“Where *am* I??”
—–
“There, that’s better. Hi Rocky!”
“We found an Ickle,” the raccoon mumbles, half asleep.
“What’s that Rocky?”
His eyes open. “Two of them, Bettie. A blue one, then a green one. East and west. Directly.” He turns into the walking version of himself and goes to her. “Down there. Just in the other sim.”
“What are we waiting for?” she asks rhetorically.
—–
“What now?”
“We wait,” states the raccoon.
“Oh my.”
“Rocky?”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0306, Heterocera, Lapara^, MAPS, New York
Baker Bloch waited for Little Tonshi Ashokan (i.e., Bettie) to manifest in Collagesity, but it never happened. He wanted to reassure her, along with Nancy and perhaps even Danny — maybe Rocky especially — that they had a place in Collagesity if they wished. Wheeler Wilson and Buster Damm obviously could come back. Same with Peter SoSo for that matter. Tronesisia. They all could have a home here.
But for now, Baker has decided he must join them in Olde Lapara Towne instead of visa versa. Create a more rational perspective on what’s going on there. He was especially disappointed that Wheeler hadn’t returned, admittedly. She’s part of the core family, he thinks to himself tonight. She belongs here.
But how about Duncan and The Musician and maybe others still roaming around the VHC City environs?
Who is really a native of what town, or is it all just transient and interchangeable? Karoz Blogger and Baker Blinker, for example, seem to remain in Chilbo, yet another berg directly linked to Collagesity. An older relationship, like VHC City I suppose. Olde Lapara Towne is a new coupling. And OLT remains the most important for at least the current work (“Collagesity 2017 Middle”, or “Novel V”).
Baker waits a little more. Then enters.
I forgot to even mention Mary. Truth is, I think Baker Bloch has changed over the course of 2017, and may be as much vampire Pitch Darkly as his old self.
Osborne Well still reads “Floydodo” on the second floor of Darkly Manor, the one with the view into the forest. Fellow established Collagesity resident Woody Woodmanson joins him for a glass of milk. “He’ll come around soon enough,” the wooden man reassures his other vampire friend. “He’ll know who he really is.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0305, Heterocera, Lapara^, Rubi^
“Trust me,” Rocky says. “You won’t be able to get through that narrow opening to the main street, Danny. We’ll have to go around the back of this building to reach the hotel.”
“Oh all right. Stupid anti-superhero powers.”
On the way, Rocky watches yet another person jump off one of those so-called suicide platforms to their death on the rails below. “Third one this week,” he says to himself.
“Hmm, this one won’t make it either. Come on Danny! Over here!”
“Hmph. Could have swore this was an alleyway just the other day. Go ahead and try it anyway Danny, hehe.”
“What a Fool. Okay, let’s move on boy. Man-boy.”
“*This* is Main Street, Danny. But the hotel’s now 2 blocks down. I’m famished. Let’s see if we can find some place to eat, eh?”
“Doughnut,” Danny answers. “Doughnuts and pig.”
—–
“What’s this, then?” Rocky disables camera constraints.
“A trapped little peoploid!”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0304, Heterocera, Lapara^
The next day, Danny’s chest triangle lit up after breakfast and told him to visit a man named Great who was also Good and So-So and then back to Great again. He knew where to look.
“Piggies,” he grumbled while looking inside that cop car on the way. “What’s next in town? Marshmallow men? Confetti parachuters?”
Like any superhero, he was simply going to walk through that fence ahead separating the town’s two sims.
Made it! But in turning around Danny finds he can’t go back through the barrier from this direction. Power neutralized on this side of town? He tries to melt the top of a nearby building with his laser vision. It doesn’t work! Yes, he’s a mere mortal again. He doesn’t like it. Onward to the hotel.
He instead decides to walk up the stairs straight ahead to the town’s raised park where Rocky was performing on a much larger piano this day, grand in style. “Shut up,” he says softly from the top of the stairs. “Shut up!” he then shouts toward the animal pianist. “Shut up!!”
Third time Rocky finally heard him. He stopped playing the 2nd movement of John Cage’s “4’33″” and turned around. “Great,” he muttered. “The Jester has arrived.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0303, Heterocera, Lapara^
“I’ll have a whiskey sour on the rocks, Ginger.”
“My name’s Tina. What’s with the triangle, sport? And the hair? And, well, *everything*?” Her thoughts began to dwell on the plunger especially.
“My name is Danny. I’m kind of new.”
“Just off the boat if you ask me. Are you a superhero of some sort?”
