Surf
The Sky
After
awhile Sogwa stretched and rose to her feet. She had places to go and people to
meet. But first, she had to check the Web.
She
held up a paw and said, “Access web.” One claw on her paw gleamed bright; she
whipped her paw around in a circle; this left behind a glowing circle in the
air, which flickered one, twice, then blazed blue. The portal sounded a chime,
and it said,
“Welcome
to the Web.”
Sogwa
clicked on link after link. The Web was working again, she was surfing again,
the biggest library in the world was at her fingertips again. It was like
coming home.
In
just a few minutes, Sogwa found these headlines:
Gop
in custody at St. Helena Penitentiary.
Gop impeached
for attempted arson, other charges to follow
Bomb
expert calls bandolier ‘a joke’
Dissidents
released, allege torture
Senate
and House call for Constitutional Convention
Garbage
strike ends - Union victory
Akasic
Library reopens
Common
cold cure confirmed
Chicago
Cubs win World Series!
She
also found live pictures of Earth from space; also photos of canyons on Mars
and methane rivers on Titan.
Next
she found a news clip. It was a video of Gop doing the perp walk past a jeering
crowd. He was dressed in an orange
jumpsuit.
Sogwa
checked the blogs. Miss Liberty’s blog
made an interesting point. Libby wrote;
“Remember
how, at the end, he said he’ll ‘philosophize with a hammer’? Well, how do you
do that? Simple; just approach some idol, tap it very gently with that hammer,
and listen to the sound. Toonk! You hear that? It’s hollow!”
Sogwa
clicked on Comments, but everybody there was talking about her, so to be cool
about it, she said nothing.
Then
she clicked on psi-mail. “Two psi-mails for you,” the Web told her. “First
message title: Make Money At Home By Selling SPAM!”
Sogwa
said, “Delete!”
“Message
deleted. Second message title: Hey, it’s me, Mischief.”
Sogwa’s
heart went pit-a-pat. She said, “Play!”
Mischief’s
psi-mail went:
Dear
sweet Sogwa:
Did
I mention how cool you are? Sorry I forgot to, in all the confusion, but
still... dissing the old fraud, right to his face? Like, wow.
Yeah,
I did my part too. But it turns out that only three of the bombs in that
bandolier were ours, the other twenty had been corrupted by other people!
Couldn’t Gop do anything right? Not even his hell-bombs worked!
I
hear you’re going topside. Give my regards to the kid. As for me, I’ll hang out
down here. Look me up tomorrow night, we’ll go places, do stuff, it’ll be fun.
You’re
fun. Smart and cute too.
See
you later, love Mischief
Sogwa
clicked on Reply, and she composed this psi-mail:
Dear
sweet Mischief:
How
modest you are. You corrupted “only” three of his hell-bombs? As for the other
twenty, LOL. Looks like the whole town had gotten sick of Gop!
Notice
that Chaim didn’t sound the alarm? We were saved, but not by kings! Just
people, just us, just citizens of the republic of the sky, just doing the right
thing.
Like
you.
So
when I come back, why yes of course I’ll look you up, my brave and clever, best
worst bad-boy boyfriend!
XOXOXOX
love,
Sogwa
Sogwa
clicked on Send. Off went the psi-mail; and from far away echoed the sound of
Sogwa’s parents hollering,
“Ohhhh
Noooo...”
Sogwa
told herself, “All right, enough fun, now to business.” She clicked on Users,
then References, then Address Book. She asked the Address Book about Grandma
Marge.
It
said, “Grandma Marge may be found at Plot Number 10782 / 2, in Mount Auburn.”
Sogwa
clicked on System, then Tools, then Damons, then Clock Damon.
The
portal opened halfway; from within glittered brass gears, whirling and
clattering. The Clock Damon said, “State your destination.”
Sogwa
said, “Plot Number 10782 / 2, in Mount
Auburn.”
The
portal opened all the way, Sogwa stepped through, and it sealed shut behind
her.
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