the big machine, I had a dream. I was flying, not like a bird, but flying just the same. I was moving along at a pretty decent clip, and my shadow looked like a ragged varmint skittering across the bristled tops of the pine trees a thousand feet below, doing its best to escape an unseen predator. As I moved silently through the air, I reached out to feel if anything was there and my fingers met resistance. The harder I pressed, the more the air pressed back. I was surrounded by an invisible and silent flying machine made of air, flying to an unknown destination.
As I flew I could smell the clean, refreshing air of summer alpine meadows. Mountain peaks began to spring into view as I continued. The last snows of winter were still visible on some of the peaks like dollops of whipped cream, and the clear sky was a deep, crystalline blue. Abruptly my invisible craft slowed and then dropped, slipping cleanly through the trees to the ground. It settled down without the slightest bump and was gone, leaving me standing in lush grass, well groomed despite showing no evidence of human attention. I reached down and felt the grass. It was strong and thick yet possessed a cool softness. It seemed perfectly content growing in the shade of the tall pines wheregrass normally didn't grow. There were no pine needles to be seen and no pine cones, though a few dotted the trees as if they were an artist's afterthought.
Suddenly the ground rose smoothly into the air in front of me. It hovered there like a flying carpet of green, waiting for me to hop on. Then a small, sleek, silver-and-gold vehicle rose beneath it on an invisible platform. It was a two-passenger vehicle reminiscent of a Polaris ATV. There was evidence of removable doors and a top, which were currently off. A young couple seated in the vehicle smiled and waved at me. As the little car became level with the ground, it emitted a slight whine and then accelerated smoothly across the invisible surface onto the grass. I noticed that on the back it said "Polaris" on the left and "Orion EV" on the right.
The couple climbed out, then walked over and greeted me. "Hey, Ken Dickson, how are you doing, buddy? We heard you might be coming by but weren't exactly sure when," the man said. He turned away for a second and spoke softly, as if he were letting someone know I had arrived, and then he turned back to me. "I'm Roy, and this is Kathy," he said.
"Do I know you?" I asked uncertainly.
"Yes, you certainly do, but I'll let you figure it out. Hey, you wanna see our digs?"
"Sure, but first I wanted to ask how that grass is floating in the air. As a matter of fact, how was I floating in the air?"
"Can't give you an exact answer on those questions, buddy. That's someone else's passion. In any case we use it for everything here. I call it a rain curtain on my garage. People call it different things depending on how they use it. The thing you flew in on, I call it an airplane. Get it? It'smade of air." He chuckled to himself. "It has a lot of great uses as you'll find out: keeps the weather from getting into our place when we crank the garage door up, among other things. Of course, nowadays the weather is pretty controlled: it's on a schedule here at least, so it's not as necessary as it was when we first got this place up and running. Come on in," he said, beckoning me onto the invisible platform. I was hesitant at first. It seemed as if I was about to step into a ten-foot-deep hole, and it played games with my mind. I tentatively tested the invisible surface with my foot and felt resistance. I tentatively joined them on the platform, and it began a smooth descent toward the floor below. As we neared the floor, lights automatically illuminated the area and the ground locked into place above us.
The living space was small but comfortable. There were no walls aside from those around the perimeter, just supports between the floor and ceiling. The floor looked solid but was soft when I walked on
As I flew I could smell the clean, refreshing air of summer alpine meadows. Mountain peaks began to spring into view as I continued. The last snows of winter were still visible on some of the peaks like dollops of whipped cream, and the clear sky was a deep, crystalline blue. Abruptly my invisible craft slowed and then dropped, slipping cleanly through the trees to the ground. It settled down without the slightest bump and was gone, leaving me standing in lush grass, well groomed despite showing no evidence of human attention. I reached down and felt the grass. It was strong and thick yet possessed a cool softness. It seemed perfectly content growing in the shade of the tall pines wheregrass normally didn't grow. There were no pine needles to be seen and no pine cones, though a few dotted the trees as if they were an artist's afterthought.
Suddenly the ground rose smoothly into the air in front of me. It hovered there like a flying carpet of green, waiting for me to hop on. Then a small, sleek, silver-and-gold vehicle rose beneath it on an invisible platform. It was a two-passenger vehicle reminiscent of a Polaris ATV. There was evidence of removable doors and a top, which were currently off. A young couple seated in the vehicle smiled and waved at me. As the little car became level with the ground, it emitted a slight whine and then accelerated smoothly across the invisible surface onto the grass. I noticed that on the back it said "Polaris" on the left and "Orion EV" on the right.
The couple climbed out, then walked over and greeted me. "Hey, Ken Dickson, how are you doing, buddy? We heard you might be coming by but weren't exactly sure when," the man said. He turned away for a second and spoke softly, as if he were letting someone know I had arrived, and then he turned back to me. "I'm Roy, and this is Kathy," he said.
"Do I know you?" I asked uncertainly.
"Yes, you certainly do, but I'll let you figure it out. Hey, you wanna see our digs?"
"Sure, but first I wanted to ask how that grass is floating in the air. As a matter of fact, how was I floating in the air?"
"Can't give you an exact answer on those questions, buddy. That's someone else's passion. In any case we use it for everything here. I call it a rain curtain on my garage. People call it different things depending on how they use it. The thing you flew in on, I call it an airplane. Get it? It'smade of air." He chuckled to himself. "It has a lot of great uses as you'll find out: keeps the weather from getting into our place when we crank the garage door up, among other things. Of course, nowadays the weather is pretty controlled: it's on a schedule here at least, so it's not as necessary as it was when we first got this place up and running. Come on in," he said, beckoning me onto the invisible platform. I was hesitant at first. It seemed as if I was about to step into a ten-foot-deep hole, and it played games with my mind. I tentatively tested the invisible surface with my foot and felt resistance. I tentatively joined them on the platform, and it began a smooth descent toward the floor below. As we neared the floor, lights automatically illuminated the area and the ground locked into place above us.
The living space was small but comfortable. There were no walls aside from those around the perimeter, just supports between the floor and ceiling. The floor looked solid but was soft when I walked on
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