'The Millionlands' . . . part 2

I hear snapping and crunch of the reed ahead . . . pretty far up ahead. ..
is it the clan? . . . I'm not sure. . .this really begins to scare me . .as the sounds are coming from a direction . . .AWAY from where the reed has obvious bends, from where the clan had passed though .
I glance over and see that Olon is beginning to panic. . .she has pitched down upon all fours, and is beginning to scoop out dirt for a place to hide her face. . .

I grab her. . . and shake her hard.

"WE WILL NEVER . . . hide again!!!". .I hiss at her.

My face must have frightened her, as she recoiled and looks back at me with disbelief. . .
" WE may HIDE. . .to fight . . .Olon.. . . we will hide with our eyes watching. . not in the dirt. . . but ready for whatever comes. . .

Olon is absolutely confused. .and scared by my words. .
She clutches to me and says. ."What do we do . . Thinly?". . .

We will hide . .I tell her.
but we hide to see what the danger is . . not hide from it. . . ". . .Over here . . Quick. . ." I tell her in a whisper.
I pull Olon into a really thick stand of the reed.
And we wait . . . . . . . .
After a while . . a dark figure appears through the edge of the reed directly across from us. . .

I stare intently toward the shadow man. . .
At this point . .I cant tell if it is an Ussa or an Usrr . . .
But as it comes closer . .I can tell. .
It stands there near motionless. . .looking to each side from time to time. . .
Then . . off to the other side . .a lighter. .stocky figure appears.
As the figure pushes through the reed, I strain my eyes to see who. .or what this figure is. .

Olon pulls at my arm desperately. . . ."Garan is one of them". . she whispers. . .
She is whispering . . but her emotion and anger is coming over her. . .

I grab her arm tightly and look her down . . "THIS IS NOT THE TIME OLON"
We need to know where Oon is first. . before we jump into this. . I tell her.

Now they are both moving towards us. . .

As I croutch in the reed, my hand moves inside my coverlet to grasp the shining object . . . I am secretly hoping that it will give me power and courage to do what I need to do soon, as garan and the stranger approach.

I pull the object from my cover. .
And angle it towards Garan and the Other. . .THERE I plainly see GARAN. . .

AND AN USRR !!!!

they are looking at one another. . .talking. . they come closer and I listen

I hear the familiar hiss of Garan. .
Garan says. ." They are not far from here. . .I think over there . . in that direction"
"Take them . .whatever. . .The child will be set out . . .in two days!"

"This should be enough . . ." Garan wheels around uneasily. . ." The clan grows uneasy. . . . I need to lead them through a while of quiet. . .to get them to forget these recent takings. . . "Tell your ONE. . .to wait awhile. . .many young are coming up now. . . I need to regain their confidence. ."
Garan looks around at the Usrr over his shoulder and says to him . ." If he demands. . . another. . . . I will set out Zold. . to appease him.

"I must get back now. ." Garan says as he spins around and heads away through the reed.

The whole time . . the Usrr only listened . .and half looked at Garan crooked stance.
The Usrr is still as Garan passes through the reed, I start to pull the object closer to my chest. .
I turn and tap Olon on the arm . . .motioning to her to remain silent. . .

The Usrr turns and starts to come directly towards us
he is crunching through the reed
OLON is terrified. . .he is nearly on top of us. . .two thick hands part the reed in front of my face, and the Usrr's thick body pushes through. . .
In an INSTANT. . .I still can not say why. . . I pull the shining object up . . .and slash the Usrr's face. .and plunge it deep into the soft side of the Usrr's neck. .
A thick yellow ooze shoots out from the side of the neck of the Usrr . . .

he stumbles and falls into the reed. . .

A yellow pool gathers about his head. . .

I am still standing there . . unbelieving what has just happened. . .
I Killed . . the Usrr . . .

---

---

(may 11, 1998)

Olon's face is a blank. . .empty. She stands motionless . . . sort of hovering,
about to breathe.
Her eyes dart back and forth. . . from the dead Usrr. . . to my hands and back again.


"Olon . . . what do we do" I ask.
"Olon . .Olon . .LOOK at me" I hiss. Nervously I look to see if anyone . . anything . .other than Olon has heard me.
" What do we do?" My voice is shaky, she slowly comes out of her stare and says. "We have to make sure . . . that no one ever finds it." "Not the Usrr. . .Garan . . . or anyone . . .ever", Olon says this without a bit of emotion in her voice. No rise or fall to the words. . .a dead voice. . a voice that sounds like it comes from another.


