|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- GOODBYE POPCORN--CUP 1--"DAPTIN GONE" --------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Goodbye Popcorn  ||  -------> (Cup SRgp001, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Sitting in the hotel room as Bright (the thing that passed for a sun here) was rising, Daptin Gone didn't want to make the phone call. He ran his hand through his long green hair and leaned back in his chair. His mind was wandering, seeking avenues of thought engaging enough to justify delaying the call. He looked out the window at the city below, at the people starting to throng, at the weird hospitals in the distance, at the unpredictable Tuhalont River. He'd been in a hospital once. Cringing, he recalled in vivid horror the terminal illness he had had, and how easily he beat it, and that Glorious Place, and how things hadn't seemed to be working quite right. He mulled over the matter, as he had done so many times before. This whole superlife of his, which seemed to casually annihilate the infinite suffering of his miserable diseased state. Crushed it like stepping unknowing on a little spider. It all started in that place... Such a wonderful day, such an excellent place. Walking up the grassy hill, perfect sunlight and breezes, Daptin saw the rock and the fox on top of it, jumping off. Near the rock was a blackboard with the words "Here is Canyon" scrawled across it. The little red fox trotted toward Daptin and said "You're late. Oh so very late." Daptin stopped. Fox approached and sat. "I knew you were still here." Fox said. "Sit, and I'll let you know what you missed." Daptin slowly sat down in the grass, mind racing, all so familiar. It was the beautiful smell in the air more than anything. "We're so far along." Fox said, shaking his head. "So few left." Daptin took a deep, deep breath and smiled in recognition. He knew Fox. "And I'll be departed myself before the next Time." Fox continued. "So few left." "Who?" Daptin asked, his voice sounding unusually rich. Fox sighed. "Twenty-five, including you and me." Daptin took a moment to think about it. "Twenty-five?" Daptin asked, dumbfounded. "Yes, and all of you were so far scattered that we only found you two Times ago. The absolute bottom of the well. All that's left." Daptin tried to remember more, but couldn't. "All the others have departed, returned to their Lives. " Fox continued. Then, looking up at Daptin. "Who will find it?" Daptin met Fox's eyes and was struck with the little fellow's deep aura of being. "It?" Daptin asked. Instantly, Daptin was back in his bed at the hospital, the pain of his Hizzings Disease returning in a massive wave of horror. There was a game show on TV as he looked over at his roommate, Tag, who was sleeping. The pain made Daptin angry, and he tried to get out of the bed, but only managed to nudge himself a little and get light-headed. Half-conscious, Daptin saw a nurse walk into the room and emit a shocked "What!?". She ran from the room, but her exclamation woke Tag, who looked over. "Holy crap! How'd you get back, man? We thought you did yourself in. Where've you been?" Daptin struggled to form the words through dry lips. "How long... have I..." "What, three or four days? I dunno. So where you been?" "I don't... know... for sure." "Huh. Well the police will sure want to talk to you. They grilled me for a couple of hours, y'know, man. They thought your family or maybe your girlfriend took you away and helped you commit suicide the easy way, man. Without a judge." "No." Daptin managed. "Well you have a lot of explaining to do, Daptin, my man." Daptin grunted. How frustrating it was, being strong and healthy one minute and so weak and pathetic the next. The nurse returned with a security guard. "Look!" she said, pointing to Daptin. "What the--everything's hooked up. The machines--who set them back up?" the guard said. "Nobody! Nobody here, anyway. Maybe whoever took him away put everything back?" the nurse said in her irritating nasal voice. "Well, we can figure all this out later. The police are on their way." the guard said, looking quite glad to have something interesting happen in his life. "Should I call his family?" the nurse asked. Daptin wished she would just shut up. "No--let the police take care of that. We don't know who's involved." the guard said. "Okay." the nurse said, as she approached Daptin's supine form. "Can you hear me?" she asked. "Yes." Daptin managed. "Do you know where you are?" the nurse said. "Hospital." "That's right. But where were you?" Daptin couldn't stand that voice so close to him. "Leave... me alone." "We'll leave you alone once we figure out what in the name of Locket is going on." she said, hovering over him. Then she removed the covers from Daptin and began examining him. Daptin couldn't stand it, the misery of being taken care of by such an idiot. But he knew how to escape. Somehow, he knew. "Here is Canyon." Daptin said with some difficulty. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----