Scene 1. Morning Show
Lilly opens her eyes. She sees that she is Lying on her mat on the hotel room floor. Wow, I am here again. I am having ‘field’ adventures in both worlds now! Lilly is used to Sally’s loud snoring. Sally is still in the bed, with her mouth wide open. Lilly sends her thoughts on the scene, “Sally, you are going to ‘catch bugs’ in your big, open, mouth!”
Sally sits up at Lilly’s directed thought statement. Sally’s covers falls down, relieving Sally’s naked body, covered with her short-cut cream-colored fleece, bleating, “Buuuuuuuugs!” “Baaaad!” “Baaaah!”
Lilly thought grumbles, “Sally” “Please don’t shake your big body at me!” “I already know why Apollo likes you better!”
Lilly lays her head back down on her fore-legs, depressed, “Bah!”
The door opens, it is Apollo speaking in a faux country accent, “Com’on everyone, the day is a waisten’!” Lilly and Sally look up at Apollo’s comical stance, both laugh, bleating, “Baaaaahh, Haahh, Haahh!”
Sally stands up from the bed onto the floor, naked.
Sally then slowly turns and stretches her voluptuous body for Apollo to examine.
Lilly bolts up, stomping mad, and grimacing, “Bam!” “Bam!” “Damn it! Stop it Sally!”
Sally looks down at Lilly with a shy fore-hoof to her mouth, “I’m Sooooory Lilly!” Sally picks up her top clothing and slowly resumes her dressing show, also for Apollo’s benefit, while seductively bleating, “Gooooood Moooorniiiiiing Apooollooooo!”, while smiling at Apollo and catching his ‘look’.
Lilly is now furious with Sally, lips drawn back revealing a mouth full of large, sharp, white teeth.
Lilly is growling and snapping at Sally, like a shark, “Grrrrrrraaahhhh!” “Snap!” “Snap!”
Sally quickly dons the rest of her clothes before the snapping Lilly can bite her.
Sally is looking down at Lilly, fearfully bleating, “Ooooh Myyyyyyhh! Liiiilyhh!”
Apollo finally contains his laughter from Sally and Lilly’s bedroom show, of Sally’s exhibitionism and Lilly’s jealousy, “We missed the hotel show last night, but really I liked yall’s show this morning!” “Come and get ready.” “After breakfast Eddie is taking us to see 'The Outback’!”
Lilly is now painfully aware of her usual morning breast pressure discomfort. Lilly starts for the hotel room door, anxious for relief, “It is time for me to go and feed the starving orphans in the kitchen!”
“Let’s go Sally!”
Scene 2. Breakfast Show
The group enters the large family-style breakfast hall at the hotel. It is designed to allow the visitors to get to know each other at the long tables. Apollo stops his entourage and faces them placing his finger to his lips.
Sally shakes her head ‘no’, and whispers, “Eveeeen Meeeeeeh?”
Apollo nods, "Yes," "Everyone, Sally," "Even you," "Especially ‘ewe’."
Lilly also shakes her head "No, I'll just go back and watch from the kitchen.”
Leaving Sally and Apollo to sit across from each other at the long table. Sally smiles and winks at Apollo, staring at her from across the table.
Apollo looks around to see that the large hall has a sizable crowd, all human. A human family of four sits down at Sally and Apollo’s long table.
Bovid beast-folk servers emerge from the kitchen with large trays of breakfast food. The servers place plates, glasses and cups on the tables in front of each patron. The servers then place trays of fresh cut fruit, scrambled eggs, crispy meat and fried shredded potatoes at the center of the tables. Pitchers of milk, water and coffee urns are also placed on the tables. A young Minotaur boy places small trays, with containers of cream, sugar and other condiments, at the end of each table.
The boy bows to each table and in a clear voice states, “Hot wheat and oat cereals are also available, on request.”
