Chapter 11 – Red Spots
The cereal bar had helped. Joshua was no longer starving, but he still had to pee. He glanced around himself trying to figure out how he could take care of that pressing problem. While he ate he had figured out that if he risked sticking his hand out from under the counter and waving it quickly the lights would stay on. He had forgotten to do it one time and the room had gone dark. On instinct he had shot his leg out, the lights flashing back on with his movement and he had worried that someone in the hall would notice. Nothing had happened, however, so he relaxed a little and tried not to think of anything having to do with water.
There was no other way out of the room except the door he had come through. There were no other doors at all, besides the ones that fronted the cabinets above the counters along one wall. They weren’t going to lead to a bathroom. Cabinets never had bathrooms inside of them. There were windows on the back wall, but he couldn’t see the latches and didn’t think he could open them anyway. In desperation he pressed his hands into his crotch and squeezed his legs together. There had to be some place. He didn’t want to have an accident.
That’s when he saw it. Sitting on the floor between a counter and the front wall was a wastebasket. A round black can with a white plastic bag lining it and tied around the rim so it wouldn’t fall in. If he was quick he could pee and be back under the table before anyone came. He stuck his hand out and waved it frantically to keep the lights on, then pulled it back under the counter. The wastebasket was three counters away. And there were stools pushed in around them like a forest of silver trees.
Joshua leaned forward and rested on his knees. His bladder didn’t like this new position and he pressed harder with his hands to keep from going right in his pants. He stuck his head out and listened for anyone coming down the hall, but it was quiet for the moment. He pushed past the stool and realized that if he didn’t make a run for it he was going to be very wet and very miserable. He scrambled to his feet and, with one hand still clutching his crotch, bolted around the counters and ran for the wastebasket. He was so desperate that the urine hit the crumpled up papers in the can before he was fully stopped.
He thought about how angry his mother would be with him for peeing in the trash. Then he thought about how much angrier she would have been if he had soiled himself and decided this was a better choice. Besides, he wasn’t going to tell her that he had done it. She would never know.
“Code seven, south entrance. Code seven, south entrance.”
The voice startled Joshua so badly he missed the wastebasket and peed on the wall.
“Code nine, men’s room, south entrance. Code nine, men’s room, south entrance.”
Joshua stuffed himself back inside his shorts and then pressed his back against the front wall. There were footsteps in the hall coming closer. Women’s voices floated into the room as they passed.
“Code seven?” he heard one of them ask.
“Yeah, that’s for the HazMat team. Someone’s had some kind of biohazard accident.”
Their voices grew softer as they walked further along the hallway and he could no longer tell what they were saying. He stared at the counters and wished the women would leave. He wanted to duck down under the counters and hide, but he didn’t dare move. They were still out in the hall. They could come back and find him. Then that man would try to take him away again.
“Yes, but I’m alive and I plan to stay that way,” one of the women said, her voice growing louder and clearer as she walked quickly back past Joshua’s room. The other woman clicked past, too, and then the hall was quiet once more.
Joshua waited a few more seconds before he stepped away from the wall and peeked at the doorway. No one was there. He ran for the nearest counter and shoved his way through the stool legs and underneath. As he turned around so he could watch the door from his new hiding spot he saw something small and dark run into the shadow of the door, just inside the room. His heart thudded in his chest and he strained to see what it was.
He could just make out small red spots along a smooth glossy black surface. He squinted. There was a head, flat and broad, with big staring eyes, and a long glossy black tail tucked tight where feet should be.
Joshua leaned out from under the counter, completely forgetting where he was. “Stewart?” he whispered.
The glossy black head ducked and then turned slowly in Joshua’s direction bringing sharp, clear red eyes to look into his own.
“Stewart!”
~ Peace and surprise
They say you should be careful what you wish for, and perhaps this can be applied to that which we hope to win. Be that as it may, I desire a writing life and so I am embarking on the journey, risking and writing in order to win it, a writer's life.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Chapter 10 of Joshua and Stewart's adventure started on 11-24-09
Chapter 10 - Urgency
Stewart reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner. For a brief instant he was in the dark and then the entire world flashed into brilliant existence. Out of pain and fear he slammed his eyes shut and pressed his body to the floor. Nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes and realized he was in another long, never ending whiteness. This one was a bit different, though. He could see several depressions along the sides that held tall pieces of trees with no branches and no leaves. He skittered along the floor toward the first one and slipped into the depression as a person came striding into view.
The person carried a bundle in his front legs and never looked down where Stewart was trying desperately to hide. He walked by so fast Stewart felt the breeze the man made with his back legs. Three heartbeats later the man disappeared into a different depression in the white wall and the hall was deserted once again.
Stewart lifted himself off the floor and peered in both directions. Just as he stepped away from his hiding spot a voice crackled through the air.
“Code seven, south entrance. Code seven, south entrance.”
Stewart looked frantically around to find the mouth the words were coming from, but he was alone. His heart raced and his legs shook with fear. Where was the voice coming from?
“Code nine, men’s room, south entrance. Code nine, men’s room, south entrance,” the disembodied voice continued.
