 The Shaffer Journal
Volume 10 † Issue 9 † September 2004
[Internet Stuff] [Hockey Puck] [Twins of the Dark Star]
[Poetry Corner] [The Dull Stuff] [Guest Articles] [In The Keys]
Kitty Talk
These journals are dedicated to Kitty GreyCat's spirit. She is at RainBow Bridge now along with her human friends, Leo and Doris. We all loved you, Kitty! Click the cat graphic to visit her Memorial page. Kitty born June 6, 1982. Died July 9, 1997. Please use our email form linked below to make suggestions or offer praise. >^..^<  Ebony: I and Abby like outside time. There are lizards, raccoons, and other cats. There are even interesting bugs. I like the hot weather too, but the humidity makes me pant. >^..^<
Abby: I pant with excitement on grocery day. I always hope for a snack, but empty grocery sacks are good too. I get so excited I hop onto the counter and the kitchen table. >^..^<
Ebony: Ab, you are always going where you not supposed to go. That is okay though. I try out all the chairs to see if they are great catnap spots. I seed Abby run like a shot when there are strange, loud sounds made. Abby can run really fast, when she is trying to find a hiding spot from noises. >^..^<
Abby: Well, Eb, I nose that you went with that Tony human bean for several rides. I not like going for rides. Some of those rides end up at the vet office. But you, Eb, went barhopping and visiting other places. While you were gone, I had some yummy catnip. I had so much I foamed at the mouth scaring everyone, even me. >^..^<
Ebony: At least I got to visit our human bean at an interesting high place, full of wonderful smells and great sights to see. Abby is just jealous of all the special attention that I get and she not get. When I got back from my adventures, you smelled me all over like you disapproved. I tried to paw wap you, but you move too fast. >^..^<
Abby: Almost as fast as you, when you escape on everyone. I seed more peoples chasing you all over. I had only a few chase me. I accidentally scratched the lady human bean. I not mean too, but I get so excited when I get outside. I want to run off all the cats that invade my territory that I am so protective of, you nose. >^..^<
Ebony: Abby was hunting lizards under the other human bean's bed. How you got in there is beyond me. I am the only one they love and like. I am more special that you any old day. You even chased a lizard under that girl bean's bed in the living room area. I thought I was the only one to chase lizards every which way. >^..^<
Abby: Ebony likes that Tony human bean too much. She liked him so much that she would not move off his chair. I would rather be in our human bean's lap. I can purr and dream and catnap and purr and even dream. >^..^<
Ebony: I got bad news. That bird us cats wanted to eat all the time got sick and died. It was very sad. It is so quiet now. That bird's name was Amarillo. Maybe the human beans get another bird soon. We can eat it. >^..^<
Abby: You not supposed to eat someone's pet, you black cat. I can eat a pet bird but not you. You have to obey the rules, while I get to break all of the rules that I want to disobey, because I am the bestest cat ever. >^..^<
Ebony: I nose you are not the bestest cat, because you tried to escape from the open window the other day. That was very brazen and sassy of you, I meow. At least I nose the human beans like me best and not you. >^..^<
Abby: O, Eb, you just meowing stuff. You were on human bean's lap while all the skitter torches were lit. I nose when to stay inside. Fire and human beans are not a good thing around cats that can burst into flames. >^..^<
Internet Stuff
Here are the latest DVD films from http://www.NetFlix.com: The Whole Ten Yards was fast-paced about hit men trying to get their fortune from their father. Hellboy was good entertainment and funny too. Dreamcatcher was a good horror film closely following the King thriller. As Time Goes By was a special movie about the super Brit comedy about love and romance. 13 Going on 30 was a cute movie about a girl wanting to be grown up before her time. Mona Lisa Smile is a 1953 period piece on women and empowerment. Lots of good movies this month. Interesting websites we visited recently: http://Amazon.com is great for replacing a library book that was chewed up by a puppy. There are some bad people trying to scam customers of http://USBank.com. Fortunately, the word is out to stay clear of that one. I've been with http://MSN.com since 1995. Amazing, isn't it? I renewed my membership at http://BoatUS.com. I get eStatements and banking services from my local bank at http://TIBBank.com. And, finally, I got the latest update for my UPS at http://APCC.com. The website for the Middle Keys Community Land Trust is up to date and ready for your visit at http://www.MKCLT.org. Aren't these some great links?
