194908
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194908 [2016/02/19 15:13] – kennettj | 194908 [2016/02/19 15:30] – [The Fence] kennettj | ||
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The little township whose neighbouring rocks you were to investigate was left behind; by nightfall you were camped miles away, in a lonely little gorge, beside a clear, cold stream, oddly aloof in its sound. Ironbark shadowed the camping place; there were among them a few dead trees, with fantastically twisted limbs, stabbing sharply into the silver-blue of a winter sky, and creaking unexpectedly in the still air. | The little township whose neighbouring rocks you were to investigate was left behind; by nightfall you were camped miles away, in a lonely little gorge, beside a clear, cold stream, oddly aloof in its sound. Ironbark shadowed the camping place; there were among them a few dead trees, with fantastically twisted limbs, stabbing sharply into the silver-blue of a winter sky, and creaking unexpectedly in the still air. | ||
The little white tent - a symbol of independence and isolation - was dwarfed more than ever when | The little white tent - a symbol of independence and isolation - was dwarfed more than ever when | ||
- | that first warming five of your own was lit. It was oneself against - | + | that first warming five of your own was lit. It was oneself against - or held within - a boundless universe. |
- | or held within - a boundless universe. | + | |
- | A mood of high elation lighted your steps the next morning. The crisp yellowed grasses crackled with frost; you set out with a wild and ancient chant - | + | A mood of high elation lighted your steps the next morning. The crisp yellowed grasses crackled with frost; you set out with a wild and ancient chant - I am the overlord of the hills and the high places, |
- | HI am the overlord of the hills and the high places, | + | |
And it is the frozen breath of the mountains that I seize and make into words. | And it is the frozen breath of the mountains that I seize and make into words. | ||
- | Everything was an excitement; the gold brocaded lustre | + | Everything was an excitement; the gold brocaded lustre |
You went up again and scrambled through the railway fence, in no way cast down by the incident. In this mood, even fences were endurable; after all, they were useful in checking directions, since most of them ran either north-south or east-west. | You went up again and scrambled through the railway fence, in no way cast down by the incident. In this mood, even fences were endurable; after all, they were useful in checking directions, since most of them ran either north-south or east-west. | ||
- | + | The cold was so exhilarating, | |
- | The cold was so exhilarating, | + | |
The light imperceptibly lessened, until at last you realised, with a slight shock, that it was quite dark. Perhaps not quite; the bush itself had a luminous quality, with ghost-white trunks helped by the glow of stars. But your torch with its bulb broken by the fall down the cutting was useless. It would be suicidal to retrace your steps down that gorge in the dark. It must be at least five miles in a direct line across country bock to camp: you hoped it would be over merely undulating ground with no unexpected creeks to cross. That didn't sound too bad; but you were already tired and cold, with forty pounds of laboriously-gathered specimens on your back; and as you tried to keep a constant direction, stumbling over boulder-strewn ground, a growing fear was mounting at the base of your brain. Useless to try to argue yourself out of it (that a night out doesn' | The light imperceptibly lessened, until at last you realised, with a slight shock, that it was quite dark. Perhaps not quite; the bush itself had a luminous quality, with ghost-white trunks helped by the glow of stars. But your torch with its bulb broken by the fall down the cutting was useless. It would be suicidal to retrace your steps down that gorge in the dark. It must be at least five miles in a direct line across country bock to camp: you hoped it would be over merely undulating ground with no unexpected creeks to cross. That didn't sound too bad; but you were already tired and cold, with forty pounds of laboriously-gathered specimens on your back; and as you tried to keep a constant direction, stumbling over boulder-strewn ground, a growing fear was mounting at the base of your brain. Useless to try to argue yourself out of it (that a night out doesn' | ||
- | The panic grew, and befuddled your mind so completely that all sense of direction was lost; you gave up and simply let your feet, sensitive to every conformation of the ground in their softsoled, much worn shoes, carry you where they liked. Then, strangely, you realiped | + | The panic grew, and befuddled your mind so completely that all sense of direction was lost; you gave up and simply let your feet, sensitive to every conformation of the ground in their soft soled, much worn shoes, carry you where they liked. Then, strangely, you realised |
194908.txt · Last modified: 2016/02/19 15:37 by kennettj