Not knowing what else to do, and filled with an extreme need to run, Stewart scurried out into the hall and made for the next depression. As he reached it he heard the slap – tap of shoes coming toward him. He pressed himself into the base of the strange flat tree and tried to look like a rock. Two women passed by him talking to one another, their voices tight and clipped.
“Code seven?”
“Yeah, that’s for the HazMat team. Someone’s had some kind of biohazard accident.”
“At the south entrance?”
“I guess.”
“But there aren’t any labs by the south entrance. And what’s code nine?”
“That’s the medical team.”
One of the women stopped. “They’re going to the south entrance…”
The other woman turned and looked at the first. “Yeah, the codes are probably related.”
The first woman raised her hand and pointed in the direction they had been walking. “That’s the south entrance,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere near it.” She turned away from her companion. “I’m going back and head upstairs from the main tower.”
“It’s probably fine, Ann,” the other woman said. “They would’ve closed this section if it was dangerous.”
Ann shook her head. “Nope. I want children someday. I’m not taking chances. If you want to go this way, fine. I’ll meet you in Lab 38 in ten minutes.” She started to walk back the way they had come.
The first woman shook her head and then sighed. “Fine, fine, we’ll go the long way. You’re so paranoid.”
“Yes, but I’m alive and I plan to stay that way.” Ann walked quickly down the hall with her companion hurrying to catch up. Stewart didn’t move until the clicking of their shoes was gone.
The word dangerous sat in Stewart’s head like a sharp stick. He knew what it meant and a blurry image of the hunting rock crossed his mind. He swallowed and ran for the next depression.
~ Peace and urgency
Stewart reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner. For a brief instant he was in the dark and then the entire world flashed into brilliant existence. Out of pain and fear he slammed his eyes shut and pressed his body to the floor. Nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes and realized he was in another long, never ending whiteness. This one was a bit different, though. He could see several depressions along the sides that held tall pieces of trees with no branches and no leaves. He skittered along the floor toward the first one and slipped into the depression as a person came striding into view.
The person carried a bundle in his front legs and never looked down where Stewart was trying desperately to hide. He walked by so fast Stewart felt the breeze the man made with his back legs. Three heartbeats later the man disappeared into a different depression in the white wall and the hall was deserted once again.
Stewart lifted himself off the floor and peered in both directions. Just as he stepped away from his hiding spot a voice crackled through the air.
“Code seven, south entrance. Code seven, south entrance.”
Stewart looked frantically around to find the mouth the words were coming from, but he was alone. His heart raced and his legs shook with fear. Where was the voice coming from?
“Code nine, men’s room, south entrance. Code nine, men’s room, south entrance,” the disembodied voice continued.
Not knowing what else to do, and filled with an extreme need to run, Stewart scurried out into the hall and made for the next depression. As he reached it he heard the slap – tap of shoes coming toward him. He pressed himself into the base of the strange flat tree and tried to look like a rock. Two women passed by him talking to one another, their voices tight and clipped.
“Code seven?”
“Yeah, that’s for the HazMat team. Someone’s had some kind of biohazard accident.”
“At the south entrance?”
“I guess.”
“But there aren’t any labs by the south entrance. And what’s code nine?”
“That’s the medical team.”
One of the women stopped. “They’re going to the south entrance…”
The other woman turned and looked at the first. “Yeah, the codes are probably related.”
The first woman raised her hand and pointed in the direction they had been walking. “That’s the south entrance,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere near it.” She turned away from her companion. “I’m going back and head upstairs from the main tower.”
“It’s probably fine, Ann,” the other woman said. “They would’ve closed this section if it was dangerous.”
Ann shook her head. “Nope. I want children someday. I’m not taking chances. If you want to go this way, fine. I’ll meet you in Lab 38 in ten minutes.” She started to walk back the way they had come.
The first woman shook her head and then sighed. “Fine, fine, we’ll go the long way. You’re so paranoid.”
“Yes, but I’m alive and I plan to stay that way.” Ann walked quickly down the hall with her companion hurrying to catch up. Stewart didn’t move until the clicking of their shoes was gone.
The word dangerous sat in Stewart’s head like a sharp stick. He knew what it meant and a blurry image of the hunting rock crossed his mind. He swallowed and ran for the next depression.
~ Peace and urgency
Chapter 9 of the tale of Stewart and Joshua started on 11-24-09
Chapter 9 - Hunger
The room was still dark when Joshua woke up. He had no idea how long he had been asleep, though the ache in his knees and the cramp in his neck made him think it had been a while. He rubbed his eyes and grimaced as his stomach growled. It had been lunch the last time he had eaten. Now he felt famished and had no idea what time it was or where he would find food.
The hallway was filled with continuous noise. The lights just outside his room turned on and then off as people traveled the corridor. He could hear them, their shoes slapping or tapping as they walked, their voices carrying into the room in snatches and clipped sentences that didn’t mean anything to him as they passed. Eventually someone walked by with a bag of popcorn, the thick butter smell spilled into his room, and it was all he could do not to leave his hiding spot and beg for a handout.
And he had to pee. That realization came on fast and sudden as he tried to shift his limbs in the tight little space. How was he going to pee when the lights came on every time something in the room moved? And where? He stared out at the stools and counters and wished for an answer.
