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When Alph Imagined Time: A Story of the Calendar (completed & available for download)

EDIT: Here is a much easier to read and proofread PDF copy downloadable via Media Fire. LINK.

[As a silly silly side project, I've been making up an 'astrological' chart for the world of Glitch. Due to the curious nature of the Glitch calendar and the placement of certain holidays, it has gotten a bit wonky and complicated. This is fine. Astrology should be a bit wonky and complicated. In my head, I began to come up with justifications for some of the choices I was making. And then it started to become a story so I started to write it down. Since it looks like we'll have a relatively long break between tests right now, seems like a good time to start posting it.]


Table of Contents:

PART ONE
PART THE SECOND
PART THE SECOND POINT FIVE
PART TRES
PART GO FORTH 
PART A FIFTH OF HOOTCH
PART FIVE SUBSET B
PART LEONARD PART SIX
PART SE7EN
PART HENRY THE EIGHTH
PART MINER FORTY-NINER
PART X, the first
PART X, the second
PART X, the last aside
PART ELEVENTY


PART ONE
in which Alph imagines something and other Giants figure out what to do with it
     Some time after the Giants imagined existence, a thought occurred to Alph. “We don’t even know how much ‘some time’ it has been since we imagined existence because we haven’t imagined ‘time’ yet! Hell, can we even have existence without time?” (Interestingly, when (if there was even a 'when' if they didn't have time) Alph thought this, ‘Hell’ had not been imagined yet. That is another story however.)     So Alph gathered together the other Giants and said, “I’m going to imagine something so that we can keep track of how long something has been and how long it will be until the next thing.”
    “What do you mean by ‘how long’?” asked Mab.
    “What do you mean by ‘has been’?” asked Spriggan.
    “What do mean by ‘until’?” asked Humbaba.
    “What do you mean by ‘something’?” asked Cosma, who was a bit slow on the uptake but still wanted to sound like she had been paying attention.
    “Look,” exclaimed Alph, “this will make more sense if I just do it, okay?”
    “What do you mean by ‘will’?” the ten Giants asked in unison.
    “Time!” yelled Alph. And then he imagined time. “Boom. There it is. Deal with it.”
    “Ooooooooo,” said all of the Giants (except Cosma who had become distracted by a slight breeze).
    Now, Alph enjoys the whole fun of creating things but rapidly gets bored with everything that comes after. So he wandered off to get on with the business of imagining, leaving time sitting there in front of the other ten Giants.
    They all looked at time and then looked at each other. This lasted awhile, in part because they weren’t sure what to do with this new thing and in part because they just enjoyed the experience of having an ‘awhile’ for the first... um... time.
    Eventually, Tii gave a small ahem. “It appears to me that time is tricky business. I’m not sure how much of it we have. It may be infinite. It might be finite. Or It might be both. Or neither. That is the nature of these sorts of things. But in the name of fairness, we should break it up into pieces so that we can share it equally.” And with that Tii cut up time in years and years into months and months into days. (Only later were days separted into hours and hours into minutes and minutes into seconds. Again, a whole other story.)
    Tii continued, “I have broken time into years so it is manageable. And I broke each year into eleven months, because there are eleven Giants. And each month I’ve broken into days because months are still too big to carry in a bag.” Pot smiled at this because bags were his idea. “I made three hundred and seven days because that is a nice prime number. Each month has a different number days since having each month with an equal amount of days would be, well, boring. So now we should just decide which of us gets which month.”
    The Giants began roll the problem round in their big giant heads. Friendly, always one to peer through murk and see to the heart of a situation, rolled the problem quicker but with more care than the others. “Tell me,” he said to Tii. “I see that one month has three days and one month has seventy-three days and all the other months have a different number days in between three and seventy-three, correct?”
    “Yes,” Tii beamed. “And all of them fine, good prime numbers.”
    “Yes, yes. Very nice,” consented Friendly. “But if we split it straight by months, some Giants will get many days and some Giants will get very few. That does not seem very fair, now does it?”
     All the Giants looked to each other, unsure of whether it was fair or not. You see, the whole idea of fairness was a very new one. In fact, not much old than time. If such things had existed yet, fairness would have been created on Twoday and time was created on the very next Hairday. But they didn’t exist, so we are talking metaphor. (Of course, ‘metaphor’ wasn’t created for another week and a half, metaphorically.) With all of this in mind, the Giants were not sure what to do.
    Finally, Friendly spoke again. “The fairest thing would be to split the days evenly. Tii, how many days would each of us get?”
    It took Tii no time at all to figure it out. “Twenty-nine point nine zero nine zero nine zero nine zero nine zero nine–”
    “Good enough,” interrupted Friendly.
    “It keeps going,” said Tii. “Quite fascinating.”
    “This may all be fascinating to some,” snapped Grendline, “but that number seems like a very difficult one to deal with. Especially for those of us who are still confused by what numbers are in the first place.”
     Friendly said, “Then we shall make it simpler. We’ll each get twenty-seven days. Alph can have the first twenty-seven since it was his idea and all. And then, in turn, we can each have twenty-seven days, until the year is all gone and we start a new one. That seems fair, yes?”
    All the Giants nodded enthusiastically as Friendly’s idea seemed to exactly fit the very idea of fairness, as well as they understood it. 
    “Who shall get the twenty-seven days after Alph?” asked Zille who rarely spoke up unless it seemed like the obvious next thing to say.
    “Oh, we have twenty-seven days to figure that out,” said Friendly with a smile. “If I understand this whole time thing, that will be plenty.”
    And with that, eight of the Giants went off to imagine new things to fill the world. Only Friendly and Tii remained. Tii raised a tentacle (which, being wrapped around his/her/its central eye, was as close to an eyebrow raise Tii could get) and said, “Your plan sounds fair except for one thing. When all is done, there will still be ten days left over. What will become of them?”
    Friendly made something with his face and mouth and eyes that may have been a knowing smirk. Perhaps it was something different. “Something tells me that, in the end, it will all sort itself out. Yes, I believe it will.”
    Tii was not sure what Friendly meant or what the look on his face meant, but nodded as that seemed like the simplest thing to do.

[to be continued]

Posted 19 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • See, even the devs want you to continue!
    Posted 14 months ago by Di'ork Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Great story. More please.
    Posted 14 months ago by Zurin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow. Just... wow. This is beautifully written, I love it!

    More than piggies and butterflies, I got hooked on playing Glitch because it is a game with a sense of humor, much like The Sims. I am also a fan of randomness that make sense, like the Douglas Adams books, and this has been one of the most enjoyable pieces of writing I've seen lately (I read a lot, and I do enjoy fanfiction, as long as it's well-written :X)

    I take my Polka Dot Hat off to you, Lord, and beg you post a new chapter soon *_*
    Posted 14 months ago by Mandy.23 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Come back, Lord Bacon-O, with your awesomeness! I loved this, and I can't wait for more. :)
    Posted 14 months ago by Lady Cailia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This was started 5 months ago?  How did I miss it till now? :D
    Posted 14 months ago by muffin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'll read the rest later but... found an error in the first part :P

        “It may be fascinating,” snapped Grendline, “but that number seems like a very difficult one to deal with. Especially for those of us who are still confused by what numbers are in the place.”
    Friendly said, “Then we shall make it simpler. We’ll each get twenty-seven days. Alph can have the first twenty-seven since it was his idea and all. And then, in turn, HE can each have twenty-seven days, until the year is all gone and we start a new one. That seem fair, yes?”

    he=we?
    Posted 14 months ago by Palindrome Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Good catch, Palindrome. I am 100% there are many many more. I wrote these off the cuff and proofread very little. Hopefully when I finish, I can go back through and make a clean copy. (I know of some inconstancies scattered through out.)