"Should we hide it . . with the reed?" . . .I feel stupid the minute I suggest this as Olon says "They'll find it easily." her eyes dart about looking for better answers. "We have to hide it so that it is never found. . . if they find it . .they will know it was us." "Garan sent this Usrr to find us.". . ."It would be just a matter of time. . but they would find us . . .and they would kill us. . certainly kill us."
Olon's voice begins to have some sort of life again, as her eyes dart around, looking for an answer.
"Thinly . . . . I think we should scoop out the dirt . .deep enough to put the Usrr into. .and push the dirt back over it. . the reed will grow and overtake the dirt quick enough, and no one will ever find it unless they do the same. .why would they. . in days this will look like the rest of the Millionlands." . . ."Are you ok Thinly? . . .

I dont even see Olon staring at me as I wipe my hands across my coverlet again and again.
She grabs my arm, and asks again, her voice sounds so far away. . . "Yes . . I'm ok . . that'll work . . let's do it.

We both kneel to the ground and begin to scoop out the dirt with our hands. "WE have to get out of here before another Usrr or Garan comes back!" I tell Olon.
Olon scoops the dirt away from the yellow puddle that surrounds the Usrr's head. Together we scoop out and push the dirt away from where the Usrr is lying. We scoop out alot of dirt on the side furthest from the puddle of ooze, I use my hand to make a shallow trench that directs it to flow into the deepest part we have scooped out.
Finally it is deep enough to cover the Usrr. Together we push the heavy body of the dead Usrr into the shallow pit.
We then quickly push the dirt over the Usrr's body to cover him. . .after the Usrr is covered, we smooth out the dirt all around so that the mound of dirt above the body , begins to blend into the rest that surrounds it.
Olon pulls down reeds and bites them off, half as tall as she is, and then pushes them into the dirt, so they stand up tall, like the rest of the reed.
"Thinly !!!. . Olon shoots an impatient glare towards me . . . Break off the reed, and jab it into the ground. . this will hide the spot until the reed takes this ground again. ."
"Thinly. . ?. .. do you hear me ??? . . .are you alright. . ?
With both her dirty hands . .Olon grabs my arms and shakes me hard.
. . ."You had to do it Thinly". . ."If you hadn't. . . it would be us in the ground. . or the stomach of an Usrr." Help me Thinly. .Help me with the reed. . ."NOW"


Olon's words snap me back. . .while standing there. . . my mind was trying to connect everything that had happened in those quick moments. .I didnt even hear Olon calling to me.
"You're right . . we have to hide it better. .I'll get more reeds. . . then we'll go.
I am muttering all this as I begin to snap off the reeds, and stick them into the soft, mounded dirt atop the Usrr.


After awhile, as we stuck many of the reed into the dirt, it began to blend in into everything else that made up the Millionlands. I stand up and turn to Olon and tell her. . " We have to go. . . we've lost so much time. .if we're ever to find Oon, we have to get going."
Olon wipes her gritty hands on her coverlet . .again and again. .and looks over to me and asks. "Which way . . .Thinly. . .which way ?. . .
I pause for a long moment, looking at her intently.
Then I reach into my coverlet, and pull the shining object out.
I flip it over and toss it high into the air. .
It flips end over end and again as it rises . . and then falls to the ground with a thump.
I stare momentarily at where it lands, look over to Olon . . and point over my shoulder and say . . . .
"There. . .We go there. . ."
Olon and I both chuckle as I bend to pick up the shining object.
We both move together in the direction I had pointed through the reed.
As we move off . . I think to myself. . how strange, that this shining object has decided our fate. . .twice.