Danny thinks hard. “Umm, maybe. Perhaps.”
“Because of the triangle and all,” Tina explains.
Danny considers this is a great idea. Then he reconsiders it to good. Then finally so-so. “That is a so-so idea,” he speaks aloud.
Tina stares at him, then makes the drink. She leaves out the ice.
Danny thinks to clarify. “But so-so is *great*, see?”
“Shut up and let’s go upstairs.”
—–
“Yes I’ll get that fixed right away Audrey.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0302, Heterocera, Lapara^
Upon waking, Danny has a great urge to clean the back room.
Instead he heads to the bar where he knows his mate will be. Audrey Helen Ginger.
Police car! They must be on to him. He goes gingerly outside. Audrey’s the name. Yes, Audrey. Or is it Helen?
The inspector is still there in his window.
He inspects the inspector.
He seems to be preoccupied with his own thoughts. Good. Now to the bar.
Wait. A knife. Sandwiches.
And those mounds. Are people buried beneath? Perhaps his beloved Helen and Audrey?
There’s Ginger.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0301, Heterocera, Lapara^
“Peters found this on the interwebs yesterday and passed it up to us, Tronesisia. We thought you’d like to know about the missing post, er piece.”
“I had a dream about Lambs.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0218, Heterocera, Lapara^, Rubi^
“Rocky is playing a wonderful tune tonight. Cage, you say?”
“Yes. John,” answers Bettie. “‘Suite for Toy Piano.’ Debuted 1948 in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Not far from our user’s home. Very close, say, if it were 5, 6, 7 years down the road. If users are even around. We may be on our own by then. Us down here, alone with our actions, our consequences. Might be nice, Nancy. Just us, this town, its inhabitants. The Atoll Continent as a whole. Sansara can go to hell.”
Nancy frowns. “I don’t know. I like the old continent. We should go visit the climbable beanstalk (in Welsh) sometime.” Rocky’s piano tinkling ends and he gets up.
“Babble,” replied Bettie. Then: “Shush. The rant part of Rocky’s performance piece is starting. Let’s dance while he speaks.”
—–
Each one of us must now look to himself. That which formerly held us together and gave meaning to our occupations was our belief in God. When we transferred this belief first to heroes, then to things, we began to walk our separate paths. That island that we have grown to think no longer exists to which we might have retreated to escape from the impact of the world, lies, as it ever did, within each one of our hearts. Towards that final tranquility, which today we so desperately need, any integrating occupation–music and writing are two of them, rightly used–can serve as a guide.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0217, Heterocera, Lapara^
“Rehearsals were already suppose to start, Nancy. We were gonna be stars. That globe would obviously hafta go.”
“I guess we’ll just have to be each other’s star, then.”
“My thoughts exactly. Let’s go get some cake.”
—–
“It’s a very patriotic town, Bettie. But what is this Us of A?”
“It’s a place our user might want to get away from soon. War is brewing. Two little bitty people commanding militaries with their tiny gestures. We’re safe down here. As long as the infrastructure remains.”
She glared over at him again, he with his own piece of delicious cake. It was a small town. Not a lot of restaurants to choose from, for example. They’d keep running into each other. One day they might be friends. But not today. Too much real world mirroring.
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0216, Heterocera, Lapara^
“Well,” determined Little Tonshi Ashokan while staring up at the bottom of the Lapara Airport from her waterfall hammock. “If I can’t have a wife right now I’ll at least try to make some friends.”
She hops off the hammock and begins strolling the Crooked Pine Walkway toward Calypso Rock where the terminal teleport is stashed, right beside her *still* unfinished house. She thinks again how horribly lazy she is, never completing anything of note. The airport certainly remains a mess. She “borrows” her other, much larger abode from neighbor Simple Wunderlich when needed. And the “Bible Truth” play has now been put on hold thanks to that inbred town council bending to the wishes of those stupid protesters from the southeast sector (R). She may never act the role of Bettie. Back to being just plain old Little Tonshi, the nutjob from the hills, the vampire with no fangs.
“But Calypso Rock is so sacred,” she counters herself while approaching. “This is where I created Nancy, my greatest, perhaps my *only* accomplishment. And maybe that’s all I need.” She steps inside.
“Hi Tonshi! Glad you’re back. Just straightening up the place a bit.”
“Hi Nancy. Want to head down into town with me?”
“Again??”
“Yeah.”
Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0005, 0215, Heterocera, Lapara^
Sunklands 