Marion clops out on the platform in the front of the hall set up as a stage, with curtains and oil lights. Marion's impressive form and feathery clopping has everyone’s attention on the stage, “Good morning everyone and welcome to the Beast Gulch Hotel!”
Marion raises her foreleg up high above her head with its blowy feathers and a glistening, ivory, hoof. Marion is standing tall on stage, with a very big ‘horsey’ smile. “I have arranged a little entertainment for you to enjoy while you all enjoy our country breakfast.” “My husband Eddie will sing a song he wrote himself.”
Eddie walks out to the center of the stage with a stool and a guitar. Eddie begins to sing a soft slow country tune with his melodic voice.
Lilly is peaking out from the kitchen at the stage at Eddie thinking, Eddie’s guitar is the same as Rod’s, a similar hoof-fret too. How can this be? Eddie has a nice voice though.
At the end of the song Apollo claps. Sally taps the tabletop with her fore-hooves and bleats a loud, “Baaaaah!” in approval.
The table occupants, a human husband and wife with a young boy and girl, all startled by Sally’s tapping and bleating, turn to face Sally.
Sally quickly raises her fore-hooves to her mouth, realizing her mistake, as she is the only beast-folk in the audience.
Apollo speaks, “Hi, I am Apollo.” “You likely have not met many beast-folk, let me introduce Sally.” “Say hello Sally.”
Sally shyly bleats, “Glaaaaad to meeet youuuuu.” Sally extends her fore-leg in greeting.
The husband brightens to meet the attractively shaped sheep-woman and extends his hand towards Sally’s fore-leg to accept her greeting, “My name is Ernie." "It is a real pleasure!”
Ernie’s wife immediately seizes her husband’s arm and pulls him back with a scowl. The children have already jumped from their seats, running up to Sally, and they bleat, “Sheep soft.” “Sheep soft.” Sally bleats back at the children and they all laugh, continuing to cuddle at her fleecy sides.
The wife jumps up strides around and violently pulls her children away from Sally by their collars, “Get away from that filthy animal!” The wife faces her husband and shouts, for the whole hall to hear, “I told you that coming here, with all these filthy animals around, was a bad idea!” “I’m leaving!”
The wife strides out, dragging her children by their collars.
Lilly wiggles her fore-hooves to them and bleats, “Goooooodbyeeeeeee.”
Ernie the husband is still seated and waits in silence for the drama to end. Finally, looking down, he speaks, “I apologize for my wife.” “She doesn’t like too many things, especially new things.” “And she hates animals.”
Apollo smiles, “I am sorry that Sally upset her so.”
Sally bleats, “Soooooryyyyh.”
Ernie continues, looking at Sally, “You seem to be a very nice person, Sally, and my children seemed to like you.” “I am sorry that they couldn’t stay.” “I have only seen beast-folk in shows, you’re the first I have met up close.”
Sally looks at Apollo for a cue. Apollo nods and Sally bleats, “I woooould liiiike to meeeeet moooore peeeeople,” “Huumaaansh.”
Ernie can no longer resist, “Sally,” “May I touch your fleece?”
Sally smiles broadly and closes her eyes. She seductively bleats, “Yeeeees, goooo Aaaaaheeeeead!” “Toooouch meeeee Aaaaanywheeeere!”
Ernie takes full advantage of Sally’s unqualified permission. He stands and walks around the table and takes Sally’s fore-hoof and has her stand up. Ernie then tightly embraces her chest, emits a long sigh.
Sally, eyes wide and surprised by his sudden and passionate embrace, also bleats, “Baaah?”
Apollo then states to Ernie, “Sorry Ernie but Sally is ‘taken’!”
Sally pushes Ernie back from her chest and firmly nods, “Bah!”
Apollo then continues, “But there are more like Sally available from the service providers.” “But your wife may not approve of your selection.”
Everyone in the room is watching the show at Apollo’s table and not the stage. Marion walks to the center of the stage to take back control. Marion has changed into a long black dress that flows like a black river down her torso and legs, and down to her unguligrade ankles.
