by Alan Moore
He falt girlty, that weighs wit it wise, despike the fict that vary letterle o’ the hole offear was unctually his failt. He thornt that he had shamehow magicreally inprysmed her whidden his merekey and inpainantrouble narrowturf; brelived that lifhe code joust get true to the finnwish of it, then Lucia tomblight founder why beckonto sum strate of wellomenation. As he had quote literarally decentered into daathness, he’d been waitongue for a fliquor oflight, of Lucia, at the finagend of her ling turnall. He had scene her blubbles ruesing in the wabe of his careern and writhen: “Cias drawnin. Agenbite. Sieve her. Agenbite.” Or simthink lake doubt, endyway. Agen the bite and finnagen ar beit of ageny that comes with age’n’biterness at seaing his beliffied dwater sink belieth the sourface, fellin from her lifebout with knowbuddy to beitragen to herraskew.
Lucia had finitially crum to Slate Ond’roofs derin nowtheen flirty-feve and head quiet liked it but was balk in Prance, stack in a sinnertorturem, dan Germoney infated diring nighte’en thought-inane. Of curse, boy then her bludder had intwisted that Helearn his waife be lacked up in a lonely bin aswill. It worse a thwring he dud with quimmen when he deadn’t went to fuckdom any mère.
Her Babbo, at his wait’s end, had consprived to gelt the other mememembers of the Choyce infirmily to Schnitzeland and samety. But illthough he rote a handread litters hand tied fractically to get Lucia out of occupliant Frenz, he was sufferely thwaughtered by bureaucrazy and shneer intranceigence on depart of the Vachey Cowerment, or Per-rear as Lucia snubboses we should mer refrenchingly drefer to dem/dese/deys. The père man muster burn so flightend fuehrer, what with Howmany’s deglared agendite of textterminating all the pharcically and meantilly disambled for their ungood. Arse it was, in the furteeth of Geniuwary, minedeep fatey-won, wid’esper doubther stiltwrapped whelplessly behide enormy liones, her faildher parished form pèretonightis that resilted from a daedelenal illsire, itself caust or maid wars by all distress daddhe wesunder. Needles to say, nighther Jawjaw nor Ora ova had a think to dowedare once hce was out the pricksure. She head nova herd award finnemagen.
Wone day’d tolled Lucia fat her dead was dad she’d siddhe was a limboseal and husked what he thwart he was dewing, slepping undonearth diground. She hidden’t bone pupset by his doomeyes, comfydent deddy was a subtlereignean immuretale. She’d morely been unpappy at deathurt that he had past-away styl inking that he’d failed to savour, stall beliffing that his pittle girl was drauming, agenbite, agenbite. If finly she cod have taild him that she wishn’t going drown for deferred timentide at all: Lucia was shrimply tunang to a fwish, wash wet it wash. She’d been dansforming into slimthing shilvery and eleqant that could seaverve in this new inhospitelement; swimthing with loonturns on its braw that code texist in this threemendose pressher.
With tease veerious nutunes teembling through her awhereness, Lucia proceveres upon her maybetween the spindery and bynighthid trees, like a splat-bam expediment tressed in a flowerall-pattered flock and an old lay-discardagen.
Aher of head she spees a most unviewsual phanuminon, indet twhilit is stallmost definerightly nightime on the breaken-lettered pasth ware she is wakein, sum fyew dozin yarns awader is a hopening in the follyage that larks out onto a brighton sanelit evternoon. This mist pecurious affict rewinds her off/on eerlie and hauntingle amage by Rainy Mangreatte, ab scene that is bythe die and not, alldour she flound the artaste’s utther work distabling, monst erspecially the heribly envorted maidmer sproiled there gilsping at the died-line.
Smailing breezly now Lucia sprydes on inter day anomalescent sunsheen, ellegently palling back a clipple of streye-thorny brangles to enmerge from the asoilem wondland, out onto a grazey sleepe inkleaning drown towords a riffer freinged by pile-groen lushes. It upheres that she’s becalm misserriented on her wooder through the wands undies no on the apepen gruned dew sout’ of/de disanguished mantool horsepity with its nietzscherk respensees, near the Bedward Riad that Burnyarn master’ve made his warkin’ progremage alang, weir the slur ribborn of ther Eve’r None wines through adamhouse gaeden.
Squaintling up entir the skry she georges that farm disposition o’ the swolden gollen son it is a lottle aft hereto o’clang. She harps Poortricia won’t be wherehid furor, whatwit’ lessing munch and all, but dinnergone her friendend nouse is cherely yesterher by know and nows that freakwant sexperditions unto the unterior are samply parther deary spensibility that claimes worth being Lucia Joyce. Utters light’s nowture to seacowed the direquest carnors, evtor all.
