Descending Road - BEAM by Dana W. Paxson

BEAM

1560 4D

If it hadn’t been for the usuli, I might have sung better. But the set went fairly well, except once when I broke the tight rhythm by forgetting half a line, and recovered by repeating it in an echo effect. The four agents stood in a line against the back wall and never moved.

We got to the last song. The hums of approval had been muted, expectant. These people had heard about the last show, and this wasn’t as good. Drasstar looked tired. I got close to him and said, “Let’s do BEAM.”

His eyes opened wide. “BEAM? It’s been a long time.”

Grioskin had heard. “BEAM? Yes!” He showed teeth to Rashua and Naudi. They nodded.

I remembered BEAM from a ‘sheet recording on the streets. It was Grioskin‘s to start. Four hard slams on the bass side of his panpan, and we were off and running. Rashua and I took the voices, in fifths, loud and hard.

“Beam! Hold the cartridge in your teeth,

Beam! Pull the seal off, light your brain,

Beam! Doctor Shock’ll bust your cock,

Beam! Knock it through your cerebellum,

Bleeding blue and dying short and

Burning life for people’s sport,

Beam!”

All about andro suicide. With only ten precious years of life, some andros didn’t make it. This was Thringe‘s huge cry of rage. And now, mine.

We banged through four verses, and with each one, the word Beam! came back at us from the house, louder and louder. Soon hands were shooting up at the word, then people would jump up and sit down again. As we reached the end, Grioskin hammered a descending series of blows on the panpan, tones gonging under our feet, and the crowd erupted.

When I could see the back wall again, the four agents were gone.

Story List	SURPRISE ME	Author Page
USER SURVEY	PUZZLE ME	MAKE ELM MARK

HOVER Lucida Bright BARE	HOVER Lucida Bright FULL	HOVER Palatino Linotype BARE
HOVER Palatino Linotype FULL	HOVER Times New Roman BARE	HOVER Times New Roman FULL
PAD Arial BARE	PAD Arial FULL	PAD Lucida Bright BARE
PAD Lucida Bright FULL	PAD Times New Roman BARE	PAD Times New Roman FULL


	BEAM 1560 4D If it hadn’t been for the usuli, I might have sung better. But the set went fairly well, except once when I broke the tight rhythm by forgetting half a line, and recovered by repeating it in an echo effect. The four agents stood in a line against the back wall and never moved. We got to the last song. The hums of approval had been muted, expectant. These people had heard about the last show, and this wasn’t as good. Drasstar looked tired. I got close to him and said, “Let’s do BEAM.” His eyes opened wide. “BEAM? It’s been a long time.” Grioskin had heard. “BEAM? Yes!” He showed teeth to Rashua and Naudi. They nodded. I remembered BEAM from a ‘sheet recording on the streets. It was Grioskin‘s to start. Four hard slams on the bass side of his panpan, and we were off and running. Rashua and I took the voices, in fifths, loud and hard. “Beam! Hold the cartridge in your teeth, Beam! Pull the seal off, light your brain, Beam! Doctor Shock’ll bust your cock, Beam! Knock it through your cerebellum, Bleeding blue and dying short and Burning life for people’s sport, Beam!” All about andro suicide. With only ten precious years of life, some andros didn’t make it. This was Thringe‘s huge cry of rage. And now, mine. We banged through four verses, and with each one, the word Beam! came back at us from the house, louder and louder. Soon hands were shooting up at the word, then people would jump up and sit down again. As we reached the end, Grioskin hammered a descending series of blows on the panpan, tones gonging under our feet, and the crowd erupted. When I could see the back wall again, the four agents were gone.