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| 07. the winter meadows: 121 | The closer the ground comes, the more I think of this one possibility: to be invincible, like Valentine and his sister, and never have to worry about what will happen to you, because you will always survive it. / Given the choice, who would not want to be invincible? / 'But if you are truly invincible,... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/121.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 122 | Who's right? / If, for even a fraction of a second, / you believed that you had finally lost whatever was precious to you / would you become invincible again, and stop falling; turn into a great bird, and fly away? http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/122.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 123 | 'I don't want to be invincible if the only person I can save is myself,' I remember hearing someone say. / 'Even if I'll never be strong enough, or smart enough, or fly high enough to save you, / 'I will always try to. http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/123.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 124 | 'I am sure there are many people who are capable of saving the world; who'll step forward if such a noble sacrifice is required, and have their names written in history books, / 'but even if I am not capable of saving you, I'll always step forward / 'even if you don't remember who I am, or realize... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/124.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 125 | 'I mean I don't /want/ to save the world, and I don't want my name to be remembered by millions of people I'll never care about. / 'But at times like these, when I'm trying so hard and still I can't help you, I can't save you, I think -- why can't I be a hero? / 'Why can't I make you invincible, t... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/125.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 126 | 'Or are you not meant to be invincible, / 'can we only recognize the value of things / 'when they are taken away from us?' / But an insistent honking fills the sky / and I find that it is difficult to continue thinking of strange visions from the past when confronted by pleasant surprises in the... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/126.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 127 | 'No, no, no,' Valentine says, 'you silly old Duck, you /know/ you ain't supposed to fly, you'll--' / His voice breaks off, he does not finish what he began to say. As if to make up for his silence, the Duck gains speed, lowers altitude, breaks into noisy and off-key song. An audience of snowflakes falls... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/127.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 128 | The more snow falls, the quieter the Duck's voice grows, and the whiter the world around us becomes. At one point, the Duck folds its wings, legs outstretched to land -- and all sound disappears entirely, as if everything one can see and feel is eaten by the colour and cold of snow. / 'Silly old Duck,'... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/128.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 129 | 'You really /have/ changed,' I can hear the tiger's voice saying. (Although, when I look up, I don't see a tiger for miles around--) / 'Yea,' Valentine says, 'well, so have you.' / 'Well,' says this man who speaks with the tiger's voice. 'Do you know what they say about humans, Saint Valentine?' / 'They... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/129.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 130 | 'Wait,' Valentine says. 'I mean, I know /I/ screwed up, but what did /you/ do? Who's the orange dog? Is that--' / 'It's stopped snowing,' the man says, 'in a little while they'll be here. What are you going to do? / 'When I last knew you, you'd have dropped anything that couldn't fly any more, and... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/130.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 131 | 'sometimes you only pretend that what you possess is useless, / 'so that no one else learns to recognize its value, / 'and comes to take it away from you.' http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/131.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 132 | 'But I don't know if you're pretending,' the tiger-voiced man says, 'or if you really did just make a useless golem after all, one that can't even fly when you tell it to. / 'Or did you not tell it to' / 'Why wouldn't you tell it to? It was falling, and you can't save anything else other than yourself. / 'If... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/132.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 133 | 'OK, kid,' Valentine says. 'Do you still remember how to make it snow? / 'If you don't, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to make it snow. / 'So make it snow, /now/.' / As if Valentine's word is truth itself, I hold out my hand, knowing that in response, snow will fall, / and it does. / Where... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/133.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 134 | and now that the snow has lifted you will be able to see this meadow again; a memory hidden, like a bone, beneath the snow and the cold. / ('I have a gift for you,' my mother said. 'If you accept it, and use it for yourself, nothing will ever be able to harm you from then on.') / (My sister reached... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/134.