Post by Jan on Jan 26, 2006 8:20:37 GMT -5
She stirred. The silt of eons rose like smoke around her huge frame as she flexed long-dormant muscles and her golden eyes flashed with fire.
There was something new on the tide. Something that couldn’t be seen and couldn’t be smelt, but something as tangible as the swirling cold currents of the loch stirred long-forgotten memories within her.
For many ages she had slept, as cold and still as death. There had been no reason to move, and every reason to slumber, for in these deep waters she was safe. Layer by layer throughout the dormant years, the silt and mud of the lake had grown thick upon her hide, masking her shape, disguising her features.
She raised her great head, sending fish and crawling things into a frenzied dive for shelter, and tried to pin down the change that had so disturbed her slumbers. Faint memories and half-forgotten images, welled up from the unfathomable depths of her psyche like the echoes of a troubled dream, until suddenly, she knew - and was afraid.
Through age upon age her sleep had been dreamless and deep and although Man had tried to find her, as he had her kindred, not a trace of her presence had he found. Once, long ago, they had sat in groups around their fires, listening wide-eyed and fearful as their Shaman spoke of her power and her majesty. But as the ages slipped away, the rumour of the great Lakeworm had fallen into folktales and legend. The light of the campfires had been replaced by street lamps and the Shamans’ tales by the television. The children of Man no longer woke screaming in terror with nightmares of her, and they forgot she was sleeping there.
It was not Man that had disturbed her slumbers. Man could never find her beneath these cold grey waters. No, here was something new. And yet older than time itself.
The current brought fresh warnings on its wings. As the taste of fear rose again within her, she shrugged the last remnants of mud from her back and rose to the surface.
Starlight reflected on the waters although the moon was hidden from view by the banks of storm clouds gathering in the west. The ice cold wind sang of snowy lands far away, of savage storms and ice flows. But she knew, without a shadow of a doubt that there’d be a bigger storm soon.
Lights shone from the city, reflecting on the water. Apart from the constant stream of traffic, snaking through the night, the city slept. Did the children of Man know what was coming? Surely if they did, they too would be making plans, taking to the water – the only place they would stand a chance of survival.
She slipped out of the loch to feed. She’d need all her strength to make it through the storm. After the impact, after the fires, after the floods…. Then she’d feed again. There would be many dead.
As the newborn sun rose in the east, she slipped back into the cool dark waters, an idea forming in her ancient mind. She must go deeper. Deeper than the loch itself. Hide in the caverns of the oceans, the deepest of the trenches. Only there would she be safe and secure against the chaos that would surely come. Biding her time until the following night, she slipped from loch to river, following its winding course night after night, on it’s path to the sea.
Just three days later, Mankind learned of their doom and began making their hopeless panic-stricken plans. The meteor, if it struck the Earth, would spell the end of much of civilization. With no other planet to flee to, there was nowhere to hide. Underground perhaps, or in the oceans… but there was no time. No time.
As their governments made a futile attempt to divert the massive rock that was hurtling Earthward, most of mankind prayed to their gods, pleading for a miracle. And all were afraid.
Fear. Uncontrolled, primitive Fear, dominated their minds as they stocked up with food and made for the hills with their cars and their dogs and their children, watching the skies in terror as the meteor showers grew more and more intense. Waiting for the Rock – similar in size to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs - to bring their own species to the brink of extinction.
She reached the shoreline as the skies blackened, storm force winds tossed the waves 80 feet high and the force of the winds smashed the houses of Man to rubble. The children of Man cowered in caves and hollows, crying and holding their babes to their breasts. But what was that to her?
With barely a glance, she plunged into the turbulent madness, pushing deep into the swirling murderous waters, seeking out the quieter, calmer places below. As the planet shook with the impact of the Rock and chaos reigned supreme in the world above, she was amazed to see a toy. Something of Man, tossed about helplessly in the wild surging waters. Perhaps, she though, this toy would relieve the boredom of her solitude.
Soon the submarine would be smashed against the rocks, left to the unmerciful waters, and all aboard her would perish with the rest of mankind. The crew caught a brief glimpse of her immense coils, saw the flash of fire in her golden eyes, then their vessel was plunged in darkness, and they knew it was the end.
Protecting the little craft from the impact of the raging waves, she continued her descent, cushioning it from the pressure of the deep in the depths of her coils. She could smell the fear of the creatures cowering inside the toy, and was even more pleased. When she tired of playing with it, she knew there would be a good fresh snack inside.
But in the pitch darkness of the deeps, something else stirred. She could sense his presence long before she saw the flash of fire from his eye, the sensuous touch of his coils against hers. The taste on the waters of another of her kind. She was not alone! With a cry of recognition, a joy that spanned millennia of solitude, she swam down with him into the trench, releasing the useless toy from her grasp, leaving it to limp, slowly and painfully onward into the dark waters.
Above the waves, all was lost. The little craft surfaced to a strange new world, and the remnant of survivors staggered onto dry land, nursing broken bones and a grief so numbing that they were beyond pain. But they had learned much from their experience and were changed as a result.
* * *
In the ruins of the city, the children of Man gathered in groups round their camp fires, to listen in wide-eyed wonder as their story-tellers spoke of her power and majesty, her caring nature, her gentle coils, the golden fire of her eyes that showed the way in the darkness. It is time, they said, to start afresh. To heal the Earth, respect the planet and the amazing creatures we share it with. Life is too precious, they said. Too fragile to squander. In this brave new world, things are going to be different.
