I just think they were really good at sneaking up on people. First they weren't there, then they were there .
The guy who spoke wasn't a guy at all. I mean he was a guy, but he wasn't exactly human. He was a monkey.
At frst I thought he was wearing a big cape, but as he moved around, I realized that what I was seeing was actually a large pair of wings. They were poking out of holes in a long, satin jacket.
He had a ruffed shirt on, and a black cravat around his neck. His friends were similiarly attired, but human as far as I could see in moonlight. I thought they looked a little over-dressed for camping but didn't say so.
There were greetings all around. Ralph introduced me. "Gene, this big ape is Gombo. This is Tiltel, Sool, and Pimbi. And this tall
guy here is Kimbod of Ev."
They all said "hi."
"Hi," I said, "Gene of Los Angeles."
We moved off down the Brick, into the grove of trees, Ralph hanging on to my arm. Evidently everyone but me could see in the dark. After a few minutes, I could see the light of a campfre off the road, throught the shadows of the great trees. As we moved off the road towards the fre, I heard Ralph say to Gombo, "So where is he?"
"Thinking," Gombo said. "Hasn't really left his tent for a couple of days. You know how he gets when he's got a heavy problem. Brooding. Weird. You want to stay far away from him when he gets like this."
"I've got something he needs to hear."
"I'll stick my head in there and tell him, but leave it to me. If he doesn't want to see you, you can camp until tomorrow, then you'll have to move on. Things are pretty tense right now, and we can't afford to have you around if you're not working."
"Understood."
We were close enough now to see the tents: eight big geodesiclooking things in a large semicircle around the roaring fre, taut plastic skin over skeleton domes. Three big logs were spaced around the fre, I guessed to sit on, so I went over and sat on one, throwing my pack up against the other side of it, upside down so that I could untie my sleeping bag.
Ralph sat by the fre too, along with Gombo and a couple of the others, bullshitting about this and that incomprehensible shared thing which I had no reference to. Soon I started to feel kind of left out.
I'd had enough anyway: I was tired, disoriented, with a bunch of strangers, one of whom had saved my life twice, and in a different universe on top of that. Of course, behind the exhaustion, deep down, I was excited and full of questions, but the questions could wait until tomorrow. I unrolled the sleeping bag and got into it, a little way back from the fre, behind the logs.
I rolled around in it for an hour or so, unable to shut my eyes, too hot, too cold, until fnally I got up. I had to pee anyhow.
It looked as though everyone else had crashed out by that time. Ralph was not far from where my sleeping bag was, snoring under a pile of blankets someone had brought him.
I found a spot on the other side of the fre from the tents, not too close to the trees. After what I'd seen that afternoon, I was a little sensitive about offending any trees. Since I hadn't asked about the pee protocol, and this seemed to be the least offensive place around, I went for it.
The trees stayed asleep, and nobody jumped out and strangled me, so I smiled to myself and enjoyed the new sense of emptiness for a moment. I zipped my fy and looked up into the sky, now brilliant with stars despite the full moon. I knew most constellations by sight, but none of these belonged to any I was familiar with. Shooting stars crisscrossed the sky, and an ephemeral aurora hung at the top, draped like neon silk. I crossed back to the campfre and sat on a log, looked up to see more of the show.
"Spider and the Fly," said a deep, dark, craggy voice. I jumped, looked up to see a hooded fgure on the log with me, about
The guy who spoke wasn't a guy at all. I mean he was a guy, but he wasn't exactly human. He was a monkey.
At frst I thought he was wearing a big cape, but as he moved around, I realized that what I was seeing was actually a large pair of wings. They were poking out of holes in a long, satin jacket.
He had a ruffed shirt on, and a black cravat around his neck. His friends were similiarly attired, but human as far as I could see in moonlight. I thought they looked a little over-dressed for camping but didn't say so.
There were greetings all around. Ralph introduced me. "Gene, this big ape is Gombo. This is Tiltel, Sool, and Pimbi. And this tall
guy here is Kimbod of Ev."
They all said "hi."
"Hi," I said, "Gene of Los Angeles."
We moved off down the Brick, into the grove of trees, Ralph hanging on to my arm. Evidently everyone but me could see in the dark. After a few minutes, I could see the light of a campfre off the road, throught the shadows of the great trees. As we moved off the road towards the fre, I heard Ralph say to Gombo, "So where is he?"
"Thinking," Gombo said. "Hasn't really left his tent for a couple of days. You know how he gets when he's got a heavy problem. Brooding. Weird. You want to stay far away from him when he gets like this."
"I've got something he needs to hear."
"I'll stick my head in there and tell him, but leave it to me. If he doesn't want to see you, you can camp until tomorrow, then you'll have to move on. Things are pretty tense right now, and we can't afford to have you around if you're not working."
"Understood."
We were close enough now to see the tents: eight big geodesiclooking things in a large semicircle around the roaring fre, taut plastic skin over skeleton domes. Three big logs were spaced around the fre, I guessed to sit on, so I went over and sat on one, throwing my pack up against the other side of it, upside down so that I could untie my sleeping bag.
Ralph sat by the fre too, along with Gombo and a couple of the others, bullshitting about this and that incomprehensible shared thing which I had no reference to. Soon I started to feel kind of left out.
I'd had enough anyway: I was tired, disoriented, with a bunch of strangers, one of whom had saved my life twice, and in a different universe on top of that. Of course, behind the exhaustion, deep down, I was excited and full of questions, but the questions could wait until tomorrow. I unrolled the sleeping bag and got into it, a little way back from the fre, behind the logs.
I rolled around in it for an hour or so, unable to shut my eyes, too hot, too cold, until fnally I got up. I had to pee anyhow.
It looked as though everyone else had crashed out by that time. Ralph was not far from where my sleeping bag was, snoring under a pile of blankets someone had brought him.
I found a spot on the other side of the fre from the tents, not too close to the trees. After what I'd seen that afternoon, I was a little sensitive about offending any trees. Since I hadn't asked about the pee protocol, and this seemed to be the least offensive place around, I went for it.
The trees stayed asleep, and nobody jumped out and strangled me, so I smiled to myself and enjoyed the new sense of emptiness for a moment. I zipped my fy and looked up into the sky, now brilliant with stars despite the full moon. I knew most constellations by sight, but none of these belonged to any I was familiar with. Shooting stars crisscrossed the sky, and an ephemeral aurora hung at the top, draped like neon silk. I crossed back to the campfre and sat on a log, looked up to see more of the show.
"Spider and the Fly," said a deep, dark, craggy voice. I jumped, looked up to see a hooded fgure on the log with me, about
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