as in, ‘in common’, not common as in ‘commoner’ or common as ‘in or on Clapham Common.’”
“Oh, I see. Anyway, being a commoner ain’t so bad.”
“I know, I certainly am not landed gentry but I really didn’t mean ‘common’ in that sense.”
“It’s not a problem. Anyway, in answer to your question, I’m indeed a little more recent than Thomas. Popped my clogs in the late eighties. Slipped up in the kitchen in the middle of the night and hit my head on the stove. I should have turned the light on really. There are a lot more stupid ways to die though I suppose.”
“Yes, but they all end in death.”
“They certainly do. Anyway, I’m going to help you with Thomas. We’ll see you get off safely. It’s easy really, nothing much to worry about.”
“Thanks, George.”
“Not a problem. I’ve never jumped myself but I understand it usually goes fine, apart from, well, you know, the ones that fall all the way through the stream and get stuck out of reach of anyone who can help them from the doorways. That very rarely happens though.”
“Yes, Thomas told me about that.”
“I understand he told you about the Viking as well?”
“Yes, indeed. I’m interested in that. I want to do a couple more trips and then try to hunt him down if I can get paused again. Looks like I have time on my side for that anyway.”
“You certainly do and there’s a lot to find out. I don’t know if you realise yet, but in an animal transience you pretty much always end up somewhere within the locality of your death.”
“Well I didn’t know that.”
“Well take it as a fact. You do. However, time is flowing forward at about the same rate as we experienced on earth, so with each transience, you are four days further on from when you died, or if your transience was shorter, then an approximate equivalent.”
“Really? Carry on,” uttered Ed, as he uncrossed his legs and moved to the front of the bed with his feet down on the floor.
“Yes, yes. Anyway, as I understand it, the Viking knows of tunnels which present different options.”
“What sorts of options?”
“Well it’s very dangerous apparently, but time options, changing the time periods, even going backwards through time.”
“Backwards? As if it’s not complicated enough already, being propelled from animal to animal like a bouncing ball. I asked Thomas about that but he seemed a little reluctant, even scared to dabble with things. It would really be good to have some control over the transience destinations. Maybe I could go back, who knows, maybe even influence what happened and change things for the better. Are you sure all this gossip is true?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, that’s there as a possible choice. I don’t know what you want, but there are alternatives. Everyone needs to know that when they come here.”
“Okay. Thanks, George,” exclaimed Ed, as Thomas returned to the room.
“Ah, t’is but a man hard to locate. I was looking for you,” said Thomas, gazing over at George.
“Good to see you’ve met Ed, anyway. We should get going. The flow is stronger at the moment, so that gives you a better chance of a successful transience.”
“Why’s it stronger now?”
“Not sure really, it just is. Maybe the amount of soul traffic in there. If there are more people in transit then maybe it’s slower. It seems to have a few days every now and then when it’s stronger.”
“One thing puzzles me, Thomas. You mention ‘days’ but there are no clocks or hours of daylight to judge the exact time. How do you do it?” asked Ed inquisitively.
“It’s guess work really. We have a rough idea of what a twenty-four hour period feels like and we all seem to naturally sleep twice in that period, albeit at different times. It’s these sleep patterns that we go on.”
“Oh! Pretty vague then?”
“Tis indeed,” replied Thomas.
With this the three of them left the small room, Thomas followed by George and then Ed.
“Oh, I see. Anyway, being a commoner ain’t so bad.”
“I know, I certainly am not landed gentry but I really didn’t mean ‘common’ in that sense.”
“It’s not a problem. Anyway, in answer to your question, I’m indeed a little more recent than Thomas. Popped my clogs in the late eighties. Slipped up in the kitchen in the middle of the night and hit my head on the stove. I should have turned the light on really. There are a lot more stupid ways to die though I suppose.”
“Yes, but they all end in death.”
“They certainly do. Anyway, I’m going to help you with Thomas. We’ll see you get off safely. It’s easy really, nothing much to worry about.”
“Thanks, George.”
“Not a problem. I’ve never jumped myself but I understand it usually goes fine, apart from, well, you know, the ones that fall all the way through the stream and get stuck out of reach of anyone who can help them from the doorways. That very rarely happens though.”
“Yes, Thomas told me about that.”
“I understand he told you about the Viking as well?”
“Yes, indeed. I’m interested in that. I want to do a couple more trips and then try to hunt him down if I can get paused again. Looks like I have time on my side for that anyway.”
“You certainly do and there’s a lot to find out. I don’t know if you realise yet, but in an animal transience you pretty much always end up somewhere within the locality of your death.”
“Well I didn’t know that.”
“Well take it as a fact. You do. However, time is flowing forward at about the same rate as we experienced on earth, so with each transience, you are four days further on from when you died, or if your transience was shorter, then an approximate equivalent.”
“Really? Carry on,” uttered Ed, as he uncrossed his legs and moved to the front of the bed with his feet down on the floor.
“Yes, yes. Anyway, as I understand it, the Viking knows of tunnels which present different options.”
“What sorts of options?”
“Well it’s very dangerous apparently, but time options, changing the time periods, even going backwards through time.”
“Backwards? As if it’s not complicated enough already, being propelled from animal to animal like a bouncing ball. I asked Thomas about that but he seemed a little reluctant, even scared to dabble with things. It would really be good to have some control over the transience destinations. Maybe I could go back, who knows, maybe even influence what happened and change things for the better. Are you sure all this gossip is true?”
“I don’t know. Anyway, that’s there as a possible choice. I don’t know what you want, but there are alternatives. Everyone needs to know that when they come here.”
“Okay. Thanks, George,” exclaimed Ed, as Thomas returned to the room.
“Ah, t’is but a man hard to locate. I was looking for you,” said Thomas, gazing over at George.
“Good to see you’ve met Ed, anyway. We should get going. The flow is stronger at the moment, so that gives you a better chance of a successful transience.”
“Why’s it stronger now?”
“Not sure really, it just is. Maybe the amount of soul traffic in there. If there are more people in transit then maybe it’s slower. It seems to have a few days every now and then when it’s stronger.”
“One thing puzzles me, Thomas. You mention ‘days’ but there are no clocks or hours of daylight to judge the exact time. How do you do it?” asked Ed inquisitively.
“It’s guess work really. We have a rough idea of what a twenty-four hour period feels like and we all seem to naturally sleep twice in that period, albeit at different times. It’s these sleep patterns that we go on.”
“Oh! Pretty vague then?”
“Tis indeed,” replied Thomas.
With this the three of them left the small room, Thomas followed by George and then Ed.
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