    As to finishing it... soon. Honestly. There are a 101 reasons I haven't yet, but I think I can now. Expect something this week. In truth this time. (Unless other stuff happens.)
    Posted 14 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • cheering on the sidelines as you write it (soon) :)
    Posted 14 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "    Either way, this is the story she told me as we squashed hellish grapes. Just before midnight she finished her tale, handed me a stack of notes on how to make astrology charts and squashed her last grape. Weeks later I ran into her in Community Gardens where she was attempting to plant a piglet and she denied EVERY having met me."

    Part 2.5. Every=ever
    I'm probably going to spend my whole month figuring typos out XD
    Posted 14 months ago by Palindrome Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "(As state, some things were mistakes.)"
    Part 3. State = stated
    Posted 14 months ago by Palindrome Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Love it, got hooked on reading each episode, to the detriment of my work day! The characterisation of each giant was lovely, I can imagine them better now.

    It reminded me that I miss the talking trees, rocks and animals, they gave a sense if the world of Ur and the backstory. I wonder if we will get them back? Post-beta players would be as enchanted as we were
    Posted 14 months ago by Eldorian Subscriber! | Permalink
  • PART HENERY THE EIGHTH
    in which Lem ponders and Tii pontificates 
         Now Mab knew how to use her time wisely. Having imagined crops, she knew the value in patience. She also knew how to not waste a the tinniest bit of time and had awaited her turn with it by keeping careful tabs on what the other Giants had done with it. She’s notice that as time was passed back and forth across the world, tiny sparks had been become embedded in every little thing. 
         She scattered some time onto her crops, raised them and then went into the caverns. There she carefully fed them to batterflies and gathered what they left behind. And she took these back to her plants, spread them in the soil and watched. And, as she predicted, they grew is astonishing speed. In turn she knew these crops would be infused with time and could be fed to batterflies and the process continued. 
         “Good,” she thought to herself as watered each plot. “Very efficient.” 

         Lem, of course, was doing what he was best at these days: something between brooding and moping mixed with a healthy dollop of deep thought. 
         Flooping from place to place had been his first success but it had left him exhausted. Not just the act of flooping but the realization it had taken him so long to discover it. He had spent so much time with time trying to make it go backward just so that he could be the one who imagined it, that he’d ignored actually doing something useful with it. 
         But if he’d learned anything, it was patience. It was of course not the careful patience of Mab that came from all good things come to those who wait. It was the patience that comes from being resigned that things just didn’t ever go his way. (One could easier argue that Lem had gotten what he deserved but again he are approaching the whole concept of “fairness,” something Lem still didn’t quite grasp.  Still, he waited patiently for Mab’s days with time to complete. 
         He thought about how flooping filled him with joy and thought about how perhaps teaching the other Giants of this mode of travel might bring them joy and how bringing them joy might bring him joy. This was a new concept to Lem. It was sort of the reverse of what he’d done to Cosma. 
         However he knew the difficult that would be involved in teaching flooping. One, the word flooping didn’t really do much to describe what it was. He also knew the other Giants, while appreciative of the idea of distance and space and travel, din’t quite grasp it the way he did. The only Giant who seemed to “get it” was Friendly. Friendly seemed to understand everything for some reason. In fact, it was a bit unclear what Friendly did besides pay close attention to what the other Giants did, asking pointed and thoughtful questions, all the while sipping a drink and nodding with a slight knowing smile. 

         Lem found Friendly doing just that with Tii. 
         “And what is this?” Friendly was asking Tii, pointing to leaf of paper from one of Spriggan paper trees. On it Tii was making a series of markings with something that was pointed on one end and a bit fluffy yet flat on the other. “Oh, hello, Lem,” Friendly said as he sense him approaching. “You seem much better than we last met.” 
        “I am but don’t let me interrupt. Continue on.” Lem was curious about this use of paper, which up to this point had seemed pretty useless. So useless in fact that Spriggan had grew bored with the trees and hadn’t bother to imagine a way to make more of them. 
        Tii gestured excitedly at the marking. “That is a One. And this is a Two. And this? It’s a Seven. See? These are numbers. And by thinking of them this way, you can save a lot of space.” 
        “And time, I imagine,” Friendly grinned. 
        Tii pondered. “Oh, I wouldn’t know about that yet. I am curious about time for expect numbers and time probably fit well together.” 
        “What is this ‘writing’?” Lem asked. 
        “Friendly imagined it. Isn’t it grand? Want to see something fantastic?” Tii took the pointy-fluffy-flat thing and scratched twice one the paper. “Now what do you see?” 
         Lem and Friendly exchanged looks. “They appear to be two Ones next to each other,” said Friendly. 
         “Yes,” exclaimed Tii. “And how many do you thing it is?” 
         “Well, two, obviously,” said Lem, sure that he understood this whole numbers thing well enough. 
         “No,” yelled Tii with obvious joy. “It is Eleven! Because after Nine, we start over by putting other numbers after the first one.” 
         Friendly’s grin dipped slightly. “The first One?” 
         “Yes. But not just. Because after that you put it after the first Two. So after Nine, you put a Zero and get Ten which is Nine with another one.” 
         “Why wouldn’t you put a Nine and a One. Wouldn’t a One and a Zero be One?” 
         “No no no. A Nine with a One with be Ninety-one.” 
         “Okaaaaaay,” said Friendly his smile returning and his nodding becoming more sure. “I believe I understand.” (Lem did not.) “But why is it called Eleven and not Onety-One?” 
         “Well,” Tii said a bit sheepishly, “when I was first coming up with names, I wasn’t thinking so closely. After Twelve, I realized it would be easier to come up with a a name for each set of ten numbers. I started with trying to shake up Ten into ‘teen.’ It’s a bit muddy because twenty doesn’t sound much like Two and.... Well, perhaps later I’ll go back and make it more consistent. Perhaps when I have time.” 
         Lem had started to tune Tii’s words out as an idea started to mull about is head. “This writing. Is it only for numbers?” 
         “Not at all,” said Friendly. “You can use words for just about anything.” 
         “Do you think you could use it to describe places and spaces?” said Lem. 
         “I don’t see why not. Here take this.” Friendly pulled another of the pointy-fluffy flat things. “This is a quill. You can use it the write on paper.” 
         “Where do quills come from?” 
         “Oh, it is just a feather.” 
         “Like Cosma has?” Lem whispered, feeling pangs again. “This quill is black and none of Cosma’s feathers are black.” 
         “This didn’t come from Cosma. It came from... somewhere else.” Lem was unsure but he thought he saw Friendly’s smile falter for the slightest of moments. “Now it’s a quill. Use it, Lem. See what you can do with it.” 

         Days passed and Lem became absorbed with writing. He learned to write down locations and to describe them in such a way that by reading it in the right way, it would allow anyone to floop to that place. It wasn’t perfect but it was simple and clear. Having a way of sharing flooping with others filled Lem with happiness and he traveled all across Ur, describing place after place, until he had hundreds of paper leafs. 
         He became so absorbed that he almost didn’t realize that Mab’s days were nearly over. With excitement (and a tinge of intrepidation), he put away his quill and floop off to Mab to once again try his hand at time.

