Message-ID: <40554asstr$1043269804@assm.asstr-mirror.org> Return-Path: X-Original-Message-ID: <20030122173251.27349.qmail@nym.alias.net> From: Crimson Dragon X-ASSTR-Original-Date: 22 Jan 2003 17:32:51 -0000 Subject: {ASSM} (New) Dawn of Time [003/157] (MF+, bond, control) {Crimson Dragon} Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 16:10:04 -0500 Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail Approved: Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d X-Archived-At: X-Moderator-Contact: ASSTR ASSM moderation X-Story-Submission: X-Moderator-ID: dennyw, newsman -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- There is story below the rather long preface. Page down if you must, but don't blame me if you end up offended. The preface was written for a reason. Ignore it at your own risk. ==================================================================== Author's Preface: ==================================================================== Four years ago, I wrote a novel that some of you may have read, entitled "Time Out Of Time". In the following four years, some have been disturbed by the work, and some have been enthusiastic. Some have even requested a sequel. "Dawn of Time" is not a sequel, in a strict sense, nor was it intended to be. In some ways, I think "Dawn of Time" is a more mature piece that investigates different themes, and provides a new perspective on fantasy and reality, and things that might or might not be. I hope that I have learned a little by some of my failures in "Time Out of Time". But you'll have to judge the effectiveness of that yourselves. Please be warned: "Dawn of Time" is unlike my other works. It is harsher and grittier, necessarily differing from my short stories. As writers, sometimes it is necessary to explore ourselves in unique ways. If this kind of writing is not your cup of tea, please pass this story by. Despite its novel length, and the sweat that went into its creation, I will not be disappointed if you decline to read it. It is not my wish to offend anyone. To make one think, perhaps, and to make one consider the implications of strange situations, yes, but offend -- no. This story does contain scenes with sexually charged content. It contains situations that are questionable in terms of consensual behaviour and eroticism that are probably only suitable for adults, and then only to a subset of those that happen to understand responsibility. Please don't assume that a scene described in a work of fiction is safe in reality. Play safe. Please. (Do I really need to hold your hand and tell you this?) Like my short stories, "Dawn of Time" is not overly explicit. There is more to Eros than pumping hydraulics and instant gratification, and this novel encompasses this. For a piece of writing of 157 chapters, there is remarkably little explicit sex. If you are looking for a quick stroke piece, you should probably wander elsewhere. Unlike many serial stories posted here, "Dawn of Time" is complete. It took me the better part of a year to write and self-edit it -- an exhausting but fulfilling endeavour. While I choose for sanity reasons to release it slowly, be assured that all 157 chapters are complete and will be posted. Please also note that this was not proofed by outside counsel due to its length. I wouldn't push such a task on anyone voluntarily. However, as readers: caveat emptor. I've probably missed many silly language mistakes. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to people, living or dead, is purely a coincidence. Well, for the most part anyway. Those that lived through the story are very unlikely to admit it. The universe does not accept paradox. This is an original work, copyrighted by the author, Crimson Dragon. Please do not use it as if it were your own. Enjoy the writing, but do not archive or sell it in any manner without my written permission. I'm easy to contact if you wish to redistribute my words. Lastly, I thoroughly enjoy hearing from people reading any of my stories. Feel free to contact me with raves, rants, encouragement or dissertation (note the lack of invitation for spam). I do try to reply to all who are kind enough to drop me a note. Now, if you are still with me, onto the story, - Crimson (dcrimson@yahoo.com) http://www.asstr-mirror.org/files/Authors/Crimson_Dragon/www ==================================================================== Dawn of Time - Crimson Dragon (dcrimson@yahoo.com) Chapter 3 ==================================================================== (C) Copyright 2002 - All Rights Reserved Crimson Dragon (dcrimson@yahoo.com) ==================================================================== He didn't know what time it was. Way too late, or way too early. Depends on how one looked at it, he supposed. The night beyond the window remained dark and impassable. Sleep had refused to come. Giving up, he slid his legs from the bed, gathered a bathrobe and padded towards the kitchen without flicking on any lights. The darkness embraced him, comforted him. As he leaned against the granite counter-top, gazing towards the