MISC: The Girl Who Saved the World Next Part
George Phillies
phillies at 4liberty.net
Wed Mar 21 18:53:41 PDT 2018
I have been busy with other things but another part now arrives. I
think I just solved my last programming issue on a problem I have been
working on, on and off, for some months. My latest novel Against Three
Lands is now up on Smashwords and Amazon.
https://smile.amazon.com/Against-Three-Lands-Thousand-Isles-ebook/dp/B079M1GM9S
The cover is by Japanese artist Morinekozion.
I am President of the National Fantasy Fan Federation N3F.org which
among other things gives annual prizes for works of fantasy very broadly
defined, including anime, comics, manga, and the like. You have to be a
member to vote (electronic memberships are only $6/year) but I can pass
along suggested nominations.
We are in the process of reviving our old fanzine Mangaverse; this will
be our seventh fanzine.
Readers looking for illos of characters may find it interesting to
contact ComickerGirl http://comickergirl.tumblr.com/ who will do illos
on commission, though she is currently booked up until June:
* * * * *
“Pardon me? Dorothy?Teranike? ” The two women looked up, seeing a
round-faced, amber-haired girl dressed all in white. “I’m Spindrift. I
will be Joe’s new girlfriend.I’m supposed to meet him here, except he
will not be here until after I had left,” she said.
“Hello,” Dorothy managed. “Joe’s girlfriend?He forgot to tell us! Let
alone tell us that you were coming!”
“Great to see you again,” Teranike said. “Have a seat. You ordered?”
Spindrift nodded. “After all, you did shovel the parking lot for me, the
geniuses with their plows not having arrived. Indeed, I should be paying
for your breakfast.” Spindrift grinned and shook her head.
“You? Shovel? The parking lot?” Dorothy asked.“You must be
exhausted.Kang is hiring people your age?”
“Hire? I will not have been hired.It was a favor. And afterward I
climbed the Arborday Tower to watch the sun rise,” Spindrift
announced.Teranike’s brows wrinkled for an instant.
“How could Joe not tell us he had a girlfriend?” Dorothy asked.“At least
he invited you to breakfast, your parents I assume permitting?
Especially a girlfriend who knows Atlanticean…You can read the runes you
are wearing, can’t you?”
“/I am who they say I am,” /Spindrift answered in Atlanticean. “/Time’s
Dagger./ /And I am Joe’s friend who is a girl, until the end of days./”
Dorothy wished Joe were here, now, to translate for sure what his
girlfriend had just said. She was reasonably sure she understood what
Spindrift meant, but Joe’s Atlanticean was flawless. She would do her
best for Teranike, who was from a world where there had never been a
Gaea Atlanticea. “Teranike, Spindrift said the sigils on her vest say
who she is, and that she will be Joe’s girlfriend forever.”
“Spindrift,” Teranike said, “that’s wonderful, but I hope I am not
sounding too, ummh, motherly, if I say that forever is a long time,
especially at your age.”
Dorothy suddenly remembered a turn of phrase. In Atlanticean ‘…end of
days…’ meant ‘…the end of your days..’, and was only used if your end
was on the horizon and swift approaching. Teranike’s advice was good, if
it didn’t hurt Spindrift’s feelings.Surely for both of them it had to be
first girlfriend and first boyfriend? “I think my translation wasn’t
that good,” Dorothy said quickly, “I didn’t mean to say you might have,
ummh, unrealistic ideas.”
“/She approaches on swift and silent wings./ /No offense will be
intended or taken,” /Spindrift said.“Sage advice, well meant.” Dorothy
wished she did not remember what in Atlanticea approached on swift,
silent wings. The Crone Incarnate came with terrifying images. ‘The sun
was a copper penny. Ashes fell from the heavens. Waves rose higher and
higher. The winds blasted from the mountain tops, tearing the trees from
their roots. The screaming of the accursed souls trapped above the sky
drowned out all other sound.’
Whatever words Spindrift might have said next were interrupted by Wang
delivering milk, orange juice, three butterscotch cookies, a plate of
hash, and a mug of hot caramel milk. “Master Kang saw you in the parking
lot,” he announced.“You must be hungry. He cannot pay you, but your
breakfast tomorrow is free.”
Spindrift smiled. “Thank you,” she choked. “I really didn’t expect it.”
You are a persona, Dorothy told herself.You beat the giant lizard, even
if you can’t remember your boyfriend who helped.You did stop the League
terrorist by yourself, when you were not at all sure your force field
was bulletproof. You are not afraid because you are listening to a girl
barely two-thirds your age, even if she does speak an extinct language,
so far as you can tell flawlessly, telling you that she is about to die.
“So when is Joe showing up?” Dorothy asked. “Have you ever dated him
before?” And how will you two each get to school? she wondered, though
it was really clear that Joe could teleport.
“No,” Spindrift answered. “The first time together is yet to come.”
“And he’s late?” Teranike said.“These things happen.Don’t be too mad at
him.”
“I knew he would not be here before I depart,” Spindrift answered, her
breakfast rapidly disappearing. “Do not blame him, either.He is a
wonderful person, kind and thoughtful and self-sacrificing and
absolutely gifttrue.And cute.”
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