For several long moments he considered unfolding himself and running for the nearest counter. Doing that would set off the lights, but being under the counter would mean space and the ability to see better. His view from the tight little cubby was limited to the back third of the room and an awkward line of sight to the door. If he could see better then he might be able to figure out how to escape. He started to reach his foot out when the room lights flared on. A man had entered and began shoving a few of the stools around. Joshua pressed himself as far back into his hiding space as he could.
“Well crap,” the man shoving the stools muttered. “What the hell did I do with it?”
Joshua watched as the man glanced under one of the counters and then walked closer to the file cabinet.
“I could have sworn I left it in here…”
A drawer was pulled open on the file cabinet and then pushed shut. Joshua held his breath. Another drawer was pulled out, rifled through, and then shut.
“Huh,” the man muttered. Joshua could just see the tips of one of the man’s shoes. “Maybe I left it upstairs.” The man turned and walked out of the room and Joshua started to breath again.
After a few seconds of quiet Joshua peeked around the file cabinet. The lights were still on, but the room was empty. He unfolded his aching legs and stretched them out in front of himself, rubbing his knees and turning his head to take the kink out of his neck. The sounds of voices and shoes in the hallway sent him scrambling for the nearest counter and he pulled a stool in behind him. He was not hidden under the counter like he had been in the tight space between the file cabinet and the wall. If he moved too much at the wrong moment someone would notice and come take him away.
Shortly a woman in a long white coat walked past with an armful of books and papers. Joshua pulled his knees in tight against his chest and let the shirt cover his legs again. He hoped it would make him look like part of the floor. She never once looked into the room and after she passed he relaxed a little.
In the light of the room he was able to see the pockets on the shirt near the top and along the sides. He reached into one and found a pen and a small pad of paper. In another he found a tiny screwdriver, paper clips, and a black rubber stopper with a hole through its center. There were a few tissues in another pocket and in the last one he found a strawberry cereal bar.
Eating it was a challenge. Every time he took a bite or opened the wrapper a little it made crinkling noises. He had to stop each time someone walked by the room and it took almost ten minutes to finish it. In the end he sat with his legs tucked up, a smear of strawberry on his fingers, and an empty wrapper that he repeatedly dumped into his wide-open mouth hoping to get the last few crumbs still left inside.
~ Peace and sustenance
The room was still dark when Joshua woke up. He had no idea how long he had been asleep, though the ache in his knees and the cramp in his neck made him think it had been a while. He rubbed his eyes and grimaced as his stomach growled. It had been lunch the last time he had eaten. Now he felt famished and had no idea what time it was or where he would find food.
The hallway was filled with continuous noise. The lights just outside his room turned on and then off as people traveled the corridor. He could hear them, their shoes slapping or tapping as they walked, their voices carrying into the room in snatches and clipped sentences that didn’t mean anything to him as they passed. Eventually someone walked by with a bag of popcorn, the thick butter smell spilled into his room, and it was all he could do not to leave his hiding spot and beg for a handout.
And he had to pee. That realization came on fast and sudden as he tried to shift his limbs in the tight little space. How was he going to pee when the lights came on every time something in the room moved? And where? He stared out at the stools and counters and wished for an answer.
For several long moments he considered unfolding himself and running for the nearest counter. Doing that would set off the lights, but being under the counter would mean space and the ability to see better. His view from the tight little cubby was limited to the back third of the room and an awkward line of sight to the door. If he could see better then he might be able to figure out how to escape. He started to reach his foot out when the room lights flared on. A man had entered and began shoving a few of the stools around. Joshua pressed himself as far back into his hiding space as he could.
“Well crap,” the man shoving the stools muttered. “What the hell did I do with it?”
Joshua watched as the man glanced under one of the counters and then walked closer to the file cabinet.
“I could have sworn I left it in here…”
A drawer was pulled open on the file cabinet and then pushed shut. Joshua held his breath. Another drawer was pulled out, rifled through, and then shut.
“Huh,” the man muttered. Joshua could just see the tips of one of the man’s shoes. “Maybe I left it upstairs.” The man turned and walked out of the room and Joshua started to breath again.
After a few seconds of quiet Joshua peeked around the file cabinet. The lights were still on, but the room was empty. He unfolded his aching legs and stretched them out in front of himself, rubbing his knees and turning his head to take the kink out of his neck. The sounds of voices and shoes in the hallway sent him scrambling for the nearest counter and he pulled a stool in behind him. He was not hidden under the counter like he had been in the tight space between the file cabinet and the wall. If he moved too much at the wrong moment someone would notice and come take him away.
Shortly a woman in a long white coat walked past with an armful of books and papers. Joshua pulled his knees in tight against his chest and let the shirt cover his legs again. He hoped it would make him look like part of the floor. She never once looked into the room and after she passed he relaxed a little.
In the light of the room he was able to see the pockets on the shirt near the top and along the sides. He reached into one and found a pen and a small pad of paper. In another he found a tiny screwdriver, paper clips, and a black rubber stopper with a hole through its center. There were a few tissues in another pocket and in the last one he found a strawberry cereal bar.