Shadeysides that she well hake a whelk down to the wader’s edge, where she can luce hersurf wetin her rêver-tream for a shored whale. She fends a strop of sullid grind amonster reads where she ken strand and glaze acrosti rover to the stunlit Bidfor Roam behond, and fervour styll to where greyd sculptide musses of whide clud smove sighlently abathe the mistant feelds and feelages, dregging their shabbows like collipsed grey perishoots behidem. Psychling alingua carrid’way thruwords the ostient she s’prise the strongust fogure, ann uld negromen with why tear, riddling on a bysidle that has why tyres ampulls a lattle jungk-carlt in its weake. It stricks her that she carnot scenerear a mutter-veericle upon the rote, new’r are there pile-ons or pieflabricatered huts or any auther seemballs of mydaynity in fiew. Prehaps she has treespast inwittingly on an untidely defferent peeryodd evtime?
Chi as consimmering this pastibility whundere is a commusion in the turpid raver-witters ither faet, with mindstress gassly baubbles thinck as fluit-bowls riffervessing to the stirface only to desplintergreat and blurst in beamds of shivlered glystal there amisty eautiful explendid daymonde rungs of rupple. Slimething of immerse plopoceans is imargine frother deepths beneither and she torques a steep buck from the reverblink fear for o’ gertain splaced and hahahaving all the noisies tink she’s pisst hersellf, by Daed!
The smood mieniscus o’ the liqriality is shlattered in a jugflaw-puddle of brooken refictions as an abject of anearmiss sighz derupts from the slummoving rivere. Gloing purly by the lurk of it she first shapeposes it to be some surder crosh beteeth an alligaper and a long-mudserged old-fashisd raping-car with a lang bannet. Din, as this pecrawlier affear anacondinues rithing ulpwords on the underwait apparls to be a scarely trunk, Lucia recoilises that it is the hadeous and eelongatered carnium of a gorgontic whata-creecher queerte impossedented in her pervious imperience.
Swhying soarm slaveral yawds abother on the underfits lang, snarking nack decreesure sclares drown at Lucia fee-fo-fum the black deaths of its shunken nighs, witch gristen and to her resymbol wet sail-schnells and pobbles at the buttom of a bocket. Glime and wetterwades and bicicles hank dippling framets moiddy scullp. Its neeth, beteath their everald clust of algael, are the sharpend robs of a blue while. There is a rustred prim hulked unter one o’ them that murkes Lucia feel a mement’s millycholy for her own abated bloomy. It snakes her a lipple whide to understunned that the leviathing is greening at her. When at lasp it screaks it is the babbling guss of trowned thinks rheezing through mick thud.
“Glug altermoon. Ami corrept insinking statue wade bay Inna Liqia Plourable, the museygal en drancing spillit odour Liver Riffey?”
Lucia snuffs, sourprized by how infrigorating she fends the axquasite stungent tang, and trosses back her glaying hoar as though assorting her authowritey.
“I am indeep the fluwit an’ anthrivermorphic passonage o’ flume you make onquery. Who my tubey, my gut wormin, and so firth and slo forth?”
The fishwaiter ablubination tsilts its mossive het-upon wane sight and screwtineyesees Slucia with interrust as it reprys.
“My nume is Nenna Leavya Pitabel undyam the immertail essluence o’ the Rêver Nun. Wadein my meale-long got are deplumed hates of slittered gabblears and woshlost drewels oa’ kings. I have herd telver you, there on the sadden plages of a pook tourn up anchast upon my slowgush buzzhum in crustracion, hurled agen into my finn’s wake. Weeding in betwangle lines, it strhook me drought we bath had a great minnow thrings in clemmon, you wend I.”
Luci apeers at the greyt
tlowering stirpaint’s umberella-faulded twolimbs with their mangy-jointide ptarryductoil fungers and diskillered wobbing. She reglards the joyant barenuckle-like enfrustations on the screature’s chast, ar resty ormange in their dulouration, that she sinks rust be vesturgial nibbles, and fells murderately affended that this squideous tarnagant mud think to have scumthing in commonstrosity with the raymurkably accomplashed waughter of the tweenteeth dentury’s greytest rater.
“Smirking only for myscoff, I can’t see the resymbolance. I drown’t hag melancolonies of whater-smails around the crooners of my mirth, nhairdo I have a squee-wheeled prang corr’din my deeth lake-metal spinage. Unlass you have allslow intrawled Purris with your skales as an ontoprotative drencer, which I flankly finned inlakely, then eye phaer dera kno obvierse shimmerlarities betwine us.”
The sub-naqueous unnormity uncleans its lunge float head upon one snide. Its jinxyard mowth crocodilates into a gnawing green as it snares drown at Lucia. The wrigger-mongster chorkles with a drumbling accrumplyment of shwallowed televasion sits and ferline skullytunes clacophonously cattering abite scumwhere widinner.
