Date: 7/2/2001 11:00 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Liet Duran
Night Lights
... just another Sunday ...
It was late when Liet got back to the Outback, with Bailey trotting at her heels. The big dog yawned occasionally and shook his head with a jingling of the tabs on his collar. Regardless, he veered off as Liet approached the front doors and she paused. There was no light leaking out the missing front door; the place was empty, and it was obvious she was too late to catch anyone up and about. She shrugged, turned aside and followed the dog around
the corner into the knee-high weeds that were behind the building. By the time she made it back there, however, Bailey was already heading back toward her. The old stage-coach behind the Outback—Jinn's spot—was empty. She couldn't guess where he'd been all weekend—but, then again, most people wouldn't have any idea where she'd been in her off-time, either.
The next time Bailey yawned, Liet yawned back at him and scruffed her fingers through his fur. It was amazing how dirty he got in such a short period of time, and she grimaced at the burrs he'd picked up that evening. She shook her head and turned to head back into the building. Bailey balked, however, dropping to sit just before the step.
"Ya wanna stay out a while, bug-eater?" She stepped back to him, ruffling his fur again. "All right, fine—just don't go too far, got it?" His only response was the white flash of his tail, held high as he bounced his way back around the corner of the building.
Once in her room, Liet emptied her backpack onto her desk and set to organizing the papers found there. Many of them had three simple letters scribbled on them: I.O.U., followed by numbers of varying size. There was a passbook in there, too, and she also extracted a pad of stationary and an electronics catalogue. She had some books to balance, some research to do, and a letter to write to her father. But she'd only barely gotten her thoughts
organized when she heard Bailey barking outside.
"What now ... ?" She crossed to the window, cupped her hands against the glass and peered out. The dog was sitting by the stagecoach, barking up at her window, and fell silent almost as soon as she appeared. For a moment, she thought maybe Jinn had shown up—but the coach was empty. Frowning, she stepped back from the window to return to her desk—but the frown died away when her gaze fell upon a pile of gear in the corner of the room. The
bug-eater had a good idea, and she set to gathering up the gear before tip-toeing back outside.
Night Lights
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Re: Night Lights
Date: 7/2/2001 11:09 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Liet Duran
((I don't know what happened to that first post, but it shouldn't be centered, and the first sentence should be, "It was late when Liet got back to the Outback, with Bailey trotting at her heels." Sorry.))
From: Liet Duran
((I don't know what happened to that first post, but it shouldn't be centered, and the first sentence should be, "It was late when Liet got back to the Outback, with Bailey trotting at her heels." Sorry.))
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Re: Night Lights
Date: 7/2/2001 11:36 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Liet Duran
The first thing she set down was a large bag that clinked as she set it aside with exaggerated care. Next were several tall poles, sharpened at one end. The last thing she set down was a roll of twine and a pair of scissors. She was nothing if not prepared.
She moved around the coach, digging the sharpened end of each tall pole down into the dirt, placing each into the brush so that it didn't stand out too much. Next, she pulled several large, glass jars—gallon-sized pickle jars—out of the bag. A couple handfuls of sod went in the bottom of each one, and she searched out some night-blooming flowers to add to the dirt and grass.
Several hours later, her work was done. If she hadn't been tired before, she certainly was after all the running and leaping she'd been doing to catch hundreds of her tiny prey—but it was worth it. Each jar had been sealed with its metal lid, each lid punched with several holes, each jar tied tightly to a one of the tall, darkly-stained poles that had been 'planted' to blend into the brush.
Each jar was full of soft-bodied beetles—family Lampyridae, order Coleoptera—and they crawled the glass sides, spun in dizzying circles, crawled through the grass or swept across the night-blooms she'd provided. Each pulsed rhythmically with soft light; some orange, some brightly yellow, here and there a brilliant and shocking green.
Fireflies.
Lightning bugs.
Magic.
From: Liet Duran
The first thing she set down was a large bag that clinked as she set it aside with exaggerated care. Next were several tall poles, sharpened at one end. The last thing she set down was a roll of twine and a pair of scissors. She was nothing if not prepared.
She moved around the coach, digging the sharpened end of each tall pole down into the dirt, placing each into the brush so that it didn't stand out too much. Next, she pulled several large, glass jars—gallon-sized pickle jars—out of the bag. A couple handfuls of sod went in the bottom of each one, and she searched out some night-blooming flowers to add to the dirt and grass.
