|| -------- -- -----  A E R I E   O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- ABAXIAL USUFRUCT--THE ELEVENTH ELEVEN <-------  ||  Superior  ||  Abaxial Usufruct  ||  -------> (Cup SUau011, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Au111   | THE STORY I'm sitting in class about to take an exam. This story will be very long. I only perceive surface details these days. I have my own alphabet. Maybe I'll add to this story from time to time. I took the exam. I didn't do so well. I'm in the same chair. As well as the same room. But a different class. Something about cities. I can't really think now. Something in my head. What is it? My brain. Always the same but never the same. It may stop but it never ends. Where are we? Now imagine a cube floating in space. You are there. What do you see? This ain't no party. This ain't no disco. This ain't no fooling around. The central city. Rain and October. A silver man gleaming down the street. Realization in a young black boy's mind. The Avatar returned. I like to play pinball. I would like to play pinball. I imagine them playing pinball in the hippie days. I imagine the feeling, the smells, the rush in the blood. It's like a star, shining out of reach. The story. This is the story. Stroboscope. One time it was really weird. Monsters were the problem and napalm was the solution. I had a front row seat. And who was sitting next to me? The mayor. His head slowly lingering, then disappearing. Red and green fireworks, then. A game over. And and and I went to the ocean. We found a dead baby hammerhead shark on the beach. Did we put it in the trunk? I don't remember. I was young and I didn't realize the certain realities surrounding the decay of dead bodies and the odors and maggots thereof. Blue water. The Chrysler Building was the focal point in my dream. It was flying around like a spaceship and Uncle Charlie was using it to rule the world with an iron fist. There was no beginning or end or middle, just a series of images and understandings with no resolutions. Do you get my meaning? This is not a normal story. It doesn't tell you all the facts. Facts burn. You have to draw your own conclusions. You have to draw your own resolutions. The ballad of my three sons. A kind of wailing in the night. Erno Rubik's self-referentail pajamas. Where is he now? Prove his existence, if you can. For services rendered, eh? Hair that never ends. The Cosmic Welder on his Grand Tour. The Microverse in your thumbnail. The lava lamp on the big shelf. You know? It kind of reminds me of that special feeling of going to shopping malls in the early 1980's. In the pit of my stomach, feels all strange. And riding back home in the car. Eyes closed as the highway hums beneath my feet. The streetlights rhythmically casting a red glow on my eyelids, all the way home. Whenever I sit here in the library I never get any work done. This is because it's so quiet and peaceful that I must listen to the sound of my mind. Blasting music drowns out my thought, allowing me to do the ethereally useless work they call scholarly. But it's the system, and this is the story. The story. The photocopy machine, what if the photocopy machine could copy whole books? How would this then affect trade with Far Eastern countries and in turn affect their religious beliefs? I don't know, but I do know that that that is is and that that that is not is not. Well? This could be a long story. Where are you now? Different styles for different moods. Something about a city. A cube in space with pinball noises in the background. A child building London Bridge with wooden blocks. A new movie: The Chrysler Building versus London Bridge. Rated PG-13. Some material may not be suited for children under thirteen. I am not under thirteen. The big wheel goes round and round. I made the big date but forgot all about it. Now she doesn't even look at me any more, let alone in the real world. How can we fix this big mistake? Its nature is too nebulous to place your finger on. Its mind is that of a newborn. It is a problem that is age-old. My idle thoughts wreak havok in some other place. What can I do to make it up? Learn my lesson, yes. But have I? Will I not do it again and hurt again? Action. The nexus between two worlds... I still don't truly believe, do I? And in my ignorance I have hurt one I truly love. Can I ever undo this? Even, what have I done? I have only the slightest idea. I am watching myself walking up the stairs to go eat. And I feel bitter at my own self-satisfaction. The problem is that I am not sure. I don't know what I've done. I don't know what I want. This story sounds different as I feel different. Matbe it will be a long story. Maybe it will. I should make photocopies now. And return the book (act one read). In a different seat, the library stacks look like a runway. I'll take off to