Boys Against - Part 5 (545 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesRating: 2 on 9 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Yes (View user info) at 2005-03-28 11:49:51 EST
Part 1: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62471
Part 2: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62540
Part 3: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62640
Part 4: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62707
Boys Against (Part 5 of 6)
As Mik explored the library, the sheer size of the place began to bother him. It was less a library or a garden than a city of books. Some shelves stood full, the spines of books crowding one another up and down as far as Mik could see without climbing ladders to look, but others were partially vacant, and the books on them leaned, supporting one another like weary boys after a long hunt. In his time as Nokhami, wandering the land and exploring the sea, Mik had seen countless strange and magic places. Even so, this one was different from the rest in that Mik felt he should understand its nature and importance.
After puzzling over this for some time, Mik resolved to ask Goz even though he recognized the possibility that he might not like the answer, but by then he had wandered so far that he could not find the other boy or the entrance to the library.
When he grew truly tired, Mik lay down on a table. He was uncomfortable with nothing to cradle his head, but he fell asleep without tossing. He wished he'd brought his war bonnet.
In his dream, Mik felt closer to Pell. He could sense his friend, sleeping also, as he drew nearer the city, carried by a kite. He felt the shift and creak of the creature's hollow bones, heard the snap and ripple of its papery skin as it rode the strong winds just beneath the clouds.
Before long Mik's focus on Pell dissolved and he felt his own body lying heavy on the table. Goz knelt beside him and kissed Mik's forehead to open his eyes. Still sleeping, Mik tried to cry out as his gaze fell on Goz.
Now both of Goz's eyes were whole and uncovered. His face had been carefully washed and painted a strange pink. His cheeks were rouged, and his hair, much shorter than before, lay artfully arranged against his skull. He smiled at Mik and Mik recognized death beneath the odd color imposed on his features. Dark hollows shone beneath Goz's eyes, and Mik was aware of a movement beneath the boy's skin, as if something was still horribly alive inside his empty body. He smelled like a boar that had been left too long without cooking.
"Goz?" Mik asked, and the word was a croak. There was a bad taste in his mouth, and his tongue was fat and heavy with sleep.
Goz reached back to gesture at a great glass screen shimmering in the air before one of the shelves.
"Say something. Please."
Still smiling, Goz touched his own throat and shook his head. Again, he pointed to the screen.
As Mik rose, inching away from Goz, he saw that the other boy was dressed differently now. He wore a black suit, shiny black shoes, a dress shirt, and an impeccably knotted blue and yellow striped tie. A red carnation stood brilliant on his right lapel, and Mik knew, though he fought the knowledge, that he had once worn those clothes himself.
The thought made Mik cry out, but he shook it off and stood before the screen, wondering was it water or glass.
An image appeared. Mik saw himself on the great road with Goz. He recognized his own red hair, his freckled shoulders, his fatigues, and the Sea Ape tooth he wore on a sinew around his neck.
Goz seemed more intent, more alert, and his hair was much shorter. His gaze was keen and calm, like that of a jungle cat, and he carried a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back. Why would Goz carry a weapon? He never killed anything.
A storm of memory shook Mik, made him feel faint. He remembered the day. He remembered hunting boar with Goz—there had been no luck. Not long before, the Goat People had attacked the mountain, and the fighting had driven the boars farther inland. Mik and Goz knew they might have to travel as far as Baud Saam to catch anything—which meant they'd have to call a kite to carry them back to Nokhami Island with their meat.
"And why don't we eat kites?" Goz asked as he sat on the ground to extract a stone from his left moccasin.
"They're made of paper," Mik said with a shrug. "Besides, they're too smart. They have feelings."
"Don't boars have feelings?"
"They're stupid, so their feelings don't matter."
Mik tensed. Without thinking, he fitted a stone into his sling. He whirled, let the stone fly. There came a choked cry from the tall grass to the right of the road.
"Let's go," Mik barked.
Goz, on his feet now, made a face. "I want to check the body."
"For what? Let's go."
"I've never seen one of them up close."
Mik shook his head. "Nazis are no good."
"Please, Mik. Please. I haven't been here as long as you."
Mik's expression darkened.
"I'm sorry," said Goz. "I shouldn't have mentioned it."
Mik considered, then, "We'll check the body together, and then we go straight to Baud Saam. We'll hunt the plain around the city for small game, then take a kite back to the island, understood?"
"Yes!" Goz crowed and bounded from the road ahead of Mik.
Mik followed, a sick feeling resting in the pit of his belly. He moved around Goz to lean over the body, staring at its ruined face.
The Bush Nazi was bald, and his features, spoiled by the stone that had shattered his forehead, had been sharp. His staring eyes were a steel gray. His body was painted black with soot, and a bright red swastika stood out on his chest. He wore blue jeans taken from the clothes farm and his big feet were bare, with thick yellow toenails.
Goz looked up. "He's bigger than we are."
"Of course," Mik agreed. "All Nazis are."
"Because they're not boys."
"In the Other Place, boys grew. They became youths, then men."
And the Nazi sat up. He and Mik stared calmly at one another.
"Mik," said the Nazi, and the sick feeling in Mik's belly turned cold and leaden.
With a quick dip of hand to hip, Goz produced a stone dagger and slashed the Nazi's throat. He tried to dodge the spray of blood, but his right arm came away wet.
As the Bush Nazi fell back, twitching, Goz stepped away from him, an absent look of disgust on his face. "Yah, Bush Nazi," he said. "We are Nokhami, and Nokhami always win." He stopped short. "Hey, Mik? How did he know your name?"
Because many years ago he was one of us, Mik thought, but kept the thought to himself.
User Reviews
Submitted by electrictoothsyndrome (user info) at 2005-03-30 16:23:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2005-03-29 11:50:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Part 1: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62471
Part 2: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62540
Part 3: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62640
Part 4: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62707
Part 5: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62865
Part 6: http://www.ubersite.com/m/62940
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-03-28 23:10:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-03-28 20:53:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Beer_bong (user info) at 2005-03-28 20:40:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
CABBAGE
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-03-28 15:35:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
wow
Submitted by mbstateside (user info) at 2005-03-28 13:09:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Good Stuff!
Submitted by knucklesnelson (user info) at 2005-03-28 12:38:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-03-28 12:29:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
YES
Continue please