BROAD CHANNEL
I was born here did you know that?
On the 14th day in the Moon of Clyde,
a second month of credentials at the
end of a tithing Autumn. When I awoke
they told me I was dreaming. Yes, yes,
it's quite consuming here.
-
On the ninth of the next, Shamolon,
they anointed my head and allowed
me to speak. Whatever they'd done in
that sleep, they'd poured words into me
deep. Some said that I was charmed.
-
Driven to the harbor on a pontoloon
wagon, I took my marketing skills to
the shoreline, where terns and seagulls
immediately approached - seeking to
see if I knew too their language.
-
Apparently I did : 'We've waited so
long for someone like you. Can you
also hear?' Strangest question, that.
'Well yes I can, and I can understand.'
I told them back in Manganese.
-
All was well until the turn of the next,
the month of Hyraku, when the settlers
came from the other land with their
whispets and prowns. No one anywhere
knew a thing, and what to make of it all
remained unknown - for 600 years, when
Aparralik arose and claimed to know all.
-
They let him go for a while and then he
was captured. I was still alive and they
appointed me Justice. Bringing Aparralik
to me was a huge mistake - I take pity on
all men and only seek forgiveness. He bowed
once, telling me he was a God. If I agreed,
I was probably doomed to be noticed; if
I denied him, I'd live in the infamy I
probably deserved. He asked for a calendar,
and said : 'Here. Here are my numbers.'
-
Whatever that meant, I had him scourged.
He came back to me with a laughter : 'You
are incorrigible, you old fool. All you've
done now is upset the rabble.' He was
right, and by this time they were pulling
straws to see who would kill me. I lost.
-
The next year, the 'Crankor of Aegis,' as
it was called in honor of Thorax, I was
released, by the very same people who'd
saved my life that day. A shadow of the
man I was, 61 pounds lighter and now
without a tongue, all I could do to thank
them was wave. Their new King came
forward (Aparralik had left to conquer
distant lands with Wisdom). 'You too
shall be King. The terns and the seagulls
demand it. They remember you, they
claim, from another day.' It was all
true, and I was thankful (again) but
couldn't say.
-
Those who knew they were my friends,
remained so. Those who wanted to be,
were welcome to try. I am now called
Lastargian; thousands bow to me a minute.
I call charge on every front. I can halt
the raging waters, and break through a
closed up sky. They come for me from
Myragan, in their vessels, but only try
their apprehensions, and then leave. Now
there is no more commerce with the sun.
.
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