The Presence Of Being - a MrC CJ - The End

[hamsterTK 93]

those are some big pumpkins, a lot of them too. I wonder what they do with all those?

Anyways, here's to Garis and hoping she's not just a flirt

[MrCinatit 30]

Each night before bed, Garis watched the stars with wonder.

     Were The Stars really the creators of all? Was he looking at a million Sols, millions of miles away? Why did some move so fast, he could track their moves each night?

     Luna was out tonight, casting her faint light on the valley. According to the elders, Luna was one of The Stars – fainter, yet more powerful.

     It was quiet and beautiful at night. His town was still alight, but soon it would be dark as all fell asleep.

     Here and there, the lights began to dim, until the entire valley was thrown into complete darkness. He loved these times – he felt so alone, yet so in touch with everything that existed.

     As he was about to turn in, a bright light in the sky caught his eye.

     It was to the east, on the horizon, and grew brighter and brighter until it seemed the whole valley was aflame.

     He watched in amazement as a great flame moved slowly across the sky – so bright, it buried the surrounding stars in its light.

     It seemed a roar accompanied it, though it was faint enough it did not wake the city.

     Finally, it disappeared to the west.

     For many moments, Garis stared in amazement. He had never seen such a sight. Nothing like this had ever been told.

     As he wondered about it, The Stars grew dim as the night’s rains gently soaked the ground.

     Garis fell asleep, still wondering.

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor

fire_bird - That is quite all right, no one is required to post...unless I pay them .

A month ago, I decided to copy and paste all of the pictures and text from Stranded into a Word document - in all, it is 1422 pages and 191 MegaBytes. That is a pretty good chunk!

hamsterTK - They make pumpkin pie - really big pumpkin pies!

Thanks for looking in, folks, it is appreciated.

And as always, comments, critiques and questions are not only welcome, but appreciated and most encouraged.

Take care.

[hamsterTK 93]

Cool!

Wonder what that thing was?

Reminds of once I was out goose hunting with my dad early one morning. All of a sudden this bright light flies over us and explodes before it hits the ground, the little pieces flickering out.

[The boy formerly known as Evil Muzz 27]

This is such a cool story! I've never got into a stroy based CJ before, but you have a real talent for it!

[Firebird 40]

Thats one big story! I think you write a bit too much.

Hmm, what could the flame be? A ship perhaps? Cant wait till the next update.

[jacqulina 162]

awesome updates as allways mrc,those night shots are amazing the colours are fantastic,i love the story and the pics that go with the story,nice building work you have done

[Narya 14]

Wonderfull two updates! The pictures look great and the story is absolutly fanthastic. Wonderful! Interesting... Luna... in my country luna is moon. Anyhow, you are doing very very nice work here and I like it very much! Looking foward for more! BTW. Dont worry about that building. I am bad at naming stuff also.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

Knowing you, that was a flying pig.

Hehe, couldn't resist.

The city town village looks pretty good.

[Shanna 1]

Very nice pics with wonderful colours!!! I like your story, really charming: Luna is just a sweet name!

[homeandaway 1]

Thats very cool my friend and i so cant wait for more...luna and garis...lovely names!.

take care

~Alex~

[MrCinatit 30]

The next morning, Garis and Bistrom worked in the pumpkin fields.

     “The light…it seemed to bath the landscape in a gold light,” Garis explained.

     “The stars work in strange ways,” Bistrom said. He crouched and pulled a weed out of the ground. “But, they certainly did give us a hearty rain last night.”

     Garis nodded. “Yes they did,” he said absent-mindedly.

     Bistrom looked up from his work. “Perhaps you should tell the scholars of this,” he said. “I can tell it bothers you.”

     Garis sighed and agreed.

     That afternoon, he went to the Tower of Learning, where he met with Chance-Yorh.

     Chance-Yorh shook his head. “This does not sound like any of the stars.”

     Garis shook his head as well. “It did not look like a star.”

     “Every once in a while, an object will enter our atmosphere, burning…”

     “Yes. A meteor. I have seen them.” Garis shook his head. “That is not it.”

     Chance-Yorh rubbed his fingers through his beard slowly. “There are ancient tales of great, flying, fire-breathing beasts in the outside world…”

     “Dragons!” Garis said with a slight gasp.

     The professor slowly nodded. “Yes. Dragons.”

     “Will…it attack?”

     “Dragons do not attack unless provoked.” He raised his eyebrows. “You did not provoke the dragon last night, did you?” he asked with a broad grin.

     Garis smiled. “No. I did not.”

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor

Hey guys, I hate to do this, but I will have to do responses later - I am doing this on the fly as I get ready to go to work.

However...

Thanks for looking in, folks, it is appreciated.

And as always, comments, critiques and questions are not only welcome, but appreciated and most encouraged.

Take care.

[Schulmanator 5,815]

This is a compelling CJ. I am enjoying the story and the pix. Thanks for sharing this with us!

[mayormommy 8]

Did somebody say dragons? 