Eating it was a challenge. Every time he took a bite or opened the wrapper a little it made crinkling noises. He had to stop each time someone walked by the room and it took almost ten minutes to finish it. In the end he sat with his legs tucked up, a smear of strawberry on his fingers, and an empty wrapper that he repeatedly dumped into his wide-open mouth hoping to get the last few crumbs still left inside.
~ Peace and sustenance
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Chapter 8 of Stewart and Joshua's adventure started on 11-24-09
Chapter 8 - The long whiteness and the empty shadow
Everything was so bright. And cold. The sun was no longer the right color and it wasn’t warm like it should be. The ground beneath Stewart’s feet was wrong. It was too flat and too smooth. And there was nowhere to hide. He hadn’t noticed that right away. The light had been so sharp that he had stumbled through the sneaky hole several feet before he started to wonder what was wrong with the grass. With his eyes half closed to shade them, he could finally see there was no grass, just flat, bright white, on and on and on. He turned and looked back the way he had come. The man wearing the shadow was still thrashing about in the pond. Between the pond and the sneaky hole was grass and rocks and dirt. He looked forward again. Everything beyond him was…different.
In the distance he could hear slapping sounds, voices talking too fast for him to understand, clicks and buzzes and clanging. All of it made him nervous. All of it made him want to hide. The only place that seemed possible was a shady spot beside a tall, thin wall so he scurried towards it.
His claws made tiny clicking, scratching sounds on the ground as he ran. His tail swished back and forth with the undulations of his long, narrow body. Once he made it to the shade he curled up and watched. It wasn’t nearly as dark there as he had hoped. He still felt very exposed with no grass hanging over him and no dirt and rock to blend in to. He looked at his front foot. It stood out against the white ground like a deep red-brown clump of mud. He looked up, searching for birds. There weren’t any and that was good.
After resting a few moments he peeked out and looked further down the long whiteness. He breathed in and out and it irritated him. Breathing in the water was so much easier. The water just flowed into his mouth, over his gills, and back out into the pond. Now he had to pull the cold, dry air into his lungs and push it back out again. The more he moved the harder he had to breathe, and his gills were beginning to stick to his sides. He hated how that felt. He looked back at the sneaky hole. It was still open. He could run back out and hide, then scurry his way back to his pond and be safe.
The man from the high, clear place climbed out of the pond and started back. He was dragging the two nasty sticks behind him and water glistened off the shadow he wore. He was not walking very fast. His steps were heavy and each time he raised his back feet water sloshed out of his legs. As he got closer, Stewart could see his face inside the huge clear eye and it made him shiver. The man was breathing hard, Stewart could hear it, and every breath he took seemed to hurt him. The man’s mouth was a long, straight line and he had deep grooves over his eyes. He stepped through the sneaky hole and the wall slid shut behind him. Stewart felt a deep sense of panic as he watched the grass disappear.
The man took three more steps into the long whiteness, dropped both nasty sticks on the ground and began to peel the shadow off. He pulled the shadow’s head off his own and let it fall to the floor, then he pulled on a loose piece in the front and tore open the shadow from beneath his neck all the way to his back legs. The whole thing made Stewart shake. The man pulled the shadow from his shoulders and let the shadow fall to the floor in a heap. He stepped out and then walked slowly down the long whiteness, his back feet leaving small puddles of water with each step. He turned and suddenly disappeared into the wall.
Stewart looked from the wall where the man had been to the lump of shadow he had left on the floor. Curiosity got the better of him and he crept toward the shadow with slow, tentative steps, swinging his head from side to side to be sure he was safe. All of a sudden a part of the wall further down flew out from the face and the long whiteness was filled with voices. The woman and two men poured out and began searching for something. Stewart scuttled into the folds and hanging down places made by the shadow and hid.
“Mason!” the woman shouted. “Mason where are you?”
Stewart watched from under an overhang of orange as one of the men started down the long whiteness in his direction.
“Look, he left the biohazard suit.”
“Don’t touch it!” the second man yelled and the first one stopped ten feet from Stewart and his hiding place. “Natalie, call the HazMat team to come take care of it. One casualty is more than enough, Rob.”
The first man nodded and then glanced at the floor. “He’s gone in there,” he said and pointed to the place in the wall the man had disappeared into. “Call the medical team, too, Nat. Send them to the men’s room. He’s gonna need them in a hurry.”
The woman nodded and tuned back the way she had come. She pulled the broken piece of the wall back into place, leaving the men alone in the long whiteness.
“What do we do?” the first one asked. “He’s a dead man. What do we do?”
“We go in there and make sure he’s there, we don’t touch him, and we wait for the med team. They know what to do. That’s their job.”
“I’m right, though, aren’t I.”
“Yeah,” the second man said as he carefully stepped around the water on the floor. “He’s a dead man all right. He’s got maybe 36 hours at best.”
“Shit,” the first man hissed and followed the other one into the open space in the wall.
