Rendezvous: a hypertext adventure

by Nowick Gray

The night was long and wild. The wind carried me along in the clouds. There were deer dancing in the stars, that I couldn't see. They peeked their heads down through the clouds to say hello, then went back to their dancing.

Bears were everywhere, looking for food, but also hiding behind corners, rocks, low clumps of trees. I thought this was where, in the wintertime, Santa Claus lived.

When it got light in the morning the deer rode away on the stars and the bears all disappeared and I woke up. Faron and Will woke up, too. And Matt. They got me dressed and we ate porridge and soup and nuts. Soup for breakfast! Leftovers, goo-guk. They let me have figs to eat when we started to walk down the mountain. I was cold. There was snow on the ground. I was wearing my purple snowsuit but it was raining in the sky and my snowsuit got all wet. My face was wet like tears all over it--but I didn't cry.

Faron carried me a long, long way. She said we were walking in the clouds. Just like an airplane, or geese. But an airplane doesn't walk, silly. That's what I told her. Just people. And geese do, too. But in the clouds, they fly, she said.

I flapped my arms. We flew down the mountain. I was cold and wanted to go to sleep in the black truck. Faron was tired and wanted me to walk. I was too tired. I cried when she put me down. We rested and ate some nuts, that I held in my hand. But I dropped some, my fingers were so cold.

The bears could eat them, I thought.

Do bears eat people?

Faron said not usually. I wanted to go back up on her shoulders.

We finally got to the black truck. I woke up when Faron strapped me in my kid-seat. I looked out the window and the bears and the deer were saying good-bye. But I didn't wave. I didn't want them to see my eyes.

Then we drove away, down the bumpy road. Va, va; ya, ya, ya. I was hungry again, but Faron said I would have to wait. I started to complain, and Faron said stop complaining, she had to drive; but I was so hungry, and still cold, and I started to cry. Then we were going so slow, I thought we would stop and she would feed me.

Faron said she was just trying to be careful; I had to wait. I stopped crying and said blow my nose, Faron.

Just wait, she said, mad at me. I don't know why she got so mad at me. Then--

Then the truck fell over. And over, and over and over, down the hill we fell off the road, down the hill and the truck was flying, like an airplane but upside down, and it was quiet like in the clouds.

Then we bumped down so hard! And the roof was all crunched in, and I could crying see that Faron's head was broken and I screamed--

DREAMBOX--To return to cabin Press