tennis shoes and most of my jeans were covered in dust and dirt, and my throat was as dry as a desert. I kept thinking that it would be a miracle if we surprised the scarecrow. We were making our way through a vast open area, me, a glass cat astride a straw deer - oh yeah, and a paper bird flying high overhead. We might as well have shot some fireworks into the sky while we were at it.
I was still mulling over this thought when the bird swooped down and hovered in front of us. It fluttered its wings as it faced my two traveling companions. The deer stopped in its tracks and watched the bird. The cat stood up. Its glass tail grew thicker and moved rapidly from side to side. They seemed to be communicating in some manner. Then the earth shook.
Ahead of us, not too far in the distance, the ground disappeared, taking the horizon with it. A great cloud of black smoke emerged from somewhere below. It rose up into the air and as it did, the cloud began to spread across the paper sky, absorbing the many colors as it widened.
I saw its shadow approaching as the darkness took over the day. It swept over us, moving fast. I turned to see black tentacles shoot out from the cloud’s center, moving in all directions. The tentacles plunged into the ground around us and the cloud followed behind until a canopy of darkness surrounded us. Black soot began to fall like snow from above.
I looked at my escorts. “I think he’s found us,” I said.
36
The bird shook off some black soot and once again flew forward. The deer, with the cat astride, followed and I brought up the rear. The paper sky was now a dark wasteland, above and below, and land’s end grew nearer by the minute.
As we approached the abyss, the deer stopped and the bird flew in beside me. It drifted ahead, looking back from time to time. I guessed it wanted me to follow it, so I did.
The paper bird brought me to where the world ended, and I moved close enough to the precipice to see what lay below.
I was on the crest of a sloping hill of black grass. Beneath me, not far from the hill’s base, the steel mill rose from the ground, huge and ominous, its many brick chimneys belching out thick black smoke. There was nothing else around it: no houses, no cars, just the steel mill.
“Is it waiting for us?” I asked the bird. Its answer was to bank down the hill in front of me.
“I guess so,” I said almost to myself and started down the embankment. I was halfway down before the deer and cat appeared at my side.
“About time you got here,” I said.
A feeling of dread swept over me as I neared the bottom of the hill. It was the feeling of being lost in an unknown and dangerous place without any weapons to defend myself. Not that I would have known what to do if I had them. Then again , I glanced at my friends of paper, straw, and glass, maybe I did .
The soot became thicker as we reached flat ground, at least six inches deep; it was like walking through a fine snow. It rained down harder on us now too. The bird shook itself off every few seconds, as did the cat, though most of the soot slid down and off its glass body. I did the same, shaking the stuff out of my hair and off my clothes before it accumulated. It didn’t seem to bother the deer however, whose straw was black from hoof to head. Speaking of the deer, I saw that it had grown since the hill. Its head now reached mine.
We approached the mill’s massive front doors, tall and wide enough for an airplane to slip through. We were almost to them when they slowly moved apart from the middle, making a loud grinding noise as they slid.
The inside, from what I could see, appeared to be lit by firelight. The walls emitted a reddish orange glow, illuminating the interior. The paper bird led the way and the three of us followed.
We entered a large hall in which everything - the walls, the ceiling, and the floor - seemed to be made of black steel. I saw a large furnace at the hall’s far end. The mouth of it was
I was still mulling over this thought when the bird swooped down and hovered in front of us. It fluttered its wings as it faced my two traveling companions. The deer stopped in its tracks and watched the bird. The cat stood up. Its glass tail grew thicker and moved rapidly from side to side. They seemed to be communicating in some manner. Then the earth shook.
Ahead of us, not too far in the distance, the ground disappeared, taking the horizon with it. A great cloud of black smoke emerged from somewhere below. It rose up into the air and as it did, the cloud began to spread across the paper sky, absorbing the many colors as it widened.
I saw its shadow approaching as the darkness took over the day. It swept over us, moving fast. I turned to see black tentacles shoot out from the cloud’s center, moving in all directions. The tentacles plunged into the ground around us and the cloud followed behind until a canopy of darkness surrounded us. Black soot began to fall like snow from above.
I looked at my escorts. “I think he’s found us,” I said.
36
The bird shook off some black soot and once again flew forward. The deer, with the cat astride, followed and I brought up the rear. The paper sky was now a dark wasteland, above and below, and land’s end grew nearer by the minute.
As we approached the abyss, the deer stopped and the bird flew in beside me. It drifted ahead, looking back from time to time. I guessed it wanted me to follow it, so I did.
The paper bird brought me to where the world ended, and I moved close enough to the precipice to see what lay below.
I was on the crest of a sloping hill of black grass. Beneath me, not far from the hill’s base, the steel mill rose from the ground, huge and ominous, its many brick chimneys belching out thick black smoke. There was nothing else around it: no houses, no cars, just the steel mill.
“Is it waiting for us?” I asked the bird. Its answer was to bank down the hill in front of me.
“I guess so,” I said almost to myself and started down the embankment. I was halfway down before the deer and cat appeared at my side.
“About time you got here,” I said.
A feeling of dread swept over me as I neared the bottom of the hill. It was the feeling of being lost in an unknown and dangerous place without any weapons to defend myself. Not that I would have known what to do if I had them. Then again , I glanced at my friends of paper, straw, and glass, maybe I did .
The soot became thicker as we reached flat ground, at least six inches deep; it was like walking through a fine snow. It rained down harder on us now too. The bird shook itself off every few seconds, as did the cat, though most of the soot slid down and off its glass body. I did the same, shaking the stuff out of my hair and off my clothes before it accumulated. It didn’t seem to bother the deer however, whose straw was black from hoof to head. Speaking of the deer, I saw that it had grown since the hill. Its head now reached mine.
We approached the mill’s massive front doors, tall and wide enough for an airplane to slip through. We were almost to them when they slowly moved apart from the middle, making a loud grinding noise as they slid.
The inside, from what I could see, appeared to be lit by firelight. The walls emitted a reddish orange glow, illuminating the interior. The paper bird led the way and the three of us followed.
We entered a large hall in which everything - the walls, the ceiling, and the floor - seemed to be made of black steel. I saw a large furnace at the hall’s far end. The mouth of it was
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