* * * * *
Sandy Bigelow leaned back in the ox-cart as she struggled to write in her journal.
"Dear Grandpa:
I know it will be sometime (if ever) before I see you, again. And, there's certainly no way to mail this to you from here! But, I've seen so many strange and wonderful things since our arrival here, last night, that I can think of only one way to cathartically wrap my head around it. So, here goes."
"First of all; time passes by on this parallel-Earth at the same relative pace as it does on ours. Ergo; none of those 'one day/one century' ratios that were so much a part of some of the European folk tales you used to tell me as bedtime stories. We arrived at night, as I said. So, Lucy, John, Michael, Martin, and I were guided by some of Toray's people to a communal dining hall."
"Oh! Did I forget to mention that the six of us materialized within a torch-lit underground chamber? It's true! Michael instantly identified it, to me, as the Aperture-generating chamber of the Master Parentian Temple in Cerulea. Imagine an SG1-style Star Gate, in the basement of the Vatican, and you might get the idea!"
"I was a little disoriented, at first. But, that quickly cleared up once I had something to focus on. And, in my case, it was a couple of Toray's fellow Azulings. Imagine it, Grandpa; actual blue-skinned people wearing hooded monastic robes!"
"I'd probably still be rudely staring if Michael hadn't smilingly waved his left hand in front of my unblinking eyes. Thereby snapping me out of my self-induced trance (lol!)."
"In any event, we ate a late-evening meal in the communal dining room. There, I learned a little more about the Parentian faith. First off; if I had to make a comparison, I'd say it's a lot like Roman Catholicism might be if Egyptian Atenism had survived to the time of the Ptolemies..."
"...and become the state religion of Rome through Cleopatra's marriage to Julius Caesar."
"The architecture is a little Greco-Egyptian, as well. And, instead of making crosses in the air, when they bless their food and drink, the clerics draw the shape of an ankh! But, not all of them carry those pyramid-shaped parahedrons. Apparently, those are only given out to Siblings of higher rank ('Sibling' being the gender-neutral equivalent of 'Brother' or 'Sister,' here)."
"They're also a little more tolerant than some early Christians were. For example; they don't abduct the children of other races and try to convert them through physical and mental abuse (like, say, we used to do to Native Americans). Instead, they merely gently preach--and offer to teach--their faith to the other two races. Yet, so far, the only ones who've accepted are certain open-minded Wotani."
"Like Sibling Willek (John's real name)."
"Blind as he is, he gets around more ably than any sighted person I've ever met. Even without his Seeing Eye dog, Lorraine! And, after we finished eating, he led us to the guest quarters for a good night's sleep. Some Parentian temples doubling as over-night hostelries (similar to the Monastery of St. Bernard in Switzerland)."
"Now, we're on our way to the Patriarchal Palace of Cerulea. You should see this place, Grandpa! You'd have a field day. Cerulea is the capital city of the Azulings. Apparently occupying the same geographical space, on this world, that Atlantic City, New Jersey, does on ours. Assuming, of course, you could picture Atlantic City as one big Renaissance Fair!"
"As for the Patriarch, himself? He's the ruler of all the Azulings. Sort of like a cross between the Pope and an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. And Michael says were approaching the palace's main gate, now! So, I've got to go now, Grandpa. I want to do a little last-minute primping in order to make myself a little more presentable."
"Yours truly:
Your loving granddaughter, Sandy."
THE END
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
Preview of volume 2/chapter 1.