In The Keys
The sad saga at Gulfstream Trailer Park & Marina doesn't seem to end. A paid consultant to Sandler At Greater Marathon Bay by the name of Sandra Walters tried to paint a pretty picture over Sandler's actions to evict good people out of their homes at Gulfstream. I wrote a response published by the local news media. You can find that response at http://www.LarryShaffer.com/letters_speeches_columns.htm. Be sure to come back here now. Miscellany: We had some excitement from Hurricane Charley. Here in the Keys we had some wind and rain, but we were very lucky. I took some escaped shopping carts back to their rightful homes. Boating is still my number one activity along with snorkeling. My niece didn't get her puppy, because the Key West animal shelter canceled an appointment while her parents were on their way. Tyrone washed and waxed my truck. He did a great job too. AAA jumped started my truck twice within a few weeks. I need new batteries for the truck I think. That's it! Finally: Did you know that Idaho's state bird is the Mountain Bluebird? The flower is the Syringa. The tree is the Western White Pine. The capital is Boise. Statehood was granted July 3, 1890. Lastly, the Wellington House Gallery features exclusive art including oils, glass, and furniture. This Islamorada gallery is located at 81599 Old Highway. They are open daily 10:00-6:00. Their telephone number is 305-664-8913. Call for more details. Poetry Corner
"Shining Eyes in the Dark"
February 8, 1998
Shimmering dusk
Wind pounds guttural
And alone, forlorn
Then the moon uncovers
Shadows grow long
And disappear slowly
Night creatures stretch
And begin their prowl
Darkness fills every valley
The trees settle in the breeze
Moonshine a dim droplet
In a sea of black
Mists form drowsily
And eyes open in the dew
Shining, penetrating, hunting
Those eyes knowing
Shining eyes in the dark
Glowing brightly
Those ovals and embers
Burning hot for the hunt
Hungering for the kill
Shining eyes in the dark
Move perceptibly closer
Soundless smooth creeping
Frozen in the dark soup
Stirring the mists only
Shining eyes in the dark
Knowing only you... © 2004 L. E. Shaffer Hockey Puck
The NASCAR NEXTEL race heats up with Jeff Gordon leading the points drive and Dale Jr. in third. In the NHL a lockout appears imminent. I was so looking forward to hockey season too. The Marlins in the MLB are working hard to win the wild card spot and defend their world championship. If you want better baseball, you would be surprised to know that the Little League World series is much more entertaining. The USA lead everyone in gold medals and total medals. The Chinese have come a long way though. Tiger Woods kept his number one PGA world ranking for yet another week. The WTA Williams sisters are still trying to play pro tennis. The NFL Dolphins are going to be lucky to be over 500 with the loss of several important stars. Guest Articles
Stuff not written by us. As always everything is copyright of the author. Promos http://www.steelwerks.ca leads to a wonderful company specializing in jewelry, creative art, and unusual toys. One of their mottos is extreme toys for extreme boys. Of course, girls are included too. Their service is unparalleled. Their products are top quality. Go visit their website and explore this unusual web place. Another must see and visit is the related website at http://www.steelwerksextreme.com. There are super stuff coming out of Canada. Their photo gallery is very interesting as well. The prices are competitive. Go buy something, okay? Senaka has a new website dedicated to a serial novel among other things at http://www.slapalmedesigns.com/rdsis/. He has a new horror, sci-fi, fantasy ring by the same name at that site as well. You can join the Alone at Night webring at http://g.webring.com/hub?ring=aloneatnight. Of course, you have to be logged in beforehand or join as a new member of WebRing. He started another website that is a free web help forum and tutorial site at http://www.slapalmedesigns.com. That Senaka has certainly been very busy lately, hasn't he? © 2004 Steelwerks, Roads in Shadow, and Senaka Group Novel
As an experiment and for fun, we are writing a group novel at our Area 52 forum. The first section is contained in the June 2004 magazine edition. The second section is contained in the July 2004 magazine edition. The third section is contained in the August 2004 magazine edition. The fourth section is as follows: Clearly being scoffed at is unavoidable. What good is it being the Kla’abai if I can't get a bit of respect from anybody? I scuff the dirt at my feet and get a pebble in my sandal for the trouble. I plop onto the ground, loudly cursing in every language I know. I could curse at the top of my lungs, scream at the moons, and it wouldn't matter. Not a soul is near. Even the small creatures that live happily in the ferns and moss of our hilly community avoid this Varshu-forsaken place. It's no wonder no one stops to rest when traveling to the city, especially not in this part of the flatlands! The silver lakes are still ahead of me, the trees and hills of home long out of sight, and I am alone.
