Nova Pera, March 21st 2122.
My hand is unsteady as I take this note, for I find myself in deep agitation. Today, I finally got to meet my old comrade Frank Clearwater again. From the day I arrived here in Nova Pera, I had been apprehensive about how our reunion would pan out, given the choices he's made since our last goodbye, and I am glad to report he still has the candid personality I so appreciated when I fought alongside him in the war; his restless and ingenious mind still shines.
Yet, I felt the old shadow linger on this mind from the get-go. The lengths to which tragedy will drive a man: they seemed unfathomable to me before I went to see him. Little did I know about the weight of this particular man's tragedy, but today, we probably talked more than we ever have in one sitting, and he let me in on a delicate part of his past - his, and Joel Mackay's. I still shudder when I think of the meaning Joel had for Frank in his early youth, and the role his friendship played in keeping him on track during the dark times in the early 2110s. He certainly thinks a lot about it these days, and for me, with what I learned today, it cuts so much deeper to see how he got where he is now.
Even as I write these words, my suitcase is on the bed, half packed as I left it this morning. I am getting ready to depart from Nova Pera, but I know that more than many others, this place will stay with me where I go. These days, it holds a terrifying beauty: with the dawn of the decade, the architecture of a new civilization seems to sprout from the depths of the elegant slums, the dark back alleys, yes, even from the very cracks in the streets. It is about to unfold and bloom, and in due time, it will make us see the error of our ways that only now, we barely begin to grasp. They say that pain is close to pleasure, and in these days of change, Nova Pera is a fine case in point with its interweavement of darkness and delight. Add to this my visit to Frank, and my conviction is steady that with all the places I have yet to see, and people to meet, I will return to Nova Pera.
Of all the untold stories I've heard on my journeys, I feel now that this is the most powerful. And it started in mid-summer 2112 in Autumnfield. This one month, just before the traumatizing catastrophe that shook his life, and the terrible events that followd - this one month, I believe, was among the happiest in Frank Clearwater's life.
Good-bye Nova Pera, farewell Frank. We shall meet again.
-- The Traveller.
7. Peaches
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On his way to the sleazy part of town, Frank remembered the taste of
peaches. Peaches were fresh and vitalizing, a soft and oh so welcome boost
of energy a...
17 years ago
2 comments:
REFERENCES.
"Elegant Slums"
Reference to the album "Elegant Slumming" by M People.
Joel Mackay was named after Mathew Mackay who plays Bruce Farmer in the excellent Canadian film "Lapse of Memory" (Memoire Traquée) from 1991.
"Pain is so close to pleasure" is a song on Queen's 1986 album "A Kind of Magic".
Ported from the old DoomSmile blog:
Frank's surname references the band Creedence Clearwater Revival.
FRANK CLEARWATER was first named "Ronnie Boy". I wasn't happy with this name to begin with and created a new one shortly after. The name Frank has been recurring in my other stories (it's also a German name), I chose both "Frank" and "Clearwater" because they convey a sense of purity, righteousness, honesty ("frank" also being an adjective and meaning open, forthright).
NOVA PERA. We chose the name, suggested by al-Tariq, from a variety of options because it sounds "beautiful and melancholy. [Pera] is the old name of one of Istanbul/Constantinople's districts, the old Venetian/Genoese colony, North of the Old City, across the Golden Horn. Its name is simply Greek for "the other side" (i.e. of the river). Today it's called Beyoğlu FYI (which, frankly, is a lot less euphonic)." -- quote from al-Tariq
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