    [to be continued]
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Love it, please don't take 4 months for the next one, I need more! :D
    Posted 13 months ago by WeavingTheWeb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • <3
    Posted 13 months ago by Wein Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you m'lord.
    Posted 13 months ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "Love it, please don't take 4 months for the next one, I need more! :D"

    There are only three more chapters and I am planning to finish it in the next week or two (time permitting).
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well I hope Lem smiles on you and you find lots of TIME! :)
    Posted 13 months ago by litlc Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Love this  :)
    Posted 13 months ago by Crazi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • YAY!!!! Awesome as ever LBo!!
    Posted 13 months ago by Piece of Serenity Subscriber! | Permalink
  • genius <3
    Posted 13 months ago by Mandy.23 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • *floop floop floop*

    YAY!
    Posted 13 months ago by Zurin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • PART MINER FORTY-NINER
    in which things go from good to bad to much much worse
           With time back in his hands and a plan in his pocket (metaphorically since none of the Giants had pockets), he got down to work. He took all his papers with their descriptions of places. Into each he carefully put a tiny chunk of time, just a token amount. That way, when the other Giants used the papers to travel it, would use the time in the paper instead of time in the world. 
         To an outsider, the work would have appeared tedious. But for Lem and his new found sense of purpose it wasn’t. He’d discovered something to give to the others. But it was time consuming. By his figuring, he had nine days left of his twenty-seven. And if he worked hard, he should be able to just about finish. Then he’d gather all the other Giants together and give them his gifts. It was a good plan. 

         It is a shame that at that moment Lem didn’t remember the words of the famous Glitchian poet Robert B’Ur’ns: 

         The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
         Gang aft agley,
         An’ leas’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
         For promis’d joy! 

         Of course, these words had yet to be written. Glitchens hadn’t been imagined yet, much less the poet, and it is difficult to remember that which has not yet happened. And there is the issue that B’Ur’ns was a touch mad. What are mice? What are men? What does “agley” mean? Still, it is too bad Lem didn’t think along these lines. One would think that with his previous experiences, he would have known what to expect. 

         After just six days, Lem was startled by a gravelly cough right behind him. He spun to see Zille there, her stoney face unsmiling.
         Zille coughed again as if she didn’t already have his attention. Lem shifted to block her view of his papers (which he has taken to calling “scribblets” because they had his scribbles on them). He wanted them to keep them a surprise.
        “Cough,” Zille said for a third time.
        “How can I help you, Zille?” asked Lem. He found this all very disconcerting. Zille almost never came out from the vast cavern and caves that riddle the land. At times, you could tell where she was when she pushed up a mountain or hill. She rarely even spoke to the other Giants, preferring her solitude.
        “Time, please,” she said. 
         Lem blinked. “What?”
         “Time. Please. Time, please.”
         “Well, I still have, um, three days left. I just need to finish this, um, project, and then you can—”
         Zille coughed loudly, dust pillowing into Lem’s face. “Oh. Well. Then I suppose not. Never mind.” Zille slowly turned and started to move off, in obvious disappointment.
         Lem quickly gave the manner some thought. “As it is, I’m not sure I can finish in three days. And I’m pretty sure I can make these even if I’m not actually holding time. These tokens of time seem to come to me pretty regular, now that I’ve invest in the project. It will take longer. But most importantly, I am finding I dislike disappointing my fellow Giants. And Zille seems... sad, I think. Perhaps...” All of this ran through Lem’s head in the blink of a moment.
         Lem shouted after Zille. “Wait!” She stopped and slowly turned back to him. “Here. You can have it now. I can wait another twenty-seven days for my final three.”
         Zille lit up slight and maybe smiled, although it was hard to tell. “Thank you, Lem.”
         “Just promise me, please, that I can have time again after you? Okay? Promise me.”
         She blinked twice. Then once. Then three times. “Yes. I promise.” And off she went, back into the deeps.

         Lem continued his work. It did end up taking longer than if he had time, but it was steady work. He was relaxed and confident and took joy in the project and the idea of the joy he knew it would bring.  He had no problem finishing all his scribts (he’d shorten the name but still wasn't happy with it) well before Zille had finished her twenty-seven days.
         He chose the perfect time to give out his gift: On the day he was to retrieve time from Zille. Perhaps, in witness of all the other Giants, he would gracefully decline taking time and let Tii or Friendly have their turns first. Then all the Giants would see how nice he was and how good he was at the fairness thing. (No. Lem still didn’t really get it.)
         He took his quill and ten papers and wrote out ten invitations to all meet in a particular cave he remembered from his explorations. He could have just flooped to each Giant and told them, but somehow giving each an invitation made it more special and official.  But how to deliver it?It would be weird to just hand it to them. And what if they were sleeping (as Pot probably would be)? Would he just slip onto them and hope they saw it later? No. That would not do.
         While thinking about a solution a small lanky animal flew up to him.
        “Hey, Lem. You look like you are stressed out. You should relax.”
        “Actually, I was just thinking.”
        “You sure?” the green thing said as it hovered cross-legged. “You seem to be holding a lot of tension in your face and eyes and tentacle things. You gotta let it go. Work it out. Breathe in the good and breathe out the bad.”
         “No, really. I feel good.”
        “Do you feel good? Or do you think you feel good? Do some stretches with me.”
         “That’s okay–”
        “Come on. I got some killer moves I can show you. Help me help you help yourself. We’ll align your chakras and get your chi back into focus.”
        Lem did start to feel tense but he was pretty sure it had more due to the annoying green thing than anything else.
        “You know what? You can help me. I have these notes here that I need delivered to all the other Giants. Could you do that for me? It would very much help me with all this, um, stress and tension.”
        “Oh. Wow. Totally. I can do that. I was planning on visting Pot soon anyway. He’s... holding something for me. Some good stuff. Very primo. But, yeah. I’m on it.”
        “Can you hurry? It is sensitive and it is about time.”
        “Time sensitive. Got it. Not sure what you mean by ‘hurry’ but no worries.” And the green thing flew off into the sky. 

         On the designated day and the designated time, Lem gathered his scripts (a name that would do) into a bag and excitedly made his way into the caverns. “Oh, they will be so happy with this. It is going to change their world. Our world. Our shared world. And they are going be so appreciative of what a clever idea it is and what a great use of time it is!” 
         He wound his way deeper and deeper in the dark. As he got closer to the meeting cave, he could here the other Giants talking. “They’re probably excited to find out why I called then all together. The last time we’ve all been together was... well, when Alph told us about time!” 
         He quietly approached the entrance of cave and decided to wait outside, just for moment. Just to, you know, listen in. Just for a second. And that way he could make a big entrance. And maybe hear them say some nice things about him.
         “Where is he?” Mab was saying. “I have things to do and this is a waste of, well, you know.”
         “Why did he call this meeting?” said Spriggan. “He has been acting... weird.”
         “Yes. Quite odd,” said Tii. “He has been very edgy. His actions seem to lack all logic. He has been beastly.”
         Somewhere, far off, there was a beating of black wings.
        “Beasts are full of joy,” said Humbaba. “Lem has no joy these days. All seriousish. Seriousy. Seriousness. Like a tree.”
        “Not a tree,” said Spriggan, “Trees aren't that serious. Clearly you haven't taken the time to talk to them. Besides, you know where a tree stands. Lem doesn’t stand anywhere. He is secretive. He is nowhere and everywhere. Like water.”
         “He is nothing like water,” said Grendaline. “Lem and I used to chart the rivers and streams and seas. And now? He never speaks to me. I only have seen him in passing, but nothing about him flows. He doesn’t flow anymore. He’s all... rock-like.”
         “Cough,” coughed Zille. “Unfair. To rocks. Lem is no rock. Rocks are solid and sure. He is unsure and unsolid. You can not tell what he is thinking. He is air.”
         Then there was silence. If Lem was in the cave, he would have seen the Giants turn expectantly to Cosma who was floating in a corner. The silence hung there and Lem found he could not breathe. 
         The skies grew dark as the light was blocked out.
         “I want to leave,” whispered Cosm. “I do not like Lem now. And I want to leave.”
         Lem felt every thing dropping. His mood, so recently green and bright, was becoming red and dark. It was wrong. Everything was wrong and not the way he wanted it. He’d imagined something so great and grand but that wasn’t what was happening. Not at all.
         Above the ground, a caw could be heard. And the dragging of talons across the earth.
         He could hear Friendly speaking, “Now, now. I am sure Lem has his reasons–”
         "He has no reason,” Alph said. “He creates nothing. What has he imagined of value recently? Nothing.”
         And only doubt and fear and dark filled Lem’s mind. “This is not what I wanted,” he despaired. “I don’t want to exist. I wish none of this existed.”
         At that moment, swarm of dark birds flooded into the cavern. A flock so massive that they seemed to fill every nook and crevice. Their screams echoed off the walls, screeches that stabbed the Giants’ ears. They tore at the rocks and the air and the fabric of the world.
         Lem covered his head and cowered by the cave entrance. He could feel the wings beating across him, into him, through him.
        “It’s him!” cried Cosma. “It’s Lem! No! Keep him away!”
        And then all was silent and black.

