Geoff Ashbrook 7/17/1999
He was more than fifty feet above the surface of the water, and it was early, the sun was just coming out, and the little pale blue wavelets were bright capped orange. He moved through the air at a quick pace. Because the ships were to either end of him it felt just as though he were flying, well, flying backwards. The ship to his toe end was a large old wooden ship from about the thirteenth century, with great sails and made from fine old trees that ought never to have been cut but made a breathtaking vessel. To that ship he was attached by his ankles. The ship at his head was as shiny as a mirror, and hovered over the surface of the water, with a glass bottom so all inside to peer down. He was attached to this ship by a line about his neck. And it happened rather quickly, and he was sure that neither ship felt even the slightest tug, but his head just popped off, just like that. Like child’s cork gun.
Both ships became outlined in blue, over a sea of red gridlines. The sky became a smooth green, with pink-yellow clouds. His body pealed away from him instantly, as though he had been squirted out of a toothpaste tube that some fat kid had jumped on. Aside from the color and texture changes, most everything around him looked roughly what it had been before. But then there was something he hadn’t noticed, a new building about a thousand yards to his left.
He looked around at his body, which seemed to be composed of countless twisty flexible rods that could be arranged in any way; presently being the shape of his monkey suit. He first collapsed his whole body into a small golf ball sized object, so that all his rods pointed out, then he sent out two great wings, like dragon wings, and made a body like the cockpit of an old airplane. Then two giant human legs out of the base, in woolen slacks and brown oxfords. Once he made the windshield he could see better, and he smoothed out his surface all over so that he couldn’t see his rods anymore; fleshy leather and scale and feather wings with a metal and rubber and glass body. The interior he made all crystal, and fitted with all devices of dining utility and luxury. He began to fall instantly then, and caught the particulate informational wind on his great wings and pumped toward the new building.
As he got closer he could see that the edifice, with its many domes and spires, was walking about the surface of the water on thousands of chicken legs which extended from the base of the structure, like a millipede. On the side of one of the cylindrical walls was written the word "memory." And as he got closer he could hear that there was a voice coming from assorted loudspeakers. "Welcome to Abinyar, I hope you had a pleasant ride. If you forwarded your memories through any of the standard carriers, you should be able to locate them and reconnect as soon as you wish by moving to any of the ‘pick up’ terminals located beneath the domes at the top of this building." And then the message repeated.
He flew up and looked down, looking for a nice dome. Though he didn’t know if it mattered which he chose or what he was looking for. The air was filled with ‘things’ of all make and model, circling, and flying down and in through the open passages. He went all around and found a little cove on a far side, where there was a small dome surrounded by very tall tree sort of things. He landed in a square, and adjusted his size to be about the same as the other’s walking about around him. There he changed himself into a bank clerk with a cat head, and a cape fashioned from a floral table cloth.
The square was nice, and he made a note to check it out again after he found if he had any memories waiting for him. He walked through a pair of sliding glass double doors and took a flier from a chocolate lab with reptile eyes in an evening gown who was just standing there and handing out fliers, the paper said there was a concert at eleven tonight.
Inside it was more or less like an airport: shuttles carrying those who didn’t know where to go, lines at terminals, excited window watchers looking to see if they could make out yet their relative who they were expecting to come in.
He looked at one of the monitors to see if he could make any sense out of it. Then he caught the name of an old friend, in a list of names, sur and pseudo. He followed the column and it said ‘terminal B 135,’ so he went there not know exactly what would happen next.