Descending Road - I HAD NEVER NOTICED (in progress) by Dana W. Paxson

I HAD NEVER NOTICED

1560 4D

Dreams are not dreams – they are real, sliding somehow along and across time, gathering images and memories like cockleburrs sticking to the sleep-traveling mind. I walked in the City, skin on fire with striped patterns, music thrumming in my bones, looking for Thringe, looking for my mother, looking for my father. Thringe‘s voice led me down street after stone-ceilinged street, through crevices too narrow to walk without turning sideways, into forests of tangling branches that bound me and smothered me. A slap snapped me awake to Jeddin‘s face close to mine.

“You’d better be ready to run when I cut you out of this,” he said, slicing the wires of the netting that held me. “And no bitching about being hungry. You sang your way into this mess, and now you keep your mouth shut. The rest of us are depending on it.”

“The band –" I began.

“Shh!”

I obeyed. He had me free in seconds. “They’ll all be back right away,” he whispered. “Come on.” He grabbed both of my hands and dragged me into nearby shadows, then up a narrow crack between two stone walls. I stumbled and finally managed to gain balance to follow him on my own. Shouts rose behind us in the dark. My throat burned. Above us the stars seemed to rattle like diamonds in a huge box – the blow to my head had affected me.

We finally stopped a hundred feet above the inn somewhere, amid a maze of cracks and crags fronting a ragged steep slope of weathered rock. My breath was gone; Jeddin was fine. His dark eyes shone as he glanced here, there, listening and sensing tremors of movement. I had never noticed how handsome he was, even with his short stature; his lithe body was well-muscled but without any excess bulk. He sensed my look and grinned.

“You’re an idiot,” he muttered, “and you’re making things hard for all of us when you advertise your presence that way. Out here, you have to hold all that power inside, and use it only when you must. Otherwise you’ll die, and so will the people you love.”

“Drasstar? Rashua? Naudi?” I began, but he cut me off with a wave.

“They’re all right – this time. The police and the corpos want you, not them – you’re andro, did you forget? When you took Thringe‘s

[Jeddin has had to go to Engrammatic to earn some cash to help Lejina out – that’s where he met Grendel in the knife scene. The exact timeline needs fitting together. Dwp]

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


	I HAD NEVER NOTICED 1560 4D Dreams are not dreams – they are real, sliding somehow along and across time, gathering images and memories like cockleburrs sticking to the sleep-traveling mind. I walked in the City, skin on fire with striped patterns, music thrumming in my bones, looking for Thringe, looking for my mother, looking for my father. Thringe‘s voice led me down street after stone-ceilinged street, through crevices too narrow to walk without turning sideways, into forests of tangling branches that bound me and smothered me. A slap snapped me awake to Jeddin‘s face close to mine. “You’d better be ready to run when I cut you out of this,” he said, slicing the wires of the netting that held me. “And no bitching about being hungry. You sang your way into this mess, and now you keep your mouth shut. The rest of us are depending on it.” “The band –" I began. “Shh!” I obeyed. He had me free in seconds. “They’ll all be back right away,” he whispered. “Come on.” He grabbed both of my hands and dragged me into nearby shadows, then up a narrow crack between two stone walls. I stumbled and finally managed to gain balance to follow him on my own. Shouts rose behind us in the dark. My throat burned. Above us the stars seemed to rattle like diamonds in a huge box – the blow to my head had affected me. We finally stopped a hundred feet above the inn somewhere, amid a maze of cracks and crags fronting a ragged steep slope of weathered rock. My breath was gone; Jeddin was fine. His dark eyes shone as he glanced here, there, listening and sensing tremors of movement. I had never noticed how handsome he was, even with his short stature; his lithe body was well-muscled but without any excess bulk. He sensed my look and grinned. “You’re an idiot,” he muttered, “and you’re making things hard for all of us when you advertise your presence that way. Out here, you have to hold all that power inside, and use it only when you must. Otherwise you’ll die, and so will the people you love.” “Drasstar? Rashua? Naudi?” I began, but he cut me off with a wave. “They’re all right – this time. The police and the corpos want you, not them – you’re andro, did you forget? When you took Thringe‘s [Jeddin has had to go to Engrammatic to earn some cash to help Lejina out – that’s where he met Grendel in the knife scene. The exact timeline needs fitting together. Dwp]