    [to be continued]
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • :OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    :D
    :O
    Posted 13 months ago by Lara Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There are only two more chapters left.

    Here is a preview of sorts:

    CHAPTER X
    in which Doom

    CHAPTER ELEVENTY
    in which part of the think is the thing itself
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh my Giants, this is AMAZING! I wish I could write like this =D
    Posted 13 months ago by Garney Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Best bedtime story ever.

    <3 Robert B’Ur’ns
    Posted 13 months ago by WeavingTheWeb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Very entertaining and delightful. Can't wait for more! :)
    Posted 13 months ago by ✰ Lorelei ✰ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oooooh scary! :O
    Posted 13 months ago by Mandy.23 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • freakin' awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    Posted 13 months ago by theawesomedude27 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • LBO , I am sure you were a bard in another time. I want more, but I don't want this tale to end.
    Posted 13 months ago by welshcorgi Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Aaaargh! I would curse your cliffhanger, if I wasn't so pleased that you've written all this for us in the first place!
    Posted 13 months ago by Batsgirl Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh! <3
    I sincerely hope this becomes canon:)
    Posted 13 months ago by Dinsdale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Nooooooooooo! Cliffhangers! *dun dun dun*
    Posted 13 months ago by Zurin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • PART X, the first
    in which Doom is witnessed

         Lem remained unmoving, curled into a protective ball. He listen carefully. All was still. No sound except a distant echoing drip drip drip of a stalactite slowly growing down and stalagmite slowly growing up. Eventually, Lem unfurled, his tentacles slipping from his face. He opened his eyes and was met with a deep dark. He could see nothing. Nothing at all. 
         He was disoriented, which, for Lem, was extremely disorienting. He reached out with his other senses, trying to get a fix on the world and his place in it. In bits and pieces, he gathered where he was and where his where was. He was still in the cavern, just outside the cave. He could sense the other Giants inside.  
         Gingerly, Lem stretched out an arm towards to cave entrance was immediate met with something. It was flat and firm and hard and the texture of smoothed wood. He felt around and discovered that the wood thing reached reached from the floor to the roof and across both sides of the entrance. It was as if a wall had filled out the cave entry, blocking his path. Beyond this wall, he could hear the other Giants breathing. 
         “Hello?” Lem tried, anxious if he even had a voice. “It’s me. Lem. Is everyone okay?” 
         There was a pause and then the noise of movement. And then a thump as someone came up against the strange wood wall. 
         “What the–?” mumbled Alph from the other side. “Lem! We seem to be okay. Well, not hurt. You?” 
         Lem hadn’t even thought to check. He took a mental survey of his body and felt arond to make sure none of him was missing. “I... I seem to be fine.” 
         “Where did this wall come from?” asked Alph. 
         “What were those flappy things?” asked Humbaba. 
         “How many were there?” asked Tii. 
         “Why did this happen?” asked Grendaline. 
         “Who imagined all this?” asked Spriggan. 
         While Lem kept feeling around the wall for any sort of opening, he tried to answer. “I don’t know. I don’t know. A lot. I don’t know. It... may have been me.” 
         “No,” he heard Friendly say. “And yes. It was us. All of us. Or not. It’s complicated and not important how they came to be. Well, it is important. But not right now. They are called The Rook and we have to stop them.” 
         All the Giants were quiet, letting the name seep into them. 
         Finally Alph spoke. “You know them, Friendly? How do you know them?” 
         Friendly sighed. “I know many things. Sometimes I don’t know that I knew them until the moment I know them. What they are... doesn’t matter right now. You have all trusted my consul in the past–” Coughs and mumbles could be heard from a few of the Giants. “–so try to trust me now. All that is important is that we get out.” 
         “What do they want?” asked Lem through the wall. 
         “There... are somethings I would rather not say. Or can’t. Not yet. Lem, can you feel anything that might help move this wall?” 
        “It’s a door,” said Cosma, quietly and seeming from far away. 
        “A... door. What is a door?” asked Pot. 
        “It’s like a wall that can be opened. But it... is shut now. It can’t be opened. It’s so... things... can’t get in.” 
         “But we can’t get out,” said Mab. 
         “This is nonsense,” declared Tii. “We are Giants. We can just imagine a way out! Everyone! Just imagine this door thing not here!” 
         In silence, the Giants turned their imaginations towards the door in the dark. Each imagined in their own way. Tii imagined “X - X = Y in which X is the value Door and Y is the value of No Door.” Grendaline imagined the door as water that flows down and away. Lem imagined free passage into the cave. And so on. After a few moments, Lem felt before him. The door was still there. 
         “It’s not working,” he said. 
         Alph erumphed, “It’s... hard to imagine. Like there is something–” 
         “Things,” said Pot. 
         “–devouring my thoughts. Did everyone try to open this thing?” 
         Nine of the Giants firmly responded “Yes.” And one whispered “Yes” without much conviction. 
         Something suddenly occurred to Lem. “Zille! Time!” 
         “Time for what?” asked Zille. 
         “No. Not what. Where? Where is time?” 
         “Oh. That. I don’t know. One of the... Rooks... took it from me.” 
         Lem felt the old panic of loss again. “I’m going to go find it!” 
         “Lem, I don’t think that is a very good idea,” said Friendly with deep concern. “It’s too dangerous. You by yourself are no match for them. Besides, that is not important right now.” 
         Lem shook his head even though no one could see it. “I don’t care. I... need to do this. I’ll be right back. I promise.” 
         “Wait,” he heard Friendly start but before the word was finished, Lem flooped. 

