|| -------- -- -----  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 20--"GREAT SHOWER" <-------  ||  Severe Repair  ||  Peculiar Lather  ||  -------> (Cup SRpl020, Created v2 (6/7/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Tanner walked over to a door in a short hallway and opened it up, only to see a weird corridor of oddly-angled mirrors leading down and to the left. He closed the door immediately, not wanting to deal with any more gigabizarre stuff until he had a good slumber. Then he walked back into the main room and stood in front of the fire. He reflected on the maneuver Fluffy had pulled with the car, playing it over and over again in his mind's eye. He concluded firstly that Fluffy had deadly aim with her lasso, and that the rope was of a very durable material. But the fact that she held onto the rope in the massive centrifugal force of the car, as well as her punching the thick metal door open earlier, suggested that she possessed great physical strength. Strength that her lovely, lissome body did not belie. But the whole sequence of the car stunt--something wasn't right. It was either inertia, gravity, time, or some other natural law--but it was not right. Or at least, it did not operate as it would have on Earth. He felt confident that such a stunt indeed could not have been executed on Earth. He walked away from the fire and over to another hallway near the window. "I see you're all ready for bed." Fluffy said from across the room. She was wearing a lingerie sort of nightgown, and Tanner turned quickly away upon seeing her--as he began getting aroused the instant he saw her, and didn't want her to see any erection he might be having. "Yeah--I had a great shower, and as you can see, these clothes fit pretty well." "Yup." Fluffy said. Just before Fluffy had come into the room, Tanner had spied a hatch in the floor of the hallway, and wanted to open it. So now, even though Fluffy was there, he bent down and began to open the hatch. "Oh, don't look in there." Fluffy said. But it was too late, and as Tanner fully opened the hatch, air rushed from the hallway into the opening, and he was looking down into a dark void of space dotted with a field of stars, as if it were the night sky of outer space. Tanner gazed amazed into the hatch for a few seconds, then slammed it shut. "Sorry." Tanner said. "Oh, don't worry about it. Just don't ask me to explain it right now--okay?" "Okay." Tanner said. "Well, come over here by the fire, and we'll discuss things." "Okay." Tanner said, and he walked over to the fire, fixing his robe so that she wouldn't see the full erection he now had. His entity was filling with lust, even though he strove to beat it back. He sat down on a low couch next to Fluffy. "Are you satisfied with the accommodations?" Fluffy asked, smiling. "Yeah. I'm very happy with them. Thank you very, very much." "Oh, it's no problem. I'll see what I can do about getting you and your friends a suite in the Hotel sometime this evening." "That would be great." They both stared at the fire for several moments. "So," Fluffy said, "that was quite some adventure we had today, huh?" "Yeah, I'd say so. I mean, I've never experienced anything like it. What's the deal with these 'extremists' anyway?" "Well, they're denizens who have an unintelligible political agenda which opposes just about everything in the universe, and they engage in random acts of terrorism, such as the kidnapping of Little Fisher this afternoon. They're verifiably warped and demented. Some of us think they're brainwashed and sent here from one of the other Avert Cities." "Hmm... You know, I was meaning to ask you about Little Fisher and Little Red Thread. I mean, I found it a little hard to believe that they're goddesses." "Well, I know it's a little odd, but they are certainly goddesses, and they've both been here from the beginning." "Well, I can sort of understand Little Fisher, but what about Little Red Thread? I mean, is that all she is--a piece of red thread?" "Well, as far as her physical form goes, yes, she is but a piece of thread. But as you can readily see, she has a brilliant mind and deep emotional fire. She accepts that she is a piece of thread, but she doesn't let that get in the way of accomplishing wonderful things. And I often think she is blessed not to have to deal with a human body all the time." "Yeah." Tanner said. "Y'know, I'm also wondering about, y'know, what you said before, about being here since the dawn of time..." "Yes?" "I mean, I was just wondering, if you don't mind, like, just how far back into time can you remember?" -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----