Front Porch Rambles

He heard a guttural grunt from the darkness, not twenty feet to his right. The small, bright beam of light cut through the midnight forest, but illuminated nothing. Still, he could be fairly certain he was not alone on the island. The grunting noise, like a coarse huff of air, had been following him for the last 30 minutes. He didn't want to imagine what it could be. There was almost no noise beyond the infernal buzzing of the mosquitoes and the dull plodding of his steps on the soft earth. The dull roar of the high water was there always in the background, but all that could be heard of civiiization was the distant echo of a train passing through Ecklesville ten miles south. The faint whine of the bloodsucking swarm turned to a roar suddenly as one of the pests made a mad dive for his ear canal. The flashlight swung wildly in his hand, and the shadows of the trees danced crazily. The sudden effect of movement all around made him freeze in place, and he wondered how foolish he look...

General Arcturus Bracken climbed the last stair, and stood at the great table. He was a large man, and his armor made him seem like a living statue, stoic and gleaming under a clear violet sky. There were long ribbons, scraps of old banners, tied to his pack, and they danced in the neverending wind found in high places. Arcturus reluctantly drags his gaze away from the table, a massive ring of bright quartz carved from the very mountaintop on which he stood. Below him some 200 or more steps was his squire, who had made it quite clear that his sire should go on without him. He appeared to be resting on the stone stairs, beseeching the ancient ones for the strength to go on. It didn’t matter. the young Steeg would play no part in what was to happen next. In truth, he had only allowed Steeg to persuade him at last when his protege had made a good point. “General Brackon, sir, I couldn’t bear to let your body lay up there with the rest of them. You owe it to the people to have a heroes...