         Flooping now was harder than it had ever been before. It felt like it was taking an eternity to reach the surface. He was neither in the cavern nor above it, but at the same time was in both. As Alph had said, he could feel his imaginings of travel being inhibited and eaten. He could see and sense his destination, but it was fuzzy and distant, as if seen through a panoramic window. And he felt stretch edthin, pulled across the here and the there. 
         But finally he flooped back into the open air. Out of breath, he stumble to the ground. He held his eyes closed tight and took a moment, gathering himself together. Once he felt complete, he slowly looked around. 
         The sky was dark with swarms of the Rook, black shifting clouds. None were near him but he could see their effect. The world was faded, the colors washed out and dull. And there were places he could see where the feathered and clawed creatures had shattered and slashed the air and ground and existence. 
         Movement to his side caught his eye. It was a butterfly on the ground. Its blue wings flopping feebly. It was gasping in tiny breaths. “Help.. me. Help... me.” 
         Lem moved to it and touched it gingerly. He focused his thoughts on it and imagined it full of health. He pictured it lively and well and flying in the air. This made him think of Cosma and he felt doubt start to creep in but he pushed it away. He just thought of the butterfly and making it better. 
        Its wings began to beat with more strength and then it took to the air. “O. M. G.! Thx u soooooo much.” 
         “Go,” said Lem. “Find a place to hide and stay safe.” 
         “Where b other Giants? Where b halp?” the butterfly whined. 
         “They....” Lem didn’t know what else to say. “Soon. They’ll be here soon to make it better.” 
         The butterfly flapped in a way that indicated it didn’t a hundred precent believe Lem and then flew off. 
         Lem got his bearings and extended his feeling out for the location of time. He knew it so well now, he was sure he could sense it. And he could, even past the the fracturing of the world. He took a deep breath and flooped again. 

         It was easier to floop than it had been getting out of the cavern. Not easy easy but better. However, when he took a quick look around as he appeared, he realized he was in trouble. 
        All around him were the Rooks, pecking and tearing. Hundreds, thousands, and more of them.  He watched in horror as three slowly consumed the existence of a bubble tree. “I told you,” screamed the bubble tree. “I told you this would happen! Believe me now? Believe me n–” And the bubble tree no longer was. 
        Lem turned away, only to face a massive crowd of the birds. Their dark empty eyes focused on him. In the midst of them, one was larger than the rest. In its beak, it held time. The Rook cocked its head, asking an unspoken question. 
        Lem shouted, “That’s mine!” 
        It cocked its head in the other direction. 
        “Well, not mine,” corrected Lem. “But its not yours! Give it to me and leave here.” 
        The Rook stood motionless. Then it tossed time up into the air. As it fell back to him, the Rook snapped its beak sharply, tearing a ragged chuck off time. It swallowed it with a gulp as it pinned remaining time to the earth with its talons. 
       “No!” yelled Lem as he charged forward. But before he had closed half the distance, the other Rooks set upon him. Lem struck out at them, knocking one, two, three away, but more took their places. He was blinded by the flapping wings and pain shot through him as beaks and claws cut into him. He tried to imagine them hurt, stunned, gone. He could feel one or two weakening but there were just too many. His anger  at them, his desire for time, his hope at winning were being quickly replaced with despair. He was feeling weaker and weaker. 
         Through the wings, he caught a glimpse of the large Rook. It has not moved and was still coldly studying him as he was losing the fight. 
         Lem had to make a choice. Soon it would be too late and he would be lost. So he shut his eyes and flooped back to the cavern.

    [to be continued]
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Okay. I'm cheating. I'm turning chapter ten into two parts.
    They did it will Deathly Hallows and with Breaking Dawn and doing it with The Hobbit. It's what all the cool kids do, right?
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • YAY!!  Love it!!
    Posted 13 months ago by Piece of Serenity Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Need part 2 now!
    Posted 13 months ago by WeavingTheWeb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Web, hopefully in just a couple of hours.
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • "soon" "O. M. G.! Thx u soooooo much.” “I told you this would happen! Believe me now? Believe me n–”

    The world is starting to take shape.

    Lem is now my favoritist giant - he is foolish and impulsive and short-sighted, but is he also brave and well intentioned and sometimes successful.
    Posted 13 months ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • PART X, the second
    in which Doom continues 

         Lem was again in the pitch black. He was sure he was back before the cave with the door but still he reached out to check. Yes, he could feel the wood that separated him from his fellow Giants. He stood there, tentacle touching the door. And then he slumped to the floor. 
         He was hurt, he knew, but it was difficult to tell how badly. It had been a long time since he’d felt so much pain. The truth was, he didn’t care about the pain. It was the feeling of helplessness that cloaked him. For what seemed like the thousandth time in recent memory, he closed his eyes and tried not to move. 
         “Lem? Is that you?” It was Spriggan from the other side of the door. “I thought I heard something. Are you there?” 
        “Yes,” Lem said. “I couldn’t.... I found time but... the Rooks. They....” He didn’t have any words left. 
        “Are you okay?” Spriggan asked with genuine concern in her voice. 
         Lem didn’t quite know how to answer that either so he stuck to the facts. “I’m here and I’m not going to leave you all again.” 
         “Good. I am glad. We were worried. About you. For you. We were starting think something horrible... more horrible, I suppose... had happened to you.” 
         This confused Lem. “How long was I gone?” 
         “Hard to say, what with us not having time to measure it with and what with being trapped in the dark. But perhaps full day? Yes. That feels about right.” 
         Had it been that long? Lem thought. How long did it take me to travel there and back? How long had I fought with the Rooks? Where has time gone? With that he laughed to himself. 
         “Lem?” 
         He had no way to explain why he found it funny so he said the first thing that came to him. “Are you all okay?” Lem found that it was a very important question to him. 
         “Well, yes. As well as can be expected. We are trying to come up with a plan. Well, except Cosma. She has been very quiet.” Spriggan paused. “If you have any thoughts, we’d appreciate them. You have a knack for coming up with... untraditional ideas.” 
         Lem sighed. “No. I have no ideas. No plans. Nothing.”

