futurebird's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At least I didn�t lose to that dog. The longest, darkest night of the year is over and the dawn is here. The physical plant building down in the valley where the trains run is spewing steam which is the only element that lends any contrast to a colourless, formless sky. The sun is lost in the mass of white some where and I�m bathed in light so cold and bright that I want to crawl back into bed. I�m listening to the modern opera �Civil Wars� much to loud. I love opera and love it loud It�s like a scream perfected to music. I want to scream. But, for now, the tenor can do it for me. I had a strange dream. In it there was a big race. Like the �revco marathon� only bigger. Everyone was invited all the people, all the animals. One of every animal showed up: sort of like 1/2 of noah�s arc. There were Ostriches, lions, cockroaches, rats, dogs, rabbits, turtles, humming birds, seals, squirrels, antelopes, hedgehogs . . .every creature under the sun. We all put on our numbers and stood at the �go� line. I was running for the humans. I don�t know why they picked me I�m not that fast. They gave me a gun and a hand grenade and said �win at any cost� I said �right.� (there�s nothing I love more than winning.) I didn�t like most of the animals and we were all almost on he verge of fighting even before the race began. The lion wanted to eat the lamb and I wanted to shoot the goddamed lion. But the race director made us all agree to be peaceful. There was one animal that I like and it was the dog. It wasn�t a house dog it as junk yard dog like the one that came after me when I was little once. I liked him anyway. He was bright yellow with a mouth full of big teeth. And the race director shot his pistol in the air and me and all the animals took off. It was a beautiful day. The forest was lush and green and even though some of the animals could have sprinted ahead we all ran close together in a big group. The humming bird flickered at my shoulder even the lion was on his best behaviour. And it was like that for the first few miles. But then we came to a hill. The race trail markers went right up the hill and many of the animals couldn�t climb it. I got out my pick and scaled it: no problem. �I�ll win for my tools� I thought, proudly. But as we were climbing it broke out with rain. At first it felt good but then the mud started sliding and the sky got all dark and next thing we knew we were all lost and cold and in the dark. Then heard this terrible sound. I looked up and the Lion was ravaging the little lamb so I knew it was all done for. I started shooting. I shot every animal that got in sight of me except the dog. We fought our way out of the forest and back to the race trail. Now it was just me, the rat, the dog and the cockroach. �You see who rules this planet!� I thought. When we cam out of the stormy forest we were in the desert. It had been days and we were all bones (except the cockroach, he was all ectoskeleton) But we kept running just the same. Me and the dog were so hungry that our ribs were poking out and our eyes glowing bright blue. Then-- oh at last I could see the finish line. I started my victory sprint. But That dog pulled ahead of me! I was out of bullets so I couldn�t shoot him. I would have shot him to win even though I liked him. I took the grenade out of my pocket and pulled the pin out . I looked at the grenade again and it had turned into a beating heart in my hand. The heart stopped beating and there was white light all over and I knew that we were all dead. But As I was dying I remembered something. Roaches seem to get by if they�re far enough underground during an atomic blast . . . So the old cockroach would win in the end. At least I didn�t lose to that dog. 15:30:36 - 2000-12-22 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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