Marion emits a very loud whinny, “EEEEEeeeeeehhhhhh!!”
The crowd turns to the stage and Ernie starts to play a fast instrument dance piece. Marion backs away from the edge of the stage and starts to spin her very tall, full figured, form. She whirls out her long black dress. A blue pattern is clearly visible on the hide of her left hip as she twirls. The dress blooms out and whirls, like a large black whirling flower. Marion’s large hooves impact the stage as she dances, in time to the music.
The crowd starts to clap in time, “Clop clop!” “Clop clop!“”…
Marion suddenly jumps high up into the air with her large, muscular, rear legs, her dress collecting around her. She lands and kneeling and strides over to Eddie, they clasp fore-legs and bow to the audience. The curtain swiftly closes to an enthusiastic applause.
Apollo grabs Sally’s fore-hoof and yanks, “Lets get out of here while we can.” Sally looks puzzled but allows Apollo to drag her to the kitchen to collect Lilly. The three quickly exit the back door and run to the livery barn. Eddie is also ready for them to blow town. Eddie tosses each of them into the cart and gallops off to the gate. Ticktock is still standing where he was left the day before. Ticktock is standing motionless, with shoulders hosting birds. Ticktock moves at the cart's approach and the birds fly off. Eddie stops and motions. Ticktock springs into the cart. Eddie then gallops off into the open countryside, known locally as, 'The Outback’.
Sally is still puzzled, shaking her head, bleats, “Apoooollooooh!” “Iii waaaanted to smeeeell aaaall of the humssssansh!”
Apollo looks down and frowns, “I am sorry Sally, maybe next time.” “After our table drama with the wife, I am worried that many of the humans are not quite ready for a close encounter with a member of the beast-folk community yet.”
Eddie speaks up from his running with the cart, “It takes time for the human folks to get used to us beast-folk.” “We smell different than humans and we look a lot different.” “Us biggin’s especially, look like monsters to many of the humans." "Folks that have only ever seen non-speaking, four-feet-down-on-the-ground animals, are startled when we biped forms walk up and speak to them.” “Maybe after the humans walk around the town and meet a few more beast-folk, they will be ready to meet you, Sally," "And get sniffed.”
Apollo laughs, “Sally, you might even get hugged again, so be ready.”
Sally brightens with a smile and bleats, “Yeaaahhhh!”
Lilly looks up at Apollo, feeling neglected, “Can I get a hug?”
Sally looks down and the frowning sad Lilly, and bleats, “Apoolloo, Liiilly neeeds aa huug!”
Lilly sit up on her haunches, finally getting her group hug from Apollo and Sally, “Not exactly what I wanted, but it will do." "Thank you, Sally.”
Ticktock speaks, “Would you like me to hug you too, Lilly?”
“That’s okay, Ticktock.”
Scene 3. Outback
The group starts to view the undeveloped open countryside. The land is a mix of chaparral, meadows and green hills, with mountains in the distance.
Apollo looks down at the hard-working Eddie, “Eddie, why don’t you have a ‘regular’ horse pull your carts?”
Eddie laughs, “I do when the load is just cargo.” “But for tourists, I am the tour-guide and I am too big to ride in the cart, so I pull!” “Besides, I need to stay in shape, if we ever go to war with the humans.”
Apollo does not react to Eddies ‘war’ statement, but Sally and Lilly’s eyes widen, silently thinking to each other, “Is there about to be a ‘human-beast-folk-war'?”
Eddie continues as the tour-guide and as the draft-horse-man, “We call this area 'the near-lands'." "Folks live here if they don’t want to be too far from the Beast-Town.” The road becomes steeper as Eddie strains to pull the cart up.
Apollo looks down at the straining Eddie, “We don’t have to come up here, or we could all walk up the hill.”
