Midnight Garden
Chapter 13
by Kye Syr
I had liked it better when I thought I was asleep. Even given Farf's new form of not predictable, I preferred the idea of being unconscious in his company to being conscious anywhere.well, anywhere.
It looked to me like my preference wasn't an issue.
I was standing alone at the end of someone's driveway, waiting for a bus to come. I could see to the next street through the crack between the buildings, and glimpsed the bus I wanted passing by. Only a few more minutes, then, I thought. It would turn at the next light and start its loop backwards and reach me in no time.
"You can't go that way," Greta said.
"I know," I told her, "but it was my only idea."
It was snowing. At first I thought that the flakes were as fine as powdered sugar, but I soon realized they were the more the size of Euros (a stupid kind of money, I thought). Not even that. The size of hands.
Greta caught a flake between her pinky and her thumb, wiggling the other three fingers with too much dexterity. She looked through the snowflake's holes at me, and said, "Don't keep straying to the front. The lightning strikes twice but it has to strike once first. To say nothing of the dog."
"If you would just come when I asked instead of when I'm trying to catch a bus," I said, "then maybe you wouldn't be stuck shoveling the driveway."
Wow, I thought. For reality, this is kind of surreal, even for me.
I saw the bus turn at the end of the street. I was certain it was the right one, even if Greta disagreed.
"It's the right one," I told her. "If I don't get on this one there won't be anymore. If there aren't any more then the watermelons will roll, and we'll be on the hill."
Greta said, "But at least when you roll you can stand up again. The beast will eat you, and then your legs will not be there to stand on." I felt my throat clench like I was about to cry. She was making me angry.
"But I won't have to stand!" I shouted. It was very quiet.
The bus was a few feet away. It was drooling. Its eyes were lights were trained on me. It had its teeth out.
"I'm the right one," it said. It steamed.
"Don't forget the high roads!" cried Greta. "I want to go home! The beast won't take you anywhere but here!"
"I'm the right one."
"I don't know," I said. "Brad said the bus was the only way to good lettuce. We need lettuce, Greta!"
"I'm the right one."
"I want to go home. He'll give us chicken soup at home. He said he'd be there."
"But how can we leave?"
"I'm the right one."
"He said he'd be there if we came home!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
The bus screamed and Greta roared and everyone was talking talking TALKING and they wouldn't let me go, were holding me down and shrieking and the beast was laughing like a Kookaburra and why did this have to be real?
Then Greta said "Don't die before tea," and I screamed and woke up. -------------------------------------------------------- A.N.: @_@ even I only understand about half of that. I'm thinking to follow up with an explanation, or put one in the notes at the very very end of the story. Most everything that's said or is present has a very specific meaning. I'd be interested in finding out what peeps think this crazy dream really means, meantime. Later, gators. ^^
I had liked it better when I thought I was asleep. Even given Farf's new form of not predictable, I preferred the idea of being unconscious in his company to being conscious anywhere.well, anywhere.
It looked to me like my preference wasn't an issue.
I was standing alone at the end of someone's driveway, waiting for a bus to come. I could see to the next street through the crack between the buildings, and glimpsed the bus I wanted passing by. Only a few more minutes, then, I thought. It would turn at the next light and start its loop backwards and reach me in no time.
"You can't go that way," Greta said.
"I know," I told her, "but it was my only idea."
It was snowing. At first I thought that the flakes were as fine as powdered sugar, but I soon realized they were the more the size of Euros (a stupid kind of money, I thought). Not even that. The size of hands.
Greta caught a flake between her pinky and her thumb, wiggling the other three fingers with too much dexterity. She looked through the snowflake's holes at me, and said, "Don't keep straying to the front. The lightning strikes twice but it has to strike once first. To say nothing of the dog."
"If you would just come when I asked instead of when I'm trying to catch a bus," I said, "then maybe you wouldn't be stuck shoveling the driveway."
Wow, I thought. For reality, this is kind of surreal, even for me.
I saw the bus turn at the end of the street. I was certain it was the right one, even if Greta disagreed.
"It's the right one," I told her. "If I don't get on this one there won't be anymore. If there aren't any more then the watermelons will roll, and we'll be on the hill."
Greta said, "But at least when you roll you can stand up again. The beast will eat you, and then your legs will not be there to stand on." I felt my throat clench like I was about to cry. She was making me angry.
"But I won't have to stand!" I shouted. It was very quiet.
The bus was a few feet away. It was drooling. Its eyes were lights were trained on me. It had its teeth out.
"I'm the right one," it said. It steamed.
"Don't forget the high roads!" cried Greta. "I want to go home! The beast won't take you anywhere but here!"
"I'm the right one."
"I don't know," I said. "Brad said the bus was the only way to good lettuce. We need lettuce, Greta!"
"I'm the right one."
"I want to go home. He'll give us chicken soup at home. He said he'd be there."
"But how can we leave?"
"I'm the right one."
"He said he'd be there if we came home!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
The bus screamed and Greta roared and everyone was talking talking TALKING and they wouldn't let me go, were holding me down and shrieking and the beast was laughing like a Kookaburra and why did this have to be real?
Then Greta said "Don't die before tea," and I screamed and woke up. -------------------------------------------------------- A.N.: @_@ even I only understand about half of that. I'm thinking to follow up with an explanation, or put one in the notes at the very very end of the story. Most everything that's said or is present has a very specific meaning. I'd be interested in finding out what peeps think this crazy dream really means, meantime. Later, gators. ^^