Skating in the Clouds

I got up late today, and of course got to work late so I had to stay late. When I did get home Trish was roller skating around the neighborhood. I ran into the house and wolfed down some mac-n-cheeze and a roll and ran back outside to see if I could catch her. She was just coming back up the street toward her house. I waved to her, and ran across the street to meet her.

I asked her if I could join her with my scooter, and she said that would be great. So we skated all over the neighborhood chatting and laughing, and talking about the great lake trip yesterday. Apparently that is an Independence Day tradition for her family. I told her how much fun it was, and asked how often they went out to the lake. She said they go several times a year. She wasn't sure when the next time would be, but she would ask her parents if I could go next time they went. Skating around chatting was almost as much fun as jet skiing with her yesterday. And wow she is so pretty.

I totally lost track of time, and when I realized the sun was going down, I knew I was in trouble. We raced back home, and said goodbye. Sure enough I got the 'you know when you are supposed to be home' lecture, and went to bed.

Swimming in the Clouds

I got home late from work yesterday, and my mom gave me a message from 'our new neighbors'. Apparently Trish had stopped by to see if I could go with her family to the lake today. I was stunned to find out that my mom had said that she wasn't sure. I had worked a long day, and might be too tired. I could only gape at my mom in a complete loss of words as my heart just stopped. It was too late to call and tell them I could come, but I would have stayed up all night if I needed to catch them before they left. I was able to drag out of my mom that they were about seven o'clock, and immediately set my alarm for six and dove into bed.

I am not sure if I slept or not last night. I was so excited when my alarm went off that I forgot anything except to dive into my trunks and a t-shirt and run out onto the porch. There were a couple lights on at Trish's house, but there was no sign of anyone loading their boat, so I went back in the house and wolfed down some cereal. I then sat looking through the front curtains until about ten to seven when I saw Trish's mom and brother carry a load of towels out to their boat. I then stared for another ten minutes when I saw Trish come out of the house start looking through the boat for something. I sprinted to the front door and casually walked over to her house. She saw me as I crossed the road and waved me over to the boat.

We found a life-jacked and a set of skis that fit me, and then went into the house to help carry stuff out to the boat. Her parents were nice, and her brother was even pretty cool. I could tell he was going to destroy me on water skis just by the way he talked about it. I guess he was pretty excited cause he couldn't stop talking about this time he was going to this trick or that trick. If I wasn't so excited to be hanging out with Trish I probably would have been terrified to tell them that I had never been water skiing before.

When Trish's father hooked up the truck, I noticed that they also had a jet ski in the back of the truck. I remember thinking that it was too bad they didn't have two. As it turns out, I couldn't have been luckier that they only had one.

I did what I could to help unload the boat, but having never done it before I actually just stood where Trish told me to stand and then did my best not to look like I had never been on a real boat before.

We drove straight to the middle of the lake and Jake, Trish's brother, jumped into the water with only one water ski. I started looking for the other one, but Trish just threw him a rope and held an orange flag in the air. When Jake waved his hand, Trish dropped the flag, and her dad slammed on the gas. It is a good thing their boat has padding around the edge, and that Trish has good reflexes or I would have gone swimming right there and then.

It turns out that that is how you start water skiing I guess because about a half hour later I was in the water with two water skiis and a ski rope in my hand. When I waved that I was ready I saw the orange flag start to drop, my heart lept, and I went head first over my ski tips into the water. by the time I found the surface of the lake they almost had their laughing under control, and the boat was almost back to me. Apparently I did pretty bad because even their mom was fighting back laughter. I was not so much humiliated as I was thrilled to get back into the boat and drain my lungs of the lake water.

I was just about to grab the boat rail when Trish tossed the end of the rope to me and promised that her dad would start a little slower this time. I did my best to stop sputtering and coughing and swam back to the skis. Jake was obviously bored by the time I got my feet into the skis and the skis pointed at the boat. I heard Jake yell something about lean back just as I signaled ready. I locked my knees and leaned back. I stood on the water just long enough to see the front of my skis go under the water, then everything went black. I regained my senses in time to break the surface of the lake before my lungs burst. This time I didn't seem to have much water in my lungs, but by nose was running like a faucet and my face was numb. time as the boat drifted by I think I saw some real concern in their eyes. I found out later that I had actually attacked the lake with my face twice, and almost got the best of it when I let go of the rope and went under.

After a couple more tries I got up for the length of the lake, but I had never asked how to turn. Jake had made it look like the skis just turned for you. So when the boat turned I just went right on past until I ran out of rope when I was yanked right out of the skis. I am sure I was not the only one glad to have me back in the boat, but it was a small consolation when Trish threw a towel around my shoulders.