---

---

THE YELLOWING

---

---


We push on and through the reed for quite awhile, looking for breaks and places where the reed would be tramped down by others passing through. We know we have very litle time until the light is gone. As we move through the reed, I whisper to Olon . . . "should we try to go further. . .even after the light is gone?"
"We can try. . . the reed is not so thick here," she whispers back.
The light begins to fade quickly, and long shadows fall across the stands of reed and stretch out across the ground ahead.
I push through a break in the reed and look up to the night sky. . .
" Olon. . . look at the top of the reed"
Olon stops and looks upward to where I am pointing.
"What is happening to the top of the reed?" her eyes wide as she asks.
The reed is becoming really heavy at the top, expanding so that the tops which are usually the thinnest part of the reed, is now flairing out, and starting to slowly bend toward the floor of the reed stand.
I pull Olon over to me and tell her . ." I don't know. . I heard Zold talk a couple of times about how the reed changed like this, when I was much younger. . .but I've never seen anything like it." "Zold said the reed went through a "Yellowing" when he was a child." I never knew what he meant by that . . .maybe this is it?
He said it was a bad time. . .not many Ussa made it through it . .he didnt say why. . .
" Did he say what the "Yellowing" was?" Olon moves closer as she asks . . the strange look of the reed is scaring her.
"Well . . I'm not completely sure. . . he told me so long ago. . . and with all that has happened .. . I really can't remember exactly what he said" . . I settle into a bunch of reed as I say this, and Olon follows me down.
" Zold said. . that all of a sudden. . . within in a few moments. .all the reed would swell at the very top of the canopy. .and then it burst."
"Burst. .what do you mean. .?"
Olon's face is all screwed up as she asks.
"He said. . . yellow dust filled the air . . everywhere. . . in your eyes . .nose . . everywhere.
he said it choked you and hung in the air for days on end." as I say this. . I wonder if I should tell Olon the rest. . .
"What else Thinly. . ?" Olon is really anxious and squeezes my arm to make me tell.
"He also said . . many of the older . .and some of the very young and sick. .choked and died."
"Zold is a fool . . . we have enough bad things for now. . .we dont need anything else."
Olon's voice is so tired as she says this . .it comes out more like a plea than a state- ment.
"Thinly . . . dont say anymore. . .can we stop here, and sleep?" Her voice leaves me only one answer.
" Yes . . I am exhausted . . . I can't go on either, we'll have to travel even faster tomorrow, it's best we rest now." Before I finish telling her, Olon has begun to pull down the reed to make our bedding. . .
I watch her for awhile and then say. . . " Olon. . I am glad you are here. Not why you are here. . if I could . . .I would do anything for you to be back with Oon.
Safe .
Happy.
Olon turns and takes my hands in hers. . .
"If we never find Oon. .I will remember your kindness to me. and your courage." . . .
" Thinly. . .I am glad I am with you."
. .But I am so tired. . . . .right now I am too tired to talk . .dream . . or think."
"I just want to sleep. . ."Please help me finish the bedding mats."
Together we fold the last of the reed down.
As we settle down into our mat of reed. . . I pull Olon close. . . so close we make one shape. . and we fall. . .exhausted. . .asleep.

---

"the dreams"

---

Off and on, I slip in and out of sleep, waking . . . kind of remembering the day, then falling back asleep. Olon twitches in a nervous sleep. . .making it even harder for me.
As I drift deeper. . . I see flashes of the Ussr. . Garan and Olon. .all doing a strange, weird dance together. Olon is falling . . . just falling . .and the Ussr and Garan have their hands in my back. . . inside my back . . .keeping me from reaching her . . . her face looks at me dead on. .and I feel their dirty hands . .inside me . .grabbing by my bones . .laughing as they pull me just away from reaching her. I can smell the acrid . .dead smell of the Ussr. . and Garan's dirty teeth smile right in my face . .he and the Ussr both laugh in this laugh that sounds spun around. . and catches me . . lifting me off my feet and carrying me down and around further from Olon. . . .

I shake myself awake. . .sweating and breathing hard.
I look up to the canopy of the reed again.


It is nearly closed. . . a star blinks quickly . . then goes out. . . the top of the reed is completely dark now.
This is very different. . . The reed always blows back and forth.
I strain my eyes to see the top of the reed. . it looks so swollen. . the tops of the reed are huge and drooping way down . . close to the ground.
Olon stirs, and I pull her closer. . . still watching above.
I smooth her hair, and wonder if we will ever find Oon.
The Millionlands are so vast, and we have lost so much time. . . the clan could be anywhere.. . .
I hope they are moving slowly. . . or better yet . . .that they have set up somewhere for awhile.
Garan did tell the Ussr that he NEEDED to calm the clan. . .
With Olon held close. . .again I drift asleep.

---

---

"A Beginning"

---

---

Olon shakes me awake . . . a loud popping fills the air all around.
As I open my eyes I look up and see that the top of the reed has turned a bright, dirty yellow. Part of the reed appears and disappears through yellowish clouds.


