(Haven’t read any of Solus yet? First off, shame on you. Second, let’s start with Chapter 1)
[Paul’s Log – Day 702]
Fingernails are a very strange. They’re like small pieces of plastic extending from the tips of your hands.
That’s a simile. Comparing my fingernails to plastic. Some would say it’s a metaphor. Up until last month, I would have thought it was a metaphor, but thanks to my words of the week, I now know what both similes and metaphors are.
A metaphor is more of a direct comparison. Like saying…the leaves are…hair and the branches are the head. Using ‘like’ or ‘as’ to connect the words is a simile. The leaves are like hair on trees…
Hmmm…let me try this again.
There was this song on Earth of the Past by a band…The Bugs…or something similar to that. The song was called “I am the Walrus”. That’s a metaphor. The singer wasn’t actually a walrus, but he said he was as an illustration.
Elsewhere in the song, it says “see how they run like pigs from a gun”. That’s a simile. Just like my fingernails being like plastic.
On Earth of the Past, it was common for women to actually have plastic fingernails over-top of their real ones. That fascinates me. What was the purpose? I would imagine that having longer, plastic fingernails coming out of your hands would make your fingertips less useful.
Perhaps they were used as defensive weapons? Apparently males on Earth of the Past were sometimes overly aggressive. Why not make them out of metal then? That would certainly be more effective.
If you were going to use plastic, you might as well just grow out your natural fingernails. They’re certainly just as durable. They’re really amazing when you think about it. I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve been looking at my hand the past 15 minutes.
There was a wedding tonight. Gil and Marie, our record keepers and historians. Though everything is well known here among ourselves, they catch every detail you’d never have thought to think about it.
“If we don’t learn from the past, we’ll repeat the past,” Gil always says. I don’t think he came up with that phrase, but he says it as though he did.
They take notes on everything. They take pictures of new buildings. They’ve written out detailed descriptions of all of the previous weddings.
“We’ve only taken so long to get married,” Marie said, “because we’ve been too caught up in your lives to think about our own.”
Everyone laughed at that.
“Is someone writing this down?” Gil added.
The crowd laughed more.
“Bram probably will later,” I said, “But it will be so dense and cryptic, you wouldn’t know what he was actually talking about.”
Tiberius, Nova, and Vern were in tears after I said that. The rest of the laughter was more nervous. Though I did catch Sarah laughing pretty heavily until her husband looked at her. Her face quickly went plain and she turned to the ground.
Weddings are one of the only times we have alcohol here on Providence. From what I understand, whoever sent us here was hesitant to mention alcohol at all, much less provide us with the means to make it, but it was assumed we’d figure out how to make it sooner or later anyway.
Alcohol was often a problem on Earth of the Past. People consumed too much or had it too regularly, and it would harm their bodies or cause them to harm others.
I don’t understand that. I feel great after a little bit of it. I still feel great right now. If my thoughts seem more scattered than usual, you could blame it on the alcohol, I suppose.
But that’s fine. Everyone was partaking tonight, with the exception of Synthea. She did at the previous weddings and was having a great time then. I am not sure why she wouldn’t now.
Regardless, it was a great time. We told stories and ate and laughed. Normally, weddings, outside of the alcohol, are not my favorite of events. Seeing the couples talk about their love for each other and why they’ve decided to make their bond official, it’s like a person is kicking me in my stomach.
Simile.
The way Gil and Marie talked about it was different. How their coming together is just another note in history that will go on to impact future history in some ways, but not in others. Just one choice in a grand scheme of choices. And I thought about how I have choices, and maybe in some other way, I could impact future history too.
I liked that idea.
Then we danced. And drank more alcohol.
Originally, we’ve only just had wine, but Able and Synthea managed to craft ‘beer’ for this event as well based on some research they had been doing. And today, I discovered I quite enjoy beer. Maybe I did on Earth of the Past as well.
Nova, it seemed, enjoyed beer even more that I. While the dancing was still going, he had decided to sit down for a while. This led to an interesting turn of events. It was at the point of the dance where it was all slow music and the couples typically danced with each other.
I had been sitting to the side, thinking of how I could impact history when I saw her coming towards me. Stellar.
She was wearing this brown dress that seemed to fit the curves of her frame perfectly. Her dark blonde hair was elegantly weaved up a cylinder like shape on the back of her head. One long strand hung from the right side of her, spiraling as it went.
“Nova is sitting this one out,” she said. “Would you like to stand in?”
I struggled to form words.
“Come on, just one dance.”
“I don’t know how to dance like this,” I had said.
She smiled in such a way that had I been standing, I certainly would have fallen over. “Then I’ll show you.”
She reached out her hand, and I took it. She pulled me towards the dance floor. Once there, she turned to me, took my other hand as well, and placed both of them on the sides of her hips where they rested. She then put her hands on my shoulders, clasping her hands behind my neck.
We swayed side to side, stepping in time to the music. I looked around us as we slowly turned. The sun was setting and torches had been set up around the area. The flames burned, bending gently in the breeze. Everything felt beautiful and magical, and I started to understand why Bram and Sarah talked the way they did.
I even felt a little bad for the joke I had made earlier as I thought of a thousand ways this moment could be described.
And I wanted it to last forever.
But the song came to an end, and Stellar slipped her hands from my shoulders. I stepped back, and she took a hold of my hands. I looked down at them, our finger tips together. My blood ran hot under my skin.
“Thanks for dancing with me,” she said, giggling. Then she let go and went over to Nova.
“Anytime…” I said to myself, still standing there.
Everyone went home shortly after, Gil and Marie going to their newly joined rooms. I had helped with the reconstruction the day before.
And to everyone else except perhaps the newlyweds, it was just another wedding on Providence. For me though…something is different. Maybe there’s something more I could be. I don’t just have to be the unaccompanied. I could be…the walrus.
Whatever that means.
[end log]
Is anyone reading this? I’d love to know what you think so far.