who-knows-where, Mr. Smartie. Maybe I'll play pinball later. All the vision in my mind. You cannot forget it once you've seen it. You cannot release it once you've felt it. My name is the name of all good men. It vibrates in the bells of the world and washes souls with its terrible brilliance. If you could see. If I could accept. If we could go. Something has been changed. They both serve the same purpose, but as the old one was a false energetic structure, the new one os the true one. I can't concentrate with the TV on. Damn. Release the waste. Get rid of it. This new thing, I don't know. I hope it will work. Maybe it can help heal the wounds inflicted by the Big Mistake. Maybe the answer is in the story. Maybe the answer is not in the story. Maybe the story is the story. Maybe I'll go to New York tomorrow. Maybe I'll see the Chrysler Building. All these maybes. With the new thing, maybe I can make them wills. Perhaps. The new thing is growing stronger all the time. Yes it is. A chaotic storm flies around. A baby doll on a red velvet cushion on grainy film. A tornado in space. The baby doll flies apart and blood comes out. You pan back and realize you are watching TV, but a tear in your eye. I am a monster my own size. Ay Ay Ay. So many things. The second stage is rough. And the coming new moon doesn't help. On my birthday, no less. In my dream, Russia was being destroyed by sentient snow pizzas. It's a one way ticket to midnight, call it Heavy Metal, desperation on a thin line, call it Heavy Metal noise. Please please tell me now, is there something I should know? Who could it be now? Oh! It's not only a new moon, but a solar eclipse. I mean, what will happen in New York? Why all this stuff about the Chrysler Building? Heh? I like her, she likes him, he likes the other. I am not aware of anyone liking me (in that way). Maybe things will change. The big mistake is least in my mind. Something has to break somewhere. In my mind, I see three things. A cat, a rat, an ornamental chandalier. They jump around, with heavy industrial noise in the background and with the assurance of nuclear war in three and a half weeks. My dream, miniscule spiders would evolve past human level in one day. They grew larger and more complex as I watched them and backed away, closing the door and two got out but they died for some reason. Later I found out it was a joke? This is the story. A tale of many things. I just thought about paragraphs. We can make the story. This is in a notebook now. This is on page seven now. Different parts have different voices; different moods. I am sitting in the same place where I began my story. A bug was just crawling on my arm. A story for what it does. I do plan to release the story. For art must be seen by others to be true. But is it art? I'm talking about the story but even this sentence is part of the story. I have my own language. The teacher is talking. I feel I should tell a tale. A story. A story within a story. The main character is me. I'm sitting in a classroom and a teacher just started talking about poetry. I am writing something, but I stop and look out the window. There is a tree branch out there. But it doesn't look quite right and it gets closer and closer and closer closer. I am making certain details out. An overall bluish scheme makes itself apparent as it attacks me and wraps me. For a moment I look around the classroom calmly as if I'm underwater. Then like an explosion. A musical descent. So far this story is progressing like your average earthman gets whisked off to another world and has whacky adventures. But it is a way of dealing with environment instead of character; fleshing out a world more than a person. Like Edgar Rice Burroughs, for all I know. A chinese newspaper. A kewpie doll. A pachinko machine. A neon sign. I'm sitting in a chair, a big, soft, chair. Old radio broadcast on the air. A green bottle with brownish liquid within in my hand. Coke? I don't move. I think about girls. How abstract. The place is full of weird shit. I have an idea where I am. I peer into the ethereal world with my mental vision and see a world gone astray. My heart is beating very fast. I know where I am. It's all returning to me now. Memories and skills I don't even want. A million thoughts fire in my skull. It's so obvious. I've been here before. Then I sense a prescence behind me. It's a girl, I knew, 'cause I caught a glimpse of her in the reflection cast by glass over clock. She advances slowly. I'm tired. Realistic energies I draw forth from my soul. She makes a surprised noise and I turn around. Blond hair, perfect, how boring. Travellers can have any body they want. They can have anything they want. That's why I took a plunge. That life was advancing well. I would soon go back and erase all memory of this. She was asking me something. She needed something. I