*ears perk up* 

My son and I watched the old movie "Dragonslayer" a few weeks ago. I didn't remember how good it was, but it was fun to watch through fresh (and slightly dragon-obsessed) eyes. Love the tower you've got there - modern but serious looking.

[SpecialEddie 3]

*bright light burns through the sky*

Hey look! 

*bends towards the ground*

A quarter!

But seriously, I'm really into this story, the little chapters of the story are really quick and enjoyable to read. But those are some gigantic pumpkins!

[MrCinatit 30]

Finally.....responses (sorry, no real update today):

hamsterTK - That sounds pretty cool actually - almost sounds like a meteor, but since I wasn't there...

The boy formerly known as Evil Muzz - I am glad to hear I have pulled you into "the dark side of CJing"

fire_bird - Yes, Stranded was a big story...I am not sure if this one will be able to catch up with that. As for the light...we might find out...eventualy.

jacqulina - Thanks very much...I like the night shots, as well - in fact, I seem to like city night shots over daylight ones.

Narya - Yep, Luna would be the moon - as Gaia stands for "Earth" and Sol is "sun." Some may remember the ship from Stranded was called The Gaia - which was kind of a huge hint that no one  seemed to get However, in this case, we are on Earth. Where...and when...well...that is something we will find out as time goes on.

Shadow_Assassin - Well, shoot, time to change the plot line a little bit. I didn't think I was getting so predictable that you guys would be able to figure it was a flying pig after only a couple pictures. *sigh* I must be losing my touch lol

Shanna - Thanks very much - the bright colors are kind of growing on me, as well.

homeandaway - Thanks very much, though Luna is not an invention of mine. Garis...all from my disturbed little mind

MrCinatit - shaddap

Schulmanator - Actually, it is all my pleasure...believe me, I do this for fun.

mayormommy - It has been ages since I've seen Dragonslayer...I seem to remember liking it a lot, and should grab it. BTW, no dragons have been hurt in the filming of this city journal.

SpecialEddie - Great...great...here I thought I had this original idea of a pig flying through the air carrying a quarter, and already it has been figured out! Dag nab it!    Seriously, thanks for the compliment on the story - I have been trying to keep this one quicker and shorter (in other words...less gabby). Seems to be working so far.

More updates coming soon.

[jacqulina 162]

i seemed to have missed a very scenic update,i love the water and bridge pic its very beautifull,yes i love night shots very much they are allways very pretty

[hamsterTK 93]

dragons?

well then its a good thing it didnt explode in the atmosphere like the thing I saw did. Dragon guts ewwww....

And yeah, that thing was really cool. I wish I knew what it was. I think it was either a rock or russian junk. 

[Livin in Sim 83]

Hello, MrCinatit,

I am enjoying the style of your story. I think a certain type of story goes best with illustrations from the game. This one is simply written, yet very engaging. The idea of daily life in the unspoiled and unsophisticated village is interesting. The unique, colorful features of the landscape, and your combination of buildings compliment the story. You're right, they grow on you. This would be a story that a person would love reading to a child because of it pulling you, the reader, in as well.

I'm glad I got in on your project, MrC.

--Liv

[urbanculture 0]

Oh my, THIS CJ JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER. SPECTACULAR WORK!!

Check out my new CJ: Bluecrest, Alberta, Canada

[Voulpiotis 4]

Dragons? Eh? That's a new SC4 world! Great pics by the way. Looking forward to new updates!

[1dera3 29]

Simply beautiful, and a nice place to put my 500th post. Can I nickname it Elf World?

[MrCinatit 30]

Occasionally, Garis would stay up late enough to see the nightly rains. Sometimes, he would venture into the streets, to feel the waters from the sky.

     Tonight was such a night.

     The rains had not come yet. They were still an hour away. But, he could feel the moisture in the air.

     The streets were quiet. All were asleep.

     Some lights remained on.

     He walked the docks, one of his favorite sections of the town.

     A swift, moist breeze wrapped its way through the wooden buildings and over the river. It caused the waves in the river to lap a little higher.

     It was strange, he thought to himself, because the wind did not usually blow so briskly.

     The next night, he sat at his window, looking at the stars. The clouds on the horizon were slowly gathering.

     One of the distant clouds grew bright, and then grew dim again.

     He had never seen anything like that before. Strange, he thought to himself.

     But the next night, he saw it again. And the night after. And the night after.

     And the night after. But this time, a long, distant rumble followed the flash of light. He had never heard anything like that before. Strange, he thought to himself. He wondered if it were the dragon – or if there even was a dragon.

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsors

jacqulina - Nope, I don't think you have missed any updates (of course, I always have this paranoia that I have skipped an update - I always do these far ahead of time and pre-post them in a private forum)

hamsterTK - There is nothing - and I mean nothing - worse than cleaning up after a dragon when it has exploded in mid-air. It's amazing what those things eat!