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 135 | But too much snow has fallen since then. / I can't see the meadow any more, nor hear any reply. / What's the right thing to do? / Do you choose to survive invincible and alone; or die, helpless, together? / Dying doesn't seem terribly attractive; but at this moment, in this suddenly white and empty... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/135.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 136 | 'in fact, it seems to work amazingly well.' http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/136.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 137 | 'After all, why would anyone keep a golem, if they couldn't use it? / 'As you used to say, why would anyone make friends, if you couldn't use them?' / 'People change,' Valentine says. 'Some of them even change into animals, it seems... You still haven't broken that curse yet, huh?' / 'I'm working... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/137.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 138 | 'We'll take a shortcut,' the tiger's voice says to the wolf. 'There are passages to other places, under the snow--' / But the wolf disagrees. / 'No, no, we're not running there,' the tiger-voiced man calls out, 'I know it's fun but it's /far/, and we're still looking for her-- Hey, come back! There's... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/138.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 139 | 'Weirdos,' Valentine says, over the sound of the Duck commiserating with the fallen creatures. / 'Come on, come on, we have to go,' he says. 'Stop fraternizing with the enemy. / 'Yes, I /know/ they're your friends, / 'One of them used to be my friend, too.' http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/139.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 140 | 'I'd like to think that they're still our friends,' Valentine says. / 'That if someone ever tells them to hurt us, they won't. And help us run away. I'd like to believe that...' / The meadow rises, a great shadow falls; in the space it leaves, there is indeed a passage to another place. http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/140.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 141 | I take only a few steps toward it, / already, in the glare of sunlight off pale walls and glass windows and water, my memory of the snow is beginning to fade. / 'Someone told me,' Valentine says, 'once you find a city to call your home, / 'every other city you see will only ever be a reflection of... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/141.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 142 | Is this city your home? I want to ask him. / But before I can even bring up the subject, Valentine is off, shouting, 'Run!' / What a master of avoiding questions! / But he is right, / behind us I can feel a dark shadow rising. http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/142.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 143 | I don't know what it is, but Valentine seems quite sure that it won't fit easily through standard doorways. / 'Don't look back,' Valentine says. / There's not much I can see with a Valentine and a Duck blocking the light, but for a moment I imagine that I see the shadow of something terrifying, / but... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/143.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 144 | Or do shadows hurt you by reminding you that their owners are waiting, outside? / For a moment, I'm glad to see a light, shining in the doorway, / but perhaps that's just a reflection too. / 'Not so peachy now,' Ganymar says. http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/144.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 145 | 'Yea?' Valentine asks. 'Well, my big brother's gonna come along any minute, / 'and he's gonna /kick your ass/.' / 'No I won't,' a voice objects, from the doorway; 'Val, that's really rude.' http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/145.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 146 | The footsteps that strike the floor are small, and light. But as they approach us, the walls and pillars and windows all around us seem to hold their breath. / 'Well you invited me,' Valentine says, 'don't remember you inviting /them/.' / 'And who is this?' Ganymar asks. / 'Oh,' the stranger says,... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/146.html |
| 07. the winter meadows: 147 | 'and to my family, I will always be Venice. But when I become something else, / 'Venice must disappear.' http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/147.html |
| 08. wastelands: 148 | Once upon a time, a boy was named after a city. When he grew up, he gave himself a new name; and the city was forgotten. / But if you remember the child that he was, you may also remember the city... / 'Could stop /changing/??' Valentine asks. / 'Sorry,' the Serpent says. 'You keep running away..... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/148.html |
| 08. wastelands: 149 | 'Well I naturally run away from GIANT SNAKES COMING OUT OF THE WATER,' Valentine says. 'And before that, you brought an army with you! / 'I mean, whatever shape you are, you're always my bro... / 'But are you on my side?' / The Serpent clears his throat. 'My dear golems,' he says. 'I am aware that... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/149.html |
| 08. wastelands: 150 | 'Serpent,' Ganymar says, 'we have been kind enough to accept your invitation to this wasteland. /I/ vote we get on with it.' / 'Oh, as /if/!' Valentine says indignantly. 'You just wait til we send you packin--' / 'I called them to come,' the Serpent says. / Silence follows, loud as thunder after lightning.... http://invisiblecities.comicgenesis.com/150.html |