Chapter 30

30

Standing knee deep in a creek, I am tripping on acid.

John is too. He bought it from a friend named Peter.

Our fishing trip was proving to be a fruitless adventure. By noon we had been on the creek for three hours and neither of us had landed a single trout. The heat of the day was burning itself into our cheeks, a scaring reminder of our ineptitude.

John produces a bag of sugar cubes.

"Eat some."
"Ok."

I grab three and shove them into my mouth, chewing, not sucking the blocks of cane. He puts the same amount into his system and we both resume fishing.

"Did I ever tell you about the salamanders?"

Suddenly I have lost my pole and with it, my desire to fish.

John has lost his pants and is wading into the creek in only his boxer shorts.

"Legend has it that Salamanders have a history that dates back to the first king and queen of the first civilization of Atlantis."

As he talks I begin wading into the creek, but forget to remove my pants. They've become dirty with the day and could use to be washed.

"Tell me more," I say, dipping my hands into the water and then running my fingers through my hair. "It's so fucking hot out."

"The first king of Atlantis was a horrible man by the name of King Jasper. Ironically enough he forced his kingdom to call him King Jasper the Benevolent, yet gracious the king was not and his constituency referred to him as King Jasper the Gorged.

Now, his wife, Queen Michelle, was a beauty fit for a king. She had long brunette hair and a face that would befit a porcelain doll and unlike his rule, behind closed doors, she was his everything."

As John continued his story he began picking up rocks from he bottom of the creek, examining them closely and then tossing them back into the water. The rocks split the surface and sent ripples throughout my body. "One day, the king, growing bored with his feast of butter, sent his servants to find the greatest magician in the land. Hour later they returned. With them was a peasant.

'I commanded a great magician and your brought me a pauper?' exclaimed the king.

'Sire, if you please, my name is Venice and I am indeed a great magician. If you would be so kind as to allow me a platform I will bring you anything your kingly heart desires.'

'Well Venice, if you speak the truth, there is little a king of my power and accomplishment desires that has not already been granted. However, there is one thing I have always wanted that you may be able to procure.' 'Yes sire, what is it?'

'I have always thought that if I had the Sun I would truly be in complete control of my people. It would be necessary to worship me to live.'

'Oh, my lord,' said Venice, 'you know not of what you speak. I can very well get you the Sun, but within it lies a great and awesome power that will destroy you and all that you hold dear. The Sun is meant to roam free providing for all mankind. Please, take heed and ask for something else.'

'No. I have commanded and so I shall receive. Bring me the Sun or lose your life.'

Venice shook his head, yet had no choice but to comply. So out of his rag of a coat he pulled a golden rope, which he fashioned into a lariat. With a great heave he flung the rope into the sky and lassoed the Sun. Handing the rope to the king Venice gave one last warning and then vanished into thin air.

Weeks passed without incident. The people of Atlantis brought the kind great gifts and he in turn gave them sunlight. But the king soon felt a compulsion and began hording the sun all to himself. Soon he was spending every moment of his day huddling around its warmth. No matter what gifts and gold were left at his door he continued to withhold it. His kingdom and people lived in constant dark.

Queen Michelle also became addicted, spending all day with her husband, clutching too at the sunlight.

A horrible change began to take place the longer the king and queen spent with the Sun. Their skin became tougher, almost like leather, a scaly substance appearing to protect them from the Sun's harmful rays. They began shrinking from the heat and after months of devotion the couple could fit in the palm of your hand. Their eyes became cloudy, devoid of color and whenever they laid them on the Sun a piercing pain shot through their bodies.

The king, finally using kingly judgment, decided to release the Sun to the people of Atlantis who returned it to its proper place in the sky.

However, the damage had been done and King Jasper and Queen Michelle spent the rest of their days hiding from the sunlight."

"Their offspring suffer from the same predicament," John finished. Holding a rock in his hands he flipped it over to reveal a fat little salamander clutching for dear life to the bottom of the creek.