got up and left. I wasn't getting involved. I was past due for a visit to my old town anyway, so I left, for a wander. From time to time I regain my true self, then return to my plungelife later and erase memories. So, I remember everything in my true life, but only plungelife in plungelife. I am tired. I walk out on the street. You know, there are certain things that vibrate dimensionally. I walk through the streets. To be continued. Let's play safe. Play it safe. The sun darkens and we're there. I see it now. I can see it now. The new moon covers the star Sol. The moon is always new during solar eclipse. Hair from my head fell on this paper after I covered my eyes with my hair. I lost a tiny piece of myself. Might I lose something on my birthday? I can think of a few things I might like to lose. Heh. Just in the last paragraph I wrote "I can think of a few things I might to use" but had to correct it. A story. This is my story. Not a story about me, but by me. Yup! So, because of anomie in personality and dog eat dog competition, modern man seeks alternatives to the troubled complexities of modern urban life. Spontaneous human combustion. Legend? Myth? Viscious lie? Find out tonight on That's Real Incredible Search! I think the situation is changing. I like... Things are happening very fast. A story in its own right. My life is like a TV show, only longer. I see many things happening. I don't worry about anything. Worry is useless. Just do it. Or accept it. This is not the easiest philosophy to deal with, since worry is such a part of the human experience. Now in class they are talking about sex. But I'm not paying attention. I'm writing this. Industrialized automatons? I have had so much experience. More than most people in my nearly nineteen years. Tomorrow is my birthday, lunar equinox, solar eclipse, new moon, trip to New York City at Night. Will I return? Magic. Factotum: A non-entity at someone's beck and call. What will we do about her? I like her... Me, I'm a one. I'm a nomad. I realize what a limited world we live in, and I separate myself from pretext. Trying to view it from the outside. My positivity increasing at a steady rate. This means I'm happy. But the pulling up of mankind from the guck is my ultimate goal in this life. A good question is: What do you want? I'm thinking of a few things now. A girl, a movie, an obscure future, the realization that nomadi is very hard work but is undeniably worth it. A few things on my mind, but behind it all is nomadi. The one force that is the purpose of my life. It is no joke, but it is the ultimate joke. We have much, much to do. First, there was just a feeling walking along. A sort of jolly yet terrible and shambling vision, breaking down, each second seeming its last, but only to continue, worse ever. Secon we see a star. This star is neon and atop a christmas-tree-like silvery statue. Obviosly meant to be a christmas tree, but not a tree, but good, 'cause no trees had to die for some pathetic little pagan ritual. Fuck off, asshole. Now it is after the fact. On my birthday I blew up. My feeling for the she created so much pressure that my shelter exploded. It all led up to that. Now I feel better, but I'm still struggling. The struggling never ends. It may stop, but it never ends. Now I am somewhere else. The movie is finished, but split Anything But Monday, so I will pick it up and mend it. I don't know. This is true. I have really no idea what's going on. I have opened the blinds. I realize how truly ignorant I am. I also realize that this realization comes at a high level of awareness. Many people who think/know that they are stupid use it as a defense and are even more closed off. Intelligence is awareness. Things just are? My awareness may be greater than that of others, but limited in the wide sense. But this just means I have that much more space to expand in. I am an eternal child. The biggest mistake is to grow up. Now me and the she are friends, special friends. She may be my Empress, or at least an Empress. She can be my Empress, completing the cycle, fitting the last piece into a puzzle, but that puzzle is just a piece in a much larger puzzle. Love is something... I don't know exactly what. My mind is in a bit of a blur. The danger of being content lies somewhere. A new one. We seceded from the nation. There is a new one in my mind. Last night we seceded then went to the supermarket at 3:30 AM. A new one, the old one in stable relation to me, the new one on the horizon; a challenge. A semi-Empresstype. Talk normal. Let's talk normal. I see many things. I am moving. There are things beyond my understanding. Many things. Most things. Four forty-nine? I am I am here. Here, dear. Now, I am writing this paragraph many weeks after the last one. I must fear to say that I have been neglecting the Story. But it's only page