Livin in Sim - Wow, thank you very much - and, indeed, I have been going for a very simplistic, almost fairy-tale type story here. I am glad to see it has been successful - btw, I like your screen name. lol

urbanculture - thanks very much

Voulpiotis - Yes...now I have to search the STEX for an appropriate dragon BAT...and figure out a good place to plop it without it burning down the entire region

1dera3 - thank you, and congrats on # 500 - it would seem you use your posts wisely, since you have been here for only a couple months later than me...either that, or I am very gabby lol

Thanks much for looking in, folks, it is much appreciated.

And as always, comments, critiques and questions are not only appreciated, but quite welcome and encouraged.

Take care.

[Shadow Assassin 336]

I wonder if dragons could be used as er, air carriers. Flying on a dragon would be ah, interesting.

But this is quite interesting. Will we see some of your quirky humour in this story?

[MrCinatit 30]

Forever and a day, a light, healthy rain had fallen on the village every night. It was an everyday event, like waking up, Sol rising, Sol setting and going to sleep.

     That night, it did not rain. It did not rain the night after that.

     Still, the clouds gathered on the horizon, lighting up occasionally, followed by a low rumble only Garis could hear, since he was the only one who stayed awake that late.

     None of the others had seen the lights in the sky, and none had heard the rumblings.

     “There are some who doubt your sanity,” Bistrom said quietly as they walked slowly into town. A bell rung in the middle of town. He sighed slowly. “It is about time.”

     Garis nodded. He shook his head. “I understand why others are skeptical. I only wish others stayed up as late as I have.”

     Mary walked pass the two. “Hello, Bistrom,” she said, semi-cheerfully. She looked at Garis with sad eyes, but a smile still on her face. “Hello, Garis.”

     “Hello, Mary,” the two said in unison.

     A crowd had gathered near the steps of the Hall of the Elders.

     A man stood at the top of the steps, a solemn look on his face. Three others stood to his side. One of the men had his hands tied behind his back.

     The man alone, the town mayor, spoke. “Timous, son of Gertrude and Melbourne, you have been found guilty of thievery, where you have willfully broken the window of the Hartford house for the soul reason of revenge. With this, we carry out the punishment of banishment from our valley forever. Have you any final words?”

     The tied-up man looked around the crowd, searching for a friendly face. Most eyes looked to the ground, while a few looked at him in ire.

     “Well…I…I…” he looked around some more, then his eyes fell to the ground. “I guess no.”

     “So be it,” the mayor said. “May you be banished from the valley forever, never to return.”

     Slowly, he was lead to the docks, where a boat waited for him. He was put on the boat, the rope on his wrists cut, and then the rope tied to the shore was severed.

     For several moments, Timous watched the crowd, as the current carried the boat. Finally, he turned, unfurled the sails, and led the boat away from the town forever.



And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor

Shadow_Assassin - Oh, you can bet that some humor will be coming out later (when we get out of the valley).

Thanks for looking in, folks, it is appreciated.

And as always, comments, critiques and questions are not only appreciated, but welcome and appreciated.

Take care.

[GreekMan 246]

Great Pics MrC.!!!!

[collgab 10]

Nice pics mrC. cant wait for more!

[jacqulina 162]

hi MRC,how are you,i comment in so many cjs that im allways paranoid iv missed one or two,but now if i do they send me a pm asking where i am,am i ok,when are you popping in to my cj plz lol,i dont mind its sort of a reminder for me lol,i do so like to encourage the new cjers,

anyway going back on topic your update,as allways i love the story,i made my coffee first then i read lol,got to be comfy,i like how you have done the fishing village,the boats are very nice,i do like those little houses ,the colours around the village are very pretty,excellent water shot with the piers and fishing houses.i love the last pic with the little boat racing to shore.another awesome storry installment and work and pics.take care 

[Livin in Sim 83]

Hi, MrC,

I think the pleasing, contented, cookie cutter sameness is about to be upset.  The wind is blowing more, there are rumblings and flashes and the dragon/comet-like thing in the night sky, the rains have stopped.  (I can identify with the unease that causes.)  What could be the explanation for these changes?  Could it be some manmade contraption out there beyond the horizon, or a natural wonder?  Is it in the general direction that Timous (was he given a trial?) is heading?  Have there been others such as he?  Have they somehow survived and banded together?  Will Garis be banished because of "insanity", or will Timous' departure trigger a wanderlust and eventual quest?  These are the questions that arise and will no doubt be answered in time.  No rush, the trip is quite diverting.

About your comment on the nick, I had thought of "Simily" (have we metaphor?) but it was taken, tho I've never seen it.  This was my second idea, so thanks.

--Liv

[Schulmanator 5,815]

Another nice update. I like the boats on the water --add some pleasant eye candy to an a;ready easy on the eyes CJ!

[hamsterTK 93]

This is feeling almost like a RPG

Will Garis run off and join Timous's party? or is Timous's boat going to crash on the supposed rapids that purportedly exist on the outskirts of the valley? anyways , they need a hot archer babe. That would be so sweet

makes you wonder about the many others who have been cast out of the valley. I figure the elders must know something, but that to the rest of the village they are being sent out into an unsurvivable wasteland to their doom. Either way I doubt there is a big pile of bones outside the community.