Night of Unicorn
Night of Unicorn
a fantasy story.
By Sharpfang'00
dedicated to: Equimage.
Don't forget what is important in life!
Night of Unicorn ================
Cya, gotta run! - I typed and before anyone could answer I entered .q and shut down the computer. "Damned lame box" I thought, waiting for Windows to shut down. Last check on the room, window bars locked, remove some litter from the table, turn the monitor and the computer off and I could head out. I locked the door of the student's council room and walked out, handing the key to the janitor. I threw a glance at the big clock hanging in the hall yet, to see how late I was. 5 hours... It was 11 PM. High time to go home, leaving the university without making people way too suspicious.
I began my usual unusual way home. Last pieces of madness and wilderness remaining in me that weren't swallowed by mundane life yet were surfacing now. Across a street, between two buildings, through a parking lot, down a steep slope, across another street, onto some backyard, then through a building gate, and out, into another gate just across a main street. Another backyard, a few trees, some back-streets, a bridge over a brook... Damn, I hated going through a city, and especially walking main streets... but here there was no other way. I walked by one especially noisy main street, blinded by the cars, sinking in thoughts about today... Yeah. Oriented surface integrals... Will have to learn more about that at home. Not to forget to write for funds for the extra prizes for the honorable blood donors club. And ask what about adding another computer for the library. The average of 15 minutes of Internet access in a semester for each student in the university is ridiculous. One more computer won't solve that. They just must find time and a person to look over some computer classroom while one is free... but that means paying some teacher extra for looking over the students, while the university gains nothing on it... No chance. Ah. And finally think of some good adventure for the role-playing session this Friday. But that will be easy. Since the guys stole a starship, there's 100 different ways I can put them in trouble... Oh, life, life. Oh, boring, boring.
I crossed the railway track and entered the suburb. Here the lights are dimmer, the sky darker and your mind clearer. I looked up, as far as my neck let me, looking at the sky. Spreading my arms I breathed deeper and tried recalling some wild and free thoughts. I failed awfully, as they were surprisingly quickly wiped by pondering which bookstore may have O'Reilly's "Camel book" and whether I should run Norton Speeddisk overnight on all my partitions today. Seesh. Nowadays I even lost the ability to think about pleasant things. Eh, I haven't even touched a horse for half a year! I looked at the sky once more. Yes, it's so wonderful. And this two clouds, as if forming a path. If I could just follow that path...
When the last Moon is cast over the last star of morning and the future is past without even a last desperate warning, then look into the sky where through the clouds a path is formed. Look and see her, how she sparkles, it's the Last Unicorn.
The words so well known, of so beautiful song, recalled without a special reason, made me think. I searched the moon on the sky. Straight vertical line was bisecting the white disc, and I recalled the basics of astronomical knowledge - D-shaped means growing, C-shaped means getting smaller. So, it's at the Last Quarter. And this bright star below, just over the horizon far on the west... Must be Venus, the Evening Star... but since it re-appears on the sky before the dawn, it's also called... eh. Can't be. I looked once more at the crack in the clouds. Where they touched the horizon, just over the ruins of the old castle on one of several peaks of the long hill, above the park on the southern end of the city, a bright star was shining.
Again, another miracle of nature I'm going to miss. In a minute I will be at home, having supper and listening to mother's moaning how late I am. And I won't come to the ruins, won't see the star from there, on the dark sky, without the lights of the city... Damned lazy human nature will take over again, and I will prefer a warm bed over cold night. Yes, just across the street and I will lose my chance to change my life again. At best I will listen to the mp3 of The Last Unicorn again.
As I walked to the door, the part of me that wanted to come to where the star was shining was now losing the battle. I stopped at the door for the last time, to think before everything would be lost.
Eh... I just thought about my mother moaning again, flooding me with 100 different extremely boring ideas, giving me directions on some appointment she made for me without asking me first, one that would conflict with 100 different things i had planned for that time, but you know, it's a Very Important Thing, and she can't go herself, so I will have to cancel several of my own appointments, and be missing on several others I won't get to cancel...
