The next morning Trent shared the letters with the others and explained the door knob.
Brooke took it and tried it immediately. They blocked the door as Trent had done the night before and went into the restaurant for breakfast. Trent Harruff and Obla'reth stayed behind. "So last night while I was wandering, I found this room." Trent started. "All the books, I totally understand those. But why do you have a room full of tree trunks?" He asked.
Harruff perked up. "Carved tree trunks?" He asked.
Trent nodded. "How did you guess that?" He asked.
Harruff shook his head. "Not a guess. Mine is back in the port city." He explained.
Trent cocked his head to the side. "Why do you have one?" He asked.
Harruff smiled. "They are how my people tell their stories. We carry them with us almost everywhere. We carve the events of our lives into them, when we die they return to the cliff cities and are hung from the Wall of Songs." Harruff explained.
Obla'reth nodded. "There are very few places I regret never having seen before I became a Librarian. That place is that the top of my list." He offered.
"Why do they call it the wall of songs?" Trent asked.
"They hollow out each log and hang them from the cliff high above the city. The wind blows them into each other, creating a wind chime more than a mile long." Harruff looked like he might cry.
Trent was in awe of his description. "That sounds incredible." He offered.
Harruff nodded. "It really, really does." he agreed.
Trent turned to Obla'reth. "So how come you have a room full of them? He asked.
Obla'reth realized that Harruff was now even more interested in the answer than Trent was. "They are very old. And many of their original owners were not the most honored dead by your races standards of purity." Obla'reth explained.
Harruff nodded. "It has always been a strong belief among my people that the purest and most honorable souls made the best music for the wall." he admitted. "When my people reject my story, may they send it here?" He asked.
Obla'reth nodded.
"Why would they reject your story?" Trent asked as the others came back through the door.
Harruff smiled sadly. "A story for another time perhaps." He dismissed the conversation and walked back to his things as Trent closed the door and dropped the knob back into it's belt pouch.
Presents
Friday, January 12, 2018
Melody and Harmony page 18
The others stared at him patiently. And he stared right back at them in total silence.
"Well?" Callopie asked.
Foster shrugged. "It just occurred to me I haven't actually listened to the song in a long time." He admitted.
Vince sat forward "I thought you were a Jolly Rodger?" He complained.
"NO!" Foster exploded. "I'm not! I said I wasn't!" He picked up his bag and board. "This is my dad's old stuff! He wanted me to be one but after three years as a pledge I quit!" He grabbed a chair and sat down hard. "I don't even really like Pirate Rock all that much, the seas dried up hundreds of years ago and anyone living in this city sure as hell isn't beyond the wall solar sailing on the desert sands! So really how 'Piratey' " He air quoted for his own amusement and started pacing. "Can I really be?" He asked rhetorically. "And the pirate queen! Oh my god the pirate queen! You'd think they all knew her personally! 'may she bless you and lead you unto good fortune!'" He stuck his tongue out and made a face. "It's just an old song! So she supposedly loved sailing so much that she left her body to sail the skies for eternity, big whoop! That doesn't sound like ascension to me." He stopped and waved a finger at his audience. "That sounds like death! The big, boring, eternal snooze fest! And there's no proof she created UV absorbent fabric for solar sails so WHO CARES!" He exploded and then sat back in his chair in a huff. "It's just one more dumb religion with made-up symbols -" He pointed at the little girl "No offense, that people use to feel better about their shitty lives! It's all crap." He slumped slightly in the chair. "There is no true pirate bloodline, there is no ancient treasure, and there is definitely no such thing as reincarnation." He pointed to the airlock door. "Because who really wants to get thrown back out into that, shit, over and over, and over again?" He sighed heavily having run out of steam. "It's all just garbage, and I am sick of it." He finished.
There was silence in the room. Vince mindlessly fidgeted with the frilly edge of Callopie's skirt and she slapped his hand.
Aaron got up from the bean bag chair. "Man, if there was ever a poster child for needing to get high, you would be it. And while we share more than a few opinions on the weight of literal truth in our histories, someone believes in the fantasy world you've grown to hate, enough to tattoo that symbol onto this little girl." He pointed at Mary.
"It's not a tattoo." Mary interrupted. Everyone else turned to look at her
"Of course it is." Vince denied.
Mary shook her head. "It's a birthmark. She pulled a small wallet out of her pants pocket and pulled a tiny worn picture of out the wallet. She handed it to Aaron. "That's my mom holding me about two minutes after I was born."
Aaron nodded. "And there it is, on your arm." He confirmed. Mary nodded.