Stewart stayed hidden for a few more moments before he realized just where he was. Slowly he crept out from under the shadow and then crawled onto its skin. He peered at the pile left by the man and he shuddered. There was nothing in there. The insides of the shadow were gone. No bones. No meat. No fat. Nothing. Stewart looked at the place where the sneaky hole had been and wished it would come back. He wished it would let him out. Then he remembered why he was in the long whiteness in the first place. The child. The warm hands and big eyes. If this is what the man had done to the shadow who knew him, what would he do to the child who didn’t? Stewart climbed down off the shadow’s skin and scurried down the long whiteness, hugging the base of the white wall as he ran. This was no place for a child. Not for his child.
~ Peace and spirit
Everything was so bright. And cold. The sun was no longer the right color and it wasn’t warm like it should be. The ground beneath Stewart’s feet was wrong. It was too flat and too smooth. And there was nowhere to hide. He hadn’t noticed that right away. The light had been so sharp that he had stumbled through the sneaky hole several feet before he started to wonder what was wrong with the grass. With his eyes half closed to shade them, he could finally see there was no grass, just flat, bright white, on and on and on. He turned and looked back the way he had come. The man wearing the shadow was still thrashing about in the pond. Between the pond and the sneaky hole was grass and rocks and dirt. He looked forward again. Everything beyond him was…different.
In the distance he could hear slapping sounds, voices talking too fast for him to understand, clicks and buzzes and clanging. All of it made him nervous. All of it made him want to hide. The only place that seemed possible was a shady spot beside a tall, thin wall so he scurried towards it.
His claws made tiny clicking, scratching sounds on the ground as he ran. His tail swished back and forth with the undulations of his long, narrow body. Once he made it to the shade he curled up and watched. It wasn’t nearly as dark there as he had hoped. He still felt very exposed with no grass hanging over him and no dirt and rock to blend in to. He looked at his front foot. It stood out against the white ground like a deep red-brown clump of mud. He looked up, searching for birds. There weren’t any and that was good.
After resting a few moments he peeked out and looked further down the long whiteness. He breathed in and out and it irritated him. Breathing in the water was so much easier. The water just flowed into his mouth, over his gills, and back out into the pond. Now he had to pull the cold, dry air into his lungs and push it back out again. The more he moved the harder he had to breathe, and his gills were beginning to stick to his sides. He hated how that felt. He looked back at the sneaky hole. It was still open. He could run back out and hide, then scurry his way back to his pond and be safe.
The man from the high, clear place climbed out of the pond and started back. He was dragging the two nasty sticks behind him and water glistened off the shadow he wore. He was not walking very fast. His steps were heavy and each time he raised his back feet water sloshed out of his legs. As he got closer, Stewart could see his face inside the huge clear eye and it made him shiver. The man was breathing hard, Stewart could hear it, and every breath he took seemed to hurt him. The man’s mouth was a long, straight line and he had deep grooves over his eyes. He stepped through the sneaky hole and the wall slid shut behind him. Stewart felt a deep sense of panic as he watched the grass disappear.
The man took three more steps into the long whiteness, dropped both nasty sticks on the ground and began to peel the shadow off. He pulled the shadow’s head off his own and let it fall to the floor, then he pulled on a loose piece in the front and tore open the shadow from beneath his neck all the way to his back legs. The whole thing made Stewart shake. The man pulled the shadow from his shoulders and let the shadow fall to the floor in a heap. He stepped out and then walked slowly down the long whiteness, his back feet leaving small puddles of water with each step. He turned and suddenly disappeared into the wall.
Stewart looked from the wall where the man had been to the lump of shadow he had left on the floor. Curiosity got the better of him and he crept toward the shadow with slow, tentative steps, swinging his head from side to side to be sure he was safe. All of a sudden a part of the wall further down flew out from the face and the long whiteness was filled with voices. The woman and two men poured out and began searching for something. Stewart scuttled into the folds and hanging down places made by the shadow and hid.
“Mason!” the woman shouted. “Mason where are you?”
Stewart watched from under an overhang of orange as one of the men started down the long whiteness in his direction.
“Look, he left the biohazard suit.”
“Don’t touch it!” the second man yelled and the first one stopped ten feet from Stewart and his hiding place. “Natalie, call the HazMat team to come take care of it. One casualty is more than enough, Rob.”
The first man nodded and then glanced at the floor. “He’s gone in there,” he said and pointed to the place in the wall the man had disappeared into. “Call the medical team, too, Nat. Send them to the men’s room. He’s gonna need them in a hurry.”
The woman nodded and tuned back the way she had come. She pulled the broken piece of the wall back into place, leaving the men alone in the long whiteness.
“What do we do?” the first one asked. “He’s a dead man. What do we do?”
“We go in there and make sure he’s there, we don’t touch him, and we wait for the med team. They know what to do. That’s their job.”
“I’m right, though, aren’t I.”
“Yeah,” the second man said as he carefully stepped around the water on the floor. “He’s a dead man all right. He’s got maybe 36 hours at best.”
“Shit,” the first man hissed and followed the other one into the open space in the wall.
