Seconds to the drop but it feels like hours...

Nothing to report. The current tenant is not demonstrating any particular haste to vacate the premises, despite nigh-constant bitching about the lack of space.

I am very tired.

FAQs and Other Crap I'm Sick of Dealing With

1. Due date is November 23. Order may be delayed due to imprecise dating methods, first-time jitters, or congenital tardiness inherited from both parents.

2. No, we don't know what gender it is, and at this point in history it shouldn't make a damn bit of difference. So STOP ASKING.

3. No, we don't have a name picked out yet. The naming office is not accepting any additional submissions at this time.

4. Just because I'm eagerly awaiting the birth of my own child doesn't mean I'm interested in hearing about / seeing pictures of / making stupid noises at someone else's, particularly if I don't know them and I've got work to do.

5. Just because my body is currently slightly preoccupied with growing another human being doesn't mean I'm incapable of carrying on a conversation about some other topic.

6. If you don't know me, don't even think about touching my belly if you want to keep that hand.

7. The Alien reference was funny the first half-dozen times. Now? Not so much.

8. Thank you - I wouldn't have noticed I was "as big as a house" unless you pointed it out. Placenta brain, you know. And no, it's not twins. I think the ultrasound would have picked that up pretty early.

Walked Through the Fire With a Ten-Headed Lion (Mage)

The tea was strong like whoa, but it was icy-cold so I just knocked it back. The guy stood there grinning at me, so I finally got a little ticked off about it and asked him what the heck his problem was.

"How are you feeling?"

"I dunno. Less thirsty. A little cooler. Why?"

"Oh... just wait. You'll see."

Then he just wandered off. I was starting to think that while Median and Fata and most of their crew were okay, this guy was kind of a jackass.

* * * * * * * *

"Fuck me."

Median glances at Phenex quizzically.

"What, right now?"

"No... shit. Something's happening. Where's Rosemary?"

"Went to get a drink at Lemonhead's... Phenex, what the fuck, man?"

He's on his feet and heading towards the lemonade vendor.

"Something's wrong. She's starting to spike, but it's all fucked up. Did you give her anything?"

Median steps back at the sudden fury in his voice.

"No... I wasn't even going to bring it up until tomorrow night when they light the Man up. Phenex, what's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. Get Inri."

He staggers off, trying not to grit his teeth. Rosemary's broadcasting static, but there's a steadily rising shriek of psychic feedback underneath.

* * * * * * * *

Sunset sure looks pretty tonight - it never looks that good in pictures. And the clouds look like big poufs of cotton candy like they used to have at the church fair.

I sure hope my dad doesn't find me.

Don't want to think about that. Think about something else. Go watch the stilt-walkers. That was fun.

"IAO! EVOHE!"

What?

Why are all these people staring at me? Guy comes up to me, dancing kind of jerky like a puppet. He's wearing black tights with glittery skeleton bones painted on it. The glitter shows up nice in the redgold sunset light.

"Glory to thee from gilded tomb!"

That was weird. Is it just me or are people generally acting really weird tonight?

Maybe it's me. Everything's starting to look kind of wobbly, like it's underwater. Hope I don't have heatstroke. Maybe I should go back to the van and have some water - I don't think that tea's sitting right with me.

Crackle from someone's huge sound system makes her jump, and the noise creates faultlines that radiate outwards from the point of origin. The landscape holds for a moment in a brittle mosaic of hairline fractures, and then

everything

shatters.

"Glory to thee from waiting womb!"

The lady (?) is bright green - ivy waving up her arms and legs and she's wearing a toga-looking thing, only I can't see her face properly. Her belly is glowing bright pink and fading dark to bright like a heartbeat.

"How do you do that?"

Funny looks again. That didn't sound right. Maybe I should sit down.

How Much Reality Can You Take? (Mage)

Inri finds her just after sunset, poking idly at the cooling embers of someone's abandoned campfire.

"Hey - haven't seen you much today."

"Yeah... I've kind of been staying away from camp. I've been thinking about a bunch of things.

"Want to talk about it?"

"I dunno that I can. It's all just so weird. I just needed a little time to figure out what I thought about it, you know?"

"Sort of. I mean, I imagine that a lot of this..." Inri waves her hand vaguely in the direction of the loudest noise at the moment, "seems... wrong? Is that it?"

"No! Well, sort of. Not quite though. It's more like... ever since my mom left, I've been wondering whether she left to get away from Dad, or whether she was trying to get to someplace that felt better for her. I mean, I don't really want to just get married to some guy and have a whole pile of kids, but that's just what you *do* in Gerberville."

"And this almost feels like too many possibilities."

"Yeah. I mean, I ain't going back, but I don't know where I do want to go or what I want to do when I get there. I don't wanna keep you all from doing whatever it was you were going to do after this, but... I got nowhere else to go. And I feel like I'm running out of time, like something's going to happen and I won't have any choice at all once it does. Does that sound totally crazy?"