twelve, and this could be a long Story. I think just now I only read this page, so I'm not quite sure what I "just" wrote. But this doesn't matter. The Story, however, seems to have become a little like a diary. But it doesn't matter, because the Story is in different styles for different moods. I have many things to tell about what has happened, but I don't want to make this like a diary. Let's talk about gods. Great Ones. Beings of great power. Powerful beings, but not God. Personal beings, on roughly the same level as others of their race. Gods, who would leech off mankind. I feel like doing origami. Au112   | A RATHER INTERESTING TALE Early one morning Dave was shocked. Why, he did not know. He only knew that he was shocked. The strange part was that there was really nothing at all wrong. Except, of course, that there was a rather large glowing gargoyle on his windowsill. That, in itself, was not so odd. The strange part was that this gargoyle spoke. Well it tried, anyway. It didn't exactly have well-developed vocal chords. But what he said, in a voice like scratching a chalkboard, was what shocked Dave, even though he didn't know why he was shocked. What the gargoyle said was this: "Guess what's on T.V. tonight?" After a few moments, which seemed like eons, Dave asked "What?". The gargoyle contorted its face, making it appear even more incredibly ugly than it already was, and it said, in the same piercing voice "I said... guess." Dave got a chill and began to think. After a long time, which seemed like just a moment, Dave said "Uh... um... well, what is T.V.?" The gargoyle's eyes became red, and its gaze shot through Dave. Then the beast screamed so loudly that Dave was deafened for several minutes afterward. Then it flew off. Dave was curious, however, so he strapped on his wings and flew out of his window, following the gargoyle. The cold morning air swept against his face. He had already accelerated to almost the speed of sound, but the gargoyle was nowhere in sight. "This guy's fast, even for a gargoyle." Dave thought as he crossed the sound barrier. A sound like thunder echoed across the Hellvarth Land. Soon, as Dave approached mach 2, he caught a glimpse of the gargoyle. But he lost it again as a huge hand shot up out of the ground. It was at least 3 miles high. Dave tried to avoid it, but couldn't maneuver in time. He shot through the palm of the hand easily, however, due to his speed. An earthquake shook the land, which must have been the result of the owner of the hand yelling in pain. Dave heard nothing, though. "What a time for Guggon the Great to wake up!" Dave thought as he changed his course towards the underground empire of Harvey Rattt. As he flew, he wondered what T.V. could stand for. "Total Ventilation? Time Vortex? Tire Viper?" he thought useslessly. He continued, but predictably something happened on the way to Rattt's -- on the horizon he saw an Airworm Patrol Swarm (APS). "Oh bit!" he muttered as he pulled his rip cord. Instantly, his form changed from humanoid to dragonoid. In this form he could better handle the sinister APS. He flew directly into the wormcloud and began to try to convince the worms that there was more to life than flying around and eating unsuspecting airtravellers. At first, they weren't sure, but soon they were convinced, and flew off to find a better life as volcano cleaners. Dave then clapped his clawed hands together 17 times and became normal once again. Dave's wings glittered in the double sunlight as he flew halfway across a world. Soon he had arrived at Rattt's. He slowed down as he approached the neon sign which said "HARVEY RATTT'S UNDERGROUND EMPIRE". Some of the letters were out, though, so it seemed to read "HA E RAT     GROUND M IRE". Nevertheless, Dave landed and approached the door. A sign on the door read "Ring Bell, and Die." "Very funny, Rattt." Dave muttered as he pressed the button. He wished he hadn't, though, as a thousand lasers sprung to life and seared the ground dangerously close to his feet before they suddenly shut off. "Who's there?" asked Rattt's familiar voice over an intercom. "Me... uh... Dave." Dave said. "Oh well, get outta here! Can't you see I'm busy?" "Alright, but I just thought you should know you'd like to know that Guggon the Great has just, uh... woken up." "Oh... what?" Sounds of something large smashing into the ground came to Dave's still-recovering-from-the-gargoyle-scream ears. "Ok, come in, Dave." Rattt continued. The door swung open and Dave stepped inside the tunnel. He was immediately confronted by Rattt's seemingly impossibly confusing mazes. "uh... I don't know where to go." Dave said. "Oh that's easy." Ratt's voice said. "Haha! Just follow the blue slime trail!" Dave found the trail, with some difficulty, and began following it. "uh... Rattt... what's 'T.V.'