A short dwarf faces a woman who’s a little taller, but not much more. The two of them glower at each other, bringing together a set of equally bushy eyebrows.
Map: You’re short.
Quartz: Look who’s talking.
Map: I’m still taller than you.
Quartz: Much taller if one’s taken a peek at The Hand and the Eye of the Tower while it’s being revised.
Map: Hush! No spoilers.
Quartz: Are you the only Map in Tales of the Navel/The Shadow Forest? Or are there other Maps out there?
Map: I’ve got my secrets. It doesn’t do to dwell on them, young man.
Quartz: Who are you calling young, let alone a man? First, I’m a dwarf! Not a short human! I’m one of the stone born!
Map: While I was born of tree and branch. Or perhaps one could say I was reborn, once I understood the poetry of tree and branch.
Quartz: What’s that supposed to mean?
Map: Not telling.
Quartz: Why is your cottage called the Old Cottage?
Map: It’s the oldest dwelling in the Valley of Omphalos. The sole survivor of the lost village by the same name.
Quartz: What happened to the village?
Map: Not telling.
Quartz: The scribbler’s made some vague noises about your stories being inspired by Tarot imagery. That Omphalos is part of the mythology she’s created around the Tower card for your world, isn’t it? You’ve got a ruined tower overlooking your cottage on the hill, don’t you? Care to comment on any of this?
Map: No, nor waste a single thought upon it. The tower is nothing but a pile of rocks. That’s what I keep trying to tell my boys. (mutters) Not that Leiwell ever listened to me, nor Danyel and Tayel. Curse that mouldering pile of stone!
Quartz: Why are you so angry with that tower if it’s just a pile of rocks?
Map: Who says I’m angry? (glowers)
Quartz: You sound angry! (glowers back)
Map: Ashleigh left me to raise our three boys all by myself, whom are all fixated on that bloody tower! I’ve got reason to be angry!
Quartz: Don’t see why you’re angry with the tower. It can’t all be that cursed pile of rocks’ fault. (mutters) Now I’m getting annoyed…
Map: You see? I try to ignore the heap of worthless stone, only to find it creeping into my head.
Quartz: Huh, Sounds like it’s more than a tower.
Map: It’s not!
Quartz: Right.
(The two of them glare at each other in silence for a long moment. )
Quartz: Fine. You don’t want to talk about the tower. Let’s talk about Ashleigh instead. You say she left you to raise your sons alone.
Map: Not exactly. She disappeared, sent Leiwell to me, I found her, took the twins back home and waited for her. I’m still waiting.
Quartz: Huh?
Map: It’s complicated.
Quartz: Isn’t it always? At least she didn’t give you a poisoned apple.
Map: Huh?
Quartz: It’s complicated.
Map: Right.
Quartz: That’s my line.
Map: Right.
(The two of them glower at each other some more.)
Quartz: Fine. It’s complicated. It’s always too complicated to talk about. You could write an entire book about it and you still wouldn’t be able to explain.
Map: That’s what the scribbler is for. Assuming she ever gets around to finishing our stories.
Quartz: You’re telling me. Now go tell her.
Me: I’m working on it.
(Both characters glower at me.)
Me:…
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