"Actually, no. No it doesn't. And I don't really know what to tell you, because I don't want to be someone else telling you what you should do. But the fact that you're thinking about it, instead of just trying to avoid it, is probably a good sign. And we're not going to just leave you here or drop you off somewhere in California, because aside from the fact that it would be a really shitty thing to do, we like you. Our plans are open-ended enough that you're not going to be in the way, however long you decide to stick around, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Inri."

"Hey, no problem. You want to head back and cook up some cheese dogs on the fire?"

"Sure. That sounds great."

* * * * * * * *

So after that I felt a little better, even though I still didn't know what I wanted to do. And the big thing, when it happened, just opened things up even more.

But that was later on. We went back and the boys looked relieved to see us, so I guess they did like me, at least enough to worry. And everything looked better after a couple of cheese dogs and a whole mess of s'mores. I felt kind of goopy though, so I got some change out of my purse and went to grab a drink from the lemon-head guy. When I was standing there, though, one of the guys from Fata's camp came up and started talking to me.

"Getting some lemonade, hey?"

Which was kind of a stupid question, since that's all Lemon-head sold, but I suppose he was just making small talk.

"Want some tea instead? Not like hot tea - cold. Like what you had at Fata's the other night."

And all of a sudden that was all I wanted.

[TBC]

General Announcement

This message has been brought to you by Electric Maenad's current inhabitant and the Office of Memes in Questionable Taste.

And No One Forces Down Our Eyes (Mage)

Over half-burnt, half-raw cheese biscuits and poisonously strong coffee the next morning, Phenex studies Median closely. They've known each other since they were kids in Pine Heights in Austin, and he recognizes that look of barely-controlled manic glee. It's the same look he had the night Phenex Awakened, even though at the time he had no idea what the hell Median was grinning about, considering Phenex had just had the shit beaten out of him by a couple of homophobic redneck assholes. Of course, after he saw the state said assholes were in, he felt a little better. And after last night, he's inclined to agree that it's a matter of days, if that, before Rosemary Awakens.

Her aura's already started sparking with the earliest warning signs of psychic nova. He's tried to keep his observations fairly surreptitious - he doesn't want her to catch him staring at her, especially when she doesn't know what he's looking for. She's been watching him cautiously, in that way that white suburbanite kids always seem to watch guys like him. Still, she hasn't been overtly hostile, and considering her relatively narrow reality tunnel to date, she's been handling the whole Burning Man experience pretty well. He's still hoping that Median and Inri find something to distract her this afternoon. Even a lot of the regulars find the Sundance a little grisly.

* * * * * * * *

On the third morning, I went with Inri to a big open space where a crowd of people were doing Tai Ch'i. I found it a little hard at first, mainly because it was so slow and I kept losing my balance, but once I figured out where exactly to put my feet it was a lot easier. Even though it was really slow, it still made my arms and legs ache. After that, we went to the sunshowers - it was real nice to have a cool shower, although I had to trade my favorite pair of earrings. Afterwards, she said she was going to go for a walk. I was already hot again, so I went back to the camp, but Phenex was gone and Median was busy fiddling around with a bunch of computer parts and kept grunting whenever I tried to talk to him. I decided that not moving was making me hotter than walking was, so I wandered off to see if I could find Inri.

I was starting to find it a little easier to get around the place, because there were a lot of really big sculptures or tent complexes that you could use as landmarks, and of course the Man stood right in the middle of it all, so if you could remember which way he was facing from the place you needed to be, all you had to do was walk in a straight line. After a while, I decided to pick a direction and just see how much stuff there was before you ran out of camp and got into the bare desert again.

The people on the outside parts seemed to be a little less sociable than the ones in the middle. They didn't tell me to go away or anything, but they made it pretty clear they weren't really into talking. And then, just before it looked like there wasn't anything else to see, I spotted a tall pole just past a low ridge. I almost missed it with the air all wavy, but I thought I'd have a look see anyway.

It was about the size of a telephone pole and it had a bunch of ropes coming down from the top. There were a bunch of guys dancing around it, holding onto a couple of ropes apiece. A few other guys were pounding on drums and doing this high, wailing chant. They mainly looked like Indians, although they weren't wearing traditional costumes. Matter of fact, they weren't wearing much period.

I saw Phenex about the same time that I realized the guys weren't holding onto the ropes - the ropes were tied to sticks that were stuck right into their chests, and they were all bleeding and still dancing around the pole. Every once in a while, one of them would pull just a little too hard and the sticks would come out and the other guys would all cheer and pour water over the cuts and then rub in some sort of black paste before putting bandages over top. All most of them seemed to want to do afterwards was just lie on the ground - going by the amount of blood all around the pole and all over the dancers, they looked like they'd been going for a while.

I didn't know what to think of that, so I slowly started wandering back to camp. Inri was still gone, and Median was sleeping, so I just sat there doodling in the dirt with a stick. Phenex came back about half an hour after I did, all bandaged up and sweaty.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

He looked down at his chest and then looked at me.

"'Course it hurts. That's why we do it."