Actually, that is not such a bad thing. It's quite refreshing to be away from the prattle of the simple people, and a major relief to be away from Krilat's constant frown. And with my feet still firmly on ground, no music of the suns filling my head. I settle myself comfortably in the dust, soaking up the unaccustomed silence with pleasure. But the events of the past arn keep flitting through my mind like finwigs in a jar.
Oh, the meeting with Ladian and Krilat went quite well, too well considering the result. Krilat was more than amenable to teaching me. That malicious twinkle in his eye should have warned me. He no doubt took unbridled delight in tormenting me with his constant criticism. Ok, so physics isn't exactly my forte. Nearly an arn of study and the logic of it still escapes me. If he didn't speak in such lofty terms I might have some chance of understanding it. "You're a dreamer, Zybai," he said, over and over, every word dripping in scorn and both of us knowing he was not referring to my traveling abilities.
But I have learned, a lot! And studied so hard...even Krilat couldn't deny that at the mid-Trillsab council meeting. But would he hear of me retrying my aborted trip to the city? "You're just running from your lessons," he scoffed, no matter how I explained that the city has called me since the rains of Weasab began, and besides they use applied physics in the city, surely seeing what I had only read about at work would help my understanding. When Kabensab began and the spawning females headed to the city--every day more of them gliding away overhead, and me in a bower with my head bent over books and charts-the cities call grew more and more insistent.
The dry season has come again, the community subdued with so many of the females gone, and I could bare it no longer. I had to head to the city, no matter how angry the council might be at my departure. I had thought to go back, but without realizing it I am gliding once again over the flatlands, faster and faster, the silver lakes flashing by beneath me, and the city a ever growing smudge of soot on the horizon. I will learn what I need to learn in the city and maybe, oh just maybe when I bring home what I have learned the council will be proud. Oh, Varshu grant that even Krilat will forgive my disobedience when I return with my new knowledge!
The smoke is appalling, choking, and the cobbled pavement cold beneath my sandals. No ray of sun pierces the sooty air and my flimsy robe is no protection against the lack of the suns' heat. The city-dwellers, bundled against the cold, stare at me. I think they have never seen a male Anaraian. I stare back. The Anarabans' skin is so pale, their crests nearly gray, and many of them have little more than stubs for mid-limbs. I never imagined that folk from the wombs of Anaraian females could grow to look so strange. The few things we had been taught of the Anarabans during my childhood lessons did little to prepare me for the reality.
I pass a particularly filthy stone building. Its large wooden doors stand wide open and heat comes from within. I step in only partly for the warmth. There is a source of heat here that does not come from the suns, and I know instinctively that it is this source I must find. No childhood lesson spoke of a source of heat in the city. The hospitals, of course, we learned about, and the Anarabans' and new spawnlings' need of the cover of soot, and a little of the trade our two societies have, but not this! The workers barely look up from their tasks as I walk past metal machines so odd I cannot imagine what they do. So different from our wooden waterwheels and looms!
