Teaser - Uzbecka

Faster... faster...

She was slowly getting a feel for piloting the red Manta suit. It had not come back to her immediately, and Uzbecka was keenly aware that she was piloting a battlesuit; yes, she was flying at high speeds to keep pace with the green Manta and its pilot, but she had no illusions that about how she might fare in either a dogfight or a fistfight. Hopefully, circumstances would not call for a fight, but they were in unknown enemy territory, and ambush was always a concern in the Swirl.

The other pilot, Rio, was also an unknown quantity. For now, circumstances dictated that they work together, but they could turn on each other at any moment, and Uzbecka fully expected the other pilot to fly into the Swirl and disappear at any moment, which was why she was pushing herself to keep up. Flying the Manta was exhilarating, of course. The suit formed an immediate spiritual connection with its pilot, and with time and speed, that connection was deepening. It felt like a special kind of joy, racing through the fog of the Swirl, which was an essential component in that connection, with the suit filtering the psychic energy of the crackling fog, the same way the Runagate did, converting it into fuel and operational drivers through the suit's spirit weird, which Uzbecka experienced from time to time as a chiming voice that advised her from time to time to gain or lose altitude. Primarily, however, the suit spurred her on.

Faster... faster...

Carnival Forest: Part III

From the top of the Ferris wheel of branches, Abie and Rondo could see a giant spider web, and near the centre of the web, they saw the Time Spider.

The Time Spider told them about many things, but could not explain where the time went, so it wished them well and in a flash, sent them home.

Abie noticed the jar in his sister's hand. "What's in the jar?" he asked her.

"Time Flies," she replied. "Are you having fun?"

Time flies like an arrow... fruit flies prefer a banana.

Carnival Forest: Part II

In the forest, Abie and Rondo quickly made friends with a gang of carnival monkeys, who supplied them with bananas dipped in cocoa powder and delicate candies wrapped in leaves. They spent many hours fishing for prizes from the lower branches of the smaller trees, then climbed to the middle branches.

Along the way, they narrowly avoided angry toucans (who were more angry at being disturbed by the noisy monkeys, who accompanied Abie and Rondo) and carnivorous plants (meaning that the plants ate meat, but mainly just flies and such - unless you were either very clumsy or very tasty).

From a distance, Abie saw what appeared to be a circular bridge of branches swirling round and round, though there was little wind in the forest canopy. As they came closer, Abie and Rondo discovered what appeared to be a massive spinning wheel that bridged the space between the lower canopy and the upper canopy, where only the tallest trees stretched, turning from the efforts of several of the larger monkeys.

"A Ferris wheel!" Rondo exclaimed.

And indeed it was.

Carnival Forest: Part I

Author's note: Carnival Forest is a very large rain forest that is so old it has drifted into legend, and the legend has since drifted into eternity.

"Tell me again," said Abie to his little sister Rondo, "why are we here?"

"On the other side of the world there is a forest so tall that the highest branches are above the clouds, and it is so hot and so dry that many of these branches have grown legs so they can take turns lying in each other's shade."

"But in the canopy, below the clouds, it gets so wet that there is more rain than there is not rain. This is known as 100 percent precipitation"

"And the monkeys in the canopy run a carnival, with a midway and rides, jugglers and dipped bananas."

"And in this forest," Rondo finished, "lives the Time Spider, which has been around since time began, and spins webs out of every passing hour."

"But why are we here?" Abie asked again.
"Because," Rondo replied, "as usual, you were late and we missed our bus, and now we need to find out where the time goes."

"Oh," Abie said, "I forgot."