Stacy--Part Nineteen

Splog # 68

Nineteen

   At this point, Stacy could see that Lane had stopped just ahead of her, and when Stacy reached her, Lane was standing at the top of a long incline that curved away to the right and led downwards at a slight angle until it went directly under the ground. It was wide enough for the three of them to walk abreast and Stacy was glad that Lane had waited until she and Johnny came up with her. She felt she would be more comfortable going into such an unfamiliar place with one of her new friends walking on each side of her. When she looked up from the direction the incline was heading, she saw, by the light of the moon, which had fallen quite low in the sky to her left, what seemed to be a large field scattered with an occasional tree and what looked to be a large boulder here and there.

   "We better get below and get to bed," Lane said. "We'll take you out tomorrow in the late afternoon so you can see the neighborhood before it gets dark."

   She started down the incline and Stacy walked beside her. Johnny came to her other side and resumed his tale.

   "Three days ago was a Fanfare Eve. It's a celebration held once a season in which everyone marks their progression through life. We celebrate living through another season and, particularly, one thing we did that season. Maybe building something for a habitation, or a plant grown or a song written. Anything, large or small, added to the community. It occurs outside at night and there are bonfires and food and music. But when Lane and I came out that night, there wasn't a single person in sight. People had been casually mentioning Fanfare Eve for days previously but the neighborhood was dark and empty. We walked around a little before we noticed that there were no night sounds. No crickets, frogs or animals. We looked up and there were no stars or moon. Just an empty gray sky that had been cloudless when the sun set a few hours ago. Finally, we got so spooked we headed back to the warren. But that was just as bad, if not worse. No one in the halls and no one responding to any knocking on doors or ringing of chimes."

   By this time they had been walking underground for a while and, though the light was far from bright, Stacy could easily see Lane and Johnny on either side of her and she could see that they were beginning to come to passageways that led off the hall they were walking down.

   When Johnny paused for a moment in his recitation, Stacy said, "Excuse me, but how come it isn't dark down here? We are under the ground, aren't we?"

   Lane looked at her with a slight smile and then turned her so her face was toward the wall.

   "What do you see?" Lane asked her.

   It took a moment but, as she stared at the wall, designs began to impress themselves on her sight. The first ones she became aware of seemed to be lightning bolts, flashing in all different directions. Then she began to see spirals of many sizes, geometrical designs combined of lines, angles and curves and, most intriguingly, what looked like leafless trees with branches shooting every which way. Then she realized that the lines that made up these designs were glowing with a soft light against the dark walls.

   "Did someone paint all this?" she asked.

   "Nope. It just grows on the walls like that."

   She turned and looked at Johnny in disbelief. But he didn't look like he was joking. She looked to Lane, who just nodded her head and said,

   "You can explore it and everything else later. We're almost at our habitation. Johnny, tell her the rest."

   "That's about it. We saw no one that night and the last two days people have been very unresponsive if we ask them about what happened and why there was no Fanfare Eve celebration. They mumble or walk away or just don't answer their doors."