Everything but that. I just won't stand her moaning right now. And besides, it's almost half a year since I was doing something mildly crazy. (getting lost in thick fog at night in the forest on the hill while searching for a beer I had hidden half a year earlier there. Boy, I've never got as drunk after drinking one beer as that night.)
I dropped my bag at my house's door, smiling at the memory. Yeah, that was nice. Like, endless going down a path, at dusk, barely seeing my feet in the fog... I will have to hide another beer somewhere there again... I turned back to the street and headed straight toward the ruins along the road. Still along the "path". But then there was a fence across my way, so I had to turn 90 degrees and walk around it... then through the bridge over the motorway... While walking along the fence I didn't even notice the moment when "she" vanished behind the trees of the hill. A moment later I was walking up the road towards the restaurant on that hill.
I turned away from the well-lit road into a path along the slope. "Health Path", created in the "dark times of communism", led through the park and further along the forest, with different devices for working out and different forms of training scattered along it, now ruined, covered with nettles, forgotten. The new government would never support anything that could show that the old times weren't all that bad. That reminds me I still need to pay a visit at my party's quarters soon, I promised to make a web page for our youth group. Stop that! I'm starting again, while just entering under that high, old trees... I looked up. I was a bit to the left from the "path", that meant it had moved on the sky... Such a slight move to the left as I did, comparing to the size of clouds wouldn't take me away from under it... And so, probably, meantime the star had hidden behind one of the clouds... but if I got that far, why shouldn't I finish?
I climbed the steep slope, former ski jumping place, closed due to some fool making a jump on a sledge. Then I turned toward the ruins. Two small peaks, a slope down and the iron rope prohibiting entrance to the ruins. Some idiot decided the ruins are dangerous for people and last fall he ordered to place the fence around them. After well over 100 years of them being available for everyone without restrictions, and practically without accidents (at least ones I'd ever heard of). Again a wave of anger against the current government and thoughts about politics. Again I tried to suppress them. Anyway, the fence notwithstanding, the path people were using to get to the top of the ruins didn't seem any narrower than it had been before... so I just stepped over the rope and continued my way through the tops of the thick walls up the castle hill.
From there I could see the southern sky again, and as I thought, the star was missing. Even more: The crack in the clouds closed... Sad, but would the Nature show her miracles to such an ugly human as me?
As I finished climbing the hill, I stood on top of the highest wall of the castle ruins, having all the city in front of me. As a kid I used to look at it with awe and interest. Now it caused only disgust and despise in me. I turned away from it. Lights of villages in the valleys were painting the clouds sick orange.
I jumped down from the wall clumsily, and began walking down the path on the other side of the ruins and up another hill. This one was like a plateau, almost flat on its long top, but with very steep slopes on all sides, except the one that was connected to the "high castle". Halfway its length I stopped and decided to have one more look before I would go down and back home. And as I looked towards the town I just froze. A deer?! Here? Standing just over the edge of the "plateau", it was looking at the city from over the tops of the pines of the forest below, turned away from me, just a few steps away.
Impossible. It had to hear me coming. I wasn't very quiet. If it was a deer, it would run a long time ago. Whatever this animal was I wasn't going to distur... oh... this "animal"... My heart began pounding. I still didn't see the head, but I guessed already.
I'm alive... I'm alive...
What to do? Say something? Come closer? Touch? All that ideas seemed wrong to me. I will wait. Yes, I will wait here for it to move. For her to move, I corrected myself.
I just stood there, swallowing the view with my eyes, so if it vanished, I would remember, so I would be able to recall her view any time, even in many years. Uhh... Many years? I suddenly grinned to myself. Her presence here can mean only one thing... I looked to the west. The piece of the sky was clear there, but Venus was gone from it... and I guessed I would never see it again. I peered through the clouds to see the moon for the last time in my life. I felt really happy. I knew I wouldn't die in some stupid car accident, from heart attack, from brain cancer or from some other such stupid reason.
I was to die that very night, being fully consent of that. Being the only human in the world knowing the world was about to end.
The unicorn turned her head to me. Her shape was perfect and beautiful. That view was worth more for me than whole my life. And her look meant a permission to come closer.
I saw no horn, but I knew it was there... only I couldn't see it. I stood by her.
- We will die tonight. - she said.
