I realise now what happened when the universe sighed. I can’t fly between the planets anymore, but I’ve been given a generously long life and I've travelled widely across this new world. It was about five winters ago and I was walking on virgin snow through the pine forests of what will become northern Europe. I stood spellbound and silent as the mammoth shambled across my path and disappeared into the twilight. It was then that I understood.
There are a few angeli surviving here and there. They call themselves nephilim although they don’t fool me. However, they too have lost all their powers and are no particular trouble.
Lily says I should take a wife from one of the tribes – perhaps I will one day. I haven’t seen her much recently. She prefers the darkness and I have grown used to the light. But sometimes, when the moon is full …
It is best not to dwell on what has been or what will be, so I will bury these writings at the back of the cave and then see if I can live with what the present brings. The future is for you to face now.
Good luck!
Adam
Comments
rjnewlyn | February 11, 2011 - 00:22
Thanks for everyone's support with this - it turned out a little longer than I'd envisaged to begin with. Something new will begin in a week or so.
Rob
lenchenelf | February 11, 2011 - 00:24
I shall enjoy reading the sequence over again, good sci-fi/fantasy (fable?) thanks atb Lena xx
rjnewlyn | February 11, 2011 - 00:26
Thanks very much Lena. Yes, I'm not sure what genre it fits into ...
Rob
celticman | February 11, 2011 - 11:45
Ahhhh, Adam!
fatboy74 | February 11, 2011 - 15:07
Hi Rob, briiliant ending to this which can't have been easy to come up with. In my mind all of this was happening in the future, so having that surprise was particularly effective.
I was right though. I'm also good at guessing who has committed the dastardly deed in Midsummer Murders (alas no more).
Very much looking forward to your next one, really well done! ATB FB
Silver Spun Sand | February 11, 2011 - 17:52
I enjoyed this, so very much, Rob, and am looking forward to the next one;-)
Tina
rjnewlyn | February 11, 2011 - 22:15
Thanks very much Celticman, Fatboy and Tina. And thanks for the cherry.
Yes, Fatboy - well guessed! I think actually it's sort of in the future and past at the same time, although it probably doesn't matter too much.
It's actually very loosely based on a short(er) story I wrote quite a few years ago for a collection that a friend of a friend was trying to get published. The publication never came off (or at least I've not heard anything for a while) so it was sort of resurrected, although most of it's quite different.
Rob
Beeme | February 11, 2011 - 22:16
I enjoyed this series so much Rob, fabulous ending. Can't wait to see what you come up with next :]
Beeme xx
rjnewlyn | February 11, 2011 - 22:20
Many thanks Beeme!
Rob
insertponceyfre... | February 12, 2011 - 08:22
well - you couldn't have thought of a better ending, although I would quite like it not to. Well done. Don't be too long with the next one will you
rjnewlyn | February 12, 2011 - 11:08
Many thanks Insert and Blighters - very kind of you and I'm really pleased and honoured you both enjoyed it. I'll try not to be too long in getting the next one started - maybe this week. Rob
animan | February 17, 2011 - 22:15
I've just read all one to twenty and all the comments! Really enjoyed reading the story and the comments - fascinating. I didn't understand the 'ending' in 20 at all though, though others brighter seem to have. I get the feeling that you did not want to end it at all really and, really, you want to do 21 to 40?! In the process, maybe the whole sequence could be developed into a loop and so one could read it through endlessly - a kind of infinity story - it might even develop into a religion??! Lovely writing. I was very interested by the repeated Pluto and Charon duality and the contrast of that with the Gabriel and Uriel duality, though I'm not sure what Uriel signifies, though I know he's a big thing in Blake. This kind of led me to wonder, picking up on all the comments about illustrating the text, if one could do a contemporary Blakean thing with the material, along the lines of a Michelangelo-esque approach to sci-fantasy text of this type. Apologies if I;m being a bit pseud there!
rjnewlyn | February 18, 2011 - 23:37
Thanks very much animan - particularly for trawling through all 20! I'm really glad you liked it.
Yes, I suppose it is a sort of loop now - but I'm not sure I want it to be developing into a religion! The ending really is as crazy as it sounds - there's an old legend about someone called Lilith being Adam's first wife before Eve (and being associated vaguely with strange and dark things afterwards). As Fatboy guessed earlier on, it sort of plays with that idea a bit - but it isn't meant to be particularly important or vital for the story. Just a bit of a subtext.
Dualities are interesting. I don't think I went for this in any conscious way but stories have a way of digging these sorts of things out. I suppose there are a lot of dualities that could be drawn out, but I think that's more an inevitable consequence of writing.
If I was Blake, I'd be very happy indeed and getting stuck into illustrations already. But I'm not ... (and so waiting for something to crop up on this - I think you're right about where it ought to go but not at all clear how to achieve this).
Rob
Sooz006 | May 14, 2012 - 12:34
Wow, amazing ending, didn't see that coming, despite FB's prophesy, which makes me really thick. I was deeply planted in the future.
Lilith? telling him to take a wife, perfect.
Way too good not to do something spectacular with, but because of the odd length I'm not sure what you can do with it apart from go down the animation route already suggested. Really enjoyed this. Well done, Rob.
rjnewlyn | May 15, 2012 - 16:52
Yes, I think you're right. It's difficult to know where it leads but I enjoyed writing it. I remain wholly ignorant about the illustration route.
Rob