From nobody Thu Sep 7 21:23:48 2000 Path: central.thestarport.org!not-for-mail From: steve@dantooine.thestarport.org (Stephen R. Savitzky) Newsgroups: alt.callahans,alt.kalbo Subject: Toast. Amethyst. Ten. Date: 04 Aug 2000 23:39:28 -0700 Organization: Grand Central Starport Lines: 55 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: dantooine.thestarport.org X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.7/Emacs 20.4 Xref: central.thestarport.org alt.callahans:415375 alt.kalbo:4189 ``...a couple of years, hasn't it?'' Mike asks. The ageing hacker hands him a dollar and reaches for the glass of Genever that he didn't have to ask for. ``Yeah. Colleen's mother died last year, and my father only a month later, so when August 4th came around, well, I guess subconsciously I'd had enough grieving for the year. ``But this is different. Ten years. Ten...'' He takes a long sip from the glass. He's at the chalk line by now -- it's only a couple of steps from the bar. ``Ten years ago a little girl was born -- stillborn. She would have been our second child. Amethyst Rose.'' He stands for a long time, glass held in front of his eyes in silent salute. He seems to be looking someplace beyond it. After what seems a long time he raises the glass a little more, then hurls it into the fireplace. The yellow flames play around the glass. Alcohol burns blue; it's the sodium in the glass that turns the flames bright yellow. The fire dances. The walls between the worlds are very thin by now: the merest cobwebs. It becomes difficult to distinguish the fireplace in the bar from the campfire in the desert; he will go there soon. He picks up the guitar from the chair in the corner where it has waited patiently for his touch; blows away the dust that has gathered under the strings. ``I wrote this setting for Yeats' poem `The Stolen Child' ten years ago,'' he says. ``I thought for sure I'd have recorded it by now; all the sad songs, and the fantasies, and the love songs. Well, I'm sorry, Amy. Maybe by this time next year.'' He plays that song, and another, and the sorrow slowly starts to drain away. Over his right shoulder, not quite out of his line of vision, an X window has opened onto a glade in a petrified forest. It might have been there forever. The leaves of the rosebush, on the edge of the little clearing, are the intense green of nephrite; its open petals are purple. The girl is there, silent, in the shadow. Listening. The color of her cloak cannot be discerned in the dim light; her face is invisible in the hood's darkness. That's as it should be. But her eyes gleam -- or are they stars? The forest recedes; the next window over shows a desert, calm and quiet under the gleaming stars. The campfire in its ring of stones has burned almost to embers: heat shimmers over the bed of red coals. A log settles, and a little swirl of bright sparks rises briefly above it. Someone is playing a wistful tune on the harmonica; the old hacker gathers his cloak about him and joins the circle. Those are stars that were her eyes. -- / Steve Savitzky \ 1997 Pegasus Award winner: best science song--+ \ / http://theStarport.com/people/steve/ V \ \ hacker/songwriter: http://theStarport.com/people/steve/Doc/Songs/ \_ Kids' page: MOVED ---> http://Interesting.Places.to/Browse/forKids/ _/ From nobody Thu Sep 7 21:23:52 2000 Path: central.thestarport.org!samba.rahul.net!rahul.net!a2i!bug.rahul.net!rahul.net!a2i!news.kjsl.com!HSNX.atgi.net!cyclone.bc.net!torn!howland.erols.net!newshub2.home.com!news.home.com!news1.rdc1.nj.home.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Reply-To: "Freyja" From: "Freyja" Newsgroups: alt.callahans,alt.kalbo References: Subject: Re: Toast. Amethyst. Ten. Lines: 41 Organization: Cat Herders Inc. X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 Message-ID: <0YQi5.107279$lU5.756854@news1.rdc1.nj.home.com> Date: Sat, 05 Aug 2000 09:16:44 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 24.10.117.5 X-Complaints-To: abuse@home.net X-Trace: news1.rdc1.nj.home.com 965467004 24.10.117.5 (Sat, 05 Aug 2000 02:16:44 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 05 Aug 2000 02:16:44 PDT Xref: central.thestarport.org alt.callahans:415441 alt.kalbo:4190 "Stephen