?" Dave asked. "What?" Rattt shrieked. Before Dave could answer, metal walls slid down in front of and in back of him. "Where did you hear about T.V.?" Rattt demanded suspiciously. "A g... g... gargoyle told me!" Dave said, surprised. "Well Dave, just what exactly did it say?" "Um... he said 'Guess what's on T.V. tonight.'" "Oh I see... This could be more serious than thought." "More... more serious than Guggon?" "I don't know." said Rattt as the walls slid upwards. Daver then continued to follow the slime trial until it led him to an almost impossibly dirty room. At one end of the room there something barely discernable as a door. "Wait." Rattt's voice then said impassively. "Okay." Dave didn't particularly want to stay in this room. The dirt hung in the air and seemed to stain his clothes even as he stood there. Then there was a sudden movement in one corner of the room, which ceased as Dave looked over. What he saw amazed him -- there was a small patch of cleanliness on the wall. He started to walk towards it to examine it, but Rattt's voice then boom out. "Okay dammit -- come in, willya?" Rattt said. Dave walked over to the door and hesitated. "uh... where's the doorknob?" he asked Rattt. After a few moments of silence, Rattt said "What the ruzgo d'ya mean where's the doorknob? Are ya some sorta idiot or something? Wait a second..." Then came sounds of heavy machinery falling and breaking, and then the door opened. There stood Harvey Rattt. It was hard to tell just what Harvey was. At first glance, he seemed to be a sort of short human / rodent / scum combination, but Dave knew that much more than that, as well as a whole lot less. "Come in." Rattt said. As Dave entered through the doorway, he was surprised by what he saw, even though he'd been in in this place before. It was just so incomprehensivley... incomprehensible. Basically, it was like a huge cavern, and there was a mountain of trash and broken machinery in the middle of it. Bridges extended from the innards of this mountain to the cavern walls, and misshapen creatures limped about everywhere. At the very top of the trash heap, Dave could just barely discern Harvey Rattt's office. "Come on. We've got things to talk about." said Rattt. Rattt then snapped his fingers and there was what appeared to be a landslide on the mountain, revealing a stairway. They began to climb up. "Mind if I fly?" Dave asked. Before Rattt could answer, a huge glass something crashed and shattered onto the cavern floor, causing an immense racket. As soon as the echoes subsided, Rattt said "Sure, go ahead! Just leave me here walking all the way up..." Dave looked up the dizzying staircase and said "Oh, it's not that far. I guess I can walk it." But Rattt had apparently disappeared. "Rattt?" called Dave, but his only answer was the tortured groan of a gigantic elephantine creature dragging a building through the debris of the vast floor below. So Dave took off and flew up towards the top of the heap, landing a few seconds later outside Rattt's office, only to find Harvey right there, with a weird smile on his sinister little face. "Time to go!" Harvey said as he pulled a lever extending from a crumpled metal form to his left. All was suddenly dark. Au113   | SHOT STORY "Powers of The Land" by Frank Nora Chapter I: King Drey Learns of The Amarith -- (May 20, 1982) Let us begin our story in the midwestern section of the southern continent, where the kindgom of Rilnar is. King Drey was in a small room of his huge palace in the city of Thartos, on the western border. The small room (small for a king) was his private "office" where he would sometimes retire to relax and think alone. He sat by a desk and stared into space and thought. Earlier that day he got a letter from a sorcerer friend of his who had recently came across a bit of information while reading an old book in his huge library. It went like this: * * * To King Drey of Rilnar, Greetings, old friend! While recently looking through some old books I found a strange bit of information that might interest you. Maybe you've heard about the ancient Southern Nomars, who were overrun by the Emrasian Empire. Well, as I read, just before the invasion they worked on and completed a crystal, with wondrous Powers, said to be called The Amarith. I thought that since this may be a little-known fact, you might like to try to get it. Possibly we could in our younger days of adventuring. Try to get whoever you send to go to the Northern Nomars of the Valley Darthule. They might have some information. Sincerely Yours, Therlid the Sorcerer * * * Drey thought "That is a very interesting letter. I think that it would do our kingdom good to have that crystal, that... Amarith. I must ask Illergrom tomorrow if he could reccomend anyone to go to visit the Nomars of the North. It was late, so King Drey decided to retire for the night. The next