the land, even that seemed to be almost mountainous. Brown was the
prevailing color of it all for as far as my eye could see, though I
cannot say if that condition prevailed inland further, since I had
forgotten the telescope, which would probably have proved a useful tool.


A slight wind blew from seaward, scattering the dry top soil about like
a cloud of gnats, though there were very few actual insects, and no
animals that I could see. The only sound that I could hear was that of
the wind howling gently past my ears. I had landed in a sort of valley,
which, though not at all deep, was surrounded on all sides by slight
hills that prevented me from getting an extensive look at the landscape
beyond. Before making any decisions as to which direction to set off, I
decided to climb to the top of one of these hills to ascertain my exact
situation, and although I was generally reluctant to start off into
unfamiliar territory, I also wanted to put as many miles between me and
the coast as possible, in case the Zards and Canitaurs came after me,
which was still a cause of great anxiety to me.

As I rounded the top of the hill that was directly east of my landing
point, I suddenly came face to face with two small people, gnomes by
appearance, one of whom I recognized as being Onan, the Lord of the
Past. He greeted me familiarly as 'My Dear Jehu', and introduced me to
his partner, who turned out to be Zimri, the Lord of the Future. Onan
was dressed the same as when I had last seen him, and Zimri was close in
appearance, though his hair was long and his beard short, while Onan's
were the opposite. Zimri wore a little blue-green frock that fit rather
snuggly but not enough to be considered tight. I started our ensuing
dialog by saying this: