" "Can you." "Can you... can you tell where I could find shelter?" "Sure," the Ssphynx replied. "Come on, I'll show you my home." He led Nickolai up the beach a short distance, in the direction opposite where he had indicated the SDisk would be, and over a rickety wooden bridge that had been erected so the Ssphynx could walk over the dune without disturbing the sand. On the other side of the dune sat a squat, colorful home with a front porch facing along the line of the beach. Apparently made of cement bricks and mortar, it had been painted with ocean motifs; curling waves crashed towards the back of the house as white seagulls floated over them. Plants were hung along the length of the porch, their long leaves dangling downwards from their pots towards the ground. "It's not much, but I've lived here for a long time." "How long?" Nickolai asked. "Almost eight centuries," the Ssphynx repeated. Nickolai's mind, boggled at the thought the first time, still didn't want to parse that phrase correctly. "You're the first person to come this way since I moved here." "You've lived here all by yourself?" Nickolai asked. Alone for a thousand years, out here, with nothing but yourself? This male must be mad! "That's right. It's quiet out here. No folks, not too many machines. Just me and my ocean." Nickolai nodded. "Maybe I should head for the SDisk tonight. It'll be cooler, and I wouldn't want to disturb your solitude." "Naah, that's alright. You got kicked out here for a reason, and I may be a hermit, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be a bad host." The Ssphynx grinned. |