textfiles/messages/BACKWATER/bw840121.txt

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18 ************************************************************
19 
20 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
21 As always, the backroom remains cloaked in darkness,  for it seems that
22 the light is not on and the switch is nowhere to be found. Perhaps when
23 the Innkeeper returns he will show me where it is. Or... Maybe PAM ?
24                              * Tarn *                             
25 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
26 Emer?      Hello?      Anybody there?
27 
28 Ouch!    Damn table!    Crash!      Ouch!     
29 <sigh>  I should have waited I guess.... Darn it! I think I 
30 broke a toenail.  Gad it hurts!
31 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
33 The piper felt the hairs lift on the back of his neck as the tension built.
34 "(EXPLETIVE DELETED), I should have let it pass, but no......."
35    "let's see if we can redirect some of this emotion before it gets out of
36     hand.  something light and danceable, i think..."
37 
38 Keeping his eye on a rough-looking character in the corner --dusty, did he say
39 his name was? -- the piper inflated his pipes and winded them with a short 
40 blow to the bag.  A brief **honk** and the drones caught.  The bass drone, the
41 longest one that sat on his right shoulder
42 wavered a little,  he reached up with his left hand and twisted the top joint
43 minutely.  There!  The purr of the bass drone now solidly underlay the twin
44 hum of the two tenors.  A quick run of the fingers over the chanter to check that
45 the relationship is right.  The two 3/4 note steps on the bagpipe scale sound
46 sweet and natural to the pipers ears although he is used to seeing non-pipers
47 wince as his fingers skip to the next note.
48   The piper swung into a set of lively dance airs and felt the tension of the
49 group diminish as feet tapped.  
50 He ended his set with a lively jig that even got that drunken fellow who had
51 uttered the forbidden words dancing.  
52 To the piper's relief, at one point he stumbled and the dagger that he had
53 loosed in his sheath slid behind the bar
54 Moving quietly, the innkeeper placed the weapon out of the room for safekeeping.
55 Stepping back from his set, the piper stepped close by the apprentice, and said
56 quietly:
57 "Please accept my apologys.  I had though that subject was far enough in the
58 past to allow oblique references to it.
59 Unfortunately, it seems not.  However, congratulations on your quick thinking."
60 ----------------------------------------the piper-----------------------------
61 ***************************************************************
62 I love peanut butter sandwiches. In poorer times I once lived 
63 a week eating nothing else. I learned something from that. 
64 Even something as wonderful as peanut butter gets old when its 
65 the only thing you consume.
66 
67 I've noticed lately that Backwater is taking on some of the 
68 characteristics of a peanut butter binge. Same style, same 
69 flavor, same personality. Good stuff, in itself, but adding 
70 meat to the fare might make for a more balanced diet.
71 
72 But where are the meat providers? What happened to their 
73 dazzling debates, their scinillating discussions, their 
74 pliable platitudes? The table is set, the diners ready, but 
75 there is no meat. Drat!
76 
77 Does this mean a fantasy freak, a Grand Dragon Master no less, 
78 must compensate for their complacancy? Is reality to be left 
79 in the hands of the crazy drivel mongers they so verbally 
80 depore. Apparently so. 
81 
82 Let's get some discussion going. 
83                  ======  TOPIC #1  ======
84 Jonathan Preppie was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He 
85 was raised by nurturing parents who gave him every advantage 
86 money could buy. He went to the right schools, made the right 
87 friends, and became an important tax lawyer.
88 
89 Though Jonathan was bright and well educated, the real success 
90 of his career was based on his contacts. He knew the right 
91 people in the right places and he could get things done with a
92 minimum of actual work. As a result, Jonathan developed a 
93 lifestyle that was undemanding, self absorbing, and highly 
94 respectable. He was a model of success.
95 
96 Randal Dreggs, on the other hand, was born into a poor family, 
97 had a deformed foot that made him walk funny, and was 
98 mildly retarded. His deformed foot and dumb sounding 
99 comments caused people to laugh at him, which made him with-
100 drawn and self consious.
101 
102 Randal was determined to make what he could of himself. 
103 Through vocational training he landed a job sorting electrical 
104 components. He created a circle of friends who liked him as he 
105 was. And he took good care of his dog, who was his best friend.
106 
107 His life was a simple one but it met his needs. He was proud 
108 to hold a job when others, less handicapped than he, were l
109 living in institutions for the retarded. He didn't contribute 
110 much to society, by Randall's standards, but he was honest, 
111 never hurt anyone, and he always did his best.
112 
113 I ask you - What gives one life more value than another? In 
114 your value system is Jonathan better (or more successful) than 
115 Randal? Why?
116 
117 What determines the value of a human life? Is it how much the 
118 person produced, their status, their social position?  Or do 
119 you measure how far they've gone against where they started 
120 from?
121                  ======  TOPIC #2  ======
122 About a mile from Lake Oswego, overlooking the Willamette, is 
123 an institution for the incarceration and treatment of severely 
124 emotionally disturbed and mentally ill children.
125 
126 It is a modern building, quite attractive, that is 
127 specifically designed to be indestructable. It has inch and a 
128 half thick electronically controlled steel doors, shatter-
129 proof glass throughout, and the entire building is treated 
130 to make it fireproof.
131 
132 Furnature is heavy and tough, beds are attached to the walls, 
133 and no sharp objects or blunt instruments are found on the 
134 unit. It is a closed system. Children eat, sleep, and go to 
135 school on the premises.
136 
137 At the center of all this is the QUIET ROOM. The quiet room 
138 is the modern day equivalent of the padded cell, except that 
139 modern fire regulations prohibit the padding.
140 
141 The quiet room is ten foot square, has an inch and a half 
142 thick steel door, built in ceiling light, and a floor that 
143 gradually slopes to a drain in the middle. The room is 
144 painted a hideous shade of pink psychological researchers 
145 have determined has a calming effect. Or so they say.
146 
147 Realizing that I haven't given you much to go on I'd like 
148 to pose some really tough questions.
149 
150 My questions: Is it ever morally justified to throw a child 
151 into a quiet room? If not, why?  If so, under what 
152 circumstances?
153                      ================
154 OK, folks, those are my offerings. I know they're tough 
155 questions; I planned it that way. The easy questions draw 
156 easy answers. We've had enough of those. 
157 
158 Do you find either topic interesting enough to spark 
159 discussion? If not, what are you going to offer instead? 
160                        Gary Olson
161 *********************************************************
162 Mr:. Olson: as to your first topic, I see no reason to try and determine which
163 of the two is "better". Though I am not a cChristian (or a member of ANY
164 organized religion), I believe Christ made an applicable comment. "Judge not,
165 lest ye be judged." I
166 	#2: I'm not sure what the "right" answer to that one is. I do feel a
167 that all such decisions (any need to be made on a case by case basis. I have
168 insufficient data for coming up with a set of "guidelines". There MAY be 
169 circumstances that would justify putting a cxhild in a quiet room. Also, 
170 HOW LONG are we talking about? I can see little harm (to a "normal" child
171 (whatever the hell, that is!) in being placed in one for 10-15 minutes. That
172 is not to say that it is "right" to do so.
173 	By the way, have you seen what the "cells" used for juvenile offenders in 
174 some areas are like? About the same size as your "quiet room". Similar door,
175 with a viewslot (with bolting cover) just large enough for a meal tray.
176 Bunk is metal shelf that is part of wall. Light (ALWAYS on) is in corner near
177 cieling. One piece sink-toilet. Oh, yes, the room is NOT square. The door is
178 in one corner, the adjacent corner of that wall i"isn't there". IInstead there
179 is a short wall section (imagine someone took a knife and cut off the corner). 
180 This is where the sink, etc are. This is so that you are ALWAYS visible thru
181 the door (unless you are directly under the slot). The whole is painted what
182 I think of as "hospital green" (like scrubs, if that helps). I spent a couple
183 of days in one of these when I was 17 (loooong story, don't ask!) You are
184 forbidden writing implements/materials. You can get reading materials only
185 if you can talk them into letting you have some comic books  (they grab a
186 handful from a stack, I read the same 5 comics 12 times!). You are in the cell
187 except at meals, an hour or so for anti-drug or other "health" films or talks.