Eddie grunts, “No problem, it’s my job.” “And I don’t want to get in trouble with my boss-lady-wife!” “I want to show you our ‘waterwheel’.” “We are very proud of this power system we made for ourselves.”
The cart rounds a curve to a small reservoir, behind a small rock dam. In front of the dam is a rough-hewn wooden waterwheel, slowly turning. Lilly stands up in the cart looks over the side at the waterwheel with interest, “Where is the ‘generator’?”
Sally passes Lilly's question on to Eddie, he responds, “We don’t have electricity or any electric devices in beast-town or beast-country.” “We’re learning to do without all of that ‘human’ technology.” “That ‘technology’ stuff only leads to destructive wars.”
Lilly thinks about the wars she has witnessed on Apollo’s movie 'frame', and nods. “This technology leading to ‘destructive wars’ does seem to be true.” “I have to think about what I am doing to my world.”
Both Sally and Ticktock are looking at Lilly, reading her thoughts, but they say nothing.
Eddie pulls the cart around the waterwheel and up to several buildings in the back. The buildings are mechanically connected to the waterwheel by rotating shafts, belts and gears.
Eddie sets down the horse-cart shafts and walks around to help his passengers dismount, “Come on inside and see our ‘industry’.”
Inside the first building are rows of mills and lathes. These machines are driven by rotating overhead shafts. Workers are busy turning and milling wooden parts, bed posts, farm equipment handles and household items such as wooden bowls.
Eddie comments, “We, the beast-folk, are trying to reduce our dependency on the human world by making everything we can for ourselves.”
Lilly is carefully regarding the mechanical power distribution system, fascinated by the primitive machines and the drive power, distributed by belt and shafts.
They walk to the second building. Stone wheels, also connected to the overhead shafts, are grinding grains, mullet and wheat, to flour. The third building also features large stone grinding wheels. But here in this room metal items, such as plow shears and carving knives, are being shaped and sharpened.
Eddie comments, “We still are getting the metal, glass raw materials, and as well as other items, from the human world.” “Our charcoal ovens and furnaces can fire soft clay and copper ore, but we cannot yet make the furnaces hot enough to smelt iron ore.” “The core problem is that there are not yet enough beast-folk out here for us to divide into all of the necessary labor specialties required for a fully-functional industrial society.” “We are still in the ‘feudal period’ of agriculture and cottage-industries.” “However, more beast-folks are running away from the human towns every day." "We also have a few new families with children." "So we have hope for the future.” “We are building another dam up river so we are planning to expand our industries, as workers become available.” “Our industry has to stop at harvest time though.” “We need everyone to help bring in the crops.” “We cannot afford full-time farmers, or ‘full-time’ anything.” “All of us have two, three or more jobs, all vital.”
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“In addition to water-power, we use animal and mineral oil for our lamps. We will also use wood-burning ‘steam’ power, once we can fabricate the necessary metal components for steam boilers and pistons. We have decided that we, the beast-folk, will never use ‘electricity’.”
Eddie looks up at the sun, “We need to get moving if we want to see the all of the farms.”
Eddie pulls the cart out to the flat countryside. Large fields of various crops are visible around the road, over the flat land, and up onto the hillsides.
Eddie stops and lowers the cart shafts to rest. They are facing an open field of grain with large heads, oats perhaps, “We are trying to establish farms and produce food on all of the land that we can.” “We use the crops to trade with the humans for the manufactured goods we cannot yet make ourselves.”
Eddie lifts the shafts again and motions, “Let me show you some of our ‘animal’ farms.”
Eddie pulls the cart to a complex of large barns near s series of other, smaller, buildings that appear to be residences for the farm workers.
Eddie stops at one large barn, “Come in and see our animals.”
Inside the barn are rows of bars, “These are our milking stands for the cows, we have smaller stands you can see the back for goats and sheep.” “Milk is one of our most valuable exports to the human world.”
Eddie stares at Sally, “The humans really like beast-folk milk too.”
Sally promptly folds her forelegs over her breasts and blushes.
