rift karasu he looked across the dark expanse and didn't like his chances if he tried to make the jump. if it was daylight, he figured, he could make it - no problem, but now the distinction beteween the edges was hard to make out and if he didn't get home soon mom and dad would be pissed "come on, hurry up" he heard his brother call from the edge of the field "yeah, i'm on my way already" he called out He backed up trying to get up a good head of steam before trying to make the jump. he was less concerned about the possibility of falling in than with the possible embarassment and resultant trouble of needing to be helped out as the ditch (or whatever this thing was that cut its way across the field just south of home might be) was fairly wide and too steep to climb out of without help it had not been here the other day when they were playing ball with the other kids and they did not know when the ground collapsed this way he sailed through the air, making it to the opposite edge, but he landed badly and toppled back into the hole, calling out as he fell, nicking his forehead on something along the earthen wall "ahh, crap," he muttered to himself before shouting to his brother "Get Me OUTTA HERE!" "Hold on, there's a big stick over here i'll see if i can't reach you with it." "Yeah, do that." He picked up the long thin branch and reached it down to his brother who grabbed at it but couldn't keep his grip, slipping back down the wall and causing him to fall backward outside the hole "Oww," his brother called out from down the hole. "What?" he said "You alright?" "Slivers," he said, "how about you, i heard you fall over out there." "I'll live, sit tight, looks like i'm gonna need to get mom and dad or try sneaking that big ladder out of the garage" "Well, since you're about as sneaky as i am coordinated, yeah, get mom and dad." As he turned to run, he slipped and fell, nicking his forehead on a rock before getting back up and calling down to his brother "Don't go anywhere!" "Well, DUH! just get mom and dad will you." he saw something shiny sticking from the dirt two objects like a blue and a green jewel caked in the dirt, he tried to pull them free but they were in too deep, he tried to dig, but the wall was too solid and only a few light bits of dust and dirt flaked off from the wall he sat back down for a second, trying to figure the best way to get at them when his father's voice called down and the big ladder came reached him "You alright son?" "Yeah" "you owe me one" his brother said as he climbed out of the hole. "you two boys please be a litle more careful next time, damn near gave me and your mother a heart attack, you got that?" he said, smiling as the two boys carried the ladder behind him and broke for home As the twins got ahead of him, he noticed that with the cuts on their foreheads, they were even more a mirror of each other than usual "Just coincidence," he shrugged. 010708 ... DannyH That's beautiful. Is it part of something bigger? 010708 ... karasu yeah, my non_linear_novel, i have to go back and add the most recent entries to the center table 010709 what's it to you? who go blather from