|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- PECULIAR LATHER--CUP 6--"AWAKE FLUFFY NETHERFUCK" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Peculiar Lather  ||  -------> (Cup SRpl006, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Fluffy reached over and grabbed the phone and dialed zero for the lobby. It rang once, then Drake answered. "Lllllllllllobby!" Drake said dryly. "Oh hi Drake. This is Fluffy." "Good afternoon milady." "Good, uh, afternoon. Say, I think I've been asleep a long time. Is it really 3:30 PM, Friday the 40th?" "Um--wait a second--er--yeah, that's the right time." "But the date?" "Yeah." "What?" "Yeah--it's the 40th." "Oh." "Z'anything wrong Fluffy?" Fluffy looked around, suddenly brimming with thoughts. "Milady?" Drake asked. "Hmm? Oh, no. I'm fine. Just seems I've been asleep a week, that's all. Y'know?" "Oh, I wouldn't be worried. I remember Pluckemin once slept for a whole month. Just a god sort of thing, y'know? Us mortals might not live forever, but at least our bodies are more predictable." "Yeah." Fluffy responded. There was a pause. Fluffy heard some smashing noises in the background on Drake's end. "Uh Fluffy--if that's it, there's some trouble here that I need to deal with." "No Drake, that's it. Thanks." "Always a pleasure." Drake said. Fluffy heard yelling in the background just as Drake was hanging up. Fluffy yawned and turned over onto her back, running her fingers through her long and naughty and mischievous blond hair. The drone of a distant vacuum cleaner and the ticks of her two clocks were the only noises. She opened her eyes a crack and peered at the splattered patterns of chaos in paint on her ceiling. When had she gone mad and spastic with the paint? A hundred years ago? Forty years ago? She couldn't recall. But she did remember hearing some fellow deities talking about an observation that sometimes a godbody would prepare itself automatically for a great exertion or adventure--even if the god didn't know it was coming--by slumbering a very long time. They said that it involved the reverse-time stream, and that somehow the godbody operated more in the reverse-time field than was previously thought. So maybe I'm going to face some fantastically draining experience this day, Fluffy thought as she got out of bed and stretched in an exaggerated yawn. Hers was a relaxed, almost lazy beauty, and her lovely body was about that of a 25-year-old. Her face was full of warmth and assurance and meditation and outer space. She stood five foot eight, but her crazy hair made her seem taller. In near-darkness she walked across the suprafuzziness of her white rug, amid the stuffed animals and smooth metal bottles, and wound her way to the bathroom. She entered the shower, deep in musing on what might lay ahead. Usually on any given day she would wander around the Hotel and the City to see what was going on. She planned to do no different today, but resolved to be on the lookout for anything suspicious. The shower was warm and deep. Deeper, she thought, than it should be. Deep and mystical and hot and flowing. She realized things were not altogether right with the world today, and this made her more anxious to go out and see what was awaiting her. After toweling herself dry, Fluffy donned her outfit. Her clothes were mainly white and gray and loose-fitting and ripped-up. With wisps and silver strands and such it almost looked like she was wearing insane spider webs. But still, the suit emanated practicality and straightforwardness, like a sweatsuit. The clothes and the hair and the beauty indeed gave her a powerful and paranormal appearance appropriate to a goddess. One of the advantages of being a goddess was that she didn't need to wear any makeup; her appearance was certain to be stunning in nearly any circumstance. She often pitied the mortal and denizen women who were always in such a tizzy over their appearance. Sometimes Fluffy wondered what it was like to be physically old, but she was glad she'd never have to experience it. After dressing, Fluffy clasped on a belt, which had several pouches and compartments hanging from it, in which she kept money, keys, a watch, a cellular phone, pens, candy, and other such knickknacks. Then she left her room, made sure the door was locked, and strode down to the elevators. In the elevator bay, Fluffy looked out the window to the big City below. It was around 4:30 PM now, and Bright was in the latter half of its arc. Bright wasn't the Sun--but an equivalent light source--about twice the diameter of the sun, pure white, and able to be looked at without retinal damage. The sky of Agoopish was always a shade of gray, and the clouds jet black. There were no stars, but strangely, the moon was there and went through its phases just as it did on Earth. Fluffy liked the sky of Earth much better, even though she didn't get to see it very often. -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----