They all walk out the back of the miking barn to large pens of cows, goats and sheep. “We bring the 'milk' animals here for milking, check them for health issues, and provide additional nutritional food." "Then we turn them out into the large grazing pastures for sun and exercise.”
“We occasionally drive the animals into the hills, to eat the weeds and protect the land from wild fires.”
Scene 4. Clinic
They stop at one farm and two beast-folk farmhands walk up to Eddie, “Hi Guys, I have a tour today, a Researcher and his staff.” The two beast-folk farmhands, draft-horse-man and a bull-Minotaur, are both large and strong looking but with friendly smiles, “When is The Doctor making ‘the rounds’ again?” “We ain’t see a doc’ out here in a while, and have some beast-folk and animals need ‘doc’ tending.” Eddie smiles at Apollo, “Doctor Apollo, are you available to see some patients today?”
Apollo smiles and nods, “Yes Eddie, Medical rounds are one of the reasons for my visit.”
Apollo stands tall and looks like the boss to his entourage, “Staff! Please assist me!”
Apollo turns to the farmhands, “Have all of the healthy beast-folk line up at the foreman’s house.” “We need to finish today” “Get the animals ready and I will take a look at all of them tomorrow.” “Take any sick beast-folk or animals to the transfer station and call my lab for them to be picked up.” “My lab is standing by to transport and care for any that need it.” “I can’t treat anything but minor stuff out here.”
Eddie removes a large trunk from the cart and the group walks over to the foreman’s house to set up the ‘clinic’. The exams are surprisingly well organized, the beast-folk have been through this before and are very cooperative. Outside, carts from the more remote areas of the agricultural lands are pulling up and more folks are lining up outside the ‘clinic’. Apollo carefully examines all wounds and healing-bones from past injuries. He pays special attention to the paws and hooves of the beast-folk. Apollo lectures his staff, “The molecular modifications done for creating the more useful biped extremities resulted in development and use side-effect abnormalities in some individuals.” “We have to examine everyone carefully for infection or circulation issues, especially in the paws and hooves.” “Be sure to check both the fore-leg and hind-leg extremities.”
The night falls and the clinic closes for the day. The farmers offer the group supper,
but the Apollo’s clinic staff is anxious to get back and clean up, and see the evening stage show.
Scene 5. Moon
On the way back, Lilly looks up at the dark rural sky, “Wow this is the first time I have seen so many stars since I coming to this world.” “There is too much night light in the city.” Lilly stomps and loudly bleats, “Bam!” “Bam!” “Baaaaaaahhhh!!” Lilly looks at Sally and thought projects, “Ask Eddie to stop here for a few minutes!”
Sally nods and bleats, “Eddiiiieeee woooould yoooou stoooop for Liiiiilly?”
Eddie stops, “Lilly, do you need to relieve yourself?”
“It is easier to go along with this rather than explain.” Lilly nods her head to Eddie. Lilly then jumps from the cart and runs out into the dark field. She looks up at the distorted, but mostly familiar, constellations, “Just as I thought.” “We are likely on a planet orbiting Aurora.” She looks up at one familiar constellation. The close-by stars have moved in relation to the further background stars. “Unless I am wrong, we have moved at least a couple of centuries, even millennium, in time.” “None of this surprises me.” “I wish I could take a picture of this back with me.”
Lilly then complies with the ‘relief’ operation and returns to the cart. Lilly trying to suppress her thoughts from Ticktock and Sally. Sally stares at Lilly with a blank expression. Lilly projects, “I can’t hide anything from you two can I?”
But neither Sally nor Ticktock speak. Lilly smiles at them, “Thank you,” “My confidants!”
Lilly sets her head down in the cart, facing away from Ticktock and Sally. She meditates on her star observations of this night, “When I get back to my world I will look at my observatory photographs of Aurora more carefully.” “I did not think to look for any ‘moons’ orbiting Aurora’s planets.” “This moon is big enough to create a small shadow, against Aurora, in my photographs.” “If I do see it, I can measure its ‘month’.”
