May 31 [Final Week]
May 31
We got up at first light and both went to the shower. I was planning on flying this morning, so I just helped Aquamarine shower and mostly avoided the soap.
We dried off in my room, keeping quiet so that we wouldn't wake up Peggy. And when we were done, I gave Aquamarine the dreamcatcher that I had made for her, and she packed it in her saddlebag where it would be safe. She said that there was a spot just above the headboard of her bed where it would go nicely, and she wondered if maybe it would help Luna come into her dreams.
I said that I didn't know; I hadn't made one for myself and so far I hadn't had Luna come into any of mine. We were so very far away from Equestria, though; maybe she couldn't come this far.
I wonder if any humans in Equestria have Luna visiting their dreams?
On the way to breakfast, she asked me what I was doing for the summer, and I had to admit that I didn't know. I didn't even know where I was going to live, although I could probably bring down a couple of clouds over campus and sleep on them if I had to.
She laughed and said that I was a typical pegasus, which kind of hurt because I knew it was true. Gusty and Cayenne and Aquamarine all had plans, and here I was two weeks away from the end of the school year and not knowing what I'd do next.
But I guess the other side of that coin is that other ponies often get upset when things don't go the way they'd planned, and we don't worry too much about it. Something will always come along; something always does—the sky's a big place.
We were so early to breakfast that we had to wait for a little bit until they opened the dining hall, and when we got in there they hadn't put out all the food yet. The serving trays sat in hot water, which kept the food nice and warm, and where there was normally the different kinds of breakfast meat there was just an open trough of steamy water.
I wouldn't have minded a few eggs for breakfast, so once we'd gotten fruits and vegetables and grains, I went back by the hot food buffet and now there was some food there. A sleepy-looking boy was putting in trays one at a time, wearing big mittens to protect him from the heat, so we waited until he'd set out the scrambled eggs and I got some for my plate.
When I turned around, I practically ran right into Cedric. I probably would have, except that he had just picked Aquamarine's tray off her back and was moving away so that Leon could reach in and get mine. Since I knew that none of my other friends were likely to be at breakfast this early, it was an easy choice to follow them back to the table and sit with them.
Both of them looked pretty awake, compared to some of my other friends. Leon said that they exercised in the morning so that they'd stay in shape, and then Cedric said that Leon ought to work more of his body than just his mouth 'cause he got beat by a girl in arm wrestling.
Aquamarine told him that he'd lost too, and Cedric shook his head and said that he hadn't lost anything. Then he stopped eating and asked Aquamarine what she was doing for the summer, and she told him about her biology experiment, and how she was staying near MSU all summer and (even though we hadn't talked about it) she would probably come to Kalamazoo a couple of times to visit me, and I'd probably go to Lansing, too. And there was also Gusty's play in Stratford; neither of us knew exactly when that was going to be, but we both knew that we were going to go.
He asked what play, and so we told him about how she was Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and she was really a great actress. Leon said that he didn't know anything about plays, and Cedric told him that he knew all about playing a role, he just didn't do it well enough that people would buy tickets to see it. Then I said I'd buy a ticket to watch Leon, and both of them thought that was hilarious.
Then Cedric asked if we'd be eating lunch with him as well, and I told him that Aquamarine was going to go back to Lansing on a train today.
Leon opened his mouth to say something, and Cedric just looked at him and I think if he were a pegasus he could have made it sleet from a clear sky with that look. Then he reached into Leon's pocket and took out a pen and wrote his computer mail address and his telephone number on a napkin and slid it across the table to her.
She borrowed the pen to write on her own napkin, and gave it back to Cedric, who stuck both the napkin and pen in his pocket. Then after that we were quiet for a little bit, before Leon started bragging again, and Cedric started making fun of him, and it was weird but I really liked that about them. That was their way of posturing, and no matter what they said, they didn't really mean anything by it.
She hugged both of them before we left, and I did too just for good measure.
We waited in my dorm room until I got a telephone telegram from Aric saying that he was in the parking lot. I helped her put on her saddlebags and also grabbed my flight gear and we rode together to the train station.
This time there wasn't much of a wait. Aric said it was sort of a miracle, because the train arrived right on time, and I nuzzled her goodbye, and we stayed on the platform and waved when the train left, even though I wasn't sure if she could see us, since the windows on the train don't open.
When we were back in Winston, Aric asked me what I was doing today, and I told him that I really needed to stretch out my wings, 'cause I'd hardly flown at all, but that wasn't the only thing that needed exercise and he said that he'd had the same problem all weekend, so we went back to his house and he started getting undressed before he was even in his room.
We'd spent so much time apart that he decided to drive me out to the Nature Center, 'cause he said that even though he couldn't fly with me, he could go out into the grasslands area and watch me. Well, it wasn't as much flying room as I would have liked to have, but at the same time it was nice that he was there on the ground watching me, so I did a bunch of acrobatics to get back in practice, and between every pass, I saw him down on the ground looking up at me.