Stewart stayed hidden for a few more moments before he realized just where he was. Slowly he crept out from under the shadow and then crawled onto its skin. He peered at the pile left by the man and he shuddered. There was nothing in there. The insides of the shadow were gone. No bones. No meat. No fat. Nothing. Stewart looked at the place where the sneaky hole had been and wished it would come back. He wished it would let him out. Then he remembered why he was in the long whiteness in the first place. The child. The warm hands and big eyes. If this is what the man had done to the shadow who knew him, what would he do to the child who didn’t? Stewart climbed down off the shadow’s skin and scurried down the long whiteness, hugging the base of the white wall as he ran. This was no place for a child. Not for his child.
~ Peace and spirit
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Chapter 7 of Joshua and Stewart's dilemma started on 11-24-09
Chapter 7 - Decision
The pond was filled with a strange sucking, whining noise that hurt Stewart’s ears. It drew him out of another dream, this time about the hunting rock down in the beyond. The noise was just like the noise in his dream, the same eerie sound the hunting rock made when it had caught something and was eating it. He hated that noise. He wrapped his tail around his feet and pressed himself tight against the rock shelf.
The sunlight no longer filtered in through the algae. Now the surface was a dull green nothingness and the water below it was hard to see through. The sudden splash and descent of the nasty stick made Stewart bolt to the surface and into the hanging grass along the edge of the pond. The shadow was back and it was angry. It was growling and snarling as it jabbed the stick over and over into the pond. The horrible clicking box was there, too.
“You’ve got to move whatever it is blocking the outflow pipe, John. Now. The pressure’s building. The entire system’s bound up because of this.”
“Yeah, well who the hell missed the indicators, huh?”
“What was that?”
“I said, who the hell missed the indicators!” the shadowed yelled.
Stewart blinked. He had understood the words.
“Don’t yell at me,” a woman’s voice squawked back. “That was Mason’s job. Not mine.”
“You got the email just like the rest of them, Nat. You could have done something about it.”
“Me? Me? I’m trying to keep an eye on the kid! This is Mason’s fault! He’s the one who told me to grab the child in the first place! Hell, if he hadn’t forgotten to check the fence line the boy wouldn’t be hiding in the bio lab.”
Stewart blinked and cocked his head. He understood what the voice was saying. He knew what the growls meant.
“You know what,” the shadow snarled back, “I don’t want to hear it. All day long you people sit in there and mess with the conductivity of this and the electron balance of that and when the damn system you guys built starts sucking in things it’s not supposed to I have to come out here to the this mini hellhole you idiots created and fix it!”
“Mmmm,” Stewart tried as he pressed his lips together. “Mmmmmeeeee,” he whined softly.
The shadow jabbed the stick hard against the bottom and yanked it back and forth.
“What ever it is down there it’s stuck good. You’ll have to reverse the flow and maybe then I can shift it,” it said.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”
“Excuse me?”
“We can’t do that, John,” a man’s voice crackled into the air. “The containment pond won’t be able to handle that type of flow and we have nowhere to send the backflow when the water level in the pond gets too high.”
“You’re joking.”
“Ah, not so much.”
The shadow backed up and leaned on its nasty stick. “Who the hell designed this system?”
“Mason.”
Stewart hissed and rolled his tongue against his front teeth. “Hhhhlllllll. Hhhhelllllllll.”
“Well you better tell Mason that his system is screwed.”
“John? This is Mason. Listen you have to unclog the outflow pipe. It’s extremely important.”
“Can’t do it.”
“Well you have to do it. Everything we’ve been working on will be affected if the system gets fouled.”
“I’m telling you that I can’t unclog it with this pole. It’s not possible.”
“Then get another pole! Get a pitchfork! Get something that will unclog it!”
The shadow threw the nasty stick on the ground and turned toward the high white wall. Stewart scurried forward and hid himself under a clump of weeds. It was harder to move on the ground. Not all of his legs seemed to work quite right. Swimming was much easier. Swimming was smooth and precise. Running was awkward and tiring. He watched the shadow disappear into the sneaky place in the white wall and then return with a new stick. This one was longer and thicker. It had two long claws on the end and the sight of it caused Stewart to press himself close to the ground.
“This is not going to work,” the shadow snapped.
Stewart watched the shadow pierce the pond’s surface with the new stick. It went through the same motions as before and got no where.
“How’s it coming?” the woman asked.
“How do you think? Are your readings any better? Has the pressure changed?”
“No.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so. I told you it wasn’t going to work.”
“It has to work!”
“How? How do you want me to make it work, Mason?! Get an even bigger pole?”
“Get in the water and pull whatever it is off the grate.”
The shadow stood up and turned toward the high white wall. There was a different sort of hole up high that Stewart had never noticed before. He could see people there. A woman and two men.
“Are you out of your friggin’ mind?!?” The shadow threw its hands out to the sides, the new stick flashed in the late evening sun. “I’m not going in there! The radiation levels alone are too high, and the toxicity is off the charts! No way!”
Stewart watched as one of the men in the high up hole grabbed his head and turned in a tight circle.
“Shut the system down, Mason!” the shadow yelled. “If it’s that critical then shut it all down!”
“Ssshhhhtttttttttttt.” Stewart tried. “Ddddddwwnnnn.”
“I CAN”T SHUT IT DOWN!”
“WHY NOT?!”