         Lem had no idea how long he laid against the door, slipping in and out of restless sleep. In the dark, it was hard to tell where sleep started and ended. It was dreamless and empty sleep that he stumbled through. At points he could hear the other Giants talking and moving about. Once he woke to what sounded like a ruckus of metal on rock, cracking of stone, a mass of chatter and a lot of jumping. But he ignored it and drifted off again. 
         Eventually he found he was fully awake and couldn’t go back to sleep. He creaked open his eyes and was surprise to see that he could see. Just a bit. The difference between pure dark and a slim glimmer of light. He looked to the side and saw where the light was coming from. He was unsure how he missed it before. Across the door was a metal chain with a flat rectangle of metal in the middle. In the center of the rectangle was a triangle. And in the center of the triangle was an odd shaped hole. From the hole emanated a soft glow. 
         Lem carefully lifted himself and brought an eye up to the hole but was unable to make anything out. Only gentle yellow light. 
         “Hello?” he tried in raspy voice. His throat and mouth was dry as sand. He coughed and tried again. “Hello? Is anyone there?” 
         There was a rustle of movement and the light dimmed for a second, blocked by someone moving in front of the other side of the hole. Lem’s heart would have dropped deeper at the return of dark if his heart wasn’t as low as it could go. 
         “Lem!” came Friendly’s soothing voice. “You’re awake. That’s good. I was just thinking that perhaps you had slept enough.” 
         “How long was...” Lem cut himself off. “Never mind. I know. Not important.” 
         “Yes. You are correct. I suppose you’ll want to know what we’ve been up to.” 
         Lem didn’t really want to know. It wasn’t that he didn’t care. But he knew the door was still there and the Giants were still trapped. Anything they had been up to had been for naught. But that seemed impolite to say. And, when you have nothing else, might as well be polite. 
         “Yes, Friendly. Please tell.” 
         “Let me see,” Friendly began. “Well, we spend a good long time thinking and talking and attempting to imagine a way out of here. But, pardon the phrase, we just came up against a brick wall.” 
         “What is a ‘brick’?” 
         “Oh, just something Alph came up with. No real use for them yet. Anyway, we all started to get hungry. Well, Pot got hungry first. Mab had a whole mess of pumpkins with her. Turns out you can eat the insides. So we hollowed them out. It was then that Humbaba remembered she had a swarm of fireflies. She brought them out and that gave us some light. Pot and Mab roasted the pumpkin insides and then experimented and came up with what they are calling ‘pie.’ Quite delicious.” 
         Lem listened to Friendly talk. Hearing of the other Giants made him feel lonely. And the talk of food reminded him of his own hunger. 
         “While we were heavy and sluggish with pie,” Friendly continued, “the fireflies got loose. Grendaline had the idea of capturing them in the pumpkin shells. And Cosma had the idea of carving holes in the shells so we could still use the light. Well, to be honest, I think she just wanted to turn the pumpkins into faces. She made one she calls Steve that she insists we all address by name. Alph made one in a very good likeness of you, by the way.” 
         It felt good to hear about Cosma. 
         “After that we, decide to get down to work. Tii suggested that we should try to figure out how limited our imaginations were. It is hard. At first none of us could imagine anything. Zille was the first. She made a beautiful rock that Grendaline called ‘sparkly,’ which seems about right. Zille then got excited (if you can believe that) and she created fourteen more of the rocks. Which made it a bit crowded so we broke a few of them up. But inside one of those rocks, Tii found a fairly impressive gem stone. Zille said she couldn’t remember if she’d imagined it in there or not. And Spriggan suggested maybe there were other things hidden in the rock. So we all began breaking up the sparkly rocks. And Zille kept imagining new ones so we broke up those. And at some point we lost all track of what why were were doing it and were just jumping around and yelling out locations of rocks. We must have spent half a day doing that until we came to our senses.” 
         “Sounds fun,” said Lem absent mindedly. 
         “It actually was but I can’t explain why. At that point we were pretty tired so Pot made some candies with some of the pumpkin seeds and some birch syrup. When the syrup ran out, he made candies with the seeds and some syrup made from corn. And then the corn ran out. So... Well, we aren’t proud of this. But there are some batterflies in here and, well, we made food with their guano.” 
         “Sounds... disgusting, actually.” 
         “Oh, it’s better than you’d expect,” Friendly said. “But not by much. It’s not too horrible washed down with some pumpkin ale, something Grendaline and I whipped up. Thriller of a drink, really. And, well, that’s about it. We’ve tired a few other ideas to get out but nothing has come close to working.” 
         They sat on opposite sides of the tiny hole, lost in their own thoughts. 
         After a while, Friendly asked, “Earlier? You were able to get to the surface?” 
         “Yes. I... flooped. It’s traveling without the travel part.” 
         “Sounds difficult.” 
         “It’s not. But it is.” 
         “Do you think we could use it to get out of here?” asked Friendly. 
         Lem thought about it. “Um. Yes. Yes, I think you could. But it is hard to explain how to do it. You have to know your ending point and know it really well and know it in a certain way. In fact, I called you all here because I found away to write locations on paper that you all can use to....” Lem’s word trailed of as the gears in his head began to turn. 
         “That’s it!” Lem shouted, standing up in a . “I have my scripts! You all can use scripts to get out of there! And we can use them to get to the surface. And then floop all over Ur and fight off the Rooks! Yes yes yes! I just have to...” And his word trailed off again. 
        Friendly completed his sentence. “You just have to get the flooping papers to us. In here.” 
         But Lem was thinking hard and fast. “No no no. This is okay. I know that cave! I can just floop in there with my scripts! Just a second!” 
         Lem stretched his sore and battered body, did a few deep tentacle bends and took a breath. 
         And nothing. He hadn’t moved an inch. 
         He tried it again. He closed his eyes tight, concentrated on the inside of the cave and.... 
         Nothing. 
         “How’s it going?” asked Friendly. 
         Lem slumped again. “I can’t floop in there. I don’t know why.” 
         “It’s the door.” It was Cosma, quiet but strangely solid. “If you don’t have a way to open the door, you can’t get in. Even using your... flooping.” 
         “Cosma,” Lem said. “I... It’s important I get in there. I want to help. I do I know... what I did. To you. Was wrong. I just... It’s so complicated. I... can help now. Really.” 
         “Lem,” said Friendly sadly, “she sped away as soon you said her name.” 
         “Oh,” said Lem.