morning, after the king of Rilnar awoke, Illergrom, Drey's chief enchanter, was summoned to see him in the small room. In case you don't exactly know what an enchanter is, I will tell you. An enchanter is a magic-user whose primary powers are in the art of making and "enchanting" magical items, such as magic crystals, flaming swords, etc. Illergrom was a Triltan, or humanoid wolf. King Drey, and most of Rilnar, were too. In the small room Drey welcomed illergrom and gave him the letter to read. After he finished reading it he asked the King "Well? What about it? I suppose you want to get it. Right?". "Yes." Drey answered "Very much. I'm wondering if you knew anyone who might goto the valley Darthule to get some information about the Crystal?" "Well, to think of it, I have a nephew, Thalerdrad, who has been taught the fine art of swordfighting by his father. He has always wanted to go adventuring like his father, you know him, Dradmer. Hasn't he gone adventuring with you, a long time ago?"the enchanter said. "Yes, I have." Drey answered "I must send him a letter asnd ask him if he would like to go. I know that you are busy, so I won't keep you any longer." "Yes, well, good-bye." the enchanter answered. The king took out a pen and paper and began to write the most important thing in Thalerdrad's life. Chapter II: Thalerdrad Receives the Letter -- (May 20, 1982) Thalerdrad, in the year 2717* (* The dating system in most of The Land was begun when civilization was just beginning, and Mount Vrennar in Voltaria erupted.), was staying with his father, Dradmer, in the town of Elorimm, in Rilnar. Dradmer, when he was young, was an adventurer, as was Drey, who went on a few with him. Dradmer taught his son all that he knew about swordfighting, and Thalerdrad caught on fast. Thalerdrad hoped to one day travel through The Land on some quest or similar thing. When Dradmer received the letter, he naturally assumed that, since being from King Drey, it would be for him, but it wasn't, it was of course for Thalerdrad. His father gave it to him, and he read it. As he did, his face lit up, because this was what he was waiting for. The letter was long, but mainly Drey said that he would like it very much if Thalerdrad would travel up to the valley of Darthule to ask the Nomars for some information about the Amarith. "What does it say, son?" Dradmer asked. His son gave him the letter and his father read it. "Oh... well," Dradmer said "you can't go, you're not ready for it." "I'm sorry father, but I'm going. I may never have another chance like this." They argued for a long time, but finally Dradmer said "All right, go, but I know that after you leave, I'll never see you again." Thalerdrad made no reply, but set out to write a letter to King Drey, that said he would go. The way letters and other mail is transported is mainly by being carried by an amazingly fast sort of cat-person known as a Rayvar. A week or so later, they were in the palace of King Drey, the adventurers who were going on the journey to the valley Darthule. The appointed leader of the group was Thalerdrad, the Triltan. His friend Thirk, a gnawling, was accompanying him. Chapter III: The Highway and The Mishap -- (February 13, 1990) Now you see, a gnawling is a short rodent-person, and Thirk was rather small, even for a gnawling. A third member of the party was Gorblame, a huge monstrosity made of black metal called an Obscuriot, since he was a magical construct made of an impervious metal called obscurium. Gorblame's mind, however, was transplanted from an ancient seafarer, whose soul had become trapped within the palace walls centuries earlier, only to be discovered by Illergrom, who fused it with his latest Obscuriot, to save it from oblivion. So Gorblame, Thalerdrad, and Thirk stood before the king, receiving final instructions for the journey, as well as receiving a letter of authorization from the king to show the Nomars of the valley Darthule. Soon it was time to go, and Felptash the Highwayist, Illergrom's magical associate, set about to create a "highway", or magical road, on which it would only take several hours for the three adventurers to reach the valley Darthule, which would normally be several week's journey. Felptash, an ursan, or bear-man, was a brilliant violet in color, and he raised his hands and chanted and opened the highway to Darthule. "Be on your way!" Felptash said "And hurry! I cannot maintain the gateway much longer!" "Safe journey!" King Drey yelled after them as they entered the gateway. So the three set their way upon the highway. It was a shimmering road, the sky above it thick with shooting comets and beatiful wispy clouds drifint in and out of existence "Quite a remarkable sight." Thalerdrad commented. "So what!" Thirk squealed "I was on a highway once when I was young! It's no big deal!" "Eh," Gorblame muttered