Too late, Dabbler's Original (that's me) realized what was happening. Was this JigSaw's vengeance, to doom my Avatar (and his) to terminal Characterization in the AddVenture? I wondered if I should write them both out of it, but was reluctant to spike a plot, and besides, what it JigSaw just wrote them back in? Losing my own Avatar would be bad enough, but to forever lose the opportunity to write his as an oversexed doofus as well? Unthinkable! Nothing's more fun than writing JigSaw... Not that writing him as a girl isn't fun too, but--
Hey, am I thinking on screen here? Shame on me! Back to the plot...
Daniel Blair and Justine Sawyer were relieved to reach camp again, having been lost for ever so long. Both were tired, so they decided to skip supper. Instead, Daniel added wood to the nearly extinguished campfire while Justine got their sleeping backs out of the Landrover and shook them out. They were old fashioned sleeping bags that could be zipped together into one big sleeping bag, not one of those modern, over-light fluffy flourescent things. She zipped them together and set them down near the fire. Then the two shed their clothes and got in, snuggling together and letting the fire take out the chill of the night. Of course, one thing led to another, and...
They fell asleep. Hey, what did you expect, a sex fest? These two are dog tired, give 'em a break!
As they drifted deeper and deeper into sleep they dreamed, and the dreams they had were much the same.
Daniel dreamed that he was cut off from the source of all life, and doomed to existence as a normal human being. Unless he could find his center, reach out to the infinite, and harness his inner Author, he would never regain the superhuman powers that made life truly worth living. It was something like a novel by A. E. Van Vogt or Roger Zelazny.
Justine's dream was even more disturbing. She thought she was a man, an Arabian sheikh with a harem of women, each more gorgeous than the last, whom he could enjoy whenever he wanted. All of them adored him and catered to his every whim. He was happy. Then a flaming red dragon woman burned into this idyllic scene, and he forgot his devoted wives, losing all sight of them in pursuit of this new conquest. But the dragon woman belonged to another, an ominous goddess of immense power and absolutely no sense of humor. So besotted was the sheikh, however, that he would dare even her wrath. As his desire flared, so did his own strength, until it seemed to him he was the equal of the goddess. Then the dragon woman was taken away from them both, wafted away and hidden as if behind a veil. Angered, he took the goddess instead, and yet it was if it was not him doing it, but another, shadowy figure...
In the wake of godlike ectasy, the sheikh realized he had sinned. The goddess turned away from him in disgust. Looking around him, he found himself back in his old harem, but his wives rejected him, looking on him with loathing and fear. He cried out, and his manhood diminished. He became a eunuch, he thought, and then worse, a woman himself... Who had done this to her? Who was the shadowy figure behind her sin? It was as if the veil that had wafted away the dragon woman was now blinding her own eyes. Reaching up, she tore it away, to see a man smiling at her evilly, and that man was... Daniel?
She woke up screaming, sitting bolt upright before the fire, now burning low again. The paleness of predawn dimmed the stars in the eastern sky.
"What?" asked Daniel. "What is it?"
Justine passed a hand over her eyes. "A dream," she said. "Only a dream. But it seemed so real..."
"Yeah, I had one too, it was like I was a superhero or something, but I misused my power and was condemned to being normal."
"Mine was weird, I was a man and I raped someone, so I was turned into a woman. But it wasn't even my fault, somehow..."
"That's strange, all right. I don't suppose the court bought that excuse, though..."
"It wasn't a court, I think I condemned myself or something, but this is where it gets scary, because in my dream it was your fault, and yet I condemned myself to being with you!"
Daniel looked serously weirded out. "Hey, hon, I know we've had our problems, but surely being with me isn't a punishment..."
Justine shuddered. "No, of course not, it was only a dream..." She snuggled close to him for comfort.
There was a faint but insistant beeping. Justine turned to Daniel angrilly. "I thought you left that pager at home! Christ, Daniel, can't you leave your work at work for just one weekend?"
Daniel frowned. "I thought I did too. Help me find it, we'll turn it off."
They rummaged around in the sleeping back, trying to find the device, but before they could, it was replaced by a faint voice--
"Dabbler? Dabbler, honey? Where are you? It's late, and I'm worried."
"Dabbler?" Daniel and Justine cried, together. "But that was the name in my dream--" They did a double take, and looked at each other. "The name in your dream?" they chorused.
"Dabbler, is that you? Please answer, it's Dolly."
Justine's eyes lit with jealousy. "Dolly? Just who is this 'Dolly,' Danny?"
Daniel frowned. "I--I'm not sure, the thoughts I'm having are conflicting, but I think--my mother? No, that can't be right..."
Suddenly Justine laughed. "Hey, you know who it--no, impossible! But it sounds just like Dolly Parton -- you know, the Country singer?"
"But I've never even liked country music," Daniel protested.
"What do you mean, you love country music!"
"Dabbler, if you're there, please answer me, I can't quite seem to get a fix on your coordinates..."
"I must still be dreaming," Daniel muttered. "But if it's a dream, why not go with it?" He raised his voice. "I'm, uh, here, Dolly. Uh -- where are you?"
"More to the point," Justine muttered, still rumaging in the sleeping bag, "where's that pager? Whoops!"
"That's not my pager, Justine!"
Justine turned red. "Sorry, sorry, I know it isn't..."
Mon Jun 11 10:00:45 2001
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