The source of the heat comes from a huge stone box at the heart of the factory. I move toward it, through smells I have no words for. A rumbling and a piercing squeal startle me and I stop, astonished at the sight of an enormous metal bowl pouring a radiant red substance into molds below. For the first time since I entered the building I look around at what the workers are doing. Oddly shaped metal objects are being taken out of molds behind me. The radiant red substance is molten metal!
I hurry toward the stone box, excited. Heat enough to melt metal! Connections are forming in my mind. Applied physics, indeed! I laugh, unnoticed by the workers. I watch as they shovel mounds of charcoal through metal doors ranged along the wall of the stone box. Inside yellow and red tongues of flame dance--more fire than I have ever seen, save on living suns. The song of the dark star comes back to me. It needs to be awakened. If simple charcoal can melt metal, what spark might be needed to re-awaken a star? Something clicks in my brain and suddenly the physics I have struggled so hard to learn seems easy. There are questions still to be answered, but...fire...star...fire...star.
I laugh again and rise, to the amazement of the workers, through the smoke-hole in the roof, and race homeward. I am ready to face even Krilat's wrath. I have learned what I needed to learn in the city. Now, to figure out how to apply it!
Arriving home, I retrieve the mirrored stone. Instantly, its song fills my mind. I transport to the gravity well of my own sun. I stop before entering the path. Funny, I have never really listened to my own sun's music. My own sun sings so differently from the rest. It is like a counterpoint to the mirrored stone. I know another piece of the puzzle!
I take the path to the first black sun of my dreams. I hear and feel the song, the music, the very vibrations. The intense gravimetric forces are sucking in even the light from the surrounding stars. My mind works. I weave the tunes that I have learned. I remember the lesson from the city. Nothing is happening.
I should be disappointed, but I am happy. I can't understand why. The tunes keep playing in my mind, when I feel the heat from the mirrored stone. This is something new. I look at the stone. It full of dazzling lights and geometric music. What is this? Strands of the intense lights are peeling off toward the black sun. I try again.
Nothing is happening. I am beginning to get frustrated. This should work. My head is beginning to hurt. Even my eyes water. I notice then that a strange glow is building around my body. I am beginning to understand. The forces around my body are intensifying along with the music. The glow from my body and eyes is being sucked into the black star. I fix my gaze and mind on the black sun. The fourteen paths are connected here. Of this, I am certain. Why isn't this working, I scream to myself impatiently.
Suddenly, I am blinded by intense music and star light. Only my mind sees the corona of the black sun burst with energy. The black star glows a fierce red; all directed at me. Now I am attracting all the surrounding star light. I have become the like of the black star. I have opened one of the gateways of the fourteen paths. Dare I go into the gateway?
© 2004 L. E. Shaffer, Kim Young, Linda Hall Twins of the Dark Star
Book One Tears from Ao and three poetry collections, Pages of Life, Visions of Life, and Moments of Life are available electronically at http://RunesofAo.com/aobp/. The Runes of Ao project, Book Two The Mountains of Ao novel currently in final edit, Book Three Twins of the Dark Star novel in early stages, and The Book of Kalian Mysticism poetry collection are works in progress. Also a collaboration with K. Young on a novella called Dragon Embers is now published on the fan site known as Runes of Ao.com. The Dull Stuff
All opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of this magazine, company, or its advertisers. Inputs, email, suggestions, and letters to this journal are subject to approval by Ebony and Abby. Submittals may be edited for content and length and become the creative property for the one-time nonexclusive publication of: Shaffer Novels/Poetry Company
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www.RunesofAo.com/abby/ Publication date: August 28, 2004
Author: L. E. Shaffer
Company: Shaffer Novels/Poetry Company &
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