"Thinly. . . . what's happening?. . " Olons voice is high with fear and anxiety.
" This must be the 'Yellowing' . . I tell her, through the loud pops of the reeds bursting.
"What'll happen? . . . what do we do ? . . . Olon's fingers dig into the side of my arm, as she looks at me expecting an answer.

" I don't know. . . Zold said many died breathing the dust, we have to try not to breathe the yellow dust.

" Thinly . .it's coming down to the ground. . it'll fall on us. .we have to breathe. .what do we do!!!!
"Scoop away the dirt . . . HURRY . . . we have to scoop it out . . . like we did for the Ussr.

"It'll cover us in the pit. . .Thinly it wont help. . .". .Olon is panicking
"Dont talk. .DIG!". . . we'll cover ourselves with the reed over the pit. . just dig.
We frantically throw the dirt in all directions. . our fingers begin to bleed from tearing at the soil and clumps of roots of old reed.
The depression is just deep enough to cover us, if we huddle closely together. . .


"Get in the pit Olon . .and pull your coverlet over your head" . . .I yell to her.
Once she's in the pit. . I begin to throw armfuls of the reed we had pulled down. .over the top of the pit to cover her. . first in one direction. .and then in another.
I keep piling it high as the yellow dust begins to settle on top of my head. .and burns my eyes.


At the edge of the pit. . . I feel around and pull up the first layer of the reed. . . and slide in . .under . .next to Olon.


I grab my coverlet. .from the bottom and pull it upward . . over my head.


What is happening Thinly? . . . Olon coughs and gasps, I can tell she is very panicked.
"The Yellow is settling around us. . . I think we'll be alright . .Olon . .just breathe through your coverlet. .and try to not breathe too hard" . .. my voice is slightly shaking . .and I hope she is too panicked to notice.


"How long . .will we have to stay here. .Thinly?. . . her voice breaks, I know she is crying.


"I dont know Olon. .I dont know how the yellowing filled the canopy. . or how fast it will fall. . . it could be alittle while . . .it could be days." . . "We will have to wait and struggle to breathe . . .I dont know what to tell you . .trust me . .help me . .we just have to wait. . ."


"The dust really burns . .I can feel it in my eyes". . .it is hard to understand Olon talking through coughs.
" Now I know why Zold said , many didn't make it . . I am coughing louding . .and I'm not sure Olon has heard what I just said.
"Olon. .?" . . .Olon has gotten very quiet. . . "Olon . .are you ok?. . " no response . . .
I grab her arm in the dark and the dust and shake her hard. .
"Olon . . . you ok. .?" I am beginning to get frantic.
"I'm ok . . . I cant stay awake. .dont let me sleep Thinly. . . why is this happening . . . what is it . . .?" . . I can't stay awake . . it's burning my eyes . .Thinly? . . .
"If I sleep . . .and don't wake. . . promise you'll find Oon. . . please. . promise me. . ."

As I pull Olon's head next to mine . . I whisper in her ear . . ." I'll find Oon. . ."
"I dont know . . . Olon . .I don't know what is happening . . maybe the reed . .is dying."


Olon's body is becoming more limp. .every other second I shake her . .trying desparately to keep her from falling asleep. . .
"Olon . . . the yellowing is making you sleep . .fight it . . . it has happened before . .others made it. . . Zold made it. . . the reed made it . . the reed came back from the other yellowings." "Maybe the reed isnt dying. . .maybe this is how it begins. . ."


I'm not sure Olon heard what I said. . she is completely limp . .and does not respond when I shake her.
I cradle her head under my chin. .and try to fight off the exhaustion and weariness that the yellow powder brings. . I feel myself slipping under. . . giving up slowly. .and finally . . falling asleep.


---

---

THE AWAKENING

---

---

I jerk awake in the pitch black. . .my head is so thick . . .I feel my way around and find Olon's head. I feel for her mouth and pull my head close to listen for her breathing.
Very shallow. . .but she is alive!. . . I shake her several times and finally she wakes with a slow groan.