I didn't say anything for a while. What should I say? Some questions I had I could answer myself (Why didn't she run from me? Because she didn't care anymore. Is there anything we could do about it? No.) and some seemed unimportant. (How will it happen? Why are you here and now? Why with me? Who are you?) Then I said one thing that I thought was worth saying.
- Please, stay with me to the end... or let me stay with you...
She stood for a while in silence. Finally she asked me.
Do you regret?
Yes. Now, after I've met you, yes. And especially that you will die. You shouldn't die. Ever.
Every infinity has its end. I was tired of my life anyway.
Infinity = 10^308 as I recalled an old chart concerning MathCAD. In my thoughts I cursed myself for such thoughts in such a moment.
Could you... Is it possible to stop me from thinking about such silly things like...
Ssssh... Just look in my eyes... - she bent her neck and touched my forehead with her horn... Yes, I saw it, it was there all the time, only my polluted mind didn't let me see it. Now my mind became light and clean. I was fully aware that I just forgot 90 percent of what I had known. And it felt good. No more software wars, no more politics, bureaucracy, business and finances... Now they were just empty names for me, like brand names of cars used to be for me - I could mention some but was never interested how do they look like and how do they differ from each other. Now, freed from that knowledge, I could enjoy the moment fully.
Thank you. That feels much better.
That's why children are happier than adults.
We stood for a while there in silence. I was happy I didn't try to count street lamps by main streets of the city again.
Tell me, please... - she asked - Do you... - she broke as if being unsure - Do you find me attractive?
Yes - I answered quickly, before other possible answers could push into my mind to obscure the simple truth. I planned to add something, but then I thought simply "Why? What for? I have said all I had to say."
Do me a favor please. Kiss me.
I looked at her, not sure what to say... or to kiss her just right then?
Are you sure you know what you are asking me for?
Yes. I have seen people kissing many times, and I have always wondered how does it feel. Is there any problem? You can't do it?
I just don't want one of the last things in your life to disappoint you... but it seems it's too late already. Simply, human kiss isn't something exciting nor important enough to make a unicorn wonder for ages. But now, after you've asked...
I touched her chin with my hands and knelt in the dried grass. She turned her face to me. I gently touched her mouth with mine and felt her tongue tip on my lips. I touched it with my tongue, and gently moved it along her lips. We broke the kiss.
- That's... pleasant. - she said. - Will you... Will we do this one more time, just before the end comes?
For quite a while I thought about some witty words of confirmation and finding none I just said "yes". We stood in silence for a while.
And you... Do you regret?
Yes. In moments like this I regret. I just met an interesting human and I won't get to know him better.
Did it happen often?
Always. Whenever I met someone I wanted to stay with, they had to leave me for some reason.
So if we had more time, you would stay with me?
If we had more time we wouldn't meet in the first place.
I sighed and sat in front of her, looking at her beautiful face. Memory... I thought how futile is the process of remembering. Shortly there will be nobody left to remember, so why remember? I began feeling the known tickling of tears in the corners of my eyes and I saw tears in her eyes too.
I don't want you to die. Can't you run away from that? Maybe, after that, a new world will appear. A world without a unicorn just isn't right.
No, it's too strong and too fast. If I could run from it, I would. And the world won't be re-born.
Suddenly some far loud noise broke the silence of the night. I shuddered.
- No, it's not it yet. It's just a far car accident. Someone just died. That short before the end...
I touched her cheeks with my hands. The fur was damp from her tears. I looked in her deep dark eyes reflecting the city lights. In every live being I've ever seen, while looking that cautiously, I saw something that I didn't like. Some asymmetry, some shape too big or too small, some lack of perfection... and she was perfect. And she cried.
Suddenly I saw something like a smile on her face.
If there's something where we go after we die, if you get there and remember me, seek me. I will be there. After all, a world without a unicorn isn't right, right?
Yes. I swear. - I whimpered, touching her nose with my forehead. Suddenly she trembled rapidly.
Kiss me! Now! Hurry!
I knelt up and our lips connected in a passionate kiss.
I believe.> I don't regret anymore.> I will seek.>
By Sharpfang
Thu Dec 21 04:58:02 CET 2000
Are you wondering who's the main character of this story? Why, that's me.