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Aug. 23, 2006 When Udi and I reached Fwascren, Ung’s third city, some 6000 miles west of Mecnita, we felt we could breathe easy. In our disguises, we had eluded Torcbu, the leader of the gang of xenophobes who’d been pursuing us. We were radiantly happy, and spent a few days touring the shining city of 30,000,000, before we began to think of settling down and finding a regular place of residence. One brilliant afternoon, when Udi and I had stopped at a sidewalk café near the intersection of Nurushul and Squingba Boulevards in downtown Fwascren, and were sipping tall iced drinks, I looked up and my mouth dropped open in amazement. It was Torcbu! How had Torcbu gotten out of custody and what was he doing here in Fwascren? Had he somehow managed to have us followed? Was he here to kill or kidnap us? However, he seemed not to notice us. He walked down the sidewalk to my left, looking straight ahead, and passed me at a distance of no more than 5 feet, but he showed no sign that he had recognized me. Was this a mere charade? Or did he really fail to notice us? Immediately, Queen Udi and I realized we would have to leave Fwascren too. Udi, who as Queen, knew every city, town and village in the kingdom, told me there was a village in the Hoixud Mountains named Vunu Vunu, spattered on the side of Tibotoibo, the loftiest peak in all of Ung. There was a remarkable monorail train that ran the distance of 100 miles in half an hour. The monorail hung from 200-foot-deep trusses a mile long that spanned from tower to tower, arriving in Vunu Vunu at an altitude 6000 feet above the plain. There were stairs carved in the side of the mountain too, 8000 of them, so ascending on foot would have taken hours and hours. It was always cold in Vunu Vunu, so no sooner had we detrained than we bought woollen ponchos. Within hours we had rented and occupied two tiny stone cottages that shared a small veranda overlooking the plains so far below that a haze hung over them, Though the veranda was under the open air, we had almost complete privacy there. However, about 75 feet up the mountainside, there was a path that came out of one tunnel and disappeared into another 50 feet away. Once in a while, I could see a single person or a couple walking in that 50-foot stretch, but they never seemed to notice us. When we had been there a few days, though, I began to see a man standing on the upper walkway, leaning against the rail. Was he merely surveying the awesome panorama or was he peeping at us? This man was a human water buffalo, nearly 7 feet tall and carrying 300 pounds of brawn. I saw him again and again, and started getting apprehensive. Asking around, I learned his name was Zergfa. He was there with two other men, Wezmim and Piluglag, ostensibly to tour the famous village. They had come by monorail and our informant surmised that, like the other tourists, they would return by monorail after 3 or 4 days. The next day, Udi and I rode surreptitiously back to Fwascren to visit the Archives and learn what we could about Zergfa and his friends. We learned nothing definite, except that, according to his address, 118 Vlidbo Lane, in Mecnita, he was a neighbour of Torcbu’s. What were we to do? ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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