She had quit. She was free.
She stepped out in to the morning fresh-scented air and was surprised to find that she was happy. It felt good to walk away from the compound just as the tank swirled the air over her head. No matter that the air tasted like oil, at least it no longer clogged at her throat, dulling her mind. She was free and freedom felt good.
This was a new planet, somewhere off the charts for a svanik like her to slosh a new life in between the grating cogs of civilization. She had paid her time and paid it over again but before this day, she never knew how easy it was just to walk away, just to leave it behind her. She had not gone more than a few paces and yet - and yet it seemed to her that years had passed. That the memory of her time in Sub-Section Ferris3 had faded in the bright light. That the weight of those dark years, those years when she never was high enough on the ladder to see the daylight, of those dark men in their suits talking to her in words she understood but whose meaning had always slid just out of hearing, those years she was least herself - all of it was ages ago. They happened in a story book, to another person in a another place. She was free.
By the time she reached the end of the walkway, if asked, she wouldn't have been able to identify her master's face, the face she had stared into every day for four years. By the time she reached the curb, if asked, she wouldn't have been able to name the equipment that had been used in the compound, nor how the machines were used. By the time she hailed a flocab, (one of the yellow ones that skimmed right over the ground instead of on the upper streams, she didn't trust any other kind and didn't question where the distrust came from), she wouldn't have been able to explain why she had spent four years of her life in an underground facility, nor how she had come to this place. By the time tossed her small bag in the back seat of the flocab and closed the door, she wouldn't even been able to recall her own name. But she knew where she was going. She was free and there are only a few places that the truly free can go.
Only one set of eyes followed the yellow monstrosity merge with the other colors of the rainbow and skim away. Those eyes were close set over a nasty grin that seemed to make the day a little less bright.
But this isn't where it begins.
This was a new planet, somewhere off the charts for a svanik like her to slosh a new life in between the grating cogs of civilization. She had paid her time and paid it over again but before this day, she never knew how easy it was just to walk away, just to leave it behind her. She had not gone more than a few paces and yet - and yet it seemed to her that years had passed. That the memory of her time in Sub-Section Ferris3 had faded in the bright light. That the weight of those dark years, those years when she never was high enough on the ladder to see the daylight, of those dark men in their suits talking to her in words she understood but whose meaning had always slid just out of hearing, those years she was least herself - all of it was ages ago. They happened in a story book, to another person in a another place. She was free.
By the time she reached the end of the walkway, if asked, she wouldn't have been able to identify her master's face, the face she had stared into every day for four years. By the time she reached the curb, if asked, she wouldn't have been able to name the equipment that had been used in the compound, nor how the machines were used. By the time she hailed a flocab, (one of the yellow ones that skimmed right over the ground instead of on the upper streams, she didn't trust any other kind and didn't question where the distrust came from), she wouldn't have been able to explain why she had spent four years of her life in an underground facility, nor how she had come to this place. By the time tossed her small bag in the back seat of the flocab and closed the door, she wouldn't even been able to recall her own name. But she knew where she was going. She was free and there are only a few places that the truly free can go.
Only one set of eyes followed the yellow monstrosity merge with the other colors of the rainbow and skim away. Those eyes were close set over a nasty grin that seemed to make the day a little less bright.
But this isn't where it begins.
posted by mysfit | 29.11.05
3 Comments:
where does it begin, then?
that's a damn good question monkey - when i find out, you'll be the first to know :P
Well, clearly, it begins over there. And it's worth seeing, take my word for it.
Post a Comment
<< Home