window, he contemplated doing it now -- it wouldn't take much: a thought, some concentration, a gathering of the fabric around him. And the world would change, wouldn't it? Ever since the computer screen in the lab had presented that final blinking word, "Success", framed in glowing orange, he had been on edge, nerves jangling, stomach in knots. Much as he'd known that he required rest, like a child waiting for Santa, sleep had steadfastly refused to descend upon his whirling mind. His mind shifted gears with a visible grimace. And what the hell was that blip last night? The force of the bends in the fabric of reality had knocked him physically from his chair? Was it someone else with his unique power? Or a freak of nature, to which he happened to be the only one on the planet susceptible? The time blip hadn't held, hadn't quite materialised into a new timeline. Whoever, or whatever had caused it, an amateur. Could such things be accidental? Natural? He didn't know. The simulations hadn't answered that particular question, had they? They had never been designed for that. He suspected that he wasn't the only person who'd felt the effects of the blip. A clean one wouldn't have been choppy, and would have been completely unnoticed by the population. The one last night had been like seeing smoke -- proof that air surrounds one, visible evidence. A clean transition would have been sharp and clean, the population slipping into a state of suspended activity and slipping out cleanly, no smoky evidence to suggest that it had taken place. He might notice the transition, but only because of who he was. He tore his mind from the strangeness of last night. There were more important things to do. Gently, he rubbed at his eyes feeling the graininess. He yawned and closed his eyes for a moment. Sleep simply wasn't an option. Not now. He could sleep after he changed the world. Time forever, for that. Right? His eyelids scratched with each blink. The first rays of the rising sun peeked over the horizon, cutting across the treetops like a knife through smoke. He blinked, rubbed at his eyes, yawned. Today was the day. After five long years, today was finally the day. To hell with the anomaly. Go to work? There wasn't any need, but rerunning the simulation would be prudent. He'd waited this long, he could wait until the computer had rechecked the latest equations. That, also, would give the sun more time to light the world. Darkness might be fun, he thought, but daylight had some advantages. And besides, there were things to do at work, weren't there? Fun things. The sun greeted him, light separating through the glass as if it had passed through a prism. "Hello," he whispered. The butterflies fluttered again in his stomach, but they were unable to bend him from his course. After the sun broke free of the horizon, he rose to his feet, making his way towards the bathroom. The shower refreshed him, at least temporarily. This was going to be a long day. He smiled as the warm water cascaded across his skin. This might be the last time he'd shower alone, unless by choice. This might be the last night he spent alone. Adventure beckoned. After towelling off, and dressing in jeans and a T-shirt, he walked over to the closet where he lifted a shelf. The dusty notebook lay where he'd hidden it, five years ago. He brushed off the dust and smiled. His thumb quickly rifled through the leaves of the book, the first time since he'd squirrelled it away. All of what was written within, the handwritten equations, the occult symbols, the connections between Catholicism, Vishnu and Einstein, the connections between the ant and the elephant, resided safely in his head. The book weighed like a superstitious talisman in his hand. He didn't need the book, oh no, but it felt familiar and safe, like a old friend, light in his hands. He slipped the notebook into his briefcase with a smile. Five long years, broken by a single word burning on a computer screen. The blip wasn't going to faze him. Not now. It was still early, the sun having climbed noticeably, but not high, in the sky above, its rays warming the spring morning. The sky was a brilliant blue above as he stepped from the doorway, his step a little lighter than yesterday morning. Dew reflected a million sparkles of light from the grass as he moved, but he really didn't notice it. The morning breeze swallowed his toneless whistle as his feet carried him closer to his destination. He glanced up at the sun, seemingly static against the backdrop of blue. Motionless, but not quite. It would soon be still, he mused. Yes, it was going to be a long, long day. <---===***===---> Ritualistically, she rose before the sun peeked out from hiding behind the horizon. Perhaps, it was because her name mirrored the sunrise, or perhaps it was merely habit, but she slowly made her way to the kitchen of the small house as she nearly always did, not bothering to dress. In the darkness, she waited for a cup of tea to steep. Her ribs ached above where John had punched her, her scalp felt like a million pinpricks had replaced her hair. Slowly, she