I shivered a bit wondering where the wind had sprung up from when Trish stripped off her shirt and shorts, and dove in. I think that must have been when I stopped breathing. I remember hearing a snort from the front of the boat where Jake and their dad was, but I had lost the use of my neck as I watched for Trish swim out to the skis. It must have been about the time she signaled ready that I realized that I wasn't breathing, and my had mouth fallen open and was about to start drooling in my lap.

I reestablished my breathing for a moment until the boat burst into action. When I got back into my seat Trish was cruising, up on both skis tossing her hair out of her face. I tried not to stare, but she was sanding there flexing every muscle in her tight little frame with only a tight glistening swimming suit covering most of her torso. I was once again not breathing, but this time it was because I was preparing to be struck by lightning. I kept waiting for my eyes to burn away or her dad to throw me out of the boat, but nothing happened. She cornered and started a run back up the lake before felt the pressure in my lungs and began force feeding my lungs. My eyes still sting a little from not blinking for almost twenty minutes.

Trish did eventually let the rope fall and we watched Jake for while. I politely declined another chance to attack the lake with my face, but sat stunned as, once again, Trish stripped off her t-shirt and shorts, and took another spin around the lake.

I remember we ate lunch on the docks, but I don't remember what it was. I think there were chips, but only because I dropped them in the water and watched the little bluegill eat them. At that point I was ready to die and pass away completely content with my life, but her dad brought the truck down and dropped the water ski into the water. He offered Trish the keys, and told us to have fun while they tried to find some fish.

It could probably hold three people easily, but I guess it was just understood that just Trish and I were going. She warned me hold tight, but I was having a hard time just putting my hands on her waist. She gave it a little gas, and I almost went swimming. I then took a deep breath and placed my check against her back with both of my arms around her waist. I think that was the moment that we actually left this planet. We drove around in the clouds for a while until she banked a bit too hard and we both splashed back to earth, and once again I had forgotten to breath.

I sputtered and coughed my way back to the surface were I found the water ski circling around to kill us both. I must have made some kind of noise because Trish started laughing and told me to just wait there. I quickly realized that it was stopping as it circled. As we climbed back on, I tried to keep my red face hidden.

This time I was actually able to hear her, as she pointed out various spots on the shore. We were quickly laughing freely and having a blast. She even let me drive a little, but we eventually went back to the docks where Jake and their dad had five different fish already on the line.

Their dad challenged us to race across the bay and back while he and their mom loaded the boats. Jake and Trish must have had a long standing competition because when we said go I surfaced swimming at a moderate pace, and found myself quickly loosing ground to both of them. I ducked my head and dug in. I occasionally looked up, but they were always pretty close, and just pounding the water.

At the far side I stopped to congratulate myself for winning when they both spun and started for the docks at full speed. I was amazed at their fierce competition, but being a pretty good swimmer myself I was able catch them just as we reached the starting dock. Their mom was there to declare me the winner by a hand.

When we got back they said I had to stay for the fish fry, and with a quick trip to let my mom know, I was back with Trish sitting around watching their dad fry fish on the barbecue. It was almost dark when I left, and Trish gave me a hug to say goodbye, and wouldn't you know it my lungs quit again. When I got home I restarted them, and my mom asked if I was sick. Apparently my face was kind of blue.

I told my mom that I was tired and better get to bed early, but in truth I just wanted to sit alone and let the day sink in. I can say without any hesitation that today was the best day of my life.

The Brass Wastes

"As you already know," I began, "The Brass Wastes are the dry desert that runs from the base of The Goblin Cliffs to the Sun Flare Mountains far in the west. Most of it is just a high sage desert, but some parts are actually flowing mountains of sand. There are occasional rivers, but they general flow along the bottom of deep caverns with sheer sides. To the north the desert gives way to more alpine hills on the east, and grassy plains further west beyond the Frost Mountains."

"To the south I think they continue into a sandstone desert that is much the same, but I have never been south of the road more than a days walk."

I looked shyly at Kib as I apologetically added, "Thats about it. Lots and lots of desert, horny toads, snakes, and occasional dragons."

I was expecting a dissapointed sigh fro Kib, but was shocked when his eyes lit up.

"Dragons!? You mean there are more out there?", he blasted for the whole yard to hear.

Diana and I looked around startled hoping that no one else had heard that. Then with one quick look at the hands I knew I had to down play the presence of more dragons.

"Weeeelllll..." I started, my mind grasping for a way to take it back. "Well... you see... " I knew I had to just dump the whole bomb on them.

"Okay, first of all do you know why the west mountains, out beyond the Brass Waste are called the Sun Flare Mountains?"

"Because of the sun flash that happens at sunset sometimes." Kib stated proudly.

"Yes." I encouraged. "but... do you know what that flash is?" I said slyly.