188 And about an hour of free time after dinner. (summer schedule, I presume they
189 had some sort of attempt at school the rest of the year). Why dio I go on about
190 this? Because they had kids as young as EIGHT in there!
191 _________________________Leonard_______________________________________________
192 
193 		The Last Rhyme of True Thomas
194 		(by Gwendolyn of Caer Cerdinnen; O.L., m.k.a. Susan Oldham)
195 
196 The King has caleled for priest and cup,
197 	The King has taken spur and blade
198 To dub True Thomas a belted knight
199 	And all for the sake of the songs he made.
200 
201 They have sought him high, they have sought him low
202 	They have sought him over down and lea.
203 They have found him by the milk-white thorn
204 	That guards the gate of Faerie.
205 
206 "Now cease your song," the King he said,
207 	"Oh, cease your song and get you dight
208 To vow your vows and watch your arms,
209 	For I will dub you a belted knight.
210 
211 "For I will give you a horse o' pride,
212 	Wi' blazon and spur and page and squire;
213 	And land to hold at your desire."
214 
215 "I ha' vowed my vow in another place,
216 	And bitter oath it was on me.
217 I ha' watched my arms the lee-long night,
218 	Where five-score fighting men would flee.
219 
220 "My lance is tipped o' the hammered flame,
221 	My sheield is beat o' the moonlight cold;
222 And I won my spurs in the Middle world,
223 	A thousand fathom beneath the mold.
224 
225 "And what should I make wi' a horse o' pride,
226 	And what should I make wi' a sword so brown,
227 But spill the rings of the Gentle Folk
228 	And flyte my kin in the Faerie Town?
229 
230 "And what should I make wi' blazon and belt,
231 	Wi' keep and tail and seizin' and fee,
232 And what should I do wi' page and squire
233 	That am a king in my own countrie?"
234 
235 The kKing he bit his nether lip,
236 	And smote his hand upon his knee:
237 "By the faith of my soul, True Thomas," he said,
238 	"Ye waste no wit in courtesie!"
239 
240 The king cast down a gsilver groat,
241 	A silver groat o' Scots money;
242 "If I come wi' a poor man's dole," he said,
243 	"True Thomas, will ye harp to me?"
244 
245 "Whenas I harp to then children small,
246 	They press me close on either hand,
247 And who are you," True Thomas said,
248 	"That you should ride while they must stand?
249 
250 "Light down, light down from your horse o' pride,
251 	I trow ye talk to loud and hie,
252 And I will make you a triple word,
253 	And syne, if ye dare, ye shall 'noble me."
254 
255 True Thomas played upon his harp,
256 	The faerie harp that couldna lee,
257 And the first least word the proud king heard,
258 	It harpit the salt tear out o' his e'e.
259 
260 "Oh, I see the love that I lost long syne,
261 	I touch the hope that I may not see,
262 And all that I did of hidden shame,
263 	Like little snakes they hiss at me.
264 
265 "The sun is lost at noon -- at noon!
266 	The dread of doom has grippit me.
267 True Thomas, hide me under your cloak,
268 	God wot, I'm little fit to dee!"
269 
270 True Thomas played upon his harp,
271 	That birled and brattled to his hand,
272 And the next least word True Thomas made,
273 	It garred the King take horse and brand.
274 
275 "Oh, I hear the tread o' the fighting-men,
276 	I see the sun on splent and spear.
277 I mark the arrow outen the fern
278 	That flies so low and sings so clear!
279 
280 "Advance my standards to that field,
281 	And bid my good knights prick and ride;
282 The gled shall watch as fierce a fight
283 	As e'er was fought on the Border-side!"
284 
285 True Thomas sighed above his harp,
286 	And turned the song on the midmost string;
287 And txe last least word True Thomas made,
288 	He harpit his dead youth back to the king.
289 
290 "Now I am prince, and I do well
291 	To love my love withouten fear;
292 To walk with man in fellowship,
293 	And breathe my horse behind the deer.
294 
295 "My hounds they bay unto the death,'
296 	The buck has couched beyond the burn,
297 My love she waits at her window
298 	To wash my hands when I return."
299 
300 True Thomas laid his harp away,
301 	And louted low at the saddle-side;
302 He has taken stirrup and hauden rein,
303 	And set the King on his horse o' pride.
304 
305 "Sleep ye or wake," True Thomas said,
306 	"That sit so still, that muse so long?