One of the men in the high place looked like he was going to fall. His front legs were held in front of himself like he was trying to jump out of the high place, but he stayed right where he was. Stewart’s stomach grew taut waiting for him to fall and he couldn’t understand why he didn’t. Then he remembered. Before the pond there had been clear walls that kept him in one place. He had tried to climb them, but it hadn’t worked. He had been able to see everything around him, but he couldn’t get to any of it. Maybe that’s what kept the man from falling.
“Do you have any idea how much money this project is costing us? Do you know how much money this project will generate if it succeeds?!” There was a dull thud as the high up man hit the clear wall. “If I shut the system down it’s a complete wash. A complete wash! It can’t be done over! It can’t be restarted!” He hit the clear wall again. “CLEAR THE DAMN PIPE!”
“CLEAR IT YOURSELF!” the shadow roared and threw the new stick on the ground. It landed not five feet from where Stewart was hiding and he pressed himself as close to the ground as he could to keep from being seen.
“JOHN!”
The shadow turned away from the high clear place and walked toward the sneaky open place below.
“JOHN!”
The high up man hit the clear wall again, the thud was louder this time, ringing and angry.
The shadow disappeared inside the white wall and the sneaky place slid shut. Stewart glanced up at the clear wall. The two men were thrashing their front legs at each other and the woman was trying to back away. He looked at her. He knew her. She was the one that had yelled the other day. She was the one who said she had taken the child. He remembered the angry, frightened screams. He knew those screams. He had heard them before. The child with the warm hands and the big eyes had made them. Those had been the hands that had put him gently in his pond.
Stewart looked at the place where the opening had been. The child was in there. He scurried towards the high white wall and ducked behind a rock that was resting against it. The sneaky place slid open again and the man who had almost fallen from the high place came out. He was wearing the shadow on his body and carrying the shadow’s head. He looked around and then put the shadow’s head over his own.
Stewart could see his face through the big, clear eye and he shuddered. The man’s eyes reminded him of the hunting rock. They were not right. The man walked to the new stick, picked it up and plunged it into the pond. He jabbed and jabbed and twisted and yanked. It made Stewart’s skin hurt to watch. Finally the man shouted and stepped into the water. He slid as his back legs lost their footing. When he stopped sliding he was into the pond to his middle and the new stick was thrust back into the water and twisted some more.
Up in the high place the woman watched and another man Stewart hadn’t seen before stepped up next to her. She gestured with her front legs and the new man shook his head. She put her front legs over her head and sat down. Stewart glanced at the man wearing the shadow and then made a decision. The man hadn’t closed the sneaky place. The woman had said the child was hiding in there somewhere. He was going to go find him. This was no place for warm, gentle hands.
Stewart took seven halting steps towards the opening, glancing between it and the man in the pond. When he got to the opening he was dazzled by the white light inside, but he blinked, half closed his eyes, and scurried inside.
~ Peace and determination
The pond was filled with a strange sucking, whining noise that hurt Stewart’s ears. It drew him out of another dream, this time about the hunting rock down in the beyond. The noise was just like the noise in his dream, the same eerie sound the hunting rock made when it had caught something and was eating it. He hated that noise. He wrapped his tail around his feet and pressed himself tight against the rock shelf.
The sunlight no longer filtered in through the algae. Now the surface was a dull green nothingness and the water below it was hard to see through. The sudden splash and descent of the nasty stick made Stewart bolt to the surface and into the hanging grass along the edge of the pond. The shadow was back and it was angry. It was growling and snarling as it jabbed the stick over and over into the pond. The horrible clicking box was there, too.
“You’ve got to move whatever it is blocking the outflow pipe, John. Now. The pressure’s building. The entire system’s bound up because of this.”
“Yeah, well who the hell missed the indicators, huh?”
“What was that?”
“I said, who the hell missed the indicators!” the shadowed yelled.
Stewart blinked. He had understood the words.
“Don’t yell at me,” a woman’s voice squawked back. “That was Mason’s job. Not mine.”
“You got the email just like the rest of them, Nat. You could have done something about it.”
“Me? Me? I’m trying to keep an eye on the kid! This is Mason’s fault! He’s the one who told me to grab the child in the first place! Hell, if he hadn’t forgotten to check the fence line the boy wouldn’t be hiding in the bio lab.”
Stewart blinked and cocked his head. He understood what the voice was saying. He knew what the growls meant.
“You know what,” the shadow snarled back, “I don’t want to hear it. All day long you people sit in there and mess with the conductivity of this and the electron balance of that and when the damn system you guys built starts sucking in things it’s not supposed to I have to come out here to the this mini hellhole you idiots created and fix it!”
“Mmmm,” Stewart tried as he pressed his lips together. “Mmmmmeeeee,” he whined softly.
The shadow jabbed the stick hard against the bottom and yanked it back and forth.
“What ever it is down there it’s stuck good. You’ll have to reverse the flow and maybe then I can shift it,” it said.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”
“Excuse me?”
“We can’t do that, John,” a man’s voice crackled into the air. “The containment pond won’t be able to handle that type of flow and we have nowhere to send the backflow when the water level in the pond gets too high.”
“You’re joking.”
