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It was bound to happen sooner or later: I dreamt of Paul and Paula. They were adults, though young, and I think this took place on Tiwani (a fictional planet I've been working on). They were attending some function at a castle, or at least Paul was, and he had made arrangements to meet Paula at a specific spot on the roof. It wasn't their castle, so there would have to be some sneaking around.
For a bit each of them used the ability to become invisible to facilitate this sneakiness, but I decided that there wasn't sufficient explanation for invisibility: for it to be some innate power seemed a bit much, and if it was some device, where did they get it? So nix on the invisibility, though maybe later.
Paula came down from the roof to take part in something she was expected to take part in, sure that she could return later. She was changing into more formal clothes, and she knew that she and Paul might be in the ballroom at the same time, but couldn't meet there because they had to go unnoticed as a couple. I think she might have been expected to perform, but I'm not sure.
Paul was dealing with some square cushion/balloon thing. He was trying to make it seem that it was just a box, but of course it kept trying to float. He sat on it, but it was almost buoyant enough to lift him, and it was hard to keep his balance. Also, he couldn't sit on a box on the floor throughout the whole party, or ball, or whatever it was. He tried tucking it under his arm, but he had to constantly exert himself to keep his arm down. It got tiring, but he felt if he switched arms every now and then he wouldn't tire too much. During one of these switches the thing got away from him and floated up to the castle ceiling, forty feet or more above. Paul spent a little time trying to think of how to retrieve it, but decided there was no way to with the room full of people. Something to think about later. Right now, it was time to slip away for his meeting with Paula.
They might have to come up with something else, though, because it was pouring down rain, and clambering around on the roof would be dangerous. Also, returning inside soaking wet would rouse suspicions. Paul thought, "I sure hope she's not climbing around on that rain-slicked roof."
There were people milling around the halls, and Paul needed to find a safe spot to think, and to try to contact Paula. Contact her how I don't know, but if this was Tiwani it would be by secret cell phone implant. Anyway, he slipped into a shadow under a staircase, only for somebody already there to grab him from behind and hold a blade to his throat.
It was Paula, and they both soon realized that the meeting had now been achieved.
And then I woke up. I thought for a minute that I did hear torrential rain, but it was just my "bootleg" air-conditioner.
Actually, I think I could write this into those otherworldly adventures they've been having.
I really am wanting to put up more of their childhood here, and some of their teenage life as well. But, well, sometimes my brain is on fire, and sometimes it just fizzles.
...here's some changes I would make.
The Cell
In the story, the cell is a smartphone, only more so, and it isn't a little box you carry around. It's either some very unobtrusive jewelry or stickers or something like that. For visuals you put on a pair of sunglasses. Well, there's a better way.
IIRWA (If I Re-Wrote Anzu) the cell would consist of "homers," similar to what she wore at the rave, only there would also be one on each knee, elbow, and seven little "jwels" on the throat and two inside each ear. The body's position, pose, and subvocalizations would be picked up. For visuals there would be contact lenses, and these lenses would also contain the camera. Subvocalizing is a skill most children master before the age of ten.
Naked Everywhere?
In most NiS stories compulsory nudity is confined to school grounds and school functions, but poor Anzu has to be nude everywhere. What gives? Well, the NiS story I'd read just before starting my own story did things that way, so I just picked up on it. But IIRWA I'd stipulate that Program kids don't have to be naked outside of school and school functions (though they are allowed to be), unless they volunteer for "Program Plus," which counts as college credit, or bumps the grade in any one subject up one letter, or some such. Once you volunteer, you can't back out. Failure of Program Plus is failure in the Program. You have to do it over, though you can decline Plus this time around if you want. Anzu will volunteer for Program Plus. Maybe she's doing worse in Pre-Calc than I thought.
Drugs
Electronic cigarettes for Botilda's cannabis; may or may not have vapor in different colors.
No PLeaSD. It turns out that plain old-fashioned real-world LSD is one of the safest things you can put in your body, so that's what Rashida will take. X3 will be retained. MDMA is wonderful stuff, but it could be improved so that it has fewer side effects and can safely be used more frequently without "loss of magic."