ran her fingers from her bangs through the mild tangle to exit near the nape of her neck. Clutching the warm mug in two hands, she sank into the easy chair, facing east. Patiently, she waited, goose-flesh gracing her skin. "Dawn, my girl, why do you do this to yourself?" she whispered. She didn't have an answer, and lapsed into quiet reflection. She was tired -- hadn't slept a wink since John had left. At first, she'd cowered on the floor, afraid that he'd return, knock her around more. Then anger had set in, and she'd paused, her knees pressing into the floor, her shaking finger ready to dial the last digit to get the police rushing to her house. But in the end, she'd been convinced that he was gone for good, and after double bolting the doors, she had lain in bed, awake, listening to the house creak, unable to sleep, trying to make sense of the skip, make sense of John, make sense of herself, make sense of anything. She shook her head, blonde hair peeking into the periphery of her vision. Absently, her fingers pushed the stray strands of her hair back behind her ear. The first rays of the sun kissed her bare skin, illuminating the otherwise darkened room like a spotlight. Dawn waited, clearing her mind. The crucial astrophysics exam was today, but she struggled not to see the ball of orange fire rising slowly before her as a mighty sphere of hot gas, capable of incinerating anything in its path. The star did not rotate around her, but rather following the universe's laws, the Earth itself circling about the central feature of the solar system, with her along for the ride. It seemed more real to see it as a mysterious orb, propelled by the gods riding chariots, endlessly revolving around her, day turning into night with their passage -- the way the ancients had seen the Universe. Some things weren't as they appear, were they? Dawn sighed, her lips silently forming a litany. "The sun. Not a star. The sun." The mantra seemed to work; she felt more relaxed and with her mind clear, she merely watched the dawn, her namesake, until the sun had broken free, shining brightly in the blue spring sky above. After a time, after the teacup had grown cold and empty, Dawn rose, her bare feet leading her to the shower. Her fingers twisted the single handle to its limit, the water temperature rising steadily until she couldn't stand the steam, her bare body jumping from the spray to huddle against the white tile, shivering at the kiss of hot droplets. The sound of her moan echoed from the tiles as she gingerly reached around the cascade, gently pushing the lever clockwise until she could again stand under the waterfall. But only marginally; her skin reddened under the onslaught of the water. She glanced down towards her toes. Her eyes automatically averted from the discoloration beginning to form just under her ribs, above her abdomen. Her fingers, washing there, caused a slight wince, but she continued, determined to wash every trace of John, of sex, and of the night before from her skin. No matter how much it hurt. After towelling off, and drying her hair, she dressed quickly in jeans and a sweatshirt. Today should be warm enough to forego a jacket, the spring welcome after the winter. As she dressed, her mind began to churn. She permitted it this time, her thoughts full of plasma, galaxies, gravity and time. Her last exam. God, she was tired. She hadn't needed a sleepless night. Not last night, of all nights. She bent, picking up the book that had sparked last night. Carefully, she smoothed its ruffled pages and placed it in its home upon her shelf. It was going to be a long, long day, she sighed as she slipped on her sneakers and carefully locked the front door. The campus library, a big sugar cube of a building, rose from the morning mists in the distance. Today, she would walk. The walk might help clear her mind, make up a little for sleeplessness. The sun climbed into the blue sea above, as she brightly began to walk towards the campus. The dew sparkled a greeting to her, her feet leaving a trail in the front lawn. Beautiful, she thought. Her ribs ached once as her cadence began to increase and her lungs expanded, but she ignored the pain, concentrating on the simple act of walking and the exam she was set to write. Yes, it was going to be a long, long day. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.3ia Charset: noconv iQEVAwUBPi7ErkxM3srBk85hAQFltgf+IagZyE5VCV3zOQRD2eHBR3h8dvWGONaE t2suF1BM5BCzCqKQ3k4C/V5KIpLwI2wUkibvk5wZ1HXdbrsNIBx7XG+2DeIAXOoO tVDZ7pvOawUIJSE8jRYwuG4eY9c2wmiLaTWn/Qktie7GZEkBuw31uXP2UvaRqk3r mRdciW6bp/OkzS2mgFk77UOhitH+tz6aYIJ/XerV3wzfXydhIty/LH0qvFDyCWJh 6yP/Qb9g16WcE7WN6k1yZsmFEupokvRnoL1MdyGfZKX4eG4p8u12bhkuL6NvWMqv 7NLBiPlHGOCignPOaw50WefQPZAcQScTJ2MtQMdVcQf8CzxQe6HZGw== =ILt8 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | alt.sex.stories.moderated ----- send stories to: | | FAQ: Moderator: | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Discuss this story and others in alt.sex.stories.d, look for subject {ASSD}| |Archive at Hosted by | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+