“Most certainly, lock and loadeth with haste.”
Ed couldn’t help a smirk, entertained by the clash of modern America with Shakespeare’s Britain. Thomas turned to impart more detail on the individual as he disappeared into the distance, encumbered by the large shoulder reinforce-ments and excessive padding.
“He broke his neck in a football match.”
“That’s gotta hurt, Thomas.”
“I assume it might well involve a degree of discomfort. Anyway, he is a permanent resident now. Have you ever seen it? Football, I mean.”
“Yeah, ridiculous game. Like a load of over-testosteroned apes chasing an ostrich egg around. You didn’t miss anything there, Thomas.”
By this time, the duo had reached the opening and stared into the fast rushing motion of the stream.
“Where’s the opening?” queried Ed.
“You cannot behold from here, t’is above the flow.”
The tunnel looked like a fast-gushing river of air, an undefined blur in the middle which got clearer, closer to the edges. It looked ferocious and fearsome; a mighty power to be approached with utmost caution.
“It’s phenomenal! You must stare at it in awe every day, Thomas?”
“By my troth, t’is a miracle. I find myself often here, at the ready with the crook just in case. T’is worst when someone floats by, too low or high to be saved.”
“I can imagine. Anyway, how many times were you transient?”
“Not many, just two or three. So long ago, I cannot recall much about it. I was a dog twice and a hen once. T’was not easy to be a dog in those days. Each time I got transported directly from animal to animal and never met another Transient to tell me what was happening. With a fair degree of fortune, I died within the allotted time on both occasions before ending up here. T’was my choice to stay - an easy decision to make.”
“I can see that, Thomas. Are you happy here though? Doesn’t it get boring?”
“Well, I know not whether I be truly happy, but I feel settled. I’m certain I’m not the only one whose need for security dominates their need for freedom.”
“I hear that. There must be stuff you miss though from the old days, ambitions for example?”
“In truth, Ed, when I was alive, all we had time to focus on was survival. We had a basic lifestyle with few creature comforts, continual exposure to disease, lack of hygiene and the constant threat of some sort of violent death. Sumptuary laws dictated our cloth and people were bled for their humours. I don’t really miss anything about it, although I do sometimes dream of a fine jug of mead,” replied Thomas.
“Yeah, doesn’t sound too good when you put it like that. Didn’t you have any ambitions though?”
“Ambition to survive, t’was all we had.”
“Doesn’t sound like it was that easy either. I’m not sure I would’ve taken too well to that lifestyle at all. Maybe ambition and bettering oneself is an idea of the modern age. I bet you regret not living in a more liberal age?”
“What you’ve never had you can’t really miss, Ed. I do wish I’d lived in a time when I could have witnessed those big flying metal birds though.”
“You mean planes I assume?”
“Yes, I think that’s what they’re called. The ones that carried people and products. Is it really true that their wings didn’t flap?”
“Yeah, that’s right, their wings didn’t flap, Thomas,” replied Ed, breaking out into a smirk.
“How can they possible have flown in that case? I am sure that I am the victim of some sort of joke here?”
“They have engines that propel them forward. Birds don’t have engines.”
“I never witnessed such a thing as an engine. It’s all as strange and unfathomable as the whole Transient situation.”
“Put like that, I guess you are right, the vast metal birds are indeed hard to believe, especially when you consider they could carry hundreds of people at once.”
“Really, that many? I hadn’t heard that. Are you certain, have you seen it for yourself?”
“Yes, Thomas, I’ve even been on one. It was an unforgettable experience, staring down at the earth from above the clouds.”
“Indeed, if it is true, then it would certainly have been a majestic experience,” marvelled Thomas as they continued on their way. Ed was soon enquiring further into how his new friend dealt with his environment.
“Was it easy to adjust to being here then?”
“By comparison, t’was like being in heaven.”
“There must have been some things you had to adjust to though?” enquired Ed with an awareness that he might have to make that decision one day.