Out |Open|

[Sea]

A dark figure rested herself fully against the ground, back against the soft grass. Two hands were folded beneath her head, touching black dreadlocks. Another two rested on her stomach, lightly clasped together. Dark eyes were closed peacefully, and the quiet being took a deep breath, smelling the scent of earth and plant. A dog of motted blacks and browns lay stretched beside her, white paint-brush tail occasionally twitching in a dream run.

On the girl's other side was something shiny and golden, a saxophone. It remained untouched, and a thick green notebook rested beside it. The girl's tan and green coat flapped lightly in the wind, the tribal print skirts falling loosely about her, spread out comfortably on the ground. The girl looked content, at ease, but awake, all the same. A faint smile decorated the chocolate-brown face. Her legs were crossed casually at the ankles. The green grass about her swayed, moving in waves across the hill upon which the girl rested.

Anantzi was out. Anantzi was at home.

[demonfire]

"And now observe as the lion stalks its resting prey. Blimey!" came a voice with a faux-Australian accent that seemed reminiscent of a clichéd Discovery channel program. It seemed to echo all around as if the organic plain was really a Circuit City speaker display. A roar like that of a lion was heard; although, the lion was nowhere to be seen. The earth seemed to shake as if it were being violently massaged by a steamroller, and it had no intention of stopping. Various animal cries were heard, from the mob-mentality hoof beat of a gazelle to the roar of an elephant as it sounded as if it were trying to escape from some kind of predator.

And among all of the audio chaos as if he had already been there was a man suspended in the air upside down and overtop Anantzi with a video camera. His entrance had been totally masked in silence and misdirection, like the prestige of a magician's act.

How he hung himself looked like there was an invisible rope that tied up one single leg and let the other free, like an old hunting trap. A maliciously mischievous grin painted itself on the man's face in one fluid Van-Gogh stroke. Even though he hung up in the sky too far for any real picture to be made of his face, still he possessed an aura that would forever be bored into a mind and then the person would be gone the next day, leaving only the imprint that he had made.

[Sea]

Anantzi sat up quickly.
"What in the hell is goin' on?" she exclaimed. Her South African accent was mixed in with the classic 'Black accent', and it was especially apparent in the way she said 'hell'. Picasso made the reaction look calm, however, by leaping up in a frenzy of barks and snaps of teeth. He uttered a low growl, baring his teeth. Anantzi made no move to make the sounds cease. "Who are you?" She looked rather displeased. "And what the hell are you doin'?"

[demonfire]

"Well, I'm Nohbdy," Nohbdy said as the camera fluently disappeared before it was discovered, "And as you can see, I'm just hanging." He spoke up to a loud speech because of the distance, and seemed as if he was struggling with becoming untied from the invisible, (and most likely imaginary) rope. He wiggled about like a caterpillar for a second as he tried to go through everything he knew about escaping from invisible ropes. "But, y'know, no help is needed here," Nohbdy said sarcastically, "It's not like I'm hanging fifty feet above the ground or anything."

[Sea]

"Fine, Nohbdy," replied Anantzi. "How do you expect me to help you get down? How do I cut something I can't see?" Usually, Anantzi was not so tart, but she was rather confused, and this caused annoyance as she usually had some idea of what was going on. Picasso continued to bark in a frenzy. "Hush." Anantzi pointed a finger at the dog harshly, without turning around, causing the barking to cease. "Any ideas?"

[demonfire]

"Well, I can tell you that what you're doing right now isn't helping," Nohbdy responded with a snap and bite to his voice. He seemed annoyed at being suspended fifty feet up in the air, but in all honesty, who wouldn't be? The man still wiggled and waggled as he attempted to free himself from the invisible trap. "I mean, I'm just here trying to get myself loose and you dangle freedom right overtop my head! Not very polite at all. Not at all," he said as he shoot his head and crossed his arms as if reprimanding her. "How about you give me the beak of a pickerpicklerqualli? That should get me down."

[Sea]

"'Fraid I don't know what that is. But if you'd tell me some simpler way to cut these invisible rope, please tell me. Can it be cut with a normal knife?" This man was starting to get on Anantzi's dearest nerves. She had to know how to get him down to get him down. And what did he give her? Sass. And what in the blue blazes was a Pickerpaca-whatti?