Lauren--Part Twelve

Splog # 47

Twelve

   As they once more resumed their journey, Lauren found the mist below them lessening and what she had thought to be stars became candles held in the hands of an assortment of people ascending the staired hill. They were rising to her left and right, both men and women, all wearing what she thought of as regular everyday clothes. Some of the women were wearing simple dresses and some had on skirts with blouses. The men were dressed in slacks or jeans or corduroys, mostly with button-down shirts open at the neck, but a few were wearing t-shirts and one or two sported a tie. They glanced at her and Splog as they went by but no one said anything. Once or twice, Splog looked up from where he was placing his feet and, if he caught someone's eye, he would greet them by saying "Much time." Whenever he did this, the man or woman would respond by saying "No waste." At first, this seemed a strange sort of greeting to Lauren but, after hearing it a few times, it sounded almost as natural as "How are you?" and "Fine." About twenty or twenty-five people passed them going up the Fe-San and, ten or fifteen steps after the last one went by, they were standing at the bottom. There was a pavement of marble. possibly five feet wide, that curved off to the left and right and seemed to encircle the base of the hill. There were marble benches set at intervals and where the pavement ended there was a small drop to a depression that contained what looked like rail tracks  laid over a coating of marble chips.  There was a tall lamp beside both ends of each bench but beyond the trench there was no light beside the stars so she couldn't see much of the country lying there. She looked back up the Fe-San and saw a few glittering sparks still ascending but most of the people had passed out of her sight.

   When Lauren turned around again, Splog had seated himself on a bench and was tucking unlit candles into his coat pockets. She had been so intent on studying her surroundings that she hadn't even noticed him releasing one of her hands and removing the candle from the other. Now she went over to the bench and sat beside him. They both gazed into the darkness.

   "Now that was invigorating. I don't know why I don't indulge more often. It exhilarates my spirit and energizes my body to such a peak that my entire being is absolutely humming."

   As Splog was saying this, he was still panting a little from the exertion of the downward climb. He appeared tired to Lauren, though he was sitting up straight and seemed alert. She asked him when he had last made the descent.

   Splog opened his mouth as though to reply but then froze as he was. Lauren thought maybe he was trying to remember. Then he put his hands inside his coat and took out his fiddle and bow and started to play. After a few bars, he also started to sing.

"At bottom of the hill I stand

Where there's no ocean there is land

Ten fingers are joined on my hand

The hourglass holds grains of sand

The blossoms in the wind were fanned

To go back to the tree I've planned

The clouds and sun are looking grand

I know a girl who's named Amand – a

This song's not likely to be banned

The ship was very ably manned

The donkey wore a key-shaped brand

Let's take a walk along the strand

I'm thinking thoughts that are quite bland

I'm singing songs of folly and"