office towers; spires of sunburst
hues rose gleaming and incandescent above the rooftops of
various
government buildings and hotels. The city’s landscape designers had removed all weeds and dead vegetation from the curbside gardens, replanting the same assortment of amaryllis, daisies, and aromatic, blossoming shrubs that had thrived before Redd had sprayed them with Naturcide. What if Arch is right? What if the entire world should be under the command of a single, absolute ruler and the only way to establish a lasting peace among nations is to make them one nation? Because there were limits to what she could accomplish with her gift, though who had set these limits even Bibwit couldn’t say. Imaginationwise, she was still learning what she could and couldn’t do. And probably will be forever.
Alyss’ imaginative eye focused on the new urban resort, Wondronia Grounds, formerly known as Redd’s Hotel & Casino. Wondronia offered families a vacation destination without their having to leave the city. For adults there were spa treatments, massages, elegant restaurants, nature hikes through indoor parks so vast and lush you never would’ve known you were indoors. For children there were smooth quartz water slides, treasure hunts, and Total ImmEX game-play, where boys and girls could inhabit the persona of Hatter Madigan and perform an impressive repertoire of his acrobatic, blade-spinning maneuvers. Think of mother and father…
But her imagination’s eye, as if independent of her, skipped over Wondertropolis’ holographic billboards, which in Redd’s time had announced nothing but crackdowns on suspected Alyssians and White Imagination practitioners, punishments of avowed dissenters, and incentives for turning in a neighbor or relative as a traitor to government. These same billboards now streamed the latest traffic reports, aired advertisements for White Imagination starter kits and safaris in Outerwilderbeastia. Gone from the streets were the Reddisms that had emanated from overhead speakers. In Redd we trust. The Redd way is the right way. Better Redd than dead. Gone were the speakers themselves. Gone from street corners were the gwormmy-kabob carts and crystal smugglers hawking contraband. Gone were most of the pawn shops and money lenders.
Think of mother. And father. Mother and father… “Have I really found you alone,” asked a voice behind her, “without faithful Molly attached at your hip?” It was Dodge. He stepped up beside her.
Alyss smiled. “I made her take the rest of the night off.” “Nice view.”
She hadn’t noticed. She was standing before a window of telescopic glass that looked out over the lights of the capital city. “Yes, it is.”
“All I’ve got for a view is the back of the royal kitchen. The treatment of a palace guardsman these days, I tell you.”
A joke. He only told jokes when he was feeling awkward. This is the part where he puts his arm around me, pulls me close, and says that no matter how many Looking Glass Mazes I pass through, no matter how many crowns I wear, I’ll always be his Alyss, the same little girl who used to run through the palace halls with him when we were younger…
government buildings and hotels. The city’s landscape designers had removed all weeds and dead vegetation from the curbside gardens, replanting the same assortment of amaryllis, daisies, and aromatic, blossoming shrubs that had thrived before Redd had sprayed them with Naturcide. What if Arch is right? What if the entire world should be under the command of a single, absolute ruler and the only way to establish a lasting peace among nations is to make them one nation? Because there were limits to what she could accomplish with her gift, though who had set these limits even Bibwit couldn’t say. Imaginationwise, she was still learning what she could and couldn’t do. And probably will be forever.
Alyss’ imaginative eye focused on the new urban resort, Wondronia Grounds, formerly known as Redd’s Hotel & Casino. Wondronia offered families a vacation destination without their having to leave the city. For adults there were spa treatments, massages, elegant restaurants, nature hikes through indoor parks so vast and lush you never would’ve known you were indoors. For children there were smooth quartz water slides, treasure hunts, and Total ImmEX game-play, where boys and girls could inhabit the persona of Hatter Madigan and perform an impressive repertoire of his acrobatic, blade-spinning maneuvers. Think of mother and father…
But her imagination’s eye, as if independent of her, skipped over Wondertropolis’ holographic billboards, which in Redd’s time had announced nothing but crackdowns on suspected Alyssians and White Imagination practitioners, punishments of avowed dissenters, and incentives for turning in a neighbor or relative as a traitor to government. These same billboards now streamed the latest traffic reports, aired advertisements for White Imagination starter kits and safaris in Outerwilderbeastia. Gone from the streets were the Reddisms that had emanated from overhead speakers. In Redd we trust. The Redd way is the right way. Better Redd than dead. Gone were the speakers themselves. Gone from street corners were the gwormmy-kabob carts and crystal smugglers hawking contraband. Gone were most of the pawn shops and money lenders.
Think of mother. And father. Mother and father… “Have I really found you alone,” asked a voice behind her, “without faithful Molly attached at your hip?” It was Dodge. He stepped up beside her.
Alyss smiled. “I made her take the rest of the night off.” “Nice view.”
She hadn’t noticed. She was standing before a window of telescopic glass that looked out over the lights of the capital city. “Yes, it is.”
“All I’ve got for a view is the back of the royal kitchen. The treatment of a palace guardsman these days, I tell you.”
A joke. He only told jokes when he was feeling awkward. This is the part where he puts his arm around me, pulls me close, and says that no matter how many Looking Glass Mazes I pass through, no matter how many crowns I wear, I’ll always be his Alyss, the same little girl who used to run through the palace halls with him when we were younger…