307 Sleep ye or wake?--Till the laLatter Sleep
308 	I trow ye'll not forget my song.
309 
310 "I ha' harpit a shadow out o' the sun
311 	To stand before your face and cry;
312 I ha' armed the earth beneath your heel,
313 	And o'er your head I ha' dusked the sky.
314 
315 "I ha' harpit ye up to the Throne o' God,
316 	I ha' harpit your midmost soul in three;
317 I ha' harpit ye down to the Hinges o' Hrell,
318 	And ye would make a knight o' me!"
319 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
320 I apologize for going on so long, but I felt we needed a "quiet, listening"
321 song after the piper's dance. When I began the tune I forgot how long it was!
322 ~~~~~~~~~~~
323 Piper: I can't understand why anyone would dislike the sound o' the pipes!
324 Is there any chance that we ha' met elsewhere? I am from Stromgard. I'm not
325 sure whether the inn is in Three Mountains or in Dragon's Mist? (Milord
326 innkeeper, where be this in? Portland, Washington County, or elsewhere?)
327 
328 d: the apprentice told me somewhat of you. I do na' recall whether or not ye
329 were interested in the SCA? (You live, appropriately enough, in Dragon's Mist!)
330 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BARD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
331 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<   *.*    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
332 ...Some of the patrons were gathered at a table in the corner laughing
333    and talking with a strange looking newcomer to the Inn.
334 ...One was heard to say, "Perhaps you could engage us with a story of
335    these adventures of yours, but I warn you this crowd is not easily
336    pleased and can turn on you at a moment's notice.
337 ...He scratched his beard, took a deep breath and said, "Yes, perhaps
338    I do know one that is at least appropriate for such a gathering. 
339    I believe it's called---
340 	               

The Place Where East Begins
341 
342 	Once upon a time there was a princess named Nila. She was
343 	everything a princess should be. She was beautiful and 
344 	intelligent, much loved by everyone in the kingdom. Still,
345 	Nila was discontent for she did not seem to know that thing
346 	everyone else seemed to know, that thing called Truth. So
347 	she went to her father the King and said, "Father am I the
348  	only person who doesn't know the truth?" Now the King was a
349 	very wise man so he did not answer immediately. "My child",
350 	he said, "that is a very deep question and I must ponder it
351 	carefully, come back tomorrow." When Nila returned to the 
352 	throne room the next day, she found that her father had
353 	cancelled all his kingly activities and had gathered around
354 	him all the wisest men in the kingdom. "Beautiful One", the
355 	King said, "You have asked the most important question it 
356 	is possible to ask. I have been waiting for this moment for
357 	many years. Princess, when you were born a strange and 
358 	ragged man from the hills appeared at court and prophesied 
359 	that you would be one who would knew Truth. He said, and I
360 	quote: "Her knowing can begin only when the question arises
361 	from deep within her. This will happen in the natural course
362 	of events." Then he sang a this little song playing on an 
363 	instrument that sounded like distant bees.
364 
365 		Sone travel to the East, ho!
366 		And some go to the West.
367 		But the fartherest truth of all, Oh!
368 		Is neither East nor West.
369 
370 	("You'll have to forgive my not singing dear."), the King
371 	said parenthetically, "as you know I am not artistically
372 	inclined, second verse."
373 
374 		The answers' in the question, ho!
375 		The taste is in the thirst.
376 		Which of these truth seekers, Oh!
377 		Will reach truth first?
378 
379 	"I'm sorry father", Nila said, "but I don't understand it
380 	at all I'm afraid.
