Scalping Nocebo

By Zarin Thomson

Hiding from Those-Who-We-Do-Not-See – to poor artists and poorer dogs... taxi's in Africa... drugs and more drugs, animal lovers and all those bad things with a little more then you could bargain for.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zarin Thomson
• Release date: Mar 14, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476126722

Zarin Thomson

I currently live in the beautiful wine area known as Stellenbosch, close to Cape Town. I have been creating works of fiction since 1982 as a hobby. Writing has been one of the few constants in my life. During this time I have been involved in the restaurant industry and the result of that was eight cocktail books. I have also produced several screen-plays as well as three albums and a book of poetry. http://thebookofzarin.blogspot.com/ http://www.musicxray.com/?afid​=b46f75f09be6012ed6ec12313d2b3​ce6

Book preview

Scalping

Nocebo

by

Zarin Thomson

Copyright 2012 Zarin Thomson

Smashwords Edition

Scalping Nocebo ISBN: 9781476126722

Also by Zarin Thomson

iPoems ISBN: 978-1-4660-8043-0

cocktails - muddle. shake. stain. - ISBN: 978-1-84753-073-8

the cape town bartender's guide ISBN: 978-1463587710

a 'tail of 'tini's ISBN: 978-1-4657-3085-5

a 'tail of 'rita's ISBN: 978-1-4659-9358-8

a 'tail of tea's ISBN: 978-1-4660-6121-7

a 'tail of 'tail's ISBN: 978-1-4660-3427-3

a 'tail of mary ISBN: 978-1-4660-4950-5

Copyright © Zarin Thomson 2008 The right of Zarin Thomson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1998. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author.

Contents

Chapter 1 Those-Who-We-Can-Not-See

Chapter 2 Exported Silence

Chapter 3 A Salient Point

Chapter 4 Discovering E Chapter 1

Chapter 5 Discovering E Chapter 2

Chapter 6 Discovering E Chapter 3

Chapter 7 Discovering E Chapter 4

Chapter 8 Discovering E Chapter 5

Chapter 9 Discovering E Chapter 6

Chapter 10 Discovering E Chapter 7

Chapter 11 Discovering E Chapter 8

Chapter 12 The Honest Man

Chapter 13 Scalping Nocebo

Chapter 14 Somewhere

Chapter 15 Zig-Zag

Chapter 16 Today is Prickle-Prickle, the 61st day of Discord in the YOLD 3174

Chapter 1 Those-Who-We-Do-Not-See

We moved deeper into the Cave of Belonging to escape. Those-Who-We-Can-Not-See who we also called 'the Seethe' had once again tried to kill us, we knew of their workings even though we had never seen them, we knew the sound of their arrival, how the gas was used.

I searched among the survivors in the first cave, the Cave of Belonging. My lover was not amongst them. A feeling of fear and despair stole across me; had she made it? Was she in another cave? Was she alive?

You are alive! I said as I saw that my life long friend was here in the Cave of Belonging. He had made it to safety; most of my tribe had perished over time, sometimes to gas, sometimes to injuries the Seethe would inflict with their traps.

It is good to see you Kinuko, I said.

You too, Idona, I was afraid you might have been murdered. It was quiet and sudden today. What new tricks are they playing? He looked around nervously as if the Seethe could find us here.

I do not know, I said, These are strange beings indeed. I wonder if they will ever stop with their want to kill our kind. Tell me, have you seen my lover? I did not see her in our rush to get to safety from the gas.

No, He replied, I haven't.

Will you help me look for her? I asked, I must find her.

Of course! He responded.

We started our search. The Cave of Belonging had many entrances and exits, there were other places to hide, places that connected to the Cave of Belonging. Of some of the places, we stayed away from – it brought only death. Sometimes we had to leave the corpses of those who had perished where they had fallen lest we to become part of the death.

We made our way past a few survivors walking into the second cave, which had entrances to almost all the other hiding places.

Walking onwards, I noticed that there was a new corpse on the forbidden place.

Look! I said, pointing.

Yes, I see, Kinuko sniffed the air, He has not been there long.

The newer victim, not one of our tribe, had been killed while trying to scavenge on the dead ones.

I do not sense your lover here, he looked around, sniffing the air.

Perhaps we should go to the other caves, I muttered to myself.

I continued walking into the depths. This part of the cave was by far the largest, I saw a few entrances, a few of our tribe were there, waiting on the ledge that strung across the abyss.

Have you seen my lover? I would ask, as I would pass, the invariable negative reply came from their lips. Some did not even know who she was.

Magaskawee, I would tell them.

She was my lover for sometime now and we had many children, some who had grown up and survived others had not, falling prey to the Seethe.

Let us go into the Cave of Stars to see if she is there, I said.

You decide where we should look, you know her better then I do.

We walked into the Cave of Stars. I called her name.

Quiet! Kinuko was still full of fear from what the Seethe had done to our tribe.

The Seethe will hear our calls here if you continue to shout like that!

How sure are you? Only we know these places. Why do you think the Seethe use gas in the Thin Place only? Have they ever struck here?

I didn't think of that, he responded.

They cannot find these places. Remember the stories our mother told when we were still young?

I remember them vaguely, He has seemed to have forgotten most of them.

I remember all the stories, I say. That is one of the reasons why I am still alive and why I have saved you from a certain death so many times.

Some of the stories made sense, others, I am not so sure of. They sound too crazy to me to be true, Kinuko spoke slowly as if to perhaps explain himself why he did not understand or even listened to them.

Mother told us these stories so that we would be able to survive as she had.

Yes, but how can you forget how she died at the Place of Deep Waters. How she had been drinking the water. How a creature from its depth, a creature we had never seen before had reached out taking her away. Do you recall how quickly it had happened? The water had been quiet before it struck, right before us. Then she was gone! He reminded me.

She is in Paradise, I reminded him.

I remember we were much younger then, even in her death she had taught us of the dangers of the Place of Deep Water, He said.

I called my