This time one of the hands responded shyly. "My pa says its a reflection off the ocean that is on the far side."

I was surprised that they even had a guess, let alone that is was partially right.

"You are partially right." I said with a little surprise still in my voice.

"The actual reason is that there is an ancient brass dragon that lives in those mountains." I paused just long enough for them to register understanding. "The dragon's name is Sun Flare, and those are his mountains." The simple logic showed in their faces immediately.

I decided to take a side track at this point to quell some of the thoughts that would occur to them later. "Sun Flare is a very old and very large dragon, but he is actually a very just dragon. And, if you actually have a chance to meet him face to face he is very pretty. He doesn't so much rule the Sun Flare Mountains, as he just scares away anything that brings injustice to the area." I caught the expected incredulous looks, but had to continue.

"Now Sun Flare has a girl friend, a lady dragon that also lives in those mountains, and together they have hatched a large brood of dragons over the last few decades. Some of those dragons are reaching the age to leave their parents care. Some of those are venturing out onto the Brass Wastes." I waited just long enough for their lips to begin to forming question when I launched once again: "...and part of the reason I know those dragons aren't here for blood is because I know their father, and he would not let them go marauding peaceful villages without provocation." I saw them all begin to breath a little freer, and took to time to put another plug in for leaving the dragons alone.

"So, you see, that is why we need to leave them alone. If they are left alone they will leave us alone, but if we were to attack them their father would not intervene, and they know it. They would be free to extract whatever justice they chose." With that mulling over in their heads I chose to finish the story and let them retire.

"The flash that you see occasionally is the sun reflected off the back of Sun Flare. On certain days, when the ocean is calm enough, Sun Flare can use the reflection off the ocean and the direct light of the sun together to create those flashes that can be seen as far away as the Halemin Mountains."

"Well, thats the whole story for tonight I'm afraid. I am off to bed." And with that I left them to think about it, hoping that the hands in particular would become evangelists for leaving the dragons in peace.

Storytime Begins

Of course Kib tried to held me to my promise tonight, and I realized that I would be up late every night if I didn't find a way to slow him down a bit. So I proposed a compromise.

"Tell you what kiddo." I began, "I'll tell you a bit about the Brass Wastes tonight, but I think we better set up a regular night each week for story telling."

"Okay." he said a little embarassed.

Diana quickly jumped in to give me an out, but I caught her eye with a wink and went on.

"How about this..." I started as my mind raced. "What if we have story time on Saturday evenings after dinner?"

I had wanted to start a regular storytime in the village, but I quickly changed plans.

"That way," I continued, "we can invite some of the other people from town. That way I won't have to tell all the stories twice."

Suddenly both of the other hands jumped in at once, "Excellent, maybe we could invite our families?" they both injected at once.

We all looked at Diana afraid to invite a lot of people when she was doing the cooking. She caught the shy looks from all of us and started laughing.

"Oh sure, you guy sit around and tell stories while I make dinner for the whole town."

We all began to back peddle mumbling various apologies, but she just cut in. "Of course we can invite your families. I have been hoping to get over to see them more anyway."

One of the hands quickly volunteered his mother to bring some bread, "It's the best. You'll see." He said with real sincerity.

The other hand said shyly said, "My mums pretty good with pie, maybe I could get her to throw something together."

"It set then." jumped in Diana. "Now about the Brass Wastes..." she said with an eager blink in my direction.

"Yes The Brass Wastes" chimed in Kib with childlike excited squeak.

History and Geography

Tonight after supper the hands, Diana, Kib, and I were all sitting out on the porch. Kib started asking me what I knew of the castle and the capitol, the area between here and there, and lots of other details. After a couple short answers I offered to explain the history and geography of the Darkan Kingdom as far as I knew it. Because Diana was the only other person there that had ever been outside the general area of Greenhollow, they easily overrode my objections of getting to bed late, so I launched into what I do best, tell stories.

The Darkan family led a group of settlers across the Halemin Mountains to settle the valley now known as the Darkan Fields or just The Fields. Bordered on the east by the massive western wall of the mountains and on west by the Iron River, this region was great for farmland. It was in the hills on the north end of this area that the castle was built, and the capitol city grew up around the castle."

"West of the Iron River is a hilly land that rises and then falls toward the Frost River. For the most part this area is dominated by herds of sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs. This area rises to the Frost Mountains in the north and gradually slopes down to the point where the Iron and Frost rivers meet."

"Further to the west the land rises onto the plateau known as the Cedar Flats. The flats are this area where we are. It is heavily forested, and much more difficult to farm because the land must be cleared."

"As you know the plateau extend to the west and south to the Goblin Ridge where falls into the Brass Wastes to the west and the Black Swamp to the south."