No Pets In Space?
Just didn't occur to me. No puppy dogs or kitty cats and certainly no gerbils or parakeets. But I don't think that pets will be banned from space-borne city-states. Botilda would have a cat, Steve would mention his faithful dog.
GBI
Don't know how much detail I'd go into, but Mendocino Island, most city states, and most Earthly nations have a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI), equivalent to US$42,000 a year in 2020 money. Minors like Anzu or Steve get a quarter of that (or rather their parents do), a quarter goes to public schools and other services for children and teens, and the remaining half goes into a trust the kid gets at the age of twenty. Since it accumulates from the time the child is born, it's a nice little bit of start-up change.
Sabbatical
It's common, though not universal, that high school graduates take off a year and travel before starting college. For Mendocino Island young adults, this typically means a tour of Earth.
Finally, Anzu is a lovely girl, but she could stand to go on a textual diet and lose thirty thousand words or so.
...so they can have sex. You'd think I'd've written some, and put it up for you. And it isn't like they don't have the time, I mean, obviously they're not on tour during the pandemic.
No, I imagine Paul and Paula are mostly up in that treehouse, attending school virtually, making a whole lotta lovin'. Probably putting out the occasional message to fans, maybe modeling the latest in masks.
Huh, maybe this is the year they finally released a Christmas album, everything from "O Holy Night" to "Sleigh Ride."
Instead I find myself writing about them as adults, having otherworldly adventures in the future. No, they don't meet the pierced cavegirl, that would be my Uncle Josh, who hitchhiked to the Woodstock Festival and was never seen again... at least, not on this world.
I'm just bursting with ideas, most of which never, ever come together into stories.
Cool! I've got a description of a pierced cavegirl for you. What's that? A story about her? Maybe someday. I'd like that. Really, I would.
.
Kundika stood before old Kalevo the High Chief and Volon the Shaman. The hundred or so people who made up the Clan of the Telgífi were gathered about, as were another hundred or so from the various nearby clans which, together, made up the Vamhečo. At nineteen, Kundika was making a name for herself as a player of drums and a maker of fishhooks. A lovely woman, many men had sought her affections, though now some felt that it had always been a hopeless ambition. She was generally well-liked, and if her fate had been put to a popular vote, she would have been safe, despite the superstitions of her people.
If the young woman felt any fear she didn't show it, as she awaited the judgement of the two most influential people in the entire tribe. As befitted such an occasion, she was dressed in her finest clothing and jewelry. Atop her round face a mass of coal-black hair was braided into three tresses, each formed into two loops, so that six loops crowned her head. There were three rings in each ear. A slender strand of beads linked each of these rings to a similar one pierced through the septum of her nose. The beads, hanging in graceful curves, shone brightly in blue and yellow, enhancing her brown skin and dark hair. A small bar of gold decorated the left of a full lower lip, setting off a similar bar through her right eyebrow. About her neck were beaded cords of blue, yellow, and white. A single small pendent of gold rested between her firm, round breasts, each tipped with a brown nipple through which a ring had been threaded. A single strand of white beads ran from each ring to the pendent, a circle with a set of stylized wings inside, the symbol of the dreaded díptar, or pteranodon, a constant danger to those who would live in cliffs near the water. The muscles of her abdomen didn't show unless she flexed, but a polished quartz crystal, a symbol of strength, rested in her navel. About her hips was a braided leather cord dyed blue and yellow. A black leather sheath on her right hip contained a knife made from antler and flint. In front a length of bark cloth, dyed blue, hung halfway to her knees. There were more rings beneath, but these did not show at this time. There was no cloth in back. At the bottom of her long supple legs were feet as dainty as any woman of New York or San Francisco, shod in sandals of díptar leather. There was blue and yellow beading on the sandals, too. All of the beading had been done by a girl named Koina, a fact which was lost on no one.
But I guess I'm not. I've got nothing this week. I don't know when it will be, but Paul and Paula are alive and well and I will have more of them here eventually. Eventually.
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