Jonathan's Corner
(Search & Sitemap)
> Writing >
Longer Fiction >
The Steel Orb
Skip Back
Previous
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Next
Skip Forward
Printer-Friendly Version
Fortress sat down in front of the work bench. He picked up one gear, then set it down, then rooted through some axles, and sat back.
"Unspoken, I've asked you to sort gears, take machines apart, put machines together, melt gears down, and forge new gears from the molten metal. I've asked you to repair machines, and tell me when gears were made of too soft of a metal. What I haven't asked you to do is tinker. So we'll have a race. Today you can think, and I'll make a mechanical cart. Then you can make a mechanical cart tomorrow. And we'll see, not whose cart can go fastest, but whose cart can go farthest in the smooth part cloister. This will be part ideas and part choosing the best parts. Why don't you go up to your room? You'll have the range of this workshop tomorrow."
I paced up and down my room. I thought. There were several coiled springs in the workshop; having seen some of his previous designs, I was almost sure he would make something spring-powered that would go the distance the spring kept. And how was I to outdo that? He would probably know what spring was best, and he would almost certainly know how to choose parts that moved with each other.
A faint whisper of Wind blew in my mind. I turned over different designs of springs--could I make something more powerful with two springs? The Wind grew, slightly more forceful, and I tried to make it tell me how to best use springs. It became more and more forceful, but I was afraid to drop everything and listen. I began to see, not springs at all, but a burning--
Then I sensed something.
There was something that radiated beauty and fascination. I could not see it. But I sensed it.
"Who are you?" I said.
"I am your Guardian," came the answer. "I was sent to you."
I looked. I still could not see anything, but the beauty is overwhelming.
"What is the idea that is slipping? It has fire, and I hot steam, and--"
"Pay no mind to that. It is nothing."
"How can I build a better spring?"
"Don't. Build a simple, spring-driven cart out of good parts. Then take a knife, and nick the axle on your Teacher's wagon. That is all. It will bind slightly, and your cart will go further. Or it should."
"But--is that fair?"
"Is that fair? He took the first choice of everything, and you know you lack his year's practice. Come. He wants you to surprise him. He wants you to show ingenuity. This is something he wouldn't expect of you."
I thought I could see colors glowing, shifting, sparkling. Somewhere, in the recesses of my being, it was as if a man jumping up and down and shouting. It was almost enough to draw me away.
"But how can I find his cart? Surely he will hide it, so it will not be a temptation to me."
"Never mind that. I will show you. Just watch me. I was sent here to draw you into Heaven's beauty."
Entranced, I watched the colors shift. It tasted--I tasted the same excitement, the icy brilliance of lightning and the tantalizing heat of lust. I never knew that Heaven could be so much like my former craft.
The next day I built a craft, but no pleasure came from it. It was drained of pleasure, but I was looking for that enticing presence. It seemed to have gone.
Where was Fortress's cart? I couldn't see it. I looked in nooks and crannies. Something seemed wrong. Then... I was aware of the bad intuition first. But I heard a shimmer. "Look right in front of you."
Ahead of me, on top of a pile of disassembled devices, was a cart.
I took a blade, and nicked one of the axles.
The shimmer spoke. "One more thing.
"Look at me."
I looked, and the beauty seemed at once more intense and hollow--and I could not look away.
"Sing an incantation over it."
"What?"
It seemed as if a dark hand was pushing me forward.
I chanted, and watched in horrid fascination. Something seemed to shimmer about my cart. Whenever I looked at it, it seemed the same, but whenever I turned away, it seemed as if there was some beautiful incense rising from it.
The next day, it easily won.
Fortress looked at his cart crossly, with consternation and puzzlement. He seemed to be looking through it.
Jonathan's Corner
(Search & Sitemap)
> Writing >
Longer Fiction >
The Steel Orb
Skip Back
Previous
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Next
Skip Forward
Printer-Friendly Version