Then I will know for sure where this ‘dream world’ is, and, approximately, ‘when’ it is.
Scene 6. Dinner Show
With the clinic running late and Lilly’s stop, it is late night by the time everyone returns to the hotel. Ticktock was allowed into the town with the group, after proving to be an essential member of Apollo’s medial staff. The dinner stage show is in progress. Many residents of the town participate in show, for amusement and for income. The show features Marion and Eddie as announcers and as entertainers during the breaks between acts. The stage show includes a barbershop quartet, a brass instrument group playing for four female full-skirt high-kicking dancers and many other, mostly amateur, acts. The human audience is quite enthusiastic cheering and clapping. Apollo has his group sit near the kitchen door, looking like kitchen staff, as Ticktock, Sally or Lilly might upset the sensibilities of the more delicate humans.
Lilly and Sally enter the stairwell to return to their shared hotel guest room. Lilly looks up at Sally, “How come you are sleeping with me rather than Apollo?” “I would have thought he would keep you and stick me with Ticktock.” “And where is Apollo anyway?”
Sally looks down, obviously upset about something, too upset to even bleat it out loud. Sally silently projects her thoughts to Lilly, “Apollo is still back in the hotel kitchen, talking to Marion.” “Marion was showing Apollo the drawing on her butt and Apollo was examining it, with his ‘fingers’.” “Apollo told me he wanted to be alone in his room in case he decided to work late.” “Sniff”
Lilly’s ears go up, “Apollo is flirting with Marion!” “Didn’t Apollo see that big ‘monster-horse’ she is married to?”
Back in their room Sally lies down on her bead, on her stomach, clutches a pillow to her chest and softly, without bleating, mumbles to Lilly, “Marion flirts with all of the human ‘tourists’,” “Even other beast-folk,” “Only other ‘horses’ are off-limits.” “She thinks that her ‘flirting’ is good for Beast-Town business.”
Lilly lies down in her couched position and sets her head down on her legs, “Yeah, it probably is.”
Lilly then regards what she has seen in the primitive world of the beast-folk, “Would it be better to leave my world in a more primitive technical society?” “My world still has wars, and they are pretty bad.” “All of these discoveries will be made by some one, some day, in my world, anyway.” “What should I do?” “Will my discoveries give me more credibility when I try to warn everyone of the dangers of this new technology?”
Sally is staring at Lilly, listening to Lilly’s thoughts. Sally frowns and with genuine concern she quietly bleats, “Liilly, I wiish I coould heelp yoouhh.” “Aand yooou coould heelp mee.”
Lilly looks up at Sally, smiling, “Thank you Sally,” “Don’t worry, no one anywhere understands me.”
Lilly pauses and looks up at Sally again, “Sally,” “I will help you.” “You need to become more independent!” “How would you like to go to school again?” “This time to learn to read and write?” “You did very well helping Apollo at his clinic today.” “Have you thought about becoming a ‘nurse’?”
Sally cheers up as she considers Lilly’s suggestion. Sally softly bleats, “Yees Liilly, I woould liike to doo thaat.” “I woould geet to meeet (and smell) loots of humaans and beeast-peeople and heelp theemhh.”
Lilly continues her thoughts, “Sally,” “You can be more than just a ‘consort’.”
Lilly nods at Sally, in satisfaction. Lilly sets her head down on her fore-legs, “Maybe I’ll go see The Advisor tomorrow.” Lilly wiggles her tail in anticipation of flirting with The Advisor.
Then Lilly frowns, “But I also need to see The General,” “And The Chief too.”
Lilly smiles, “Maybe I’ll get to play tennis at The Base with my friends,” “and also see how the Air-Craft development is going.”
Lilly frowns again and sighs, "Bah," “I am already tired from ‘tomorrow’.’’