snow was falling fast, part 3
Nov. 30th, 2007 03:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nebuliaHere's the next little bit of snow was falling fast. There aren't chapters at all, I've already decided that, just brief sections or scenes. So that's probably how I'll post. This is not my NaNoWriMo novel, but something else I started in November that I can't imagine being any longer than 30 or 40 thousand words.
the boy holds your bag. it is packed. there is more food and compressed water, which is very heavy so you decided you will carry it. the boy doesn't know that you've switched the compressed water into your backpack. the boy smiles at you. let's go.
how are we supposed to leave, you say. and how did you know where i lived.
there's a door. and i went to the wall and asked for directions to your apartment. you said you lived on the L. people know you around her. the boy smiles. they say you're nice.
you know what they say about you. because there are stray dogs and cats, because no one neuters or spays. there probably isn't even a veterinarian still alive. you take them in. the dogs and cats. sometimes, when they have babies.
you remember taking your dog to the vet on a sunny day, with clouds in the distance. it was dry, had been dry for weeks. the next day you were playing and the lightning hit.
you were so young.
wait. there's a door.
on the ground, the boy says. the ground is scary and dark but i found one, a little one. but you and i could get out.
no one goes on the ground anymore. the L and the skywalks from before and then there are sometimes bridges from collapsed buildings because no one fixes anything and so the ground is like a basement, like sewers.
you remember when you were young, six or seven, and you visited seattle with your parents. they had a whole structure of underground sewers there. the people left behind by civilization went there. things were dark, bodies were stored there. the sewer in seattle was the closet in which everyone held their skeletons.
that is the ground.
you went on the ground. you're angry now. the ground! do you know how dangerous it is!
i want to find what's out there! the boy screams at you. because i can feel it!
your heart slows. you cough. you cough for a long time and feel wet liquid on your hands. when you finish, the boy hands you a cloth. you wipe your hands and your mouth and go to the water dispenser in the corner, where you pour yourself a glass to rinse out your mouth.
we'll have to leave at night, you say. i don't think anyone's ever tried to leave before, but no one can notice. and when we're out there, we'll have to be careful with our water.
the boy smiles a little, sad. i know.
the boy holds your bag. it is packed. there is more food and compressed water, which is very heavy so you decided you will carry it. the boy doesn't know that you've switched the compressed water into your backpack. the boy smiles at you. let's go.
how are we supposed to leave, you say. and how did you know where i lived.
there's a door. and i went to the wall and asked for directions to your apartment. you said you lived on the L. people know you around her. the boy smiles. they say you're nice.
you know what they say about you. because there are stray dogs and cats, because no one neuters or spays. there probably isn't even a veterinarian still alive. you take them in. the dogs and cats. sometimes, when they have babies.
you remember taking your dog to the vet on a sunny day, with clouds in the distance. it was dry, had been dry for weeks. the next day you were playing and the lightning hit.
you were so young.
wait. there's a door.
on the ground, the boy says. the ground is scary and dark but i found one, a little one. but you and i could get out.
no one goes on the ground anymore. the L and the skywalks from before and then there are sometimes bridges from collapsed buildings because no one fixes anything and so the ground is like a basement, like sewers.
you remember when you were young, six or seven, and you visited seattle with your parents. they had a whole structure of underground sewers there. the people left behind by civilization went there. things were dark, bodies were stored there. the sewer in seattle was the closet in which everyone held their skeletons.
that is the ground.
you went on the ground. you're angry now. the ground! do you know how dangerous it is!
i want to find what's out there! the boy screams at you. because i can feel it!
your heart slows. you cough. you cough for a long time and feel wet liquid on your hands. when you finish, the boy hands you a cloth. you wipe your hands and your mouth and go to the water dispenser in the corner, where you pour yourself a glass to rinse out your mouth.
we'll have to leave at night, you say. i don't think anyone's ever tried to leave before, but no one can notice. and when we're out there, we'll have to be careful with our water.
the boy smiles a little, sad. i know.