381 	"Don't be sorry and afraid at the same time, my child.",
382 	the King said, "Sorry is for the past and afraid is for
383 	the future, it isn't princess like to mix them up so. But,
384 	in any case I don't understand the song either. I simply
385 	memorized it because I believed it to contain information
386 	I might need at some future time, which is now. It is one
387 	of my better habits, I think."
388 
389 	Nila nodded patiently, being used to her father's expla-
390 	nations. It was his kingly practice to take everything
391 	apart and make a judgement on it, including himself. It
392 	made him a very good King and a poor conversationalist.
393 
394 	"Now my child", the King continued, "the time has come 
395 	and your knowing has begun. Do you feel any different?
396 	No, I though not. In any case... Now, here are the wisest
397 	men in all the kingdom. They are instructed to answer any
398 	question no matter which or what you may put to them.
399 	With that the king departed with swirling robes, carried
400 	along by that natural course of events appropriate to Kings.
401 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< to be continued... >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
402 -----------------------------------------------
403      Walking through the broad oaken door of the Inn, I  wonder  if  Tarn
404 will be here today.  Surely, he is a moody one, surly  and  full  of  woe
405 one moment, happy and friendly the next.  He has spoken  to  me  much  of
406 the past, but not of his own past, or how he  came  to  be  here  at  the
407 Inn.  Ah, well, his friendship is  good,  even  if  he  is  slow  to  his
408 changepurse when the bill arrives!
409      A loud report,  as  of  falling  furniture  and  a  breaking  stein,
410 reaches my ears, and then a muttered  curse!   It  comes  from  the  back
411 room, where last I supped and exchanged pleasantries with  Tarn.   I  see
412 Pam rushing through the old tattered curtain into that  room,  but  there
413 is no look of concern on her face; in truth she seems  quite  happy,  and
414 a wide smile of amusement plays across her  mien.   It  seems  that  I've
415 found Tarn.
416                                  - Emer -
417 -----------------------------------------------------
418 
419 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
420 
421                               THE FAIRY THORN
422                             Sir Samuel Ferguson
423 
424 	"Get up, our Anna dear, from the weary spinning-wheel;