“Oh, and I slurpose that you were nipper wince a plippy meremaid chroming out her goldenhair? I darcey that univer luft a beautofeel yhung mien so bedly that you’d chaste his flotted seemine heartway to the locean for the wank of him? Pureharps you wherefor mer presilient deny, undid knot lecher lac of a reshiplocated lave transwyrm you into glumthink dark an’ dang’ry that abites aloam amudst the badsents and the blundercurrents at the rêverbottle, weirdy shufts alight are faeble and occlusional. Ident imatching for one mermeant that you everwhere so despirit as to clink to the repleated hushks o’dose that had by accidrench upon a dunken oafning fallin unter you and downed within your eireless and implactical membrace?”
Glosping indigatme, Lucia farst gapens her mooth then gloses it agen, annable to calmpose an eduquate quiposte. With the onheavytable thud of a dessenting ranchor, it occlares to heardat dis is oilmoist sourtaintly becurse the wyrds this flightful mirer-inage sleaks are mosserably t’rue. When Lucia rhad cliffered hall alone drown at the bittum of her wail of loonliness, lack it how hesperately she’d clang to Sameol’ Buckett. Oin refiction she had sturted out her liffe, like everybady, as a babboling en’ drancing sdream, lonly to indeep as a darnk and broading ruever of sich flowness that it vurched upen stugnotion. She is mhumbled by these eelisations, an’ daz she lhooks up toweird the luming and glotesque she-sourpint with the stun behide it, Lucia’s ighs brime with repenitant tears.
“Forgriev me, nuble sifter o’ the shliming grabbel and the driftongue waeds, for my prementions and my dhaughtiness. Detooth is that I’ve bane twolung ong land, amonkst dri peeple with their airid convexations, so that shametines I forgret I amouriver, rust the same as dew. Cunfinned mere in this soilhid whelm of glassing time and inconventient moretoility I am sealdame remaindead of my tlue aquotric, silkie naysure. I beclam upliveious to the thrings that livers know: the fict that whel their rushen waters faster the illucian of papatual mythment, in the widning blends and cantours that are their esscentral and unaque undintity they are reternal and inchanging. Mire than this, they no dout slumwhere in their rendless and endouring deepths they scarry the remainds of ebury marshword or suincident that’s ever fallin widder sprash intwo their laves. As I enfishin it, we are the twue of us ripplindent wasterways, both nendless and sublume. Plish exsept my apolloguise, and undersand that the ineffabelle and lyricool queentessence o’ the Rirer Laffey noshoe for a fallow trivialer, ascold ashy hersylph is but merwise, a’naiad no icthyuse for speargun to youwin the why eye dad.”
The None Hog, for it isthmus definhidely she, breams drown at Lucia frontirely lamiably.
“Thing nothink of it. I com plainly sea that you’ve been lang witrout the followship of otter rivels. Can’t I topt you to stay lunger wimmy? It mis take lonly a noment’s couldn’tcarelessness, or plashibly a lifedime’s drespiration. If you ware to lemm towoes me joyced a little father, and perlapse to shrike your branium on a stunn onder why in, way, it weed ill behov’er in the drinkling of an I. Then wicked have such lubbly convertations underteeth the wanter, meandher, and wane you had wrun out of thinks to sigh then I shoald lecher go, as I dead all the rust, bobbling aweigh towash the Wards with the forglottal droollery of Badkin John. It is a ferry splashionable wayter go, I’m trold, for laydies of o blitterary inclinocean. But then fameills of that sport are oftun willd, vergin’ near wolf, quereas with you there’s fomething vichy gugling on.”
Sanding slimewhet mervous, Lucia qakes a slop buck foam the witter’s dredge as she reploys. She’s never harb a doyouinely suitidal nocean in her liff. Haven whine she was straying with her haunts in Mireland and word mock apout and funniturn the ges-taps on, she allwise loft the wimblows alpen so that knowthink deadful hopend. Fictually, it hardn’t iffen been a crall for healp so moch as itterbin a flowerish of theutter, annextension offer dunce opine the newh’ stage o’ sick-I-atry. She striggles to kenvey this to the geniieel but lethely inticing squeature as it swheeze abother, peerlightly declimbing its no droubt kinly indrenchioned intimtation to a wavery greve whale alsong waking an intempt to spray on fiendly turms with the eelormous ribble-mindstir and not glib huffence.