metallically "it's like the seaskys of elder days, me lads! When I was a fine muscular feller rather than a clattery pile of heavy machinery!" "Well Gorblame," Thalerdrad commented "you must admit that your current state is better than your soular confinement in the palace walls -- or death, for that matter." "Better than the imprisonment," Gorblame chimed deeply, "but as for death, who knows? It may be much more pleasant than this." "Well, we might all find out about that if we don't keep on our toes!" Thirk said. "Eh," Gorblame said "You know, I regret telling you this, but we will die very soon. In Darthule. You know, the Nomars have the Amarith, and will send our dead bodies back as an answer to that fool Drey -- they'll never give up the Amarith, much less to a military state like Rilnar." Then Gorblame began to make loud clanging coughing noises." All three then stopped, Thalerdrad and Thirk having shocked expression on their faces. "H... how do you know this, Gorblame?" Thalerdrad asked. "Eh," Gorblame said "'twas, uh, fully more'n four centuries ago, as a young feller, I was a guest of the mystic Bazbith Ladies on the island Bheordiack. They were civil, and asked those of us on the crew of the ship if we wished to see the time and circumstances of our death. I was the only one with enough mettle. They took me into a cave and showed me a scene in a radiant waterfall. What I saw was you two guys and some Northern Nomars, we gave them the letter, then they slayed us. But since they said it was four-hundred years hence, I was happy. That gained me the respect of me fellow crewmembers -- smiling after seeing me own death. That was the beginning of my great success on the seas. But soon, thank our Creator, I'll die once and for all..." Thalerdrad and Thirk were both wide-eyed as they listened to his tale. "Uh..." Thalerdrad began "...uh... are you... are you sure, Gorblame? Are you entirely sure?" "Yeap." Gorblame clanged. "Eh, why not, uh, abandon the mission! Yeah!" Thirk said loudly. "Forsake the king and his stupid quest! I wanna live!" "Thirk," Thalerdrad said, "we cannot abandon the mission. We have sworm ourselves to Drey. If death waits for us in the valley Darthule, then so be it." "So be it nothin'!" Thirk yelled out "I'm going back!" With this, Thirk bagan running back the way they had come. "No!" yelled Thalerdrad, but it was too late. As Thalerdrad knew would happen, Thirk burst into flame and evaporated. Nobody can go the other way on a highway, Thalerdrad knew. He closed his eyes in sorrow for his childhood pal. "Look what you did, dolt!" Thalerdrad yelled at Gorblame. "Don't blame me," Gorblame said "He should have known the effects of backtracking on a highway. Besides, he got off easy -- the Nomars method of death-inducing is unpleasant in the extreme. If I were you I'd do the same as him." "I think you're lying!" Thalerdrad said "You want the glory of gaining the Amarith yourself! Well, I'll not allow you to commit such an evil act!" With this, Thalerdrad drew his blade and held it before him. "Calm yourself, son of Dradmer. If I wished to kill him, or you, for that matter, I'd have done it myself. Neither of you are a match for me. Please believe me. I'm telling the truth." Thalerdrad, breathing heavily, faced Gorblame, but slowly released his tensed muscles, and then resheathed his blade. "So be it." Thalerdrad said "I will believe you for now, but I shall face my fate like a true warrior." "Okay." Gorblame uttered lowly, as they began walking again. They walked a long time, niether saying a word. Then Thalerdrad spoke. "How will they kill us?" "I will tell you. They place us in tanks of weak acid and baby snakes, and as we slowly decompose, the snakes feed on us and grow larger. It is called Thirteen Days of Agony." "Oh God!" Thalerdrad exclaimed. "Yes." Gorblame commented. "But -- what about you, in that huge and impervious metal body of yours?" "Well, they regenerate my original body, just to kill me." They walked on a while longer. Finally Thalerdrad, who seemed to be in deep thought, spoke. "I believe you, since you have no reason to lie. I wish to find some way out of this situation. To blazes with the king!" "Well, when we exit the highway, the Nomars will be waiting for us. Then the highway will disappear, and we'll be trapped in Darthule. They already know of our mission, and have the acid vats ready. There is no escape." "Well," Thalerdrad yelled "I know one escape! No one who's jumped off a highway was ever seen again! But it might lead to anywhere -- even everlasting life! Farewell!" With this, Thalerdrad jumped off the side of the highway. He fell for a long, long time, and watched as the highway above drifted farther and farther into the distance. Then he felt himself burst into flame and evaporate. "Such is life." Gorblame said as he continued walking