WRITING: Another Rotation

(Rinzler - Daft Punk)

Author's Note:

This is a re-post from years ago, back when my Blog was over on Typepad. It's been slightly edited from the original version because my writing has evolved. Most of the changes are grammatical. Yes, it's all original content. No, I did not steal this from Neil Gaiman.

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A older man and a young girl casually strolled through a field.  Above then, the sun bore down on the earth, the air gently throbbing with the heat of its presence.

"It's not fair," the girl pouted, glaring angrily at the sun.

It was the old man next to her that answered. "It's quite fair, when you stop to consider it." In one hand, he held a simple glass which he raised to his lips. He frowned as he did so, noting the condensation that was starting to gather around its exterior.  Within, the glass was half-full of ice, a single piece that perfectly molded to the contours of the vessel itself. As it finished its journey to the older man's lips, the ice slithered to life like liquid and flowed through his lips.

"I don't see how it's fair," the girl snipped again.  She crossed her arms and absently scuffed a bare foot in the now dusty earth.  "You told me it was my turn to play!"  The pulsing presence in the air increased as the little girl's face darkened into a scowl.

Spending a considerable amount of patience, the man contained his irritation to a simple nod. He swallowed once before lowering the glass and murmuring, "And that was many months ago.  I'm relatively sure that you've touched every plant and animal on the face of your mother's world at least twice in that time, if this field is any indication."  He gestured with his free hand to the area around them.

The field they stood in was vast, and at one point, it had clearly been filled with wildflowers of every imaginable color amidst rolling waves of lush green grass.  Now, however, the too-warm passage of the sun had caused several of the flowers to wilt and die and the green expanse of grass was interrupted frequently by wide splotches of brown.

"You never see how it's fair," the old man continued, taking another sip of his ice.  "We quite literally have this conversation every year, and the best part is that you can't ever seem to remember that it ends with-"

The increasing throb in the air stopped only momentarily before the wind suddenly gusted with enough force to send the girl toppling to the ground amidst a massive cloud of dust and particulate.  The matter in the air heaved for a moment before it suddenly condensed into a vaguely humanoid form roughly twenty feet tall.  

Without missing a beat, the form reared back and promptly brought one massive foot down on top of the girl. The impact made the ground tremble and a low cloud of dust rose up from the earth before slowly beginning to drift away.

"-that," the old man finished, gesturing to no one in particular.  "He does that to you every year, and you never have the good sense to dodge.  And your mother says you take after me!" He made a noise of disgust before turning to face the creature, slowly raising one eyebrow.  "Are you quite finished?  As much as I enjoy being rid of your sister's ceaseless prattling about rabbits and dandelions, we do have a schedule to keep."  The mass of earth and fauna twitched for a moment before slowly falling in upon itself.  When the form had settled completely to the ground, a young man was revealed standing in its place.  He blinked a few times, yawned, and then glanced down at the ground where the girl had once been.  Only a slightly moist patch of earth and a small collection of still viable seedlings remained as evidence of her presence.  Without a glance at the older man, he knelt, brushing his fingertips against the damp soil.  "She doesn't even have the good grace to go quietly," he grumbled to himself.  He casually removed the moisture from the soil and dried the seeds before dusting his hands off and standing.  Only then did he turn to face the other man.  "Is she ever going to grow up?"  The old man shrugged in reply, absently wiping a bit of dust from the rim of his glass. "There's no evidence to suggest it happening at this point, no.  You'd do well to remember this moment the next time her sister comes around though."

Both men made a remarkably similar noise of dismissal then before turning away from one another and going their separate ways.