         Later, Alph called all the Giants together near the door. 
         “Right. Enough of this,” announced Alph. “We built this world and it is ours. We control it. Together. We now have light. We are well, if somewhat disturbingly, fed. Together, I am sure we can get out of here.” 
         Lem didn’t have Alph’s conviction but he was willing to try. 
         “Cosma,” directed Alph. “You seem to know something about this door. Is there anything else you can tell us that will help?” 
          “No,” said Cosma in a way that indicated she definitively had nothing else to say on the subject. 
         “Mmmm. Fine. So, the way I see it, one reason we failed before was that we were trying to imagine a not. A nil. A nothing. We tried to get rid oft he door. The door can be opened. I hope. That appears to be its nature: To be closed and to be openedopened. We just all have to imagine the thing that will open it.” 
         The other Giants mumbled to themselves and each other. 
         “What?” shot Alph. 
         “Well,” said Pot tentatively, “I don’t mean to cause problems or anything, but, well, what is that something? Seems a bit, now don’t get me wrong. It sounds like a good plan. But it seems a bit, well, how do I put this? Um, vague?”  
         “Tell me, Pot,” snapped Alph. “Do you have a better idea?” 
         “Um, no,” answered Pot. 
         “Well then. On the count of... What was it again, Tii?” 
         “Three.” 
         “Right. On the count of three. One... Two... Three!” 
         Giants imagining their hardest, all together, doesn’t really make a sound. But if it did, it would sound something like a perfect 100 piece orchestra. If the orchestra where a tsunami. Riding a swan. In a volcano. Making love. Yes, a volcano making love. In a classy way. While the celestial bodies perform their dance above. A waltz. Or two-step. Perhaps a jazzy swing dance thing.
         But it doesn’t make a sound. It is silent. The silence filled the cave and the caverns. The Giants could feel the imagaination building and building. And then there was a tiny squishy “pop.” 
         Lem listened to the door. He heard Mab gasp and Zille cough and Alph erumph. 
         “Well,” said Tii. “Well. That is... something.” 
         “But what?” asked Spriggan. 
         “What is it?” asked Lem. “What happened?” 
         “I can’t quite say,” said Friendly. “It appears to be, um, a pickle. With eyes. And a handle. And also a crank of some sort. There’s a cone coming out of it. And a plank with some rope and maybe a button. Oh, there’s a yellow star on its... chest? And what appears to be a light bulb and a large push pin. And it is wearing a very festive hat.” 
         Lem tried as hard as he could to picture it but failed beyond “pickle with eyes.” 
         “What?” he asked again. 
         “Lem, my friend, even I am baffled.” 
         Alph erumphed again, “Alright, who thought this up?” 
        “I may be responsible for the pickle part,” said Pot. “It’s just ‘cause I want something to get rid of this guano taste in my mouth. But I was thinking about something to open the door! Really I was!” 
        “Okay, okay. This should be the thing we need... if we were all imaging something to open the door.” 
         Nine Giants, including Lem made various noises of confirmation. One Giant made the same noises but with less conviction but none of the other Giants noticed. 
         “Then,” Alph continued, “we just have to use it, I suppose.” 
         “How?” asked Grendaline. 
         “Mmmmm,” considered Alph. “How about if I do... this?” 
         There was a flash of black and a scream and some music and bunch of chaos and before they knew what was happening, it over. And then all the Giants were speaking at once. 
         “A bunch of my stuff was just flung around!” 
         “I can’t stop sneezing beans out of my nose!” 
         “That’s hilarious! No, it’s no! But I can’t stop laughing!” 
         “I’m moving backwards! Help me!” 
         “How did I end up way over here?” 
         “I have a sudden desire to purchase purple flowers...” 
         “I have a desire to give money to a crown prince. What’s a crown prince?” 
         “That thing is a horror,” yelled Grendaline. “No one go near it!” 
         “Olé?” queried a voice Lem didn’t recognize. 
         “I think,” said Friendly, “that perhaps we should stick it in a corner and try something else.” 
         “What else?” snapped Alph. “If I’m going to come up with a plan and you are all going to mess it up, what’s the point?” 
         Grendaline snapped back, “Your plan is too rigid! What if I don’t what to do it your way?” 
         “You are probably the one who messed up that thing, Grendaline,” accused Mab. “You cause grief, you... griefer.”
         “Mab, it is not proper to call out names,” chastised Tii. 
         “You are not the boss of the cave, Tii,” yelled Spriggan. 
         “Spriggan, you are not helping,” coughed Zille. 
         “Take it this privately, guys,” whined Pot. “This is not cool.” 
         “Privately where?!” cried Humbaba. “We’re stuck in a damn cave!” 
         Then the voices were all on top of each other and Lem couldn’t tell who was saying what to whom. 
         “If you’d all just play my way!” 
         “Can we all just calm down?” 
         “You calm down! You calm down!” 
         “You’re the newest, newb! You don’t understand anything!” 
          “This is about those gas trees in Ix, isn’t it? It should be spice!” 
          “Gas!” 
          “Spice!” 
          “If you don’t like it, leave!” 
          “I can’t! And don’t tell me what to do!” 
         “STOP!” yelled Lem, his words echoing through out the entire cavern. “STOP! This is my fault! My fault!” 
          The Giants fell quiet. 
          “You made the door?” asked Humbaba. 
          “No,” said Lem. “But I think I know how to open it. Cosma, please listen to me.” 
          Friendly whispered something under his breath that may have been “Ah. Here it is.” But it may have been “I have to whizz.” No one heard him except Señor Pickle and he never shared. 
          “Cosma,” tried Lem again. “Can you hear me? Can I say something?” 
          “I guess,” whispered Cosma. 
          “I’m... sorry,” Lem said. “I am so so sorry. I hurt you and scared you and I am so so sorry. I was only thinking of myself and I wasn’t thinking of you. I just... I just wanted you all to appreciate me. I got so obsessed with time. So fixated on it and I just wanted it for myself and I wanted Alph’s credit for it and I couldn’t think of anything else. And I wronged you, Cosma. I did not think of how it would make you feel and I scared you and I hurt you and I am sorry.”  
         Lem could hear small sobs from Cosma but pushed on. 
         “I know you are afraid of me and I don’t expect you to forgive me. But it is really important that we get you all out of there. We can’t do this alone. We have to be together. All of us. I will never hurt or scare you again. Please, Cosma. Help me open the door. Please.” 
         You know that part where I said Lem and Cosma stuff was dealt with in another story? I lied. 
         At Lem's feet something slowly came into focus. A small metal thing with some bits on one end and a triangle on the other. 
         Lem somehow knew what it was immediately and he knew its name. He said it out loud at the same time, on the other side if the door, Cosma did. 
         “The key,” they said together. 
         Lem picked it up and slipped one end into the hole in the door. He turned it and the chains fell to the floor. He touched the door and in swung inward, as if it weighed nothing at all. 
         Lem walked into the cave and saw them standing there. Humbaba and Mab. Spriggan and Tii. Grendaline and Zille. Pot and Alph. And Friendly. 
         And Cosma, her eyes and face wet with tears. 
        “I’m sorry,” Lem said to Cosma and to them all. 
        “I know,” said Cosma. Then she wiped her eyes and smiled. “Now, let’s go kick some Rook butt.”

    [to be continued]
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh My Giants!!! I love love love it! Ah dear Cosma, i feel you, T_T.
    Posted 13 months ago by Tumahura Subscriber! | Permalink
  • PART X, the last aside
    in which I do one last narrative aside before the whole thing gets wrapped up
         This may not seem like the best time for an interruption from your narrator, what with the epic battle of the Giants against the Rooks coming up. I'm sure you are all very excited to see all that! All the Giants, working together, fighting back the hordes of nasty Rooks and bringing life back to Ur! Exciting stuff! However, I thought it might be better to do it know instead of having a rambling epilogue. Also, you are more likely to read it. So this is just some thoughts, justifications, rambling, and musings from me.
         First off, I told tell the story of the epic battle. I speed right past When I was told this story, they just said, "And the Giants defeated the Rooks, scattering them out of the boundaries of Ur. Oh, yeah. They also got back time." So don't get your hopes up. I am sure there it was all very thrilling, with twists and turns, moments of retreat and charges, cunning plans, great heroics, and more. But this story isn't really about that.
         What is this story about? That's a good question. It's about time, sure. But it is about Lem and about redemption. Maybe. Perhaps its about knowing what is important. Or about the importance of friendship. Or it is just about what you want it to be about. That's all stories are.
        This is just a story. In the retelling of it, I have come to doubt even more that these events really happened. Or at least not this way. Or not this exact way. There are other stories about time and how eggs came to grow on trees and how Lem imagined teleportation. I've heard it was Tii who imagined time and it was Alph that was jealous. Or that this whole story wasn't about time but about the color magenta. Others believe Ur was originally eleven separate world that only recently became one. Or that the Giants have never worked together and fought over who controls the world. Or that Giants are sleeping in orbit around Ur, dreaming it into existence. Or that the whole thing is just a some sort of game, inside a vast network of machines connected across another reality and we, as Glitchen, have no free will but are controlled by strange beings with too much time to spare. (There are some really crackpot ideas out there. But this is just a story. Believe what you wish and I hope the rest is at least entertaining.
         I am glad I've had the chance to share this to those who were listening. It's good to get it off my chest. I apologize for the typos and the inconstancies. I'm pretty sure one or two of the Giants genders change here and there. (But do you really want to check a Giants gender? How would that even work?) Some point soon I will go back and actually proofread this thing and put it in some form that makes it easier to read. Maybe an audio of recording. I wonder how many musicblocks it would take to record the whole thing? We'll see.
         Well, only one more chapter. Better get to it.

    [to be continued one more time]
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am not the slightest bit embarassed to say that I have tears running down my cheeks while I am sitting at my desk, in my office, at work. Someone could walk in at any moment and see me and I would have a very hard time explaining that I was crying over the Giants' triumph over selfishness and envy. But I am not embarassed.
    Posted 13 months ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Kookaburra, thank you. You comment is the sort of thing a writer, well, gets a bit teary eyed when they read it.
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Heads up: Last chapter is going up tomorrow. At some point.
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This is so good... It must be immortalized as a holy text!

    — Mal'akhPrimate of LemPrimus Inter Pares of the Orthodox Church of the Giants of UrHubby of ArannaShriner of Mullangi Meda
    Posted 13 months ago by Mal'akh Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Must have moar! ;___________;
    Posted 13 months ago by Mandy.23 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Lord Bacon-o, your writing is an absolute delight and I have enjoyed reading the story a great deal.