" Thinly . . is it over?". . she asks in a voice so slurred . .I ask her to say it again.
"Is it over . .is it ?" This time I understand and can only say. . " I don't know yet . . "
"I'll need to pull back the reed and take a look.". . . as I move past and around her in the tight space of the pit, Olon grabs my ankle and asks . ." how long were we asleep?"
"I don't know . . I fell asleep . .right after you did". . "I'm going to look out now . .pull your coverlet tight around your mouth . . I don't know how much of the Yellowing will come in when I lift the reed."


Before I lift the canopy of reed, I reach down and tear a long loose strip from the bottom of my coverlet, and tie it so it covers my mouth and nose tightly.
I find the edge of the reed layer, and try to lift it.
It has become very heavy.
I lift the reed up and push my head through. .I keep my eyes tightly closed at first, and feel the dust fall from the reed around my head.


I wait for a few moments , and then slowly. . . open my eyes.


Everything.
Everything is Yellow.
The ground .
The reed. .
Everything.


Then I arch back my neck. . to look up and through to the sky.
It is an amazing sight. . . the top of the reed has completely arched over on it's self.
And a crystal blue sky dominates the splintered edge line of the reed canopy.


"What do you see? . . . Olon asks after a while.
She curls back around to get closer to the reed opening and the small glint of light that filters into the pit around the reed and my body poking through it.

Olon pushes her head up and through the opening in the reed , along side my body, I look down and see the top of her head clearing the opening.
As she looks out timidly . .she says . ."The reed is ALL Yellow. . ."
For awhile neither of us say a thing . . . then Olon says something perfectly sensible . . but at the same time hilarious to me . . . she says. . "Thinly . . .what will we eat?"


I laugh at her and realize that we have not eaten since before seeing Garan and the Ussr.
I think for a moment . .and tell her " the reed that we covered ourselves with . . doesn't have much of the dust on it . . we can try it first."


" We don't know if the yellowing dust is poison. .it may only be hard to breathe in.
Quickly Olon snaps off a small piece of the reed that had covered our pit.
She put it her mouth and slowly, nervously begins to chew it.

"It tastes bitter. . . not badly though.". . . she continues to chew the piece of reed . .and then asks.
"Will it be safe to go out of the pit?. . "
"let me try it first". .I tell her, and caution her to move back into the protection of the pit.


"I'll go out and see if moving around stirs up the dust badly . .or if it will stay put.


I push my shoulder out of the hole in the reed, and lift myself slowly out of the pit.
Though slightly covered with the fine yellow dust, . .the sky and I . .are the only two things in this new strange world. . that are a different color.


The Yellowing dust covers the tops of my feet to the ankles. My slightest movement sends a small cloud rising from the floor of the reed.


The coverlet tied around my nose and mouth. . seems to keep out of my mouth and throat.


As I look around . .I notice . .it seems VERY HOT.
I carefully move over towards a stand of the now yellow reed . .and cautiously pull a piece down towards me.
I hear a crunch and a pop . .and small clouds of yellow float up and around me . . they hang in the air for a moment before falling back to the floor of the reed.


I begin to make my way back to where Olon is still hiding.
Slowly I bend down close to the opening and say . ."Olon . . come out. . . but tear a strip from your coverlet first and tie it around to cover your nose and mouth.


"Also dont move quickly . .or touch anything. .it all sends up clouds of dust.
"Are you alright?". .I ask as I bend lower to peer through the hole in the reed . . .


" I'm fine Thinly. . .help me out . . "


I pull her up and out of the pit. . she shakes some of the dust from her hair. . . only to stir up more. . . and slowly her eyes open wider. .to look around at our new world.


"This is horrible Thinly!. . .". . .how will we live in this? . . . Olon's voice is filled with despair. . . "How can we live . .in this?. . . How can we find Oon and the others . .in this?. . .


She buries her head in my chest, sobbing. . .I try to reassure her . .and comfort her by rubbing her neck. .
"Look over there Olon. . . do you see where I walked to the edge of the reed stand?. . .see how clearly you can see my footsteps in the powder of the yellowing.. . .This may help us to find the clan. . . where ever they go . .they will leave signs to lead us to them. ."
I tell her this . .hoping she doesn't realize the other side of it. . .
That WE will also leave very obvious tracks.

