Wednesday, November 4, 2009

NaNoWriMo'09, Words 1004-1536

Tell me a story about the sky. Please?

* * *

The skycat sat high above and overlooking the world. The skycat was broad; the branch holding him in the sky was broader. The branch was old; the skycat was older. Little Brother, round and luminous, was climbing in the sky; the branch and the skycat were higher.

Thin columns of wispy smoke rose out of a hollow, near the far reaches of the skycat's view. Small round houses were clustered closely in the hollow, yellow light shining softly from their windows.

Little Brother—persistent, reliable, and unhurried—climbed towards the skycat and the branch. He climbed over, and sat for a while beside the skycat. Then he moved on, upwards, his pale light reaching softly out into the world below.

The small lights seemed to fall from Little Brother, as he reached and passed the top of the sky. They did not fall as rain fell, or as stars fell, but consciously and purposefully like a supremely patient bird of prey.

The many white lights and the few red ones descended together in formation, confident and capable. The skycat watched. The small lights fell lower, and the broad light from Little Brother struck the space between the lights. The light was reflected back, and the skycat saw the massive body between the lights. The body shone too, but very coldly. A shiver ran down the back and the limbs of the skycat, but otherwise he did not move.

The body with the lights descended down to the ground, coming softly to rest in the field below the skycat. For a while the body just sat and purred quietly to itself. The purr rose to a soft whine then quickly died off into silence. The small lights blinked out, and others, as big as Little Brother but more white, lit up and sent broad bands of light into the sky and onto the ground.

At the base of the body, a mouth opened. A ridged jaw lowered slowly until it touched the ground. The skypeople descended on the ridges of the jaw. They were longer-limbed than the Cory-people who dwelt in the round houses in the hollow. They moved with a sway and a saunter. They wore more coverings: more pieces and more colors, covering more of their bodies. The skycat saw both males and females.

The skypeople turned slowly around upon the ground. They saw the mountains to the west, and gazed for a while at their grandeur. But when the first skyperson saw the smoke rising thinly and straight into the sky, to the east, she exclaimed and pointed. All of the others turned swiftly around. Hands were waved, voices raised in excitement. A tall male skyperson ran swiftly back up the jaw.

Another mouth opened, in the side of the cold-shining body. A smooth jaw lowered slowly until it touched the ground. A small cold-shining body glided down the smooth jaw; the small body had a purr of its own which grew louder when it was still. It was still while the skypeople entered it from many openings; and then it was in motion, towards the smoke and the hollow.

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