425 	    For your father's on the hill, and your mother is asleep;
426 	Come up above the crags, and we'll dance the highland-reel
427 	    Around the fairy thorn on the steep."
428 
429 	At Anna Grace's door 'twas thus the maidens cried,
430 	    Three merry maidens fair in kirtles of the green;
431 	And Anna laid the rock and the weary wheel aside,
432 	    The fairest of the four, I ween.
433 
434 	They're glancing through the glimmer of the quiet eve,
435 	    Away in milky wavings of neck and ankle bare;
436 	The heavy-sliding stream in its sleepy song they leave,
437 	    And the crags in the ghostly air:
438 
439 	And linking hand in hand, and singing as they go,
440 	    The maids along the hill-side have ta'en their fearless way,
441 	Till they come to where the rowan trees in lonely beauty grow
442 	    Beside the Fairy Hawthorn grey.
443 
444 	The Hawthorn stands between the ashes tall and slim,
445 	    Like matron with her twin grand-daughters at her knee;
446 	The rowan berries cluster o'er her low head grey and dim
447 	    In ruddy kisses sweet to see.
448 
449 	The merry maidens four have ranged them in a row,
450 	    Between each lovely couple a stately rowan stem,
451 	And away in mazes wavy, like skimming birds they go,
452 	    Oh, never caroll'd bird like them!
453 
454 	But solemn is the silence of the silvery haze
455 	    That drinks away their voices in echoless repose,
456 	And dreamily the evening has still'd the haunted braes,
457 	    And dreamier the gloaming grows.
458 
459 	And sinking one by one, like lark-notes from the sky
460 	    When the falcon's shadow saileth across the open shaw,
461 	Are hush'd the maiden's voices, as cowering down they lie
462 	    In the flutter of their sudden awe.
463 
464 	For, from the air above, the grassy ground beneath,
465 	    And from the mountain-ashes and the old Whitethorn between,
466 	A Power of faint enchantment doth through their beings breathe,
467 	    And they sink down together on the green.
468 
469 	They sink together silent, and stealing side by side,
470 	    They fling their lovely arms o'er their drooping necks so fair,
471 	Then vainly strive again their naked arms to hide,
472 	    For their shrinking necks again are bare.
473 
474 	Thus clasp'd and prostrate all, with their heads together bow'd,
475 	    Soft o'er their bosom's beating-the only human sound-
476 	They hear the silky footsteps of the silent fairy crowd,
477 	    Like a river in the air, gliding round.
478 
479 	No scream can any raise, no prayer can any say,
480 	    But wild, wild, the terror of the speechless three-
481 	For they feel fair Anna Grace drawn silently away,
482 	    By whom they dare not look to see.
483 
484 	They feel their tresses twine with her parting locks of gold
485 	    And the curls elastic falling as her head withdraws;
486 	They feel her sliding arms from their tranced arms unfold,
487 	    But they may not look to see the cause:
488 
489 	For heavy on their senses the faint enchantment lies
490 	    Through all that night of anguish and perilous amaze;
491 	And neither fear nor wonder can ope their quivering eyes,
492 	    Or their limbs from the cold ground raise,
493 
494 	Till out of night the earth has roll'd her dewy side,
495 	    With every haunted mountain and streamy vale below;
496 	When, as the mist dissolves in the yellow morning tide,
497 	    The maidens' trance dissolveth so.
498 
499 	Then fly the ghastly three as swiftly as they may,
500 	    And tell their tale of sorrow to anxious friends in vain-
501 	They pined away and died within the year and day,
502 	    And ne'er was Anna Grace seen again.
503 
504 			(written sometime in the 15th century)
505 
506 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]PAM.[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
507 
508 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
509 FIRST A GENERAL COMMENT (NO PUN INTENDED):  I LOVE THE SONGS AND POEMS,
510 I really DO, BUT THIS SYSTEM IS SO LIMITED IN MEMORY, COULD WE TRY TO
511 KEEP THEM SHORT OR BREAK THEM UP? GIVE EVERYONE SOME ROOM. OK, NUFF SAID,
512 I'M A JERK.
513 GENERAL MACAIBO....................................................
514 ....
515 GARY ET AL:
516   OK, I'll bite. For your first thrust, I judge others (when I must)
517 not by how much they have accomplished, but by what they have done
518 with with what talents they have.  Every human is gifted; some gifts
519 may be for useful than others.  How would you like to have a talent
520 for painting bowling balls?  Not too useful, perhaps, or lucrative,
521 but it may give some personal pleasure not known to insurance 
522 salesmen.  Those who know what their gifts are are fortunate, indeed.
523 Most never find them.  So, by your description, Johnathan took the
524 easy route, and never needed to stretch himself.  A waste of good
525 protoplasm, while Randall, if he was performing to the best of his
526 abilities, gets my vote.   Secondly, to parry, my internal value
527 system depends merely on whether I have paid the price for my dreams.
528 I happen to know my gifts, and indulge myself in them, and set goals
529 for myself which few mortals would dare.  If I fail them having tried
530 my best, I feel I have stretched my potential enough and may fail with
531 honor.  Letting a dream die without giving everything I can to achieve
532 it, however, is a mortal crime against myself.  I have never failed to
533 date.
534 For your second question, I defer to Ursela K. Leguin's "Those who
535 walk away from Omelas".
536 .............................GENERAL MACAIBO.....................{
537 ********************************************************************
538 	       The next moment he was blind.  it required only the space of
539 a heartbeat that he couldn't feel for the ripping panic of
540 sensory deprivation to take hold.  He began flailing at the air
541 with hands he could no longer sense at the end of nonexistant arms.
542 With no sight, no sound, no feeling, the panic quickly became an
543 all devouring force threatening to blot out any memory that he had
544 ever existed at all.  But in that panic, Marc again reached out as he
545 had in the Garden, stretching out his consciousness as he'd
546 practiced time and time again against the landragon, to try to sense
547 something, anything in the abysmal nothing that surrounded him.
