When I was a small boy, I was taken by my father, a general practitioner in Troy, New York, to St. Mary's Hospital, to wait while he made his rounds.  The solarium where I sat was all sunlight and large plants.  it smelled of soap and starch and clean linen.  In the spring, clouds of lilac billowed from teh vases; and in the fall, chrysanthemums ( Read more... )

One holds the knife as one holds the bow of  a cello or a tulip - by the stem.  Not palmed nor gripped nor grasped, but lightly, with the tips of the fingers.  The knife is not for pressing.  It is for drawing across the field of skin.  Like a slender fish, it waits, at the ready, then, go!  It darts, followed by a fine wake of red.  The flesh ( Read more... )

( That card meme. )

( Cut to save your flist from the big ugly meme. )

Of course Clair knows how to get in touch with her favorite test subject.

"Rassilon! Rassilon, I need to ask you a favour!"

In the time Clair has had her small share of Dream-essence, she's learned how to use it. And so her dreams are hand-crafted things, a grey-white gleaming city, idealized New York. Home. She's alone tonight, leaving Angelina to dream her own dreams and not attract attention. Alone, but in a peaceful way, not lonely. Ghosting along on dreams of ( Read more... )

Thank you for the warning, Norman.

. . . .

Dream?

The trial period is over.  Clair's asked Rassilon to not eat anything today, and to meet her tonight in her lab.  She's put a lot of thought into what this drug will mean to him.  That's not a step she often takes.  Usually, her research is pure science.  But he's here by choice, and so she has to be more humane about this ( Read more... )

While Clair was pregnant, she spent a great deal of time planning Angelina's education.  Not for her was waiting three years to begin.  In the womb, Clair could feel the formless dreams of her child-to-be.  They would be the vehicle.  From the day she was born and onwards, Clair was in her dreams, gently shaping them ( Read more... )