I was in the air longer than I'd meant to be, and so we stopped for lunch at Jimmy John's, and I ate my lunch in Winston, which was an interesting experience. I think he had a harder time of it, though; he had to try and choose gears with a sub in his hand.
He dropped me off at Trowbridge and I licked a bit of avocado sauce off his lips then kissed him and asked if he minded me leaving early tomorrow if I spent the night. He said that was a sacrifice he was willing to make, then he leaned over and nibbled on my ear a little bit just to be silly and so I hit him with my wing.
I was pretty rushed in the shower, and I didn't really manage to get all the way dry or brush my mane as well as I'd have liked, but I couldn't be late to Conrad's class. (He probably wouldn't have minded, but I still couldn't be late).
The desks were still arranged in a circle, so I took the seat I'd chosen before and I'd barely settled my rump on the hard plastic before Conrad came in and told us that everyone would expect him to do Ginsberg next but since there were only two classes left we were going to do something else instead, and he asked us who in class had heard of W. S. Merwin.
Nobody raised their hand, and he said that it was his duty to fix that, and he said that we were going to get up and go outside.
He had us all gather around a tree, where we were in the shade, and he read us a poem called Witness, and I thought it was a shame that Aquamarine wasn't here to hear it, because she still knew the forgotten language of the trees.
He asked us who wanted to read the next poem, and a bunch of hands went up, and my hoof too. He picked Melissa first, and had her read a beautiful poem called Native Trees.
I never really think too much about how old trees are, but I bet that the ones on campus are older than any of us, and they'll probably be there long after we're gone. I wonder what earth ponies think about that? Sometimes it's hard to get a sense of the scale of history when what I do is gone the next day and nothing more than a memory.
After we'd talked about what that poem meant, Conrad chose Trevor to read the next poem, which was called After the Alphabets and was also about language that people can't speak, but insects know. Then he had me read one called Sunset After Rain, and I knew how that looked and felt, how sometimes we'd work our way so far out over the ocean that the land was hazy and off in the distance and there were never more stars than on those nights.
Conrad finished up class by reading us A Last Look, then he said that we were free to go and on Thursday we should plan to meet up under the same tree. Someone asked what we would do if it was raining, and he said that we would read poetry in the rain.
On my way back to my dorm, I stopped by a little flower garden—I knew what all the flowers were called, thanks to Brianna and Aquamarine—and sniffed at the blooms, then watched a yellow-winged butterfly flit around and settle on a bloom, and it was strange to think that such a little insect could know what it meant to go to sleep a caterpillar and wake a butterfly.
I had to return my World War 1 book because it was due, and I felt really bad that I hadn't made any progress in it at all, but the librarian said I could renew it and keep it for longer if I wanted.
I said that I shouldn't; someone else might come along and want to read it, and she said that the computer told her that I was the first person to check it out in ten years, so she didn't think that anyone would really be needing it. So I had her renew it for me, which meant that I could keep it until the very last day of finals, then I had to give it back, but she told me that the library stayed open all summer, and besides the lounge area on the main floor that was near the magazines, there were cubicles upstairs where I could read to my heart's content, all summer long.
Well, I wanted to finish the book before then if I could, because I thought it would be more comfortable to read it on my bed rather than in a cubicle. But it was a big book and I had gotten behind over the weekend, so I might have to finish it at the library.
I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing my Anthropology essay so that I could show it to Professor Amy tomorrow and make sure that there weren't any more major changes I needed to make. Then I ate dinner with Peggy and Christine and Sean and Joe, and when it was over I went to Aric's house.
He wasn't home, so I let myself in and went up to his room. I found a book on his shelf called Trickster's Choice, and I really must have gotten into it, because I was just learning how Nawat the crow could turn himself human when Aric surprised me by running his hand over my rump and I probably would have bucked at him if I hadn't been sitting on my belly—as it was, I jumped up off the bed and spun around and he backed up and crashed into his bookshelf and knocked one of his plastic block buildings off, and then we were both apologizing to each other.
Aric said that he was sorry for not being home but he'd had to put the finishing touches on his theatre project and that had taken longer than he'd planned because he had messed up his light plot and had to re-draw it. I said that I hadn't minded; I really liked the book he had.
He said that there was a second, too, and that I could borrow it for the summer if I wanted to, which was really nice of him. Then he got undressed and got in bed with me, but since it was really early we didn't have sex or try to go to sleep. I read more of the book, and he read a different book that he had on the shelf, and it was really nice to just spend some time with him where we weren't doing anything.
I finally closed up the book when the words had started to get blurry, and rested my head on Aric's chest. He kept on reading until he'd finished the chapter he was on, and as much as I wanted to tease him while he was reading, I didn't—but once he'd closed the book and set it aside, I slid my wing down his chest and he ran his hand over my rump, and when I climbed up on him I thought about how maybe the tree endures, but maybe it was better to live for moments.
