Date: Thursday, 14 May 1992 13:47:03 EDT From: Message-ID: <92135.134703BANNON@MAINE.MAINE.EDU> Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: Re: Polar Bear References: <1992May12.223847.1350@gacvx2.gac.edu> Polar Bear sat up and turned toward the sound of the quartermaster's voice, "Ah, Quartermaster! I heard you enter a while back. You are welcome at this table." She turned to face the table again and put the mug of honey-wine on its surface before her, keeping both hands wound around the vessel. "That's it. I was polite, wasn't I? I really must start this story. No one lives forever, eh?" She took another drink of the wine and then settled back into her chair again. "This story came to me in a dream. It takes place in another land (Sorry, Quartermaster, not Vascondy; my aplogies,) and another time. It begins rather suddenly with a young man seated in a motorized cab chugging up a steep hill in a bustling little town. The young man had dark hair and dark blue eyes. He was a capable, aggressive and rather arrogant young man. He was from a family grown rich and powerful through hard work, determination and sacrifice. He had just taken over the family business. Motorized vehicles had been recently introduced into this society. They were noisy, dirty and unreliable and the gentleman was beginning to regret following the impulse that prompted him to engage this novel mode of transportation. Horsedrawn carriges and wagons were still quite commom and added their part to the confusion on the streets. The traffic was running in fits and starts up the hill toward an intersection at the top. The automobile was having a difficult time travelling uphill at this irregular pace and it banged periodically, emitting clouds of smoke and bouncing so fiercely that the young man's head would hit the roof of the cab. This was beginning to annoy the gentleman and he leaned forward to speak to the driver about it, "Cabby, if you expect to earn a fare for this trip you'd best make sure I arrive in one piece! I shall hardly be inclined to pay a man who has caused me serious bodily injury!" The driver turned around and gave a rather humble, apologetic smile. He had weathered skin, a bristly gray beard and watery blue eyes. He touched the brim of his cap and said with a nod, "Sorry Guv'nor. I'm doin' me best, really I am. A busy time o'day, it is." "Hmmgh," the passenger grunted,-- mainly because the cab had made another heaving surge up the hill at that instant and it was all he could manage while bracing himself against the seat and the door. It was a very important meeting that he was on his way to attend and many plans depended on its outcome. The possibility that he might arrive late gnawed at his stomach. After a few minutes he leaned forward again, "Try and hurry, won't you please?" Without turning the cabby answered, "Yes sir! Yes sir!" They had nearly reached the top of the hill when the vehicle started to make an ominous sound, "Kuk. Kuk-kuk. (Wheez!) Kuk-kuk-kuk." The cab began to slow in its progress and other vehicles crowded in around it, like whales swim to the sides of an injured member of their group. The automobile made a final surge into the middle of the intersection and then died. The young man rested his now aching head in one hand and muttered, "Oh, no." When he heard the front door to the cab open his head snapped up and he demanded, "Here, now, where are you going?" The cabbie paused and said, "Just goin' for a nib, sir. Just a little nib." He slid to the edge of the seat, popped out and closed the door quickly behind him. Stunned and confused the young man watched the driver hustle off down the far side of the hill down toward a grassy hollow where evidently some sort of town festival was in progress. He was certain they had been approaching an inter- section,....where had it gone? Suddenly he recalled his meeting. He fumbled frantically to open the door and leapt out crying, "Wait! Come back! You can't just leave me here,-- I have a meeting to get to!" He set off down the steep grassy hill at a rather incautious trot. It was imperative that he find the driver and get underway again. The cabbie was moving very fast for such a short little man. Funny. He hadn't seemed like a particularly short man in the cab. The young entrepreneur lengthened his stride, leaping and crashing down the hill to catch up with him, but, before his anxious eyes, the little man disappeared into the crowd. Polar Bear paused for another sip of refreshment.