Mount
Auburn
Sogwa
stepped through the portal, to Mount Auburn, Plot Number 10782 / 2 .
It
was late pre-morning, dew-time; the sky was black, with a faint hint of pink
towards the east. And right below the eastern horizon, just barely visible to Sogwa’s
cat-eyes, was her destination; the City That Only Kids Can See. She needed only
its true name to enter.
All
around Sogwa were see-through people, all glowing blue. They chatted to each
other:
“Sun’s
coming up soon!”
“Back
to bed then, now, right?”
“Right!
I can’t outshine that!”
And
the blue-glowing see-through people all went back to their plots. They stepped
down into the earth like you would get into a tub. Sighing, they laid down and
vanished into the ground.
A
blue-glowing see-through person approached. It was Grandma Marge.
Grandma
Marge was as beautiful as ever. Her eyes were sky blue, her hair was brown,
with white roots if you looked hard. She wore a
half-smile; her face was grooved deep with smile lines.
Sogwa
said, “Grandma Marge, it’s me.”
Grandma
Marge saw her, and smiled deeper. “Hi, Sogwa.”
Sogwa
said, “I know you have to lie down before the sun comes up, but before you do,
please, Grandma Marge, can you tell me the true name? I need it to get home.”
“The
true name of what?”
“The
City That Only Kids Can See,” said Sogwa. “That one over there,” she said,
pointing a paw towards the east.
Grandma
Marge squinted towards the east. She said, “I can’t quite make it out.”
Sogwa
said, “I can see it plain as day!”
“Then
tell me what you see.”
Sogwa
said, “Look! Right there! It’s the spaceport! See? A ship just blasted off!”
“Mm-hm!”
Grandma Marge murmured, not seeing.
“Can’t
you see all the hovercabs flitting around? And the monorails? And the bullet
trains? And the geodesic domes?”
Grandma
Marge said, “No, I can’t, it’s still too dark.”
“Look!
Over there! It’s the Robot Works!”
“Who
works there?”
“Robots!”
“What
do they make there?”
“More
robots!”
Grandma
Marge said “Hmph!”
Sogwa
pointed out other sights of the City That Only Kids Can See; the wind farms,
tide-mills and sun towers; the recombinant zoo, the gasoline trees, the fusion
incinerator, the air-car perch, the cyberspace cafe, the moving-picture-paper
mill, the super-telescope, the replicator works, the rejuvenation clinic, the
hologram theater, the World Parliament and the Lunar Embassy.
Sometimes
Grandma Marge said “Mm-hmm!” and sometimes “Ahh...” and sometimes “Hmph!”; but
each time she smiled, with smile-lines creased deep. All the while Grandma
Marge saw not a thing, for it was still too dark for her human eyes, though not
for Sogwa’s cat-eyes.
Finally
Grandma Marge said, “So you want the City’s true name.”
“And
the reason why,” Sogwa added.
“The
reason why is clear enough,” said Grandma Marge, “and so’s the name. But
really, it has many names.”
Then
Grandma Marge gave Sogwa three true names for the City That Only Kids Can See.
Sogwa saw in each name its own explanation.
Grandma
Marge told Sogwa the specific name she needed to get back home. Sogwa marvelled
at the name and Grandma Marge noted, “It makes its point.”
With
that, Grandma Marge stepped down into the earth like you would get into a tub.
With a sigh she lay down and vanished.
Sogwa
said, “Goodbye, Grandma Marge.”
Then
Sogwa 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 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.”
And
Sogwa whispered the true name of the City That Only Kids Can See.
She
whispered,
“Tomorrow...”
`
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