So there I was...testing, and testing again, to no avail. I pulled my trusty HTML guide quickly up to the light. I searched...I ftp'd...I went to a master mind's archives and lurked...suddenly, there, in the window above me (I was on a Mac, after all), I noticed Eudora waving frantically. "Eudora, over here," I called, "what message do you bring this tired (but determined) apprentice?"

Eudora said not, but held out the letter, waiting perhaps for a response. Ahh, the feeling that comes when a friend offers guidance! The Helping Hand, The Quill, a note of encouragement from a Mysterious Stranger...I felt a deep sense of elation, knowing that my aspirations would one day be founded in truth, charged by those who had gone before and now watched over my quest from afar. Someday I would reign over this net of intrigue! With this in mind as I wrote upon my own delicate piece of shifting page, I felt my frustrations lift and my courage return.

Patience... The boy is getting ready for the game. The table is set for battles. The opponent, a young friend, will ride over the hill as always, the lanky youth who stays with us at week's end. The boy cannot help but show his impatience and I smile to myself to think that I was once like him. I will go through these trials and errors as what I have become, in appearance, the patient and willing apprentice. The boy moves warriors around on the board, pacing continually to the window to look out at the horizon. All the while he sings to himself, as I sing to myself. We are steeled for our individual tasks with music overriding any nervous prattle. We have the faith of innocents. We will gain much knowledge this night and, as in all games, winning will come only with persistance and a sense of humor.

My own pen finds trouble with the magic. I sleep in the light of day, curled next to the cat, replenishing powers that that have been drained from me during the work. This spell, this small magic of mine that I have not yet learned to control will perhaps be the better of me yet. The cat is tickling with the vibrations of his purr and I drift again.

The quest continues...

Go back to Stone's Throw! or go to Chapter 2