R. Savitzky" wrote in message news:x7em446wkf.fsf@dantooine.thestarport.org... | ``...a couple of years, hasn't it?'' Mike asks. The ageing hacker hands | him a dollar and reaches for the glass of Genever that he didn't have to | ask for. | | ``Yeah. Colleen's mother died last year, and my father only a month | later, so when August 4th came around, well, I guess subconsciously I'd | had enough grieving for the year. | | ``But this is different. Ten years. Ten...'' He takes a long sip from | the glass. | | He's at the chalk line by now -- it's only a couple of steps from the | bar. ``Ten years ago a little girl was born -- stillborn. She would | have been our second child. Amethyst Rose.'' He stands for a long | time, glass held in front of his eyes in silent salute. He seems to be | looking someplace beyond it. After what seems a long time he raises the | glass a little more, then hurls it into the fireplace. *****CRASH***** A lovely name. {sob} -- Freyja the NurseWench (de-spam e-mail) http://eclecticeel.co.cx ICQ:9582706 AIM:FreyjaNurseWench The race is over. The rats won. From nobody Thu Sep 7 21:23:54 2000 Path: central.thestarport.org!samba.rahul.net!rahul.net!a2i!bug.rahul.net!rahul.net!a2i!news.kjsl.com!news.gradwell.net!diablo.theplanet.net!europa.netcrusader.net!204.71.34.3!newsfeed.cwix.com!news!not-for-mail Message-ID: <398D0982.F37A9752@my-deja.com> From: Fax Paladin Organization: Waco Tribune-Herald X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 (Macintosh; I; PPC) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Toast. Amethyst. Ten. References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 32 Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2000 06:40:55 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 169.137.151.100 X-Complaints-To: news@cw.net X-Trace: news 965544055 169.137.151.100 (Sun, 06 Aug 2000 02:40:55 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 06 Aug 2000 02:40:55 EDT Xref: central.thestarport.org alt.callahans:415876 "Stephen R. Savitzky" wrote: > ``...a couple of years, hasn't it?'' Mike asks. The ageing hacker hands > him a dollar and reaches for the glass of Genever that he didn't have to > ask for. > > ``Yeah. Colleen's mother died last year, and my father only a month > later, so when August 4th came around, well, I guess subconsciously I'd > had enough grieving for the year. > > ``But this is different. Ten years. Ten...'' He takes a long sip from > the glass. > > He's at the chalk line by now -- it's only a couple of steps from the > bar. ``Ten years ago a little girl was born -- stillborn. She would > have been our second child. Amethyst Rose.'' He stands for a long > time, glass held in front of his eyes in silent salute. He seems to be > looking someplace beyond it. After what seems a long time he raises the > glass a little more, then hurls it into the fireplace. *crash!* Fax -- a"} HAVE PUN, WILL TRAVEL |jwa@play -- NEW COLUMN 7/6/00 /_\ Fax Paladin, Waco | http://members.aol.com/joewabbott -------------------------- "It'll all work out." "HOW?!" "I don't know -- it's a mystery." Stoppard & Norman, "Shakespeare in Love" From nobody Thu Sep 7 21:23:57 2000 Path: central.thestarport.org!samba.rahul.net!rahul.net!a2i!bug.rahul.net!wasp.rahul.net!rahul.net!a2i!nntp.primenet.com!nntp.gblx.net!feeder.via.net!newsfeed.concentric.net!global-news-master From: maenad@PINOTNOIR.babcom.com Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Toast. Amethyst. Ten. Date: 08 Aug 2000 17:10:06 GMT Organization: The Babylon Project Lines: 12 Message-ID: <8mpccg$297$6@babylon5.babcom.com> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.176.30.226 X-Complaints-To: usenet@babcom.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 8 Aug 2000 16:26:56 GMT User-Agent: tin/1.4.3-20000502 ("Marian") (UNIX) (Linux/2.4.0-test4 (i586)) Xref: central.thestarport.org alt.callahans:416947 Stephen R. Savitzky wrote: .... > Those are stars that were her eyes. maenad wipes her eyes and sighs quietly, at a loss for words. maenad -- _____ Anna _______ fun is good! _______ pinotnoir is a spamblock _____ eventually I'll remember the thing I was going to say here... ___________________ maenad babcom com _____________________