---

---

JOURNEY THROUGH THE YELLOWING

---

---

As she looks about . . . I tap her shoulder and ask . . . " Was the reed ok to eat?"
"It's kinda more bitter . . . but it's ok to eat. .you must be starved!" she says this amazed, though we both ate last together.
"I am". . . I tell her as I snap a piece of reed from the pit, and pop it into my mouth.
As I chew it . .I remember how much I hate the taste of the reed. . I never thought it could be worse . . . but it is!
Still, it relieves the hunger, deep in my gut. I'm also sure that the moisture from the reed is badly needed by my body.
I turn halfway round to Olon and tell her . . . " We should break off all of the roof reed into small pieces to carry with us, just in case the reed further out can't be eaten."
Before I even finish speaking . . .Olon is breaking the reed into smallish pieces, and stuffing them into a make shift pouch she has tied up out of the bottom of her coverlet.
" Will the Yellowing always stay Thinly?"
"I wait for her to stop snapping the reed . . before I tell her. . ." I don't know . ." "We will have to wait to see what happens. .I dont think it will stay. . . it didn't stay before."
I look to see if Olon has gathered enough reed and ask. . " are you ready to leave Olon?"
"Yes". . . "Thinly?"
"What?"
"Thanks for taking care of me. . ."
"Alright . . . let's go . . ."
"Olon. . .tear a strip from your coverlet . . . and tie it around to cover your nose and mouth."
" You'll have to step carefully. . .there's still alot of yellowing that gets kicked up when you walk, pick your feet up, you can't shuffle them or we won't be able to see where we're going."



We follow a break in the reed . . . the reed is so strangely bent over, kind of creating passages where it has collapsed upon itself.
As we travel. . looking for signs, I keep looking up . . . into the canopy. . .amazed at this strange new view.
So far, we have seen no signs of the clan. .or that anyone . .or anything has been here.
We push on for quite awhile.


"Olon . . . I think we are getting close to an edgeland. . see . . . the reed is thicker . . . I can also smell the water."
We push through this last stand of reed . . . part the last of it . . . and are stopped dead in our tracks with an amazing sight . . .
There in front of us . . . a broad expanse of water stretches . . . it is a dirty yellow.
The days final light makes it seem to glow.


"Thinly . . . even the edgelands water is taken by the yellowing. . . will it be safe to cross?". . .
The distance in Olon's voice makes me wonder if she really wants to know . . .
"Well . . . I dont know. . . if the dust has been alright for us to walk on . . . I cant see why it would be unsafe for us to wade through the water . . . to the next stand of reed.
"This Yellowing. . has come and gone before. . I'm sure it'll be ok to cross."
As I say this to her, I step closer to the edgeland to look deeper into the water at the edge of the reed.
If there are finleys there . . . they are completely safe . . . no one could ever spot one moving in this yellow muck.


I bend to put my arm into the water. . it feels cool . . . and welcome in this dusty new hot world.
As I move my arm back and forth.
SOMETHING nips the end of my finger!
Hurriedly, I jerk my arm from the water, so fast that I fall back. .flat on my rump.
"There is something in there Olon. . "
She senses the alarm in my voice and movs quickly to my side.
"There are finleys in these waters . .aren't there?"
Her face is all scrinched up into a question.
"I think that's all there is. . that's all I've ever seen" . . as I tell her this I push my arm . .slowly . . . into the yellow cloud of water again.
AGAIN. . . something nips at the end of my fingers!
I jerk my arm back out, nearly hitting Olon who was hovering over my back, trying to get a glimpse of what is down there.


"We can't cross now. . we'll have to wait until we know whether or not something else is in the waters. . ". . . Olon is shaking her head in full agreement. . . I can tell she wants no part of this new mystery.


" We'll stay here tonight . . . let's bend down the reed and shake the yellow dust off of it."
Olon begins to bend the reed over. . criss-crossing it out of years of habit, pausing to shake sections . .to make sure the yellowing comes off.


As we settle onto the reed. . I pull Olon close, into the hollow of my shoulder.
For a long time we don't talk. . we look up and through the canopy of split back reed. . into the darkening night sky. . THERE ARE SO MANY STARS NOW . . .


"Thinly. . . when we find Oon. . . or find out what has happened to her. . . . Olon's voice trails into a long pause. . . What will happen to us? . . . I mean with us. . will there be an us?"


"Olon. . . I cant imagine being without you. . .We'll find Oon. . . and I'll stay . .as long as you want me to."
For the first time I can remember. . I see Olon smile.

Back to the beginning. .. again

The Imaginary Number Homepage
'The Millionlands' . . .
'The Millionlands' . . . part 3