt's sixteenth birthday, it was the day that Natt was expecting to lose her virginity. She'd been intimate with her boyfriend Jalder, a boy whose sixteenth birthday was a month away, but he was reluctant to go all the way. That night, however, he had promised her they would have intercourse. At noon, she was musing on the evening, when there came a quietness. By early evening, the news was all over the place--the sinkhole mathnota had all stopped working. They had been tapped by scientist to produce energy, but now the seemingly endless streams of energy were no more. Scholars had predicted a slow decay in the mathnota, as in the slow decay of the aftermath of the damaged mathnota. But this never happened; the mathnota pumped out energy relentlessly. Until that day. In the confusion and despair, there was no way the planned tryst was going to occur. And that night she spent with her family, in candlelight, the whole big family gathered around, making plans, chucking around theories, generally fretting. Three months later, Natt was walking the hills. She still had her virginity, and was still numb at the loss of her high lifestyle. It was a drizzly day, and it was nearing dusk, and she knew she had to head for home soon, but she kept on walking. Soon, she came upon a sinkhole--she had to assume it was a sinkhole--with a mathnota partially revealed, sticking out of the mud. An irrational rage came over Natt. The mathnota represented to her the force that took her life away from her. She grabbed a big rock, and threw it at the mathnota. The rock struck a bulbous part of the purple thing, and in a reddish flash, and a sound like slow thunder, the world around her changed. She was transported somehow to an abandoned castle. She explored, and several hours later she encountered Beathcat. They were both trapped there, and they spent eight years there, and the tale of their relationship is a wonderful tale. That eighth year, Natt and Beathcat found their way out. It wasn't that they were trapped on the castle grounds--but the entire world they were on, as far as she or Beathcat knew, was not inhabited by any intelligent species. The castle was an anomoly, and it had abundant stores of food and supplies. Beathcat can been there since the sinkhole mathnotas were first discovered. He was alone for almost 75 years, but he said he slept most of that time and didn't mind the solitude at all, that being the preferred lifestyle of his kind. But for a few years before the arrival of Natt, he said he starting itching a little for some company. Anyway, they found a way out of their private world, and they took it. A room in the castle went all weird was all. It had a street at night in it. Once on that street, they were in another world. And there were people. And it was raining. "This is new, Mound." Beathcat said. He always called Natt "Mound", her last name. "It is, Cat. It's a breath of fresh nighttime." Natt was wearing a pink dress, which she had found in the castle. Among the supplies there was a great amount of clothing. And while there was water in the castle, from a spring, washing clothes was a chore, and Natt preferred to pile up laundry that would never be done in a castle chamber and use up the supply of fresh clothes, which even at the time of their leaving the castle wasn't anywhere near being exhausted. There were streetlights and cars, and storefronts with glass windows and neon signs. These sights were new to Natt and Beathcat. And they liked the sights. A few drunk teenagers were approaching, and one of them, a boy, spotted Beathcat and pointed. "No way!" a girl in the group shouted. "Circus is in town!" Natt's heart leapt. She hadn't been in the presence of another human being for eight years, and the sight of these kids was a shock to her. She wanted to run to them and embrace them, but she didn't dare, both because of the potential danger and hurting Beathcat's feelings. The platonic love she and Beathcat shared was passionate, and she had feared the time, if it ever came, when she might meet a man, a human man, and start a relationship. She knew that she had to, and she also knew that it would hurt Beathcat greatly. She even spoke to Beathcat about it on occasion, in a jesting way, but the security of their castaway state seemed so certain. But now, they were no longer stranded together. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----