“Mush as I’m flappered by your iffer of a fatoel silv-ermersion, I mist mast respectrally daycline as they’re inxpecting me forte in the asighloom at arraigned thrive-flirty. Poissibly swim otter teem, when I hap less upon my plight and can mer eausily incloude a drawnin in my scheadual. It spin a tremuldous preasure moating you, terrortologically sqeaking. I signclerely hope you well be bressed with mini harppy, shliming rivulots in yoars to scome. Wi’ drat, I moist bide you a fanfare wail entoil we run intoe reach other at shum fateyour daed.”
Defersome kroken shriggs glug-naturedly but with unair of disappearment, asifter sludgest that it’s Locia’s luss. The shlug bequirms an underlating carpsy and amidst a mhite and wighty flowming the apprilling riggler-upparocean once again shrugmerges, ‘palling back its greyd Alun’tic-cable throap and leaden its gigantique skaell slink dun bellow the surky merface. Scrighing with relive, Lucia tarns and skrips brack up the gradey grassient throughwoods the ostitution wards.
Andoe, whit a pavlaver it turnsnout to be, jist fending hoo ray black to the wight splace and tome, a faeritable odyttey that harpfilly will lude heaventually to a Punelope. Beformat, though, she skimpers opus lope to whencemore inter en amongster chrispering feeliage, ware she is grapely treeassured to fond it is bacchus it was in haylight rother than baying the meanlit and nichturnal cropse whitch she’ demerged formilier.
Howeaver, etres only aftersoon few meanits wa’king, when shy preeps out tru an inexspiketed bleak betune the trease, that Lucia realishes how biddly she is lest. Deplace that she pooks out uponders not uphere to be a meantall harm of unny kind, betwit its streaching achers of crave-markers is quit obversely a sumarteary of sobstancial sighs. Moriry still, she nadasees that on a wombstone wishes neerie nufferer to reap there is a def-date glibben that she takes at farced for a misfake, sence it comminces with the numb betwo. Dafter a moremeant’s codgertation it o’cours to her dout she astrayed not jest from the spalatial limints of Faint Inbooze Waspital, but she has pyschwise gum unstick inn’er cronelegy. She is now linger heven in the cinjury that she wa’spurn to but is inhead lost awemost a hauntred yearns after her berth.
The fruiture, she disguvvers, has a phunny almosphere mech like the treaquilised air of unserpenty that yew’d exfact to fund insaid a mential unstucution, enly overywear. It meeks Lucia shuvver, and she itchest wandering whenabouts she moot be when she hoars samewhen enproaching, scrumching through the fallawn liaves. With greet relive, Lucia seizeit is stumbody that she precognizes from the hostapill and bet a yacht it is seemone from her own peridot oftime, which is to savour past.
“Why, afits not Mischoice. Water saprise to fondue here, sofa from wear and wean we are agleeably infarcerated, allthrough I imagine statue’ve calm here as a geisture of reslect,
the som as I hove. Funnyway, deedn’t you Di a year o’ dew agrow, or wastet me?”
It is Muss Violent Gypsum, win of Lucia’s feverite follow-portents, hoohad been commuttered to Plaint Scamdrew’s after she hertempted to nessessinate Benighto Muscleinny, an endover which was thwatered windy bullot ledged somehair within Ill Deuce’s groomy and caspacious noose. It was exdreamly fateunite that the oertheritis consterned had apted to occept that Valient Gitsoff had been motigated by unsunnyty, lather than an upnosually prannounced politelicall avershun.
“Miss Bignos, I am delighthead to encanter you, as eloise. Asper your unsquairy, I denote remumble daying raysently, so that mote bury well have bone yewrself. No dout I blink about it I do not denumber bunting into you eflate a smidge as I did peerviously, mich whight be unaccount of your deceasement. Bat no mutter, you are lurking vari will conshuddering your pasthumus condrition. Know, I wender if you light enmighten me as to our current weirabouts? We steem to be widdin some mannure of nocroparise or other funereerie pastyour with its whipe incrushing tied of marvle, and I canute sea how this loqation is of realevents to my textraordinary lighf and circusdances.”
The bite-eyed an’ dapple-checked almissed-mussassin girgled gillishly as uff icer remander of de fract that she warstyle as med an’ strangerous a’sever; as loothally leapy as shitbin when she’d mischarged her folliant revolter into flashism’s loft nazdrill.
“Will, Moss Juice, it is my understandment that we har berth, as you well no date have nowtut, in the fateure. I most saigh I was experting it to be a byt moreover jambury than this, with pausibly more hovercraps and rockpets and di’like, but I axpicked that grieveyarns would lack very mulch a shame if vieva in the yhere thru theesand and there were more smartificial roborts barehid dumpsterneath disturf than there are popul. Aldo being artyfacial, rubbits would must leakly last ferriver, dus’ dispensee widder need for graveyawns alltogather … but I am fargetting the maen subjoke of this dithertation.”