"At some point the king built a road that runs due west from the castle to the edge of the Brass Waste. His reason was to provide a good road onto the Cedar Flats to open the area to settlements."

"The rest I think you know; your mother and father were a couple of the first brave souls to brave the highland flats, and this farm is the wonderful result. The Greenhollow Road was created as a shorter corridor through the south pass to Dusara."

"As far as me. I met your mom and dad back in the capitol city. When they got married I helped them move out here, and continued on west. I have only this spring returned."

"Where did go?", chimmed in Kib. "...and who lives out in the Brass Wastes? ...and how long were you out there?"

I just had to chuckle and beg off for tonight. "That is another story for another time my young inquisitor. There will be time for more stories before the harvest. Don't worry."

I can't say that he was satisfied, but Diana shoed us all off to bed.

Country Town Joys

Today at worship services, Loomis was quiet and rather distant. He seemed almost smug, as he brushed off questions about his absent kids with "None of your ------- business." or "What the ------- is it to you?" His responses would always elicit a jab in the ribs from his wife who would remind him of the day of worship, but she was no more willing to indulge the curiosities than was he.

The blacksmith answered for his missing son with something about "Gone to try to get some blacksmithing supplies", and "May have to go all the way to Dusara..."

After the services the owner of the mercantile invited the blacksmith, his wife, Diana, and myself over for supper at his place. There are rumors around the community about the quality of the vittles at his table; so in addition to the business we were all anxious to discuss no one wanted to turn down an opportunity to sample the fare.

The meal was wonderful, and other than the wider variety of food, it was very comparable to Diana's table. The discussion after was quite relaxed. It seems that Loomis has retreated to his farm, and seems to have completely abandoned any interest outside of his own family and crops. Of course there was a lot of speculation about the missing children, but truly the only thing we knew for sure was that they were seen riding toward the capitol.

So, after a lovely evening with some great people, Diana rode back to the farm in great spirits under the bight moon. As we parted for the night she gave me a hug, and reiterated her gratitude for my help on the farm and in the town. I, of course, humbly blew it off and no big deal, and said good night.

I did walk the field on my way to my bunk. It gave me a chance to think about the value of settling down, and living the simple life of these people. But whether or not I ever settle down, it is good knowing that there are people like Diana and the blacksmith and all the good people around here. It helps me keep perspective.

Queen of the Fireworks

Yesterday was the greatest day of my life. I still cannot even believe it was real. Trish and her family were there. My parents just kept the little kids busy, and the whole neighborhood came down to watch as the gang and Trish and I went totally crazy with tanks, ground flowers, lady fingers, and best of all, bottle rockets.

As we started to set off smoke bombs and light the snakes, Trish and her family all came out with lawn chairs to watch. I invited Trish over, introduced myself and the gang, and gave her a box of snakes. As we all battled for the tallest, longest and fastest snake, she jumped right in and just squealed with delight when she would win.

We didn't have enough tank teams for her to have her own, but she just loved throwing lady fingers at them with me as we tried to knock the enemy tank off course. The flowers seemed to make her a little nervous, but when we finally lit off the tanks she was right there cheering. There is not really a win with the tanks, but it is really cool to watch.

This whole time my dad was down the street a little bit keeping the little kids totally enthralled with smoke and sparklers.

Then we broke out the bottle rockets and set up the paper target, and everyone came to watch. It was like a grand finale before the fireworks had even started. I tried to keep order in the competition, but it turned out that Trish had the real voice of authority. I think it was mostly that the gang was enchanted, and would just give her anything she wanted. It was awesome to watch as she nicely explained who's turn it was, and who had won the rounds. Even when she was in the competition round she just stated who she thought had won and nobody ever even questioned her.

For the final round it ended up being me and Jimmy; and Trish was definitely on my side, giving pointers and checking the wind. We actually lit a bunch of sparklers to outline the target for each shot. As each shot hit the target the entire neighborhood would let out a cheer.

It turned out that Jimmy won only because one of his exploded right on the target completely obliterating it. After the cheering for Jimmy's victory died down Trish put her hand on my shoulder and told me that she knew I was actually the better shot. He was just lucky.

After that I don't remember much. I think she went and sat with her parents while I set off the bulk of the fountains, whistlers, and other stuff. After the grand finale, which I had spiced up with some extra rockets and explosions, Trish came over and thanked me and my family. She said she had a lot of fun and everyone had enjoyed it.

That at least is what I think happened, but it is hard to tell where the night ended and the dreams began. If this is what drugs feel like, I can understand why it can be so tempting.

I spent about an hour cleaning up the trash this morning hoping Trish might come out, but no sign of her. I did see her at church a couple times, and she even smiled at me once. I wonder if she would like gaming with a group of dorky guys on Saturday nights.