In the darkness of the velvet night, she slipped out of the waters to feed….
There was something new on the tide. Something that couldn’t be seen and couldn’t be smelt, but something as tangible as the swirling cold currents of the loch stirred long-forgotten memories within her.
For many ages she had slept, as cold and still as death. There had been no reason to move, and every reason to slumber, for in these deep waters she was safe. Layer by layer throughout the dormant years, the silt and mud of the lake had grown thick upon her hide, masking her shape, disguising her features.
She raised her great head, sending fish and crawling things into a frenzied dive for shelter, and tried to pin down the change that had so disturbed her slumbers. Faint memories and half-forgotten images, welled up from the unfathomable depths of her psyche like the echoes of a troubled dream, until suddenly, she knew - and was afraid.
Through age upon age her sleep had been dreamless and deep and although Man had tried to find her, as he had her kindred, not a trace of her presence had he found. Once, long ago, they had sat in groups around their fires, listening wide-eyed and fearful as their Shaman spoke of her power and her majesty. But as the ages slipped away, the rumour of the great Lakeworm had fallen into folktales and legend. The light of the campfires had been replaced by street lamps and the Shamans’ tales by the television. The children of Man no longer woke screaming in terror with nightmares of her, and they forgot she was sleeping there.
It was not Man that had disturbed her slumbers. Man could never find her beneath these cold grey waters. No, here was something new. And yet older than time itself.
The current brought fresh warnings on its wings. As the taste of fear rose again within her, she shrugged the last remnants of mud from her back and rose to the surface.
Starlight reflected on the waters although the moon was hidden from view by the banks of storm clouds gathering in the west. The ice cold wind sang of snowy lands far away, of savage storms and ice flows. But she knew, without a shadow of a doubt that there’d be a bigger storm soon.
Lights shone from the city, reflecting on the water. Apart from the constant stream of traffic, snaking through the night, the city slept. Did the children of Man know what was coming? Surely if they did, they too would be making plans, taking to the water – the only place they would stand a chance of survival.
She slipped out of the loch to feed. She’d need all her strength to make it through the storm. After the impact, after the fires, after the floods…. Then she’d feed again. There would be many dead.
As the newborn sun rose in the east, she slipped back into the cool dark waters, an idea forming in her ancient mind. She must go deeper. Deeper than the loch itself. Hide in the caverns of the oceans, the deepest of the trenches. Only there would she be safe and secure against the chaos that would surely come. Biding her time until the following night, she slipped from loch to river, following its winding course night after night, on it’s path to the sea.
Just three days later, Mankind learned of their doom and began making their hopeless panic-stricken plans. The meteor, if it struck the Earth, would spell the end of much of civilization. With no other planet to flee to, there was nowhere to hide. Underground perhaps, or in the oceans… but there was no time. No time.
As their governments made a futile attempt to divert the massive rock that was hurtling Earthward, most of mankind prayed to their gods, pleading for a miracle. And all were afraid.
Fear. Uncontrolled, primitive Fear, dominated their minds as they stocked up with food and made for the hills with their cars and their dogs and their children, watching the skies in terror as the meteor showers grew more and more intense. Waiting for the Rock – similar in size to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs - to bring their own species to the brink of extinction.
She reached the shoreline as the skies blackened, storm force winds tossed the waves 80 feet high and the force of the winds smashed the houses of Man to rubble. The children of Man cowered in caves and hollows, crying and holding their babes to their breasts. But what was that to her?
With barely a glance, she plunged into the turbulent madness, pushing deep into the swirling murderous waters, seeking out the quieter, calmer places below. As the planet shook with the impact of the Rock and chaos reigned supreme in the world above, she was amazed to see a toy. Something of Man, tossed about helplessly in the wild surging waters. Perhaps, she though, this toy would relieve the boredom of her solitude.
Soon the submarine would be smashed against the rocks, left to the unmerciful waters, and all aboard her would perish with the rest of mankind. The crew caught a brief glimpse of her immense coils, saw the flash of fire in her golden eyes, then their vessel was plunged in darkness, and they knew it was the end.
Protecting the little craft from the impact of the raging waves, she continued her descent, cushioning it from the pressure of the deep in the depths of her coils. She could smell the fear of the creatures cowering inside the toy, and was even more pleased. When she tired of playing with it, she knew there would be a good fresh snack inside.
But in the pitch darkness of the deeps, something else stirred. She could sense his presence long before she saw the flash of fire from his eye, the sensuous touch of his coils against hers. The taste on the waters of another of her kind. She was not alone! With a cry of recognition, a joy that spanned millennia of solitude, she swam down with him into the trench, releasing the useless toy from her grasp, leaving it to limp, slowly and painfully onward into the dark waters.
Above the waves, all was lost. The little craft surfaced to a strange new world, and the remnant of survivors staggered onto dry land, nursing broken bones and a grief so numbing that they were beyond pain. But they had learned much from their experience and were changed as a result.
* * *
In the ruins of the city, the children of Man gathered in groups round their camp fires, to listen in wide-eyed wonder as their story-tellers spoke of her power and majesty, her caring nature, her gentle coils, the golden fire of her eyes that showed the way in the darkness. It is time, they said, to start afresh. To heal the Earth, respect the planet and the amazing creatures we share it with. Life is too precious, they said. Too fragile to squander. In this brave new world, things are going to be different.
In the darkness of the velvet night, she slipped out of the waters to feed….