“Ah, not so much.”
The shadow backed up and leaned on its nasty stick. “Who the hell designed this system?”
“Mason.”
Stewart hissed and rolled his tongue against his front teeth. “Hhhhlllllll. Hhhhelllllllll.”
“Well you better tell Mason that his system is screwed.”
“John? This is Mason. Listen you have to unclog the outflow pipe. It’s extremely important.”
“Can’t do it.”
“Well you have to do it. Everything we’ve been working on will be affected if the system gets fouled.”
“I’m telling you that I can’t unclog it with this pole. It’s not possible.”
“Then get another pole! Get a pitchfork! Get something that will unclog it!”
The shadow threw the nasty stick on the ground and turned toward the high white wall. Stewart scurried forward and hid himself under a clump of weeds. It was harder to move on the ground. Not all of his legs seemed to work quite right. Swimming was much easier. Swimming was smooth and precise. Running was awkward and tiring. He watched the shadow disappear into the sneaky place in the white wall and then return with a new stick. This one was longer and thicker. It had two long claws on the end and the sight of it caused Stewart to press himself close to the ground.
“This is not going to work,” the shadow snapped.
Stewart watched the shadow pierce the pond’s surface with the new stick. It went through the same motions as before and got no where.
“How’s it coming?” the woman asked.
“How do you think? Are your readings any better? Has the pressure changed?”
“No.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think so. I told you it wasn’t going to work.”
“It has to work!”
“How? How do you want me to make it work, Mason?! Get an even bigger pole?”
“Get in the water and pull whatever it is off the grate.”
The shadow stood up and turned toward the high white wall. There was a different sort of hole up high that Stewart had never noticed before. He could see people there. A woman and two men.
“Are you out of your friggin’ mind?!?” The shadow threw its hands out to the sides, the new stick flashed in the late evening sun. “I’m not going in there! The radiation levels alone are too high, and the toxicity is off the charts! No way!”
Stewart watched as one of the men in the high up hole grabbed his head and turned in a tight circle.
“Shut the system down, Mason!” the shadow yelled. “If it’s that critical then shut it all down!”
“Ssshhhhtttttttttttt.” Stewart tried. “Ddddddwwnnnn.”
“I CAN”T SHUT IT DOWN!”
“WHY NOT?!”
One of the men in the high place looked like he was going to fall. His front legs were held in front of himself like he was trying to jump out of the high place, but he stayed right where he was. Stewart’s stomach grew taut waiting for him to fall and he couldn’t understand why he didn’t. Then he remembered. Before the pond there had been clear walls that kept him in one place. He had tried to climb them, but it hadn’t worked. He had been able to see everything around him, but he couldn’t get to any of it. Maybe that’s what kept the man from falling.
“Do you have any idea how much money this project is costing us? Do you know how much money this project will generate if it succeeds?!” There was a dull thud as the high up man hit the clear wall. “If I shut the system down it’s a complete wash. A complete wash! It can’t be done over! It can’t be restarted!” He hit the clear wall again. “CLEAR THE DAMN PIPE!”
“CLEAR IT YOURSELF!” the shadow roared and threw the new stick on the ground. It landed not five feet from where Stewart was hiding and he pressed himself as close to the ground as he could to keep from being seen.
“JOHN!”
The shadow turned away from the high clear place and walked toward the sneaky open place below.
“JOHN!”
The high up man hit the clear wall again, the thud was louder this time, ringing and angry.
The shadow disappeared inside the white wall and the sneaky place slid shut. Stewart glanced up at the clear wall. The two men were thrashing their front legs at each other and the woman was trying to back away. He looked at her. He knew her. She was the one that had yelled the other day. She was the one who said she had taken the child. He remembered the angry, frightened screams. He knew those screams. He had heard them before. The child with the warm hands and the big eyes had made them. Those had been the hands that had put him gently in his pond.
Stewart looked at the place where the opening had been. The child was in there. He scurried towards the high white wall and ducked behind a rock that was resting against it. The sneaky place slid open again and the man who had almost fallen from the high place came out. He was wearing the shadow on his body and carrying the shadow’s head. He looked around and then put the shadow’s head over his own.
Stewart could see his face through the big, clear eye and he shuddered. The man’s eyes reminded him of the hunting rock. They were not right. The man walked to the new stick, picked it up and plunged it into the pond. He jabbed and jabbed and twisted and yanked. It made Stewart’s skin hurt to watch. Finally the man shouted and stepped into the water. He slid as his back legs lost their footing. When he stopped sliding he was into the pond to his middle and the new stick was thrust back into the water and twisted some more.
Up in the high place the woman watched and another man Stewart hadn’t seen before stepped up next to her. She gestured with her front legs and the new man shook his head. She put her front legs over her head and sat down. Stewart glanced at the man wearing the shadow and then made a decision. The man hadn’t closed the sneaky place. The woman had said the child was hiding in there somewhere. He was going to go find him. This was no place for warm, gentle hands.
Stewart took seven halting steps towards the opening, glancing between it and the man in the pond. When he got to the opening he was dazzled by the white light inside, but he blinked, half closed his eyes, and scurried inside.
~ Peace and determination
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