    However, I fear that when you said, six days ago, that the last chapter would be going up "tomorrow", you may have been teasing us...
    Posted 13 months ago by Batsgirl Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Indeed, people are getting tired of me asking if it's 'at some point' yet...

    On the other hand, I don't want it to be over :(
    Posted 13 months ago by WeavingTheWeb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • PART ELEVENTY
    in which things end and things begin and things pretty much are the way they will have had always will be

         And the Giants defeated the Rooks, scattering them out of the boundaries of Ur. And, oh yeah. They also got back time.
         (Well, perhaps that is a bit terse. All this build up and we are left with just that?   That seems entirely unfair and disappointing. Let us see if we can all-spice it up a bit.)

         The Giants each took a stack of Lem’s scripts and with a mighty eleven toned ‘floop’, they left the caverns.
         On the surface, the world of Ur was being devoured into nothing. All across the land, the Rooks were extirpating every fragment of imagination. The stuff that holds the world together was weakening and its very parts were pulling apart. The sound of thousands of pigs, butterflies, chickens, frogs, trees, bogs, rocks and more screaming in pain could be heard... or could have been if the Rooks hadn’t already begun to consume sound itself.
         The Giants stood back-to-back and each took a deep breath. Without saying a word (which would not have been heard anyway) they moved forward at once, expanding their circle outward. They pushed back the dark and scattered flocks of Rooks. With each step, they healed the world where it could be healed and remade it when it was beyond repair. When they encounted the Rooks, the Giants fought.
         As the circle got bigger, it became harder to protect each other. So they group together in twos and threes. These small teams went region to region, often using Lem’s scripts to get an advantage over the Rooks, fighting and healing and re-imagining and imagining anew. (It would be heartwarming to say here that Cosma and Lem paired up and fought side by side. Except that didn’t happen. The healing between then had begun, but their friendship would take longer to reclaim than it would take to reclaim Ur.) 
         The battle against the Rooks last for a night and a day. There were moments of defeat and moments of victory. Advances and retreats and attacking for the flanks and various other maneuvers that sounded somewhat military. Wounds were inflicted and wounds were sustained.
         And in the end the last Rooks where forced back across the boundaries of existence.

         Ur was not yet fully healed. In fact, it was changed from what it was. Some things had been destroyed beyond recognition. New things and been imagined in their places. There was still much work to be done but the Giants took a moment to rest now that the immediate danger of the Rook was gone.
         “That was... something,” said Friendly to Lem as they sat upon a cliff overlooking the forests of the north.
         “Yes,” replied Lem. “Was it–”
         “No,” interrupted Friendly. “It wasn’t.”
         “But did I–”      “Lem,” said Friendly, “I don’t know where the Rook came from. Or I do but I don’t know that I know. Or perhaps I knew and now don’t but will. But what I do know, is that you did not imagine them. Or not only you. Or that it isn’t that simple. Or that it is simpler.”
         Lem sighed. “Sometimes your answers are not helpful at all, Friendly.”
         “I know. Here,” said Friendly, handing Lem a cylinder that was cold to the touch.
         “What is this?” asked Lem.
         “A beer. Drink it.”
         Lem took a sip and found the taste odd. Not really tasty but somehow very pleasant and the perfect beverage to quench a post-epic battle thirst. “Thank you.”
         Friendly took a sip of his own beer and then looked at Lem. At first Lem couldn’t read the meaning behind Friendly’s stare, but slowly the meaning came to him.
         Lem pulled out the dirty and battered time and held it in his lap. “I don’t know why I became so obsessed with this.”
         “Time is seductive,” said Friendly. “It can pull you in and–”
         “Friendly,” Lem spoke up, “I think... I am done thinking about time. Take it. I still have a few days but... not right now.” Lem looked down on the torn and ragged lands. “There is simply too much else to do.”
         “Thank you” said Friendly. “There is something I’ve been meaning to check out about time. I will see you in twenty-seven days, Lem.”
         “Until then,” said Lem.
         “Until then,” replied Friendly.

         Ten of the Giants worked on reviving the animals and the plants and essence of Ur. Sometimes they worked alone, sometimes together. They also worked on strengthen the edges of the world, to protect it from the Rook should they try to return. But when your very being is about imagining, it is hard to not fall into the trap of imagining ways around the very safeguards they were imagining. Once doubts creep in, its hard to ignore them. Try it right now. Try to not picture the Rook. Go ahead.
         See? It’s hard to do.
         The one Giant who spent the least time dwelling on doubts was Lem. He turned his efforts to the world. He didn’t worry about what had happened in the past or what might happen in the future. He just thought about what was before him in the here and now. Mostly. Of course dark thoughts returned at times, but he accepted them and let them be replaced by the work.
         Friendly was not seen for twenty-seven days. He was gone from Ur and never once spoke of where he took time. When he returned and handed time over to Lem, time was whole again, shiny and new as the day it was imagined. Friendly, however, appeared worn and bruised. But when asked about what happened, he just smiled and prepared himself a stiff cocktail.
               Lem had three days left with time. He looked upon it for a few moments and then put it aside. When the three days were over, he passed it to Tii without saying a word.

         Tii spent time carefully. Tii dissected time and cut it into pieces. And smaller pieces. And then smaller pieces. Tii put the pieces back together into larger pieces and larger pieces and even larger pieces. And meticulously measured and documented every thing. Near the end of Tii’s twenty-seven days, s/he made a graph of all the days and months, putting names to things (some of which are still the same today, some of which have changed). Tii soon knew everything one could know about the nature of time. Or at least the things that can be written in charts and spreadsheets (which turn out to not be that much).

         On Tii’s last day with time, s/he called together all the Giants.
         “The days are almost done. Each of us have had twenty-seven days. There were five days we were all asleep that none of us had time and five days that the Rook had time.
         “I have carefully looked at time, and it appears that there is still one day left. I suggest we share this last day. I am pretty sure that is the fairest thing to do.”

         The Giants all assented.
         Mab said, “Now that we have used up all the days, what happens after this last day is gone?” The Gianst began to chatter with concern.
         Alph cleared his throat. “Look. It’s time. It’s an abstract concept. I’m the one who imagined it in the first place. There will be another day and another day and another after that. Stop worrying and get over it!”
         “Yes,” said the rock, slowly lowering the glasses from his face. “There is time enough for all of us. If we have learned anything, it is that time can’t be owned. Nor can the world. Ur is not anyones. It is all of ours. Not just the Giants but the piggies and the butterflies and the barnacles and, yes, even the rocks. It is fine to imagine on our own or to imagine with others. But in the end, we share the world. Together.” And the rock put his glasses back on and turned back to his book.
         All the Giants nodded and agreed.
     
         The last day began. The Giants did very little work that last day. They ate and drank and laughed and played. There was some crying and some fighting, but no more than any family does.
         As night fell, Lem found Friendly looking at the graph Tii had made.
         “Tii calls it a ‘calendar.’ These are all the days that were. And after today,” Friendly said, pointing to a box at the bottom of the graph, “it will start all over. All the same but all fresh.”
         Lem looked upon the calendar. “They seemed to last forever, but seeing them like this... They seem so fleeting.”
         “Yes, I suppose they do,” said Friendly.
         “With all that happened, with all that I... we went through... I just have one question.”
         “Yes?”
         “Who the hell was that rock in the glasses?” asked Lem.
         Friendly, in all honesty answered, “I have no idea. No idea at all.”

    [To not be continued.]
    Posted 13 months ago by Lord Bacon-o Subscriber! | Permalink