Several hours later, her work was done. If she hadn't been tired before, she certainly was after all the running and leaping she'd been doing to catch hundreds of her tiny prey—but it was worth it. Each jar had been sealed with its metal lid, each lid punched with several holes, each jar tied tightly to a one of the tall, darkly-stained poles that had been 'planted' to blend into the brush.
Each jar was full of soft-bodied beetles—family Lampyridae, order Coleoptera—and they crawled the glass sides, spun in dizzying circles, crawled through the grass or swept across the night-blooms she'd provided. Each pulsed rhythmically with soft light; some orange, some brightly yellow, here and there a brilliant and shocking green.
Fireflies.
Lightning bugs.
Magic.
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Rain in the Garden of Eden
Date: 7/3/2001 12:14 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Jinn Kiko
The day with Liet and Bailey had been amazing, tiring, and thought provoking. The night at dueling had brought even more contemplations, he needed to figure out who and what exactly he was. After putting her to bed, (he seemed to have that effect on her, she gets around him and suddenly falls asleep.. heh) he was so agitated that he flew from the Outback and ran
through the fields.
It was about the fourth step from the double (well single for the moment) doors that he was on four legs. He knew his strengths, knew his weaknesses, knew what he could or couldn't do.. but emotions? That was a new one on him.
Nature has a way of adapting, of evolving into what makes it necessary to survive, and live. So had nature adapted with him, giving him a feel of what normal life was like. He'd first registered fear, anger, and pain. The night he'd given Liet the matching panther necklace he had discovered a new feeling. She had turned to speak to another guy and some weird feeling of overprotective fierceness had seized him. Jealousy. A drunken
man in another bar later explained. Yer feel it when yer in lov-- hiccup!--ove. The belch afterward had done much to dispel the magic with those words. Love?
He spent the rest of the weekend wandering the landscape, figuring out where home is and where his heart belongs. He'd come home exhausted, angry and confused, and when he had flopped on the floor and gotten attacked both by dog and three duels at once, he was relieved and even more angry in the same. It was warm and welcoming, the homecoming at least, and he'd never been more happy to see two people (yes, Bailey was people) in all his life,
somewhat short as it might seem to some.
It was when Bailey and Liet had fallen asleep on his lap that he'd realized how very intensely he had missed the two. He'd carefully taken them to their room and tucked them in, taken a shower to clear his mind, and then wearily stomped off to his "room". In the darkness of the night it was perfectly clear and it was beautiful and was accented by a thunk. He fell to the ground just staring in awe with his jaw slack at the lights before him.
It was perfect, so absolutely perfect.
Somewhere in the darkness single drops of wetness spattered to the dirt.. in his new Eden.
From: Jinn Kiko
The day with Liet and Bailey had been amazing, tiring, and thought provoking. The night at dueling had brought even more contemplations, he needed to figure out who and what exactly he was. After putting her to bed, (he seemed to have that effect on her, she gets around him and suddenly falls asleep.. heh) he was so agitated that he flew from the Outback and ran
through the fields.
It was about the fourth step from the double (well single for the moment) doors that he was on four legs. He knew his strengths, knew his weaknesses, knew what he could or couldn't do.. but emotions? That was a new one on him.
Nature has a way of adapting, of evolving into what makes it necessary to survive, and live. So had nature adapted with him, giving him a feel of what normal life was like. He'd first registered fear, anger, and pain. The night he'd given Liet the matching panther necklace he had discovered a new feeling. She had turned to speak to another guy and some weird feeling of overprotective fierceness had seized him. Jealousy. A drunken
man in another bar later explained. Yer feel it when yer in lov-- hiccup!--ove. The belch afterward had done much to dispel the magic with those words. Love?
He spent the rest of the weekend wandering the landscape, figuring out where home is and where his heart belongs. He'd come home exhausted, angry and confused, and when he had flopped on the floor and gotten attacked both by dog and three duels at once, he was relieved and even more angry in the same. It was warm and welcoming, the homecoming at least, and he'd never been more happy to see two people (yes, Bailey was people) in all his life,
somewhat short as it might seem to some.
It was when Bailey and Liet had fallen asleep on his lap that he'd realized how very intensely he had missed the two. He'd carefully taken them to their room and tucked them in, taken a shower to clear his mind, and then wearily stomped off to his "room". In the darkness of the night it was perfectly clear and it was beautiful and was accented by a thunk. He fell to the ground just staring in awe with his jaw slack at the lights before him.
It was perfect, so absolutely perfect.
Somewhere in the darkness single drops of wetness spattered to the dirt.. in his new Eden.