Foster got up and snatched the picture from Aaron's hand. "That's bull, prolly just a photoshop job to sucker you into taking her where they're waiting to pull the drugs out -" He looked at the picture finally. "This is an Instapic." Mary nodded. He stared deeply at the photo. Then back at her arm where the birthmark was peeking out from under her shirt sleeve. "Do you know who you are?" He asked in disbelief.
Mary shook her head. "Not really, I was found just outside the city walls before my first birthday. Other than that photo, the only life I've ever know is the orphanages I've been moved between." She offered.
Foster handed the photo back to her. Shaking his head. "I already told you I don't believe any of this crap, but, let's just assume for a minute that you are telling the truth and that photo is real. You would be something like the 11th granddaughter of the pirate queen. and if the songs are anywhere close to accurate, someone with your birthmark will be responsible for jump starting the world again." He sat back in his chair.
Mary put her picture away. "And how am I supposed to do all that if I don't even know who I am, what I'm supposed to do, or even why I'm supposed to do it?" She asked.
Foster shrugged. "Dunno kid, like I said before, I don't believe a word of it."
"Well?" Callopie asked.
Foster shrugged. "It just occurred to me I haven't actually listened to the song in a long time." He admitted.
Vince sat forward "I thought you were a Jolly Rodger?" He complained.
"NO!" Foster exploded. "I'm not! I said I wasn't!" He picked up his bag and board. "This is my dad's old stuff! He wanted me to be one but after three years as a pledge I quit!" He grabbed a chair and sat down hard. "I don't even really like Pirate Rock all that much, the seas dried up hundreds of years ago and anyone living in this city sure as hell isn't beyond the wall solar sailing on the desert sands! So really how 'Piratey' " He air quoted for his own amusement and started pacing. "Can I really be?" He asked rhetorically. "And the pirate queen! Oh my god the pirate queen! You'd think they all knew her personally! 'may she bless you and lead you unto good fortune!'" He stuck his tongue out and made a face. "It's just an old song! So she supposedly loved sailing so much that she left her body to sail the skies for eternity, big whoop! That doesn't sound like ascension to me." He stopped and waved a finger at his audience. "That sounds like death! The big, boring, eternal snooze fest! And there's no proof she created UV absorbent fabric for solar sails so WHO CARES!" He exploded and then sat back in his chair in a huff. "It's just one more dumb religion with made-up symbols -" He pointed at the little girl "No offense, that people use to feel better about their shitty lives! It's all crap." He slumped slightly in the chair. "There is no true pirate bloodline, there is no ancient treasure, and there is definitely no such thing as reincarnation." He pointed to the airlock door. "Because who really wants to get thrown back out into that, shit, over and over, and over again?" He sighed heavily having run out of steam. "It's all just garbage, and I am sick of it." He finished.
There was silence in the room. Vince mindlessly fidgeted with the frilly edge of Callopie's skirt and she slapped his hand.
Aaron got up from the bean bag chair. "Man, if there was ever a poster child for needing to get high, you would be it. And while we share more than a few opinions on the weight of literal truth in our histories, someone believes in the fantasy world you've grown to hate, enough to tattoo that symbol onto this little girl." He pointed at Mary.
"It's not a tattoo." Mary interrupted. Everyone else turned to look at her
"Of course it is." Vince denied.
Mary shook her head. "It's a birthmark. She pulled a small wallet out of her pants pocket and pulled a tiny worn picture of out the wallet. She handed it to Aaron. "That's my mom holding me about two minutes after I was born."
Aaron nodded. "And there it is, on your arm." He confirmed. Mary nodded.
Foster got up and snatched the picture from Aaron's hand. "That's bull, prolly just a photoshop job to sucker you into taking her where they're waiting to pull the drugs out -" He looked at the picture finally. "This is an Instapic." Mary nodded. He stared deeply at the photo. Then back at her arm where the birthmark was peeking out from under her shirt sleeve. "Do you know who you are?" He asked in disbelief.
Mary shook her head. "Not really, I was found just outside the city walls before my first birthday. Other than that photo, the only life I've ever know is the orphanages I've been moved between." She offered.
Foster handed the photo back to her. Shaking his head. "I already told you I don't believe any of this crap, but, let's just assume for a minute that you are telling the truth and that photo is real. You would be something like the 11th granddaughter of the pirate queen. and if the songs are anywhere close to accurate, someone with your birthmark will be responsible for jump starting the world again." He sat back in his chair.
Mary put her picture away. "And how am I supposed to do all that if I don't even know who I am, what I'm supposed to do, or even why I'm supposed to do it?" She asked.
Foster shrugged. "Dunno kid, like I said before, I don't believe a word of it."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)