“No one expected the thunder

 That came to silence

 Such beautiful lightning.”

 ~Gabriel Bá & Fábio Moon

Daytripper

The Room

The room was not really a room, but a cavernous hall of pillars and shadows. The ceiling was lost to darkness, the floor, cloaked in mist. It was a place that resonated with the weight of countless ages, yet remained untouched by dust and decay. It was a place wher. . .

Prologue

May, 1985

A fire drill an hour before final bell and a bright spring afternoon had moved Principal Stone to a rare act of benevolence. From his roost at the summit of the concrete steps that led up to the rear entrance of Gustav Mahler High School, P.S. 114, the gangly figure in the gray tweed suit had whipped out his bullhorn (the student body concurred that the arch-disciplinarian’s obnoxious plaything was preferable to a wooden paddle or Louisville Slugger) and heralded. . .

Prologue

May, 1985

A fire drill an hour before final bell and a bright spring afternoon had moved Principal Stone to a rare act of benevolence. From his roost at the summit of the concrete steps that led up to the rear entrance of Gustav Mahler High School, P.S. 114, the gangly figure in the gray tweed suit had whipped out his bullhorn (the student body concurred that the arch-disciplinarian’s obnoxious plaything was preferable to a wooden paddle or Louisville Slugger) and heralded. . .