548      Then for an instant he thought he saw Ben's face.  Not as he
549 remembered it, but in the room with him now.  He fought to force
550 open the crack he'd found and realized that it was a door.  Suddenly
551 he could see!  He let his vision travel across the room, then focused
552 again on Ben.  He could see the triunphant look on his face.  Ben nodded
553 once, and with a wrenching feeling like that of being dropped 
554 suddenly down an elevator shaft, his senses were returned to him.  It
555 had taken only the space of a heartbeat, but an entire lifetime had 
556 passed for the child.  He looked around himself, correlating his
557 new senses with what he saw.  It was less than telepathy, but more
558 reliable.  Not clairevoiance, but a growing sense of knowledge
559 behind the obvious.
560      Ben picked him up, still lying on the platform where he'd fallen 
561 and carried him out of the room.  Marc could sense now that those 
562 behind him were not cold or silent.  He did not stop to make sense
563 of the words spoken to him by his companion, nor could he understand
564 the significance of the excited bedlam in the room he was leaving
565 begind.
566 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
567      I pause in my story for a sip of cider, and note that the fair
568 lady 'd' is glancing my way.  I smile, but she has turned aside.
569 A shy one that.  Perhaps now would be a good time to introduce
570 myself.  But no, there's dear Pam, suddenly radient after her long
571 gloom, settling into the table, perhaps for a long awaited and
572 deserved moment of relaxation.
573      Instead, I motion to our good Innkeeper, and pull a gold coin
574 from my vest.  As I place it in his callused palm, I note his eyebrows
575 raise slightly wondering where a simple storymonger comes by such 
576 wealth.  Let him guess.  I say, "Allow Pam her evening's rest, and
577 fetch your finest ale, for they will be in need of refreshment."
578 As he turns to go, I add "And get a plate of scraps for yon fire
579 lizard, and a vial of oil.  The creature will also need tending."
580 He turns, and heads for the cellars where Henry, our good Innkeeper,
581 keeps his private reserve.
582 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^daver^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
583 &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
584 VALINOR:  CHEER UP GOOD FRIEND, THERE ARE GOING TO BE ENOUGH
585 CRAZIES AT THE INNCOUNTER TO KEEP IT GOING UNTIL YOU'RE OFF.
586 BUT KEEP ME INFORMED OF YOUR PROGRESS, FEAR NOT.
587 CONTREMON
588 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
589 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
590 
591      NO, GENERAL, NOT A JERK, MERELY TOO WORRIED ABOUT SOMETHING THAT REALLY
592 DOESN'T MATTER!  THERE IS PLENTY OF ROOM HERE, SINCE YOU HAD ROOM TO ENTER YOUR
593 MESSAGE, AND FOR ME TO RESPOND.  AND BY LATE TONIGHT, MIKEY WILL UNDOUBTEDLY
594 PROVIDE US WITH 629 MORE LINES!  I USED TO WORRY ABOUT THE SPACE HERE BEING
595 USED UP TOO QUICKLY, UNTIL DEAR CISTOP REMINDED ME THAT THE SPACE IS LIMITED
596 ONLY BY THE TIME IT TAKES HIM TO CHANGE DISKS.  SO DON'T PERSPIRE TOO MUCH, IT
597 COULD BE MUCH WORSE (THOUGH YOU PROBABLY CAN'T IMAGINE HOW, RIGHT?).  I'LL
598 FILL THIS DISK UP TO LINE 629 NOW, BUT WHEN MIKEY'S DONE, THERE'LL BE SPACE!
599 (If I may interject, 629 lines is too short when every time I call the damne thing is FULL!.....the Phantom Glitch)
600 [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]PAM+[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
601  
602 replaced with this by an innocent bystander, afeter~~~~ter someone replaced
603 WON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR INTERJECTING INTO MY LAST MESSAGE, SINCE IT WAS A
604 SPACE LINE YOU TOOK, THOUGH OTHERS MIGHT THINK IT THE HEIGHT OF.... WELL, I
605 THINK I'LL JUST IGNORE IT.

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