Decalog 1 by Mark Stammers

Author:Mark Stammers [Stammers, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Fascination

David J. Howe

The sun was a demon.

Every morning for the past two hundred days it had cracked open

its cyclopean eye and stared balefully down at the defenceless country

below. Under its unwavering gaze moisture was banished from the

earth, grass and trees withered and numerous small animals curled up

and died.

The people were desperate. Crops failed, families went hungry, and

rivers and streams dried up. Even the drawing of water from the

deepest wells became harder to achieve. Each week that passed without

rain meant that more rope had to be added to the length already

attached to the wooden bucket and, before long, the bucket would start

to return empty.

In the brown fields and dusty stone lanes, bees foraged ever further

in search of pollen, stray breezes stirred the dust into tiny whirlpools

and the horizon shimmered in the constant heat.

The hot and oppressive tranquillity was broken by the sound of

footsteps, scrunching on the dust and gravel of the stone track, and

voices. One female, one male.

'You were definitely right about the heat, Doctor.'

'Mmm.'

'It's hotter here than Lanzarote!'

'Mmm.'

The figures appeared around the curve of the lane. The woman

walked in front, stepping backwards along the lane, facing her

companion. She had short, straight, brown hair cut in an attractive bob

which framed a tanned face from which blue eyes twinkled. Her lithe

body was clad in a pair of multi-coloured cycle-shorts with a baggy

white T-shirt on top, tied up above her waist. The ensemble was

completed by a pair of battered and dusty once-white sneakers on her

feet and an orange baseball cap perched askew on her head.

Her companion was dressed in a pair of pink-striped white trousers

and a white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to leave his forearms bare. His

head was covered by a battered straw hat with a red silk band around

the crown, and a pair of patterned braces held up his trousers. He too

was tanned, and his normally blond hair was streaked with lighter

patches testifying to many days spent in the sun.

'It's even hotter than Sarn!' continued the girl, skipping around to

walk forwards again. 'And that's saying something!'

Behind her, the Doctor lifted the bottle of water he was carrying to

his mouth and took a sip.

'Don't knock the heat, Peri,' he admonished. 'It can be of great

benefit as well as essential to the growth of most living creatures.'

Peri smiled. For the first time since she had started travelling with

the Doctor, she felt at ease. After all, it had been her idea to stop off

for a ramble through the countryside.

'It's a shame that everything is so parched,' she commented, looking

across the withered fields. 'I didn't think that it could be so persistently

dry on Earth.'

Something caught her eye. Peering, she stopped walking. 'Doctor?

Look at that!'

The Doctor came up behind her and gazed across the fields. In the

distance he could see some lush greenery, but the shimmering heat

made everything indistinct.

'Interesting,' he mused. 'Could be a mirage. Do you want to take a

look . . . ?'

Before he had finished the sentence, Peri was striding off down the

lane, looking for a way to cross the fields.

'Come on, Doctor,' her voice carried back to him.

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