along the highway. But just at that moment, Felptash the Highwayist took an ballista bolt through the heart as Thartos was being invaded by the Union of Draldia. Felptash dead, the highway disintegrated, and Gorblame fell into oblivion. In oblivion, Gorblame reminisced about his days as a tern-man on the high seas. Soon, he felt his metal body disassembling and dispersing, and his soul was finally free. He felt like he was naked in a thunderstorm. It was glorious. Liberty at last. Back in Thartos, the palace of King Drey had just taken a huge fireball on it's western wall, and was collapsing. As his dying thought, Drey imagined the harlot he made love to decades earlier in Boshophot. He thought to himself, in all my life, is that the most outstanding memory? Yes, he thought, it is the most memorable thought. Pity. The End Au114   | DAD'S OLD QUIPS Killing is good is you do it with wood. Kill kill down the laundry bill. Au115   | FADED VOICES Phoning those friends from the past the drift the gap between us thinking about them that's them from then can I offer them anything now? What was the futile exercise with her I performed and put my foot in my mouth just now years later what was the significance of it all? And her who was the victim in the violent dream and her her confusing personality and situation I never really knew her and now it's a distant faded voice I hear but am I with her always, nonetheless? And the new one she's a big mystery the situation between us our relationship is nebulous in the utmost and she's odd to boot I'm befudded but I think it's an educational experience in any case but is it truly or is that a justification? And all the others acquaintances here and there the one I spoke with for four hours then never again and so on all I've seen is this something I should understand? Yes girls the spiritual situation is utmost I see the old ideas as hags ready to drop dead soon leaving newer attitudes newer loving newer learning but but when? Au116   | PAMELA Those shocking written words the kind you read them and you get a chill like say it's 1983 and your name is Pamela Vefziesco and you're reading a book in the can published in 1958 and you read     "Hello, Pamela Vefziesco,     reading this in 1983     on the toilet.     How are you?     Was that a car horn you just heard outside?" Au117   | PRIMAL SCREAM ENCYCLOPAEDIA I eat fire phosphor mist and scrap iron objects you can find my heart somewhere in your basement you can find my dick in my pants where else So go down that avenue and forget your sordid past fly the friendly skies get high on grass like gears in a clock your ears are hot oil and the madness in a scream is a red painting down the hall where that goddam boss of yours works wouldn't you just love to give her a good slap in the face Well it's over stay in bed I'll see to it Au118   | QUANDARY'S BINDINGS Wondering on the wonderful future I sit and steam in frictional time lapsing Ha ha the future is always distant I never get there but I live there Away into oblivion with you all! May you grovel forever! I I need some time to think please just be quiet and let me think I it's just too complicated to understand all at once There! Yes, the secret is there, in the deep past, and I must travel back in time to get there Travel back in time! Ha ha! What a joke I know it'll never happen for a long time But good and bad bead center super calendar remember events yet to occur seeing through so much lacking capacties to process the information The information. Let me think a little won't you just let me think you me me never now never whenever Au119   | QUIET SONGS SUNG standing a good distance from the front of the library an eerie light beaming onto it then clouds press in and it darkens and a cold rain comes lightly as I watch the entrace to the library I smile I am happy it's a new time a new chance for new life the cold rain feels so good on my face my hands my arms my eyes see me oh see me see me here near the front of the library the rain gets heavier and colder I get drenched very cold very wet very good Au120   | RAHTER benner dezd pravver grune estersto calblabbip eblebbid teph goongoot snellow bampy styal morje iphern teskers olombizips mengdingtungks whule rhammers dankinn snackerzennint bloopbloospim nangertanck kellerkeck beeb nolusperp kinternoobler broxy nexert blengs u broal u rahter! Au121   | THE PERIODIC CIDOIREP helibeb nofnena alsips clark casctiv feconi cuzn gage assebr krrb sryzr motcrurh pdag cdinsn teixe balace smeugd dyhofr ybluhf tawre osirpt auhgtl bipoat frraacth paunppuam cfesfm nolr unqunpunh hnupnuqnurl ondm sefc maup pnuap caarrf taopib ghua risoerwat fhulby rfohyd dguems ecalabscexiet nidcga hrurctom yrsbr esasegag nzucinocef vit csack ralcs pislagm anenfonc bebilehh -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- -----