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Added a word.
their
Double period.
theatre
7446046
7446073
All corrections made; thank you!
She really needs to finish reading that book so she can move onto World War Two. She'll totally enjoy that one!
And by enjoy I mean she'll have a fit of biblical proportions.
7446073 Or Theater if he's from 'MURICA!!!!
I enjoyed today's poems more than usual. You chose well.
While I did not know Merwin, I think I read his name in joke somewhere. I suppose if I ever read that book again, I migth get the joke this time.
Happyness is a feast of crumbs.
7445797
Whole nations cannot win the Nobel-Prize, so By awarding President Obama the Nobel Prize, the Nobel-Committee rewarded the United States of America a Nobel Prize for getting rid of President Bush, who was a menace to World-Peace (rather than staying focused on Afghanistan and Al Qaeda, he decided to Invade Iraq on false pretenses, which gave rise to Dæsh).
OTP senses tingling
Oh I bet Cedric would like to perform one of those with you too.
YES!
The first poem Empty Water, on the page you link to for Witness, has been the tipping point for me.
Between Conrad and Merwin you've sold me on this poetry business, a copy of Rain in the Trees has duly been ordered from Amazon.
So, another road followed, another vista found.
I shall toast Conrad's success in making of you a missionary.
7446137
Humans who lived though it have trouble wrapping their head around the enormity of WWII. I could see Silver returning to the library and telling the clerk this fantasy book had been wrongly filed in the history section. And it wasn't even that good a story, just a load of people dying left and right.
thought
These outdoor poetry sessions remind me of Dead Poets' Society yet again, but then your description of Hilberry has kind of felt like Robin Williams' Keating from the start.
Blackadder:Well Baldrick. what cullinary delights do you have for us today.
Baldrick:I thought a nice bit of rat au vin, sir.
Blackadder:Which is?
Baldrick:A rat, thats been run over by a van, sir.
"Humans seem to possess an irrational fear of appearing in places of education whilst clad in their undergarments. Do they perhaps fear they are overdressed?"
I wonder how common that is in Equestria? Is it a once in a lifetime occurrence or does it happen often enough you wouldn't comment on it any more.
7446760 I'm not sure wich one would be the hardest for her to get. The second World War really look like a clean cut "Villain vs Good Guy", while the first one was just a total absurd waste of life. The death toll and the destruction rate were smaller, but it is just so hard to wrap our head around it.
7447883 The Good Guys did some pretty horrible things too, you know.
7447322 Oh aye, but that is significantly lower, especially in continental Europe, where many places have laws that if such food is rejected or passes it's (arbetery) Sell By Date- the food must be given to charity.
7448621 I know that see "look like". Unless you take the time to look deeper into things and find some detailled source, it will be barely mentioned, if at all.
7446137
Well, at least she'll be able to learn how much more efficient we got at killing each other in only a few decades. Who says that humanity isn't making progress?
7446270
I tend to spell it both ways: theater for cinemas, and theatre for plays.
7446470
I can't take full credit for choosing well; it was Cynewulf who suggested them, and when I read them I fully agreed with his choices.
7446490
Agreed.
7446654
And now y'all have to wait and see what develops.
7446724
Writing this story has taken me down paths I wouldn't have thought to tread six months ago, and I'm glad that people are following along. Perhaps I am one of Conrad's golden boats, taking a slightly unconventional route.
7446760
In a ten-week college level class, we didn't make it all the way through the war. I think we only got up to '42.
7446765
Which is funny because although I did see Dead Poets' Society (not long after it came out, IIRC), I don't remember any of it. Conrad, and one of my high school English teachers, were just like that.
Also, correction made, thank you!
7447108
Rat au vin . . . nice. There are some people around here who aren't opposed to butchering a roadkill deer, if they can get to it while it's still fresh.
7447311
Do people ever really have that dream? I don't think I ever have. I did dream once that the fairy costumes for A Midsummer Night's Dream let the wearer fly, though. That was a pretty good dream.
7447352
I suspect that it's probably happens to ponies a few times in their lifetimes . . . I don't think it's so commonplace that you wouldn't mention that it had happened, but that it's common enough it wouldn't be viewed as an unusual event.
7447883
I think that's the big difference--in the second (at least to the West) there was a pretty obvious, justified reason for the war; whereas in the first, you could almost get the impression that nobody knew why they were fighting.
7448856
That's interesting: there are no such laws that I know of in the US.
I read Trickster's Choice. It was lame.
9241163
I liked it. It wasn’t my favorite Tamora Pierce series by any means (Protector of the Small is my favorite series), but I thought it was pretty decent.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lyrics+manana+is+good+enough+for+me&&view=detail&mid=CF5DAD7A823F4A286993CF5DAD7A823F4A286993&&FORM=VRDGAR
You couldn't play this on the radio today -they'd picket you to death for being racist
9307170
I dunno, I think it would depend on who sang it.